Go big or go home... Ugh!

This saying is so last year. Not only that, it's wrong. When it comes to eating, that is.

There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet these days - hence the reason I rarely blog. It's such a challenge to find the truth. There's some good in this, however. The truth is simple: you can't read the truth on a blog, in a book or even hear it from your friend. Only you can find it out to be true for you and the only way to do that is try it out for yourself!

That being said... I am a believer in small meals. I've seen the websites saying that this is a myth, but I've found it to be true for me and this is the way I've eaten for a number of years and I continue keep my weight in balance. Furthermore, big meals jam up your digestive system - think of it like rush hour traffic. When you eat smaller, frequent meals in conjunction with yoga or other beneficial exercise, you are better able to keep your metabolism working in harmony with the other systems in your body.

Check out this blog from Duke, it explains the medical lingo and vernacular that we yoga teachers don't possess. Also, be sure to check out my yoga blog - I'm rarely on this blog anymore and I don't want you to miss out on any yoga nuggets you may find helpful. Visit lorigivensyoga.com. See you on the mat!

The sugar conundrum continues...

Sugar. That beastly little grain from a cain. It is so enticing, so so... addictive? YES. The truth is slowly coming to light - that little white powdery stuff we all love is in fact ADDICTIVE. I know, you don't want to hear it. You don't drink, you don't do "drugs", you just have a little dessert from time to time, only eat a roll or two or three before dinner, only one potato chip - really, just one. Heck, you might even be vegan so maybe you only eat chips and guac for dinner. You don't even drink coffee that often and you only put just a little cream in it, right? Why am I talking about chips and guac or coffee and cream when the subject is obviously sugar? Sugar is sneaky. It's either in these things (that Venti Chai Soy Latte is loaded with it) or when something is heavily processed like chips, white bread and other things like plain old pasta and pretty much everything that is "shelf stable", it is no longer food, it's actually pure refined carbohydrate and your body can't use it. Good ole plain white refined sugar is even worse - it drains our bodies of vitamins and minerals. And it's also acidic - when eaten every day (and who doesn't eat it every day? you? Ha!) causes the body to become overly acidic and then the body searches down deep for vitamins and minerals, leaching the body of any remnants that might be left. Then... the liver becomes taxed. The frustrating part is - you may not even know you are eating it. Sugar is sneaky, it's hiding around every corner, lurking in all of your food. Cereal, instant oatmeal, juice, mayonaise, mustards, ham, even turkey and other meats, milk products, yogurt, soy/rice milk products, Asian takeout foods, Pizza sauce, sausages, sweet potato fries, corn chips, baked beans, ketchup, bar-be-que and so much more... Pretty much everything you put in your mouth on Thanksgiving? Yep - Grandma has loaded it with sugar. Even the stuff with "no sugar added" has sugar in it. You know when you take a bite of Pad Thai and you are in heaven? Do you know why? Sugar. You know when you are craving salty chips or fries - why? Sugar. Pizza? Sugar. Sandwich? Sugar. Salad dressing? You guessed it. SUGAR.

Even Dr. Oz has been talking about the effects of too much sugar. Fatty liver ain't just for alcoholics any more y'all - it's for sugar-holics too. It used to be thought that only alcoholism caused fatty liver, but then, it also used to be thought that the world was flat. It's time to open your mind to the truth about sugar. Too much sugar means too much acid. Too much acid means too much inflammation. Inflammation is an immune system response - it's the body's attempt to protect itself from "injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process." When there is chronic inflammation, there is chronic disease.

"Chronic inflammation may be the root of all degenerative disease." - Dr. Andrew Weil, www.drweil.com

What's worse is the list of chronic diseases that are linked to chronic inflammation: allergies, Alzheimer's, anemia, arthritis, cancer, congestive heart failure, fibromyalgia, fibrosis, heart attack, kidney failure, lupus, psoriasis, stroke... Are you paying attention now?

"To heal anything, you must know it's cause. As stated at the beginning, chronic inflammation begins at the end of your fork... Sodas, French fries, chips and burgers are the real weapons of mass destruction."

OUCH.

It hurts, I know. But sometimes the truth hurts.

Don't look so sad... It's 100% possible to enjoy food and it's so much more enjoyable when you eat REAL food and know exactly what is in the food you are eating. Moderation, moderation, moderation. First of all, make it a habit to steer clear of High Fructose Corn Syrup, avoid refined carbs like white sugar and corn syrup. Instead, seek out real sugar - sugar that is natural or only very slightly refined. Have you ever actually used REAL maple syrup? It tastes TOTALLY different than the maple syrup flavored corn syrup we all grew up on. Try baking with Agave Nectar instead of refined white sugar, re-train your palate to like the way foods taste without adding sugar to them. Avoid cooking dinner recipes that call for added sugar. If you know something has added sugar, eat something else. Know what's in ketchup? Yep. Added sugar. Juice, you wonder? Why drink the juice when you can eat the fruit? It's better for you. It's that simple. There really are other options. You just have to wrap your mind around the idea that your body is your temple and that food is fuel. The more processed the food, the less nutritional value and the higher it is on the glycemic index... which means, it becomes highly addictive and has the same effect on your body as that sneaky, five-letter-word: SUGAR.

I realize this is a lot to think about. It may even turn your world upside down. In the words of a very wise-with-words man, "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Yes, you can still have your sugar and eat it to. But THINK about it before you eat it.

Step...away...from...the...cupcake!

Metabo-what? It's midnight and I'm HUNGRY!

Just the other day my mom was saying, "If only I could stop eating at night." Every night since she was a little girl, my mom gets up just a few hours after laying down and has a snack - nothing huge, just a little treat like a tiny bowl of cereal, a small cookie, something a little sweet with a little crunch and always some milk. I admire here ability to have "just a little." Just a little is not something I can or have ever been able to do. For example - as a girl, I was a bit of a sugar addict and when given say, a box of chocolates for Christmas or Valentines Day from my dad... well, let's just say it was gone in 60 seconds. Then, I'd go looking for more like a bloodhound on a trail... right into my sisters room and polish hers off too. While I can sit back and blame them for contributing to my sugar addiction :P, I can also genuinely thank them for great metabolism genes.

Regardless, I realize there are people out there who can and do in fact understand and can successfully accomplish moderation. So, if you eat late at night, will you gain weight? In my mom's case, NO. BUT, if you are one of those who is eating SEVERAL bowls of cereal late at night or if you haven't eaten all day and then come home and gorge on a huge meal late at night... well, you are in fact going to gain.

Here's the deal with your metabolism... it's not just genetic. And, you CAN change the way you metabolize food. Metabolism is a term that not only refers to how your body converts food into fuel but also how efficiently you burn that fuel. Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Age, sex and the proportion of muscle you have AS WELL AS heredity all make a difference. Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others.

Here's an interesting and surprising fact from Colette Bouchez on WebMD: The more weight you carry, the faster your metabolism is likely running. That's one reason it's almost always easiest to lose weight at the start of a diet, and harder later on, nutritionist Molly Kimball, RD says: "When you are very overweight your metabolism is already running so high that any small cut in calories will result in an immediate loss." Then, when you lose significant amounts of body fat and muscle, your body needs fewer calories to sustain itself, she says. That helps explain why it's so easy to regain weight after you've worked to lose it.

So, to maximize your metabolism, the best thing to do is eat more often. Small and frequent meals (say, 200-300 calories 5-6 times a day) help keep your metabolism kicked into high gear which means you'll burn more calories WHICH MEANS you will lose weight!

If you skip breakfast and lunch then have a huge meal late at night, your metabolism isn't functioning at all and your body goes into "starvation mode". Then, your body wants to keep every calorie you just snarfed down and you'll actually end up gaining weight.

So - as I always say - EAT. Pack a Z-bar for emergency snacking. I never leave home without a snack - just ask my boyfriend. Every morning, oatmeal. Packed in my Bikram Yoga Memphis tote bag for later: yoga clothes, a kombucha tea and Z-bar for me, hard boiled egg and low fat string cheese for Gregg. Happy snacking!