Day 2 - How to eat and exercise and why.

Starting a lifestyle that flies in the face of current trends and mindsets can be frightening. Despite all the popular "high protein", low carb diets out there, our bodies need sufficient carbohydrates and fats to function properly and most importantly, to shift out of the starvation mode. Eating healthy is probably a lot simpler than we might think. Balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats is key. Plenty of research has been done regarding proper nutrition. Balance at each meal, i.e., 20% protein, 50% unrefined/natural carbohydrates, and 30% healthy fat satisfies the bodies cravings. For instance, 2 scrambled eggs, oatmeal with non fat milk or soy milk, an orange and a sprinkling of goat cheese for breakfast works great. A mid morning snack of granola mixed with non fat yogurt and an apple completely takes care of my mid morning appetite. Its really quite easy to eat well. Surprisingly, my nearly constant thoughts about when and what to eat have slowly drifted away as I am able to focus on life instead of just how hungry I am or when I can eat again.
My clothes are fitting better. Its amazing how eating enough instead of "denying myself" has turned my body around. I am also aware that my muscle definition is a bit more noticeable.
Based on my reading, I believe that humans do best with more natural foods. Fish, vegetables and fruits are a mainstay. Whole grains, legumes, dairy products and occasional lean beef, turkey and chicken also round out our diet. Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, refined flour, potatoes seem to raise my blood sugar and cause me to shake a bit.
Exercise is important for health reasons but not critical to weight loss. Its nice to do 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic (especially interval training) a day alternating with weight lifting the opposite days. There is evidence that lifting multiple increasing sets is not all that much better than a single set a particular weight or machine of 12-15 reps but it is critical to fatigue the muscle and sometimes it takes a couple of sets to do this. Within 20 to 30 minutes you can workout most of the muscles of the upper body or lower body or central core. It is only necessary to workout a muscle once or occasionally twice a week to really make a difference. When you are eating properly and sufficiently, the body lets go of fat stores and the six pack you have had all along starts to show up. Like I always say resistance is futile. Work with your body. Our bodies have millions of years of fine tuning if we simply listen to them and follow simple routines of eating and working out.
Tonight I post my pre lifestyle photo (not something I like but feel its important to follow my progress).