When I made this category months ago, I knew I wanted the pieces to be something that would somehow simplify this “overwhelming” process. I had to do some research to see what I did specifically, and what those I have always found “classy” do to make this less complicated. So over the last few months I have collected behaviors that either “turn on” or “turn off” the etiquette “vibe”.

Etiquette has NOTHING to do with money, nothing to do with royalty, and is not unachievable by anyone. It is simply a standard in which you hold yourself and others accountable. For the most part etiquette and manners lead us through everyday events, and remind us to be thoughtful of ourselves and others….. Etiquette doesn’t sound like a bad word to me.

1) Make each other comfortable…..

My Aunt Kate has always been very good at making someone feel “okay” about what ever they feel uncomfortable about. Whether it is what she is wearing or what she has chosen for her life’s career. She has always been able to find some way to have a common ground. She has always put Value in others (whether they deserved it or not), which has made others long to be around her. That sounds like something small, but look at it this way, when people long to be around you, you always feel special. Who doesn’t want that?

I was recently at a gathering, I had nothing in common with anyone there, I let people talk about what was important to them, why it was important to them and so on and so forth….. On and on, and before I knew it, I was having a great time. I wasn’t thinking about me, just them, and I didn’t regret it. I didn’t agree with half the things most were saying, but I didn’t feel any “drive” to tell them they were right or wrong. Why do we feel it is always our battle to fight? Let some people learn for themselves.

I have a friend that is addicted to alcohol. Anyone who has had this has either been let down, inconvenienced, disappointed, or negatively effected; it just goes with the territory. People have tried, myself included to “help” with her disease, it’s a “no go”. To me, it is worth it to still be her friend, hoping one fine day, no more worries, until then, I protect myself. BUT, I don’t take on the burden of fixing her, a fix that will not work until she starts fixing herself; I let her live her life, accepting the good and the bad. I guess that’s what I am saying…. ACCEPT the good the bad and most of all the different….

Going back to what I have done over the years, I think back to a time where I fought all the battles. If you were something I wasn’t, you were wrong, if you were something I was, you were right. Life was that cut and dry. Now looking back, I was a work-a-holic, right wing, know it all, that happened to be the “best” at everything I did (only because I did things I was good at), I was not close to my family, had almost no friends, and couldn’t stand most humans, all by choice, and if that sounds “right” to any of you, maybe you need to take as close of a look at yourself as I had to.

Times changed. Life humbled me with a divorce, and slowly but surely I was alone, on purpose. I sat down and realized that I was all wrong….. And that meant that for years I had thought everyone else was wrong, and “HOLY CRAP”, I had misjudged a lot of people. It was me that didn’t open my mind to the possibility that there are several different rights….. There are far more “rights” in the world than “wrongs”….. Hell, I thought divorce was wrong for years, and no one could have been proven more wrong than I was.

There are different ways to get from the beginning of your life to the end….. But we all somehow manage it, every single one of us…

More to come……

My heart is with you on your journey,

Lizzy

OK, I am writing this, not to brag or tell everyone what I do, but I would love to share this idea. Every winter, we have the traditional Salvation Army Bell Ringers. We all see them. Are you someone who gives or speed walks past and hopes not to make eye contact? Some are happy doing this monotonis bell ringing, politely smiling at all who walk by. Some are freezing and look disgruntled. Then there is this one gentleman…. Every year he stands outside a local store and sings. He sings Christmas carols. He SINGS! Smiling, LOUDLY SINGING, In the freezing weather! I have decided that he is a Christmas Angel. Some of you will understand this comment. That there is usually someone or something that triggers the happy Christmas feeling. Christmas lights, music, or anything that just gives you the warm ready to give feeling. Well, this last year, I was in a funk and couldn’t get into the spirit of Christmas. I tried, I really did. Then, on a usual shopping trip, I see this familiar face (he has been doing this a few years now). He was singing at the top of his lungs. In a time of “happy holidays” verses “Merry Christmas”, He was singing Christmas carols as loudly as he could with a smile from ear to ear. This made me smile. Uncontrollably. (In case you didn’t know, smiles are contagious). It was about 10 degrees outside and he was happy! He wasn’t thinking about himself and it made him feel good, wow, amazing how that works. So, on my way past, I smiled and said “It’s a hot coffee kind of day” he smiled and said “hot cocoa was his favorite”. So my wheels started turning. I went in and bought 2 hot cocoas. One for him and one for the gentleman at the other entrance (who didn’t understand the cocoa delivery) I dropped them off and went on with my shopping. Feeling so good about the holiday. Then an amazing thing happened. I left the store and the man told me I was an angel. Wow, I was just calling him that. Can you be and angel for your angel? I guess so. This tradition has continued. I always take hot cocoa for the bell ringers, I feel that the 2 bucks spent to keep the bell ringers energized is better that putting the same amount in the red bucket. I look forward to the bell ringers every year. Especially the Singer! As if this story couldn’t get better, it does. I over heard a woman while I was eating lunch, talking about “the hot cocoa lady”. And how she helped her husband with the Christmas spirit. She is married to the Singer. Liz reminds us about random acts of kindness touching so many others, and this is proof. I thought I was warming him on a cold day, but I ended up rejuvenating him, this wonderful man that touches so many others, and his wife was telling her coworkers about how it affected her. I wonder how many people we can affect with one act of kindness. How many people can you affect with something little? Even just by sing a song or smiling instead of looking like your dreading a duty or job. Smile! Smile! Smile! It’s contagious.

When I first started this website I had a vision of making lives better. Somehow, helping lives one at a time. Yesterday I was watching T.V. and eating pork fried rice, and it hit me….. Why am I limiting myself? Just like we (as humans) constantly do, limit what we can accomplish by not stepping back and looking at the big picture… We have around 500 readers currently…. I thank you all for that.

What if those 500 readers could influence 2 people a day that would be 1000 people a day whose lives are better because Letscoffeetalk….. Actually 1,500 including the Coffee talkers….

This started me thinking of the power that we possess. Anyone that reads letscoffeetalk for more than ten seconds is most likely interested in either making themselves “better” or at least exploring “change”. This got me thinking about random things that make me happy.

If everyone on earth was able to help two or more people a day, the world would be a better place wouldn’t it? I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here, I am not getting to the point that we need to “give” more time or money to a charity, although, if you’ve got it, GODSPEED… I am talking about a far less intrusive venture….. Give what you have got already…. KINDNESS….

How many times have you heard someone say “I hate people”? I have heard it time and time again, especially working in sales. What I have found is people really don’t “hate” people; they hate what people make them feel like. What if we could change one by one the way people made other people feel like? I know we can.

If we were able to change the way we make people feel, then eventually the feeling of hatred would be gone right? What if by changing the way we make people feel, made us feel instantly better? Win, Win situation right?

So after this “thought” sat heavy on my brain all night long, I decided to try to make a list of ways to make others feel better……

But First…..

The MEAN PEOPLE….

So yeah, there are a lot of these people out there, the “budgers”, the “bitchers”, the “yellers”, the “know-it-alls”, the “snobs”, the “stuck-ups”, the “ignorers”, the “arguers”, the anal retentives”, the “judgers”, the “manipulaters”, the “liars”, the “stealers”, the “idiots”, the “who ever makes you feel badders”…….

PRETEND THEY ALL HAVE AN INCURABLE DISEASE….. AND THEY ARE TAKING IT OUT ON YOU BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO DIE SOONER THAN LATER…..

This will stop your EGO from taking it so personally, and then taking it out on someone else…. The fact is, these people are insecure, and that is almost an incurable disease that doesn’t allow you to live anyway, so they are dying…. This will make you feel sorry for them instead of ready to rip their head from their shoulders…. Puts you in control. I used this a lot in sales, and I must say, I was happier, and I was able to make a lot more people “happy” because I did not take it personally.

Back to Random ways to make people and yourself happier…….

1. Complimenting

Random compliments to random people…. One day at Starbucks I walked in feeling quite good about myself to get my standard latte, and be on my way. When I walked into line a lady stared me down with the crappiest look on her face, my first reaction was not good, I thought “who does this lady think she is, looking at me this way?”, but I did not react that way. I gave her “pretend cancer” in my mind, and searched for something I liked about her outfit. Her glasses were it! I said “Excuse me, your glasses are perfect for your face, I love them”, which I did, they looked great. She looked at me and tears welled up, she said “You have no idea how much I needed a compliment today, thank you”.
I could have reacted with my first instinct which was not nice, but instead, I made her day, and I felt so good about myself for not letting my stupid EGO make my move.
Complementing sincerely to random people at random times is one of the best charities we are able to give… Compliment, Compliment, Compliment…. Be sincere….

2. Give….

Give…. Not money, Not blocks of time, Not clothing, or Valuables, give random “gifts” to random people. Like your place in line at the grocery store to an old person, or a mother, or someone that has 10 items vs. your basket full. Give an extra chair that you aren’t using. Give someone your closer parking spot. Give someone a smile for no reason. Get the door for someone. Lift someone’s luggage into the overhead bin. GIVE, GIVE, GIVE….. Most importantly, don’t tally what you GIVE; tally what is given to you.

3. Thank YOU

What a powerful statement…. “Thank you”…. Thank every single person for everything. We are supposed to do it when we are five, but somehow we expect the world to serve us. Even worse, we think because we are paying for something we shouldn’t have to “thank” someone. When did Money = Thanks? It doesn’t.
Be thankful for the person who got up at 5 am to get your latte ready for you, especially when you know you were tucked deep into your bed dreaming of the latte you are about to receive. Be thankful for the 22 year old that watches 15 toddlers at your child’s daycare, especially when you know most people would lose their mind. Be thankful for the gas station attendant that passes through 100’s of people with a smile, but rarely gets one returned. Be thankful for the guy who lets you into traffic, and be thankful for the family that drives you nuts getting out the door. Most importantly, tell them “thank you”. Look every single person who gives you something in the eyes and tell them “Thank you”. Your money is not all a human being needs.

4. Open the Door

Open the door for everyone. This gives the impression that you are humble, and immediately humbles whom ever you come in contact with. It is a simple act that makes everyone feel good including the “opener”.

5. Old People

Old People deserve if for no other reason than surviving this world, kindness. Give them kindness, and kindness will be returned. Help them with their luggage, groceries, parking spots, and anything else that will make their stay here on earth more enjoyable. You will soon be there, your body will not perform like it once did, your mind not as sharp maybe, but one thing is for sure, you will be there, and when you are there, you will need someone like you to be kind.

6. Children

We preach…. Teach, teach, teach these little humans, but no one ever talks about Learn, Learn, Learn from these little creatures. Make one laugh, and you will laugh. Make a child smile and you will smile. They are free and they are influenced by the slightest things, if a stranger is kind to them, maybe one day, they will be kind to a stranger, and maybe that stranger will be you.

7. Control Your World

Remember when I said that we usually don’t hate people, we hate how people make us feel. There is really no way to control everyone on earth (contrary to popular belief), but there is a way to control how you deal with others….. Which changes the perspective all together; you can control your environment, which is the only thing you know anyway, so in your reality you can control everyone that you come in contact with. Your reaction is a choice. “He made me mad”, well, the way I look at it, you are really saying “I let him make me made”. “It makes me sick” really says “I let it make me sick”. “They offended me” means “I let them offend me”. “He hurt me” means “I let him hurt me”. My niece is 7 years old, right now she is having trouble grasping when something upsets her, that she is in fact in control of herself. As I watched her flip out because her mother was forcing her to wear an outfit that was not to “her Liking”, it hit me, she is letting this get the better of her, if she only had self discipline with her little emotions, she would get what she wanted. Well, she doesn’t, she let herself get so worked up that she made everyone miserable, and still had to wear the “bum” outfit. All because she can’t control own emotions yet! Now, she will learn, but for the rest of us, we don’t have being 7 as a “grand” excuse. Stop letting others make you “unkind”. You are in charge of your own kindness.

8. Forgive

Forgive EVERYTHING/BODY…. Most important FORGIVE YOU. I say this because this seems to be the hardest thing on earth for some humans to do. Most the time, when you can’t stand people, you are most upset that you let yourself get upset by them. Forgive yourself for being out of control, and forgive them for not being kind. FORGIVE

9. Make a decision to be Kind

There is no part time “kind”, there is full time “kind” and that is all. You are either aware of others or not, make a commitment to be aware, make a commitment to make the world a better spot to live in. Someone that you meet today is hurting, someone that you meet today is capable of passing kindness on, and usually they are the same person.

Please be KIND to all the Coffee talkers and future Coffee talkers out there, including you….

My heart is with you on your journey!

Lizzy

I need your help with ideas for simple kindness……. Please Comment….. Thank you!

 EATING RIGHT AND LIVING WELL

“Our biological drives are several millions of years older than our intelligence” 

Arthur E. Morgan

-  You can absorb information for years about various macro-nutrients,  exercises, carbs protein fats low fat sugar no sugar forever and all you end up with is a confusing mismash of often conflicting information. The missing link, the key to bring this all together is hormones.    Within each of us lie enormously powerful biological forces called hormones which literally turn boys into men, girls into women and when they decline they lead strong furtive people into frailty and weakness.  What nobody seems to understand is that everyday we unknowingly are influencing these dynamic forces, and we have the power to control them.  By eating the right things at the right time, we can make ourselves into FAT BURNERS  not SUGAR BURNERS. 

Please take note that I am not a nutritionist, personal trainer or doctor and I am not going to sit here and give you a menu of what to eat.  If you truly want to take control of your health, physique, overall longevity and quality of life,  you need to understand your body, understand what it is you are doing to it and decide how you want to live your life, as a sugar burner, or a fat burner.   As an ager or a non-ager.   I was lost in a sea of advice, stupid diet plans and misinformation until I sat down and understood the concepts below.  

• Every meal / snack generates a hormonal response

• hormones are the key to your biological makeup

• some meals / snacks put you in a beneficial, fat burning state, whereas others put you in a detrimental, fat-storing state.

• Therefore, eating can be good or bad depending on the hormonal response it generates.

Boredom Warning : If you are not interested in taking the time to understand the underlying processes that control your body composition and health, then you are missing the point entirely, and you are destined for failure and should either go eat a doughnut and ignore the rest of this article, or scroll down to the “what to eat and when”  section, and then go eat a doughnut.

THE HORMONAL RESPONSE TO FOOD.

Each time you eat you provoke a storm of hormonal activity, and you prospectively influence the state of your body and mind for the ensuing several hours in 4 ways.

1. fuel usage -  whether you will burn fat or store fat.

2. Mental State - Whether you will experience an alert, clear-headed state of mind or a sluggish, foggy state of mind - or something in between.

3. Energy Level

4. Appetite - Whether or not you will experience food cravings.

EATING SHOULD BE VIEWED NOT AS AN EVENT LIMITED TO HOW LONG IT TAKES TO SWALLOW THE FOOD BUT RATHER AS A MEANS OF PRIMING YOUR BIOCHEMISTRY FOR THE ENSUING FOUR HOURS IN TERMS OF FAT BURNING / STORAGE, MENTAL STATE, ENERGY LEVELS AND APPETITE.

We’ve all heard of the term “you are what you eat”   what I am saying here is  “you will become what you eat”.  

4 Hormones you should get to know

Growth Hormone -  (Somatotropin)

• The most potent anti-aging force

• The most potent fat burning hormone

• Builds muscle, influences cholesterol level

• Keeps us young and vital

• Declines with age

• When injected, results in dramatic anti-aging, followed by a host of complications - like steroids you cannot just shoot someone with exogenous hormones and expect long term health.

• Our dietary habits, exercise and lifestyle choices can boost our growth hormone levels,  effectively slowing, stopping or reversing aging.

Insulin

• Works with its inversely paired hormone, glucagon, to regulate blood sugar levels

• Has a long term impact on your “fat set-point”

• When it is too predominant, as in type 2 diabetes, results in obesity

• When it is too deficient, as in type 1 diabetes, results in drastic weight loss and sickness

• Is secreted when blood sugar rises, it shuttles it to its destination or converts it to glycogen for storage as FAT

• The primary fat storage vehicle

• Keeping control of this hormone is critical to permanent fat loss

• The insulin / glucagon axis is the pivot point for body composition, health, energy levels, mental productivity and emotional well-being

• We can manipulate insulin levels to our advantage!

• Insulin also shuttles amino acids and nutrients needed to repair and build muscle (anabolic)  This is the good and vital side of insulin.

Glucagon

• Works with its inversely paired hormone, insulin, to regulate blood sugar levels

• Is activated when blood sugar levels drop

• Takes the glycogen, stored by insulin, and converts it back to blood sugar for use.

• Whereas insulin takes blood sugar and makes it into fat,  glucagon is the guy who turns your fat back into blood sugar for use

• If your body is constantly in Sugar Burning Mode, glucagon can also turn muscle into blood sugar through a process called gluconeogenesis,  this is what happens to diabetics, and those who starve themselves or restrict calories,  they wither away, they age quickly and their body is out of balance. 

Cortisol

• Released as a response to stress

• can be triggered by dramatic drops in blood sugar level (which can happen several times a day for a sugar burner)

• A very efficient muscle destroyer

• Corresponds with faster bone lose in the elderly

• Makes you old and fat, basically

Respect your ancestors.

Genetic adaptation is a slow process.   The human genome differs only 1.6 percent from that of chimpanzees and researchers believe that 5 million years have past since the two species diverged. 

Given the millions of years required for genetic adaptation to occur, any changes that occurred in the human diet over the last few thousand years really haven’t changed our genetic blueprint all that much.    This means that we are still running on the same biological machine that have served our ancestors for 4 million years.   Put in perspective, the processed, mass produced high carb foods we eat today have only been around for 200 years, yet the obesity rate in 1999 surpassed 50% in the u.s.   Do you think 50% of cave men were obese?

Respecting your ancestors does not mean that we need to move to the jungle, live in caves and star in car insurance commercials.  What it means is we need to eat a cyclic diet consisting of protein, good fat and natural complex carbohydrates.   By cyclical,  I mean on a schedule that makes sense to optimize good hormones, promote leanness and overall health, and place our body into FAT BURNING MODE instead of SUGAR BURNING MODE  Cave men did not have a set time of day they ate, they ate when food was plentiful and hunted or gathered when it wasn’t.   If we eat 6 smaller meals a day instead of 3, 2 or even 1 meal a day, our metabolic rate stays running, if we starve ourselves our metabolic engine just idles down to make up for it and we have little vitality, little energy and we feel horrible.

SUGAR BURNING MODE - The roller coaster

The human body is an incredible machine,  it can run on many different fuel sources.   It stands to reason that over the course of evolution, natural selection favored those who could survive eating as many different food sources as possible.  We are omnivores.   In our modern society we have the choice on what to use as a fuel source for our bodies.   

All carbohydrates turn into blood sugar during digestion.

When this happens, insulin is secreted by the pancreas to take this blood sugar out of the bloodstream and do something with it.  Insulin is a sugar conveyor belt.   The first stop on the conveyor belt is your liver and your muscles as glycogen.  If you haven’t had any carbohydrates for a few days the carb meal will simply be turned into this usable energy called glycogen and be stored for on demand use. 

Here’s the problem,  if the muscles and liver are already fueled up,  the next stop is your fat cells,  for storage.  This system is designed for the type of carbohydrates that existed prior to us messing up the earth with fast food and processed food.  They generally were complex carbohydrates that took quite a while to process.    

The end result, once this process is over with and the blood sugar level drops down to normalized levels, we feel a certain uptick of brain chemistry that makes us feel good - satiated - centered.   Its our brain chemistry rewarding us for surviving another day, a tool for survival.   As the blood sugar level dips down again, we feel hungry and the process starts again.

Our bodies do not have a warning signal for “obesity”, by the way . . .

When we throw a simple processed carbohydrate that some scientist came up with in a lab somewhere like a twinkie into our body, it short circuits the process.   It’s like putting jet fuel into a lawnmower.   The high density sugar laden food digests very quickly,  slams our blood sugar up - insulin shoots up to counteract this surge in blood sugar.   Now the feeling of well being has been amplified to elation, a condition that can be addictive, a sugar high, a serotonin boost brought on by the release of another hormone, tryptophan,  whatever you call it, it can be addictive, especially with those who are prone to depression.   

Once this happens, the surge of insulin quickly slams the blood sugar way down and suddenly the emotional high is gone,  the blood sugar is way too low.  Very low blood sugar sounds a survival alarm in your brain which was installed there millions of years ago.  For example, you had McDonald’s and 10 krispy kremes yesterday,  you know that your body is full of glycogen in your liver.   You know you have plenty of fat cells available for energy.   But you feel hungry, even though you just ate a doughnut an hour ago.   This is because your body is in sugar burning mode, which sends your blood sugar on such high peaks and valleys that even though you are not really in need of any food to survive, the low blood sugar condition, brought on by the eating of high density carbs has triggered an alarm and cause you to feel hungry.

When you eat simple carbs all day long, you are constantly setting and putting out fires inside your body all day long.   When your body is busy putting out fires, how can it not age?   How can it be healthy?   Our bodies were not designed to eat these high density carbohydrate foods that were introduced into the human diet in the 19th century. 

• They are foreign to our metabolism

• They induce an aggressive insulin response and a consequent insulin/glucagon imbalance

• Insulin and Glucagon naturally flow in dynamic tension as long as blood sugar remains reasonably stable,  which was the case for most of human existence

• These roller coaster up and downs create cravings, emotional responses to food , addictions to food, etc

• These carbs put you on a vicious cycle of ups and downs and creates hormonal hunger

Hormonal Hunger

When a sugar burner eats these simple, high density carbs, during each blood sugar downcycle they are likely to experience symptoms such as:

• anxiety

• bad mood

• light headedness

• poor concentration

• cognitive impairment

Starving for sugar the brain sends a resounding message to the body “EAT”  even though all common sense tells you that you are not going to die of starvation any time soon. - this is hormonal hunger

Hormonal hunger manifests itself as a craving for

• cookies

• cake

• candy

• french fries

• you know what it is for you, mine is cheesecake and mcdonalds french fries.

Under the influence of these cravings you are more likely to overeat on these foods which will create soaring insulin levels and restart the whole downward spiral over again as they are helped along by the infinite assortment of refined carbohydrate laden foods that have become a part of American culture.  Many people go through their entire life yanked from pillar to post by hormonal hunger and the cravings it produces.

THEY MAY NEVER REALIZE THAT WHAT THEY PERCEIVE TO BE HUNGER IS REALLY A SYMPTOM OF HORMONAL IMBALANCE AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NEED FOR CALORIES OR NUTRIENTS.

WHEN A SUGAR BURNER DEPRIVED OF SUGAR REACHES FOR A CARBOHYDRATE SNACK IT HAS AS MUCH TO DO WITH HUNGER AS AN ALCOHOLIC REACHING FOR A BOTTLE OF LIQUOR HAS TO DO WITH THIRST.

BRAIN CHEMISTRY ADDICTION AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE TO OURSELVES

Another component of the sugar burner’s hormonal hunger trap is the effect of insulin on the neurotransmitter serotonin.  Eating a carbohydrate rich meal raises levels of tryptophan which results in a serotonin boost in the brain.  Serotonin gives a feeling of well being, satiety and comfort.  A simple google search about serotonin gives us things like this :

Serotonin is a chemical that helps maintain a “happy feeling,” and seems to help keep our moods under control by helping with sleep, calming anxiety, and relieving depression. The brain also makes Dopamine, which makes people more talkative and excitable. It affects  brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. All of these chemicals are natural chemicals that affect our bodily processes.

Besides being involved in the process of addiction, low Serotonin levels are believed to be the reason for many cases of mild to moderate depression which can lead to symptoms like anxiety, apathy, fear, feelings of worthlessness, insomnia and fatigue. We are learning that depression is related to and a number of other health issues. Depression is the nation’s most prevalent mental health problem, affecting about 15 million Americans who spend about $3 billion a year on drugs to battle it. Almost all of these medicines target either serotonin or norepinephrine, brain chemicals which are neurotransmitters.

It has long been observed that people tend to reach for sweets when they are upset, depressed or anxious.  Studies on P.M.S. and seasonal affective disorder show that the craving is not as much for the sweet food itself, but for the tranquilizing serotonin-boost elicited by eating the food.   Too much serotonin can have the opposite affect.  

Therefore eating a lot of sweets can temporarily assuage the all too common depressed feeling we all know very well.  Having too many can overload us with seratonin creating an opposite affect making the person anxious and grumpy.   Which makes them reach for more sweets for the temporary relief. 

Does this cycle of chasing a sense of self being and an escape from depression sound familiar?

FAT BURNING MODE - MAKING THE METABOLIC SHIFT

Do you still think that carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source?   

If you are depleted of glycogen stores and you need instant energy for high intensity work like weightlifting, carbs are the most efficient thing you could eat to get that quick boost.   But, FAT IS THE BODY’S OPTIMAL FUEL SOURCE FOR 95% OF DAILY ACTIVITY.   Fat yields 2 1/4 times more energy per gram than carbohydrates.   It is a more stable longer burning fire than glycogen (sugar) .   Sugar is a gas torch and fat is a slow burning wood fire.   the average 150 lb person has enough bodyfat stored to walk from Ft. Lauderdale to new york city without eating. 

Just as you do not need redwood to build a red house, you do not need to eat fat to get fat.   Your body can convert carbohydrate and even protein into bodyfat and when fat storage hormones are activated, that is exactly what happens. 

It does not matter how much fat you eat, it matters how much fat you store.  When your body is tuned to using fat for energy, your body uses up your bodyfat and the fat you eat very efficiently.

The aim of eating healthy for a lifetime is to activate a metabolic shift from being a sugar burner, which you probably have been your whole life,  to a fat burner.  The fat burning state is the natural one which millions of years of evolution created and we broke in 200 years.  

WHAT TO EAT AND WHEN

step one - getting out of the sugar burning mode.  duration - 7 days

Simply stated, you are going to teach your body, by not eating carbohydrates,  to use fat for energy.   It is a period of adjustment, and the first 3 or 4 days are quite painful.   If you commit yourself to this shift, you will be rewarded for a lifetime.

In order to get out of sugar burning mode, you have to see to it that glucose, in the form of glycogen stores,  is not available to your metabolism.   As this glycogen becomes unavailable, your hybrid engine with start to look for energy (ATP)  from a different source - FAT.

After making this shift, fat will replace sugar as your primary source of energy.   You will be switching from low octane to high octane - remember fat has more calories per gram than sugars do - and if you are still reading this you probably have some bodyfat on your body,  use it for energy, burn it up and say goodbye to it.

During the first 4 days you will experience the “sugar burner deprived of sugar”hormonal hunger cravings, they will subside.

During this 7 day period :

• eat less than 20 grams of active carbs per day (fiber carbs are ok to have more of as they do not raise insulin)

• eat 4-6 times a day in smaller portions instead of 2 or 3

• focus on meat during this time period. 

• eat as much fat as you want, it will curb the cravings

• vegetables are all wonderful

What not to eat during this time period :

• no sugars

• no fruits (they have carbs too)

After this first week  - from day 8 on :

We are going to use macronutrient cycling,  which just means you are going to have proteins and fats most of the time and every once in a while you are going to have a low fat high carb meal called a “carb load”

This cyclical nature allows you variety and allows you to eat whatever high carb yummy diet food that you love , provided you do it at the right time.

• For 3 days you have standard fat burning meals only

• on day 4 you have standard meals except you replace one meal with a carb load meal.

• then you go 2 more days having standard fat burning meals

• then 1 carb load day

• and repeat

• So every 3 or 4 days respectively, you are replenishing your body’s glycogen stores by eating one high carb meal that day.  That really is all the carbohydrates you need for energy,  even if you are working out vigorously, try it!

the 2 types of meals

standard fat burning meals

•  less than 25 active carbs per meal, predominantly from starch carbs, not simple sugars

• keep your daily intake of carbs under 60 grams on standard meal days.

•  try to have a moderate amount of fat, try to have more good omega 3 and unsaturated fats, but don’t stress it too much. 

• 15-50 grams of protein per meal  (1 to 1.5 grams per pound of bodywieght is a good calculation to use, but it is not gospel, just get enough protein.

• stimulates fat burning enzymes

• stimulates fat burning hormones like growth hormone and glucagon

• stimulates muscle building hormones like insulin, growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone

• keeps your pool of amino acids topped off, the building blocks for cells

carb load meal

•  as many carbs as you want to have during this meal, 40 for women and 60 for men is a good range to shoot for.

• less than 20 grams of fat in the meal,  when you eat carbs and fat together - the fat gets stored, not burned.

• less than 20 grams of protein,  while less critical, the protein gets in the way.

• refuels glycogen stores for use in your muscles and for daily activities that require bursts of energy.

• provides variety and pleasure

• prevents decline in thyroid activity

• drink a lot of water

• avoid sodas, juices and try to keep away from any calorie-containing fluids besides protein shakes,  they are all useless.

Here is an example of how I accomplish this :

 Monday,Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday looks like this

• Meal 1 (9 am)  -  isopure low carb protein drink >  from the vitamin shoppe,  40 some grams of protein, not much else in it

• Meal 2 (1pm)    -  Boston market 1/4 chicken, steamed vegetables, ice tea  45 grams of protein, there are a few carbs in the veggies, but not much

• Meal 3 (4pm)  -  pure protein bar - 40 grams of protein, a few carbs

• Meal 4 (7pm)  -  Dinner >  some form of meat and minimal complex carbs like potato or rice, etc.

 Wednesday and Saturday look like this

• Meal 1 (9 am)  -  isopure low carb protein drink >  from the vitamin shoppe,  40 some grams of protein, not much else in it

• Meal 2 (1pm)    -  Boston market 1/4 chicken, steamed vegetables, ice tea  45 grams of protein, a few carbs in the veggie, not much

• Meal 3 (4pm)  -  pure protein bar - 40 grams of protein, a few carbs

• Meal 4 (7pm)  -  Carb Load dinner >  tons of pizza, tons of pasta, or whatever sounds good and doesn’t have too much fat or protein in it

Once you take an interest in the ingredients of what you eat, it’s not that hard to find out what is in what.   Most restaurants have websites listing their nutritional data.

The point isn’t to get too hung up on the details, get hung up on how your body works.  Get used to the idea that the american diet is for shit and make the commitment to take yourself apart and put yourself together again anew, I guaranteee you’ll feel better and live a longer, healthier life.

That said, next time we’ll talk about exercise . . .

Respect & Love,

Jammy 

We have over 400 Coffeetalkers….. Average Coffeetalker reads 5 pages……  Average visit is over 5 minutes….

I had no idea that we could be this successful in such a short time… I am humbled…

Thank you…. Lizzy 

I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.

Leave it to me to take this into the political areana, but I’ve been reading a fascinating book, Cracking the Code by Thom Hartmann. Its really an intense read about communication and how to understand what we hear and how to better communicate with others that see the world from a different perspective. Some observations;

Conservatives see the world as inheritly evil, government is trying to take my money, what’s in it for me, those lazy welfare mothers are ripping me off, the only thing government should be about is police, prison, and the military, the free market is the only solution, fear, fear, and more fear, nothing should interrupt their accumulation of material wealth.

Liberals look the world with a what’s best for US attitude, hope for the future, the government can do things to help the people, WE THE PEOPLE, the framers of the Constitution were brilliant, the teachings of Jesus were pure, we must share our “common wealth”

I hear the conservative bemoan the welfare mother who is taking advantage of the system, and yet defend Dick Cheney who as CEO of Halliburton set up 44 shadow off shore companies to evade paying taxes. Which action do you think takes the most from our “common wealth”. The consevative complains about the size and interference of government, thinking that the free market will cure all. He does this as he enjoys the benefits of that government intrusion………clean air, clean water, fire and police protection, the interstate highway system, the military and national guard, safe foods and medicines, safer cars and other products, free public education through grade 12 for his children, and you’ll be damn sure he’ll accept social security and Medicare when he qualifies. He’ll champion the concept of “privatization” and never complain that we’re paying $1220.00 a day to a Blackwater employee to do the job an army sargent is paid $85.00 a day to do. He’ll sing the praises of the Bush tax cuts and ignore that 10% of the taxes he pays go to paying off debt from borrowed money from countries like Saudia Arabia and China. He’ll ignore that he will be leaving his children and grand children huge debt to pay off……..but what does he care………..he’s doing fine…….now. He will ignore that part of the reason he’s paying over $4 for gas is the weak dollar, caused by this foreign debt.  He’ll complain that its the greenies and liberals who have prevented oil drilling in American parks and off the coast, without knowing that ANWR at best would reduce our imports by only 4% and off shore would only satisfy 1.5% of our needs and only last 2.5 years.

.

I was wondering, what percentage of conservatives believe in original sin compared to liberals?

Fear is a quicker motivator than hope [ look at what GW did in the 2004 election ] . We could probably count on one hand the times he has not used the fear tactic. But, hope is the better long range motivator [ look at what the most successful growth oriented companies like Microsoft do].

I don’t know about you, but I’m damn tired of “fear”. I’m looking for someone who can inspire us to reach our full potential, not just as an individual but as a society. I’m looking for someone who can restore America to the position of true greatness. And I’m damn scared that either Isreal and/or America [ the Bush neocons ] will bomb Iran and start world war 3.
 

There has been a lot written about raising emotionally intelligent children, I have read some and applied it with my own kids.  But basically the gist of it is “if we understand the layers of why we feel something we can find a solution and will not react to our emotions but act on them.”  So the first step is just beginning to understand what it is we feel.  I usually will go on about Zen meditation at this point but I will spare you.  This is what we need to start teaching our kids.  We do not need to take them to therapy; after all, they do not share half of the range of emotions adults do until they hit puberty.  But we do need to teach them to identify how their behavior is connected to their emotions (“wanting” is a behavior).  Because we are “mature adults” we understand this more than the child and we sort of have to work backwards with it. 

Here an example that illustrates it.  This is what I call “the bigger pancake.”  Which I also stole from another book and goes like this: Oldest child gets a big pancake and Youngest child is upset.  Youngest child behaves poorly by whining, complaining, yelling, etc but starts demanding for a bigger pancake.  A typical parent will try a half of dozen things to stop and pacify Youngest child that goes nowhere and takes away more energy from everyone.  A wise parent uses it to teach the child by simply asking “do you want another pancake?  Because if you are hungry and need more I will make more for you.”  The child is now place in a position where they have to connect their behavior (demanding a bigger pancake) with their feeling (I want to feel just as important as Oldest Child) and suddenly they realize that the two do not correlate. A bigger pancake is more food to eat, while parent’s willingness to give attention and make them feel important is being satisfied.

Wishing you good mental health
Dr. Fraser Crane
-Peter