DIY Food Adventure Menu: Lunch and Snack

Entering the Third Trimester


So now I am in my 29th week of pregnancy, just starting the third trimester.  I can understand how the second was the best (and third is the one with the hairy chest?  No, thankfully, no!) and now it starts to get a little more challenging to move around and do the things I am used to doing--like tying my shoes and sleeping :)  I am also a bit more tired and breathing hard easily, which often makes me laugh at the gym when 10 reps of even something light makes me pant.

But the little one is moving around like crazy and the movement is so much more interesting just in the last week.  I can see huge softball-sized pushes stretching out my belly and moving across and he taps, or seems to rhythmically softly kick or tap his hands too slow to be a heartbeat and too fast to be hiccups.  At least I think so.  He is still flipping around and squirming and loves to bop around in my belly whenever I am at rest and sometimes even when I am not, which feels really strange.  Imagine the entire contents of your belly flip-flopping while you walk.  There is nothing in the world quite like it...  He is quite the entertainment for me and my husband :)

I've been keeping active, although my gym workouts have been reduced to 3-4 days a week.  I love to take walks on West Cliff (pictured above) with my husband when he gets home from work and try to do something every day.  I definitely believe that diet and exercise are key to a healthy pregnancy.

I am still keeping up with the DIY Food Adventure through my gym: CrossFit Santa Cruz by making my own food for the majority of my meals and I don't plan on stopping.  It has been the best thing for me and my pregnancy.  My diet is the same, but I have been gaining weight pretty well after that initial slow period during the first to mid-second trimesters.  Now I have already gained 30lbs (!), but I am not eating significantly more and I have if anything tightened up my diet to include fewer weekend cheats on desserts.  I know they make me feel so crappy the next day that I have been trying to have some fruit instead, and the figs in season right now are my favorite.  I can't believe I waited so many years to have raw figs!  They are divine!

I've taken to having broth and a banana for breakfast, an egg scramble (with carnitas if I have some) or just eggs with grapes or apples for second breakfast/lunch, and then the lunches/snacks given below.  I make sure to get in some fresh veggies with at least one or more meals and to eat 3-4 meals a day.


Lunch 

One of my go-to lunches is basically pizza without the crust.  I broil heirloom tomato slices topped with cheese (whole milk mozzarella was a favorite, until my store switched over to part-skim :(--now I like the Farmer's cheese) and pepperoni (such as Applegate brand--a lesser of evils in the processed meat world) and then savor that ooey-gooey deliciousness.  I usually serve it alongside sliced bell peppers (I've found that the smaller they are, the sweeter, and the yellow seem to be sweeter than the red) and cucumbers (the smaller the better on these too).

I have also been known to indulge in Grain-free Biscuits from Food Renegade as sandwiches or open-faced sandwiches with Farmers cheese or an omelet.  I have it alongside loads of raw veg. and/or grapes or cinnamon apples cooked or microwaved with grassfed butter.  

As it gets chillier and cooler, wetter weather descends on Santa Cruz, I'll definitely be adding Heirloom Tomato Soup to my lunch repertoire.  

Snack

I often throw together something quick and take it on the road.  A roasted chicken leg and thigh, some home-roasted and salted cashews, and an apple is an easy meal-on-the-go.  This replaces that handy, delicious Perfect Foods bar I so often fell back on in the past.  Sometimes I'll switch this out with a couple hard-boiled eggs or leftover grassfed beef burger and sub carrots for the carb. 

Keeping hydrated is also something to think about, not just while pregnant.  Pregnancy dulled my love of teas, so I am down to water and this time of year, it can be tricky to guzzle enough cold water on cold days.

I used to like a can/bottle of coconut water post-workout as a great thirst-quencher addition to water with the added electrolytes, but I'll get over it.  I am not relying on even those probably minimally-processed, one-ingredient foods anymore.  Instead, I try to drink some lemon water with salty food or add a pinch of salt to lemon water to get electrolytes back.  I absolutely LOVE lemon water, but it does tend to make me thirsty for more--which is a good thing if I am dehydrated and just can't suck down enough plain, cold water.

Oh and while lemon seems acidic, it is actually a base to your body, so it can counteract some of the high acid load of meats and fruit as a base like veggies.  Founder of the Paleo Diet, Dr. Loren Cordain, has a wealth of information about the integral acid-base balance and how that super-acid diet is a recipe for metabolic disorder.  

For more on making your own sports drink for electrolyte replenishment, check out this post by Primal Girl in a Modern World: Easy Sports Drink Recipe (and skip the stevia--you don't need it). 

And a drink-snack:

When out and about on weekends or as a nice relaxing wind-down to the weekday, we make a trip to the local coffee shop Verve, which has become a destination for my husband and I.  Despite my love of their atmosphere, throughout my pregnancy I have had an aversion to coffee (which is fine since I shouldn't have caffeine anyway) and even my old favorite teas.  Instead of being lame and just sipping water there, I recently found a new love: the steamer--steamed organic milk with their homemade whip cream and a splash of sweetener (if any).  This is a fun indulgence for me at the coffee shop, and if you are in the Santa Cruz area and want the best coffee around, you HAVE to stop at Verve Coffee Roasters.  You won't be disappointed :)

Finally, check out your local meat market for some great ideas when you are stuck in a meat rut.  We have El Salchichero that specializes in grass-fed and pasture raised meats.  I absolutely love their chicherones (pork rinds) and have been known to indulge in their creative sausages as a change in the lunch/snack routine.  While not quite homemade, they are still local and use quality ingredients and I always cook the sausages, usually having them with eggs.  Quality meat definitely makes a difference!

An American Tsunami

Coca-Cola Red photo by Kyle May on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons

I mentioned in my last post that I would talk about Dr. Lustig's presentation, so here is some background to provide you with some thought for food.

Who is Dr. Lustig?  


Watch his phenomenal video presentation that is well worth the length.



Dr. Lustig's Presentation

Next, here is Carole Mulford's take on the presentation.  As manager of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education child development department, she organized the whole event and pulled it off flawlessly.  Thank you, Carole!

Following Carole's article is the coverage the event received by the Sentinel's staff writer. It provides the perspective of the soda tax, a controversial initiative proposed by State Assemblyman Bill Monning.

Below, I emphasized some key points in bold.  Here is Carole's letter published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

Carole Mulford: Child obesity a crisis of tsunami proportions

Posted: 04/03/2011 01:30:04 AM PDT

Carole Mulford

In the midst of the worst storm of 2011, a discussion about a health crisis likened to a tsunami was being held down the street from the site of a water main burst in Capitola. At the end of an already long day, educators, doctors, nurses, child care providers, and students came to listen and learn how to stop an epidemic of obesity and diabetes.

Some 187 people came because they care about what is happening to our children and wondered what, if anything, we can do to improve their future. The event's keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Lustig, a UC San Francisco pediatric endocrinologist, drove through that relentless downpour for three hours to deliver his message.

"If one person stops drinking soda or juice, then it will be worth the drive," he said, explaining that food-manufacturing practices have created a "toxic environment" that dooms children to being overweight.

"Changes in food processing during the past 30 years, particularly the addition of sugar to a wide variety of foods that once never included sugar, and the removal of fiber, both of which promote insulin production, have created an environment in which our foods are essentially addictive," he said.

He passionately talked about the fact that children don't wake up one day and choose to be fat.

"This notion of self-control and just saying no never works," he said. "The concept of personal responsibility is not tenable in children. Children are not responsible for food choices at home or at school, and it can hardly be said that preschool children, in whom obesity is rampant, are in a position to accept personal responsibility."

His words were inspiring and thought-provoking. Even if you wanted to avoid excess sugar you have little choice; sugar and high fructose sugar are in places you would never expect. Why do we need high fructose sugar in our chicken, canned vegetables or soy milk?

Lustig said fructose is toxic in large quantities because it is metabolized in the liver in the same way as alcohol, which drives fat storage and makes the brain think we're hungry.

"People are searching for answers to this epidemic that make sense," he says. "The science of fructose metabolism in the liver and fructose action in the brain turn the normal cycle of energy balance into a vicious cycle of consumption and disease."

"What I have proposed is quite controversial: that our food supply has been adulterated right under our very noses, with our tacit complicity. But I think the public gets it, and the tide is turning."

Lustig's powerful words remind us that we can and need to inspire one another. It is a time to get educated and take bold action. Recognition should be given to the leadership of Rep. Sam Farr, who empowered the audience to act, Assemblyman Bill Monning for his approach to address the problem, and Michael Watkins, Santa Cruz County schools superintendent, for his insight to bring the entire event together.

With our children in dire need of good nutrition, the simple intervention of an individual can make a huge difference. And when we act collectively, far greater change is possible. History will decide whether we acted quickly enough to give the next generation the healthier outcomes they deserve. Through collaboration and actions of individuals, community groups, business, educators and government, let's send a message that tells our children we can and will take better care of their health.

Carole Mulford is the manager of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education child development department.

And here is the Sentinel's story about the event, highlighting the soda tax initiative. I emphasized some key points in bold:

Monning pushes tax on soda to help educate, develop healthy lifestyle at Capitola school

By JOHN SAMMON

Posted: 03/26/2011 01:30:12 AM PDT

CAPITOLA -- State Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, on Thursday proposed a 1-cent tax per fluid ounce on soft drinks that have sweeteners in an attempt to slow what was termed the poisoning of the nation's children for profit by food companies.

Monning, whose Assembly District 27 represents portions of Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties, addressed a crowd of approximately 167 people at New Brighton Middle School in Capitola. He said the bill, titled AB 669, would impose a tax for soft drinks, including sport drinks people falsely believe are healthy because of the word "sport" on the container.

"The money raised would result in $1.7 billion," Monning said.

He said the money could be used to educate children and develop alternative, healthy eating habits in schools, community organizations and nonprofits.

Monning held aloft a 20-ounce bottle of soda. "Our bill would add 20 cents to this," he said. "This is a war, for the hearts and minds of our people. It's a war we're currently losing. But heart disease is preventable."

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, representing Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, said Santa Cruz, with a higher percentage of organic growers than almost anywhere in the country, could serve as a leader in the effort to reduce obesity.

"If we demand healthier food, that's the way they'll have to serve it," he said.

Statistics estimate the U.S. spends $65 billion annually treating chronic diseases caused by obesity.

Dr. Robert Lustig, a nationally known endocrinologist for the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Francisco, called obesity an epidemic leading to heart disease, diabetes, liver destruction and other life-threatening problems.

"Excess sugar gums up the body's metabolic system," he said. "Changes in food processing during the past 30 years, particularly the addition of sugar to a wide variety of foods that once never included sugar, and the removal of fiber, both of which promote insulin production, have created an environment in which our foods are essentially addictive."

Lustig said food manufacturing practices have created a toxic environment that dooms children to being overweight. He said he didn't know if a 1-cent tax would reduce excess sugar consumption, but noted that it's a beginning.

"It's the kinds of foods children eat, the excess sweeteners that get stored as fat. That's the problem," he added.

Lustig said he's not a socialist who's against business, but he wants to promote healthy nutrition habits. Monning said he had been labeled a "social engineer" by critics because of his stance on the food tax. He added that soft drink companies spend millions in advertising sweet-laced drinks to children.

"The real social engineering is in this advertising," he said.

In covering the history of sugar addiction and artificial sweeteners, Lustig said before World War II, Americans consumed 16 grams to 24 grams per day. By 1994, the level reached 54.7 grams per day and the number has soared to 75 grams today. Soft drink container sizes have increased just as dramatically, from a 6.5 ounce bottle in 1915 to up to 20 ounces currently.

"It's a dose-dependant poison," Lustig said. "This is an American tsunami, and it will kill more Americans than a real tsunami would."

As an example, Lustig cited the 44 ounce "Thirst Buster." If you consumed one "Thirst Buster" each day for a year, the result would be an average 57 pounds of weight gain per year, Lustig said. Normal weight gain for children is 4 pounds to 5 pounds annually. Some children today are gaining 40 pounds to 50 pounds per year.

Lustig said attempts to exercise the weight off won't work in the face of bad eating habits.

"Until we get added sugar out of the American diet, nothing will work," he said.

He said that food industry companies are putting sugar in everything, and 25 percent of American exports are food items. Other countries formerly free of sugar addiction in the past are picking up our bad eating habits and developing their own obesity epidemics.

Are you terrified or at least sufficiently moved by this?  I hope that together we can make a difference and reverse this terrible health trend.  If you would like to act on this, please contact your politicians and show support for the soda tax, bill AB 669: California's Sweetened Beverage Tax.  Here is the link to Bill Monning's website for more information: AB 699. According to Monning, every legislator gets a daily tally of the feedback for and against proposals and they take those numbers into account when the proposal is debated.  Your voice CAN make a difference!

It's Sabotage!

STRESS!!!

You're eating paleo-style, working out regularly, trying to be a good citizen, and you're still gaining or can't lose that stubborn weight.  What gives?  What sinister force so deviously undermines even our most carefully planned health and fitness strategies?  That's right, our old friend Stress.  It has been with us since the beginning and plays a useful role in our fight or flight response; however, stress today is ever-present.  Like hyperinsulinemia (perpetually elevated insulin), stress levels are a serious threat to our health and normal metabolic functioning.  Let's chip away at this humungous topic and try to come up with some anti-stress strategies.  Ready for an opus?  Here we go!

Stress Produces Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone antithesis of insulin--it brings sugar back into your bloodstream.  It is catabolic, which means it breaks down protein in muscle to release glucose back into the bloodstream for quick energy.  Catabolism = breaking down; anabolism = building.  For the nerds amongst you, here's a trick I used from my biology undergrad days: catabolism is for cats and anabolism is for ants.  Need an image?  Think of carnivorous cats tearing into the flesh of their prey as opposed to ants busily building ant hills or anabolic steroids building muscle mass to protect against becoming a "Girly Man."  I know a little something called CrossFit that produces surprisingly similar results with real world functionality! ;)

Want to know more about the mechanics of stress?  Dr. Eades, author of Protein Power, gives a good overview of the specific biochemical process of being stressed.

Cortisol is a vital hormone necessary to your survival.  The roles it plays are both good to deal with the stress event and bad if perpetuated.  Cortisol mobilizes your body to deal with stress, so everything it does is for that purpose, at the expense of normal body functioning.  Everything is give and take.  This is why prolonged elevated cortisol levels are a bad thing.  The cascade continues and body functioning cannot return to normal.  This is bad because it breaks down muscle and plays a role in repositioning fat to visceral/abdominal areas (the kind that correlates with nasties like diabetes).  It can also blunt your sensitivity to insulin, increase insulin resistance, create hypertension (high blood pressure), impair kidney function, suppress your immune system, impair fertility and threaten pregnancy, reduce growth hormone, and reduce the strength of connective tissues (like the loss of collagen from skin).  Yikes.

Need a more personal example of the ravages of cortisol?  Adrenal fatigue.  Think it can't happen to you, think again.  A normal mother of two hit an adrenal wall and it nearly killed her.  Here is her story posted by Organic & Thrifty: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.  Yes, it is extreme, but it is real.  Better than just a long list of scary terms that could happen.  Here is another more scientific, but still personal exploration into adrenal fatigue from Animal Pharm author Dr. B G, a pharmacologist.

So we've learned that you NEED cortisol, you just don't always need it sky high.  Cortisol can spell ruin for even your most carefully planned low-carb, blood sugar regulating diet if you stress out.  I am not going to go into ALL the ways you can find stress in your life.  You know what makes you stressed--basically anything and everything.  Most of us are Bisy Backsons a la Tao of Pooh, basically always on the go ('Bisy Backson' is a term defining the perpetually busy person.  It comes from a note left by a hurried Rabbit always on to the next Important Thing telling Pooh he was busy and would be back soon).  What we DO want to figure out are ways to keep cortisol in check when it starts to creep up and stay up.

Ways to Manage Cortisol


So you want to maintain cortisol levels that aren't too high all the time and don't dip too low either, since that isn't a good thing either.  There are a few ways to do this:
1.  Stress-reducing Strategies
2.  Nutrition
3.  Supplementation

1. Stress-Reducing Strategies to Reduce Cortisol

This is important.  In fact, these are the most important ways you can reduce cortisol.  You need to combat stress at its roots, not put a bandaid on it afterwards.  Here are some ways and sources for more information.

• Just Breathe

Go ahead, it works.  Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.  Center yourself and feel yourself rise to meet the challenge.  This reminds me of something I learned in public speaking: touch your fingers together to feel the comfort of connecting to yourself for strength and support.  You got this.

• Get Ye To Nature

Yes, the hippie shit works, pardon my language.  If you haven't stopped to breathe and listen in the woods, you are living an artificial life cooped up in your man-made cage.  Be in awe of that which is so much bigger than yourself.  Is the stress you feel really all that important to get so upset about?  Try to think bigger.

• Indulge in Massage

Pampering is a great way to feel alive and reduce stress.  Stress produces muscle tension that can lead to headaches and more problems.  Have someone release that tension through massage (and acupuncture like Beth Dorsey at Points for Wellness for Santa Cruzers).  Don't have a "someone," invest in a shiatsu pillow and heatable pillow like this.  Seriously, they work wonders and also cover the Take Time for Yourself provision below.

• Be Prepared 

Reduce your stress by preparing for it.  Do what you can to avoid it getting out of control.  Take notes, make lists, map directions beforehand, practice first, and assemble what you'll need.  Prepare for the situations ahead of you so that you will not be caught off guard.  You will be a cool cucumber in the face of challenge.

• Take Time for Yourself

For YOURSELF--not your family, friends, kids, spouse, pets, etc.  Spend some time with YOURSELF and get to know who you are.  Read a book, relax, go for a walk, meditate, stretch--just spend some time centering yourself and doing something for yourself.  Sometimes we feel pulled every which way and leave no time for ourselves.  Do yourself a favor and give yourself some ME time.

• Put It in Perspective

Yes, it seems overwhelming at times, but take a step back.  Are the dishes in the sink really something to get upset about?  I too have cried with frustration at the seemingly unsurmountable tasks ahead of me, but then I try to think bigger and put it in perspective.  In the whole scheme of things, does it really matter if I do the dishes now or let them sit so that I can preserve my sanity and reduce my stress?  Try to pick your battles and know that it is okay to not be Superman or Wonder-woman every day.

This applies to diet too.  I read a good quote from Paleochix the other day: 

“I eat Paleo to live better, I don’t live to eat Paleo better.”

Most of us are products of many years of bad eating and unhealthy habits.  It's within reason to expect our minds to want things that our bodies know isn't good for us.  There is also a whole world out there eating differently than we are.  This is life.  I say: cheat to keep yourself sane.  If you can be sane without cheating, congratulations--you're stronger than most of us!  If you need to cheat, make it matter.  If you try to keep your diet clean 80-90% of the time, then when you cheat, it shouldn't put you back to square one. 

Although critics may jump all over this recommendation--to them, I say: the results speak for themselves.  The results of the nutrition are improved health and performance--there is enough evidence from scientific studies and personal experience to say this with complete confidence.  "The results speak for themselves" also has a double meaning.  If you cheat hard, you'll fall hard; those results also speak for themselves.  Listen to your body and nourish rather than harm.  

It also helps when stressed to keep your nutrition in line as much as possible.  It is so easy for us to fall down the spiral of increased carbs, which spells more hunger, sleepiness, even depression.  Stress causing sugar cravings has been documented and researched, as summarized by Dr. Eades.  Instead of giving in to sugar (in its many carbohydrate forms), try to reach for healthy protein and fat for increased clarity, satiety, and satisfaction.  

• Get Some Sleep 

Screw the 7 hour minimum or the 9 hour maximum--get as much rest as you need and you need at least 8 hours.  Here is the CDC page on sleep.  And Mark's Daily Apple just had a great post on sleep too.  Sleep for Heart Health is discussed at The Heart Scan Blog.  I can't emphasize enough how important adequate sleep is or how out of whack we can make our bodies through artificial light and activities that disconnect us from the light-dark cycles we evolved upon.  Read Lights Out for more details and here is a study finding a link between cortisol-regulating gene expression in visceral fat being linked to circadian rhythms (our sleep-wake cycle).  Get the sleep you need in a dark room free from technology.  Period.  And invest in a comfy bed--it does wonders! (I know because I had been sleeping uncomfortably on a futon on the floor for the past six months.  Teaches me not to put off something that important...)

• Exercise and Play

Use exercise to fight stress.  For that hour or so YOU ARE FREE from your other life--it's just you, your body, and the workout, hopefully with some others to share the experience and help motivate you.  We were meant to move, not sit with our butts glued to chairs for hours upon hours on end.  Make exercise a part of your life--not a chore, but something you love.  Use trial and error to figure out what that something is.  Play like you are five years old again.  Do you remember what it is like to see lava between the stones of the front path or feel the giddiness of anticipation as you hide from your approaching seeker?  Find that feeling again.  

Check out CrossFit.  It's life-changing.  I CrossFit, and I left my 9 to 5 to teach CrossFit, so obviously I am sold.  There is something so invigorating about lifting heavy weight off the ground, on your shoulders or back, or overhead.  Just being able to move your body with some sense of awareness to time and space (send your butt back, stick your heels, activate your shoulders, find midline stability) is truly empowering.  You really get to know yourself and start thinking along the lines of what you can do rather than cannot.  :)

Note: DON'T OVERTRAIN.  That leads to more cortisol.  Take rest days--recovery is even more important than the workout.  The three days on, one day off or five on, two off with a week off every couple of months is the MAXIMUM for long term sustainability (for most people, freaks aside).  Many of us need to more regularly take rest days, and that is OKAY.  And please don't engage solely in chronic steady state aerobic training (i.e. endurance only) as discussed by Dr. Kurt Harris at PaNu, since it just elevates your cortisol and eats away your body.  Need proof, check out the physique of marathon runners versus that of short track runners--which would you rather be?

• Slow Down!

Don't be a Bisy Backson (from the Tao of Pooh).  Not that I endorse the "do nothing" strategy, but I think there is wisdom gained through understanding one's limitations and not being in constant motion flitting from one task to the next until crashing at night.  Take driving aggressively versus defensively.  I think racing to each traffic light, tailgating a millimeter behind another car's bumper, and weaving lane to lane to be a recipe for a heart attack if not an accident.  Why make your life so needlessly stressful?  Stress over the important stuff and live your life one moment at a time, not for some destination but the journey itself.  To illustrate, here is a great story by Chinese philosopher Chuange-tse from the Tao of Pooh:

There was a man who disliked seeing his footprints and his shadow.  He decided to escape from them, and began to run.  But as he ran along, more footprints appeared, while his shadow easily kept up with him.  Thinking he was going too slowly, he ran faster and fasters without stopping, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died.  

If he had stood still, there would have been no footprints.  If he had rested in the shade, his shadow would have disappeared.  

• Be Comfortable in Your Skin

Okay, this one is really hard for me and for most women and probably most men.  We are so caught up in what we "should" look like that we are never happy with how we do look.  This isn't to say that you shouldn't work towards a healthier you, just don't stress out about it.  If you constantly weigh yourself or obsess about food and your figure, how is that going to solve anything?  You are just producing more cortisol and laying on the abdominal fat.  If you haven't before, watch this Dove Commercial for what it really takes to be a model.  You'll be surprised.  Don't look outward for the perfect You, look inward.  Making yourself more calm, happy, and in control will shine through and make you beautiful.  


Bottom line:  Take these steps to reduce your stress and preserve your health and sanity for years to come!

Other Resources: 

Read more on what Zen To Fitness called Staying Out of Starvation Mode in their recent blog post.  

2. Nutrition to Regulate Cortisol

Obviously, proper nutrition sets you up for success.  It's the base of CrossFit's athletic pyramid for a reason (thanks CrossFit Peachtree for the image!) (Note: when I diagram it, I also include Sleep with Nutrition and after this post, I think I will add Stress-Reducing Strategies).  It is just common sense to eat what nourishes rather than harms (which is mostly foods we evolved upon).  We can quibble over the specifics, but eat paleo-style and watch your carbohydrate intake.  Try to keep your carbs low glycemic and low in quantity, except for veggies--go wild with those!  They'll add some important minerals (like magnesium and zinc) and vitamin C that help keep cortisol in check.

Post workout nutrition is a great time to harness the increased metabolic rate that will get protein to your cells to build and repair muscle stressed during the workout.

According to an article by Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (thanks Tara Grant for the link!):

Carbohydrate consumed with lean protein immediately after training has a cortisol suppressing effect. High glycemic index (GI) carbs in particular, cause an insulin spike, which not only helps restore muscle glycogen, stimulates protein synthesis and kick starts the recovery process, it also helps lower the exercise-induced rise in cortisol. 

Robb Wolf has more specifics to share (note: PWO means post workout):

The idea of a PWO meal containing carbs (and protein) is to take advantage of a period of time in which the muscles are particularly insulin sensitiveve. We can fly nutrients into the muscle “under the radar” via a mechanism called “non insulin mediated glucose transport”. Amino acids are also taken in during this time and may play a synergistic role in both glycogen repletion but also decreasing inflammation that accompanies hard training. Said another way, you recover from exertion faster. So, what should ya eat? We actually want a starchy carb as our primary carb. Yams and sweet potatoes are great options as they are also highly nutritious. Fruit should be used sparingly in this meal if one is focused on optimized glycogen repletion as fructose refills liver glycogen first, and once liver glycogen is full we up-regulate the lipogenic activity of the liver and start down the road towards fat gain and insulin resistance.

Of course, Robb does have a high-carb or low-carb post-workout discussion here, that contradicts the high-carb rule post workout.  For health and weight maintenance, Robb suggests a low-carb post workout (LC-PWO) meal with protein and fat primarily:

...part of what we want with this PWO meal is the MAINTENANCE of insulin sensitivity. If we totally top off our glycogen stores PWO we impair insulin sensitivity and make it damn tough to lean out. So, one way to look at this is the a LC-PWO meal is focusing on muscular recovery and growth, while minimizing or limiting the effects of insulin or carbohydrate. This is in stark contrast with what we will see in the case of the high carb PWO meal. From my perspective this is THE PWO meal of choice from a health promotion standpoint. 

The low-carb meal he suggests:

In this situation the PWO meal of whey protein + coconut milk is providing quickly digested protein which will reverse catabolic actions of training, with just a bit of fat to suppress the normal glucose release of a large protein meal via glucagon.

A big HOWEVER:

...although a low carb PWO meal is preferable for health, for longevity I think an OCCASIONAL HC-PWO meal is of benefit for a variety of reasons. Some of what I will cover in the book relates to two facts which seem at odds:

What is the metabolic profile most associated with EFFECTIVE aging? Answer: the ability to metabolize fat for energy.

What Helps to ensure this profile? OCCASIONAL bouts of glycolysis (large amounts of carbs).

To this end, once one is healthy, but following a low-carb approach drop in one HC-PWO meal every 5-7 days. Post burner is a perfect time.

Although confusing, this discussion is important to have since most sources just point you towards high glycemic carbs + protein post workout and never look back.  I suggest you read up on it to form your own decision.  Here is a great summary of post-wod nutrition information: CrossFit Santa Clara Nutrition.

Additional tools to reduce cortisol?  Limit your caffeine intake since it raises cortisol levels.  I'll pretend that doesn't include the teas I am totally addicted to ;)

3. Supplementation to Manage Cortisol

This is a grey area.  Supplementation can lead you down a slippery slope of dependency on the drug industry that has profit more in mind than your health.  I am definitely more inclined to find what I need through real, whole foods.

That being said, I am a proponent of fish oil supplementation since I buy into the arguments that we just cannot get enough from our diet and that it does so much good for our recovery and health.  Fish oil supplementation can aid your cortisol regulation because omega-3 fatty acids reduce cortisol levels.  According to one summary on cortisol supplementation:

In a number of clinical tests, fish oil has been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in women and men. Preliminary research has shown that fish oil may help individuals cope with psychological stress and lower their cortisol levels. In a study published in 2003, researchers gave seven study volunteers 7.2 grams per day of fish oil for three weeks and then subjected them to a battery of mental stress tests. Blood tests showed that these psychological stressors elicited changes in the subjects’ heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels. After three weeks of fish oil supplementation, however, the rise in cortisol levels secondary to stress testing was significantly blunted, leading the authors to conclude that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil “inhibits the adrenal activation elicited by a mental stress, presumably through effects exerted at the level of the central nervous system.”

This is yet another reason why fish oil supplementation is beneficial to your diet.  Check out my last post, the Starter Series: 3. Eat Fat for more information on fish oil.

Vitamin C is another way to reduce cortisol levels.  There is definitely something going on between cortisol and vitamin C--the vitamin seems to regulate cortisol and be involved in its production and regulation (so it can turn it on as well as off).  Here is one study showing a relationship between high cortisol and low ascorbate (vitamin C in the body).  Listen to this researcher's conclusion in Science Daily about vitamin C in our ancestral diet:

Recommending a sharper look at the present RDA, Campbell said he believes that our prehistoric ancestors probably consumed large amounts of vitamin C in a tropical diet rich in fruits. "If so, the physiological constitution we have inherited may require doses far larger than the present RDA to keep us healthy under varying environmental conditions, including stress."

Okay, nice to see they are looking into our evolutionary past, but I have to take some issues with this.

1.) Is a tropical diet rich in fruit really characteristic of our ancestral past?  Probably not.  We were on the move fast and fruit is seasonal, even in the wet/dry climates close to the equator.  Mark's Daily Apple just had an excellent post about fructose availability and seasonality--check it out!  He also painted the scene of our evolutionary stomping ground in this post, which wasn't a tropical paradise.

2.) Fructose isn't all that great for us.  Read Just Say No...To Juice? for more on that juicy topic.

3.) The mixed bag.  Sure, I'd love for people to switch to fruit to satisfy their sweet teeth, but massive consumption of fruit just leads you down the Always Hungry Carb Crash Zombie route--I know, I have been there.  So am I crazy to worry about a food pyramid that still places grains at the base and might endorse even more fruit in the diet (which, I might add are very hard to eat local and seasonally), which further tilts the seesaw in favor of carbohydrate at the expense of protein (inadequate as it is) and fat (relegated to the tippy top)?

Okay, back to the vitamin C story.  Vitamin C as you know from our Starter Series on veggies is present in our leafy greens, as well as our fruit.  So we can get a healthy dose from a rich, varied diet.  But is it enough?  Should we supplement?

Good questions.  I am still trying to find the answers myself.  I had been taking Emergen-C before bed to help regulate cortisol overnight.  I need to look more into the research here, but I read the recommendation from Robb Wolf, so I have tried it out.  I've read that cortisol hits a high before rising (our internal alarm clock) and after high stress like post-workout, so I am not 100% sure why take vitamin C before bed, except perhaps it helps keep levels in check overnight and reduce that morning spike.  Why not after a workout?  Updated 4/13/2010, according to Robb:

Keep in mind that food consumption etc will help blunt cortisol. Overly aggressive management of the inflammation can actually undermine some of the benefits of training. vit-c can be used acutely to reduce cortisol but PWO may not be the best time. Pre-bed to help relax, or during the day to help with chronically elevated cortisol is good to go. 

Until now I have looked past the plethora of processed, corn-derived products on the label of Emergen-C, but they have been eating away at me for a long time.  Updated 4/13/2010: I just switched to buffered Vitamin C, 1000mg.  I am trying out taking it before bed and with breakfast--I'll see how that goes.  UPDATED 4/14/2010: With the need for morning cortisol to keep me awake til lunch, I am not taking it at breakfast anymore, since breakfast is already lowering levels and the berries I have already have vitamin C, so any more is overkill and might lead me down the path of sleepiness.  Trial and error at work!

I have to share an interesting snippet from an online article on adrenal fatigue by Dr. Rodger Murphree:

Individuals with low adrenal function are usually not hungry when they wake up. They instead rely on chemical stimulants (coffee, sodas, cigarettes, etc.) to get them going. These stimulants raise blood sugar levels as well as serotonin levels. However, these stimulants also increase adrenaline and cortisol levels. This curbs their appetite even further. However, the body needs to break the eight hour fast (breakfast) it has been under. The brain especially needs to fed; forty percent of all food stuff fuel goes to maintain proper brain function. This is one reason a person may have problems with “Fibro fog” and mood disorders (anxiety and depression).

Cortisol levels are at their highest around 8:00 a.m. A person may be hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and their cortisol levels will be extremely high in the morning. They may feel nauseated, mentally and physically drained, jittery, suffer from headaches, and eating is the last thing they want to do. They need to eat anyway! A small snack (avoid simple sugars) is all they need until hunger comes, usually a couple of hours later. Then they should eat another balanced snack to tie you over until lunch. They should never skip lunch! It’s best to eat little meals throughout the day.

Note: I don't fully endorse the article or multiple meals throughout the day.  I believe intermittent fasting can be beneficial too and with low carb intake, you don't need many small meals because you are fat-fueled, not tied to the whims of carbohydrate-induced blood sugar spikes (for more on the dangers of eating too often on a low-carb diet read Primal Wisdom's post--this is so good I may have to devote an entire post to it!).  However, that part I quoted is something I can identify with--at least in the past.  I hated eating breakfast and now that it is back to routine for me, I enjoy it and look forward to it, even if I am not ravenously hungry.

In addition to the summary article above, here is another article from Think Muscle describing more possible supplements, and another from Whole 9 specifying CrossFitters; HOWEVER, make sure you also read this article by Tom Venuto (cited above too) on if we even need supplementation for cortisol maintenance in the first place.  For now, I think I might let the vitamin C run out and do away with it, see what happens.  I am really reluctant to supplement beyond the fish oil, vitamin D, and B-complex (the last one is probably unnecessary).

What do you think?  I'd love to hear reader opinions and experiences!  So how are you going to take steps to reduce your stress?

References used extensively:
http://www.ironmagazine.com/article154.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol

http://www.thinkmuscle.com/ARTICLES/jalali/cortisol.htm

Get Your Kids Off the Crack

A healthy start to your day.

Yes, that is what sugar is to our bodies.  It's addictive as crack and packed with a slew of health detriments worthy of being called a drug.  So today I am going to help any parents out there by providing some useful information and case stories to help you get your kids to eat healthy (and you yourself if you haven't taken the plunge!).  By healthy I mean: meats and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and NO sugar, NO grains, NO legumes, and NO dairy.  Difficult mission?  Not really as difficult as you may think.  Cue Scrooged voice over: "Your life might just depend on it."


Why bother?


Here are just a few reasons to change your children's diet:

1.  Their health.  Equipping your kids with the most healthy digestive system you can will help them fight off bugs that kids so frequently catch.  You are also setting up their bodies to resist disease and such prevalent problems plaguing our children as obesity and even cancer.  Check out all those healthy veggies I have been describing.  Antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals are necessary NOT optional.  Kids need protein, fat, and carbohydrate at every meal to help balance their hormones and avoid highs and lows in blood sugar.  Changing your child's diet can also help existing conditions such as asthma, MS, autism, and diabetes.  Check out Robb Wolf's site like this post for more on diabetes and read up on Loren Cordain's research on his website for more details and case studies.  If you knew you had a possible remedy for these conditions or could protect against them, wouldn't you give it a try?  

2.  Their body image.  You are setting your kids down the right path when you care about what they eat.  You are showing them how important good food choices are and how they are an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  Eating healthy will inevitably lead to a healthy-looking body.  No, they won't be paper thin models and no, they won't be obese.  Neither is okay or healthy.  You are showing them that food is fuel to help maintain bodily systems, build muscle, and allow for growth.  Along with exercise (like CrossFit!), your kids will develop healthy, toned bodies that are useful for reaching their fitness goals.  The perks of looking good in a bathing suit for your teen are just that: perks.  The real goals should be getting one more pullup, climbing the rope faster, finishing a workout faster with heavier weight and better technique, and achieving that difficult skill for the first time.  A healthy body comes from exercise and nutrition.  You can't have one without the other.

Check out this Dove commercial showing a model's transformation and how our perception of beauty is distorted.  Every young girl (and boy) should watch this.

Here is the take from a diet.com reporter on the photoshop extravaganza in our media: Part 1 and Part 2.

3.  Their well-being and mental clarity.  Giving the kids the tools to balance their diet with healthy protein, fat, and carbohydrates is like teaching them math or reading.  With these tools they can soar.  Their mental clarity will be pronounced.  No more highs and lows as their blood sugar roller coasters from the last sugar-laden meal.  Many teachers have reported remarkably better concentration at school from children following these dietary guidelines.  Here is evidence of improved test scores, better discipline, and improved health from a principal who banned sugar.  Balancing the nutrients and fueling the body with what it needs also protects against rapid mood swings and depression.  I am not saying that your teenagers will be angels, but if you can help them gain more control over their mental state, wouldn't it be worth it?  Eating healthy just makes you feel good.  Give it a try!

4.  Their values.  By cleaning up your children's diet, you are showing how much you care about your children and value their health.  By changing your diet to eliminate most processed foods, you are changing their value systems to respect local, organic sources for their food and to care about the process foods undergo to get to the table.  You are making them think about where their food comes from and to better connect with it.  Each trip together to a farmer's market and allowing your child a free-for-all to find fruit and veggies of his/her choice can be like a trip to the toy store or candy store.  Cook and prepare your meals together as a family activity.  Let these new experiences help define for your child what is healthy and fun.  Help your children respect the environment and their foods by making the right choices yourself.  Lead by example.

5.  Their future.   You have the means to send your kids down the right path right now.  The decisions you make now will echo throughout their lives.  If you give a kid childhood obesity, he will battle it throughout his adult life.  The same goes for the other side of the coin.  If you give your kids a healthy childhood, they will grow strong and be buffered against the not-so-wise decisions they may make later in life.  Imagine if you had a healthy diet and CrossFit when you were growing up.  What kind of a beast would you be today?  Check out CrossFit Kids HQ for examples of said beasts growing up with the benefit of CrossFit and healthy nutrition.  They are the role models we want for our kids.

If you could raise your kids so that they have the tools to lead a long, healthy life, wouldn't you make the effort?  Right now, by throwing away that leftover Halloween candy and purging the house of all high fructose corn syrup-laden foods, grains, and sugar you can make a difference.  It isn't that hard when it comes right down to it.  Some discomfort, yes, but time will win this war.  If you can hold up your resolve, soon the kids will stop asking for that candy bar or trip to McDonald's.  Instead, allow them to pick their meals and treats from healthy choices at the store or restaurant.  You will be surprised not by the limitations, but by the opportunities and bounty of real food that is out there.  Let your children's lapses into their old life and diet come from outside your control and soon your kids will realize that the sugar/grain hangover they feel after a sleepover binge isn't really worth it or at least definitely not something they want to do everyday.

Most importantly, you are their parent.  You can do this.  The rewards speak for themselves.


How Can I Get Started?

Here are some amazing resources to help you make this change as easy as possible.

1.  If you are just going to read one source for curiosity's sake, this is it.  This blog post at Organic and Thrifty is about how a mom got her kids to follow a gluten-free diet.  While gluten-free is a step in the right direction, it is best to give up ALL grains and sugars and even dairy since it is just concentrated grains (unless you switch to raw 100% grass-fed milk).  Sometimes it takes a celiac child to force this issue, but imagine what you can do if you make this change voluntarily and don't wait for such a problem to force your hand!  I love her thorough article detailing her personal experience and how to make it happen in your own life.  Please read this!

2.  Another great read is a father's experience and recommendations for how you can do the same at CrossFit California City.  He is straightforward, and the advice he gives is effective.

3.  Here is CrossFit Norcal's answer to how to get kids to eat paleo.  Simple and straightforward.

4.  The CrossFit Journal has a free article called "Getting off the crack" by Nicole Carroll.  This is an adult's perspective of embarking upon the zone diet.

5.  More brevity needed?  Here is CrossFit Kids nutritional advice:

Sane nutrition for kids in 150 words

Our goal with kids isn't to get them on the zone, but to get them to think and make good choices about what they eat. Our goal is to teach them very basic concepts, sugar is bad, protein is good and you need to eat some in every meal. Nuts and seeds are good fats. Eat them, don't avoid them. Pasta, white bread, and white rice are not that good for you, stuff that's red, yellow, green and found in the fruit and vegetable aisle is good for you. Eat a lot of it.

Look at your plate, make a fist, eat that much meat every meal; turn your hand over and fill it with nuts and seeds, eat that much good fat, fill the rest of your plate with stuff you found in the fruit and vegetable aisle. Fill your plate this way at every meal, don't eat more.

6.  Still have some arguments against the big change?  Here are six reasons NOT to eat paleo and why they DON'T hold up.  Let this be your ammunition when others question your "insanity."

7.  Robb Wolf chimes in with Kids, Paleo and Nutrient Density with a scientific approach to show that paleo is good for kids, and NO they will not miss anything vital to their nutrition--in fact, they will be far healthier!  

The First Step: Breakfast

Many people say the most important and effective first step is changing breakfast.  Throw away those high glycemic, sugary breakfast cereals and exchange them for real food.

My go-to breakfast is eggs (farmer's market or omega-enriched) and sausage (Aidell's varieties that are sugar, grain, and soy free) with either some bread or an apple (microwave it for a minute or two for a great warm apple breakfast suitable for this chilly weather!).  I also sometimes change it up and have leftover chicken or turkey sauteed with apple and cinnamon for a quick skillet breakfast.  I also used to go crazy with the omelets and veggies, which is probably preferable to the fruit.  For example, simply toss in some spinach, mushrooms, and summer squash for a hearty meal with your eggs.  Leftovers are also an option (mmmmnn  reheated spaghetti with meat sauce), as are Egg Cupcakes 2.0 courtesy of CrossFit Norcal for a more portable breakfast.  Breakfast is also the easiest meal to eat out in restaurants with omelets abounding any breakfast menu.  Just exchange the toast for a fruit cup.

For more on healthy meal ideas, check out my post Lunch Time for some simple lunch and snack ideas.  I have already posted some tasty dinner ideas and will post more in the future!

Are You Inspired to Make the Change? 

Let me know what else you need to help you get started and I will try to help in any way that I can! If you have already taken the plunge, let us know how you accomplished it!