Get Gary Fit

Artificial sweeteners seem to get invented by accident … in labs. Saccharin was developed by chemist Constantin Fahlberg. He forgot to wash his hands after trying to invent new uses for coal tar. When he was eating dinner, noticed that it tasted sweet - coal tar.

Splenda is the commercial name for sucralose-based artificial sweetener. Sucralose is made by replacing three select hydrogen-oxygen groups on sucrose (table sugar) molecules with three chlorine atoms. Very little research on the side effects of Splenda has been done. This concerns me. I’m also not a fan of the chlorine aspect of it.

One of my favorite diet drinks, among many, Coke Zero contains Aspartame.

Aspartame was discovered by chemist James M. Schlatter. He was trying to produce an anti-ulcer drug candidate. He licked his finger to lift a paper and noticed it was sweet.

“Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into natural residual components, including aspartic acid, phenylalanine, methanol, and further breakdown products including formaldehyde and formic acid, accumulation of the latter being suspected as the major cause of injury in methanol poisoning.”

Let us look at the three components:

1. Aspartic acid - an amino acid. Aspartate is non-essential in mammals. Reactions to excess aspartate includes: Headaches/migraines, nausea, fatigue, sleep problems, vision problems, anxiety attacks, depression, and more. 
2. Phenylalanine - an amino acid. In large quantities interferes with the production of serotonin.
   
   
3. Methanol - Simplest alcohol. Flammable. Used by Mobil for producing gasoline. Methanol has a high toxicity in humans. If ingested, for example, as little as 10 mL of pure methanol can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve, and 30 ml is potentially fatal.

At one point, 4 years ago, I was drinking 12 cans of Coke Zero a day. Now I am down to 3-6 cans a day. It is time to finally quit the soda. This was enough to motivate me.

Sources: Discovery Science, Wikipedia, How Stuff Works, Mercola, Women to Women 

The type of calories consumed do affect weight gain. The body balances itself out. If you ever have felt that you had “pent up energy” and wanted to run about… well it was pent up. Personally, I’ve noticed that if I load up on Paleo foods that I will feel like I have more energy. This is the body’s way to balance and expend excess calories consumed.

However, as with carbohydrates, they are stored as fat instead of being converted to usable energy. Then with a  low calorie, low-fat, high carbohydrate diet then this is a triple hit. I’ve experienced this in my life. I’d lose a little bit of weight, most of which muscle, and watch my “belly” grow. The once off the “diet”, gain back what I lost and then some. Often looking fatter.

The body is hungry, and one eats carbs which are then stored as fat. Little of those calories are converted to usable energy. The body conserves energy being used to compensate for such. On top of that, one is consuming less calories and instinctively metabolism slows and the body tries to conserve energy being spent.  A cycle that repeats to “fatten” one up.

What has been working best for me is to eat plenty of naturally fatty grass-fed free-range meats, vegetables, and fruit. Meanwhile ending / limiting the consumption of flour, sugar, processed snacks, potatoes, pasta and other carbohydrates.

More to come.

Two years ago, in 2009, I had a lipid panel taken. My triglycerides were 336. “Normal level” should be about 130. My doctor told me to eat a low-fat diet and exercise. The problem about the low-fat diet, is that it will lower both HDL and LDL. Both of mine were low.

However, a low HDL will raise triglycerides. It was making it worse. I remembered the days of me trying The South Beach Diet so I went that route. It helped. My weight dropped. I was eating very little carbohydrates, cooking with olive oil, and ate no processed food.

Little did I know that the oleic acid found in olive oil raises HDL while lowering LDL without consuming more carbohydrates. And as an added benefit your triglycerides go down because HDL went up. I’ve scheduled a doctor’s appointment on August 11th, will try to get another lipid panel done to monitor any improvements. Gotta keep fit.

People would tell me, “Oh, it’s just water weight.” when I would start eating a low carbohydrate diet. This would be said to make it sound “easy” or dismiss my diet changes. I then would feel guilty, thinking it was unhealthy dehydration.

To the contrary. Endocrinologist Edward Gordon and Walter Bloom of Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital both noted that carbohydrates, which spiked insulin, caused one to retain sodium and water. Thus lowering carbohydrates also lowered sodium. And lowering sodium caused the kidneys to no longer hold on to salt but to excrete it via urine. Since water was needed to balance high sodium levels in the body it too was excreted as no longer needed. Balance.

I for one am glad and proud to have lost water weight. My body is adjusting itself. To me, no bloat is better.

One reason I call this my journey to getting fit is that I’ve tried quite a few diets over the past 8 years. Since 2002, I’ve had ups and downs with my weight. I started this blog in Sept 2009 as a personal journal on my journey in getting fit. Since that time it has turned into so much more. Here are some thoughts on a few of the diets I’ve tried.

Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet the concept that I remember strongly was: All the meats you can enjoy — both fatty and lean, cheeses, and being “allergic” to carbohydrates. Now this was 8 years ago and the book I had grabbed was the old version. Since then, it has been revised with a more balanced version. I wasn’t a fan of this diet. Personally didn’t feel well after awhile on it. Most likely too much cheese in combination with the meat. So I quit.

The South Beach Diet

I call this the diet of 2003. South Beach Diet at the time worked really well for me. I lost 20 lbs in about 2 weeks. I still can’t believe it. I attribute part of that to a better, younger metabolism. One of the best things I do take away from this experience is that I started eating breakfast on it. It has been said time and time again but breakfast really is important to one’s diet. It just depends on what kind of breakfast food you are eating. I felt hungry all the time. I limited the amount of protein I had to about 4-6 oz and tried to eat as many vegetables as possible. No carbs. I could smell pizza dorm rooms away. And 4 months later, I let the ball drop and had gained all the weight back plus a few extra.

Four Hour Body

This book is one of my favorites. Author Tim Ferris took the humble approach. He states that its a collection of personal experiences, this is what he has tried and encourages you to see what works for you. I like that balanced approach. The diet that he recommends has plenty of lean meats, vegetables, no fruit, and “slow carbs”. For the past 7 years he has seen great results with that diet. Reducing the amount of carbohydrates in one’s diet is something that all of these have in common. And that does make a big difference. Allows for one cheat day a week, which I do love. Keeps the sanity.

The Paleo Diet

I’ve heard great things from various people about this unique diet. The main reason is that it really focuses on diet meaning the way you eat as opposed to “a program for losing weight”. There is no calorie counting even though I still do. I continue to calorie count as a way to daily log and keep focused. A food journal if you will. Paleo focuses on the way our ancestors ate for the last 2 million years: lean meats, tons of vegetables, little or no fruit - as it was a rare treat, no dairy, and no starchy carbohydrates. This diet also allows for cheat “meals”. Depending on which phase you chose increases or decreases the amount of cheat meals.

I’m currently on the Paleo Diet. Believe it or not, cutting out dairy has made me feel so much better. When you think about it, we are the only species that drinks milk past the “baby phase”. And on top of that it’s milk from another animal. On my cheat day I will occasionally grab some cheese as its the one thing I do miss but that’s the only time. And I feel like Paleo is an adventure into a whole new way of eating. Can’t wait to share more on that in the future.

The key is to remember that we are all uinique. We all start at different phases. Certain things work may work for me but not for you. For instance if you had a peanut allergy I would highly recommend staying away from them. However, I do not. Just remember to keep your chin up, try something and record the results!