I recently attended a free lecture by a certified personal trainer on 'How to get a flatter stomach and why we can not ever seem to loose weight in our trouble spots'. He introduced a lot of 'science' that I have never heard before, but it seemed to ring true and has inspired me to make a few changes in my nutritional life. The following is a summary of what was said (some of what is common knowledge, but I will include it all to be complete). Then, I will share what I am going to do about what I learned.
First, Never ever DIET. That is to say, starve yourself on a pittance of calories in order to lose weight. Yes you will initially and invariably lose weight, but most of it will be muscle mass, not fat. You will inevitably gain weight back again (and maybe more than before) and this will be fat. Therefore, all your starvation diet will do for you is replace useful muscle for more unwanted jiggle!
Second, Eat healthier. No rocket science here. Eat more whole grains, organic is better, avoid highly processed foods, two legged or less meats are healthier than four legged meats-more lean, easier for your body to process (ie. chicken, turkey, fish vs. pork, beef), avoid fast foods [Side note: did you know nutritionally speaking a McDonald's Big Mac is classified as a dessert?! There is sugar in every aspect of the sandwich, in the meat, in the bun, in the cheese, even a sugar spray over the lettuce, no wonder a small hamburger can be 1,000 calories!!! He then went on to list several other often enjoyed foods that do the same = pump their product with sugar, to make them tastier and more addictive].
Third, Exercise. Interestingly, we only need 3 or 4 times a week of good sweat producing exercise for 20-30 minutes to stay healthy and get fit (focused on Cardio vs. weights based on fitness goals). More is better, but 3 or 4 is sufficient.
Fourth, and here is the new stuff (at least for me)--Maintain a good internal ph balance. When we were born internally we had a ph of 7.3 (on a scale of 0 = Most acidic and 14 most basic or alkaline). Our body and blood wants to be around ph of 7.35, however most of what we put into our bodies tips the scale to acidity. Our poor liver has to process everything we eat and drink including detoxifying all the acids we ingest.
In relation to area specific weight loss, this is why acidity is bad: The liver can only process so much. If there is more need than capacity, the extra acidity remains in the blood stream, in attempts to keep the blood at ph 7.35 the body then diffuses it into the lymph. When the lymph nodes get too saturated it then leaks out into the surrounding tissues. These acids then bathe around the local fat cells and start etching their surfaces. In a protective response the body creates a watery slim layer to prevent harm to our fat cells.
Our body uses fat cells as a storage facility for future energy. Thus if you work out enough all your fat cells should melt away and become energy. So why can't we lose weight in certain areas, no matter how much we exercise? Answer: the body can not recognize the fat cells as energy sources that are covered with that protective watery slim coat. Thus they are never touched and we remain fat! [Interesting side note: Men have a greater collection of lymph nodes under their chin and in their abdomen, women have a larger collection in their thighs, butt and under arms, thus we see a preponderance of sex-specific 'trouble areas'].
In general most grains, dairy products, meats, seeds, legumes and nuts tend to have an acid ash. Most fruits and vegetables tend to have an alkaline ash. Note: some fruits such as orange juice and lemon juice are acidic in their natural state but turn alkaline after they have been metabolized in the body, where as cranberries, plums and prunes are classified as acidic because they contain acids the body can't metabolize.
The instructor laid his strongest case against Soda Pop (ph 1.5), Coffee (ph 0.8), Alcohol (ph 0.5) and everything that contained a lot of highly processed sugars.
What is the solution: To lower our general blood acidity level, so the watery-slim layer can go away and our exercising can uniformly remove our fat--including our trouble areas.
Pure water has a ph of 7.0. As a college professor once told me, "the solution to pollution is dilution". Lots of water will bring everything toward neutral ph.
Eat more fruits and vegetables, especially Bananas, Figs, Orange Juice, Potatoes, Spinach and Watermelon. Also note: Chocolate is very Alkaline!!!
So what am I doing: I will continue to exercise 3 times a week + I am giving up soda pop, desserts (sugar), four legged meat (beef, pork), I avoid most fast food, and I eat much more fruits and vegetables. Now that is not to say I have given up on the good things completely. If I go to cafe rio, i'm getting the pork. If I go to five guys or Crown burger I'm getting a cheeseburger. If it's a special occasion i'll have a dessert. I might even steal a sip of my wife's diet coke at a restaurant. Also, I will never give up chocolate. I just want to be an overall healthier person and who knows this might even lead me to get a six pack someday.
I do not know how much of this is really true science, but it sounds true and even if it turns out not to be I think I will be healthier by living it. It is interesting how much overlap this lecture had on the word of wisdom: Avoid Coffee, tea, tobacco, eat whole grains, eat meat sparingly…Very interesting. Maybe the 'word' in the word of wisdom is ph?
