The Health Blog: Free Health & Nutrition Information

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before on this blog, but my husband and I are aspiring raw foodists. Last year, we went over 3 whole months on an almost 100% raw vegan diet, not counting a transitioning period. It was pretty much the best we’ve ever felt in our lives. Among other things, some of the benefits we felt were: Amazing energy, clarity of thought, extra weight dropping off with no extra effort and clear glowing skin.

Unfortunately, due to several severe stressful things that happened in our lives, we slowly fell off the path. We still buy and eat WAY more produce than we ever used to as cooked food vegetarians/vegans, but many of the benefits we felt before definitely went away.

Recently, we have been wishing again to feel as good as we did last year when we tried out this diet. We have both regained some of the weight we lost last year and have realized that food – particularly junk food and processed food – is an emotional addiction (at least for us). And that is something we would like to work through slowly.

Also, just in the last year, while trying to sort out the myriad of raw vegan approaches from different “gurus”, I have been drawn more and more to the health philosophy of Dr. Doug Graham of Foodnsport. (He also hosts a board on Vegsource.com). He teaches the 80-10-10 raw vegan diet. 80-10-10, or 811, is the recommended ratio of carbs-protein-fat. This diet has helped not only many professional athletes improve their performance, but also many sick people regain health they thought they would never have again.

So last week, we ordered a set of DVDs that was produced by Dr. D and his wife. It’s called, “Making Friends with your Food.” It is a 12 hour series on health, nutritional science, diet and fitness. It should get here any day now, and my husband and I are committed to watching these dvds, learning some principles and then trying out the 80-10-10 diet for a period of time. It wasn’t a cheap investment, but we hope that in the long term it will be a good investment in our health.

All that to say, I’m guessing I’m going to be a-blogging about the things I learn from Dr. Graham and these DVDs in the next few weeks/months, so watch out! And if anyone wants to know more about the 80-10-10 diet, please read the FAQs on the Foodnsport site and/or go to Dr. Graham’s board on Vegsource. Happy healthy days, everybody!

If you haven’t noticed, I have been AWOL the last few months. I asked if I should write an explanation. One loyal reader, Ken Dix, said:

Yes, Ryan, we loyal readers demand an explanation on why you disappeared this summer. I started eating junk food while waiting for the next Health Blog post!

So here is my story.

Starting in May, Stephanie and I began regular chiropractic care. Three visits a week. At first, we handled the visits just fine, in the sense that they weren’t cutting into our schedule too much. But after a couple weeks, we found the pace too grueling for us.

We loved the chiropractic care. The tension in my back went away and hasn’t come back. The back pain Stephanie was experiencing went away as well. But the amount of time it took (we were driving 25 minutes one way) was simply too onerous.

So after nearly two months, we quit. That was near the end of June.

At the same time, I had really picked up the pace on writing posts for my copywriting and marketing blog. I write advertising copy for a living, so keeping a copywriting blog helps to establish my credibility in the field. There is a direct and measurable impact on my business.

As you can imagine, writing two blogs, plus writing hundreds of pages of sales copy in addition to that, is difficult. Naturally, I began to post less on The Health Blog as my business grew.

Starting June 26, I took a full-time paid position. A client of mine who was happy with my work asked me to work full-time for him. I agreed to a 30-day trial. This further prevented me from posting on The Health Blog.

After the 30 days was up, I had clear confirmation that being employed isn’t for me. After more than a year of freelance work from home, I could not give up my flexibility and the extra time I have to spend with my family.

While I was working in July, I maintained my client workload. Some nights I’d come home from eight or nine hours in the office, then put in an extra five or six hours at home, climbing into bed at midnight or later. Talk about exhausting!

When I quit my full-time gig, I had to play catch-up. So August became a time for me to transition back into my freelance work and catch up on things I had neglected.

Now it’s September and I’m feeling like I have a better handle on things. Plus, the holidays are approaching fast, which provides a natural opportunity to write about health. (Here comes the attack of the Halloween candy!)

So that’s my story.

It was a combination of things that kept me from writing about health. Not that I wasn’t thinking about it. Stephanie and I both did a no-sugar diet in early summer, which was good. I’ve done one twice now, and I’m beginning to think of them as no-sugar fasts rather than a way of life. It seems easier and more realistic to give up sugar for a time than to give it up for good.

I’ll share one last thing. Early this summer, my brother Jared mentioned a verse that says, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Matt. 15:11)

And so for a few months now, I’ve been thinking about what I say more than what I eat. It is a good thing to meditate on.

Anyway, thank you for reading. And thanks to Sarah Parker and Kelly Stuart who “kept things going” in my absence. If it hadn’t been for their posts this summer, The Health Blog would have been a real ghost town.

One of the best ways to kick-start weight loss is to build muscle through strength training.

Why?

Because by adding muscle to your body, you’re increasing your metabolic rate. You will naturally burn more calories throughout the day. (Muscle tissue “eats up” calories, even at rest.)

If you are trying to lose weight, a diet alone is a big mistake. As you cut back your food intake without exercising, your body will burn both fat and muscle, thereby lowering your metabolic rate. As your metabolism drops, you will burn fewer calories each day, and it will become increasingly harder to lose weight.

A diet plus cardiovascular exercise is better than a diet alone. But the best “recipe” for weight loss–the one with the highest success rate–will include strength training of some kind. Because the more muscle you build, the more calories you’ll burn.

An article by Jane Brody and published in The Rocky Mountain News says this:

With greater muscle mass, your basic metabolic rate will rise and you will burn more calories all day and night. And since muscle holds water and takes up less room than the equivalent weight of fat, by shedding fat and gaining muscle you can lose inches and sizes without losing actual pounds.

As Brody suggests, don’t be surprised if your weight stays the same or even goes up a little bit right after you begin strength training. This is simply muscle replacing fat.

Take my wife, for instance. She is 5′5″. During times when we’ve not exercised consistently, her weight has dropped as low as 116 lbs. But when she is in her best condition, her weight hovers around 120-122 lbs. This is because of increased muscle mass.

Oh, and one more thing: strength training is also excellent for improving sleep. The nights I sleep deepest are when I’ve done some good weight lifting and made my muscles work. Skip the expensive sleep pills… start strength training!

Today I ate lunch with my mom at Mad Greens, one of my new favorite restaurants.

I was all excited to come tell you about it… until I discovered that Mad Greens is a new restaurant that only exists in Colorado. Ah, well. It’s another reason to love Colorado. And I’m going to tell you about the restaurant anyway. :-)

To make an analogy, Mad Greens is to salad what Chipotle is to burritos. (By the way, Chipotle was also started in Colorado.)

You walk in, select your salad (or design one of your own), and watch them make it right before your very eyes. It’s high quality fast-food salad.

You can order a small or large salad. Most small salads cost $4.50 and most large salads cost $6.00. Fairly reasonable when you consider the salads are made to order with a variety of fresh ingredients.

I plan to take my wife to Mad Greens soon so she can experience it too.

On a side note, during the time I went (noon), the place was packed. But that’s not the strange part. The strange part is this… I was only one of three men in the restaurant. And I was surrounded by about 25 women! I couldn’t believe it. Clearly, women are way more interested in eating healthy than men are. ;-)

If you happen to be a single guy who lives in Colorado and would like to meet a health-conscious woman, I’ve got a great restaurant for you to visit…

I just found a “bird flu survey” on Dr. Mercola’s web site. It’s a total of 11 questions, so it takes only a few minutes to complete.

I just completed it and submitted my information to see the results. Turns out I’m a “health warrior.” Imagine that! :-)

After you see your results, click the button to see the correct answers, along with explanations for why they are correct. The information there is helpful, especially in those cases where your answer may not have been the optimal response.

Here’s a link: Click here for Dr. Mercola’s Bird Flu Survey