Too many times have I heard the words “you’re healthy” come from a doctor’s mouth (or anyone’s mouth for that matter) and have the person clearly be nothing close to healthy.
To most doctors health is merely the lack of disease. What a load of crap that is!
Don’t doctors know that they have a position of authority, and what they say people will listen to and take as fact?
Maybe it’s that doctors actually don’t know what true health is…
After spending 4 years mingling with the future doctors of America at NYU medical center, I can tell you that doctors might be great at helping people with sickness and disease, but they didn’t know much about how to be healthy (I’m speaking to the majority that I’ve spoken to).
Let me tell you, my definition of health is light years away from simply a lack of disease, and I think that we need to have a clear distinction between lack of disease and actual health.
When you think of a healthy person… what comes to mind?
Can’t people see that the majority of our population is overweight or obese, and see that something is very wrong? Not only that, but overweight and obese is becoming the norm and the media and other overweight and obese people are justifying it. I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials showing how larger curvy women are sexy, which is playing off how people say that women should be curvy (usually comes from curvy women…). Some women have amazingly beautiful curvy bodies, but that is absolutely no excuse for being overweight! So if you’re curvy… great! But don’t give into the majority who believe that it is acceptable/normal to be overweight.
I think it’s time that we take a look at the majority of our population and make some drastic changes. I do believe in an open market system of business so I don’t believe that we need to regulate what the advertisers are saying (even though it’s false). This means that the education system needs to change now! People need to be empowered with the truth about foods, nutrition, and exercise. The education system has obviously been bought by the food companies, so how can we make changes that need to be made? I think we need to rally to change the false nutrition curriculum being taught in schools and through media and to get people who truly know what health is to start teaching others. Being healthy isn’t rocket science; it’s actually very easy to understand, but we need to take the time to understand it and teach others. No more letting the media and advertisers tell us what health is and what healthy foods are. The re-education needs to start now!
Let’s start with carbohydrates…whole grain in particular. It kills me to see food boxes and TV commercials telling people that things are healthy when those same foods are causing people to become overweight and obese. For example, most people think that we need whole grains to be healthy. Where did we get whole grains before there were whole grains to eat? Did everyone die because they didn’t get whole grains? Do you know that carbohydrates are used as fuel in our bodies? Most people don’t exercise enough, so why in the world should the majority of their diet come from carbohydrates? It shouldn’t!!!! Would you put gas in your car if the gauge said full? Guess what…? We do that all the time to our bodies and it causes BODY FAT accumulation, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other diseases.
I am trying to identify where this general lack of knowledge about what health is coming from and how it relates to foods and nutrition as a whole. I know that every health and nutrition class that I took in school (including college) was complete BS! How do I know…? Because I (as a test) ate the foods and the ratios of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that the higher education classes (and Registered Dietitians) recommended. Guess what happened… I got fat! Yep, I got fat while working out 5-6 days a week and training like a bodybuilder. Makes ya wonder what a diet like that will do to someone that doesn’t work their butt off in the gym. Wait… We see what it looks like every day when we walk down the street, or go to the grocery store, or go to the mall.
Enough of me ranting here. Let’s focus on a solution! YOU NEED to understand what the basic foods that YOU eat are doing in YOUR bodies.
On a very basic level here’s what each macronutrient does.
Proteins make up our muscle tissue (and are essential).
Fats are involved in regulating what goes in and out of the cells (and are essential). They are the building blocks for hormones, and are our most potent source of energy. Fats will also contribute to having good looking skin and hair.
Carbohydrates are used to fuel our brains and muscles (and are not essential).
It’s been commonly thought that eating fats will make you fat. Only makes sense right? Or at least the media wants it to make sense. In truth our bodies need a ton of fat to function and would much rather use the fats for essential bodily tasks (like hormone production, phospholipid bilayers, and energy) than storing adipose tissue (body fat). I myself was brainwashed to believe that fats made you fat for many years, but after doing years of research (out of school), and changing my diet to include much more fat than recommended, I actually became leaner and felt better. You did hear that right! I ate more healthy fats (organic eggs, oils, and nuts) in place of carbohydrates and became leaner and felt better. I had no energy ups and down, and developed visible abs. I have to admit that I was also exercising a ton (which I also was on the other diet and got fat), but it’s pretty easy to get stoked on exercising when you have an almost unlimited amount of energy and you can see your abs. Thanks fat!
Without working with each of you personally I can tell you that the most beneficial thing that you can do to get leaner and have more energy is to…
1. Exercise (weights first, cardio second) at least 5 times per week
2. Replace all your starchy carbs (breads, pastas, rice, potatoes) with colorful vegetables and low glycemic fruits
3. Eat lots of organic, free range, grass fed (or naturally fed) meats and eggs
4. Don’t shy away from fats like olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, egg yokes, and organic free range butter
5. Don’t forget to exercise! Our bodies are meant to move, and you will NEVER feel 100%, or be as productive as you could be (for you workaholics), if you don’t work out regularly!
We need to come up with a true indicator of health that has to do with your ability to move, your diet, and your body fat level, in addition to the currently used health indicators. Here’s what I’m proposing. Add your comments about this below, and let me know what you think (crazy or not…).
Healthy is:
Being able to do
-20 pushups in a row (all the way to the ground)
-5 pull ups
-30 body weight squats
-Running 10k outside (without stopping)
Eating
-Organic complete proteins with 90% of your meals
-Organic fats with 90% of your meals
-Starchy carbs less than 10% of your meals
-Sugary foods one meal or less per week
-Veggies with 50% or more of your meals
Body fat level
Men 4-12%
Women 12-20%
I know that this was somewhat of a rant, but I am completely disgusted with what people are doing to themselves, and feel that because I know how to make people truly healthy, it’s my job to inform and teach. I am always here as a resource for you, and you should always email me or post below if you have questions.
NOW GET OUTSIDE AND WORK HARD BY HAVING FUN!
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