Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Holiday Parties Gotta Get Primal.

Holiday parties in the middle of summer, over an open flame in the barbeque pit, make for excellent primal fodder. Think of all the times of the year when you don't want to increase the internal temperature of your home and you just want to relax with the mesquite in your "grill," pound on the ground with rocks and grunt a bit for your meal...anyway I digress. Labor Day is coming. Seems like a wonderful time to fire up the grill and get the food cooking.

Let's go over some delicious and very nutritious primal ideas for your summer palate. Then let's look ahead to fall, where spooky goblins, pumpkins, turkeys and santas try to bring you every sugared delight imaginable. Makes me think of the sweet and delicious Turkish Delight Edward and Peter would delectably describe in the Chronicles of Narnia. But again, a second digression...


Body Wrestling#3: Supplementation sometimes changes things.

Hi.

I meant to write this blog a long time ago, but my life decided to get a little bit busier than it had originally been. NO lazy summer this year. This has so far been the summer of planning and making money, building my professional skill sets to an all-time high, waking up my ability to understand my world a bit better. I had better be the smartest lady on the planet!

Speaking of smart, let's chat for a bit about supplementation in a dieting biome. I personally find it to be excessively useful, to actually give my body what it needs to optimize the pipes. What could be better than eating this beautifully clean food and giving it an extra log for the flames, than to throw a terrific, fat burning, metabolically high revving supplement on top? Here, let me tell you what I am taking, in addition to my protein and vegetable lifestyle this summer.

My top favorite supplements have so far proven to give me physical advancement on the journey of balance. I'll give the list and then give a breakdown of what I know to be most important to understand about the supplement.

L-Glutamine: This amino acid is the fix-it amino, essential for rebuilding, protecting and strengthening joints, tissues, and improves gut health. It helps the body to repair and recover faster from tough workouts and any past traumatic injury the body has undergone. It's also good for focus, very important for those with an ADHD approach to life, if you know what I'm saying. When you have too much mental activity going on, this one can help. I take 1500 mg per dose, and I don't think about sugar, really at all much anymore. Thank goodness.

BCAA and basic aminos: I've recently just started taking BCAAs in powder form, and let me tell you, it is not delicious by any stretch...but it seems to be integral to muscle recovery and strength boosting. It also helps to prevent fatigue, increase concentration, and prevent loss of muscle mass through catabolism. I take 5000 mgs of powder before and after exercise, with at least a tablespoon of lemon juice, to help it go down.

Beta Alanine: This is a nonessential amino acid produced naturally in the body and works alongside carnosine to allow the muscles to work longer before fatiguing. But you'll want more when you take this supplement and you start to feel the tingly effects of muscle power. For me, it has tremendously improved my strength and endurance gains. When I take correctly, meaning 3200 mgs before and after exercise, it produces a powerful fat burning, leaning out effect. Studies aren't convinced of beta alanine's effectiveness, though they do show beta alanine being most effective when athletes are performing interval-intense activities. Anyway, I feel different when I take them, versus when I don't, versus when I use the ones produced by Labrada Systems, which I so far deem as the best. Meanwhile, beta alanine can be naturally found in meat, fish and poultry. That's one reason I enjoy having some protein before hitting the weight room.

African Mango Seed: African mango is being touted and heralded for weight loss in the fact that it reduces cravings, reduces appetite, stabilizes blood sugar levels, fills up the tummy with a fibrous substance, moves food through faster, assists with metabolic and insulin resistance mechanisms. Other than that, it's a pretty mango from a faraway land...I also notice that in the carb transfer supplement I sometimes take, it is pretty good at keeping me from feeling like eating more carbs, though the white bean may also help with this function, and especially in carb sparing, where all the carbs are not absorbed by the body. That's cool, because I stopped eating the most offensive carbs, though this supplement worked tremendously for me. But then, when I started using this next supplement, I used it instead of the African mango, because the two just seemed too strong together....

Forskohli: I just recently found this Ayurvedic herb this summer. Eastern medicine has much appeal to me, and I think it resonates with the body more readily, especially when you attune yourself to the theory and philosophy. Once you begin using herbs in synergy, they seem to give a much more pleasing effect in the body, with the results you want. With this herb, it is said to break down adipose fatty tissue and prevent fat from forming. It mildly stimulates metabolic processes because of a diterpinoid called forskolin, found in the herb. Since terpine usually denotes a type of oily substance in the herb that promotes an action such as enhanced metabolic activity, and a hydrocarbon usually plays out in being the active component of fossil fuel, one could say that the herb puts one into a hyperstate of fat burning activity. Anyway, I don't feel compelled to use the two together, forskohlii and African mango. 'Nuff said.

CLA: Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid component found primarily in meat and eggs, and some dairy. It always inspires my metabolism to kick up, while acting as a bit of a fat blocker. It supports lean mass and promotes healthy weight loss. It is also said to promote exercise recovery. It may even explain why people lose weight and fat in particular, when increasing our proteins. And when you escape calories and potential allergy inducing substances such as grain products and starchy vegetables, something else CLA can assist with, I'm thinking it's a good thing.

MCT oil: This thermogenic, immune-boosting oil has me buckling at the knees. Although MCTs can only be extracted in a laboratory, putting them together into a bottle and pouring them into your bullets or on a hot skillet for cooking is exceptional and ideal for calorie wasting, higher energy, better mental clarity and performance, and fat loss. Much of the MCT oil is not even used by the body! It sounds to me, magical indeed.