tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47553515084485139002024-03-04T21:40:09.251-08:00The Chronicles of FoodConnie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-6107905207715153282016-05-08T23:35:00.001-07:002016-05-08T23:48:37.469-07:00Can I eat for nutrients?Here is that ages old question of food, that I and others have frequently asked ourselves. The question is, if I eat intuitively, will I get all the nutrients I need in one day? Is it possible that my body is not asking for all the nutrients it needs, but instead, the food that it requires? What if what my body needs, doesn't completely have to do with what it is intuitively bugging me to consume? What then, say you? What now? WHY ME??<div><br></div><div>Well of course I don't actually feel that last sentiment, but sometimes I am definitely tempted to ask myself a few questions that beg understanding. Let's face it. I don't always want to eat for the healthier side of the way I choose to live my life. I at times battle with my body's hunger, And what message that may be sending. </div><div><br></div><div>I know that for one thing, I have been spending a lot of time honoring what seems to be my body crying for vitamins. I haven't given my body vitamins in such a long time, that I'm not even sure it recognizes them. However, seeing as my body feels and looks quite a bit younger and fitter, I am making vitamin mineral electrolyte consumption part of my fitness routine once again. I have done green drinks, I've been vegetarian, carnivorous bullet proof primal Paleo citizen whackadoodle of planet earth, but still I nutritionally rise. I began using herbs as a simple energetic fix, to fill in nutritional gaps.but at some point most recently, my body said to give it some vitamins and stop messing around.</div><div><br></div><div>There are some philosophies that I have studied, that says hunger is not real. Then some studies will tell a person to actually feed the hunger because it means that your metabolism is dropping below the realm of desired metabolic acceleration. So could that actually be how my mind is fashioned, as to whether either statement could be true for me or not? Or is it not nearly as philosophical as this? Could it really be physiological, how the body gets hungry and is telling you actually to eat? Or could it be that the body is telling you it is about to lose weight, and then proceeds to do so? Is there an easy way to lose weight? What I mean is, do you mean I really don't have to starve? Or is there still some form of extremism involved in pushing the body to lose weight?</div><div><br></div><div>What else is possible?</div><div><br></div><div>The best suggestions I have been given so far, is to truly honor whatever the body wants to eat, learn the difference between the mind and the body and know that both speak… And to only listen to and act on the body message. Honor and listen to the mind, but acting on it is not always the quickest approach to the expected outcome. </div><div><br></div><div>Oh yeah and...stop expecting anything, and you'll always be surprised when something wonderful happens to your body.</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-30095478424452021112016-05-08T23:20:00.001-07:002016-05-08T23:20:59.002-07:00Doing it Different.I'm doing it Different, with a capital D. And this D stands for me. Truly. Everything unseen, is showing up in this moment. And all I'm doing is letting my body tell me what it sees.<div><br></div><div>This morning for breakfast was a spoonful of protein enriched peanut butter, called P28. Apple crisp flavor equals a deliciousness that transcends reality. It contains whey protein, a touch of granola and apple pieces, cinnamon and vanilla. Any craving for peanut butter or decadent food is cared for in this meal. </div><div><br></div><div>After which, I took an electrolyte drink. I prepared a lime and electrolyte drink for the gym. Lifted for 30 minutes and got on the recumbent bike for 30 minutes and I'm so glad I did that, because I sweat out the bacon jerky I consumed at 1a. The only thing is, I consumed more post- workout! A whole package of bacon jalapeño jerky and maple bacon: GONE. it's the X-Files of missing!</div><div><br></div><div> About 300 calories and 40g of protein later, I got up to my mom's house and ate slices of beef roast and a vegetable mixture. Then, I suddenly got struck by a cookie dough cake pop and the next thing you know, it was done. Then two. Then my consciousness took a walk...</div><div><br></div><div>Why oh why must my mind struggle with this?? And then that's when it hit me: it's not your mind you need to struggle with. It's your body that you need to talk to,and all will clarify with ease. Simply put, the body does not care what the mind wants. I might want a taco salad, but my body said lobster. Or body said tea and I drink coffee. The body is just going to keep asking until it gets its request.</div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-7926980836675904202014-12-30T17:07:00.000-08:002014-12-30T17:07:49.239-08:00Do not eat diet chocolate, and other holiday woes.Hi.<br />
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This is a short public message to alert and advise all interested citizens of the known world, that if you plan to enjoy any chocolate at all, please do so with moderation, and the hope that you will consume the real deal.<br />
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This summer I was sugar free but one of the things I didn't want to give up was chocolate, dear chocolate. Ah, chocolate....<br />
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But yet and still, I stuck to my diet, much to my dismay. I was saddened by two ideas: one, that I had no chocolate. Two, that not having chocolate saved me no calories in the end, and I was still needing to lose weight. so I guess I'm making a new pledge to honor my craving no matter what silly regimen I may be on.<br />
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Let me tell you what I did to satisfy my chocolate fix: I ate that fake chocolate from Russell Stovers. Of course it was delicious and low in carbs! The problem was that it was filled with those sugars that would have been okay had the sweetener not twisted my system to the point where it was no longer fun to eat something that questionable for my system. I'm also thinking that it depletes essential nourishment from our bodies. Plus, there are so many wonderful nutrients in chocolate that it is a crime not to eat when the mood hits (unless you cannot control yourself, new topic). Let the lesson be the one where, if you don't have six hours to spend on the toilet, diet chocolate may not be for you.Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-19926971488478047632014-12-30T16:48:00.000-08:002014-12-30T16:49:19.756-08:00Break up to make up.Okay intestines.<br />
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Now is the moment of truth. Let's see if you can stand being empty long enough to manage some other new cleansing processes the body would someday like to undergo, if only you would allow it that. Do you think you can manage it? Or will you fill it soon after with the highest, yummiest, fattiest food possible? Sure it isn't "bad" food, but zucchini smothered in Romano and butter may after Awhile start to register as the good ole fat you know and love. Yes. There is a limit that everyone needs to find, especially if the goal is fat loss....<br />
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I know that we spend our whole vacation trying to undo all the good work we've done. We spend our holiday eating ourselves into a certain oblivion. But before that, we were sure that we were gonna make it this time, that we would be good and true to ourselves. Then what gives?<br />
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We step into this universal arc of surrender and we begin to think we need to do this poor eating thing because it's our last chance and that we will be unable to ever eat this crap again, because at no other time in the year will it be acceptable to consume. ..and that gives people stress...because they implant such unrealistic ideas that they make themselves tired and give up soon after. The whole idea of the diet becomes obsolete. ..but it doesn't have to.<br />
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Some of us like the diet roller coaster. It gives us something to strive for in an otherwise dismal world of "dirty food ." Or we can stay happy and faithful to a relationship with food that will never let us down, if we can manage moderating our excessive desires to lose control at every holiday. </div>
Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-72989521833525542342014-12-21T13:25:00.001-08:002015-01-04T14:41:25.392-08:00The Search for Truth and Justice in the American Diet.<p dir="ltr">Is it fair to assert that we the people use food as a tool for merriment in an otherwise bleak, cold season of hibernation and solitude? It's no time to get lost in the woods. But the season also speaks to a higher incidence of calorically challenged foods, usually involving sugar, fats and an abundance of such food frivolity. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Is it the best idea that we constantly assert that we eat these foods and consider the food connects us to some level of joy and peace? All it really does is make us feel we are further away from our goal instead of closer.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Do we continue to celebrate such debauchery with fattened glee? How do we celebrate if our minds work like mine in the sense that everyday is another chance to be lean? Is it really a distortion of my mind and those who think this way? Or is it a distortion to have holidays that celebrate lack of control and restraint? Ask yourself these questions and reflect on which one has caused more of the problem. Maybe the opposing ideas have worked in concert to create the state of affairs our society could possibly be in.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It seems that the most successful food participants learn to cook and find a way to consume healthful paths of purpose that do not blow health goals out of commission. </p>
<p dir="ltr">We can do this. We can learn to adapt and overcome. Carry on, holidays.</p>
Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-40369415540988343072014-12-17T20:56:00.000-08:002014-12-17T20:56:18.796-08:00Just random thoughts I should consider trying to answer.Does anybody ever REALLY admit how imperfect their diet really is?<br />
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Can bodybuilders afford to screw up their diet, or is that the ultimate test of discipline and diligence?<br />
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Can a fitness maverick or maven truly still get their results if they are indulging too much? Is there really this extra room for error, even in their diets?<br />
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Am I a health coach and specialist who will ever claim to know it all? (The answer is no.)<br />
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Is any one diet really going to deliver the benefits that are promised and supposedly proven in trials?<br />
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Will I ever get this right? Will any of us?<br />
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Why do people think that their leadership is or should be perfect, in order to help them? Doesn't it matter what the goal is?<br />
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Should we choose our trainers, fitness experts, health coaches and training partners based on the diet and the body we want to have?<br />
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Do already fit people need to lose more weight?<br />
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Does Hollywood exacerbate our quest for perfection?<br />
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Do we do too much in an effort to be, look or attain "perfect?"Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-11327253331011304242014-12-17T20:51:00.000-08:002014-12-17T20:51:02.522-08:00From Chinese Wood to Ayurvedic heat...Here I go again....<br />
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Summer comes and goes and my carbs were virtually nonexistent. So the autumn time was a moment of reassessment for my diet and with an Ayurvedic doctor, was beginning to think she'd be the answer. I hated the fact that she was telling me to slowly revert back to grains. I didn't want to! But my palate fought me, and before long I was exercising my right to a slice of sprouted grain bread, even to the point where I'm concerned that I can't get enough due to taking this supplement called GX Assist, with six different essential oils and caprylic acid, all designed to heal the intestines and digestion. So basically I've been working on my digestion since the fall. Doc put me on this long pepper, ginger and fennel blend, and we happily discussed herbs, oils and possibly the over potency of the oils at a time when she thought I should treat the system gently. Here I am thinking that my system needs a more aggressive cleansing, due to the previous low carb abuse I must have somehow done to it. I simply think that I let my induction go on too long, and suffered the low carb flu and mood/energy swings, finally finding "normal" again.<br />
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But did I? Doc suggested that low carbing is just an extreme thing to do, and for years I would agree. But I think that the diet industry now takes on what the bodybuilding community has done for years: carb cycling. However, food pundits such as Dave Asprey, Dave from PaleoHacks and PaleoPeople in general still feel pretty well attuned to a no grain, no dairy lifestyle. Some say it is the only way. I say give me enough fat to smile and everyone will be okay.<br />
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But I wasn't agreeing with the influx of grains. While it didn't change my weight drastically, I do remember a noticeable amount of brain fog leaving. How do you know you aren't functioning at optimal levels when you simply aren't that? It's like telling a person who isn't smart, to see that he or she isn't. Can they really see that? So once I felt clarity, it was an education, an awakening that I wanted again.<br />
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Even though there were these great therapeutic advantages with the different Ayurvedic massages she offered and the herb therapy she wanted me to sign onto, I'm still interested but have since tried a few other supplements to my benefit. I was thinking that since I work for doTERRA I should try their digestive aids, as they are fully formulated by doctors, chemists and botanists as a team working together, using the best technology and highest data measurement methods. The only problem is that I'm doing something I fully disagree with, right alongside the digestive protocol, and that is the consumption of deli processed meats. Somewhere in my head I thought they were easy and cheap, and that is exactly why I'm eating them. I have these momentary lapses in sanity....<br />
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<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-84605723634207225462014-12-17T20:35:00.001-08:002014-12-19T18:50:44.870-08:00Let's just try one...more...thing......before I do something crazy, like take something special, for fat loss. It's the taboo subject in a clean eater's mind, that gets frustrated after a long stretch of attempts that leads to the chaotic desperation within...it slowly creeps up and takes over your brain, then you start to wonder what your goals are and why...<br>
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What's so wrong with wanting to be leaner, fitter and lower in body weight? Why am I a bit concerned at what people think of me? Why has my yoga button, though pushed, not seem to be working properly? I'm really wanting maximum advantage in this game, and trying just one more method, one more food, one more exercise, one more supplement, more restriction...until the balance is lost, and now time will be spent crawling back to the cherry spot where fat loss was the norm.</div>
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Now I'm questioning my thyroid because of not even incremental weight loss, fatigue and exhaustion, although I could have caused my endocrine system a lot of stress by heavy dieting. People just say to go to bed at night. </div>
Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-14447761857964908942014-10-05T15:29:00.001-07:002014-10-06T05:49:42.973-07:00Overeating while supplementing for fat lossYou start this awesome new way of organizing your food, and you begin making fabulous progress on your fat loss goals. You're exercising hard, you're looking great, and even though you began with some great strides, you feel a touch fatigued because you're in a caloric deficit.<div><br><div>You start to satisfy the extra fat burn with calories after some time. It's easy to do, especially if you aren't being neurotic about food intake. So very slowly you begin sneaking in way more calories than you expect, because your food volume seems exactly the same.</div></div><div><br></div><div>That's where most of us get lost in an eating plan. We start to see the advances and then we want more. We supplement until we can no longer tell which supplement is doing what. This vexes our chances to be the epitome of all we wish to become, which is fitter.</div><div><br></div><div>We must at this point, become comfortable with discomfort...with what a mild deficit feels like, and understand that there is no change without struggle. Ask any fitness competitor or bodybuilder, how they feel on a regular day of restrictions, and how great they feel on their typical "cheat meal." It's the difference between staying on diet and completely blowing it. Here is a nice moment to consider that success lies somewhere between the extremes, though it still might be uncomfortable. I know. I've experienced it.</div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-68634815899878107432014-10-05T15:23:00.001-07:002014-10-08T01:04:36.890-07:00The Annoying part of dieting.Ugh!! So many annoying points to make about dieting!! Yes I'm plenty done with the dang thing. But really, when it comes down to it, I'm more annoyed with my thought process when it comes to the extra fats I want when I take my carbs low. Truth is, maybe my carbs were too low for too long. I have been warned against it in studies and continuing research on low carb and primal eating plans.<div>But the extra fat is customary to a diet with carbohydrate restrictions. Something has to give, and the truth is that everything so far, seems to still boil down to calorie totals, to a large degree. Calories are still the measurement upon which we determine our food wonderland of choices. </div><div><br></div><div>We can choose low to no starch, green and watery vegetables, but we have to make strong choices with them. For example, if we choose to mash parsnips, which come in at 24 carbs per cup and have a naturally sweet taste that stifles sugar cravings, then we have to monitor our butter and cream usage and let me tell you how much cream and butter I want to use! Parsnips satisfy like a potato, but with less calories and starch.</div><div><br></div><div>So I'm annoyed because I love fats and I want to intensely indulge in them if I can't eat too many carbs. Anyway I gave up and made the most satisfying mashed sweet potatoes. It tastes like pie, it's so amazing! Now I have to make sure I eat lighter meats like chicken and fish, something I've naturally migrated to, as I increase my healthy carb sources.</div><div><br></div><div>Maybe I'll divulge my fat grams and carb totals in this next post.</div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-17034926339031809842014-09-11T22:56:00.001-07:002014-09-22T02:31:25.848-07:00My bio hacking, is bio lacking.On this fine day, I make the realization that my summer of very low, watery green vegetables acting as my carbohydrate intake, has ended. As the season changes, it clearly dictates my return to a simpler time: carbohydrate intake. No this does not refer to the standard American fare. Not even a little bit… It relates to much of the opposite. While the summer has turned me into a gratefully carbohydrate clean body, there is still the trouble of living in the world, and being constantly inundated by peoples carbohydrate dreams.<div><br></div><div>Upon starting school this season, I realized how many moments I dealt with a ridiculous food regimen that didn't go too well last year. Once breakfast in the classroom started, I was daily faced with carbohydrate-laden meals that asked me if I wanted to have coffee cake more days than I care to remember. Then they started serving these energy bars with sesame and sunflower seeds, cranberries, wheat flour and made with honey. It was so sweet that it was barely edible, and yet, I was first in line some days, to eat this thing. </div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, those days are long gone, and I am happy to have seen those days disappear...meanwhile I've made the jump to meals with high amounts of seasoned vegetables...and it is the best thing I think I've ever done.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile I can't fool myself into believing that a cauliflower is a potato. Having said that, if you want a potato, have a potato. In fact, you may find you need it just then. But most people do not know how to monitor their consumption, or control their portions, on food that simply tastes good to them. </div><div><br></div><div>The bio "lack" comes in when I know that my body is feeling unwelcomingly tired, and I need more nutrient intake. This is where I need to know where my next food cue is coming from...because the answer may be in my needing to up those carbs, in vegetable form of course, but from starchy vegetables. That still doesn't mean that the flour tortilla you had around your sausage egg and cheese burrito was acceptable for your cheap meal.</div><div><br></div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-25294015917887733412014-08-06T19:57:00.000-07:002014-10-05T14:00:31.314-07:00Holiday 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.<br>
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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...<br>
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<br>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-69280882348945349422014-08-06T18:16:00.001-07:002014-08-06T18:16:40.239-07:00Body Wrestling#3: Supplementation sometimes changes things.Hi.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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....<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-69592822938002944412014-07-01T02:38:00.000-07:002014-07-01T02:38:06.104-07:00Body Wrestling, part two: Food Feeling. Greens and proteins....animals and grasses. That is all anyone needs. I know. I've just used a form of subjective fallacy, and offended a lot of vegans. Yet and still, I persevere in this idea of ancestral eating being closest to our unique DNA structure. Lately. Though can I really say this is accurate anymore if I also claim that we can change the structure of our DNA? Look at how my writing changes between part one and two because of a little green intake, and now, protein.<br />
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Over the course of the past hour, I have been slowly loading food. I've taken one supplement and I'm on my second cup of coffee (since before returning to slumber for a bit longer). I am taking careful stock in how food moves me. We as a society are far too involved in how food makes us feel. We are often looking for extreme, euphoric sensation from our food. But how about if we took it a little further and allowed the food to move us, but through healthy means? Bottom line in my body is that food is a Shamanic experience and possibly a tool for self realization when used with intention. White flour and sweet desserts are a whole different intention in itself. And also, if form follows function, we have to look at the reasons why a food is the way it is, why it is eaten, what benefits are obtained, and why they are important (or not so important).<br />
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When I eat_______, it makes me feel like ________. I use this sentence frame repeatedly, in the effort to think closely about each bite. So here's my recent one.<br />
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When I eat high amounts of greens, it make feel clean as a whistle.<br />
When I eat high animal proteins, I feel sated and clear.<br />
When I eat erythritol, it runs through me like a freight train.<br />
When I eat white flour, it makes me feel like a big sack of lumpy coal in the freezer.<br />
When I drink coffee, I feel neurally stimulated and sharp.<br />
When I eat sugar, I feel foggy and muddy, like a dull blade.<br />
When I don't eat for more than six hours, I feel hollow, empty, and super lean.<br />
When I don't eat for six or more hours, I start feeling giddy and silly, light and floaty. But NOT HUNGRY.<br />
<br />
So this not hungry phenomenon started to make me think I had something going on with my thyroid, as this was accompanied by some minor symptoms...but I found almost all of the symptoms to some small degree. I have since scheduled an appointment with the doc to get a Thyroid blood panel done. As the thyroid hormone goes, it does not suggest it will show it as less than normal. That's common.<br />
Meanwhile the thyroid really could use some extra thyroxine, to make sure a goiter doesn't form, if it can be helped. So far I have been very blessed, as well as just smart, because I take care of the bugger. Looks also like I've kicked my ghrelin addiction, and possibly my leptin resistance, as I see my body leaning out. But really, again, sensations, sensations, and more sensations rock our world as we sense our way through our food and its effects. I'm gonna say that I'm experiencing more of the Low Carb Flu, and less of an actual issue with my endocrine system, as I am producing some kickass workouts. I should talk about thyroid hormone and the endocrine system in another blog.<br />
<br />
What's funny is that I haven't been feeling hungry, no matter what I do. I'm just not feeling hungry. I just eventually feel the need to consume, and then I do. I don't have many cravings anymore for anything. It's fascinating how, after dropping grain carbs and really oatmeal and brown rice (because those were the only carbs I was allowing myself to have for two weeks), I only craved them for like two days. After that, done. The cravings were gone. I had a craving for erythritol and stevia for a moment, but that seems to have subsided as well. L-Glutamine helped me tremendously with that, which we will discuss in part three.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-42074711581543055772014-06-29T15:13:00.001-07:002014-07-18T17:39:35.102-07:00Body wrestling to greatness. Gotta Do this in Parts...#1 The time is about 1:44p, as I restlessly stumble sideways through my kitchen, blurring past my teapot, while reaching backwards to hit the on button. I realize that I've had a rough morning, rough night, rough week. My teenage dreams of joining the army suddenly pop into my head, having passed the ASVAB but not pushing forward (because mom said no). But I was up at 4am!! Yes, but I could hardly see straight enough to be awake. Driving was an interesting option for the morning...imagine having to eat in five minutes, five mile run, and do five hundred push-ups immediately in the cold air of the morning. Sounds refreshing! So does sleeping, in that cold air...<br>
<br>
I like life rough, to some extent. Maybe it would have done me well to have gone into the service. I've taken easy for granted too long. It's not always the best when people have an easy life, because they never learn how to triumph through adversity. Here's where dieting starts to make sense to me again, for the first time in years, and why I've resisted for so long.<br>
<br>
I lumber over to the refrigerator door, and I reach in. I find a bowl of fried kale I made yesterday. Having made this my cover photo, I ate some and put it away. I'm very grateful for having done this, as lunch meets my lips. After heating up my big bowl of greens, I stumble over to my flip flops, preparing to head downstairs to find my earphones and begin my binaural beat session. I type blogs, connect with friends and clients, create documents and work on my Huna lessons before heading to my workout with partners. I gotta plan my contribution to the session. With all of us having a goal to meet, plus a necessary stretch session, today will prove to be long and potentially injurious to participants!<br>
<br>
Still needing to have some caffeine and some protein (gotta have my eins), I decide to start typing because I want to document this feeling I'm having. I started a food chronicle so I could blather on about what food does in me, and maybe in someone who's reading this, and to just monitor my progress. At this moment, my stomach feels nice and hollow after being up for several hours on only coffee with cream, and back to sleep, awakening and having my greens. I'm noticing how surprisingly awake and fresh I feel, despite a little stumbling.<br>
<br>
Since I am devoid of grain carbs or even root vegetable carbs at this point, I am naturally inducing my body into ketonic states of fat adaptation. In order to joggle the body, sometimes you must do some crazy things, or go to some length, to force it into submission. I think that everything I do to my body adapts quickly, except for some things that change the structure and function of my energy, and how I output. But somehow I am pushing right through this phase and into some measurable success. The scale hasn't moved incredibly much, though my leanness factor is definitely improving. I'm taking serious strides to create nutritional deficits in ways I hadn't previously explored, and taking new supplements as well.<br>
<br>
Visit part two to read on.<br>
<br>
<br>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-33097503783097624732014-06-28T03:46:00.001-07:002014-06-28T04:24:16.224-07:00Eating Right is a Full time Job.Proper nutrition and home cooked meals deserve a salary of its own. With the fast food industry taking over our minds and waistlines, we need some recourse over the out-of-control healthy meal energy deficit our country is experiencing, and we have to do something to slow the downhill slide. It's time to do something about it, sometimes slowly, but surely.<div><br></div><div>It took me awhile for example, to get my head back in the game of buying food and getting in that kitchen. But I want my body and mind to be right, so I do everything I can, to make sure mealtimes at home happen. This includes not getting coerced into too many restaurant meals. After all, unless you have quite a lot of money to spend, both eating out and meals in don't often work due to the expense. It's often one or the other.</div><div><br></div><div>It makes for a lonely world. Sure I don't see my friends or family often, due to spending every available minute in the kitchen, but I'm skinny! No seriously, in order to be "skinny," I have to eat at home. Otherwise, every cupcake that wasn't nailed down, I'd probably consume. End of story.</div><div><br></div><div>So lately I've been able to break my addiction to shoveling excessive carbs down my Throat. So here's the truth: you really can't eat fats and grains in the same day, not the kind of luxurious fats I would load with in the morning. I see that life is low fats with grains, or high fats with no carbs. Yes, I'm currently on as low as I can. Really it's because there just isn't a reason for grains...not anymore. There are way too many poorly processed ones. </div><div><br></div><div>Let's go back to the Kitchen with this conversation. So because of my need to eat at home, I have to plan, shop, prep, and produce. I have been invited to so many events including a wedding to which I wondered, "how will this affect my food and training schedule?" I mean really, food and training has always consumed my life, but with this current goal, it has become more all consuming.</div><div><br></div><div>And then let's not even ponder what food plan to follow. Since I last blogged in Chronicles, I've done everything from Pescetarian to Warrior to carb cycling to crowding out with heavy roughage intake to 70% fruitarian to giving up and junking out on refined flours, deciding that there were some treats like burritos that I was unwilling to give up. But now I have decided that no craving is worth my health and figure. Especially not flour...or wheat, the evil thing.</div><div><br></div><div>My latest mealtime prep has consisted of proteins and veggies. I'm coming up with every version I can think of. So far this week, I've had bacon burgers and salad, bacon and cauliflower, cottage cheese, high protein low carb and sugar free cakes made with almond flour, Spanish "rice," eggs and avocados, avocado grasshopper shakes with avocado, cacao nibs, and DoTerra peppermint essential oil, pork loin with snow peas and bean sprouts, broiled baked chicken with cucumber nutribullets. Really I haven't had much of a desire to consume grains. I imagine that if there be a time soon where I want a grain, I'll carefully journal and examine my reasons why. To be ultra thoughtful of our food intake plays an important role in our food destiny. What we think about today, affects tomorrow.</div><div><br></div><div>I stand by my current justified choices but then I'm seeing a result. This means I continue pushing at all costs. Hopefully I can be some form of role model who set the precedent for you in your quest for greater physical results.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-86076941983018010402013-12-09T15:43:00.002-08:002013-12-09T15:43:43.684-08:00Vegas Doesn't do Bulletproof.Alas, my efforts to stay on point with Bulletproof philosophy has somewhat failed me in a rather sizable way. Or shall I say, I allowed Bulletproof to slide while on our vacation. What would I have done? Packed my French press and a quarter pound of coffee? The only reason why this may work out either in my favor or while breaking even, is because the time spent in Vegas, and the amount of food we even ate was minimal.<br />
<br />
Anyway... <br />
<br />
Who fasts while in Vegas??!?? ...I kind of did.<br />
<br />
It
wasn't really my intention. But I sort of just didn't eat. I don't know
exactly why, but it seemed to be the thing to do. I mean after all, we
weren't there to ruin our girlish and boyish figures, but instead to
have fun. And right in the midst of learning to do a new thing with my
fasting, was not the proper time to even come to Vegas. So I made the
best of it. I also made a new decision to find a similar stride next
time, as the food options at the Luxor were slim pickings.<br />
<br />
Since
being on a grass-fed regimen, I realized I had one of several choices: I
could pack my meals from home, freezing and precooking my meats and
metering out everything, I could buy some ready-to-eat foods like
almonds, nut butter, protein powder, fruit and jerky, or I could be
subjected to the dreaded monster food breakfasts, lunches and dinners at
both fast food and sit-down dinner restaurants. This was my dilemma, to
which had a simple fix: Don't eat until 2p and then don't eat unless
you're hungry, eat snacks I bought from the store before getting on the
road, and most of all, if you buy a sandwich and it doesn't for some
reason hit the spot, you know that your mind and thoughts do not have to be centered around food, in order to have a good time.<br />
<br />
I
ended up having a rather uninteresting beefsteak sandwich of only half I
chose to eat. The next day I had a chicken sandwich and a coffee. That
was it. Earlier that day I had apples and almonds. I guess I ended up
substituting my food calories out for a little alcohol. The great thing
about alcohol and food consumption is, I get to choose what, how much of
it, and when. <br />
<br />
Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-33571413440409379582013-11-19T02:09:00.001-08:002013-11-19T02:11:16.032-08:00Bacon, Steak and Grilled Kale: Mealtimes will Never be the Same again.Once I realized what my day consisted of, it became a day of cooking and backloading proteins. Once my fasting section of the day was done, I began cooking my bacon and had them with hard boiled eggs. Next for dinner, I cooked almond flour pancakes, bottom chuck steak and grilled kale. It was important to eat the coconut slathered kale with the beef, so as to assist and ensure the digestion of such rich proteins.<br />
<br />
By the evening, I felt stuffed like the fatted calf...mealtimes were changed forever.<br />
<br />
The one very awesome thing about going back to meat is the sensation of fullness that had been previously missing from my diet in a large capacity. Not only that, but I feel a different, stronger foundation is forming, as if I really am extracting nutrients from my food the way nature intended. My body responds well to real food in all forms. But now I'm really trying to get it to respond to weight loss, and it's no surprise that it finally is.<br />
<br />
Dave Asprey explains that it takes something upward of years to heal any preexisting metabolic damage created from past formidable lifestyles. It also takes time to shift consciousness into a receptive state where it is willing to receive new information and utilize to its highest advantage. Ain't nobody got time for a lack of results! Not this mujer.<br />
<br />
Speaking of consciousness, I find it valuable information inside my scope of practice that I've tried multitudinous nutritional disciplines with a moderate success rate, and here I am back at bacon and eggs for dinner. What gives? How could I at this point seem almost hypocritical to the Atkins adage of "it's going to kill you" song and dance I used to sing? What happened to the old me, besides more education? Nothing. Just more education. And what you choose to do with education is the very difference between being something individual but simple, and being unique and great.<br />
<br />
What I find most entertaining about the whole food experiment is that the next day, I was indeed not hungry even in the least and had consumed a mere chunk of beef and kale leftovers, along with my normal morning bulletproof cup and some tea. Monday morning brought a long stretch of fasting success followed by several handfuls of mixed nuts, one apple and some pepperoni (that will no doubt keep forever I reckon) and a serving of nut thins. Then I proceeded to eat a lemon. Why, I'll never be able to answer that. But I can tell you, it was worth every lemony, sour lip-puckering moment imaginable. Would Dave approve of such sour bliss? Even though it's not grass fed beef? Yeah. Probably.<br />
<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-50456729287042218862013-11-16T18:14:00.002-08:002013-11-16T18:14:52.527-08:00Pancake Hacking, Kitchen Hacking, Nonsense Hacking. Everything seems to need hacking these days.<br />
<br />
In fact I wished some people would have their mouths hacked. Ah, but I digress (almost).<br />
<br />
Nowadays when I see a pancake made with flour, after years of licking my lips and contemplating the first buttery bite I ask myself, why? With this question I can now rule my world. To satisfy my sometimes present pancake lust, I bought some almond flour and worked it out with some organic heavy whipping cream and eggs. With a pinch of salt, this alone justified my pancake. After smoothing a small dollop of honey butter cream on my fluffy treat, never again would I even so much as need to consider any other fattier, more carb-ridden option than this.<br />
<br />
In the kitchen I hacked away at tossing things out that no longer made sense to be in my midst. I looked onto my refrigerator shelves and found condiments, foods and bottles of undone, unopened or uninteresting options that clearly hadn't yet seen the trash can, but meant to jump in a long time ago. This part was easily done. I thought I had the healthiest oils in my kitchen and down to a science, but after hearing Dave's thoughts on it, I decided to take another course of action and stop consuming a majority of vegetable oils. I'm down to coconut oil, MCT oil and grass fed butter. In fact I was so concerned about having enough for my morning cup that I grabbed two packs of butter the last time I was at the store. I've never eaten more butter in my life and lost weight from such madness....but it definitely explains my deeper, inner knowing craving butter for so many years without knowing exactly why.<br />
<br />
Growth is always about doing something slightly or even majorly uncomfortable in order to get crazy awesome results from something you don't normal obtain such successful joy from...and you're sick of not attaining that state, finally.<br />
<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-84136477629924262432013-11-14T05:38:00.002-08:002013-11-14T05:38:52.040-08:00A Relatively quick food log; a check-in.I had so much to do tonight, and I sit here typing.<br />
<br />
Not my intention, but when the writing bug bites, you swat and scratch.<br />
<br />
It's not that I won't still get it all done, it's just that it's getting done over the course of the evening in its own time. That may result in sleeping on a desk somewhere, or just simply recoffeeing at some opportune moment in the day, which I have not been accustomed to doing since the Bulletproofing had begun. I haven't had to even think about extra caffeine mid-morning or anytime throughout that day. It's actually been so awesome that I've also realized I can pseudo-cop the effects of the full shabang with a tablespoon of coconut oil. 2T was too much but one works fine for some reason. What I did was poured about an ounce of brewed coffee out into a shot glass and downed that with a glass of water so I could water down the remainder and enjoy at my leisure without any tummy pain, for both the strong coffee and oil induction at once. Then I basically waited until about 1p and sat in the sunlight soaking in Vitamin D.<br />
<br />
...and now I am sleep hacking. But I digress. <br />
<br />
I ate some mixed nuts, nut thins and two apples, then headed back in. About an hour later I enjoyed a peanut butter protein bar. I didn't eat again except for fluids until around 9p. At this point I made myself a couple of mini grass fed burgers with garlic and an aged cheese garnish slice. I ate some squash and purple potatoes some time later. When I need to carb back load it's difficult for me to stay too low in the carb sector, but then I realize I usually crave carbs for good reasons and not sugary, lacking in nutrition and agenda-less calories. Once I had two almond flour pancakes made with cream, I was good to go. I was super excited about the fact that I found a very effective and fluffy pancake recipe that is creamy delish and has a great taste to it. My honey butter cream is even better and mostly on the approved side (to the left) when looking at a list of Bulletproof foods.<br />
<br />
Super hopeful that my package arrives in the morning tomorrow. I have to do everything I can to restrain myself from jumping out of my skin for a good cup.<br />
<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-71184986242971658732013-11-13T16:01:00.001-08:002013-11-13T16:01:45.873-08:00Turkey Talk...Wow. Just wow.<br />
<br />
I ate my first slice of turkey last night (you know what comes next) after 14 years. Yes. Turkey. Wow. Really Connie? What is compelling you? My whole family asked. I told them it just seemed like it was time. That's the same way I started dating Mike, the same way I conceived Kai, the same way I went into teaching. Everything I've ever done, especially important, just seemed like it was time to take care of. And so I did.<br />
<br />
I want everyone to know that this was a long and tough decision for me. I involved all who would listen. I involved the nutritionally educated meat eaters and the vegans. Everyone had a chance to input their feelings on the situation. And everytime I asked myself if I was sure. That's what kept me pescetarian one more day.<br />
<br />
And then it happened.<br />
<br />
I think what made me try turkey last night was my sister. She seemed happy that I was rejoining the carnivorously inclined, and I thought, "no sis. I'm not going back to eating how the family does, but back to healthy and clean meats that had a nice life, more or less, and didn't die under a major amount of stress." That would change the flavor quality of the meat anyhow.<br />
<br />
I don't know what made me do it, except for the compelling research that kept me on the edge of my seat about all the nutrients I wasn't getting, and how I should at least look into supplementation. But that's the problem with supplementation. There's no real logical reason, except for experimentation, that we aren't getting our nutrients from the soil. But if we have healthy farms with healthy foundations and humane butchering practices, (*gulp*, still makes me feel nauseous) with a 100 percent grass fed and finished animal, our bodies will come out all the healthier.Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-86435353536119788412013-11-13T15:52:00.001-08:002013-11-13T15:52:39.900-08:00Quietly, impatiently waiting for my Coffee...I'm waiting for my Bulletproof package to arrive. All I can say is, RRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!<br />
<br />
How incredibly impatient I'm feeling! I was getting such good effects from using the MCT oil that I hate missing days of taking it. Of course I'm still consuming the butter in copious amounts, but I'm using coconut oil and in fact, can only use about a tablespoon of the oil when in coffee. For some reason the MCT oil seems better or thinner, and can be assimilated better. That is only a guess of mine. In fact I'm getting pretty excited about the Brain Octane but felt I should curb my enthusiasm and allow my body to understand the changes occurring under the particular MCT reign.<br />
We could always be getting better results but I really want to make the most out of all the products I use, and since I purchased the upgraded vanilla, there are results I'm supposed to love from that alone, regarding mental performance I'm real excited about. Next I'd like to try the chocolate and the upgraded whey. I can add flavors to anything; the coffee or protein. Additionally it is starting to sound like the reports are telling me to consume L-glutamine and glutathione, commonly found in meats, particularly beef and eggs, two things I have held off consuming for 14 years...until now. I wonder what my body will experience as it goes through all these changes? I hope nothing but pure awesomeness. I'm super excited.<br />
<br />
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping my package is waiting at the door for me when I return home. I am seriously impatient.Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-66127224042948814222013-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:002013-11-13T21:35:53.523-08:00A Most Bulletproof Decision to Go Grass Fed and Wild Caught...So...<br>
I have been bitten by the Bulletproof bug, in the quest to become the best version of myself possible. I've listened to the research, I've looked over the reports, and I've observed my own life. I listened to accounts of many raw vegans who went omnivore, those including Rob Wolf, Dave Asprey, Jamie Jamison and Mark Sisson. I went pescetarian for a year. And now...I've broken my fast from eating animals.<br>
<br>
I know. It seems to most people that, as we improve our spiritual life, that we continue to make choices to preserve life and not contribute to the destruction of our planet. But as time progresses, it seems that not all our choices, even as a vegetable eating maven, has always contributed to top health or top spirituality. I know that my spiritual life changed when I first went vegetarian, but I have seen gurus who still eat meat. So it's not like siddhis disappear with the consumption of meat.... Hence, this is one of the reasons that relaxed my choice to become less of this and more of that. I do promise however, to choose the best, most well-treated food as humanly possible, given all of our environmental and spiritual concerns.<br>
<br>
Did I cry about it? Did it bother me? Did it make me feel like less of a human? Did I see the eyes of the innocent cow in my dreams? Sure. But then I thought of what I thought God and the Universe would want for my life, what was best for it. I realize that maybe, just maybe, God would want me to eat the highest source of nutrients possible from my food, and not from a pill. Maybe it was true, that we were given options for a reason...otherwise the animals would prove to be unconsumable.<br>
<br>
There were vices I began to rely on like caffeine and vitamins, to feel good and stay awake throughout the day. I'd constantly be looking for options to heighten my energy. At a certain point it didn't make sense that I kept fighting for this balance, even when my energy had always been optimal until that moment. I also began to overconsume sugar. This is how I knew something was grossly out of proportion.<br>
<br>
Now after all my changes, I'm happy and at peace. I've removed the majority of caffeine intake, reduced sugar, improved the quality of my proteins and sent soy and canned, packaged food packing. I've increased my vegetables more than when I was eating vegetarian and I'm much stronger. This to me is living proof that eating cleaner protein makes so much sense to my health and well-being. <br>
<br>
I want to know that at the end of my life, I did everything I could to the best of my abilities, and that I helped as many people as I could on my way out. I cannot convince anyone that this may be the best way for everyone to live, but at least my life can prove to be an example of someone who put out everything, herself aside at times, to help humanity improve.Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-79818954378151480242013-11-11T14:52:00.000-08:002013-11-11T14:52:18.826-08:00List of Foods I've been consuming, Bulletproof or not.Listening to so many reports has made the time go by. In fact, it's
what keeps me from bringing a fork to my lips, is just the discipline of
listening to the reports that tell me of so many important facts I need
to know about the food supply, and how perilous bad food is to our
health. I'm scheduling my weekends now to be about food and self care,
in addition to the occasional class and seeing clients. Otherwise, I
spent all day yesterday in food prep! It's awesome though because now I
am ready for the week, versus last week where I purchased salads with
tuna I should not consume, which inadvertently threw me out of my keto
cycle. The tuna probably contained some sugars. I am pretty much of the
belief now that I should continue fasting when I don't bring food from
home. Or something....anything but eat out, is my belief.<br />
<br />
I haven't been eating grains, but I've had a few bites of quinoa pasta with cabbage and broccoli rabe in the last day or so. I've also taken to nut thins (made with nuts and rice flour) with Kerrygold aged cheddar. The verdict seems to still be out on feeding our bodies ferments, so I'm going to do some more research on it. I had been loving the ferments but now I wonder if I'm not feeding a candida state in the body a little, due to my craving for it. Meanwhile if I'm going to consume a grain, it seems to be that rice and quinoa would be okay to consume. I can safely say I have not touched wheat pretty much since two months prior, and no other grains but infrequent legumes. I have most recently went back to cheese near the end of october (and before my cycle) to try the cauliflower crust pizza, which was way worth it.<br />
<br />
My staples are: Apples, lemons, cabbage, kale, strawberries, squash, cream and grass fed butter, wild caught fish like salmon, ahi, cod, sole, pollock (though not recently due to some environmental issues) and now sardines, sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, infrequent bananas and grapes, arugula and mixed greens, avocados and tomatoes, Sunwarrior protein powder, walnuts and cashews, almonds, eggs both hard boiled, fried and deviled, infrequent beans, grass fed cheese (mostly), whole milk mozzarella and kombucha. If I consume sugar, it's honey or coconut sugar. I've had some items with refined sugars and every time I've thought of the consequence on my efforts and how long it'll take to recover from them. I know that all of my foods are not in the green zone of the Bulletproof diet, but I do shoot for the green.<br />
<br />
This is all in addition to the Bulletproof coffee mornings where I consume 2T of MCT oil and butter nutribulleted into smooth, rich creaminess. I've been doing a coffee shot lately outside of my brewed coffee to give me a jolt and also to lighten the heavy flavor of the coffee. This most recent organic blend is so far my favorite. This guy started the organic movement in coffee so it seems sensible to assume that he has the best coffee next to Dave Asprey's suggestions. Though this is better coffee than the last organic bag I've purchased, I'm still looking forward to the five pounds in the mail waiting for me.<br />
<br />
Truth is, the Bulletproof morning with all the accoutrements is still the very best combination of ideas for my body. Not only do I feel optimal, I don't have additional cravings for caffeine and I feel quite awake. I'm even waking up better as well. I may be adding to that list of foods rather soon.<br />
<br />
<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4755351508448513900.post-1550266674628014092013-11-11T13:21:00.000-08:002013-11-11T13:21:05.999-08:00A Rant on Discipline and Rebellious Food Behavior.I have always been annoyed with how resistant I am to eating with discipline.<br />
<br />
I mean, I've been successful with it, and I begin to see results...but then there's that moment where I have to get all crazy on a food choice, and then I lose it all together.<br />
<br />
What's important to understand here, that as soon as the food hits your gut biome, all sorts of hormonal manifestations occur. What drug am I looking for? What experience am I trying to have? It's not so awesome that I keep searching for the perfect food high, though I don't know a soul who doesn't do exactly what I've done in this debacle.<br />
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I realize that I have to keep playing this game with myself in order to continue improving my mission. If I am going to somewhat obsess about getting better and creating a higher performance state in myself, then I have to ask myself these questions. I would worry more about the person who thinks that what they do is perfect and are completely happy with not changing a thing. It's so important to keep changing! Staying the same is what breaks us down and down and down....<br />
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I remember having my mom tell me about food. She had me on high protein, low carb diets my whole life. At the time I was working within the limits of my understanding. Thank goodness the world doesn't completely beat down on me for this. I couldn't eat this and couldn't eat that. It's not that I didn't want to, it's that I was told it would make me sick...but then none of us in the family had any willpower to stay away from the foods that would one day kill us. But now I realize that mom wasn't completely wrong, even as I rebelled from omnivorous behavior to vegetarianism, then on to pescetarianism. What we did then, probably saved my life, and had no idea why. <br />
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One very positive aspect to all of this is to see myself as that food rebel that continues to chip away at self improvement, which says much about my commitment and discipline. It's only as grim or as wonderful of a picture we choose to paint.<br />
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<br />Connie Dunn, Blissfully Fit...http://www.blogger.com/profile/13083630451511009966noreply@blogger.com0