10K (steps, that is) and question

[Lila]

Last night I got an email triggered by my Fitbit telling me that I had reached 10000 steps for the first time.


Big deal, you say?  Well for a sedentary soul who two weeks ago rarely got over 3500, it is pretty monumental. I paid for it last night with hurting feet and legs, but all is well this AM.


My question is about stress--I read somewhere on this forum about the need to be careful about cortisol and stress.  I know that for me, this level of activity is unusual (although I have been working up to it over the past two weeks).  How does one know if one is doing something to adversely affect cortisol, which could hinder weight loss?  I'm very confused about the role of cortisol in weight loss.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Good Morning Lila,


A simple answer is that cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands.  It helps to regulate blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation responses among other things.  When too much cortisol is produced, all these processes go haywire.  Too much stress, too many cortisol increasing foods like caffeinated drinks all result in increased cortisol levels.  Your body thinks it is under attack and produces quick energy for "flight" that never happens.  Your body then craves more sugar for the quick energy it thinks it needs and your liver processes this instead of fat. Ultimate result is lots of flab, adrenal exhaustion, high inflammation, bp,bs and cholesterol levels.  You gain weight because your liver still burns sugar.  Add wheat and HFCS and all their ramifications ..... sounding familiar?

[HungryinTN]

Last night I got an email triggered by my Fitbit telling me that I had reached 10000 steps for the first time.

How does one know if one is doing something to adversely affect cortisol, which could hinder weight loss?  I'm very confused about the role of cortisol in weight loss.

Walking is a healthy way to get moving and should not activate a stress reaction.  Here is some useful info from Mark Sisson http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-we-dont-walk-anymore/#axzz2ek2L9uAJ.  Sisson advocates functional and body-weight exercises that are designed to make our body perform the types of movements it was made to perform.  Sprinting, for instance, is an activity that our ancestors probably only did to get away from predators.  Therefore when we try to run at high speeds, we're telling our body that there is a tiger on our heels that wants to eat us and that is definitely a cortisol-spiking notion!

[Rita]

Congrats on that Lila.  Actually, they say that if you have adrenal fatigue, it's great to walk rather than do lots of heavy duty exercising due to the cortisol and adrenaline production when you are in 'fight and flight' mode.   Walking is a great way to relax the body, especially if you take the time to enjoy your surroundings. 

[Lila]

I'm basically lazy but I have gotten to love my walk.  On my campus we have a lovely lake and I've been able to see all kinds of local wildlife.  I take my iPhone for music but it is my camera too.  Today there was a great blue heron, turtles, Belle the swan, ducks and geese.   Very relaxing.  Three times around the lake is over 2.25 miles and 4500 steps. 


Now if my laziness doesn't consume me again...

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lila,


It's not laziness, its lethargy that makes you not want to do anything requiring moving around.  Now you finally, actually know that this was caused by the food you were eating.  As soon as you stopped eating it you started to feel better and started to move around!
You have a long way to go, and many problems may not have surfaced yet, but you are most definitely improving with each day of grain and sugar free living.

[Randal]

Good point, Barbara. It's straight from Taubes: You're not overweight because you eat too much and are lazy; you eat too much and you're lazy because your body is telling you to gain weight. Or more accurately, you're eating too much and you're lazy because your body is in fat accumulation mode (because of the wheat, sugar, and other carbs you're eating). Flip the switch, and your body will tell your mind to find ways to dispense of the calories you're now burning instead of storing.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Randal,

Excellent contribution to this discussion!


Taking this one step further:  remember how you energetic you felt when you had a bad cold or flu or chicken pox, allergy attack or any other illness.  Full of vim, vigor and vitality - right?  Able to breeze through your daily activities with a smile and enthusiasm, accomplishing all that needed to be done and more?  Coming home, making a healthy, nutritious dinner and then going out  for evening socializing/fun for hours.  Is this only the vitality of youth or is it the vitality of a healthy person? 

Remember the decisions you made during those times of illness, even if you would describe it as "just being under the weather"?  Would you have made the same decisions or the same reactions to a situation if you were well?  Would your decisions have been taking the easiest route rather than the harder, but clearly much wiser path?  Would you jump to angry conclusions instead of thinking through the problem?  Did you play the blame game? 

Daniel Amen, MD. author of numerous NY Times best sellers, has shown before and after CAT scans of peoples brains.  The before are taken when people are first enrolled in his clinics for treatment of assorted illnesses and the after are taken during and the end of treatment or followups. The before pix show brain shrinkage in many areas with people reporting  diminished capacity, poor overall functioning and assorted illnesses/cravings that makes their life miserable.  Within weeks of following a high quality natural diet plan (Amen recommends 70% plant, 30% protein) such as WB,  you are now providing your brain the nutrients it needs for optimal functioning.  These people start reporting improved mood, clearer thinking and a calm, relaxed mind and attitude.  This shows up in CAT scans with those brain areas eventually recovering to normal sizes.  These people now understand the direct influence that pro inflammatory foods have on their present life and how these same foods and bad dietary habits will diminish their futures. No more dinosaur mentality (large body, small brain, headed for extinction) for them!

I am sure that there will be an increasing amount of print concerning the relationship of food intake and behavior. 

[Lila]

Truly I never would have thought about my laziness as being lethargic..it has been ingrained into my being that I'm fat and lazy since long before a doctor told my mother (when I was a teenager) that if I had any initiative at all I would lose 80 lbs by the time I was 18.  Of course, that didn't happen because I am so lazy and have no initiative.  Great for one's self esteem.


Now that I'm not eating wheat/grain, I can stop eating when I'm full.  Last night I made the WB pizza. Normally we would be able to eat 2/3 of a large pizza and still want more.  Even after a box of Triscuits and cheese.  Last night we had some celery sticks and a few slices of NY sharp cheddar.  Then later we could eat only one slice of pizza each. We just stopped eating because we were satisfied.  Absolutely unheard of for us. 


The past five or six  weeks have taught me that is not about a lack of initiative or self control.


Thanks, guys.

[HungryinTN]

Truly I never would have thought about my laziness as being lethargic..it has been ingrained into my being that I'm fat and lazy since long before a doctor told my mother (when I was a teenager) that if I had any initiative at all I would lose 80 lbs by the time I was 18.  Of course, that didn't happen because I am so lazy and have no initiative.  Great for one's self esteem.

I think that's something that a lot of us can related to!  If you haven't seen the video of Peter Attia's TED Talk on his experiences as a young medical resident, check it out here: http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_attia_what_if_we_re_wrong_about_diabetes.html. 

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Hi Lila,


Yes! You certainly have flipped that switch Randal mentioned!   Wonderful for you!   
It is a real shame so many people have suffered lots of misery simply for being unable to tolerate the foods they have been told were healthy.  At least the people here are on the mend.