|
|
The ELF Diet: Eat Less Food
The new buzz word in dieting is the ELF Diet (ELF stands for Eat Less
Food, some have changed it to Eat Less Fat or Eat Less Fatty). To a
point our obesity epidemic is the result of people eating more than
they actually need (click here to listen to a pod cast from
Scientific America on the ELF Diet). However, over eating is
not the only cause. Lack of exercise plays a major role. The quality of
our food (and the toxins in it) is a big part. Eating too much sugar
(and we may not even realize the amount we are eating) is also a
culprit. To top it all off the fad diets and weight loss
propaganda
makes getting real information difficult.
Do I have all the answers? No. Am I a pristine slim
individual? No. What I am - is someone who is
learning some truths and changing how I live, and you can too.
Multiple Sclerosis changed my life forever and since my diagnosis I
have struggled with many discomforts. Also since my diagnosis I have
put on an additional 40 lbs. But I wasn't a slim individual before the
diagnosis, and M.S. wasn't the culprit that caused my condition of
being over weight. It was my lack of knowledge.
First,
lets have a look at the ELF Diet.
It is true, with all the processed foods, fast foods, snacks and
calorie laden beverages - people are eating much more than they
actually need. Here's a link to calculate the amount of
calories you need.
I dare you to calculate your REAL calorie intake for a week -
everything - without changing a thing you do (including that Starbucks
beverage). I will lay odds that, if you are over weight, you are eating
more than you need. My Father used to tell a story about a conversation
he had with his doctor concerning weight loss and a good diet. His joke
was that the doctor said, "If it tastes good, spit it out." This was a
funny way to claim the ELF Diet would work.
However, taking this in the opposite direction - eating too few
calories, fasting too much or eating sporadicly - and you 'could'
send your body into starvation mode. For an obese person this could
result in weight loss as the body will feed on fat tissue, but it is
unlikely that the weight loss will be sustained as habits haven't
changed. In addition this can be dangerous, especially if you are not
obese, as the body will feed off of lean muscle, including the tissue
around organs. The Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre in
Cambridge has posted a very good study concerning starvation mode and
what it does to the body.
So your FIRST
goal should be to reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories less than
what your actual body's need is. This is not 500 calories less than
what you are eating right now. You need to calculate the amount of
calories your body needs (here's the link to the calculator again).
In reality this is just the ELF Diet. The new buzz word name is only
telling you to reduce calories by reducing the amount of food you are
eating.
Second,
how much sugar are you eating?
Unless you are already conscious of this (and a good label reader) you
are probably not aware of the huge amount of sugar that is hidden in
many of our foods today. Sugar equals empty (no vitamins,
minerals or benefit to your body) calories that really just end up in
extra pounds. Look for these words on your food labels:
sugar, corn syrup, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, barley malt,
maltose, fruit juice concentrate, beet sugar, dextran, dextrose,
maltodextrin, and turbinado. A big give away is any word that
ends in 'ose' is sugar. If you would like to learn more about food
labeling this link from MedlinePlus is very informative.
There are times that I've wondered if the OVER consumption of sugar has
actually caused a kind of addiction. That is my own opinion (and not
documented), but it is something to wonder about. The end of the sugar
problem is not just the extra weight that it puts on your
frame - there are other health risks that are just not something to
deny (no matter how good it tastes). Take a moment to read this wonderful article
from the Smoothie Handbook on sugar side effects. The article
displays many additional links for you to continue your own personal
research. You could make the ELF Diet even easier by simply
getting rid of the majority of the sugars (and those empty calories)
you are eating.
If you
want to make the ELF Diet really work for you, add exercise.
Our bodies need exercise. I've learned this first hand with Multiple
Sclerosis. I watched as parts of my body changed for the worse and
found my stamina greatly reduced. I was getting sick every time the
next
cold went through the community and the lack of exercise even affected
my mood.
Coming from the confines of a wheelchair I am now proud of the fact
that I CAN walk. My exercise program does not include a gym or
expensive club membership. It is pure motivation from a deep
understanding of what I lost. I do not wish, what I went through, on
anyone - but I am thankful for the personal meaning that it gave to me.
I now make it a point to walk every day. If the weather is such that I
can't do it outside, I walk the halls of my apartment building, or walk
a figure 8 through my house. Some days I look like a drunken sailor,
but other days I walk proud and tall. I had lost the very thing that
brought me great joy - being able to walk in the woods and working with
herbs. It has taken me three years to get back to the point that I can
spend an hour walking in the woods.
Now - all of that was an emotional statement so here's some advice from the Mayo Clinic.
This link elaborates on these 7 things that exercise does:
1) Improves Your Mood
2) Helps Your Body Fight Disease
3) Helps With Weight Loss
4) Strengthens Your Heart and Lungs
5) Helps You Sleep
6) Improves Your Sex Life
7) Pick Something You Like Doing - It Can Be Fun
Why Do
Fad Diets Fail - All Of Them? And this can
include the ELF Diet as well.
All you have to do is type "weight loss" into any search box and you
will be overwhelmed by all the sites. Honestly - most of them are
trying to appeal to your emotional self and get you to buy a product.
But EVERY diet you try is going to fail for one simple reason.
A diet does not change your habits.
Our culture has come to believe that the word diet means a short term
hell that will result in a fast solution to an emotional problem. Our
'want it now' society is looking for a cure pill (juice, food, vitamin)
that will get rid of the fat and still allow you to live exactly as you
are.
In
order for any diet to work - even the ELF diet - you need to focus on
your health (not your fat or your weight) and you need to want to
change your life. When you really want to - you will.
Over this last month I have taken things seriously, I am changing my
life. To date I've reduced 6 lbs of over all weight and my
belly is 5 inches smaller. That may not sound like a lot
(most of the weight loss ads boast so much more), but I have changed my
life and I know those pounds and inches aren't coming back.
What am I doing?
1) I'm eating less calories - but they are all good foods (the secret
of the ELF Diet = good foods).
2) I'm drinking 64 ounces of water a day.
3) I'm walking as much as my body will allow me to.
Make the ELF Diet work for you. Get out of the mode of wanting to lose
20 lbs in a month.
Change your life and have a great body forever.
|
|
|
|
All
information, shared on
this web site, is for enjoyment and study only and is NOT meant to
diagnose or treat any medical condition. Only your
health care professional is qualified to diagnose or treat medical
conditions. Do not risk your health! Just because
something is 'natural' does NOT make it safe. Do not, under
any
circumstance, ingest or use herbs in any form
without consulting your Doctor. If you do, you do so
at
your OWN RISK.
Web Site
Content (text, graphics, look and feel) are Copyright Protected © All
Rights Reserved 2009, Sandy Marie.
|
|
|
| Blogs |
Site
News Blog
Stay up to
date on new pages added and information about the site. |
|
Instead of an
'About Me' page this blog
covers my herbal
adventures.
|
|
| . |
This
website is made
possible & successful
because of Site Build
It
 |
| . |
|
|
| . |
| |
|
|
|
