Metabolic Typing- You Can Do It!!!

Well, as some of you know, I decided to bite the bullet (or lay off the peanut butter cups, whichever you prefer) and hire a nutritionist, which has led me to the metabolic typing diet.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, I encourage you to visit this website- http://www.metabolictyping.com/ and learn more about it. 

For those of you already struggling with the sacrifices of this diet (or are just trying to figure out whether it’s right for you), I hope to offer some insight. I’m currently in week two as a fast oxidizer, which means that I am a heavy-duty protein type who loves her fats.  And cue the top questions:

• What about the pastas??!?!?! I said the same thing. And not just about the pastas. I said that about fruits, vegetables, sweets, and every other delicious carb I could think of because you guessed it- I should not be eating a lot of them. Ugh.  Which I’m sure leads to your next question.
•  OMG YOU CAN’T EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES?!?! AREN’T YOU GOING TO DIE?! (Yes, I have gotten that reaction…several times). No, I’m not going to die and I can eat fruits and vegetables, just a very limited number of them (fruit- apples, bananas, pears, and coconut only) and a very small amount. And again, not everyone is a fast oxidizer or protein type. Many people are carb types or other types. My diet is not yours.
• But, aren’t you going to get a heart attack from eating all of that fat?! Well, yes, if I decide to only eat fast food burgers for the rest of my life.  However, based upon a very thorough recent study, saturated fats do NOT cause heart disease. Trans fats do. Also, I’d imagine it depends on where you get your saturated fats from.  After all, saturated fats can be found in coconut, avocado, etc.

So what have been the biggest struggles so far?? Well, obviously, sticking to the proper foods to eat. I should explain that once you find out what type you are (you answer a lengthy questionnaire), you get a food chart that tells you all of the things that your type can and cannot eat, which in theory makes it easy for you to sort through what to get at the store.  However, it’s not so easy in practice when you are craving everything deliciously salty and carbo-licious.  The good thing about my type is I get to eat fatty meat (bring on the bacon!!!) to my heart’s content. The bad thing is I don’t like the meat sweats.

Getting serious now, here are the biggest struggles of this diet so far:

• Going out and eating. I like to go out with friends every once in a while and I hate being that overly picky person who “just can’t eat anything off the menu because it’s soooo unhealthy”. No matter how true that is, it’s difficult to stick with the diet and eat within my constrictions (which for me also includes being gluten, dairy, and sugar free).
• Explaining the diet to others. I’ve come to realize that as a society we refuse to admit that our diet is killing us.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve explained this diet to who drink aspartame laden drinks and eat those nasty frozen dinners and claim “oh yea, I’m healthy. By the way, I have thyroid issues and I’m overweight and my joints hurt and I’m taking every medication under the sun for it”.  People- YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Stop feeding yourself crap and you won’t feel like crap.
• The cravings!! When they say that sugar is as addictive as a drug, I believe it.  It has been more than difficult to kick the habit completely.  I had cut down on my sugar intake a few months ago and thought I could handle this, but I have been massively proven wrong.  Thus, I tend to breakdown every once in a while (OK, almost every day…) and have some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies by Lucy’s (kids, don’t try this at home…but if you do, just know they are delicious).
• The cost. Of course, healthy food is expensive as all get out, but if you live in the central PA area, I can tell you that if you go to BJ’s you can get organic meats at a very good price. They aren’t grass fed, but they are hormone and anti-biotic free and if you’re looking to lessen the impact on your wallet, it’s the way to go.  I try and get some grass-fed meats in there too (maybe one or two steaks from Wegmans or Giant) just so I can be extra good on some days.
• Finally, the cooking.  I feel this will probably be a benefit after I get used to it, but as a person who doesn’t normally cook, I find this very troublesome.  I did try this weekend, though, to dedicate a day to cooking a bunch of food and freezing it as meals for this week. So far, so good.

OK, so if there are that many cumbersome cons why even try it?!  Well, I will tell you that even after a week and half I have had some great results.

• First and foremost, my hair doesn’t fall out nearly as much.  Remember how that was a problem in my past posts? I thought sulfate-free items would help…and they did, but it didn’t stop it.  The change in my diet has cut the amount that falls out in half. Incredible.
• Secondly, my scalp stopped burning every time I touch it.  Also incredible.
• Thirdly, I don’t bloat and have a “food baby” or if I do, it’s only in its first trimester. I have suffered from this for YEARS. Ever since my tweens I developed a food baby after every meal, which continually got worse over the years to the point that I can’t wear some of the things that I want to wear.  Abdominal exercises didn’t work. Eating less didn’t work. Drinking more water didn’t work. This works.
• Finally, detoxing.  I have been detoxing from who knows what, which can never be a bad thing, right?!

So yes, while the diet is so much of a change from before, I think it’s going to be well worth it in the long run to maintain a healthy body.  Thus, if you are thinking about trying this out, I encourage you to give it a whirl. You don’t need to be perfect at it right away. I know I’m sure not, but the results will be well worth the trouble and as time goes maybe you’ll realize that you don’t really mind life without all of that junk anyway.

(Oh, and bonus-did I mention that I lost three pounds?!)

Oh, Just Shut Up

I’m currently working my way through Pema Chodron’s book The Places that Scare You. This is my first experience with one of her teachings and I must say that my favorite part about it is that she is not afraid to talk about her “human-ness”, which is a theme I am very fond of.  I think that too often we see other people as non-human.  We don’t see what we call their imperfection or their hang-ups and struggles.  We just success, whether it’s in the form of money, power, monastic robes, or anything else we consider a sign of success, which leads us to believe that “they” are something different than  “we”.

So, in light of Pema Chodron’s ability to talk about her human-ness in her practice and her ability to be inspiring through it, I thought I’d share a little of mine in my practice with the hope that it would show someone else that we are all in fact human.

I have a very hyperactive and perhaps untrained mind.  No matter how much meditation or mindfulness practice I do, I find that afterwards my ego goes “full speed ahead”, racing with thoughts, judgments, fantasies, and waves of ridiculous (and often times imaginary) emotions.  Of course, this leads me to doubting my practice, which leads to more ridiculous thoughts, which leads to more judgments, and the cycle goes on. More and more, though, as I get caught up in these ego-based activities, I find myself becoming mentally exhausted by the same old routine. Sometimes as I’m driving, I find myself mentally (OK, verbally) saying to myself, “Oh my gosh, just SHUT UP already”.  It’s like being in a room filled with noise and all you want is a brief moment of silence.  In fact, that’s exactly what it is.

I think sometimes in my practice I feel like because I have this hyper mind that I’m not normal or “I’m not doing it right”. I don’t think that’s the case at all.  The mere fact that I get exhausted by the constant reel of jibber-jabber going on in this noggin of mine I think is a step in the right direction.  We are all human.  Whether you are poor, rich, tall, short, etc., we are all human and we ALL suffer.  I think that’s the most important thing to remember.  We all suffer.

So, the next time you find yourself wrapped up in your “human-ness” thinking that you just aren’t doing something right, just remember- we are all wrapped up in our human-ness.  You want the proof? Are we all thinking and feeling? Then we all have human-ness to contend with.