Atkins eat right not less with Colette Heimowitz

The 40+ Fitness Podcast is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health-conscious people like runners, cyclist, and weightlifters get lower rates on their life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/40plus to support the show and see if you qualify.

In Atkins Eat Right Not Less, Colette Heimowitz brings us a new view of Atkins. Being familiar with the low carb high fat (LCHF) way of eating, I thought I knew what Atkins was all about.  I was not fully on board with Atkins because of their view on protein.  But Colette presents a much better balance of macros in the plans she presents.

Atkins plans

The book presents three different plans (20, 40, and 100).  Each of these levels is based on the net carbs allowed,  Reducing the carbs requires you to up your fat consumption and have a moderate amount of protein.  The plans do not require calorie counting, which is a sticking point for many people trying to lose weight.

Why vegetables matter

Atkins focuses on net carbs.  This allows you to eat plenty of vegetables.  In fact, Colette really pushes vegetables as a requirement of the plans.

The program focused on foundation vegetables, which are low glycemic and high in fiber.  White potatoes have the same sugar effect as a candy bar.  High glycemic vegetables give you the same blood sugar surge.  Including foundation vegetables with your meals allows you to get the nutrition you need and feel full.

Smart shopping strategies

The grocery store is a carb pushing machine.  Being smart about how you shop can save your weight loss journey.  Colette shared a few of her strategies for smart shopping:

• Don't go hungry
• Have a plan
• Go on days when you'll be able to prepare your meals
• Shop the periphery of the store

Allan also recommends that you use your local farmers' market and don't be afraid to ask the manager of your grocery store to carry higher quality foods.

The recipes

There are many excellent recipes in the book that you'll enjoy as you follow the Akins Diet.

Find Collette

You can learn more about the Atkins Diet and Colette at Atkins.com and you can get Atkins Eat Right Not Less.

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Self-Discipline with Natalie Wise

The 40+ Fitness Podcast is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health conscious people like runners, cyclist, and weightlifters get lower rates on their life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/40plus to support the show and see if you qualify.

Natalie Wise is the author of a new book entitled The Self-Discipline Handbook, a guide to building self-discipline and achieving one’s goals through self-exploration.

The Oxford Dictionary describes self-discipline as, “the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it.” As such, Natalie explains that there is no magic start date or age to begin. Every day is a new beginning.

In practicing self-discipline, curiosity is your superpower, as it continuously brings up the question of “what if”. When curious, you’ll keep going and gaining momentum. It creates opportunities to stay on track and feel like you’re doing something new and interesting.

Natalie explains the three types of motivation we experience:

1. Internal – The only motivation that we have control over; something we can cultivate. Heart motivation is all about your why.
2. External – Could easily lead astray because it is focused on the end result rather than who you are.
3. Muse – A random, gifted motivation that is usually short-lived.

In exercising self-discipline, Natalie explains that practicing patience is important. The following actions can help you remain patient:
1. Breathe – calms brain and nervous system
2. Shake it off – exercise and move your body; feel your physical being calm down
3. Change the channel – focus on something else to get through the slump
4. Talk to someone you love – science has proven it has a calming effect
5. Laugh
6. Know when to keep going and when to quit
7. If all else fails, clean – it changes the channel in your mind and allows you to accomplish something

For more information about The Self-Discipline Handbook or to connect with Natalie Wise, visit http://www.nataliewise.com or @goodgirlstyle on Instagram.

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Diet for the Mind with Dr. Martha Clare Morris

The 40+ Fitness Podcast is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health conscious people like runners, cyclist, and weightlifters get lower rates on their life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/40plus to support the show and see if you qualify.

Dr. Martha Clare Morris is the creator of the MIND diet and has written a new book entitled Diet for the Mind that details what one should eat to prevent a decline in cognitive ability.

Dr. Morris explains that Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that affects one’s ability to function in life. It is a progressive disease that is characterized by memory loss plus the loss of one other cognitive function.

In creating the MIND diet, Dr. Morris evaluated scientific literature on the brain and nutrition and included core components of both the Mediterranean and DASH diets, as both have been shown to yield strong cardiovascular benefits.

Major components of the MIND diet include:

• Green leafy vegetables – consumed almost daily along with one other vegetable daily
• 2 to 5 servings of berries per week and other fruits to your liking
• At least 1 seafood meal per week
• Reduce fried food, sweets and pastries, and limit use of butter

Dr. Morris explains that diet and exercise are the primary driving forces for chronic diseases associated with aging. Apart from maintaining proper nutrition, there are other principles to incorporate into one’s lifestyle that can help to prevent or slow the progression of dementia. These include stimulating the brain by challenging one’s self cognitively to build the cognitive reserve and maintaining a positive outlook on life.

More randomized trials are needed to confirm the relation between sleep and a reduced risk. However, sleep appears to be a time of regeneration in the brain when bad proteins are removed.

Diet for the Mind contains more than 80 recipes and is currently available for purchase on Amazon.

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Fix my knee with George Demirakos

The 40+ Fitness Podcast is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health conscious people like runners, cyclist, and weightlifters get lower rates on their life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/40plus to support the show and see if you qualify.

George Demirakos is the author of Fix My Knee, a guide for preventing and healing injuries to the knees.

There are two types of injuries that can cause pain in the knees. George identifies these two types as traumatic and non-traumatic. Traumatic injuries are those that occur from a hit or fall, which can include sprains, or pulled ligaments, or strains, which are pulled muscles and/or tendons. Tendonitis, an irritation of the tendon, can also occur.

For those who like to run, George recommends warming up properly by jogging in place for 5 to 10 minutes. It is also important to stretch out the muscles by holding for about one minute each time. Some people prefer to run barefoot, which can be beneficial for knee health since more foot muscles are being used and strengthened as a result.

For those who like to lift weights, George explains the importance of using good form during lunges, deadlifts, squats, and hack squats to preserve knee health. The number one mistake made during squats is letting the knees fall in, which changes the body’s alignment, puts stress on the knees, and can cause injury. Having too little of an arch in the lower back and lowering to 90 degrees or less are two other common mistakes. With deadlifts, use one overhand and one underhand grip, which will help improve grip strength. With lunges, make sure your knee does not go past the front of your foot. In any exercise, it’s important to first get the proper form and then add more weight over time.

In regards to food and promoting knee health, fatty fish such as salmon and tuna are great options. Pineapples and papayas have enzymes that help with healing an injured tendon. Green leafy vegetables are rich in Vitamin D, which can reduce inflammation. Conversely, sugar is not recommended, as it can promote inflammation in the knee. Olive oil is preferred over other oils such as sunflower oil. Smoking and alcohol should also be avoided.

To learn more about Fix My Knee or to connect with George Demirakos, visit http://www.georgedemirakos.com.

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Keto with Maria and Craig Emmerich

The 40+ Fitness Podcast is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health conscious people like runners, cyclist, and weightlifters get lower rates on their life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/40plus to support the show and see if you qualify.

Maria and Craig Emmerich are the authors of a new book entitled Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on the Ketogenic Diet. As a guide to getting into ketosis for health, the book discusses the science behind how keto works and clarifies a lot of misinformation surrounding the ketogenic diet.

With ketosis, there are serious reasons to avoid alcohol. Maria and Craig explain that alcohol cannot be stored and must be burned off first before any other fuels. Therefore, any other fats and carbs consumed at that time go straight into storage. Alcohol also interferes with one’s hormones, specifically reducing testosterone.

Maria and Craig discuss the fat flux, where the body uses fat cells as a sort of gas tank to fuel the body. When one keeps his carb level low enough, the body is primarily burning fat for fuel and maintaining protein. The fat component, where fat is going in and out of fat cells, then becomes the one variable. Ideally, you will want more fat cells coming out than going in if you aim to lose weight and reduce diabetes. To achieve this, you must moderate your fat intake to where you are burning more fat, instead of simply chasing a ketone number. Exercise is also great for building healthy mitochondria which give you energy and burn fat.

There are three stages to becoming keto adapted. Mental clarity and reduced hunger occurs within the second phase, or four to six weeks into ketosis. This is when the body starts making more mitochondria to burn more fat for fuel. One’s energy level will also soar in this stage. In the third stage or after six months to a year in ketosis, one may still see metabolic improvements.

To connect with Maria and Craig Emmerich or for more information about Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on the Ketogenic Diet, visit http://www.mariamindbodyhealth.com and http://www.keto-adapted.com.

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Solving stress with Kraig Brockschmidt

Kraig Brockschmidt is the author of a new book entitled Solving Stress. In his book, Kraig explains that while stress is a consistent, persistent experience for most people. techniques and exercises can be used to help solve stress, not just manage it.

Kraig explains that stress occurs whenever there is a separation between what one expects and what occurs in reality. All people experience this. With any potential stressor, one will react. However, it is the nature of the reaction that one can control. The idea is to move the reaction away from anger and tension and toward relaxation and calmness in that critical moment.

Many of the popular stress management techniques offer immediate, but not long-term relief. These tips can be grouped into three categories within the Great Stress Exchange: Venting, Discipline, and Escape. These strategies buy time to avoid immediate and negative reactions to stressors.

A four-step process included in Kraig’s book involves the following prompts: stop, breathe, reflect, and choose. One should pause for 10 or 20 seconds and take a breath to put himself in-tune with the environment. Reflecting presents different options and choices, instead of feeling like a victim. Then an appropriate response can be chosen.

Kraig’s book includes a set of daily exercises to help people achieve a reaction of calmness. These exercises take about 20 minutes and include arm and shoulder rotations and neck rolls to help release stress and tension in the body. Meditation is also incorporated. By following these exercises, the brain is trained to know what relaxation feels like so that it can be triggered when a stressful situation arises. Over time, one’s stress threshold will rise and the intensity of a stressor that will push one over the edge will be very high.

To learn more about Solving Stress or to connect with Kraig Brockschmidt, visit http://www.kraigbrockschmidt.com. To facilitate his how practice, Allan is developing a checklist of exercises from Kraig's book.  To receive a  copy of this checklist of daily exercises, join the 40+ Fitness Podcast Facebook Group and post a photo of yourself with Solving Stress in hand.

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Training for an ironman with Diane Bergeron

Diane Bergeron is a visually-impaired athlete who appeared on the podcast previously and spoke about her intention to complete an Ironman competition. In this episode, she shares an update on her Ironman experience. After competing and unsuccessfully completing the race in 2015, Diane shares that she was recently successful in her quest.

In her most recent experience with the Ironman, she shares that just over 2,000 athletes competed. Her goal was to finish the race healthy, strong, and feeling uninjured. She was able to accomplish just that with a time of 16:15:57.

In order to achieve this goal, Diane invested a significant amount of time and effort into her training. First, she evaluated the 2015 race and what caused her to be unable to finish. She considered what factors she could she have changed. After realizing that the run was one of her weak areas, she made sure to focus on this in her training. As a result, Diane did two marathons and a lot of running to prepare for the next Ironman. She worked on the spin bike three times per week and ran three times per week. She also incorporated strength building with lighter weights.

To avoid overtraining and lessen the possibility of injury, Diane made it her personal policy to have at least one day off per week. This allowed her muscles to rest and recover. As a result, on the day after the Ironman, she experienced little pain and felt strong and healthy.

Looking forward, Diane is aiming to qualify for the Boston Marathon. She is also organizing the first five-person relay team of all blind athletes to compete in the Canadian Death Race, for which she will begin training in January.

Diane has a website launching in January called http://www.blindironvision.com. To connect with Diane, email her at blindironvision@gmail.com.

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