Food Combinations and Weight Loss

One of the things I learned while a student of Chinese martial arts was the concept called (in the west) "Macrobiotics", or as we called it, "Taoist food combining."

The main crux of the whole theory is that certain foods must, and must not, be eaten with other foods. Some combinations are beneficial for digestion and health, while others are completely incompatible, cause disruptive side efficts (indigestion and gas to name a couple) and lead to toxicity and excess weight gain. And can you guess THE biggest offender on the list? Only the very foundation of most western diets: Meat and Potatoes!

Basically, the theory is that meat requires a stomach acid to digest, while complex carbs (potatoes, pasta, etc.) require a base , secreted by the stomach. When the food combines in the stomach, and the two stomach solutions are secreted, they CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT (Acids and Bases are opposites on the PH balance chart, etc.) So, you get a pile of mush in your stomach, with essentially a useless combination of stomach fluids trying to digest the food, and failing miserable.

This process is so taxing on the body that, after a big meal like that, you feel tired, and often have digestion problems. When this goes on day after day, year after year, basically the toxins and undigested food lead to poor health and obesity.

Anyway, that is the theory anyway. Keep in mind, at the time I was deeply into both the martial arts training and this diet, I was young and skinny already. I didn't need to lose weight, but once I started eating that way, I noticed some big changes. One being, I didn't get tired at lunchtime anymore (eating salads, soup, or vegi sandwiches) and I rarely had any problem with indigestion or gas. Not to mention, my overall energy and athletic ability improved, which was very noticeable since I was training weekly for martial arts tournaments, etc.

Anyway, in the recent weeks I have gone back to this diet, and once again, I really noticed a benefit from it. And, now that I am not so young and skinny, I am also noticing that it has been a LOT easier to shed pounds when I am eating this way, and I just feel lighter overall.

Green Tea instead of Coffee....

Well, a few weeks back, I decided for the 900th time in my life to give up coffee, even though I love it. Basically, I love it too much, and the side effects, for me, are just not worth it any more. It affects my skin, my scalp, and my nerves, just to name a few. Even though it was (always is) painful to give it up, the improvements in my body are obvious almost overnight.

And although in the past I have always said "I'll just quit for a few weeks and can always go back, as long as I keep it to one a day..." Yeah right. For me, translate that to "one pot a day.." This time, I am daring to say, I believe will be the last time - I'm planning on giving it up for good.

Anyway, my "substitute" morning beverage is green tea (always has been during my periods without coffee.) Actually, I really like tea in general, green tea included. I learned a lot of years ago about the health benefits of green tea, and when I studied Chinese martial arts, my teacher talked about how powerful it's healing effects are. And that includes for weight loss.

Green tea helps with weight loss mainly because it cleanses the body in general, and it also helps to increase metabolism, which of course is how we lose any weight to begin with. I am currently in my late 30's, and have been overweight for about 5 years now (thank you slowing metabolism) whereas before that, my problem was always being "too skinny" (what a reversal, not fun.)

Anyway, since I recently got back on a regular routine of exercise, watching my diet closer, this switching to green tea has really been helpful to my overall effort of losing weight and renewing my health. If you're a coffee drinker, and feel burned out (and want some help buring fat) I would highly suggest giving it a try. It takes discipline at first, but eventually, the rewards make it much easier.

Funny, as I wrote that sentence, a commercial just came on TV for Lipton's "Green Ice Tea". Nice little touch of synchronicty I guess.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots - I'm finally losing some weight...!

Well, it's been about 8 weeks since my wife and I joined the YMCA in our neighborhood (Encinitas, CA.) We both had some concerns about our overall health and fitness. Her's being high blood pressure, mine being about 30 lbs overweight.

My ideal weight is 185 for my height (6'-0".) When I started at the Y, with clothes on, I weighed 216. After weeks of both weight training and 30 minutes of cardio per day, averaging 5 times weekly, my weight is down to 207. (Woo Hoo!) I lost about 9 pounds and counting.

Anyway, besides hard work and a LOT of sweat, I found this really interesting program called "Fat Loss 4 Idiots". They have a pretty unique take on weight loss, haven't really heard about this before. Basically, they call it "shifting calories" - or changing what types of foods you eat periodically in order to burn more fat. I think it really works, I actually feel like the weight is coming off faster now than it was just a few weeks ago. Anyway, check it out and come back here to post a comment to let me know what you think.