Weight Loss Experiment

Just a quick update…I gained 4 pounds (182) and up to 19.6% body fat after a potluck for our school that started at 4 and included pizza, beer, and corn chips.  My night ended at 3AM after watching a video with Sonya, and then “accidently” watching another movie (more guy like stuff) on my own (really, I was just going to see what it was like).  And you know what’s good with movies…yup…beer and chips.  I really challenged my indulgence antidote with a medium bag of Doritos.  Yes, the real thing, poison and all. 

Talk about an easy way to get in trouble.  That little bag of Doritos was the equivalent of 3 and a half beer, and it took about 15 minutes to down.  I did mention I have issues with indulgence right?  Thankfully, my favorite is beer, and it takes a good 20-30 minutes to drink a full beer (much better pacing).  Chips are a close second though…my lesson…15 minutes of chips isn’t worth 35 extra pushups (and 3 more metacrine, NAC, etc.)

That was Saturday, and we weighed in Sunday afternoon.  Today (Monday, February 25, 2013), I was down to 174.5 by lunch time.  That must be why scale watching is so frustrating.  I don’t care all that much what the scale says, but it is interesting.  176 on Friday…182 on Sunday…174.5 on Monday.  

I guess I overdid my antidote protocol on Saturday.  I bet it was around 12 total indulgence servings (equal to approximately 15 grams carbs, although the beer I drink is more like 18).  And I guess the extra weight on Sunday was swelling and water weight.  

I was pretty good on Sunday, with only 4 servings of bread as the only indulgences (oh, and a bit of ice cream cone), and kept the antidote at 6…water weight gone, and actually lost a pound and a half overall. 

Another lesson…if you look at the scale daily, you shouldn’t take it very seriously.  My ultimate measure will be how I feel and look in my “after” picture.  

Another interesting observation…when I get stressed out, I tend to get dry, irritated eyes, which feels like there is something in my eye.  My left eye was irritated and red all day Sunday, so much that I changed contacts.  It didn’t help, so I tested what would help, and got Skullcap.  (Whenever I say test, I mean muscle testing)  I didn’t have any at home, so I took two shots of Kava a couple hours apart, and tapped on my eyebrows corresponding to an acupressure point.  It worked well enough that I woke with almost no irritation, and my eye was fine all day.  I grabbed some skullcap on the way home to be sure though.  

Why would that happen?  Why would I be stressed out from a relaxing potluck followed by watching movies all night?  You could guess social anxiety, and that would be possible with me.  You could blame the evils of TV watching, and you’d have a point.  I think it was the sheer load of carbs over so many hours.  Carbs lead to blood sugar, which leads to insulin spikes, which leads to blood sugar crashes, and that burden lies directly on the adrenal glands.  When the cortisol production is challenged, the back up system is adrenaline…and dry, itchy, irritated, goopy eyes are a sign of adrenaline overload…at least that is my observation.  It has happened to me enough that I have been able to test out the theory, and it is always passion flower, skullcap, or lemon balm…all which work directly to soothe adrenaline.  

Maybe if I were more disciplined, I wouldn’t have to deal with these acute symptoms.  That will have to wait at least 3 more weeks to consider though, since I have committed myself to indulging during this weight loss experiment.

Non-Violent Communication (NVC) for Boundary Violations

Do you ever feel violated?  Sexual abuse is the violation that is often thought of as one of the most vile and unacceptable.  And, most of us are violated on a daily basis with less offensive boundary crossings. 

 

Our children test our boundaries every day…it’s almost like it’s their job.  

Regardless of the violation…let’s say your child hit you in anger, which happens to us all…it could prove useful to add this resource to your bag of resources.

“You wanted my attention…so you hit me.”  (Firmly) “You may NOT hit me…hitting hurts.”  “If you want my attention, you can say, ‘Daddy, I need your help.’”  

Maybe they didn’t want your attention…  “You wanted to show me how angry you are, so you hit me…You may NOT hit me, hitting hurts…if you want to show me how angry you are, you can hit this pillow (you tell them how you want them to respond).” 

Or…”You wanted space…so you……if you want space, you may go to this safe place.”  

NVC suggests always getting agreement on the boundary…”Can you do that…will you do that?”  If “no,” then engage in problem solving.  “What are your ideas for getting my attention other than hitting?”

Then, when you have a win-win agreement, you never have to say “don’t” again…instead, you remind them of their agreement.  “You agreed to use your words…let’s try that again.”

Now, let’s apply that to the vile example of sexual abuse.  As I understand, most cases are violations by friends, family, or otherwise known people.  In most cases, the boundaries are tested first.  What if demonstrating firm boundaries allows your child to say, at the first subtle boundary violation, “You may not do that…I don’t like that!”

What if you also train your child to respond like this first to their siblings and friends, so they have the words to use when they feel uncomfortable?  

I’d say this is the most responsible resource to reduce and eliminate sexual boundary violations, and every other boundary issue.  I’m not opposed to stronger laws, but I am absolutely in favor of stronger children, stronger parents, and stronger boundaries. 

Body Fat Reduction Experiment

February 22, 2013

I have gained one pound in 5 days, and lost a tenth of a percentage body fat.  That means I am on pace to lose a half of one percent rather than five percent, and gain 6 pounds…but if this is the trend, that would be 6 pounds of muscle.  Could make for a good post picture.  It’s clearly too early to decide any trends are occurring, however, and my plan is to stick to the plan and see what happens.

Once again, the plan is to use just a bit of discipline…really about all I can withstand for 30 days…and use nature’s medicines and foods to support my systems in processing energy.  Here is the exact strategy:

Eating protein with every meal and snack, every 2-3 hours, until bedtime.
Eating greens and other veggies with every meal.
Baby Patterns exercise 6 sets per day, plus one additional for each indulgence.  An indulgence is defined as any high carb or refined carb drink or food, including sugar, bread, desserts, alcohol, chips, etc.  

Plus, a specific protocol, the indulgence antidote, to support the energy processing systems. 

Your liver converts glucose into stored energy, so when you consume more than your needed energy, you need to feed the liver:

MetacrineDX: 6X
Methyl-SP: 3X
NAC: 6X
Bilemin: 3X
Liver: 2X

Also your adrenals and pancreas are taxed:

Phytodren: 2X
EPA/DHA (Fish Oil): 2X

And finally, insulin causes inflammation:

Zymex: 2X
Ginger: 2X

We are also going to try out the facial rejuvenation program:

RNA: 6X  (on a cellular level, activates protein synthesis and repair)
Herbal Blend (GotuKola, Gingko, Bilberry): 4X (1 dropper = 20 drops) (Plants known to support connective tissue repair, oxygenation, and anti-oxidation)
Wheat Germ Oil: 1 topically (rub into skin, contains a natural vitamin E)

This protocol is new to me, so you can judge the effectiveness with our pre and post face close ups. 

As you can see, this is a pretty big commitment to care for my body via nature’s medicines.  Other than that, the only thing I am applying discipline toward is an additional and consistent 6-8 minutes of full body exercise per day. 

If you would like to join Sonya and me in making this small commitment, call Laura on Monday.  I’ll instruct her to take 30% off either or both protocols if you agree to post your results and commentary to our facebook page.  (or email Laura and she can post your comments if you aren’t on facebook). 

Dr. Stone...meet discipline.

I have been talking about my indulgence antidote recently.  If you haven’t heard…I lack discipline in many areas of my life.  You can read my confession here… “Are you good enough?”

The reality is that I have great discipline to do what I want to do, and horrible discipline in doing what I should be doing.  I have great discipline in paying off my indulgences, and using nature’s meds (and foods) to support my weakest links…of body and will.  

Perhaps some people are successful at “willing” themselves to eat healthier and exercise more…meditate, yoga, relaxation, kindness, nurturing…taking care of themselves.  All these items are good ideas, and you should do more of them.  

I just fail at everything I should do.  

This is my plan…I am going to “will” myself to exercise more often…using discipline…and a whole lot of accountability.  Ie. I am telling you, and everyone who receives my emails exactly what I will be doing, so I am “on the hook” with a lot of people…  (which is why I am keeping my commitments very reasonable!) 

 

I will record (journal and video) the process and progress on a daily basis…with a goal of reducing my body fat percentage by 5% in 30 days.  

What I will NOT do is reduce my indulgences.  They are coming along for the ride, since they clearly serve some function in my life right now.  Perhaps it is research (I have learned a ton through treating my own effects/symptoms of indulgence)…or perhaps it is medication for emotional baggage. 

What I WILL DO, is commit to doing a full regimen of baby patterns daily.  You can see the exercise video here…Baby Patterns.    And…I will do one extra set for each indulgence serving.  

I will continue to use my indulgence antidote, flood my body with greens and veggies, eat small protein snacks throughout the day, and use nature’s medicines to support my weakest links (adrenals, digestion, thyroid, liver, etc.) 

I will monitor my weight and body fat daily, and will continue to monitor my health, energy, and any symptoms.  

And I will report the entire process over the next 30 days.  

Today is February 18, 2013…I weigh 175 pounds and measure 19.1% body fat.  (that is 3-5% higher than my typical past measurements).  My body is communicating to me, through intestinal bloating, that it didn’t appreciate the 20 oz of coffee this morning (well, that’s my interpretation and experience…if I don’t take enough Milk Thistle, I bloat from coffee).  I also notice some slight discomfort in my right shoulder, which is popping and clicking, and I feel a pain of 2-3 out of 10 when doing pushups.  

Sonya (my partner) will accompany me on this journey…she was actually the inspiration for making a change, as she is wanting to improve her weight after having our fifth child in November.  I’ll ask her to journal her symptoms, weight, body fat, etc. also. 

The purpose of this process, besides improving our health and fitness, is to document how “meeting your needs” can improve function and health without being perfect with your diet.  You will see how I meet different needs, which are signaled by symptoms…and the needs of all energy producing systems toward a very common goal….weight loss.  

We will also apply a skin rejuvenation protocol during this process… just to notice…

And, as much as anything, it’s just for fun…by being the curious, ignorant scientist…take some action, with (for me) just a tiny bit of discipline, and curiously notice what happens (can’t really observe the true result if you “know” what will happen).  

How will we look…skin, body…how will we feel…energy, symptoms?  

Check back and find out…