Tag Archives: Exercise

Using exercise like the Hammer of Thor

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Happy Monday… we survived!

Where, oh where did we get the idea that exercise is a form of physical punishment, a real-life mulligan, a good-negating-bad choice, a means to self-worth, self-confidence, and self-love? And if we don’t exercise, do we not punish ourselves mentally with shame or through other physical reasoning such as diet restrictions or binges or vices? I’m certainly generalizing on behalf of a few, but I still think that a few involves… well… many.

Shit, I used to think or feel this way. I know a lot of my health-seeking peers share those thoughts or feelings, too… at least that’s the reality I peering-eye experience on my social networks; i.e. facebook prophecies, instagram progressions, twitter vents, and tumblr no-holds-barred’s. I experience people who hold exercise as the parting of the Red Sea to the healthy promise land. I experience people whom are publicly frustrated with themselves over poor diet choices. I experience people whom are up in a never-ending cycle of searching for themselves with external justification. I experience people whose achievements or success are based solely on hard-work, burning the wick at both ends, and pain.

I am aware that there is an extreme to this; one that is more in-touch with an inner peace as a means to reach outer satiety (as I have so novice-ly discovered along my journey). But not everyone is at that point, and there could be many drifting along in purgatory; searching for a quick-fix way out that could send them further down or a patiently-puzzle-pieced journey that may give rise to one of many epiphanies. I am not one to say who is right or wrong. I am no one to say my way or the highway. My point is to bring this constricted reality to light because it’s been on my subconscious radar for some time; that is, why does it have to be this way?

I do not have a black-and-white answer. What I have are some qualms. As long as work-out dvds exist, as long as diet-fads promoted by wolves looking to profit from sheep, as long as fitness buffs market an external body-image as the end and quick video clips of them exercising as the means, as long as specific advice is given to a world of individuals then this reality will continue to exist. There is, however, a growing awareness that health doesn’t mean pain, agony, stress, turmoil, punishment, or a daily kill-yourself. There is a growing awareness that health comes from within, from an awareness of one’s wants vs. needs, from an awareness that love and understanding precede permanent change (and not the yo-yo we may experience). There is a growing awareness of smarter, not harder to accomplish goals. There is a growing awareness that it’s ok to be less of an image and more of a path.

I am not bashing exercise. I think there is a time, a place, and an individualized need for exercise. I think that exercise has incredible benefits… when it is implemented properly. I think that people have built exercise up to be more of a reaction than action. I think that exercise went from a daily instinct to a daily grind. I think that if someone uses exercise for self-discipline, self-control, or self-confidence, I’d say there’s a lot more going on underneath it all that is in dire need to be addressed and not suppressed.

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Is cardio healthy?

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Happy Monday people of earth,

I ran into a friend’s father at a fitness expo recently. Over the past year he has experienced his fair share of significant health obstacles and is in a much better place these days, but still “in recovery.” So, we got talking, caught up on life, jumped from one topic to another, and eventually breezed over on his current diet and exercise prescriptions from his physician. “[the doctor] wants me to do more cardio because of my age and what I’ve been through.” Hold the phone… doctors are STILL prescribing cardio to their patients as a HEALTHY form of exercise and a necessary path for surgery-recovery? I thought that whole 1980′s cardo-for-a-healthy-heart movement fizzled out by now? Obviously, by my inner dialogue you can tell that it really shocked me. I then gandered around the floor at everyone else who looked like they use cardio as a their go-to form of exercise, weight loss, and healthy living… and I was immediately put in my place that a majority of people still just don’t get it.

BURN FAT? LOSE WEIGHT? RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN… myself into the ground, develop dark circles under my eyes, lose a significant amount of the-highly-desired-highly-metabolic muscle weight, displace muscle with fat, down-regulate my thyroid (metabolism epicenter), severely decrease my metabolic rate and blood pressure and caloric demands (cool, I can eat less now!… ?), and invoke a stress hormone response that can promote fat storage, chronic pains, aches, sores, and possibly bowel, hormonal, fertility, libido, mental, or emotional dis-eases.

Yes, that can all be true. Yes, there are plenty-o-arguments that promote cardio as healthy. Yes, I am being a bit over-dramatic and pointing fingers at one thing when there always are many factors at play when it comes to being healthy. But this is a blog about distance/endurance running and that’s where my finger is pointed at right now.

Cardio burns muscle. I don’t care how you look at it. It will burn muscle for energy because distance running is a great energy demand and a body in distress will burn through sugar stores then convert proteins into sugars for energy; it will never touch fat stores because fat saves lives. Distance also kills the metabolic rate. Runners have to run almost every single day just to “stay in shape,” which also causes a greater stress hormone response and screws with ya if you happen to have a high-caloric meal because god-forbid if you eat a cheeseburger and fries. Long-distance runs do the complete opposite of what most exercising-folk are after… it increases fat storage, it burns muscle, it demands a higher workout frequency, and just degrades the body beyond what it can handle. “But, I feel great after long runs and I feel a rush of energy!” That is called adrenaline… and it’s sucking up your sugar stores and eating away on your muscle stores because your body doesn’t know if it’s running from a tiger or for sport and it’s doing what it is designed to do… keep you alive no matter what.

Google distance runner vs sprinter. Show me an athlete with a well-built, muscular physique that attributes it solely to distance running. Try to tell me that right-minded strength coaches or trainers don’t incorporate high-intensity, short-interval training in their program if they want a significant anabolic and metabolic muscle response for their clients. There is a time and place for cardio. I think it should be used sparingly as an endurance-building aspect of a training program and NEVER the foundation. I get the whole fad of distance running. I get that people lose [usually muscle] weight or turn their lives around because of the mentality-shift it provides. I just think there are much better, less-stressing, more positive, healthier ways to approach exercise… and in my friend’s father’s case… recovery.

If you’re a runner, here is the best advice I can provide if you really want to benefit your body from the inside-out: Run shorter distances and run them fast. The goal should not be to run further each week. The goal should be to run quicker each week because THAT incorporates fast-twitch muscle fibers, which “burn calories” or “burn fat” more efficiently; that is, it’s healthier, thyroid-supporting, and provides a longer rest period while still maintaining a higher metabolic rate! A marathon program has people increasing their distances EACH WEEK. If a weight lifter transposed that to a lifting program that would be utterly impossible to have that significant of a weight increase in such a short and quick time period… but people push their bodies with running and don’t realize how much damage their doing until it’s too late when they’re walking around with knee-braces, stress-fractures, poor sex-drives, shitty attitudes, flabby legs, and one hell of a fitness plateau.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

jdperryhealth.com
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Self-understanding and healthy results

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Happy Monday my peoples,

This week I’m doing something different, as you can probably tell by the screen-shot shirtless JD in the video box below. I felt compelled to do a spoken-word blog for today’s post because I wanted to provide “an image to the face” in regards to results and understanding how to achieve those results (a physical manifestation of your mental and emotional states). A video post been an in-the-making process as I am beginning to feel more comfortable as a self-aware health blogger and not just some health nerd that needs to vent about his candid battles publicly. So, without further rambling. Here’s today’s blog…

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Functional exercise and my CrossFit review

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Happy Monday guise!

Last week I threw in some recent experiences with CrossFit for a blog about weight loss, stating that I actually increased my fat storage due to a stress response via over-exercise/exhertion in relation to a lack of calories to meet my body’s energy demands (I wasn’t eating enough in relation to my work out intensity). This week I want to dive further into my CrossFit experience, functional exercise, and what I can offer those who are considering this program or something similar that involves high-intensity, full-body workouts with short-to-no rest periods.

For those who aren’t familiar, CrossFit is a workout program used by the armed forces and trained athletes that has made a name for itself amongst the layfolk because of the kind of resulting functionality it breeds. Resulting functionality: functional movement patterns that can be transposed into all aspects of life such as squatting, bending, picking up, tossing, throwing, heaving, standing, twisting, running, and extending. The exercises CrossFit uses are demanding and require the use of proper technique/form. Yet, because of this, they also offer a degree of correction because proper physiological function cannot exist without proper form and kinetic chain movement. And, when these types of exercises are performed at high levels of intensity and in high volume, form is extremely important and it naturally becomes an obvious checks-and-balances. The resulting benefit is that the body has very little choice but to respond anabolically and metabolically, thus creating a more fit, able, and physically-apt person. I really enjoy the full-body, universally adaptive functional approach of CrossFit rather than the cliche muscle-isolation and body-sculpting exercises that a lot of training programs offer.

My favorite realization after CrossFitting for a little over a month is the foundation of every single functional exercise that CrossFit incorporates: they all involve the hips. The stability, momentum, and power derived from the hips are what we rely upon for movement every single day in our lives. And there isn’t one specific isolation exercise found in a CrossFit routine. Each exercise, although it may target one area or rely upon an area more than the rest, still involves a whole body movement and will always be dumbed down to the functionality of the hips. Here are some of the exercises…

  • Squats – Bodyweight, front-loaded, back-loaded, over-head, kettle bell
  • Lunges – Bodyweight, front-loaded, back-loaded, over-head, kettle bell
  • Snatch – Ground to Overhead Snatch, Hang Snatch, Snatch Squat
  • Clean – Ground to Shoulders Clean, Hang Clean, Clean Squat, Med Ball Clean
  • Clean & Press/Push/Jerk/Split Jerk
  • Thrusters
  • Deadlift and Sumo Deadlift High Pull
  • Push Ups and Burpees
  • Muscle Ups and Dips
  • Rope Climb
  • Jump Rope
  • Rowing
  • Running
  • Kipping Pull Ups
  • Kettle Bell Swings
  • Wall Balls
  • Kipping Hand Stand Push Up
  • Toes to Bar, Head and Toes, Reverse Hyper Extension, Glute-Ham Raise

All = Hips for stability, momentum, and power

This realization really put things into perspective for my own exercise and weight lifting trials since I began in 2004. For the past 8 years I was caught up in isolation movements, body-building techniques, and feeding my ego. Even when I adopted the CHEK Institute’s program in 2010, which incorporates functional movement patterns and I managed to see some progress with their correctional exercises, it still didn’t register that function is THE foundation. I think because CrossFit is such a high intensity exercise and that correct form is an absolute must-have otherwise flaws will be highlighted, I was able to truly see the value of functional movement and its place in my life. Since the start of 2010 I kept my exercise program very light after years of not really knowing what the hell I was doing. I stretched and performed low-intensity correctional exercises without any weight-load so my body would not be over-stressed and, in theory, it would eventually find its way back to square one so I could take on a greater workload. While that is a well-researched and well-used approach, I believe that the use of weights and the extremely important awareness of good form for high-intensity, full body exercises CrossFit provides is possibly a better approach IF used properly. And I say better by my definition and by my realizations with my body.

There are some stipulations and some cons with all of this good that I am reporting. I do believe that CrossFit can be for anyone at any age and at any level of conditioning. However, those who are newcomers and those who are not familiar with weight lifting, Olympic lifting or the movement patterns that coincide should yield some caution when first starting such an in-tune program. This is one big spot where my eyebrow finds itself on the up and up. I have tried out two CrossFit gyms (known as “Boxes”) and each gym only had one coach teaching a class of 8-10 people (I know that some gyms have more than one coach for a class so bear with my example). I’ve attended about 8 classes and each had various levels of CrossFitters – from literal first-timers to 4-year veterans. In those classes I was able to categorize people into good form and poor form. Now, I didn’t really know who were the beginners or veterans, I just knew that some people were moving properly while some were not. And with only one coach in the room, form is more apt to slip-by for the sake of finishing a workout. Yes, CrossFit’s exercises can force proper movement patterns but only if individuals in-need/without much form knowledge can get the attention that they require when first programming these exercises into their body’s learning system. The body can learn correct movement patterns… oooor it can learn incorrect movement patterns. For about a year I was performing deadlifts with poor form by not using my hips correctly and by increasing the weight-load beyond my strength abilities which eventually lead to my body cutting corners in form. It resulted in my hamstrings firing before my glutes and that lead me on a path of low-impact, correctional exercises for about 20 months. I saw some progress and I also saw annoying regression if I didn’t keep up with my stretching and specific movements on an almost daily basis. BUT, within a month+ of CrossFit I was able to significantly correct my movement pattern because I was taught proper form. I retained that awareness and my body adapted accordingly! Regardless of my story, the need for more coaches or more individual attention in my short experience at CrossFit is a make-or-break factor when it comes to performing these kinds of exercises without injury and with benefit.

Another con is the exercise approach of “performing as many rounds as possible for time,” known as an “AMRAP.” Form and fatigue rarely go hand-in-hand. I don’t like the stipulation of racing in the presence of fatigue with a great need for proper form in all movements. At my last CrossFit class experience I tweaked my right, lower back during what’s called a “Chipper.” That day, the Chipper was 200 collective reps of 10 exercises yielding 20 reps each. And these weren’t bodyweight exercises; they were Olympic lifting, advanced exercises. I had to freakin’ stop before I could finish the workout so where did that get me? Yes, the argument that “everything is scalable” from one person to the next exists. For each workout there is a prescribed weight, an “Rx,” and then for those who are new or not as strong it is allowed/recommended to use less weight or assistance bands. But poor form will still show its face with or without weight, and it will show especially when a person is fatigued and pushed beyond their limits and/or are unaware of their movements. On similar note, let’s say that a person is fairly well-conditioned and can get through such a work out front to back, but since they’re racing against the clock they may cut corners on form just to finish quicker. How is that beneficial? Great, you have a fast time and you’re out of breath, but what benefit do you get from performing poorly? One coach cannot see all and quantity should never come before quality!!!

Another-another con is over-training and how easy it is to push beyond one’s limits at CrossFit. I would hope that everyone has a decent sense of their limits and a decent idea of how much they can push themselves, but that can get clouded when there are specific rounds and time limits in a work out (plus we can’t forget that thing called the ego). It’s very easy to “red line” at the beginning of a work out and, from what I hear, most first-timers puke within their first week. If you are throwing up from a work out that is a huge warning sign that your body is literally rejecting what you are putting it through… “Remember… crazy; not stupid.” Vom aside, the frequency vs. rest days is super important. I know of some CrossFitters who train 6 days a week on top of a full-time job and may not get a full 8 hours of sleep each night. If that’s not a recipe for over-training and a slow degradation of the human body, then I need to re-check my facts (advanced athletes aside). Of course, that’s an extreme example but it’s important to pay attention to your body’s need for rest; that includes rest days AND enough hours in the sheets. Even if you cannot sleep throughout the night to get that “good night’s rest,” at least lie there, relax, and try to put your mind to rest through breathing exercises or meditation. Our brains need as much down-time as our bodies do and the adverse effects are certainly obvious.

Yes, I have one more con that I’d like to point out… the Paleo Diet encouraged by many CrossFitters. So, after that Chipper workout I mentioned earlier, I didn’t bring enough sugar-water along to replenish my glycogen stores, but luckily there was a pot-luck dinner where everyone brought food for after the workout. Unfortunately for my poor plumetted blood sugar levels, it was purely paleo food with as few carbs possible. I completely support carbohydrates and NEED simple sugars after any workout (and in daily life) to recover quickly and efficiently. So, I’m in the standard CrossFit recovery position with my hands on my knees in the parking lot trying to regain consciousness and my friend comes out with a Paleo cookie saying, “Here, man, eat and get your blood sugar back.” I asked if it had sugar. He said, “Nah, it’s paleo, but your body will convert it to sugar so it’ll do the same job.” Red flags were raised and air-raid sirens went off everywhere in my brain. I couldn’t think of a more inefficient way to provide [recovery] nutrition to my body. I am going to give my TIRED-ASS BODY a nutrient that it has to CONVERT using MORE ENERGY just so I can elevate my blood sugar? The body can convert protein into sugar for energy if it needs to. The body can also convert fat for energy if it needs to. But any physiology-versed person will [hopefully] tell you that the body prefers to use sugar as energy because it can be used immediately, thus expending as little energy to provide itself with more energy. The concept of using energy to convert energy to provide energy is absolutely back-asswards to me. I understand why Paleo “works,” but I really think there are better ways of approaching diet and providing the body with what it needs in a more timely and cost-effective manner.

Whew. So, I know it sounds like this turned into a CrossFit bashing blog when it started out so nice, but my point is to raise some much-needed awareness for those who are considering CrossFit or for those who are already involved and could use some perspectives. I also wanted to emphasize the importance of using proper form along with highlighting a functional fitness approach to exercise. Tangent: I really dislike work out machines and any exercise that’s designed to isolate or target. Your body works as a unit – it is a system of systems. No way in hell will anyone ever achieve function on a machine that straps you in and to “protect” you from injuries… because that actually creates injuries by teaching your body how to not support itself and how to not work in unison. Anyway, I think CrossFit is a great workout and can do wonders for those who really want to learn how their body functions and how they can adapt that function to improve their every-day lives. But, like anything that requires awareness, there will always be some possible downsides if that awareness does not exist. Whether you are a beginning athlete or have a few years of experience and want to get into CrossFit, I highly recommend taking an Olympic Lifting class prior to CrossFitting so you can get that individualized attention and an education of proper form. I know some Boxes offer an introductory course with form education and some coaches offer one-on-ones on top of that. Form over physique, plz.

Boom,

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Weight loss 101

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Happy Monday to yinz,

Losing weight is healthy. It’s really interesting how scaled weight has become this iconic health standard because, apparently so, if we are overweight then we are labeled unhealthy. We have freakin’ weight charts in every doctor’s office that communicate if you are this height then you should be this weight, otherwise something is wrong with you. This tiny little example of societal standards and manipulated norms is what actually screws people up. We are completely fine in the first place until professionals began shoving it down our throats that this is right, this is the way we should live when they completely fail to realize that life should be lived on an individualized basis and not by biased status quo studies that turn health into a math equation all-the-while manipulating the hell out of what it takes to be healthy for you.

Ranting aside, do you know what causes the body to gain weight? Do you know what causes YOUR body to gain weight? We all act/react differently to every single experience and we all store fat in different ways and in different places. A person can store fat if they’re depressed, if they’re angry, if they are exhausted, if they are awake for too long, if they drink too many protein shakes, if they apply a specific deodorant, if a street reminds them of a frightening experience AND a person can store fat in an area of the body that is specifically affected by emotions, grudges, regrets, or shames. Pretty neat, huh? All of this is very important to consider in our individual plight towards better health and it is my goal for today’s post.

In order to understand weight loss and the industry bullshit that surrounds the poor bastard, we need to understand the mechanisms/why’s in which the body can gain or lose weight. We’re up to our eyeballs in misinformation, marketing stunts, biased research studies, and a sheer lack of knowledge of how our bodies work. You want to be in touch with reality? Start with yourself. Because you and only you knows what is best… that is, if you take the time to learn and understand who you are and what you’re all about under a universal reality (no external/personal bias, conditions, judgements, etc.).

Now, for my favorite, over-used word… perspectives!

1) Get healthy to lose weight, don’t lose weight to get healthy – I love this quote, which can be accredited to Josh Rubin of East West Healing & Performance. Why is weight loss the goal when it’s really just a symptom of good health? Why is weight loss the goal when true weight loss, the natural progression and prolonged maintenance due to well-tailored/well-implemented metabolic shifts, cannot be achieved through a quick-fix program or beating yourself into the ground with popular work out dvds? I understand the need for goals or milestones along the way, but weight should not be health-basis-numero-uno. The weight will come off when the body is at a point where it doesn’t need it anymore. I will say that again, the weight will come off when the body is at a point where it doesn’t need it anymore.

2) The body stores fat for protection - Fat is literally a life saver and it’s more or less a result of the body doing damage control. Meaning, if there is a homeostatic imbalance due to some sort disruption – a caloric deficiency, a caloric surplus, too many of the wrong calories, malnutrition, over-exertion (exercise, work, school, relationships, family), lack of sleep, excess mental and physical stressors, environmental toxins/chemicals, emotional trauma, etc. – the body will most likely store fat as a protective reaction (I say most likely so I can note that not everyone reacts accordingly). We are all familiar with the relationship between fat and cholesterol, and that the body produces its own cholesterol, right? Well, an increase in cholesterol production is also a form of protection since cholesterol is actually one of our body’s most powerful anti-oxidants. We all hear that high cholesterol is bad and, while it can be a sort of warning sign, few fail to make the holistic connection as to why it’s elevated without pointing fingers at diet. Got stored fat? Consider what your body is protecting you from (and why you need to store fat). Fat also protects us from the cold! Hooray!

3) Scales mean jack - Because fat weight vs muscle weight vs water weight vs poop weight… DUH. All weight is not created equal and scale cannot differentiate between the three pounds you lost after pooping or the three pounds you lost from sweating your butt off in a sauna (only to be naturally regained by eating and drinking mineral water, respectively). Don’t forget that muscle weighs more than fat and if you are involved in some sort of physical training program with a caloric-sufficient diet, chances are you won’t see that scale budge even though you could be gaining muscle weight while losing fat weight. Our weight fluctuates on a daily basis and it is absolutely not an indicator of [good] health NOR progress. I hear people all the time proclaim, I lost ____ pounds this week! That’s cool and all, but what type of weight did you lose? Maybe that weight loss isn’t permanent and maybe it could be due to an unhealthy result (i.e. stress, suppressed appetite, depression, stimulants, dehydration, etc.). At a recent family party I had a person tell me that they recently lost 30+ pounds. When I asked And how do you feel?… I got… Well, I feel god-awful. *facepalm*

4) Are you even eating enough? - Consider this: the body needs [enough] energy to function. If I limit my daily caloric intake and, thus, deprive my body of the energy it takes to perform tasks at a high efficiency rate and in a timely manner, why the HECK would it think… hey, now is a good time to lose weight… ? Actually, HOW the heck would it have the energy to do such a high-energy-demanding task, which usually requires a higher metabolic rate? THIS is huge when people approach me about weight loss because I often find that they aren’t eating enough calories (any calories) throughout the day for their body to even consider losing weight on top of all the energy it takes to breathe, think, eat, drink, digest, detoxify, poop, pee, move, exercise, sleep, recharge, remember, be creative, and deal with life’s daily stressors. The body ain’t stupid. Having said that, I have had many-a-conversation lately with various peers of mine all umbrella-ing under one classic, underlying theme… People are dumb. I’d also like to point out that sleeping enough is also über important… also. 

5) Diet is a factor, but your food education is, too – This is where misinformation comes into play. We’re taught that saturated fat, cholesterol, red meat, dairy, sugar, starch, salt, soda, and fruit juice (a.k.a. sugar water) are all bad for our health; they will make us SO fat and sick. Instead, we’re taught that unsaturated fats, vegetable/nut/seed oils, wheat, corn, soy, grains in general, copious amounts of vegetables, six to eight daily servings of fruit, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds are all healthy and will keep us lean. My response to that is… Who says so? The government? The medical system? Please tell me when was the last time you had my best interest at heart and also when it didn’t involve an industrial profit. 

6) Intolerances, allergens, detox issues, poor digestion, malabsorption, deydration – First, I’m going to point some fingers at the over-saturated amount of chemicals and toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis. We breathe, apply, and come in contact with this crap and it could be a big factor in our body protecting us with fat storage. The chemicals in your deodorant, in your makeup, in the air freshener, in car fumes, in your window cleaner, in your tissues, in your laundry detergent or fabric softener… you name it (actually, if you can’t read it) and it can probably affect your physiology in some way and it can greatly affect the detox system if it’s not already under distress. The same goes for food additives (the gums, the dyes, the non-pharmaceutical grade added vitamins). Then there are food intolerances that make your body think it’s in a war zone every day (this can also spur an auto-immune deficiency). Gluten, for instance, is one major food intolerance that can cause weight gain and people may just think that they need to run a few more miles each day and find out that they just gain more weight (probably due to a grand stress reaction). Which brings me to poor digestion and, thus, malabsorption. You can eat all of the healthy, leaning-out food you want, but if you cannot absorb said food it is possible that your body isn’t getting enough calories to meet its energy demands. Finally, dehydration… I’m hoping this is a no-brainer after reading through my alluding-theme perspectives. Spark that awareness!

7) Exercise smarter, not harder… or not at all – I started Crossfitting about a month ago. Within the first three weeks of going hard I noticed that I began to put weight on around my stomach. I added some muscle mass here and there but I was also adding fat. No, I wasn’t eating too much… I actually wasn’t eating enough to meet the demands I was putting on my body AND this started to affect my sleeping patterns… waking up in the middle of the night, restlessness, resulted dehydration, etc. I thought this was really cool in a weird science-nerd kind of way. I absolutely love the fact that I went through this because it gave me some more perspective into how MY body works, acts, and reacts at this point in my life. Sure, I could have probably done this type of workout and recovered with ease when I was 18 with the endless testosterone running through my body, but I’m not 18. I’m 27 and I’m not as active as I was almost a decade ago. And I say “or not at all” because I hate the stipulation that in order to lose weight exercise is necessary. Any intelligent personal trainer or health enthusiast will tell you that an exercise program will never outwork a poor diet. The diet will always be the foundation and exercise is a complementary component towards your specific goals. No, you don’t have to exercise to lose weight. It helps, but it’s not as important as the media makes it out to be (i.e. the biggest schmuck… I mean, loser). My solution will always be to go smarter by taking the time to sit back, rest, reflect, and look at the big picture of the why and how in respect to my body.

8) Emotions – What your choice of manifestation? Where are you storing yours?

Hopefully you can get the jist that there will never be a one-size-fits all solution nor will there ever be just one solution to a problem that really isn’t a problem at all. Fat storage is a symptom, a mechanism, a safety device, a warning sign, a smaller result of a much bigger picture. It’s not a reason to define yourself, to get down on yourself, to beat yourself up, or to think you’re not pretty enough, not handsome enough, or not fit enough. The body is trying to send you a message and only you can decipher its underlying cause. Don’t believe in the bullshit; believe in yourself.

Happy trails,

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Sunday wrap up august 12th

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Miss any posts this week?

Check out the blog archives for all posts!

If you’d like to discuss these perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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No one is ever “unhealthy”

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Let’s throw out any preconceived notion of what “unhealthy” means. Naturally, people tend to correlate being unhealthy with being overweight (I’ll take Superficial for 200, Alex) so we’ll try to stick to that for simplicity’s sake. Weight gain isn’t unhealthy, nor is any other sort of disorder, dis-ease, or cancer once you understand the body’ s mechanism for survival (and what it takes for them to develop).

Those whom we may deem unhealthy are actually the perfect manifestation of an organism that is adapting to its environment and surviving despite internal or external conditions. Have you ever heard of the term “superbug”? You know, the bacteria strains or insects that literally become resistant from generation to generation to any medications or chemical treatments – they evolve and maintain life simply by adapting to their environment. Humans are much like that, too, only we tend to complicate things so much more with our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, BUT the autonomic instinctual adaptive mechasnisms will always be there to save us [from ourselves].

When an imbalance occurs the body will do whatever the heck it takes to survive. Those who are overweight, are diabetic, are hypothyroid, are anorexic, et cetera, et cetera, are surviving as best as they can. Given that’s really not a pleasant way to go through life – by trying to exist rather than existing – but that’s how our bodies are designed. It’s quite the most miraculous thing, really. To see an “unhealthy” person walking down the street is a true miracle of life. Their body is literally adapting to every single thing that’s thrown at it, cutting corners any way it can, and still has the energy to wake up the next morning.

Something important to note: adaptation involves energy, and in an “unhealthy” person’s case it is usually created through round-about, impractical ways and, thus, ends up using more energy than necessary. That same process of doing whatever the heck it takes to survive can become a daunting task if the problem is chronic and/or builds upon itself due to the amount of energy the body is able to create and maintain through diet and lifestyle.

If you or a loved one is “unhealthy,” first take some time to appreciate what the body is doing to maintain life. Second, verse yourself in the body’s “protective” and “defense” mechanisms that produce the “unhealthy” (survival) results. Third, research how diet and lifestyle choices affect the body on a hormonal level. And, fourth, bring the body and its hormones back into balance (homeostasis) through a new perspective. If there were a fifth: do your research, do your research, and do some more research.

 

 

If you’d like to discuss this perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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Thyroid, metabolism, and symptoms

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So I plowed through Selye’s “The Stress of Life,” which was a pleasant read given its depth and some need for pre-requisite knowledge, and now I’m onto Broda Barnes’ “Hypo-thyroidism: The unsuspected illness.” Throughout the book Barnes’ discusses his personal experiences [as a doctor] with a vast majority of symptoms and how most [symptoms] really boil down to a lack of metabolic efficiency; generally-speak, producing a low amount of thyroid hormones, and, in effect, an inefficiency at maintaing body heat and a “normal” pulse/heart beat. Barnes’ definition is a little less too-cool-for-school wordy, “It is the thyroid which controls the metabolism – the process by which food is transformed into energy and many vital chemical changes take place.” Combine those and you’re on your way to a decent idea of the thyroid’s direct relationship with metabolism. Now, metabolism is a tricky thing because most believe, Broda’s definiton included, that it’s just about burning calories at a high rate and having the ability to eat whatever you want. While that is true and is what we’re basically taught from a young age by Dr. Aloysuis Snuffleupagus, the means towards establishing a high metabolic rate of an individual is a very important and intricate piece to the body puzzle.

There are two things that I’m really intrigued about in this book. 1) The vast majority of symptoms that can result from a thyroid deficiency, and 2) The approach to treat a low thyroid (hypothyroid) condition with the simple prescription of thyroid medication. Let’s begin at the first…

Barnes begins on page one with a bulleted series of patient symptoms

  • A young housewife who feels run down, tires easily, is sleepy much of the time, and strangely oversensitive to cold weather.
  • A middle-aged man who has managed to distinguish himself in his career by fighting all his life against his low energy reserve but now has become tired of fighting and convinced there must be some physical explanation for his problem even though none has ever been found and more than once he has been told to consult a psychiatrist and more than once has done so without benefit.
  • A victim of severe recurrent headaches.
  • A barren couple.
  • A child or adult unusually prone to infections, particularly respiratory, but not limited to them.
  • A sufferer from severe rheumatic pain and potential heart attack victim.
  • A woman whose skin is abnormally rough, scaly, almost fishlike and patients with other skin problems including eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
  • At least one man or woman in a state of severe mental depression.
  • A woman with a menstrual flow problem – painful flow, or irregular flow, or sometimes excessive flow that suggests possible need for hysterectomy.

All of this is some great stuff that can really get people thinking as to what could be more of an underlying cause to their symptoms. Try to look at it this way: The body is (yes, yes) a system of systems and when a very important [thyroid] gland is not working at full capacity, other activities, processes, and reactions will not work as they are designed. Out of the above mentioned, the ones that stick out to me the most are 1) the man with low fatigue that knows there’s something physically wrong with him but all of his lab work comes back negative and he’s slapped with the stereotype that “it’s all mental,” and 2) the ability to become severely depressed as a result of low thyroid activity. I picked these out from the list because they are examples of “mental disorders” or, so-called, “chemical imbalances” that actually have a true physical cause. I am a huge believer that the mind can control, affect, dictate, and sway the body, but the exact same is true for how the body affects the mind and it is quite possible that professionals or scientific tests can completely misdiagnosis this pattern as a purely mental state. In my opinion, there is never a purely mental disease or a purely physical disease because one doesn’t function without the other!

Here are some other common symptoms of a low thyroid function: Weakness, Dry or coarse, Lethargy, Unmotivated, Laziness, Fatigue, Slow speech, Edema, Cold hands, Cold feet, Cold nose, Sensitivity to cold, Cold body despite warm environment, Rapid heart beat, Impaired memory, Brain fog, Forgetfulness, Decline in libido, Decreased sexual function, Decreased sexual desire, Shrinkage of the gonads/sex glands (testicles, ovaries), Erectile dysfunction, Irregular menstrual cycles (heavy, painful, non-existent flow), Overly emotional, Temper tantrums, Anxiety, Depression, Nervousness, Headaches, Weight loss, Weight gain, Loss of appetite, Hair loss, Easily prone to stress, Muscle weakness, Joint pain, Low activity endurance, Increased sleeping (even a good night’s sleep isn’t enough), Hard waking up in the morning, Poor vision, and the list can really go on and on.

Now that I’ve given you a-whole-lot of examples to make your mind go, “Hm, maybe I have hypothyroidism and I can solve all of my problems with medication?!,” let’s take a moment to reflect and to put some things into perspective (and to also address the 2nd point in which I was intrigued). Barnes says that a dose of thyroid medication was the simple solution to a majority of his patients who had had at least one, if not more, of the previously mentioned symptoms. But he fails to mention any nutritional or lifestyle advice in order to “correct” the condition of hypothyroidism. He does state in a few examples that his patients changed absolutely nothing else about their daily lives, eating habits, or routine and with a simple dose of thyroid medication they were good as new within 2-6 months, yet once they stopped taking thyroid their symptoms came back almost immediately. Ok, so he found the cause to their problems, but is it the true cause or just the effect? What about the mechanisms that fuel, drive, and provide the thyroid gland with the energy to function properly?

Barnes patient experiences and learned understanding of how the thyroid basically affects the entire body is huge, but I also think it brings up the question of “how does the thyroid become inefficient?” I believe hydration, nutrition, and rest play some very big factors, but, again, they’re not the end-all-be-all when you throw in mentality, emotions, and relationships.

A simple home-test to check your thyroid includes a thermometer and your tongue. First thing in the morning – absolutely the very first thing that you do upon waking to negate any emotional or physical influence – reach for a thermometer and stick it under your tongue for 2 minutes. Any body temperature that is “below the normal range of 97.8 to 98.2 degrees F strongly suggests low thyroid function.” Why? Because when you’re body isn’t running “hot” then certain activities are paradoxically slowed down or increased; i.e. slow hormonal processes, slow digestion, slow movements, slow thought patterns, or increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, quick bursts of energy via the release of adrenaline followed by a long crash.

Matt Stone of 180degreehealth.com wrote an article Broda Barnes and Ray Peat and its relation to thyroid and he summed it up rather nicely…

Body temperature is just one tool in the bag. It is not the only tool. Assessments of the warmth of your feet and hands, sleep quality, the number of hours you can comfortably go without eating, pulse rate, sex drive, energy levels, fatigue after eating, bowel frequency, water consumption (should be high), calorie consumption, reflex quickness, blood glucose levels – both fasting and postmeal, menstrual regularity – anything and everything should be used in making an overall assessment of your health and self-diagnosing what may be needed to rebalance your “body chemistry” as Melvin Page called it. With those in mind, you can use nutrition and lifestyle change to the fullest.

If you’d like to discuss these perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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Sunday wrap up july 29th

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Miss any posts this week?

Check out the blog archives for all posts!

If you’d like to discuss these perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

Bikini season shmakini season

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Why does the thought of being scantily clad for three months out of the year suddenly spur us into a buckle-down-and-get-healthy mode?

Do the people that bust their asses for bikini season just leave it at that and the rest of the year they spend their days foraging for hibernation season?

Given we naturally store more body fat during the winter months to keep our body at a warm temperature, so why can’t that be taken into consideration as an adaptation mechanism/maintaining homeostasis and not a reason to punish ourselves [in the gym or kitchen]?

Why does bikini season have to last just for three months?

Why does bikini season have to be synonymous with ripped and shredded (when it could really mean malnourished, catabolic, chronically stressed, and hyperthyroid)?

Why does a fashion model-featured summer catalogue have to be the stereotyped basis for body comparison when a good majority of the featured are the complete opposite of healthy on the inside?

Why can’t we just make whole, well-rounded, considerate, and balanced decisions throughout the year and not put our bodies through a boot camp-esque hell just to “look good” in publicly accepted underwear?

If you’d like to discuss this perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com