I just finished reading the book The Science of Skinny by Dee McCaffrey who is a chemist by profession but also lost 100 lbs. I borrowed this book from the library just because I enjoy learning new ideas on being healthy. Not much was new to me in this book, but seeing it all put together as a prescription plan just reminded me of how important each element is.
McCaffrey says that the idea of just consuming less calories to lose weight is faulty because you need to look at the whole body. She says the "calories in calories out argument is tragically flawed" and that when you improve the quality of the foods you eat and eat them in the proper qualities, there is no need to count calories. She says to avoid artificial sweeteners, chemical food additives, pesticides, and hormones in animal foods. The idea is to eat food in its original form to get your body to a place where it functions best.
I have to say that this idea I've never really got into. McCaffrey says if you're not see results from your efforts, then cleansing and supporting the liver, along with alkalizing is the key. If your liver is healthy, your weight loss will be nearly effortless. The keeping your liver clean is called "liver-izing" by choosing the right foods, spices, herbs that specifically scrub, flush, and support the liver. She says that when you body is acidic, you gain weight that is very difficult to lose. Frequent colds is one way the body works to expel acid. She suggests drinking warm lemon water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar every morning to alkalize your body. Now I already drink lemon water every morning for the Vitamin C boost, but I can try adding these two extra steps of warming the water and adding apple cider vinegar.
McCaffrey says that the key to successful weight loss is to eat an unprocessed diet and eliminating white sugar and white flour from your diet. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine and depletes calcium from your body. Sugar also creates acid in your body fluids and changes your body chemistry which goes back to her motto of it's not about staying within your calorie limits but making sure you are eating quality food that fuels your body. Additionally when you eat sugar, you are feeding cancer cells which help them grow. One place people don't think to check the sugar content in in their yogurt! She recommends initially abstaining from alcohol because it will be stored as a fat, just like sugar and cause more sugar cravings. However she says that the best way to tame sugar cravings is through bee pollen. The sweeteners she recommends are stevia (which I use in my tea), raw honey, coconut sugar, Luo Han Guo (which is in Shakeology) and Erythritol (which I use for baking.
You must eat fat to lose fat. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins because they can only be absorbed into the body through fat. If you body doesn't have enough Vitamin D, calcium cannot be absorbed. The hormones in your body don't work properly without adequate fat, neither does your immune system. To promote optimal brain function we need a steady supply of omega-3s which helps with improving your mental clarity and mood. Most Americans are deficient in omega-3 fat, mainly because fish and leafy greens are no longer the staple foods they once were McCaffrey says. We no longer take cod liver oil like our grandmas used to. The Japanese however, who eat tons of fish and seaweed, have omega-3 levels about ten times higher than do most Americans. Omega-3s burn fat without a reduction in caloric intake by increasing the blood flow around your muscles and enabling fat to be better used for energy. Omega-3 acids also reduce your risk of heart disease and it has anti-inflammatory properties help lubricate the joints.
I used to take a spoonful of flaxseed oil (in place of fish oil) daily for years because it made my skin look good but I've learned that it's inferior to fish oil because it doesn't give you enough of DHA and EPA for proper brain function, for instance influencing behavior and mood. So I searched the internet far and wide until I found some vegetarian Omega-3 pills because I'm not taking fish oil.
Your skinny daily checklist should include:
- dark leafy green vegetables
- legumes
- fruits
- coconut oil
- avocado and nuts
- rainbow vegetables
- whole grains (sprouted grains like Ezekiel bread)
- high quality protein
- Omega-3 (fish oil, flaxseed, chia seeds)
- morning lemon water
- vitality vinegar tonic
- high-quality multiple vitamin
- dandelion supplement
- milk thistle supplement
- pure water
- alkalizing green powder (barley grass, wheat grass, sprouts, chlorella and spirulina - all of which are found in Shakeology)
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