Diet? or Lifestyle? And why NO GRAINS

 I use to LOVE Fridays because for me, that meant eating whatever I wanted. I was 80% perfect low-carb, grain-free, but on the weekend, I "cheated." I wasn't terrible, but a french-fry here, a glass of wine there ... I wasn't comfortable in my skin. One of the most common complaints I hear from clients is when they slip and consume junk, they feel almost hungover the next day.  I've been on a lot of diets in my day and what I find interesting is that feeling doesn't happen on low fat, "whole grain"-filled diets. Sure, you may feel depressed because they scale goes up after a bender of donuts, but you don't get the physical illness.

This is why this way of eating is so powerful! If you go all in, amazing results happen. Only once you go all-in you start to realize how low your energy  was and I say all in because just like Dr Davis explains, you can't cut wheat 80 percent and expect 80 percent results. It doesn't work that way. It needs to be 100 percent. You can "diet" on the weekdays then "cheat" on the weekends. But I no longer feel the need to cheat with meals like this!

Cutting the wheat and sugar isn't a diet for me. It is a lifestyle. I love food and I will always love food, but more so, I love the way I feel eating like this! That is why I spend so much time and money experimenting new recipes for all of you. I want you to be able to do this 100 percent.

Right: "cheating" on the weekends Left: 100% committed!

If you decide to also make this your lifestyle way of eating, you'll notice you no longer want to nap in the afternoon, the belly fat will disappear, skin looks amazing, joint pain is no longer an issue, and no longer hungry all day or thinking about food. Sure, it takes time planning and preparing meals, but we all make priorities with our time... When you feel and look amazing, you will never regret the time you put into it!

And yes, I enjoy a piece of "healthified" dessert everyday! If you want to get started today and look back at your "Before" photo a year from now, click HERE to get started!

Turtle Cheesecake from The Art of Eating Healthy: Sweets

So, why does this diet make such a difference? And why is it different than a "whole grain", low-fat diet? Did you know that a 200 calorie bagel with fat free cream cheese for a total of 250 calories for breakfast can cause weight gain?  I love this fact from the book WHEAT BELLY: ?Did you know that eating two slices of WHOLE WHEAT bread can increase blood sugar more than 2 tablespoons of pure sugar can??

"Workout Warriors" and chronic dieters cut out fat and consume the so called healthy ?whole grains? yet the scale doesn't budge.  Calories in and calories out is one big fat lie! Yes, that was me! I would run marathons and I kept gaining weight!

1. INSULIN: High carbohydrate, fat-free foods, such as wheat, rice, brown rice, oatmeal, corn, potatoes, bananas increase blood sugar and therefore insulin. These foods  are very high on the glycemic index. When we eat foods high on the glycemic index, this will cause insulin to rise. This abuse of high insulin levels, increases our risk of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance causes fat cells to grow, mainly in abdomen as well as the snowball effect of health conditions like pre-diabetes. The more visceral fat you accumulate, the worse insulin resistance becomes; thus the vicious cycle ensues.

2. LEPTIN: Did you ever wonder why it is easier to gain weight as compared to keeping it off?  The key to this is in the fat cells where a powerful hormone is produced called leptin. Leptin signals the brain to regulate the metabolism in order to store or to burn fat. Once leptin is secreted by your fat cells, it travels to the hypothalamus; which controls eating behavior. Once it?s there, leptin activates anorectic nerve cells, which decreases your appetite. At the same time, leptin stops cells from stimulating your appetite. To put it simply, when leptin levels drop, you get hungry. When they go up, you feel full. The lectin in wheat has the potential to block the leptin receptor. Leptin resistance is increasingly looking like a fundamental reason why people struggle to lose weight. . Leptin-resistance is similar to insulin-resistance in that it occurs after being overexposed to high levels of the hormone. At this point, the body no longer responds to the hormone. Much like high blood sugar levels result in surges in insulin, sugar metabolized in fat cells causes the fat to release surges in leptin. Over time, leptin-resistance may develop.
The best way to reduce your chances of diabetes is to avoid surges in leptin; which is the leading cause of leptin-resistance. Eating the typical American diet, full of refined sugars and other processed foods, is a guaranteed way to cause undesired surges. Focusing your diet on simple, unprocessed real foods like vegetables is currently the best way to prevent leptin-resistance.

3. HUNGER: When blood sugar goes up, it also must come down. This is why people who eat a high carb breakfast have a hard time making it to lunch; they become irritable and they have a foggy brain about 2 hours after the bagel with fat-free cream cheese. This undesired feeling is cured with a dose of carbs; creating a vicious cycle. Not only that, it stimulates unruly cravings for sugar.

4. ADDICTION?The protein found in wheat is an altered amino acid and looks totally different than it?s non-genetically modified ancestor. They basically act as appetite stimulants. This is because gliadins are morphine-like polypeptides that enter the brain called exophins. A VERY interesting fact is that these exorphins can be blocked by opiate-blocking drugs. A drug company has filed an application with the FDA for a weight loss indication for an opiate-based drug because clinical studies found volunteers lost 22 pounds after 6 months. Volunteers taking the opiate blocker reduced calorie intake by 400 calories per day. This is so fascinating because there is only one food that has opiate-like compounds in the body...yep, it is wheat.

5. DEPRESSION: After the digestive tract, the most commonly affected system to be affected by gluten is the nervous system. It is thought that depression can be caused by gluten in one of two ways.  The first area addresses the inflammatory changes gluten can cause. A gluten sensitive individual?s immune system responds to the protein gliadin. Unfortunately, that protein is similar in structure to other proteins present in the body, including those of the brain and nerve cells. A cross re-activity can occur whereby the immune system ?confuses? proteins in the body for the protein gliadin. This is called cellular mimicry and the result is the body attacking its own tissues with inflammation resulting. When inflammation happens in the brain and nervous system, a variety of symptoms can occur, including depression. Research shows us that patients with symptoms involving the nervous system suffer from digestive problems only 13% of the time.  This is significant because mainstream medicine equates gluten sensitivity almost exclusively with digestive complaints. Gluten interferes with protein absorption. Specifically the amino acid tryptophan can be deficient. Tryptophan is a protein in the brain responsible for a feeling of well-being and relaxation. A deficiency causes depression and anxiety. 90% of serotonin production occurs in the digestive tract. So it makes sense that food might have an effect, either positive or negative, on serotonin production.


Here is a little more encouragement:

"Maria,

My best friend and I started doing the "Maria" way in April.  My husband travels out of the country 50% of the year with his job.  He always had good intentions and would take some diet supplement shake mix (isagenix or some other high protein drink mix) with him. His shake mixes became world travelers  but rarely were  they drank.  He loves food :) .  When he returned at the end of May, he started eating the "Maria" way with me.  The first thing I noticed was when he slept his snoring was much quieter. He got excited because he could eat good food and he was losing inches.  He left the end of July for a 2 month trip.  I do not usually get to go and visit him but he is in a good location :).  I arrived on Tuesday, he has been gone about a month. OH MY WORD!!!!  (HE LOOKS GREAT--of course I probably would have thought he looked great, anyway) But he really does look HOT!!! :)  He has lost weight and inches and he feels good.  He told me if I can eat this way and be full and lose weight why would I want to eat any other way.   He has an apartment and has been cooking the Maria way. He got a little creative and made unbaked chocolate cookies.  He is in a Spanish speaking country with a lot of good/bad food.  But he is eating good whether he cooks or goes out to eat.  He did want me to bring some Jay Robb and make him some bread/buns.  He even tried making the oopsie buns...but he thought the jay robb makes much better buns :).

Protein Buns with Jay Robb protein powder recipe in The Art of Healthy Eating: Savory

My best friend is always getting compliments on how great she looks. I am so proud of her!!!!!!!  I am 
so excited she is flying home to spend a week with my parents.  Her grandparents are going to be so surprised on how great she looks.

And.....I love hearing people tell me how great I look. I am just enjoying life...eating good, feeling good...and being in shape/ running 3 times a week. It has been a long time since I have not been on the dieting roller coaster and it is the best I have felt in years.  Thank you Maria :)"

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