Learning Some Things About Food

Though I've had a couple of Suzanne Somer's books for years, I never fully read them until now.  Actually, it was upon listening to a teleseminar about finances that the person (Dani Johnson) mentioned Suzanne Somer's book Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away that I looked to see if my local library had it.  Voila, they did and so I borrowed it 2 days ago.  Since then, I've read through almost the whole book minus one chapter which I have left to finish.

Though the past few months, especially in May, I have been eating less than healthy foods, my kids and I typically do eat many healthy foods that are nutritious.  We do our best to avoid white flour, food coloring, refined sugar, processed things, gluten.  That's a good thing, eh?  Yes, but there were things I read about in all sorts of various resources at different times, multiple times.

Yet, I think this time, with Suzanne's book, something sank in.

For 2 rounds, I've gone through the Ageless Abs program.  I learned a lot through Scott Colby's program, especially that sugar can and does wreak havoc on our bodies.  Many Americans bodies are ladened in refined sugar, so even when the good natural sugars hit it, the impact still isn't good.  I've been one of those people.

I've drank diet sodas, thinking fewer calories would help in my 20s.  They did not.  All those horrible chemicals.  It's better to drink the real sugar stuff, but that has a different bad thing.  In 2002, with prayer and EFT, I gave up my addiction to soda.  However, periodically I still do drink soda, but it's no longer an addiction and it's rare.

In my 30s, since my firstborn had skin issues, I read tons of stuff and began experimenting on what could be the root of these issues by eliminating foods like gluten, white flour, refined sugar, dairy, as well as looking at stress & sleep. 

Suzanne talks about all sorts of things I've experienced or read and learned the hard way.  This particular book pieces a lot of things together.  Though I've learned so much in Ageless Abs, for me, this helps to piece some things together and take me to the next step, hopefully, in my journey to be healthier, fitter, and less fat.

In Somersize, she has in her Level 1 program 7 steps to achieve success in losing unnecessary bodyfat:

1. Eat fruit alone, on an empty stomach; 20 min. before a Carbo meal; or 1 hr after before Protein/Fat meal; or 2 hrs after last meal
2. Eliminate all Funky Foods (foods that are fat/protein + carbs, alcohol, caffeine)
3. Eat Protein/Fats with Veggies (no Carbos)
4. Eat Carbos with Veggies (no Fat)
5. Keep Protein/Fats separate from Carbos
6. Wait 3 hrs between meals if switching from a Protein/Fat meal to Carbos meal or vice versa
7. Do not skip meals.  Eat at least 3 meals/days and eat until you feel satisfied and comfortably full.

WATER:
I love drinking water and that's what I typically drink over teas or anything else.  One of my favorite things is to drink water throughout my meal.  Though I've read in a few other places you should not drink water during your meal, it hasn't sunk in.  She states in her book to not drink water before your meal as this dilutes the gastric juices that are needed in proper digestion.  They are strongest right before you eat.

I've read in other places that in order to not eat so much, to drink a glass of water right before your meal, which I often do. It's not working so well for me there, so I'm game to try it Suzanne's way and to break my lifelong habit of this.

She advises to drink water BETWEEN meals, but if you must drink water with your meal, do it part way through your meal rather than at the  beginning.  Okay, I can do that better, and wean myself off this habit with God's help.

FRUIT:
I rarely eat fruit alone and usually combine it mainly with protein/fats.  This is a super no-no as it messes up digestion.  I think I read this with Kevin Gianni and a few other places.  Maybe it takes numerous times reading before I actually believe it?

CARBOS:
Suzanne puts carbs in 3 different categories.  Fruits is one.  That's separate and not counted here.  Non-starchy veggies is another.  That's not counted in this category.  Grains, legumes, non-fat dairy are basically what she calls carbos.   When eating carbos, you are NOT to combine them with ANY FAT!   This is a huge challenge and a big change for me.

One of the things I like to eat are rice & eggs. Though eggs have protein, they also contain fat.  A no-no.  Cannot have pasta with pesto.   Can't eat chicken primavera because it's CARBS/FAT/PROTEIN.  The fat is a big no-no.   You basically can't eat any meat with CARBOS because all meats have fat in them.  I suppose tofu has protein, but not fat, you could eat this, but it's not recommended in Level 1.

FUNKY FOODS:
These are foods like:

• Avocado (FAT+CARBO)
• Coconuts (FAT+CARBO)
• Liver (FAT/PROTEIN+CARBO)
• Low-fat or whole milk (FAT+CARBO)
• Nuts (FAT+CARBO)
• Olives
• Soy
• Caffeine (decaff coffees & teas are okay)
• Alcohol
• Cocoa (including unsweetened kinds)

I totally love nuts, avocado & coconut, so this will be a big change for me.  I ate nuts throughout the Ageless Abs programs, both rounds.  So, cutting this out will be quite a challenge.

FREE FOODS:

• soy sauce
• vinegars
• mustard
• herbs
• spices
• lemons
• limes

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The premise of Suzanne's stuff is to detox our bodies and get our bodies functioning the way they should.  Since our bodies have been mistreated, we need to take special care to get our digestive systems functioning properly, so we can also have a healthy excretory system.  On Level 1, this detoxes our bodies in a safe way.

She goes on to talk about what Scott talks about regarding our metabolism.  She says also when she is losing weight, she does her best to cut out CARBOs most of the time, even though it's allowed in Level 1.  She also has a Level 2, which is when you reach your ideal weight and have to be less strict.

Anyway, she has lots of delicious recipes and a lot of them are quite easy.

The foods eaten on this program are similar in most respects to what Scott advocates, minus cutting out the nuts.  And, Scott doesn't really talk about food combining, so, Somercizing takes this to the next level, looking at the digestion process, not only how sugar impacts your system.

Suzanne also said that if you're still having trouble losing fat after following Level 1, reduce the amount of fruit.  Fruit is still a sugar.  And, definitely reduce the grain carbs.  This is very in line with Scott's stuff.

Let's see what happens here as I make these changes to my diet.