Category Preventative Health

Egg Protein Got Me Lean

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egg

The ravages of competition prep and impending menopause caused me to hold water in my midsection and hamstrings for over a year, and I became despondent and desperate as a result. Nothing seemed to work. Then I took an ALCAT food intolerance test in January of 2015 and discovered that I had an intolerance to a bunch of different foods, so I eliminated the majority of them.

However, I stubbornly kept whey protein in, and chose to ignore the fact that I had a moderate intolerance to it. I would have been fine if I had just consumed whey protein a couple of times per week, but I was ingesting 60-70 grams of whey protein every single day. What kept me in that vicious cycle was an incredibly busy schedule which made it difficult for me to get all of my protein from whole foods.

In late September, upon Ian Lauer’s strong suggestion, I decided to finally eliminate whey protein powder from my diet. I added more animal protein from whole food sources (mostly from MAW Nutrition), and replaced about 25 grams of whey powder with a serving of Muscle Egg. Two weeks later, the water retention issues I had been struggling with completely vanished. I could finally see the lateral borders of my rectus abdominis clearly, and no longer created a fluid ripple when I tapped my belly.

I’m not saying I am ripped as a result of switching to egg protein, but boy, did it make a difference in my level of leanness! This won’t work for everyone though. If you have an issue with egg protein, the opposite effect may occur. In my case, I discovered that my body processes egg protein quite well. I also became a huge fan of Muscle Egg and now have it in my house at all times. I generally limit myself to one serving of Muscle Egg per day, but I also love the occasional nighttime Muscle Egg crepe with Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup on top for a sweet treat.

One last thing about whey protein: I still consume it on occasion. However, I only eat it in B-Up Bars and P28 Products, and I don’t have any issue with these food items. I have, however, completely avoided whey protein powder for the time being, and hope that my body resets as a result.

My Video Review Of The Hot Logic Mini

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Please check out my review of the Hot Logic Mini on YouTube. It’s a portable mini oven which you can take everywhere with you! All you need is a power source, and you can heat up pre-made meals or even cook something from scratch.

Go to http://www.hot-logic-mini.com/staceynaito to order, and enter discount code STACEYNAITO at checkout for 20% off your order.

My Mother Versus A Flight Of Stairs

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stairs

I recently took my 83-year old mother to visit a dear friend whom she had not seen for 20 years. On our way to see our friend, I had a moment of panic, because I hadn’t factored in the flight of stairs which we had to ascend in order to enter our friend’s apartment. Even getting my mom out of my car was quite a process, since her severe arthritis and lack of strength in her lower extremities always makes getting out of a seat a major challenge.

Once we reached the stairs to our friend’s place, I asked my mom which side she felt stronger on (her right), and had her take hold of the stair rail on the right. She lifted her left foot and planted it on the first step, and we made our slow climb. At step number eight, my mom blurted out, “I can’t do it”, in a voice filled with desperation and fear. I told her, “Mom, just rest for a second. You’re almost halfway there!” But there was no beast mode, no dogged determination in my mom. She just stood there, clinging to the stair rail for dear life, and I could see that she had given up. Thankfully, a male neighbor offered to help, and essentially hoisted her up each step until they reached the top.

After we settled into our friend’s place, we had a nice lunch and wonderful conversation, and my mom forgot about the stair-climbing incident. When we were ready to leave, another very nice man helped my mother descend the stairs, a task which was much easier since gravity was on her side, and also since it didn’t require the lower body strength that going up the stairs did.

It was pretty agonizing for me to watch my mom go up those stairs. I know she has slowed down a lot, and I know that physical challenges like stairs are massive for her. For this reason, I unfortunately cannot bring her to my place for a visit, because there are stairs everywhere in my residence. I also find the idea of decreased strength and mobility completely terrifying.

If only we could all enjoy sprightly motion throughout our twilight years! This is even more motivation for me to keep training every day like I do.

When The Hunger Beast Strikes

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i-regret-nothing-cat-eating-1

Every once in a while, I will experience hunger that never seems to subside, no matter how much I give into my body’s insistence on foraging for food throughout the day. Since this type of insatiable hunger is exceedingly rare for me, I generally will allow myself to indulge in greater amounts of fuel than what I would normally eat. I usually take strong hunger impulses as a sign that my body actually needs the fuel, and that I might be lacking in some nutrient. Sometimes a killer leg workout will spark this mad hunger, and other times it might be a cleaning spree which causes my appetite to ramp up.

I almost relish the times that my body craves food like this, because I am usually not too excited about food. When I was in my teens, I went through anorexia, and feared many foods. Though I became a bit of a foodie in my twenties, exploring gourmet foods whenever I could, I had to adopt an “eat-to-survive” attitude once I reached my thirties, as a result of the rigorous medical training I underwent. During medical school and internship, I lived by the credo, “Eat when you can, use the bathroom when you can, sleep when you can”.

Then in my forties, the world of competing caused me to fall in love with some of the foods which I had demonized back in my teens. Though I rarely cave into the powerful lure of chocolate, desserts, pizza, and fried foods, I definitely learned to appreciate them during my competitive years. These days, I can stock chocolate, nuts and nut butter in my house without fear that I will go hog wild constantly and consume them all in one sitting. They are even relatively safe when the hunger beast strikes.

When I experience hunger which I cannot satisfy, I do NOT turn to unhealthy foods. Instead, I keep eating clean meals like chicken and green beans. However, I will often feel just as hungry after eating a meal as I did when I reached for the meal in the first place! When that happens, I will wait about a half hour, then snack on something relatively healthy, such as a small handful of almonds, or some lowfat cottage cheese, in hopes that my hunger will abate.

However, all bets are off if the hunger beast is around on my carb spike day! There have been numerous times in which the two have coincided, and during which I have allowed myself to eat pasta, bread, a large amount of rice, or some other carbohydrate rich food. The aftermath of such a carb bump is that my weight will actually DECREASE 2 or 3 pounds the next morning. This is one of the reasons why I encourage clients to have a moderate bump in calories and carbs every now and then, to spark the metabolic furnace.

As long as the hunger beast comes around only rarely, and you are in tune with your body’s needs, you should be able to indulge it without any issues.

I’m Smaller Than I Think

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I have never been overweight a single day in my life, but since everything is relative, and since there is tremendous pressure on fitness models and competitors to be extremely lean, I definitely experience fat days. You know those days when you just feel fluffy, bloated, tubby, like a stuffed sausage? Yep, I have those days too. However, I guess I am retaining less water, mostly due to following a pretty clean food regimen, and as a result have been awarded with a tighter appearance. My measurements are still the same, yet a bunch of people have asked me if I lost weight, and will tell me I look tiny.

I got confirmation of my tiny dimensions lately when I tried on two different articles of clothing in my closet. One item was a pair of jean leggings from Hue which I had purchased in a size Small, based on online reviews which suggested that someone with my dimensions (5’5″ tall, 120 pounds, 24 inch waist, 34 inch hips) would fit better into a Small than an X-Small. Much to my surprise, I put on the leggings, and they were so baggy on me that they looked ridiculous on me. Then I tried on an old pair of MEK Denim jeans in a 24 which I had avoided because I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to wear them. Instead, they fit like a glove. I had almost gotten rid of those expensive jeans because I thought they didn’t fit me anymore!

I realize that my immersion in the world of fitness has made me more neurotic about having more of an off-season body, but the truth is that my off-season appearance is actually quite acceptable. I admit that the increasing laxity of my skin has caused me a certain degree of distress. However, even though the half-century mark looms several months away, I am making every effort to give myself credit for looking pretty damned good for my age.

I no longer live in waist trimmers in order to squeeze out subcutaneous water and shrink me down. I am well aware of the fact that an excessive degree of body dysmorphia exists within the fitness community, which is the inevitable result of constant pressure to look almost superhuman, with defined muscles, ripped abs, and unnaturally low body fat. Though I adore that look, I am also tired of having every square millimeter of my body scrutinized.

By no means am I saying that I am giving up on being as fit as I can possibly be, but I will no longer allow myself to feel as if I am out of shape or huge when I can fit into a size 24 jean!

I Really Do Train Four To Six Days Per Week

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rest days

Have you ever run into people who are such die-hard weightlifting fanatics that they are restless during their rest days? I am one of those people, and I suspect that I will remain that way for another few decades. There are a few people who have asked me why I continue to train four to six days per week, EVERY week, despite the fact that I am not in prep for a contest. Why would I continue to work so hard at maintaining or building muscle if there is nothing specific to train for? The main reason is because I train for LIFE. I have no intention of allowing my gains to diminish simply because other people think I am too old for such “nonsense”.

How do I stay so consistent with such a frequent training schedule? I make going to the gym an essential part of my daily routine, and it is so important to me that it only comes second to brushing my teeth and putting on gym clothes before I head to the gym. Food and showering are always done afterwards, first of all because I plan to sweat when I am at the gym, and secondly, because I might throw some fasted cardio into the mix before I hit the weights.

I will never understand gym-goers who spend several minutes between sets chatting with others, checking text messages, and finding other distractions which deter them from starting the next set. I train rapidly, resting only 30 seconds between sets or supersets. That is part of the reason why I do NOT want to chat at the gym. I am so focused on my next set while I am resting that I often don’t hear others, especially because I listen to music while I train. I try not to allow random thoughts to creep in, because such thoughts can throw me off, especially if they are anxiety-provoking. When I am in the gym, I push distractions and worries aside, and truly enjoy the physicality of training. Besides, I have the rest of the day to address issues and responsibilities.

Whether you choose to train four days per week or more, or you prefer training fewer days per week, just make sure you are CONSISTENT. Make your time in the gym a time to decompress and tune into your body.

Antibiotic Resistance

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antibiotic resistance

I cringe every single time I hear people say that they stopped taking an antibiotic after a day or two because they felt better. Those of you who are not trained in medicine, who flippantly decide that you won’t continue to take an antibiotic because you “feel much better”, should be aware that by engaging in this habit, you are making the issue of antibiotic resistance even worse.

Bacteria are quite crafty, because they constantly find ways to neutralize or block the effects of antibiotics. Most of the time, they acquire genetic mutations from the bacteria which have become resistant. So even if some of the more susceptible bacteria die, even one resistant bacterium can multiply rapidly and thus replace all the bacteria which were killed. Those new bacteria also have the same resistance which the original stubborn bacterium has. This is how things can get pretty ugly pretty quickly in the face of bacterial resistance.
it is a virus
Antibiotic resistance can occur even when patients follow instructions and take the full course of antibiotic therapy, but the chances are far greater when patients miss doses or stop taking the medication because a smaller proportion of the bacteria are killed or inhibited. Another situation in which antibiotic resistance can run rampant is when antibiotics are taken for viral infections such as the common cold. Specific antibiotics are used for specific types and strains of bacteria, and are not one-size-fits-all medications. Yet people continue to foolishly turn to an antibiotic (usually one which was prescribed for a bacterial infection, and which was abandoned before the full course was taken) when they have symptoms which they believe to be from a bacterial source. I have even heard friends freely admit that they took their child’s or spouse’s leftover antibiotic in hopes that it would make them feel better.

Please don’t be one of those people who contributes to antibiotic resistance by being irresponsible about antibiotic use!

Allergan Spends $90 Million to Buy Company Developing “Topical Botox”

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Botox topical

I am reposting an article from New Beauty here…the original post can be found at:

https://www.newbeauty.com/hottopic/blogpost/9124-allergan-spends-90-million-to-buy-company-developing-topical-botox/

Liz Ritter , Executive Managing Editor | January 07, 2016

Still hot off the heels of its historic merger at the end of last year with Pfizer, Allergan announced today that it will purchase Anterios, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing what they refer to as “a next-generation delivery system and botulinum toxin–based prescription products.”

It all sounds very futuristic, but what makes this particularly interesting is that Allergan (which is best-known as being the maker of Botox) will now be in business with a company that has a “proprietary platform delivery technology that enables local, targeted delivery of neurotoxins through the skin without the need for injections.” In other words, something that sounds a lot like a topical type of Botox.

According to the official Allergan release, executive vice president David Nicholson said the acquisition “demonstrates our ability to apply our tremendous scientific leadership in neurotoxins to further extend our already deep neurotoxin pipeline by advancing a new delivery system and formulations that are appealing to both patients and physicians.”

“Allergan is once again showing their commitment to aesthetics by purchasing Anterios and acquiring the global rights to ANT–1207,” Montclair, NJ, dermatologist Jeanine B. Downie, MD, says. “The absolutely awesome potential of these two products is thrilling for patients that are looking for non-invasive approach is to treat their aesthetic and dermatologic conditions. An enhanced delivery system would be of great interest to physicians, as well as to the general public. I do believe these acquisitions will bring more people that are considering cosmetic procedures into their doctors’ offices for treatment.”

Those Days When Your Engine Stalls

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No, I’m not talking about your car. I am referring to your get-up-and-go, your energy, your motivation to do anything on a given day. We all have those days when we lack the pep to charge through the day, when the bed seems unusually cozy and warm, and when our ability to rationalize our way out of everything on our to-do list for the day is particularly strong.

On the more serious end of the spectrum, a lack of initiative can be indicative of depression, especially when it is recurrent. In other instances, fatigue could be a sign of stress, sleep deficit, over-training, dehydration, malnutrition, or hormonal imbalance. Some people will even notice a change in energy from weather fluctuations.

For the past three months, I have slept so deeply that I will remain in slumber, despite my alarm’s alerts, with no recollection of the device ever triggering. My dreams have been intense, complex, apocalyptic at times, and truly bizarre, causing me to wonder why my subconscious has meandered so much while I was in dreamland. The many months I spent battling night sweats and insomnia suddenly shifted to feeling (appropriately) very cold at night and sleeping like a rock, both of which I have welcomed. The only real problem now is convincing myself to get out of bed in the morning!

When I eventually begin to wake up, it is an agonizingly slow process in which I can barely move or open my eyes. The sudden dry eye condition I have been experiencing recently hasn’t exactly motivated me to open my eyes up quickly either. The bed is so cozy and so warm, especially because my cats have gotten into the habit of using me as a convenient heater during the night. They also pin me into a small space in the bed so that I have to shimmy my body out of the tunnel they create around me. It seems to be such a waste that I have a Cal King bed, because I never get to spread out on it!

When I absolutely MUST get out of bed at a specific time, I will change the alarm alert, and set more than one alarm, usually with one alarm in my bathroom. In order to shut off the alarm in the bathroom, I must get out of bed, but I have gotten so good at walking to the bathroom with my eyes barely open that I can shut off the alarm, crawl back in bed, and go right back to sleep.

These are the reasons which I have been using to remain in bed:

– The bed is nice and warm and the ambient temperature is cold (upper 60’s)
– The cats are warm too
– The cats are very affectionate and cuddly in the morning
– My bonding time with the cats can be considered a meditative exercise
– My bed is high off the ground and it is hazardous for me to jump down from it (it truly is high off the ground)
– My dry eye condition is a sign that I need to keep my eyes shut
– I need to make up for lost time when I had night sweats and insomnia (it was quite a sleep deficit!)
– I am most efficient at my morning social media posts when in a supine position in bed
– I want to make sure that I spend one third of my life in bed
– If I get out of bed, then I probably have to deal with people

At any rate, I have every intention of relishing the feeling of being in an insanely comfortable and warm bed. I’m sleeping in!