Our Moline High School Poet Laureate

"Perhaps it's true that

We are all fleeting thoughts in

The mind of God and

Maybe God creates

The present from the future

Rather than the past

Stranger things are true

After all God's Son was born

In a cattle stall."

Lawrence Eyre, Moline High School, Class of 1966

Now I Get It - The Creator's Design for Fat Burning

 

Who took this photo? I need the name, address, and passwords!

I have been writing back and forth to a number of people about nutrition. I read Joel Fuhrman's books because he does not have a "Fuhrman Diet" but a lot of good ideas about food as medicine and medicine as a bonanza for physicians and pharmacists.

Someone else broke down the fat issue by pointing out the common-sense concept of fat burning. Our bodies start activities by burning sugar, from what is called glycogen storage, FIFO, first-in first-out. Sassy has made the morning walk a non-negotiable demand. On an exercise day, I walk with Sassy, go to the gym for the dreadmill and various weights, then walk around Walmart.

If we start the day with donuts, Danish, toast, and jelly, the glycogen storage is topped off and so is immediate energy. However, this sugar storage does not last long and fat must be used. This is where people start eating this and that to get more energy. They do not cut into fat storage but probably add to the fat deposits, which can be for days, months, and years - like bank deposits.

Exercising in the morning - without eating first - is the best way to burn calories (fat). That also provides a lot more energy.

The Creator fashioned dogs to whimper, bark, dance, and get excited for the morning walk. I have no doubts about that. 

The energy provided by stored fat gets past the sugar high - which is followed by sugar blues, the source of all craving. Our imperious stomachs demand sweetness and lots of it to satisfy food craving. A nutritious source of food will satisfy hunger without feeling stuffed.

I am now at my lowest weight for a long time, 189 pounds. Looking at what worked, the key ingredient was avoiding these sugar sources:

• Ice cream, its crafts and assaults
• Sugar added to cinnamon toast
• Breakfast rolls
• Donuts (which are atrocious around here)
• Cookies 
• Toast (a gateway drug for butter)
• Jelly, jam, and honey'
• Hard candy - any candy
• Diet juices and colas
• Corn, popcorn, kettle corn, Fritos.

Many prepared foods have lots of sugar, salt, and fat, so it is better to cut way back on prepared meals, fast food meals, and restaurant meals.

The meal plan is simple and fun.

Breakfast - vegetables, greens, blueberries, walnuts, and chick peas.

Lunch - fruits: apples, oranges, pineapple, pears.

Supper - round two of the vegetable dish, with variations, such as mushrooms, lots of onions and green peppers, sweet peas.

Late night - only fresh fruit, never canned and hardly ever coated with caramel and nuts. 

Furhman is right - cutting back and being 95% nutritious will continue to be frustrating. 100% reduction of sugars, fats, and salt will drop weight as much as one pound a day.