My Observations – 30 day no junk food for Personal Training Vancouver
My Observations – 30 day no junk food for Personal Training Vancouver
The effects of Grehlin, Leptin, and mental and physiological responses on Satiety etc.
Simon pic for 30 day junk food challenge Personal Training Vancouver
Well, the 30 day period ended recently. I wanted to get some experience on increasing my awareness and understanding of some nutritional concepts, the effects of Grehlin, Leptin, replacement habits and health improvement. These are my observations and I do realize their are similarities and individual differences.
This was a new undertaking. As in my 56 years, I have never not had some junk food for any significant length of time. I have always been fit but always wanted to pursue higher levels of personal development and this was a relatively interesting personal challenge that was completed successfully. As my fasting practice has been going on for a few years now and my full veganism has been pushing two years, my sensitivity has gone up and I have become certainly more aware of the dissatisfaction with the unnatural combinations of intense sugar, oil and salt in processed foods….I am not saying they are not delicious.. they can be over the top but the problem for me is that they are never enough and they don’t lead to good satisfaction.
Hence I have had some curiosity on the hormones related to satiety and how to be truly satisfied. The influence of various hormones, like Leptin, and other physiological processes are at play. The brain activation due to intense, unnatural highly processed foods can lead to a disturbance in the effects of Satiety. So how to get around that?.. My experience is that I needed a replacement habit. So instead of grabbing a dessert, as is often our custom, after a meal or for a treat, I would eat a healthy snack, nuts, dried fruit or something in the gold standard, whole food plant based style. I would also be cognizant of allowing a little bit of time for the hormones, like Leptin, to do their work. Often taking the time to drink a glass of water was sufficient to help with feeling satisfied… and it worked… really no big deal..
Interestingly enough, it is the hormone Grehlin, which regulates hunger, that often initiates the desire and this hormone does not stay active indefinitely, as studies with fasting have shown. Many physiological processes are influenced by expectation and habit, as Pavlov’s dogs would classically show. So there is a strong mental component at play. Some of these principles can be applied to many toxic cravings.
My result:
My weight is the same, and, although, I never checked my body fat, it probably dropped a point or two. Keeping a reasonable body fat and other things will enhance natural testosterone optimization, another worthy endeavor. My previous posts have highlighted some of the hormonal benefits of fasting and I am continuing to work on the whole food plant based diet gold standard. Moving forward, I may have the occasional vegan junk food but I am happy I have figured out my triggers, like habit and boredom, and how to be healthier and more satisfied.
My Recommendation:
My suggestion for others, who are not on the program, is to go slow. Pursue the whole food plant based concept for benefits to your health, the environment, ethics and improved performance. Educate yourself with credible sources. Allow your gut microbe to adjust slowly to a more fiber rich diet. Also, remember you don’t need to worry or be too anxious. If you follow to greater progressive degrees the whole food plant based movement, it is done for you, largely, with the exception of some awareness of micronutrient degradation from the soil and the water. So take a multivitamin and be knowledgeable. Micronutrients will be in abundance, inflammation will be minimized and antioxidants will be protective. As Dr. Klapper would say, ” Eating is then, as it should be, a joyful, celebratory, beautiful experience.”
Good luck, I hope this has been somewhat useful and if you have questions, let me know. OSU!
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Simon Posener
