Muscles!

Melissa's tip of the week is designed to help you and your family to live happier, healthier lives. View this email in your browser

Aside from being eye candy, muscle does some really important things for your overall health.   "One of the things that healthy muscle does is that it sends out hormones, from the muscle itself to the fat, to tell the fat to burn more calories."  Dr. Lee Kaplan At the bottom of this article, there is a link.  This is a Q & A session with Lee Kaplan, MD, PhD about content related to the Metabolic Applied Research Strategy (MARS) Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). It was sent to me just last night by an endocrinologist, who thought I might find the message interesting, which I did.  And now, I would like to share it with you. This discussion debunks some of our previous myths about the role of diet and exercise in weight management.  And if you look at the articles I've written in just the previous weeks, they are actually right in line with what Dr. Kaplan is saying. Almost 20 years ago, I was 296#.  I hit rock bottom when I looked in the mirror after having my daughter, and realized I no longer had an hourglass figure.  All along the way, as I gained weight, I was in denial:  I could see that weight was coming on, but I was still an hourglass--I gained in my hips, but my waist stayed in proportion.  When I decided to lose it, I did two things--I began exercising, and I began to log my food.  I diligently counted the calories in and the calories out. Dr. Kaplan states that it's not the amount of calories going in, but rather the food choices that make the difference in re-programming your body for weight loss.  When I look back, I realize that my food choices HAD to change, in order to be fully satisfied on less calories.  So I accidentally fell into the pattern that would help me to take off about 145#. But more than this, the muscle I built while exercising, particularly as I started to lift weights, started to send the right messages to my fat cells.  Again, I thought it was about the total amount of calories I was burning, but it's actually much more than that!  It's about the messages that my healthy muscles were sending to the fat cells. (Burn more calories!)  Muscle is metabolically active tissue, well worth having and nurturing!  It gets your hormones to work for you. Beyond the role in weight management, building muscle helps to stabilize joints, decreasing pain from arthritis and bursitis, MS, Fibromyalgia, and many other painful issues.  Strong muscle equals strong bones, which means if you keep at it, you can keep your bones strong throughout your life, and if you already have a loss of bone, you can stall and sometimes even reverse that utilizing weight bearing exercise. So it's not about killing yourself in the gym, but eating whatever you want.  And it's not about starving yourself of the quantity of food that will make you feel satisfied.  It's about getting your body to work for you, instead of against you.  It's about making high quality food choices, and getting enough movement to stimulate the muscles to send the right messages--burn fat!  She's moving again!  Give me some energy to use! You can check out the discussion here:   http://youtu.be/QuHQ35hX2Gk

This recipe is from www.mygutsy.com.  She has some great recipes for health conscious folks like us! I tried this Banana Bread recipe last night, and made one change:  she calls for 5 TBSP of honey, I used 3--she calls for stevia in addition, I omitted that.  It was plenty sweet! 1 cup coconut flour (Organic Coconut Flour) 1 1/2 cup very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas) 4 pastured eggs 6 tbsp butter or coconut oil (melted) 5 tbsp raw honey or vanilla honey 2-3 squirters full of stevia (40-60 drops drops in a squirt) *optional 1/4 tsp sea salt 1tsp-1 tbsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tbsp vanilla You can sift your coconut flour if you feel it is settled, or too dense (Bob's Red Mill can be a bit like that). Honestly, I just put it all in the mixer, and then mix it up for a minute or two, until everything is combined.  Easy. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The top and edges should be a golden brown color. Remove form oven and let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Store in a nontoxic container in the fridge. - See more at: http://www.mygutsy.com/coconut-flour-banana-bread/#sthash.oN85IbsB.dpuf   Exercising together can be so much more fun!  Small Group Training is even better, because you get more individual attention! Wednesdays, 9am, FITT!  this group will go!  I have 2 signed up already, and it begins next week:)  $99 for 6 weeks! Saturdays, 11:30 am, FITT!  this group will go!  I have 3 signed up already, and it begins next week!  $99 for 6 weeks! Fridays, TRX yoga fusion--I will be doing a free sample class THIS FRIDAY at 10am.  If you want to try it, you're curious, or your feeling adventurous, come and join me!   Positive thought for the day: I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday! Positive affirmation for the day: I am stronger than any excuse!