Explaining the Five Keys
Five Keys
There are five interrelated keys to unlock long term weight loss. All five keys are required, or the lost weight will return and often more weight gain will result. From experience, few health professionals understand what are the five keys let alone how they interrelated. Please note, neither “move more eat less” or “all calories are equal” are keys. Probably the easiest way to understand the relationships is to list areas the areas the keys impact. BTW this is not an all-inclusive list.
[Hormones](autoimmune issues, energy level, how and where energy is stored, inflammation, stress, weight gain)
[GI tract] (autoimmune issues, break down of macro nutrients into fatty acids, monosaccharides, and amino acids, creates many chemicals one of which is serotonin (feel good hormone), energy level, fights ingested bacteria, inflammation, viruses, stress, weight gain )
[Inflammation] (autoimmune, hormone mimicry, inflammation, weight gain )
[Intermittent and prolonged fasting] ( BMR, cell apoptosis, energy level, hormones, GI tract, immune system)
[Starvation vs fasting’s affect on Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)] (BMR, energy level, where glucose is stored)
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Leap of Faith (LOF)
The human body is an incredible biological machine. Explaining how our body processes and stores food energy is complicated. To avoid making this site into the size of a medical text book, the Leap of Faith (LOF) concept was created. Leap of Faith means, you don’t have to know all the in/outs or medical reasons why something works, only that it does. If you are willing to take a “Leap of Faith” (LOF) and start improving your health without the normal FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) encouraged by the health industry you’re in the right place.
AnAverageJoes likes to focus on “actions” not words. The time to talk about wellness is long past. We need to do something different based upon current obesity trends. By having a near immediate feedback loop it is easier to determine what works or doesn’t. AnAverageJoes measure of success is days and weeks, not months and years.
LOF – Obesity is an epidemic!
LOF- All diets that reduce calories will fail long term!
In North America nearly two thirds of the population have weight issues. 71 percent of the population is either “obese” or “grossly overweight.” Not to be left behind, other parts of the world which traditionally were very thin, ie China and India are rapidly catching up. This happened in less than fifty years, despite a $70B dollar per year diet industry, pushing everything from “eat less” “move more” to a plethora of magical exercise devices, foods, additives, and training programs. Judging by the current state of North American’s waist lines the health expert’s current theories, models and treatments for obesity are broken. It’s time for a new model and treatment protocol.
LOF- We get fat not because we eat too much and move too little, we get fat because our hormones get out of whack! (Dr Jason Fung)
The main causes of obesity are insulin (Dr Jason Fung) and inflammation. (Dr Steven Gundry)
LOF- Obesity is more a hormone and inflammation problem than a total calorie and move more one!
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Leap of Faith (LOF)
Not just in/out
Calories - More than just in/out
Losing weight is NOT just about calories in/out. This goes against pretty much all diet advice of the past fifty years. Calories are a complicated topic.
Key points…
1. If you eat too much you get fat. Not true, its how the calories are processed, how long it takes the body to process them and where they end up being stored.
(ie Blood stream , cells, liver, muscle or fatty tissue.)
2. Not all calories are the same. Gram for gram, calories from grain products and starches are much more easily processed by the body than calories from vegetables. Even though both are carbs with the same energy density 4kcal/gm. Some forms of processed grains have a higher glycemic index than pure glucose!
3. Sugar is made up of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose. While all body cells can process glucose, only the liver can process fructose.
Calories or macronutrients come from fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Fats takes the longest time to process, carbs the least. Sugars, alcohol and fructose have a near instantaneous effect on blood sugar levels. Fructose and alcohol are special kinds of sugars that can only be processed by the liver. Fructose is typically found in fruit or High Fructose Corn Syrup ( HFCS.) HFCS goes by many names (61 at last count) and is found in nearly all heavily processed foods. No matter what fructose is called, treat with caution, avoid if at all possible.
Too much sugar in your blood is toxic. Our body is smart, it doesn’t like to waste energy so when a high calorie source of energy is available the sensor receptors in the mouth register pleasure. A perfect design when the sources of natural sugar were scarce. Now that sugar or hidden sugars are added to nearly 80% of all processed foods, the body’s perfect design is not so perfect.
LOF – 4 cans of pop have the same calories count as a steak (600 calories). However, the pop will have a dramatically different impact on your metabolism.
Many diet sites claim its all about the sugars. Sugar content of food is an aspect of weight gain. But at best, sugar being the sole cause of weight gain is a simplistic model.
LOF- It’s all about the total calories and how easily the body can process them.
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Energy Stores
In someone weighing between 70-100kg (154-220lbs), the basal resting metabolism (BMR) is around 1500-2000 kcal per day. Think of your BMR as your daily resting energy burn rate which includes all autonomous body functions. Your daily caloric intake needs are your BMR plus your activity rate (typically BMR plus 20-60 percent). Men and women have different BMRs. (variance 10-20%). BMR is important as it dictates how excess energy is used or stored. Reduce your caloric intake or substantially increase your caloric burn and the body thinks it is in [starvation] mode. Here are the body’s main energy storage areas for glucose:
Glucose is stored in the blood and cells. (4gm or 16 calories of glucose is all the blood can safely store.)
8-24 hrs of stores
Glycogen – chains of glucose, stored in the liver and muscles 480-686g using 4kcal/g
1-2 days of stores
Proteins – muscles, 6000-8500g using 4kcal/g
12-17 days of stores
Fats – adipose tissue, 12000 to 17000g 9kcal/g
54 to 77 days of stores
Fun fact – Given the energy stored in fat, believe it or not, most people can easily survive a month without eating.
Two main fat types are:
1. Subcutaneous – called white fat. It is found on the hips, thighs and belly, directly under the skin. (Kind of bad)
2. Visceral around organs – deep fat. (Really bad.)
Fun fact – Once the glycogen stores in the liver are used up, contrary to popular belief the body does not burn all the energy stored in the muscles. During a fast for the first couple of days energy is consumed from your muscles but once ketosis starts, energy is created from adipose tissue (fat) leaving the muscle tissue alone.
LOF- The proof is in our evolution. If every time we missed a meal and our muscles were the first source of energy, there is nothing left to hunt with! Mankind would have died out millions of years ago.
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