Eating for Daily Alertness 

The following excerpts are taken from my book 'Weight Loss Simplified'


©2010 Edward Glassman

STAY ALERT IN THE MORNING: 

AVOID THE MIDMORNING SLUMP (the morning blahs)

The cause of the midmorning slump differs in different people. Research has indicated that a low-calorie, low-protein breakfast, or a high-carbohydrate breakfast causes it. 
You need to experiment with different breakfasts to find out what helps you. 

A high carbohydrate breakfast produces short-lived alertness as the food raises the glucose level in your blood. 
This increase in glucose triggers an insulin flood into the bloodstream causing glucose levels to fall precipitously, and your alertness drops. 

About an hour to two after you eat a high carbohydrate breakfast, your blood glucose drops so low that you probably feel irritable, and your midmorning slump sets in. 
To counteract this slump, many people take a break, drink a cup of coffee, and eat a "Danish" or a candy bar. 
This starts the up-and-down alertness cycle again. 

Thus, most mornings start with you feeling good, followed by a "crash" in blood glucose levels, with a consequent decrease in your alertness and work effectiveness.

Evidence also exists that a high fat breakfast can also cause a midmorning slump. 

RECOMMENDATION: Experiment with a high-protein breakfast containing at least 25 to 30 grams of protein to see if this helps your alertness and decreases your midmorning slump. 
The following Table provides sources of protein for your breakfast: 

Sources of Protein for Breakfast include:  

1 glass milk (skim milk) or low-calorie yogurt     8 grams protein

2 eggs 12g 

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) low-fat cottage cheese 7g

1 tablespoon (1 ounce) tuna fish 7g

1 chicken thigh (remove skin before cooking) 15g

3 oz steak (lean)    15-20g

1 oz protein powder (100 % whey)15-20g

I/2 cup soybeans 10g

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) wheat germ  9g

Other high-protein foods include fish, shrimp, etc. 



Sounds like too much effort? 
Not convinced? 
Almost everyone I know, including myself, who has tried a high-protein breakfast reports greater alertness and increased work effectiveness. 
The slump and the hunger for a "Danish" or a candy bar disappears. Try it and see. STAY



AVOID THE AFTERNOON DOZE:  

ALERT AND PREVENT DROWSINESS AFTER LUNCH 

The cause of drowsiness after lunch differs between people and at different times in the same person. 
Experiment with different foods to find out what affects you. 
People report the following foods as the most frequent causes of lower alertness after lunch (the afternoon doze): 

- Too much fat (butter, hamburger, meat, gravy, salad dressing, etc.).

- Too much sugar (desserts, cakes, ice cream, cookies, candy, etc.).

- Not enough protein.

- Not enough, or too many, calories. 

To help you find out what produces your mid-afternoon drowsiness, the following approach can prove useful: 

For lunch, eat a large salad with no dressing (dressing has 100 calories per tablespoon due to the fat in the oil), or with a small amount of low-cal dressing. 

Also drink a glass of skim milk (8-10 g protein with no fat). 

You may also eat a hard boiled egg (5-6 g protein). 

If you are still hungry, eat some fruit, such as an apple or a pear. 

Afternoon Snacks: Later in the afternoon, if you are hungry, drink a glass of skim milk and eat fruit (apple, pear, etc.). 

If eating these foods helped you avoid drowsiness during the afternoon, you may discover the cause of your drowsiness by adding back your regular lunch foods, one at a time. 
Then if you feel drowsy, you will know the cause. 

Sound like too much effort? 
The potential result, feeling alert in the afternoon, certainly makes it worth it. 
Besides, you do not have to experiment. 
Most people report that a lunch of a salad (with little or no dressing), skim milk, and a piece of fruit together with a mid-afternoon snack of skim milk and an apple or a pear does not cause drowsiness, and increases work effectiveness. 

My regular lunch, consisting of milk, whey Protein Powder, Fiber One cereal, and skim milk, does not lower alertness.

SOME SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES 

Thorn, G.W., J.T. Quinby and M. Clinton (1943). A comparison of the metabolic effects of isocaloric meals of varying compositions with special reference to the prevention of postprandial hypoglycemic symptoms. Annals of Internal Medicine 18:913-919. 

0rent-Keiles, E. and L.F. Hallman (1949). The breakfast meal in relation to blood sugar values. U.S. Department of Agriculture Circular 827. 

Spring, B.,0. Maller, J. Wurtman, L. Digman, and L. Cozolino (1985). Effects of protein and carbohydrate meals on mood and performance: Interactions with sex and age. Journal Psychiatric Research 17:155-157. 

See also: “Food and Mood” by E. Somer (1995); published by Henry Holt & Co; 460 pages. 

EATING RIGHT IS A NUTRITION NUMBERS NIGHTMARE

By ‘eating right’ I refer to eating the kind and amount of foods that maximizes your health, well being, longevity, and quality of life. 
Given the increase in obesity and diabetes, to name a few instances, many people do not appear to eat right.


Eating right is in the numbers. 

How much of each essential nutrient do you require? 

How much of each essential nutrient do you take in each day? 

How much more, or less, of each essential nutrient do you need each day? 

In this section of this book you find out how these numbers affect you.


PEOPLE EAT ALL KINDS OF FOODS 



People all over the world eat such a variety of foods that it becomes difficult to chart a universal norm. 
Surely, a Swede eats different food than an African native; 
a native living in the rain forest eats differently from a Bedouin in the desert; 
before 1900, an Inuit (Eskimo) rarely ate fruits and vegetables during the winter, subsisting mainly on fish and fat (blubber), 
while an inhabitant of the United States eats richly. 

And a Native-American eats quite different foods from a native Indian, who eats differently from a native of Indonesia, Vietnam, China or Japan.

Even within the United States, food habits vary in different regions, although widespread similar supermarkets trim the degree of difference: people who live along the coast eat differently from those in the heartland; 
Northerners eat differently from Southerners; vegetarians do not eat meat, while others crave it. 
Some people eat according to religious tenets, while others eat ‘fast food.’ 
Some eat sparingly to lose or maintain weight, while others gorge themselves. 

For most people, what they eat usually represents habits they learned as a child, and which they only changed slightly as they age. 

This book will help you evaluate what you eat, and how to eat more effectively.

EAT FOR HEALTH, FITNESS, & VITALITY 



Who wins the prize for eating right? 
People must meet one major criterion to judge whether they eat right: they reproduce, which is nature’s prime requirement for eating right. 

However, another human criterion exists for eating right: 
quality of life. 
You define this best for yourself, but almost everyone would include health, fitness, and vitality as one goal of eating right. 
And many people would include looking trim, feeling good (a sense of well being), and a control over body weight. 

    
      WEIGHT LOSS SIMPLIFIED     
Start by consulting your doctor. Get her or his okay. 
Start taking a complete vitamins & minerals tablet once a day. 
Arrange to work out with a personal trainer, either alone or with a group of friends to share fees. 
Start to weigh yourself at the same time every other day. 
Reduce food intake so you lose about 1 to 2 pounds a week, never more than that, or you will lose muscle tissue (except at the beginning when you will lose water). 

     Reduce food portion size by half; cut out desserts; cut down on fatty foods eventually eliminating them entirely; leave out salt. 
And reduce your intake of sugar, and bread & butter.

       Do not diet unless you also work out; otherwise, you may lose muscle mass. 
And make sure you take in enough protein and carbohydrate so you will not lose tissue mass, your body’s effort to preserve your brain and nervous system. 

Eventually develop a menu plan that provides you with the nutrients you require each day with a minimum of calories so you can control your weight, as I did. 
Arrange your food intake so you can repeat it every day, and supplement it with one vitamin and mineral tablet and selected delicious and balanced snacks each day. In this way, you can lose weight & keep it off. 


STOP FOOD TEMPTATION 


Food temptation comes in three tasty flavors: sugar, salt, and fat, all potentially harmful to your goal to eat right. 
These tasty flavors predominate in fast food, canned goods, restaurants, and your kitchen. 

Do not tempt yourself. 
Remove all fattening foods from your home: junk food, candy, desserts, cookies, cake, chocolate, fatty foods, sugar, (and salt), etc. 


SOME SIMPLE BIOCHEMISTRY ABOUT WEIGHT REDUCTION


 Dieting to lose weight puts a stress on your body’s biochemistry. 
As you reduce your intake of calories, your body seeks to protect the brain’s structural integrity from breaking down. 

Your body does this by breaking down other tissues to supply the brain with glucose for chemical energy, and with amino acids for protein. You seek to lose fat, not protein. 
Unfortunately, the body does not know this and breaks down tissue protein too. 

The brain can only use glucose as its major energy source. Unfortunately, humans cannot convert fat into glucose (or protein), so your body breaks down tissues like heart, lung, liver, kidney, glands, and muscle, to get glucose and amino acids for the nervous system.

Thus, you run the risk of reducing your muscles and other tissues made of protein to provide amino acids and glucose to your brain. 

When dieting to lose weight, you must, therefore, eat adequate amounts of protein to minimize the breakdown of your muscles and other tissues, and enough glucose (carbohydrate) to supply energy to the brain. 

Eating right by following my personal food intake plan helps in this regard by supplying a minimum of 75 g of protein and 136 g of carbohydrate per day. 

In addition, working out 3 times a week helps tone and build muscles, so you minimize muscle loss while you lose weight. 


COPY THE ESSENCE OF MY APPROACH
Develop you own simplified plan to eat right while losing weight. Devise a one day menu in which you take in the required amounts of nutrients with a minimum of calories, as I did. 
Include what you will eat in restaurants, on road trips, at dinner parties and holiday feasts. 
Plan to work out regularly. 
Start a lifestyle makeover.


NOTHING FEELS AS GOOD AS BEING THIN FEELS

How motivated are you to start a lifestyle makeover? Choose which you prefer: 

Feeling good because you just had a great meal...
or feeling good because you see yourself as thin & fit? 
Over the long haul you cannot have both.

Feeling bad because you gave up overeating at holiday feasts and dinner parties...
or feeling bad because you are overweight, with diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, or any of the ailments associated with being overweight? 
Which?

Felling great because you finally lost one pound...
or feeling great because you finally possess a way to lose weight & keep it off, and to control your weight so it doesn’t control you.

The consequences of poor eating habits sticks to us all our lives. Commit now to dramatically improve your poor eating habits for your own sake.

YOUR LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER REQUIRES ‘TOUGH LOVE’ 


Most of us find it hard to change even a little. 
But...a lifestyle makeover? Nearly impossible. 
Still, worth investigating? 

A lifestyle makeover requires the development of new skill sets: 
- eating right daily; 

- working out regularly (no more excuses); 

- relaxing meditation skills; 

- better relationship skills; 

- more positive approaches to life; 

- seeking more fun; 

- avoiding harmful substances, like alcohol and other drugs, etc. 


This book discusses eating right and working out; the rest you can learn elsewhere. 
Never stop changing. You may find it enjoyable, even fun. 
And your self esteem may go through the roof as you add new skill sets to your repertoire of life. 

IV. WORKING OUT RIGHT: 
Strengthen & Tone Your Muscles,

Improve Your Posture, Feel Fit

MY STORY     

    I worked out with weights and machines for about 40 years. 
This includes swimming (3 years ago 1 swam one mile) and cardiovascular training on a treadmill or cross trainer. 

        For the past 8 years, I worked out with a personal trainer two afternoons a week. I worked out alone a third afternoon a week, 
In addition, I currently do cardiovascular training on the treadmill for about an hour each time I go to the Fitness Center. 
        Working out with my trainer enabled me to focus on good form. 
I was able to work out for less time, with less pain, and achieve overall better results. 

The outcome of working out amazes and astonishes me. 
I have increased stamina; 
better muscle tone; 
more muscle mass; 
stronger legs, abs, upper body, lower back; 
better posture, 
a sense of well being; 
and I breathe easier as I walk up and down stairs and rush around.  


WHY WORK OUT RIGHT? 



Working out right provides many, many benefits: 
look good & feel fit, 
increased muscular stamina & endurance, 
joint & bone health (increase bone density & prevent osteoporosis), weight control (along with a sensible diet), 
heart health, 
increased energy, well-being, toned & strengthened muscles. 


WORK OUT RIGHT WITH A TRAINER      

    You will experience many benefits if you work out with a trainer: better form, 
fewer accidents, 
less pain, 
better results, 
and more exact knowledge. 
If money presents a problem (and when doesn’t it), hire a trainer to work with a group of people and share the cost between you. 

        Or work out with a friend (or a stranger who will become your friend), who has trained far longer than you, so you benefit from his or her experience and knowledge. 

Before I worked out with a trainer, I worked out with experienced people (Dave and Sam) who generously gave me the benefit of their extensive knowledge. 
Then my trainer, Randy Ballard, focused me on form and commitment, and I learned determination, patience, and discipline.


FOCUS ON YOUR FORM 



          If you use correct form, you will avoid muscle strain that leads to pain and injuries. 
This means using a weight that allows you to carry out movements comfortably without the incredible straining that we sometimes observe in others. 
Easy does it: ‘No Pain, All Gain' makes a splendid motto. 

Learn form from a trainer or an experienced friend. Do not try to get it on your own unless you learn easily from thin air or books. 


SCHEDULE YOUR WORKOUT RIGHT 



The following schedule allows me enough time to workout right:

30 to 60 minutes: Warmup & cardiovascular workout.

30 to 45 minutes: Weight resistance workout with my trainer.

10 to 15 minutes: Cool down & stretching.

10 to 15 minutes: Hot tub & shower.


GIVE YOURSELF ‘TOUGH LOVE’
We all find it hard to work out. 
We all know dozens of reasons to justify NOT working out. 
You know which ones you use, including the unconscious reasons you unawarely use. 
   Please stop doing this and treat yourself to ‘tough love’ to get you into a gym, spa, or fitness center. 
Arrange a feasible schedule so you can get there 2 to 3 times a week with enough time to work out and still do cardiovascular training. 
And keep getting help and advice from a trainer or an experienced friend. See these awesome books:

‘Weight Training For Beginners’ by Tony Gallagher (2003); published by Harper Resource, 96 pages. Outstanding book. 

 ‘The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Weight Training’ by Deidre Johnson-Cane, Jonathan Cane, and Joe Glickman (2005) Published by the Penguin Group, 304 pages. Nice book.