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wtf-fishbones · 7 years

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You're such a transphobic piece of shit - just admit that you're transphobic because you're an asshole, not because you consider yourself a scientist, as science actively disproves you

Alright, I'll take it slow with this one, even tho I know anon does not care. First, I'm not transphobic. I'm just not. Second, science is very much on my side. One biologist on facebook does not contest with years of peer reviewed data and empiricism. Even though you'll write off my arguments with "ur not a real biologist so everything you're saying is wrong uwu" I'm gonna go through it. Lets get started."First of all, in a sexual species, you can have females be XX and males be X (insects), you can have females be ZW and males be ZZ (birds), you can have females be females because they developed in a warm environment and males be males because they developed in a cool environment (reptiles), you can have females be females because they lost a penis sword fighting contest (some flatworms), you can have males be males because they were born female, but changed sexes because the only male in their group died (parrotfish and clownfish), you can have males look and act like females because they are trying to get close enough to actual females to mate with them (cuttlefish, bluegills, others), or you can be one of thousands of sexes (slime mold, some mushrooms.) Oh, did you mean humans?"- Ms. Facebook Lady knows all of the things listed above are irrelevant. We can ignore it; it does not apply to human beings."Oh ok then. You can be male because you were born female, but you have 5-alphareductase deficiency and so you grew a penis at age 12."-Exceedingly rare mutation. This person would need surgery to remove the penis or severe health complications will ensue. It is safe to say this is "unnatural" for lack of a better term. It is not proof of a spectrum, because as I said, for something to be a spectrum there needs to be all sorts of common assortments of gender. These are all rare birth defects, therefore =/= spectrum."You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome but you are insensitive to androgens, and so you have a female body."-Again, rare birth defect. Not proof of a spectrum. This person is still biologically male. She fails to mention all of the other complications."You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome but your Y is missing the SRY gene, and so you have a female body. You can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but one of your X’s HAS an SRY gene, and so you have a male body. You can be male because you have two X chromosomes- but also a Y. You can be female because you have only one X chromosome at all." -Irrelevant for the same reasons listed above."And you can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but your heart and brain are male. And vice - effing - versa. Don’t use science to justify your bigotry. The world is way too weird for that shit.]"-Nope. Can't be biologically male, but can live their lives as women, and that's wonderful if they are able to do so. This is a controversial opinion which I know will piss many people off. But yes, trans people exist and I give them my support so long as they have gender dysphoria.~So lets continue.I saw a post the other day which was really great (but wtf-fishbones, thats just a tumblr normie!!!) Yes indeed, but all the information was factually correct. And since I'm unable to find it, I'll give you the tldr after the following paragraph.Anon seems to know that being trans is all in the brain. I'm unsure if they recognize that you need gender dysphoria to be trans. If they dont, and they are trying to put out biology based rhetoric, then they are intellectually dishonest. But I'm hoping they do recognize the necessity of the medicalization of being transgender. So anyways..Gender dysphoria originates when the brain sex does not match the body sex. This occurs when your hormones are out of whack, especially estrogen, testosterone, and all those important ones we associate with sex and gender. There is plenty of evidence for ftm and mtf gender dysphoria. Nonbinary dysphoria would not be possible, as to cause a conflict within the brain you would need absurd proportions of estrogen/testosterone whether it be too much, too little, or something even spookier. You would die. You would not make it through the nine months of development. Therefore no one can be alive to experience that kind of dysphoria. I hope you enjoyed your poorly worded lesson from an exasperated pal. Have a wonderful day anon, and stop by off anon some time if you're so sure you're doing the right thing.

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questioningsideblog · 7 years

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I am not at all convinced by the argument that less people would want to transition if gender roles were not so strong.

I do not buy it because I do not see all urge towards transition as necessarily rooted in classic dysphoria. Some people just want to change things.

Our bodies are complicated machines. They work amazingly well for products of nature, but we have TECHNOLOGY! Hormones are an example of this process. They are small little chemicals, very essential for things like bone health. They do this job, and then they go and have a huge affect on everything from your appearance to your moods. Hormones being “out of whack” can affect your weight, your fertility, affect how much hair you have and where, they involved in acne and body odor smell and skin texture. Height and breast tissue, sex drive, energy levels, musculature!

Hormones! They are everywhere in your body affecting all the things!

And I am just supposed to accept whatever my body produces out of the box?

In the hypothetical future where sexism is less of a thing, less people are oppressed for being GNC, and being either of those roles does not entail in-taking horrible messages all your life, but medical technology should have improved. There may be a discover-able way to easily monitor and essentially choose the balance of testosterone and estrogen (and others) in your body.

This could then easily be tailored to suit needs. People might choose this based on aesthetic value, or for functionality reasons (strength training/fertility/smooth skin). I can not say, I do not have access to it. I imagine a lot of people would let it be natural until there was an issue, but I do not live in that future. I live here.

HERE: is a capitalist dystopian nightmare world.

And in this world young children are made to feel awful for not having the right body ideal.

Like, not to get too Freudian here, but I know exactly what my issue is. The little part of my brains dedicated in most girls to feeling bad for not looking like Jessica Rabbit got confused, and wanted to be a hairy buff guy instead. I have most of the same issues, just pointed at the wrong side of the axis because I love making my life hard.

This is not necessarily 100% a great reason to transition if I can just live with it, but I do not judge people for wanting to lay down tracks in the transition path, because they, like, have money and health care and stuff. Good 4 U!

HOWEVER: The fact that testosterone seemed to have cleared up a lot of problems with my cycle. I used to bleed rarely and painfully, and after a short course of testosterone, my cycle is not that bad anymore. Why? Who knows? Someone should study this to see if low doses of testosterone can help others with similar issues to mine (LOTS), but instead it is (it is it is it is) preying on our sadness and confusion to sell us as many surgeries and products as possible, and then sitting back and not being a driving force for help when we are still threatened in the economic sphere. Testosterone, in very low doses, is a proven anti-depressant. This is cool and interesting and great, but also something that needs to be monitored. Carefully. The technology is new.

I hate to be negative. I want the future now. But I have seen too many doctors right now who are too willing to give these options to young hurting people and then just let them fly off into the wind without any help. There should not be one person in their mid-twenties with a hysterectomy and not able to see an endocronologist. THey have created a desperate class of consumers, and enough will be helped enough to make something (Money) of themselves that the ones who fall off are ignor-able.

I hate being part of that class. I do not want that.

But that does not mean that I do not want people to have the freedom. I want to live in the glorious time when aging men can fine tune their T in order to save their hair. I want it to be that good.

Here and now though I feel like less than a lab rat. I see a generation around me being used and I worry for our health and future financial options. I worry that some may DIE if Shit Hits The Fan and medical care becomes hard to get a hold of. I think this is going to happen.

But I do not think that wanting a beard and getting a beard shows that someone is denying biological reality. Acting like everyone is always going to have whatever their genes set out for them is denying (The New! Improved! Science!) biological reality.

#i say stuff #detransition #transition #transhumanism #radical feminism

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health-andfitnessinfo · 6 years

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[health-andfitness]-I worked out twice a day until it started messing with my hormones

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“Dude, I think something is out of whack with my hormones,” I tell my workout buddy, as I walk towards my CrossFit box for the second time in one day. Some time in the last three months—after I’d left my 9-to-5 cubicle for the much-more-flexible schedule of a WFH writer—I’d gotten into the habit of working out twice a day.

I’d do my Olympic weightlifting or a “Workout of the Day” (WOD) in the morning, and then take a 7 p.m. CrossFit class at night. My body was definitely sore, but two-a-days were my time to socialize. After all, who needs coworkers when you’ve got workout buddies?

All was well until a subtle shift started happening inside my body. I felt off. Even after 8 or 9 hours of sleep, I’d wake up wiped and craving coffee. Workouts that usually left me glowing, instead turned me into a washed-up blob on the floor. I phoned a doctor friend, who suspected that all the high-intensity exercise was messing with my cortisol—you know, that pesky stress hormone—levels. She was right. Here’s the low-down on the hormone, how exercise impacts it, and what to do if flare-ups leave you feeling…off.

Photo: Stocksy/Rob and Julia Campbell

What exactly is cortisol?

Cortisol is in charge of regulating changes in the body that happen in response to anxiety and tension, and it plays a role in managing our bodies fight-or-flight response. “Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands, which are little glands on top of your kidneys that look like hats,” says Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, FACOG. “Your cortisol levels naturally rise and fall throughout the day. For most people, cortisol spikes in the morning when you first wake up, lulls in the afternoon, and may spike again in the late evening.” You know that feeling you describe as a “second wind”? That’s your cortisol cycle talking.

When your hormonal levels are balanced, you feel calm and collected, alert, and in stasis. “When they’re out of balance, you might experience fatigue, insomnia, irregular periods, increased appetite, problems with blood sugar regulation, weight gain, increased inflammation, and decreased libido,” says Robin Berzin, MD, founder and CEO of Parsley Health.

“It can also cause a generalized sense of burnout, digestive issues, and migraines,” adds behavioral health therapist, Danielle Swimm, MA, LCPC, who says if you feel like any of these symptoms are familiar to you, to consider seeking advice from a healthcare professional.

The relationship between exercise and cortisol

So what in the heck does all of this have to do with fitness? “When you do really high intensity exercise or endurance exercise, your body releases cortisol in response to the stress,” she says. In fact, research suggests that moderate to high-intensity exercise may increase cortisol. Generally, that increase is seen as acute—meaning it won’t have long-term effects. “But if you’re doing intense workouts more than once a day and several days a week, your cortisol levels will stay elevated,” says Dr. Berzin.

In the short term, Gaither says a tell-tale symptom is slowed recovery between sets and increased resting heart rate. In the long term, however, these consistently elevated cortisol levels can lead to the health woes that you likely work out to avoid: blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, osteoporosis, and even impaired fertility. “If cortisol levels are chronically high, it can increase hormones like testosterone and subsequently estrogen, while also decreasing hormones like progesterone. Which can cause disruptions in the menstrual cycle and acne,” says Dr. Berzin. This leads to what’s referred to as the “female athlete triad“—a combination between irregular or absent periods, low bone mineral density, and not a lick of energy.

Photo: Stocksy/ Lumina

High cortisol levels don’t have to mean the end of your fitness routine

So let’s get right down to it. Does that mean that if you have high cortisol levels you have to stop working out all together? No. “The solution is to adjust your workouts. So instead of doing daily high intensity workouts, incorporate yoga and gentle exercise,” says Suzie Welsh PhD, an adjunct professor at Villanova University’s School of Nursing and founder of BINTO. “Exercise is obviously a very good-for-you thing if done at the right intensity, and the right amount. The goal is find balance in both your workout routine and your cortisol levels.”

Once I ID-ed the route of my blah-ness, my cortisol levels didn’t automatically return to normal. It took a while. For over a month I committed to healing my body: I went to sleep at 10 each night and let myself sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. I quit chugging coffee as soon as I woke up (turns out: that can also throw off hormones). I started taking rhodiola which is thought to help the body cope with stress. And most importantly: I incorporated restorative exercise like yoga and RomWOD into my fitness schedule.

I also took a serious look at why I was going to the gym so often. Turns out sometimes it was because I was just bored of working from home, or craving mid-day human interaction. I started scheduling two to three lunch dates a week, and surrounding myself with fellow WFHers in the afternoon, which is the time when I frequently start to feel isolated. I even started making plans to hang with my fit-fam outside of the gym (gasp!). Eventually, everything fell into equilibrium. Once or twice a week, I still work out twice a day, but I workout smarter than ever before. And that’s a win in my book.

Prepare yourself before hitting an intense class: Take this test to gauge your fitness level, and master proper form for these four common exercises.

Share this post if you enjoyed!

(This is your website for good health and fitness. News, tips, menus and everything you want to get for a better life quality.)

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jusadode-blog · 5 years

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ONE MONTH OF T (in 2 days but I set my T days for fridays to align with my pharmacy)! THE SHIT I’VE NOTICED SO FAR (nsfw warning):

Please note: I am a special case and very reactive to T. My results so far are not the usual, so don’t use this as a reference post for your own experiences but more of just things that can or will happen in your own eventually. Also, if you notice these major changes very quickly, talk with your doctor to keep an eye on your t-levels since taking the usual dosage could be life-threatening. I had to personally (entirely by my own choice to the suprise of my doctor) to delay my shift to full dosage for another month due to risks involved. If at any point you feel like T is hellish or giving you too many bad side effects, talk with your doctor and they can lower it or give you other treatments to cope with the things. This is also super fucking disorganized, so if you wanna take tidbits of this and use it in your own masterpost go fucking wild mates. Also this format is fucking ugly but <3

Okay, so first and foremost: They weren’t lying, Testosterone does raise your libido. HOWEVER: After the initial shot it’s been pretty chill for me afterwards, even as a very sexual person. If you’re sex repulsed, ,asexual, or just don’t like the feeling of being horny, you might want to talk to your doctor about options to possibly lower your libido again if the T triggers it after more than a month.

[NSFW] Testosterone made sex EASIER for me (personally). I used to be dry as a bone pre-T and just assumed I had some issues with vaginal stuff and would probably need to be put on estrogen cream like some other dudes and pals [also, most doctors will wait before giving you estrogen cream as that can actual cause more damage if unnecessary). The very first week I started T though? The rivers were flowing, the drought was over, and sex also became a lot easier for me (Albeit still hard since I have other issues going on). Also, suddenly I was experiencing “physical” horniness again (something I hadn’t had since middleschool) without the need of “psychological” horniness first. Like, usually I had to think of sexy stuff to get my gears going but suddenly just my body is throwing open the doors and windows now before I even know I’m even turned on mentally.

Your doctor might start you out on the half-recommended dosage for transitioning, this sounds SUPER scary to binary trans guys and enbies who want results fast, but honestly? Sometimes, your body reacts more. I literally have tripple the dick length and diameter I originally had in under a month (still under an inch), my chest is already more masculine shaped and drooping, as well as my voice is trying to figure out what the fuck is going on (I can feel it being funky). In one month. If I had started on the regular dosage, I might have actually died since I’m so receptive to testosterone.

*Something* might change in you. Literally the first week after getting my shot, I suddenly was over 80% happier, more relaxed, and almost all of my social anxiety was out the window. Rather than being afraid and skittish in public, I’m more of just uncomfortable now. Also, I went from a bottom-veering verse to a top-veering verse, as well as I’ve found it a lot easier to look at other guys and be attracted to them comfortably??? This is probably almost entirely psychology related rather than biology, but still worth mentioning. It’s not like I changed as a person btw, it’s more of it’s easier to be happier as well as it’s easier to be the person I’m supposed to be.

My chin hairs doubled but they’re not ready to breed yet :’(

My knees got hairy?? I have scar tissue over areas of my knees and so when I noticed the hair growth was now covering them I was very surprised.

[NSFW] Your cum is gonna change smell and appearance. Your piss is gonna change smell. The first while it might be a bit of a PH balance issue (don’t try to treat it without a doctors assistance since you’re in a special case), but it’s gonna change. My personal scent went from a “potatoey” natural scent to a vaguely public restroom smell in a month (which worries me greatly cause that means I’ve been to bathrooms people jerked it in). It’s gonna be a bit uncomfortable getting used to your new biological functions smell, especially if you already had issues with them, but it’s for the better.

T-Shots CAN BE PAINLESS. I’m still learning how to do injections since I didn’t actually have a nurse to help me (HAHAHAHAHA THANK GOD FOR YOUTUBE FOR FUCKING CHRISTS SAKES HAHAHAHAHA), but I’ve had 1.5 shots so far that have been pretty painless. My first two shots hurt a lot (first time I panicked and did a LOT wrong, second I still goofed a bit), but my third time was so ungodly painful during injection because I had pulled the fat too far back but upon releasing there was NO muscular pain, just injection pain. I’ve just had a completely pain-free shot using a pull technique with my shot, but PLEASE NOTE: Fat deposits is a major thing to consider in this. The more fat in the area, the more it hurts. I’ve moved slightly upwards towards the top of my leg while still following requirements for the shot to be safe, and I’ve found a sweet spot where my muscle has almost no fat there. The longer you’re on T, the more fat should move from your legs and to your stomach (with a reasonable amount left behind), but trans bears are in for a bit of hell unless they find their own thing.

Protip to keep your muscle relaxed: Lay back in your bed with a pillow propped under your ankle of the injection leg, make sure you’re breathing the entire time, and do a steady push with the 60-90 degree recommendation I see everywhere. Do it with the needle angled towards your knees (handle towards your head), and it should help hurt less.

You get a lil bit dumber. I’mma leave this vague, but like watch your impuslivity mates. Before engaging in risky behavior, always discuss with yourself pre-event to ensure you know what you’re willing to consent to, what you’re not, as well as always know if you can’t say yes to something with confidence then it’s a no. This is mostly written in regards to drunk and spontaneous sex (Always have a basic outline of what you consent to under most circumstances), but also like if you’re gonna go smoke weed with friends and someone brings out some harder stuff. Set this based upon your own personal ethics, beliefs, comfort, etc..

You get acne where you never had it before. WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A ZIT ON MY TRECHEA??? THE WORLD WILL NEVER KNOW.

If you have the Herpes virus ( both mouth and genital), it might break out more frequently and worse for a while due to hormone changes (this will balance out). Watching your diet and avoiding trigger foods, stress (hahahaha), and using proper treatment products at the first sign of an outbreak will help prevent them from happening or being too severe. Talk with your doctor about possible medication options during breakouts, as well as preventative ones.

Your skin is gonna be fucking whack for a while. Have you ever had dry, acne-encrusted skin? I HAVE. My face was so dry after my second shot of T yet still covered in so much acne it was the weirdest shit ever. I’ve changed around my skin routine a bit (I literally just use a acne medicine I used during my first puberty and a new skin lotion when I notice dryness).

Your appetite might change. Make sure when starting testosterone you eat reasonably healthy, and make some life choices to ensure you don’t develop heart disease. I’ve begun eating vegetables at least once a week (considering I’d go months without them and eat starches in their place, this is revolutionary), and I’m still trying to properly dedicate myself to a work out routine.

Belly? It’s gonna look a different kind of fat. Mine suddenly looks wider and generally more protruding, and for me I enjoy this since I don’t wanna be a twink. AFAB’s tend to store body fat in hips, theighs, and butts, while men tend to store it in their stomachs and around their organs (meant to be burned quickly during fight or flight, but just causes heart disease now.) A good site covering this pretty effectively is: https://www.erchonia.com/how-men-and-women-store-fat-differently/ , but please note this is a company that offers lazer surgeries related to fat removal so it’s probably at least somewhat biased.

YOUR NEEDLES AND YOUR TESTOSTERONE HAVE DIFFERENT RX CODES GIVE YOUR PHARMACY ALL OF THEM.

Laundry detergent bottles make great sharps containers (most needles come with lids, but please do this anyways since it is a biohazard).

Sometimes, your needles will be more expensive than your Testosterone. This is why WV has a fucking HIV crisis with heroine addicts right now :/

Also btw, shop pharmacies and use apps like WellRX for coupons, one pharmacy offered me T for 60$ but the other offered me it for like 120$. Check out pharmacies like in Walmart, Target, Costco, and others to see who has the cheapest available if you don’t have insurance or have to pay copays. [You can do this with all medications including Insulin]

If you’re nonvegan/vegetarian, just eat more chicken and less red meat, it’s got more protein and less grease, and will probably save your life in the long run.

Workout! You’re bodys gonna be fucking weird for a while, and finding a healthy way to let out your emotions is a great way to cope with the hormonal feelings you’ll get, as well as it’ll help keep your heart healthy and maybe even prep you for surgery. If you’re disabled, find out what works for you.

[NSFW[ I personally use a very weighted sex toy for lifting, and a modified NerdFitnesses’ 20 minute workout routine. https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Speaking of hormonal though, it’s gonna get real fucking ugly real fucking fast for a while. You’re gonna cry, scream, pout, panic, and then (assuming you are a sexual being) jerk off. It’s a mess for a hot while, mine started my second shot but it seems to be leveling out. Now I’m on my 3rd shot so I’ll find out when it’s too late if it’s any easier lol.

and finally:

Check out David Bowie’s “Changing”, they had it in Shrek but like apparently he did a version too and I’m hardcore kinning it right now.

#talk junk

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gethealthy18-blog · 6 years

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3 Easy Tips To REVERSE

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/metabolism/3-easy-tips-to-reverse/

3 Easy Tips To REVERSE

Hey, hey, hey, everybody, what is up? Shaun Hadsall here, stubborn fat expert and owner of Get Lean in 12 coming at you with more no hype, rapid fat loss tips and tricks And today, I wanted to talk to you about a reader question that I got right here

This says Shaun, I've been consistently counting my calories and burning off more than I'm taking in for the last four weeks, but I still can't seem to lose weight I've been extremely detailed about making sure that every single day my body is in a calorie deficit What gives? So I wanted to quickly address this, because it has to do something called metabolic slowdown One study showed that people who focus solely on hormones instead of counting calories lost 65% more weight than those who were just focused on counting calories every day Now this doesn't mean that keeping your body in a calorie deficit isn't necessary, at least three or four days of the week to lose belly fat, but it's not as important as addressing hormones

So inside today's video, I want to talk about a couple things that you can implement into your lifestyle to prevent this from happening to you, which is a condition known as metabolic slowdown And I want to reference a study that was done on The Biggest Loser contestants from season 8 So six years after the show, they went and researched these contestants, and they found that their metabolism slowed down dramatically, and they were burning anywhere from 400 to 800 calories less per day than when they originally left the show Also, every single contestant but one weighs just as much or if not more than they did before they started the show So only one contestant weighs less after six years

This is the perfect example of why extreme dieting and extreme exercise does not work It slows down the metabolism, it makes the body adapt It's called adaptation, so the body fights back, the metabolic rate slows down, and the body wants to store more fat So the solution to this is addressing hormones There's three things that you can do

The first one is increase your protein intake Research shows that when you increase your protein intake, you hold on to more muscle mass and you increase your metabolic rate naturally through the thermic effect of food Remember, when your body digests protein, it burns more calories than when it's digesting carbs or fats So by increasing your protein intake, you prevent muscle loss, which keeps your metabolism going, and you also increase the metabolic rate at the same time The second thing you should do is weight training

It's super important that you weight train After 35-years-old, growth hormone levels inside our body starts to decline rapidly This is a condition known as menopause Also, men's testosterone levels decline rapidly When menopause hits women, their progesterone to estrogen ratio gets out of whack

So we need to address these issues, and one of the best ways that you can prevent muscle loss and optimize hormones is to weight lift or weight train, or body weight train at least three or four days of the week Now the other thing that you need to do is use movement patterns, rest periods, and intensity levels that are specifically designed to optimize hormones, like growth hormone So somewhere around this video, you're going to see a link to click or tap, where you're going to go over to my website and learn all about my system called the Over 40 Ab Solution And inside this system, you're going to discover a 12 minute metabolic protocol that has been shown in scientific, published, peer reviewed studies to increase growth hormone up to 400% to 700% and to release more adrenaline, which is a precursor to burning fat And the most important part about remember metabolic slowdown, this 12 minute protocol has been shown in studies to elevate the metabolic rate for up to 38 to 48 hours after just one 12 minute session

So let's recap on this Increase your protein intake, use body weight movements or intense weight training three or four days of the week, and then optimize hormones using the 12 minute metabolic protocols found inside my Over 40 Ab Solution We'll also introduce you to body weight workouts that you can do a couple of days a week to help prevent metabolic slowdown, and no equipment required, and we give some modifications if you have any type of limitations Now again, all of this is just my advice after over 20 plus years experience of being in the trenches, as a fat loss expert, working with thousands of people across the globe You can do whatever you want to do, but my hope and my prayer is that you take this stuff to heart, because I believe it can change your body and life in ways that you've never imagined

So if you got something out of this, do me a big favor, hit the Like button Give me some hearts, give me some shares If you've got questions, drop a comment below Go check out my Over 40 Ab Solution, you'll see the link somewhere around this video, keep going strong

#3 #Easy #metabolism #REVERSE #Tips #To

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travisandersondatingblog · 6 years

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Definition of Love: Discover The 3 Types + What Love Really Is

If you had asked me ten years ago, I couldn’t have told you what the definition of love was. I never really understood love until I personally experienced it.

Maybe you’re the same. Maybe you’ve been in long-term relationships — even married and now divorced — and still aren’t sure how to define love. Maybe you feel like, despite the fact that you spent years with a man…you really didn’t truly love him, and now you’re wondering what that would feel like.

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If you haven’t truly experienced love, that’s perfectly all right. That’s why you’re here. Because sometimes, when you least expect it, someone comes into your life so unexpectedly, takes your heart by surprise, and everything changes you forever.

So realize that even if you don’t know what the definition of love is at this moment, you will…possibly very soon.

In today’s video and post, I want to talk about three different types of love. Because, if you look up a word in the dictionary, a definition of a word often has different meanings or sub-definitions. So the definition of love can actually be three types of love that we’ll get into shortly.

Your Coach,

P.S. My Attract the One webinar is a must-attend for any woman who’s serious about discovering the definition of love for herself.

Introduction to the Definition of Love

Love is a chemical bond. While it might seem all goo-goo eyes and magic to you, it’s actually quite scientific.

According to a team of scientists led by Dr. Helen Fisher at Rutgers, romantic love can be broken down into three categories, each of which has its own set of pheromones and chemicals going on in the brain:

Lust

Attraction

Attachment

So it’s interesting to see that not all love is the same. And certainly, each one of us might give a different definition of love. You may or may not experience each of these types of love, so don’t worry if you identify with one over the others when you date a man.

Also, you may experience one type of love while the guy you’re with experiences a totally different definition of love. In the eight years I’ve been coaching people on how to find and keep love, I’ve seen that happen again and again. So let’s look at each definition of love and love type so you can assess what to do in each.

Love Type #1: Lust

If you just met and you can’t keep your hands off him, it’s lust.

You meet a man while you’re out with a friend, and there’s just…something about him. You can’t get him out of your head. He’s unlike any guy you’ve been attracted to.

From a hormone standpoint, you’ve got estrogen flowing through your brain, while his is filled with testosterone when lust is happening. The lust love type is where a lot of one-night stands happen.

Lust is also where that whole “I fell in love with him at first sight” experience occurs. But, while I’m not here to debate whether love at first sight is a real thing or not in this article, I just want to point out that what is often seen as love at first sight is usually a strong physical attraction that could (or could not) end up being something more sustaining and real.

A group of Dutch researchers conducted a series of studies where they found that, upon looking at photos of people that they’d never met, participants who said they felt love at first sight often ranked higher for feeling physical attraction than actual love.

To me, lust happens when you have little to go on about a person beyond their physical looks. And yes, that wonderful chemistry that happens when two people are physically compatible plays a large role. But without more data for your heart to process, lust may be simply a physical reaction to another human.

So while you might think you love this guy, if you haven’t been dating more than a few weeks, it may just be lust. That doesn’t mean it can’t turn into something more, but realize that you’re not there yet. You don’t know him well enough to experience the true definition of love.

Is It Wrong to Feel Lust For a Man?

Lust gets a bad rap. Yes, I did say that one-night stands usually happen as a result of lust, but I’m not knocking it as an emotion or feeling.

When you’re in lust, your synapses are firing on all cylinders. You’re so immersed in a person that you feel like you can’t come up for air. When you’re in bed together, it’s just fireworks. Boom. You’re convinced you’ve never had sex as good as this in your life (whether it’s true or not).

There’s nothing wrong with lust.

What’s important is to acknowledge that you’re experiencing lust, and not confusing it with a deeper love.

As you get to know this man, you bond emotionally and come to respect him. That lust may turn to passion (which is very similar), which is sustaining and not selfish, the way lust can be. Still, a relationship that starts out with lust (and most do) absolutely has the potential to be long-term.

Love Type #2: Attraction

Once you care more about him than his body, you’ve moved to attraction.

The second definition of love is attraction. While it’s similar to lust in some ways in that you’re drawn to that person, different hormones race through your brain: dopamine and norepinephrine.

With attraction, you can’t eat.

You can’t sleep.

You can’t stop thinking about him.

You’ve got a giddy feeling whenever you think about this guy.

Not only are you drawn to him physically, but you’re also attracted to his personality, so we’ve leveled up in terms of love type. It’s most common in that honeymoon phase of a relationship, which may last six months to a year.

The Difference Between Attraction and Lust

You may not see an obvious difference between attraction and lust. After all, they both happen early in a relationship and can be superficial.

Lust is about one thing: sex. It puts blinders on your eyes to a man’s faults sometimes because all you want is his body.

You can overlook that he’s a slob.

You can overlook that he’s sleeping with lots of women.

You can overlook the fact that he’s not boyfriend material at all.

But attraction is where you’re starting to know this guy more, and you’re more emotionally invested in other aspects of him besides sex. You may be attracted to his brain. You may love his laugh or his jokes. Essentially, there’s more ground for a relationship to blossom once you feel attraction.

But while attraction is one step deeper into the definition of love, I’d say you still don’t have true and full love yet.

Love Type #3: Attachment

Once you work on bonding long-term, you’ve got the attachment love type.

Now we come to the third definition of love: attachment. The hormones kicking in here are oxytocin and vasopressin.

While I’ll say this is the “friend zone” of love, don’t get me wrong about what I mean. I don’t mean that you’re only friends once you reach the attachment phase; instead, I mean that you have deep respect and connection with this man. Not only do you find him physically pleasing, but you also actually like the guy and enjoy spending time with him.

Think about it from an evolutionary perspective: while our ancestors’ primary goal was reproduction, the secondary goal was to build a family unit. So if you as a cave-lady were attached to the father of your children (and vice versa), he’d stick around and bring you guys dinosaur meat rather than moving on to spread his seed elsewhere. He’d protect you, and you’d raise your kids together.

Even if you’re not looking to reproduce, that sense of attachment can ensure that you have a solid foundation for a relationship.

With attachment, you will want to commit even more to the man you love. That might mean you move in together or get married. You share everything with him. You tell him your secrets, and he tells you his. You trust one another completely.

This is, of course, where the definition of love really kicks in.

The Secret: You Need to Balance All Three to Really Enjoy Love

In a perfect world, you will have a beautifully balanced concoction of lust, attraction, and attachment.

If they’re out of whack, you may experience jealousy, irrational behavior, or even cheat. You may end up in a relationship that doesn’t work if one of you, for example, has way more lust than attachment.

But in a healthy long-term relationship — which is what Sexy Confidence is all about — you have a balance. You may start out with lust, which grows into attraction, and then finally attachment. But you will also continue to experience each of those.

You may be with your man for five years, and one day as he’s dressing for a date, you become overwhelmed with lust for him. Do your thing!

You may every day be so grateful to have such an intelligent and hot man love you.

And you may rely on him as your partner in life, further strengthening that attachment bond.

Lust. Attraction. Attachment. They’re all important and necessary as you come to develop your own definition of love.

Conclusion:

True love has a healthy balance of lust, attraction, and attachment.

Even if you can’t yet give me your definition of love from personal experience, at least you’re more aware of the components that go into it. I guarantee you’ve felt at least one of these types of love in your life…maybe even all three.

Love feels different for everyone. But what should be consistent is that he…

Makes you feel safe.

Makes you feel appreciated.

Enhances your life.

Lights you up inside.

Makes you want to be a better person.

I know it’s easy to want to fit one guy into the role of being Mr. Right, but if you have any question whatsoever of whether it’s love or not…it probably isn’t. As they say, you’ll just know when it’s right.

If you’re in a relationship and it’s not right, don’t try to make it a good enough relationship and settle for less than you deserve. Love is — and you have to believe me on this — worth waiting for, even if it takes a while. When you finally fall in true love, you’ll laugh at all the times you thought you felt it in the past.

So what do you think is your primary focus when you’re out meeting men right now, lust, attraction, or attachment? Take the survey in the video.

Then let me know in the comments below: do you agree with this definition of love?

Attract the One and find your perfect balance of these types of love. Sign up for this love workshop today!

The post Definition of Love: Discover The 3 Types + What Love Really Is appeared first on Sexy Confidence.

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fishermariawo · 7 years

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9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels

In the last several weeks testosterone has come up on a pretty regular basis. I’ve written about it before, of course, but there’s something about the novel elements (e.g. solar irradiation for certain choice body parts) in recent conversations that’s kept the exchange going. I thought I’d pull back from the peripheral findings a bit today and re-center the discussion.

As you know, testosterone plays a pivotal role not just for libido levels (although we won’t leave that out), but also for bone density, protein synthesis and muscle building, hair growth, estrogen production, red blood cell production, sperm production—amid other key functions in the body (for men and women by the way).

So, what are some factors that influence testosterone levels for the better and worse for both genders? What are the mechanisms behind these associations? And how do they relate to a healthy Primal life?

Let’s dig in…

Understanding the Testosterone Spectrum

The first question that always comes up is what “normal” or desirable levels should be. As with many of the measurements and markers we seek out, I tend to trust how I feel more than what a single number in time reflects. It’s one thing to suspect you might have a deficiency based on symptoms, but it’s another to talk lab values.

Are you experiencing low energy, low libido, breast development (in men), expanding waistlines, infertility, erectile dysfunction, bone weakness, genital numbness, depression, or reduced muscle mass? (Assuming poor lifestyle habits aren’t behind these…)

My preference at this point would be seek out something like a 24-hour Dutch test. These kinds of tests, which take both urine and saliva samples across the course of a day, can provide a more accurate picture of your hormonal situation, shedding light on hormonal interplays and recognizing that the relationships between testosterone, estrogen, cortisol and certain other hormones matter.

And while I’d like to say you could interpret these results yourself, it’s probably best not to rely solely on that. Consider enlisting the help of a holistic practitioner or Primal Health Coach to guide you through the process of looking at the full picture. This way, you’ll have support for making change that works for you individually, and I don’t have to make troublesome sweeping statements of what a “normal” testosterone level would be for a man or woman of X age. The truth is, it’s almost always more complicated than that. A study out earlier this year attempted to clarify the question for men at least, but as you’ll note—it’s not about hitting an exact number by any stretch.

What Impacts Testosterone?

Back in the day, ancient Greeks were known to knock back a goat testicle or three to boost stamina and athletic performance, while ancient Chinese remedies for impotence continue to prescribe the consumption of various unfortunate animals’ reproductive organs.

But while feasting on the testicles of a goat or the penis of a tiger won’t result in any appreciable gains, certain social, dietary and physiological changes can.

Vitamins and Minerals

While nothing beats a well-rounded Primal eating regime, there’s certain vitamins and minerals that play a distinctive role in T levels. Of course there’s vitamin D, one of the most critical vitamins in the human body (and something most Americans are deficient in). Whether you synthesize it from sun exposure or pop a couple quality, high-potency supplements each day, some research suggests that increased circulating vitamin D in the body correlates to elevated T. Other studies suggest otherwise, but there’s certainly no harm (and a lot of benefits) in getting a bit more D in your life.

Animal testing also suggests that getting adequate levels of vitamin C each day could boost testosterone. A study that gave male rats either 500 or 250 mg/kg ascorbic acid per day found that epididymal sperm concentrations and plasma testosterone were both significantly increased compared to the control group. Another study found that both vitamin C and E were beneficial for improving rabbit semen quality (and by association, testosterone), and that vitamin E appeared even more effective than C.

And then there’s zinc. I’m always a little hesitant to supplement with this trace mineral as it’s easy to go overboard (and needs to be balanced with copper intake), but zinc appears to modulate serum testosterone to a notable degree. A deficiency likely means a drop in T, while supplementing up to normal levels can restore healthy levels. Stick to zinc-rich foods like oysters or grass-fed beef and you should be just fine.

Too Much Green Stuff, Not Enough Meat

This one will come as no great surprise to those of a paleo or Primal inclination: red meat consumption supports healthy testosterone levels. Not only is it an excellent source of zinc, it’s also the most potent source of the amino acid carnitine, which has been linked to improved fertility. The high saturated fat content of the likes of beef and lamb, along with a decent omega 3-6 ratio in pastured versions, doesn’t hurt either.

With those kind of stats, it’s easy to see how a diet lacking in red meat might spell danger for testosterone. Veering away from meat consumption can also result in a calorie deficit for some who aren’t paying attention, which may in turn contribute to reduced T synthesis.

Resistance Training

As you well know, I’m a huge fan of lifting heavy things, one reason being it’s beneficial influence on testosterone levels. As this 2017 study shows, the rise in T activity following an intense bout of resistance exercise is temporary but significant, the effects of which can be felt several hours afterwards.

Generally speaking, the heavier you lift the better, with research suggesting that resting 90 seconds between sets may promote the greatest T mobilization. Another study found that professional rugby players’ testosterone levels responded best to a workout consisting of 5 sets of high pull, bench press, squat and chin-ups at 15 reps each, this time with a 1-minute rest. There remains a lot of variation between studies, so play around with different resistance regimes and see what works best for you.

Sprinting

My other great love when it comes to exercise is sprints, and these too can work wonders for your ailing T levels. The beauty of these short, sharp bursts of energy is their ability to keep cortisol, testosterone’s arch-nemesis, to a minimum. A 2016 study found that 5 bouts of ten-second sprint cycling promoted a significant rise in T compared to control groups, for both men and women. Interestingly, those with higher pre-test T showed a smaller T response to the sprints. Another study indicated that athletes who exhibit good sprint capacity tend to have a higher basal T level.

Overtraining

On the other hand…here’s another reminder to ditch the chronic cardio and not shortchange recovery. A study that followed a professional soccer team over the course of a competitive season found that testosterone levels steadily declined over the course of the season, with corresponding increases in cortisol. Unsurprisingly, the soccer players exhibited a decrease in muscle mass and increase in fat from overtraining and overexertion—not ideal for professional athletes or anyone.

Likewise, professional basketball players, for example, tend to show a steady decrease in total testosterone over the course of a season. Another basketball study found that the higher the average playing time of each player over the course of a season, the lower their T.

When we look at endurance-type exercise and sports, the same holds true. A 2014 study that examined the hormonal impacts of ultra-marathons in men found that testosterone levels were markedly decreased post-race, with those depleted T levels still apparent a day later. Even in considerably shorter endurance runs, it appears that testosterone levels tend to take a bit of a dive.

Continue training if you must, but be sure to prioritize good overall Primal health and ample recovery. You may also consider supplementing with stress-alleviating supplements like certain adaptogens.

Stress

As I’ve already mentioned, when cortisol is elevated, testosterone is diminished—that’s why exercising too frequently or too long is bad news for T. When both are in balance, they complement each other nicely—cortisol promotes muscle wasting and fat gain, while testosterone facilitates muscular hypertrophy and development of lean mass.

But with your hormonal balance out of whack, cortisol can reign supreme. When the body is in a state of chronic stress (physical, emotional, or both) it can be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve those testosterone gains you’ve been striving for. The solution, then, is to stay well away from stress wherever possible.

Add to this mindfulness and meditation for alleviating stress (and therefore elevating T) and getting plenty of sleep. You know the drill…. It doesn’t matter how healthy your habits are—cortisol will remain elevated and T deflated if you’re in a constantly sleep-deprived state.

Healthy Fats

Research shows that low-fat diets are a poor choice for maintaining healthy T levels. Ironically, much of the research demonstrating this principle was conducted in the 1980s, when the low-fat craze was building steam.

Those studies may be old, but they were relatively conclusive in their findings. One published in 1983 showed significant reductions in total T concentrations after switching healthy middle aged men to a low fat diet. Another, published a year later, demonstrated that cutting men’s fat consumption from around 40% to 25% reduced their T levels significantly, but that this drop could be easily reversed simply by upping the fat content once more. A similar 1987 study found that testosterone exhibited much the same response in women after switching to a low-fat diet.

And while it’s more than a little difficult to ferret out the influence of different types of fats on T levels, the limited available evidence certainly supports the argument for healthy fats over typical polyunsaturated forms. This study, for example, found positive correlations between both monounsaturated and saturated fats and T levels, while pro-omega 6 polyunsaturated fat consumption showed a negative correlation. Another study showed that consumption of monounsaturated fat-rich argan and olive oils resulted in significant T increases.

Considering the average Primal diet is rich in both these fats, you should be just fine on this front. If you’re employing keto as a tool in your Primal arsenal, that works great, too. The higher healthy fat intake may offer a boost. Just be sure you’re not chronically low in total caloric intake (those who are trying to lose weight don’t need to worry and can prioritize the weight loss, which can have its own positive impact on testosterone).

Estrogen

The influence that estrogen holds over testosterone ideally deserves its own post, but (for the sake of this already-lengthy piece) I’ll keep it brief. In most scenarios, excess estrogen (i.e. estrogen dominance) means diminished testosterone, a condition that affects both sexes but is far more common in women.

At this point, we can turn our attention to one of the leading culprits of hormonal imbalances and low T in women: oral contraceptives. On average, most oral contraceptives are 600 times more powerful in stimulating the synthesis of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) than the natural estradiol produced in our bodies. SHBG binds to sex hormones like testosterone, meaning oral contraceptives can dramatically lower both free T and total T in those women.

Of course, there’s plenty more environmental estrogenic overloads to blame here. Xeno-estrogens, synthetic compounds that mimic estrogen in the body, come from a myriad of sources—most notably from plastics like PVC or the inner coating of cans. While there’s a host of BPA-free plastics now on the market, your best bet is to stay well away from plastics in general.

Other contributors to high estrogen include poor liver function, which otherwise facilitates the excretion of excess estrogen from the body, and weight gain, which increases conversion of testosterone into estrogen.

Competitive Behavior

Testosterone influences aren’t limited to the physical. A 2015 study set out to examine the theory that societal expectations of gender influence testosterone production in both men and women. Researchers conducted tests designed to measure whether the act of wielding power, a decidedly masculine role in most societies, could actually elevate testosterone in both sexes. Turns out it could. They concluded that “cultural pushes for men to wield power and women to avoid doing so may partially explain, in addition to heritable factors, why testosterone levels tend to be higher in men than in women.”

Of course, this isn’t to say that if the exact same societal expectations were placed on both sexes, everyone would have relatively similar levels of testosterone. Biologically speaking, that’s wouldn’t make sense. What it does suggest is that “wielding” a sense of strength in our own lives may influence our testosterone levels. This isn’t an endorsement of narcissistic power games or chauvinistic attitudes. For me, competitive sports (especially individual ones) seem the logical answer, and research supports that choice. Failing that, one could always explore the murky waters of financial risk-taking. As for me, I’ll stick with a game of Ultimate.

But don’t expect these findings to be reflected in contemporary testosterone treatments any time soon. An article published a few months after the power-wielding study raised serious questions about the validity of that study, pointing out discrepancies in gender groups sizes, confounding factors with control conditions, and potential issues with the way in which they measured T. Still, while the findings are by no means cut and dry, the overwhelming consensus is that competitive behaviors very much play a pivotal role in testosterone production.

Nonetheless, there are two sides to competition as everyone knows with the potential for negative as well as positive responses. How we incorporate competition into our lives in healthy ways is an intriguing and personal question, but the takeaway here for me is an invitation to play more than power. What say you?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Thoughts, questions, requests for follow-up information or commentary? Share them below, and take care.

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milenasanchezmk · 7 years

Text

9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels

Let’s dig in…

Understanding the Testosterone Spectrum

What Impacts Testosterone?

But while feasting on the testicles of a goat or the penis of a tiger won’t result in any appreciable gains, certain social, dietary and physiological changes can.

Vitamins and Minerals

Too Much Green Stuff, Not Enough Meat

Resistance Training

Sprinting

Overtraining

Stress

Healthy Fats

Estrogen

Competitive Behavior

Thanks for reading, everyone. Thoughts, questions, requests for follow-up information or commentary? Share them below, and take care.

0 notes

watsonrodriquezie · 7 years

Text

9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels

Let’s dig in…

Understanding the Testosterone Spectrum

What Impacts Testosterone?

But while feasting on the testicles of a goat or the penis of a tiger won’t result in any appreciable gains, certain social, dietary and physiological changes can.

Vitamins and Minerals

Too Much Green Stuff, Not Enough Meat

Resistance Training

Sprinting

Overtraining

Stress

Healthy Fats

Estrogen

Competitive Behavior

Thanks for reading, everyone. Thoughts, questions, requests for follow-up information or commentary? Share them below, and take care.

0 notes

cristinajourdanqp · 7 years

Text

9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels

Let’s dig in…

Understanding the Testosterone Spectrum

What Impacts Testosterone?

But while feasting on the testicles of a goat or the penis of a tiger won’t result in any appreciable gains, certain social, dietary and physiological changes can.

Vitamins and Minerals

Too Much Green Stuff, Not Enough Meat

Resistance Training

Sprinting

Overtraining

Stress

Healthy Fats

Estrogen

Competitive Behavior

Thanks for reading, everyone. Thoughts, questions, requests for follow-up information or commentary? Share them below, and take care.

0 notes

cynthiamwashington · 7 years

Text

9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels

Let’s dig in…

Understanding the Testosterone Spectrum

What Impacts Testosterone?

But while feasting on the testicles of a goat or the penis of a tiger won’t result in any appreciable gains, certain social, dietary and physiological changes can.

Vitamins and Minerals

Too Much Green Stuff, Not Enough Meat

Resistance Training

Sprinting

Overtraining

Stress

Healthy Fats

Estrogen

Competitive Behavior

Thanks for reading, everyone. Thoughts, questions, requests for follow-up information or commentary? Share them below, and take care.

The post 9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Article source here:Marks’s Daily Apple

0 notes

shateandino · 7 years

Text

Is Intermittent Fasting Okay For Women?

Is intermittent fasting okay for women? In this article, I’ll discuss the do’s and don’ts of fasting for women and why it’s so different for us than it is for men!

If you’ve been a frequent visitor to this blog, then you know I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for a few years now. But it wasn’t until recently that I’ve really dug into the research about intermittent fasting for women.

The problem is, there isn’t much information out there about fasting for women. 99% of the fasting studies have been done on men – and, as you know, we are VERY different than men!

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) simply means that you choose to fast during a certain time period each day, and you also choose to eat your calories within a certain time period each day. The most popular time period is 16:8, so for 16 hours, I don’t eat anything, then for 8 hours, I eat my regular amount of calories.

By fasting, we are asking our body to switch from using glucose as fuel to using fat as fuel! That’s why IF has been touted as a great weight loss tactic. There is even evidence to suggest that it helps us gain energy, protect against disease, improve insulin resistance, fight the effects of aging, and more.

(You can read more about the pro’s of intermittent fasting HERE!)

There are a few different methods of IF, so it’s more a matter of individual preference as to how someone incorporates it into their life.

Some examples include:

Fasting 1 – 3 days per week for 24 hours. The other 6 – 4 days have a normal food intake.

Fasting on alternating days where you eat very little (500-600 calories) and the other days have a normal food intake.

Scheduling a daily fast of 12-18 hours. This can be done by skipping breakfast or just condensing all 3 meals into a small window of time.

Intermittent Fasting and Women

There is a lot of discussion about intermittent fasting and how it affects women.

Some experts say that women aren’t affected any differently than men, while other experts say that IF can cause hormonal imbalance in women if it’s not done correctly.

So, what’s the deal?

There is no doubt in my mind that women’s hormones are much more sensitive than men’s hormones. Each month, women’s hormones perform a delicate balancing act, and when something like IF gets introduced, it can throw these hormones out of balance and cause women to experience many side effects.

For example, when a woman’s body perceives she is starving herself, her body will ramp up the production of ghrelin, our hunger hormone. We will feel extremely hungry because our body is producing more ghrelin, telling us to EAT!

The reason women’s bodies are more sensitive to hunger is because our #1 goal as a woman is to carry a child. When our body is getting signals that we aren’t eating enough, hormone production can change in order to try and get us to eat so that we can support a baby, even when we are not trying to get pregnant.

Many women will try to ignore these hunger cues, causing the signals to get even louder. Or, worse, we ignore the cues, then fail and binge later, then follow that up with under-eating and starvation again. And guess what? That vicious cycle can throw your hormones out of whack and even halt ovulation.

Unfortunately, there are very few human studies looking at the differences between intermittent fasting for men and women, but the animal studies confirm our suspicion: Intermittent fasting can sometimes throw off a woman’s hormonal balance, cause fertility problems and exacerbate eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

I can speak from experience. When I first started IF, I did lose my period for a few months. I was eating from 12pm to 8pm, then fasting from 8pm to 12pm the next day. Initially, I lost about 10 pounds. In the process, my period get very irregular and it took a few months for it to balance out.

But there is good news…

Women can practice fasting, there are just some guidelines we need to consider FIRST!

START SLOW

If you are new to IF, it can be very hard on your body if you jump right into it like I did. Going from eating around the clock to eating within an 8 hour window is a total shock for your body and hormones.

The best practice for women is to ease into fasting.

Here are a few different ways you can do this:

Start with a 12 hour fast. If you eat dinner at 6pm, don’t eat again until 6am the next day. Then the next week, increase this to a 13 hour fast, the week after that a 14 hour fast, etc.

Only fast on 2 – 3 NON consecutive days of the week (ex. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.)

After 2 – 3 weeks, add in one more day of fasting.

Drink lots of water, tea, coffee (without sweeteners) during your fast. Bulletproof coffee or Rocket Fuel Latte’s are also a good idea for women.

Want to learn more about balancing your hormones for optimal fat burning? Grab my 55-page ebook, The Low Carb Beginners Guide! Comes with a complete 7 day low carb meal plan and my best tips for eating low carb and getting into a fat burning state!

CHECK YOUR HORMONES

Because of the stress that intermittent fasting can put on our body as women, our hormones can easily become out of balance. It’s not only our hunger hormones (ghrelin, leptin, and insulin) that can be affected, our sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) and thyroid/adrenal hormones (cortisol, DHEA, etc) can also be affected.

I would suggest getting your hormones tested BEFORE you even begin fasting. It’s important to know what state your hormones are in prior to trying IF.

I had my hormones tested via a saliva test before I tried fasting. Because my hormones were in pretty good balance and I wasn’t dealing with adrenal fatigue or thyroid issues, I figured IF was okay for me.

If you are dealing with a hormonal imbalance of any kind, I would recommend getting that sorted out before you even attempt IF.

It’s also important to get in touch with your hunger signals on a hormonal level (leptin/grehlin). No matter where you’re at in your health journey, it’s essential to know how to deal with the stress that comes with hunger.

EAT THE FAT!

I’ve tried intermittent fasting on a low fat diet and on a high fat diet, and I can tell you that it’s much easier practicing IF on a high fat diet! When I was eating a low fat, high carb diet, I was hungry all the time. Even though I was only eating during an 8-hour window, I was still eating 5 meals a day! But once I switched to a low carb, high fat diet, I only eat 2 – 3 meals in that same 8 hour window!

When our bodies are constantly dealing with the highs and lows of glucose from carbohydrates, there will be a dip in blood sugar a few hours after your last meal which brings on feelings of hunger. When no glucose is provided by way of a meal, cortisol (our stress hormone) will come to the rescue. So, now you’re hungry, you’re still fasting for another 5 hours, and your body senses a stressful event. Not good!

With a reduction in carbohydrates and inclusion of a large amount of healthy fat, your blood sugar will become extremely stable. That dip in blood sugar doesn’t happen and the stressor isn’t there because your body no longer relies on only glucose for energy. Your body has learned to run on fat – both dietary and stored body fat – instead of just waiting for the next meal. Now, not only are you not having feelings of hunger, but you’re eliminating the stressful event! WIN – WIN!

The healthy fats I recommend are:

avocados

coconut oil

MCT oil

grass-fed meats

pastured eggs

grass-fed butter and/or ghee

olives

grass-fed, organic dairy

nut butters

DON’T SLASH CALORIES

One of the main reasons that intermittent fasting is problematic for women is because not only do we try to stop eating for many hours, but we also try to slash calories on top of that! No wonder this puts us into a state of stress.

During your eating window, don’t be afraid to EAT! I still eat around 2,000+ calories in the 8 hours! I can do that by consuming healthy, calorie-dense, nutrient-dense, whole foods that also contain a lot of fat. I personally prefer to eat more in a shorter time period than to try and starve myself by slashing calories too low throughout my day.

This is what I love the most about intermittent fasting. I personally feel it is a better, safer way to try and lose fat without breaking your metabolism.

DON’T FOCUS ON WEIGHT LOSS

So many women want to try intermittent fasting to try and lose weight. I’m not saying you can’t lose weight and burn more fat with IF, but I am saying that women shouldn’t try intermittent fasting solely for that purpose.

Take myself for example. When I first started intermittent fasting, it wasn’t to try and get a lean, ripped body. I had done the research on IF and came to the conclusion that this was more of a therapeutic way of eating. IF has been shown to increase energy and improve brain health. It’s great for our immune system and can help us live longer. I don’t know about you, but those things are much more important to me than a number on the scale.

SLOW DOWN EXERCISE

Just like fasting can be a stressor on women’s bodies, so can exercise! Too much exercise can also be to blame for the hormonal domino effect we’ve been talking about.

For the first 2 weeks of IF, I suggest toning down your workouts until you know how IF is going to affect you. Start with walking and light yoga. Once you have been practicing IF for a couple of weeks, you’ll probably find that you can ease your way back into your regular workout routine. I bet you’ll even find you have more energy to workout than you ever had before!

I’ve scaled back my workouts quite a bit in the past year. I used to workout over an hour each day. But I was finding the stress of my workouts combined with the stress of IF wasn’t working for me. So I scaled back my workouts to just 30 – 45 minutes a day. My workouts no longer include long-duration cardio sessions. Instead, I do HIIT’s, heavy weight lifting, and flexibility training.

Remember, the end goal is to keep the stress level in our body at an all time low, thereby keeping our hormones in balance. Working out too intensely while our body is shifting energy sources will likely cause more stress.

STOP IF IT DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT

It’s important to note that intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone.

I’ve had clients who excel at fasting and others who’ve tried it and hated it. This just goes to show that we are all individuals and we need to do what’s right for OUR body.

It’s important to listen to our body. Some of the symptoms that fasting may not be right for you are:

your menstrual cycle stops or becomes irregular

you have problems falling asleep or staying asleep

your hair falls out

you start to develop dry skin or acne

you’re noticing you don’t recover from workouts as easily

your injuries are slow to heal

you get every illness/bug going around

your tolerance to stress decreases

your moods start swinging

your heart starts going pitter-patter in a weird way

your interest in romance fizzles (and your lady parts stop appreciating it when it happens)

your digestion slows down noticeably

you always seem to feel cold

I’m curious to know, have you tried intermittent fasting? What was your experience with it as a woman?

Want to work with me? Consider joining on of my upcoming Drop a Dress Size groups! In my group, you’ll learn how to eat the right foods to balance hormones, the easiest and most effective way to start a low carb way of eating, support for trying intermittent fasting, and more!

LEARN MORE HERE

Article source here:The Fit Housewife

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wallythayer · 8 years

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Turning Back the Clock

“You can actually prevent aging — no matter how old you are.” So says functional-medicine doc Sara Gottfried, MD, in her insightful new book, Younger: A Breakthrough Program to Reset Your Genes, Reverse Aging, & Turn Back the Clock 10 Years (HarperOne).

The same factors that drive chronic disease — sitting too much, carrying excess weight, sleeping less, feeling stressed out — accelerate aging, Gottfried notes. That’s actually good news because it means, in essence, we have the ability to stay younger longer by changing our lifestyle.

After all, Gottfried reminds us, we are not prisoners of our genes. “Only 10 percent of disease is caused by your genes, while 90 percent is caused by environmental factors, including the environment you create with your lifestyle choices,” she tells Experience Life.

“When I start to wonder why it’s so freaking hard to stay mentally and physically fit at 50, I remind myself that my genes program me to be a 200-pound anxious diabetic with thinning hair. All things considered, maybe I’m not doing so badly.”

In the book, Gottfried, who is the New York Times best-selling author of The Hormone Cure and The Hormone Reset Diet, outlines a seven-week program designed to tackle the five key factors that lead to accelerated aging after age 40: the muscle factor, the brain factor, the hormone factor, the gut factor, and the toxic fat factor. The goal? Not just increased lifespan, but a prolonged “healthspan.”

“The goal of the Younger protocol is to lengthen healthspan, the period of time in which you live in fantastic, robust health,” Gottfried says. “The key to avoid feeling tired, burned out, and infirmed is to leverage epigenetics, the turning on and off of certain genes that age you prematurely. You have the power to increase your healthspan and get your body to work for you instead of against you. It’s about the daily choices that defy your genetic tendencies and fight diseases of aging by turning on the right genes at the right time and in the right sequence.”

We talked to Gottfried about her new book and tips on turning back the clock. Here’s what she had to say:

Experience Life | So many people believe that genes determine their health. Why is this not true?

Sara Gottfried | I was taught at Harvard Medical School 25 years ago that we were probably prisoners of our DNA, but the past few decades have proven otherwise. Only 10 percent of disease is caused by your genes, while 90 percent is caused by environmental factors, including the environment you create with your lifestyle choices.

I call this the 90/10 rule: Genetics loads the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger. This gives you an incredible opportunity to change the course of disease and aging in your body, with the goal to upgrade that 90 percent to affect the genetic 10 percent. That’s a premise of functional medicine.

There is tremendous power to have the 90/10 rule work for or against you. You control your exposures, whether it be diet, environment, movement, or behaviors, by your daily habits of body and mind, both conscious and unconscious. The sum of all these exposures over your lifetime, how they relate to your health and how your body responds to them, is called exposome. This includes how often you move and what form that movement takes, what environmental exposures you have in your home and office, what you eat and drink, and how you manage or mismanage your hormones. Managing your exposome by making practical lifestyle tweaks allows for a more personalized approach to preventing disease and unnecessary aging.

EL | You make the point that the same things that drive aging drive all chronic disease, including cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, etc. Can you talk a little more about why getting younger is simply a byproduct of getting healthy? What are the root causes that drive both aging and chronic disease?

SG | Science proves that diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer begin in the body decades before symptoms. You can learn to interpret the warning signs of age in your body — the worsening vision, the thinner skin, the weaker lungs, the faulty memory — and turn them around to help you feel healthier and stronger. Moreover, you can overcome and transform your genetic history and tendencies, particularly when it comes to aging, and to expand both your lifespan and your healthspan, the period of your life during which you are able to thrive, free from disease, in hormonal harmony, looking and feeling young. It goes beyond lifespan, which is defined by the physical years of your life and most likely includes years of “diseasespan.”

Five key factors make aging more pronounced after 40, leading to “inflammaging” — the unfortunate hybrid of increasing inflammation, stiffness, and accelerated aging. In Younger, you’ll discover how to disarm, prevent, and reverse these five factors and change the expression of genes that influence them.

The Muscle Factor. Your metabolism slows down with age, which means you accumulate more fat and lose muscle. Think of aging as beginning in your muscles. The decline may not be noticeable at first, but on average, you lose 5 pounds of muscle every decade and gain fat, so you definitely start to observe the change over the course of middle age. The key is to focus on preserving and building your muscle mass as you age past 40.

The Brain Factor. Your neurons lose speed and flexibility as you age. Connections between neurons, called synapses, are not what they used to be, so finding words may become an issue. The balance shifts toward more forgetting and less remembering. Part of the problem is that your brain gathers rust like an old truck left in the rain; free radicals induce damage to cells, DNA, and proteins in a process called oxidative stress if you don’t have antioxidant countermeasures in place (like vitamins A, C, and E). Your hippocampus — the part of your brain involved in memory creation and emotional control — may shrink, especially if you’re stressed. The aim is to keep your brain regenerating and malleable (or “plastic”) as you get older.

The Hormone Factor. With age, both men and women make less testosterone, leading to more fat deposits at the breasts, hips, and buttocks. Women produce less estrogen, which normally protects the hair follicles and skin. Lower levels of estrogen and testosterone may weaken your bones and your sex drive, and furthermore, lower estrogen-to-testosterone ratios may trigger hair loss and heart disease. Unfortunately, your thyroid gland slows down and, along with it, your metabolism, so the bathroom scale climbs a few pounds per year (or even per month). You get cold more easily. Your cells become increasingly insensitive to the hormone insulin, which leads to rising blood sugar in the morning. As a result of higher blood sugar, you may feel foggier and experience stronger cravings for carbs, then notice more skin wrinkling along with an older-looking facial appearance. The key point is that the right food, sleep, exercise, and support for detoxification can reverse many hormone problems associated with aging.

The Gut Factor. About 70 percent of your immune system lies beneath your gut lining, so it’s the place where your immune system can get overstimulated, leading to excess inflammation and even autoimmune conditions. Your gastrointestinal tract contains 3 to 5 pounds of microbes. The DNA from your microbes outnumbers your human DNA a hundred to one and are collectively known as your microbiome. Imbalanced microbes and their DNA may cause you to make more enzymes such as beta-glucuronidase, which raises certain bad estrogens and lowers your protective estrogens. Further, excess stress raises corticotropin-releasing factor, which pokes holes in your gut, leading to food intolerances, more stress, and lower vagal tone, an indicator that your nervous system is out of whack. Finally, high stress can make you absorb nutrients poorly, especially B vitamins. But don’t get lost in the details; just know that your gut can accelerate or decelerate your clock.

The Toxic Fat Factor. When you’re trying to preserve your youth and health, toxins from the environment accumulate in your fat. Scientists call them gerontogens. They are similar to how carcinogens increase your risk of cancer, and they can work against you and cause premature aging. Pollution, cigarette smoke, heavy metals, UV rays, chemotherapy, contaminated drinking water, preservatives, and pesticides can all conspire against you. While exposure to certain poisons are inevitable, we can attack the genetic flaws that cause you to accumulate them.

EL | You have a fascinating bit about how “many of the adaptations that helped your ancestors survive are now making you fat and wrinkly and are no longer needed.” Can you talk about a few examples of something that was good for our ancestors but not so good for us modern-world dwellers?

SG | You’re the result of millions of years of evolution, but many of the adaptations that helped your ancestors survive are now making you fat and wrinkly and are no longer needed. The famine genes are a great example, as is APOE.

Famine genes: One theory holds that some people gain more weight compared with other people from eating the same amount of calories because it was once an evolutionary advantage. Food was often scarce for our distant ancestors, so being able to gain weight from very few calories could have meant the difference between life and death. Now, food is plentiful. Yet, these “thrifty” or famine genes persist in some people’s genomes, like the genes for insulin resistance. For example, I have thrifty genes in spades because I’m half Irish (potato-famine genes) and half Ashkenazi Jewish (pogrom-survivor genes).

These famine genes may have evolved to help people survive long periods without food. People who have their famine genes turned on, such as the Irish who outlived the potato famine or Ashkenazi Jews who survived pogroms in Eastern Europe, are gifted at banking fat. They stay alive during times of hardship, when food is scarce. Fast-forward to modern life and our surplus of food; the genetic tendency to bank fat starts to work against them. The very genes for insulin resistance that allowed them to survive a famine now makes them chubby, no matter what they try. Just because the famine ends doesn’t mean the genes switch off. The key is to understand the workings of the famine genes (if you have them, as not everyone does) and to override them (i.e., turn them off) so you can remain lean even when food is plentiful.

Another example is reproduction genes. The genes that help you grow and reproduce are at odds with the genes that help maintain and repair your cells —almost like a double cross later in life. Consider a man with high testosterone at age 30. He has a better chance of impregnating a woman than a man with lower testosterone does, but the man with lower testosterone will live longer.

Finally, ApoE4 is the gene associated with a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Yet it probably conferred a survival advantage to our ancestors, because ApoE4 is associated with higher IQ scores, better stress resilience, and lower rate of miscarriage. Surviving long enough to develop Alzheimer’s was a more recent phenomenon.

EL | How on board do you think conventional medicine is with using lifestyle changes as a first line of defense against aging and chronic disease? Has it gotten better over the last decade?

SG | Root-cause analysis and personalized lifestyle medicine are the tools of functional medicine. The only progress I’ve seen to date is that a conventional medical center, Cleveland Clinic, invested in a new Center for Functional Medicine and is performing clinical trials comparing head-to-head the standard medical treatment versus functional-medical care for asthma, in inflammatory bowel disease, migraines, and type 2 diabetes. Watch for results in the years to come. These results, if they favor functional medicine, will start to turn the tide.

But conventional medicine will be slow to change. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2015, for the first time in several years, longevity declined, due to an uptick in heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer’s. If those diagnoses seem abstract and irrelevant to you now, consider that by the year 2030, 20 percent of the population will be 65 or older (compared with 13 percent in 2010). New cases of Alzheimer’s will rise by 35 percent, while new cases of breast cancer are expected to rise by 50 percent.

While we think we might be better off than our predecessors from last century, there is a real urgency when nearly everyone is affected by someone else suffering from degenerative or terminal disease.

Get the full story at https://experiencelife.com/article/turning-back-the-clock/

#brain

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