Fat and Gratitude

A month ago I was at my cardiologist for a checkup. My blood pressure was low and he asked why I was on medications. I told him he was the one that had prescribed them for me about eight years ago. He looked at me funny, and told me I needed to be off of them. My numbers were good, and I did not need them any more. He asked me what I was doing differently. Was I exercising more?

My answer sparked a conversation that surprised me. I told him I was exercising a little less. I was no longer training for or running marathons. Instead, I was doing some resistance training three times per week, yoga everyday, and eating radically differently.  I was off of most fruits, eating no grains, no

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Circa 2007 (Notice hair and midsection!)

legumes, and the carbs I was

ingesting, were mostly coming from green leafy vegetables. I was no longer a vegetarian, eating a variety of meats (fish, chicken, and beef), eating lots of eggs, and some whole fat yogurt.

I expected to hear an earful regarding the dangers of a high fat diet, but instead, he told me that the dietary advice he and the others in the medical establishment had been giving for the past 30 years or so was wrong. Eating a higher fat and lower carbohydrate diet was, in fact, a good thing.

I wish I had known that a long while ago. I wish more people would also realize this.  I believe we would all be doing better health wise.

I share this bit of information with you to let you know that there is a way to gain control over one’s weight and health. The path forward is not necessarily increasing one’s exercise routine much more. It means being smarter with what one eats and how one moves.

The main key for me was paying attention to the way I ate.  I became curious about the food I was accustomed to eating, questioned assumptions about what was healthy, and then became willing to let go of eating patterns that were not serving me well.  About a year down this path of exploration and discovery I realize that the journey toward greater health is often a slow one that involves more than just food and exercise.

The journey forward encompasses all of my life. It has to do with increasing joy, gratitude, and patience. It involves at looking at life as one very connected love play that can be experienced differently depending on simple things such as eating a highly processed pastry or having a delicious feta cheese omelette for breakfast with a large salad with slices of avocado drizzled with lots of olive oil. Seriously, the food we eat can change the way we think! (Movement also can change our brain!)

20160906_083807_HDR (1)This morning I took this picture to complete this post. Eight years later and I’m feeling better than before. The hair is gone, no amount of eating differently was going to change that. I’m 20 pounds lighter, have less belly fat, and feeling absolutely great. I’m thankful beyond words for this and appreciate the blessing of being able to share my experience with others. I consume large doses of gratitude on a daily basis!

I’m including two links and one more picture to help those of you who are wondering if this approach can work for you. The first link is to an article by Dr. Mark Hyman on the role of fats in the diet. It’s a quick read that can help put my experience into perspective. The second link is to a longish podcast, once again with Dr. Mark Hyman. The conversation meanders a bit, but it is full of really fantastic information that can change the way you look at your meals. If you are ready for a change, invest an hour and listen. Lastly, I’m including an infographic that provides a visual of more or less how I eat. This piece comes from Dr. Ted Naiman. If you want to talk about this with me or Maribel, drop us a comment or give us a call.

Additional Information

Is Butter Really Back?

Meat is the New Ketchup

A Visual of Current Eating (More or Less)

Via Dr. Ted Naiman
Via Dr. Ted Naiman

By Carlos Gonzalez

Carlos Gonzalez teaches English at Miami Dade College and yoga and wellness in the community through Miami Firm Body, the company he co-founded with his wife, Maribel. He works with words, movement, and the body. His calling is to invite others to join him in the joy of searching within and finding the strength and courage to walk toward wholeness. Carlos is a spell caster, an educational trickster whose core mission is to transform grief into a source of possible beauty, vulnerability into strength, and fear into wonder.

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