The Clog

I read the following in the book "The Smarter Science of Slim" by Jonathan Bailor today (page 24) ~ 

"The Clog: The inability of our fat metabolism system to respond to signals from our hormones and our brain which otherwise enable us to burn body fat.  Academics also refer to "the clog" as metabolic dysregulation, and it's the underlying cause of long term weight gain.  UCLA and Harvard Medical School researcher T. Kelesidis puts it more adacemically: 'The circulating hormone level directs the central nervous system in regulating energy balance, however the vast majority of obese humans are resistant to it's weight reducing effects."

He continues (and I loved this analogy!) - "Think about trying to remove body fat from a clogged fat metabolism system like trying to drain water from a clogged sink.  Eating less is like turning down the faucet. Exercising more is like scooping out the overflowing water.  Both are temporary ways to deal with the symptoms of the problem.  Neither does anything about the root cause.  That is why they tend to fail long term.  The problem is the clog.  The solution is clearing hte clog.  And clearing the clog requires thinking in terms of quality, not quantity.  Fiddling with the quantity of food we eat and the quantity of exercise we get will never clearn our hormonal clog.  Quality - low quality food and low quality exercise - is the cause of the back up.  A sink does not get clogged by putting too much water into it.  It gets clogged when we put the wrong stuff into it."

So we had a Family Home Evening lesson last night that included planning, talking about schedule and menu, which included making a grocery list together and menu for the week, which led to a lesson on the Word of Wisdom.  I told them that they might feel restricted, but we're gonna start in earnest to really try to obey the Word of Wisdom more perfectly.  They might feel, like President Monson says here, that "It may appear to you at times that those out in the world are having much more fun than you are. Some of you may feel restricted by the code of conduct to which we in the Church adhere. My brothers and sisters, I declare to you, however, that there is nothing which can bring more joy into our lives or more peace to our souls than the Spirit which can come to us as we follow the Savior and keep the commandments."

They are going to feel a bit more restricted and think everyone else has cool lunches while theirs are terribly healthy and boring, but we shared some experiences of when we (Corey and I) were eating more healthy in our Body for Life days (the kids have seen those pictures and went off a little bit about how amazing Corey looked, which I think will help the boys know that this plan might help them get some abs) and how much better we felt and healthier we looked.

So anyway, it'll be good.  I'm going grocery shopping today or tomorrow and am going to get lots-o-veggies from Costco, per Mr. Bailor's per shopping list.  Corey said "sounds like they're rabbits..."