Hi there, welcome back…to both of us! To say that it’s been a while since I’ve blogged is putting it mildly. It’s not that I have nothing to say, rather, I’ve been in one of those situations where I have SO much to say, that I have NO idea where to begin. Let’s start with a question Jim and I have been getting a LOT lately: “What are you two doing?” Normally, this would be a rather innocuous question, without much meaning, but in this case, I know what they’re asking: “How are you looking so much fitter and how has Jim lost so much weight in so little time?”
ANSWER: Nutrition…but not how you might think, and certainly not how most (all?) of us were taught.
Nutrition is a wide topic made up of misinformation, inconsistencies, and contradictions. There’s so much noise, it’s hard, if not impossible to know where to begin, therefore, I will begin with a brief summary of my own nutritional journey.
I’ve been eating low carb (Keto / keto-ish) for about three years. Previously, I’ve done the Adkins diet (version 1 and version 2), low fat, high protein, vegetarian, vegan, and Richard Simmons’ Deal-a-Meal (remember that one, it takes me way back to the days of infomercials, spandex, and teased hair). None of these worked for me for longer than six months, but each time I tried a new approach, I learned something new about my body, my lifestyle, and what I would and would not do for the long-term.
Interestingly, each of these plans always ended with the idea that you were expected to “go off” the diet at some point and then “just eat a healthy diet in moderation and your body will maintain the lean shape you have just gotten to.” Boo! Wrong! My body never maintained it, I had to fight for it every inch and pound of along the way. Anyone who seemed to not struggle with this concept (or not YET) always looked at me like I was crazy when I couldn’t maintain my weight loss. The simple, hard truth is there’s no way for me to maintain like this because our human bodies are designed to adjust to what we’re doing.
Yeah, I said it: Our bodies adapt to what we do with it, it’s called homeostasis. The body’s primary job is to maintain its homeostatic environment at all costs and that includes at the cost of your metabolism. Oh yes, your metabolism, that wonderful word that all guru’s like to throw around like it’s something magical, unchangeable, pre-destined, and fixed. It is magical in the way the body adjusts its metabolism to the environment it’s currently in. However, try going back to what you THOUGHT always worked for you before (you remember when you “were young” and could eat anything and everything) and you quickly find it doesn’t work that way after all. It has to do with that homeostatic environment that your body likes to create for survival and that’s what we’re going to address here.
Nutrition is such a difficult thing to broach in conversation because everyone (I mean everyone) defends their choices of what they consume and how as if their life depends on it (which to be fair, it really does, but not while we’re stuffing cupcakes and diet sodas down our gullets). Most of these defenses are excuses to give us permission to consume something that our body clearly doesn’t get along with (even if you think it does, it really doesn’t and over this and the following blogs I will be explaining why, and better yet what to do about it!). It makes it doubly challenging that what works for one person rarely does for another, but we try to blanket nutrition with a one-size-fits-all solution.
Because we’re human, we then follow up our own behaviors with judgment for those who clearly can’t / don’t maintain their bodies as well as we do -- or at least it seems that way more often than not (fat shaming is a pastime for many people, especially on social media). This is nothing less than blaming the victim, it’s not right, but when it comes to nutrition science, the human condition and the state of our food supply, make no mistake about it we are all victims of the industrial food complex and those who profit from what you consume.
The good news, despite people who say “just accept it,” is your body is NOT designed to be fat all the time, it’s not “just the way you were created,” it’s also not choosing to accept who you are. Staying in the victim state IS a choice, but once that choice is understood, it is easy (really) to choose something else.
I am not a nutritionist, I am not a scientist, I am not the alpha nor the omega of this conversation. However, I have spent the last 30 years studying the human body, consuming (pun intended, of course) every bit of dietary information I could get my hands on, and putting to use every kind of nutrition advice I came across, no matter how contradictory to other advice I may have already read, seen, or heard about. In short, I’m a body-hacker, and my goal is always to be the best me possible.
Here’s the sad truth: Every one of those diets, techniques, and fitness things might have been okay for a while, but I couldn’t maintain them because I always had cravings that I just couldn’t kick….come on, admit it you do too. It’s why you’re reading a blog about nutrition written by a massage therapist and spa consultant – maybe, just maybe she’s going to drop some knowledge that’ll work THIS time (fingers crossed).
In today’s post-industrial-food society we have the ability and are actively encouraged, to eat whatever we want to, whenever we want to, however, we want to, wherever we want to. Food (and food-like stuff) is all around us, all the time, and we are encouraged to eat and eat and eat – six meals a day (three primary and significant snacks) is now considered “normal.” It’s not, and if you take a quick look at history, you’ll find it rarely was before World War II (this is a very rough time frame as many cultures were impacted by factory foods 50 years before this and some only as recently as the 1960s).
It’s all about the forgotten SCIENCE (not art, not religion) of Eating windows (more popularly, if erroneously called intermittent fasting for those who want to Google more after this article). “WHAT?!? You mean you’re STARVING yourself?!?” Nope. Not even close, in fact, Jim did the math, we’re both eating MORE than we did just a few months ago…but we’re doing it LESS often and with MORE joy.
It began with a random conversation with family friend and world-class Magician Andrew Baerlocher on a visit to town in February. He mentioned he’s been doing really well with an eating window and weight loss. To be fair, he’d been talking to Jim about this off and on for a couple of years, and Jim flat out ignored it. This time was a little different, however, as he had both of us in the room and was able to lay out references and studies and books (Jim is all about the books). Andrew was adamant we at least look into it, and as we’ve all been friends for 20 years, we figured it was polite to at least watch a couple of YouTube videos and read a study or two.
Jim and I looked at each other and right after he left we dove in with digging up as much research as we could about eating windows and intermittent fasting. There’s a LOT, and not all of it is good, valid, or based on hard science…but a lot is, and there’s more coming out every day. This was about three months ago and we haven’t looked back. It’s hard at this point to remember a time when we were eating our three meals a day plus snacks if we got hungry. This intermittent fasting / eating window thing easily just became our thing, as we studied fasting protocols more, I quickly learned WHY it was so easy to stick with: the longer I use a shortened eating window as my choice of eating style the easier it becomes. My cravings have all but gone away (I have a potato chip hunger I have tried to shake for decades with little success which no longer affects me).
This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change.
What am I doing? I simply eat within a specific eating window, which changes by the day (I do this to keep my metabolism always guessing what’s next, which is easy because my schedule is nuts). That eating window is influenced by how I’m feeling in my body, about my life stresses at the moment, AND how much time I have on my hands. Some days the eating window is 8 hours long, some days it’s 1 hour long. But as a rule, I try to not eat for at LEAST 16 hours (this is because of something called autophagy which I’ll dig into more soon).
The secret little beauty about eating windows is, I’m not constantly fixing the next meal. I have my coffee in the morning, make my electrolyte drink to take with me (water, salt, potassium, and lemon juice), pack some tea to take with me and off I go. Easy peasy. It’s been great! I’ve saved so much time not making meals, grocery shopping for meals/snacks, and cleaning up after I make them. I haven’t yet noticed any money we’ve saved, but we did heavily invest in teas in the beginning because I think both Jim and I thought eating windows were going to be harder than it is. It isn’t hard at all.
Jim and I are coming at this from different directions for our own health reasons, but here is what has happened so far. I have lost at least 8 lbs and two dress sizes, all of my clothes look too big for me. This is the first time in over four years that the scale has budged. My skin has become softer. I look younger…the fountain of youth maybe? I have more energy, more focus and more awareness of what’s going on in my body (a blessing, and a curse). I have virtually no hunger -- at least not the way I’m used to experiencing hunger. If I do feel like I need something, usually water quells it. No. I’m not kidding, just water. If it doesn’t go away with a few distractions, then I eat. When I do eat, I eat a balanced ketogenic diet (more on this soon as well), but I’m not able to eat as much and as such have to choose wisely, i.e. nutrient-dense foods to get the most out of what I am eating. But during my eating window, I eat the same number of calories I always have, I’m far from starving.
Jim’s coming from a very different place than I am. After retiring from the Air Force, Jim’s weight climbed rapidly (go figure, he was special operations for a chunk of his career and was used to constant physical exertion). Due to several injuries along the way, it simply became too much for him to run all the time, and eventually, as of 2017, he topped out around 330lbs (Jim is 6’0” and can hold a lot of weight well, but that’s a lot for anyone)! For years, he tried everything, more exercise, less calories, this diet and that…nothing worked, or didn’t work for long. In 2016 he started seeing a personal trainer (Lannie at Impact Fitness) and dug into more dieting. It was a slow roll, but over two years he lost about 25 pounds, was much stronger, and certainly looked better…but he was still over 300lbs if barely. Since we began eating windows (not quite 3 months ago), Jim has lost 35 pounds without changing a single thing other than WHEN he eats. Same workouts, same calories, same crazy work schedules…just following an eating window. This is all well and good but having lost 60 pounds since the last time he bought suits is putting a serious, if welcome, crunch on his clothing budget. Even better, he’s aiming for 200lbs by Christmas, and honestly, I see no reason he’s not going to do it. Yeah, it’s that easy.
This is not anywhere near enough information to pass along, so there will be a Part 2 and 3 for sure…maybe more. If I’ve piqued your interest and you too are interested in looking good and feeling great, the resources you choose make a HUGE difference. Dr. Jason Fung is a doctor of nephrology out of Canada who researched these results based on his diabetic patients and got the ball rolling with his book The Obesity Code, even if you aren’t diabetic or obese you WILL get a lot of information from this book. The Guide to Fasting, also by Dr Fung, breaks down what to do, how to do it and why. But you do not have to spend a dime, he gives it all away for free on his website and lectures on YouTube. You need spend nothing.
I also recommend, YouTube channels for Dr Eric Berg, Thomas DeLauer and there are several Ted Talks with fantastic information too. Know you are not alone. If you too have struggled with your weight, are confused about what you should and shouldn’t eat, when to eat or why, you are NOT alone and these resources above can be your first step in learning more about your body, what you want to put into it, when to put it there and why. It will change your life. I know, because it changed ours. Good luck on your journey and please reach out, post below, and let us know how it’s going for you. I’m a sucker for success stories. :o)
I know that your email boxes are getting slammed right now from New Year well wishes to coupons, sales and other well wishers and in that I guess I’m no different. However, I do have to state that like so many others it is true, we wouldn’t have a business it weren’t for all of you who read this. So for that I thank you. Thank you for being our clients and helping us help you in reaching your health care goals. It truly is a privilege to do massage and bodywork and to help you reach your goals.
Cheers to new goals, ushering out bad habits, and working towards health and prosperity. Thank you for allowing That’s the Rub to be part of your journey. We look forward to supporting you through 2019 and beyond.
This year we’re launching partner massage classes (starting on January 27! Sign up here) so you can do massage on each other at home. We're going to do shorter classes for those who want to get started right away (only a four hour workshop!), with limited time or budgets, and we will add longer classes in the near future for those who want more detailed information for anatomy and specialized massage strokes for those have more time to donate to learning the art of massage. We hope you will join us in understanding your body better through relaxation techniques that you can provide for each other. Please contact our front desk (812-333-3393) or websitefor more details and to sign up!
We also have THAT:space available for anyone in the community who needs a downtown space for larger gatherings (up to 40 people). Please contact Kara at [email protected] for more details and dates available.
We are also launching continuing education classes (CEUs) for already certified massage therapists. March 25th & 26th we will be hosting Bloomington’s own Julie Gudaitis (returning from many years on the West Coast) in Morales Method for 16 CEU’s. If you’re interested in attending check out our Facebook page THAT: space and look for Morales Method for more details. More classes will be added to THAT:spacesoon, so please like, subscribe, and keep checking back.
As we near the beginning of the next semester at Ivy Tech we will have more students giving massage as part of That's the Rub Bootcamp (a massage student intensive elective), so please put your name on the waiting list at our front desk (still 812-333-3393) and keep your eyes peeled for details on when student massage will be available (at a BIG discount to you!). These messages go fast, and they are essential for helping a student increase their therapeutic and palpation skills.
We at That’s the Rub look forward to an exciting year of community giving, education and collaboration. May your year be full of good cheer, prosperity and love!
The Pain that Wouldn't Go Away Wasn't What I Thought
I decided to share this experience in the event that anyone
else may be having these physical issues that seem “untraceable”, but happen to
coincide with something so basic that you might overlook it as an issue. Over
the ear headphones can be an issue for some people in regards to causing
physical pain, an in an overuse type injury. I found that the squeezing of them
on my Temporal muscles around my ears and the reverb of the music through my
head put too much stress on the Temporal muscle itself, causing jaw pain, neck
tension and no relief in sight.
As you may or may not know, I am an avid exerciser. I’ve
been in the gym going on 25 years now, consistently. I’ve used headphones for
my music long before blue tooth was a thing and I detested the earbuds because
I felt that they hurt the inside of my ear. However, after several pairs of
over the ear headphones trying to get something less “squeezy” on my head, I
found no matter how gentle they seemed it still caused Temporal tension, jaw
pain and neck tension. Stretching it out didn’t work, so I had to start looking
at the solution. When I realized that it kept coming back and stronger after a
workout than any other time of day, I went a day without music in my ears and
it felt a little better. I then used a pair of ear buds and noticed that the
tension wasn’t there. It’s been three weeks since I’ve used my over the head
earphones and this is what my conclusion is: They caused my Temporal muscles
severe trauma, which instigated my jaw pain and neck tension that I could never
seem to get rid of no matter how much I stretched. I struggled with this for
months until I figured it out and once I did, the tension was eased immediately
and after three weeks, in spite of a car accident , the tension, pain and
clicking (in my jaw) are gone. And I do mean gone.
So what does this mean for you? It means that if you are
having a tension, pain or issue that doesn’t seem to be changed no matter what
you do, dietary changes, stretching, strengthening, sleeping or massage, you
MUST look at what you’re doing in your every day life that could possibly be
contributing to it. It’s the only option and we owe it to our tissues to figure
it out. Once we give our tissues what they want, we get what we want, a once
again harmonious interaction with our body that brings about pain free and
ample movement.
I hope this helps you figure out your tension issues. Until
next time…
Taking My Own Medicine: My Experiences with CBD Massage
I’ve had the pleasure of getting the CBD massage on separate occasions from two different That's the Rub therapists, once to try out how it feels (duh!) and the other CBD massage after my recent car accident. It was interesting how they were the same...only different.
First of all, I want to welcome you back and apologize for taking so much time off of writing the blog. I thought I had enough articles in the bag before the semester started, I was wrong and then my car accident happened and derailed me. I’m recovering very well, slowly for me because patience isn’t my strong suit (if you can't see Jim's eye-roll from where you are, trust me, he's eye-rolling), but probably quickly by anyone else’s standards.
When we decided to partner with GW KIND (makers of mighty fine kombuchas and CBD products) to produce our CBD massage cream, I knew it would be wonderful for increasing relaxation and the healing of trauma, chronic or sudden, but I had no idea I would be one of the first clients to use it. But when a pick-up truck suddenly turned in front of me, totalling the car I was test driving, I ended up being my own test subject for the first batch of this amazing cream and massage protocol.
So anyway, back to CBD massage. It’s like getting massaged with whipped butter. The CBD just melts nicely into your skin, soothing and conditioning it, while creating this deep relaxation that goes well with any massage. I say any massage because I received the CBD massage again after my accident, not only did it deeply relax me, but between the massage and the CBD all of my aches went away too. Luckily for me, I only suffered some temporary muscle soreness and tiredness as my body recovers, most of which seems to get better every day. After the massage there is almost always CBD massage cream left over and you get to take it home with you because it’s in single-use cups, so I continue to apply the remains daily to the rest of my bruises and I believe they are healing faster than they would otherwise.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from some kind of trauma, whether it is a car accident, work accident, or play accident you should consider a CBD massage (or upgrade for any of our massages). It’s done amazing things for my recovery and may it do so for you too.
Until next time… That’s the Rub,
Lisa
PS - Not only did I total a car I was test driving, I went out the next day and leased the exact same model (Toyota Camry XLE) from Brian at Royal South Toyota. I have no doubt that the amazing safety features built into this car saved both my, and my daughter's, lives! While I don't recommend head-on collisions as part of your test drive experience, I will say it sealed the deal on whether to lease this model when Ryn and I walked away.
We used to start every day by hanging a new “Rub” on the door: a quote by a famous person to inspire thought, allow us to embrace gratitude, or to just have a good laugh on the way in and out our door. It was kind of our way at The Rub to send you on your way thinking, but also more relaxed and grounded with yourself, since you, of course, had also had a massage. Over time we’ve gotten away from this practice, either due to changing of front-desk management or perhaps as we got busier due to our wonderful clients sending out the good word that we exist. Either way, I feel that it’s necessary to get back to our Rub of the Day, but maybe to take the pressure off a little bit, to change it to the Rub of the Month, but be choosier and more thoughtful about what those rubs are and we as a team reflect on them as much as anyone else does when they come and go. You see, we at The Rub, have always tried to cultivate a relaxed atmosphere that was inclusive of everyone while maintaining professional relationships and cultivating education opportunities for knowing more about how our bodies work and how we can help ourselves and others through pain, dysfunction, and disease.
Recently, we expanded our space to include a classroom, we call it THAT:space (which is currently represented online at it's Facebook page). We decided it was time to offer massage classes to anyone who would like to learn how to feel better in their own skin, take back control of their own body, help themselves and others ease pain and discomfort of friends and family, or maybe find a hobby or possibly a new profession (as you know, we also helped found the new Ivy Tech Bloomington massage program). THAT:space is a private classroom within That’s the Rub, dedicated to learning objectives of all kinds. Since opening our massage program at Ivy Tech, it’s become very clear to me that teaching is one of my fundamental joys in life and I wanted to expand my teaching range to anyone who wanted to learn massage, not just to those that wanted to be in the profession. Our goal at That’s the Rub is to open THAT:space to the public for massage classes within the next few months. We will also be offering classes to certified and licensed massage therapists to fulfill their CEU requirements, expand their professional skills, and help them in their businesses. THAT:space is also available to rent for private events, small plays (stay tuned for an announcement VERY soon about our first one!), and group meetings, etc., by the hour. Contact Kara THAT:space manager at [email protected] for more information. In conclusion, I will leave you with one of my favorite rubs from “back in the day”:
“Do in your heart what you know to be right for you will be criticized anyway.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
May you always have the courage to do what your heart knows to be right. That’s the Rub, Lisa
So, what I mean by the title of this article is: there are no do-overs. When we’re young, we feel like we’re going to live forever. Our bodies feel spry, we can get hurt (or not) and recover quickly, we can eat anything (!!!) and it doesn’t seem to affect us. Then we turn 40, and our body starts to tell us the many ways in which we’ve abused it over the years and begins to take its revenge. We can no longer eat the way we once did without it biting back. We exercise, but it takes two days longer to recover. We’re forced to face all of the ways we’ve abused our bodies in the past and expected them to just keep going. Even when we’ve acknowledged all of the abuses we’ve put our bodies through, the misdeeds of poor nutrition, lack of recovery time between exercise bouts, injuries and the like, we just expect it to keep going -- No maintenance required.
Why do we just expect our bodies to keep going? Our body needs to be cared for, nurtured, strengthened, stretched, and fed properly. We wouldn’t expect a car to just keep going with no gas, oil changes, or regular maintenance, eventually, the car says "I’m not going anywhere." Therefore, you must take care of it or get another car. Meanwhile, we complain about what a piece of crap it is, not taking responsibility for the fact that if we’d been doing proper maintenance we wouldn’t be facing the issues with our car. Well, our bodies are the same, they need regular, consistent maintenance, but unlike a car, you can’t turn it in for a younger version. So, it’s better to take care of it, you’ve heard the saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s time to take responsibility for your body maintenance and give it the attention that it deserves.
Bodies behave best when properly taken care of: stretching daily to get all the stress out of the body and its tissues after using it in our activities of the day, strengthening it so that all levers and pullies are doing their jobs equally in respect to their size and their mechanics and using proper nutrition to fuel our activities and our bodies in a nurturing way so that it gets what it needs to continue functioning at the optimum levels. When we don’t do these things, the body breaks down. We call it getting old, but the fact is that's the excuse we use when we don’t want to take responsibility that we’ve not treated our body all that well and it’s letting us know it. The good news is, it’s never too late to change old habits. As long as you’re breathing and your heart is still beating you can take steps to improve your body's performance.
We tell ourselves that change is too hard, to give us an excuse not to change. We tell ourselves that we can’t change, which is untrue, but if you believe that you can’t you are correct because you have to want to change. Change isn’t that hard if you really want to do it. The catalyst shouldn’t have to be "if I don’t do this I will die." How about change for the sake of knowing it’s better for you? Take your power back. Change because you know it will help your body feel better, you will feel stronger, happier, and you will feel healthier knowing that you empowered yourself with change. We tell ourselves it’s hard because it gives us an excuse when we fail. Oh, it was too hard so I gave up. What if we gave ourselves other words? For instance, this change is a small one, so it’s going to be easy. Implement the change, embrace it, and then move on to the next change and so on. Baby steps...but keep stepping! There is no limit to this way of thinking about change and it brings the change and the word into the positive realm, instead of placing it into the too hard to be accomplished.
The mind is a powerful tool. Use your mind to your advantage by living in the positive now and leaving the negative I can’t or its too hard behind. By living in the positive now, the changes you wish to bestow on the one thing there are no do-overs on, YOUR BODY, you will empower yourself to be your best advocate for any positive change you would like to make. Massage, facials, acupuncture, yoga, more natural body products, we carry all of those things and more at That’s the Rub. Be the change!
