Participants: Agatha Thrash (Host), Don Miller, Rhonda Clark
Series Code: HYTH
Program Code: HYTH000227
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00:01 Hello! We have a number of serious
00:05 public health problems in the United States today 00:08 probably none more serious than overweight. 00:12 In this program we will be talking about how to 00:15 loose weight, and we hope that you will join us, we think 00:18 you will learn some things that will be very helpful. 00:41 Welcome to Help Yourself to Health 00:43 with Dr. Agatha Thrash of Uchee Pines Institute, 00:46 and now here is your host Dr. Thrash. 00:49 It may be that you have struggled with your weight, 00:58 I have, I think that by the time that I was 15 years old 01:04 I remember weighing about 170 Ibs, from then for about 01:11 the next 20 years I guess, I had as a major problem 01:15 that of thinking about my weight, hoping that it wouldn't 01:21 get any higher wondering why I couldn't be just like 01:25 other girls who were so skinny they were so slender and I was 01:31 a little on the hefty side although I was 5'10" 01:35 I still was what you might call hefty. 01:39 Some said that I carried my weight very well, 01:42 but in subsequent years I realized that my weight 01:47 at that time was quite a great deal more than was healthful. 01:52 So if you have this kind of thought, and you want to get 01:57 some tips on how you can best loose weight, several of us 02:03 have some special experience along those lines, 02:07 and we would like to share that with you. 02:10 I have asked Rhonda Clark who is one of my colleagues 02:14 at Uchee Pines to join me and Rhonda, do you know something 02:20 about weight control? 02:21 - I do I have struggled with my weight a good bit of my life. 02:25 - So you are as I am you have personal experience 02:29 in how to loose weight. 02:31 - Very good, tell us what you can that will be helpful. 02:38 Ok, I would be happy to, and I would like to begin by just 02:40 sharing a little of my personal experience with weight. 02:43 I came to Uchee Pines looking for information on how to 02:47 more effectively manage my weight, I didn't have a 02:51 weight problem so much as a young person, 02:52 but as a young adult gained a great deal of weight, 02:55 and what I learned of the principles of good health 03:01 that are promoted by Uchee Pines and our program here. 03:04 I felt that those may be the very thing I had been 03:07 looking for to finally be successful, and I want to share 03:10 with you the things that I have found for myself to be 03:14 beneficial. 03:15 I brought a couple of pictures with me and these are a little 03:18 embarrassing Dr. Thrash, to share, but I do want people 03:21 to see. - We'll recognize that these are 03:23 in the past. - Yes! 03:25 These pictures come from several months ago, 03:28 I'm working in a greenhouse at Uchee Pines, this was when I 03:30 first arrived on campus and you could see, "I hope," 03:34 a little difference in how I appear today. 03:36 Now clearly I still have some weight to loose, 03:38 but at this time I was almost a hundred pounds heavier 03:42 than I am now, and I'm so grateful to be able to share 03:46 with you some of the principles that have helped me overcome 03:50 so far on my journey that amount of weight, 03:54 and which I feel very confident will help me achieve 03:56 a full success. 03:58 - Certainly, as some people are fond of saying 04:03 to try to succeed is better, you may fail, but not to try 04:09 is to ensure that you are going to fail. 04:11 - Absolutely, and those who try the most are going to be the 04:16 most likely to succeed, you've got to hang in there, 04:18 I tell myself that as well. 04:19 I feel that when it comes to weight loss, there are two key 04:23 principles, and these have to do with the physiology of the body 04:27 and helping our body help us loose weight, and achieve 04:30 a normal weight. 04:31 Key number one, has to do with optimizing the insulin function 04:36 in our body, key number two is to help insure that our 04:40 digestive process is very efficient and let me tell you 04:44 why. 04:45 With insulin, insulin's job in our body is to take the glucose 04:50 that comes to our blood stream from the foods that we have 04:52 eaten, and put it in places where it is supposed to go 04:56 to help us have energy and give us fuel. 04:58 It will put it into the cells to be used immediately for fuel 05:02 or in certain cells in the body it is able to store glucose 05:06 and long chains called glycogen, this is a short term storage 05:11 for glucose, and it's right there ready for us 05:13 if there is no immediate glucose to be burned. 05:16 It's what we use while we sleep at night or if we are involved 05:19 in endurance sports, a third place that insulin can put any 05:23 excess blood glucose into our body is storage as fat. 05:27 Now one thing that is very important for an overweight 05:32 person to know is that you want to help the insulin 05:36 put as much as that glucose into your cells where it can be 05:39 burned off rather than storing it as fat. 05:43 And you know Dr. Thrash, there are ways that we can tell 05:47 how our body is doing in the storage of these things 05:50 where it is sending. 05:52 - Insulin is making you store it as fat, as compared to 05:57 using it directly as a source of energy, or putting it into 06:02 glycogen which can be stored for a little delayed use, 06:06 but not for permanent storage like fat. 06:09 - Yes indeed, and one of the things that can help even 06:14 the more fit you are, the more likely the glucose that comes 06:17 from the food you eat will go right to the cells to be burned 06:20 for fuel or right into glycogen storage. 06:23 In fact the more fit we become our body makes more and more 06:27 opportunity for glycogen storage, and that is something 06:30 that doesn't add to our weight and it gives us more energy 06:33 when we are exercising, especially for 06:34 long term exercise. 06:36 We come then to the person who is overweight, 06:39 and if they have had a diet that is high in refined foods, 06:43 have been very sedentary, eating high fat foods, 06:46 the cells become resistant to the action of insulin, 06:50 and now when the insulin tries to put the glucose into 06:54 the cell, the number of receptors that are there to 06:57 allow that process to occur are fewer, or just clogged up 07:02 not able to work effectively. 07:04 We need to make some changes in our diet and exercise patterns 07:09 to help prevent insulin resistance and make the cells 07:13 very receptive to glucose and glycogen, 07:15 and we do this through some very simple means. 07:18 A plant based very simple diet is one of the best first steps, 07:24 not only is the diet that is plant based lower in calories 07:27 it's rich in fiber and it gives feelings of fullness 07:31 that can last for longer periods of time, and help you eat less 07:36 you can fill up much faster on a couple of potatoes, 07:39 than you can on a bag of potato chips, for example. 07:41 Another thing that I know you promote a lot on the program 07:45 here Dr. Thrash and that is exercise. 07:47 - Oh yes! I feel that exercise will cover a lot of the ills 07:52 in another place. 07:53 Well you just now said that a couple of potatoes will 07:57 give you more satisfaction than a bag of potato chips, 08:01 what if it were a big bag of potato chips, 08:04 is it the same? 08:05 - You might eventually feel full, but think of all the 08:09 additional salt and fat that you have taken in. 08:11 - Actually a potato is not addicting in itself 08:15 but you take that first potato chip and it is almost impossible 08:20 not to take the second, if you are addicted. 08:23 Now with the potato, you have the potato on your plate 08:27 and you don't have anything but salt on it, it tastes good 08:31 you love the taste of the potato and just the salt or maybe 08:32 a little bit of soy mayonnaise or maybe some sour soy cream, 08:40 have that on the potato, and you can eat a potato and stop. 08:45 - Yes! 08:46 - But you can't eat a potato chip and stop. 08:49 - And we both know that, indeed you can have a delightful diet 08:54 that's very satisfying and yet simple it will help keep your 08:58 insulin working very efficiently. 09:01 Exercise a crucial part to reducing the resistance 09:04 of insulin in your body, as you exercise the message is sent 09:09 "our cells need more glucose" and so they build this process 09:13 in the place that reinforces using the glucose for fuel 09:16 and storage as glycogen. 09:17 Another thing that is really important is to have an adequate 09:20 water intake, the centers in our brain that control thirst 09:23 and hunger are very near to each other in proximity 09:27 and those signals can become confused. 09:28 In addition water is really important for the effective 09:30 use of insulin taking the glucose into the cells 09:35 so make sure you are drinking at least 8- 10 glasses of 09:39 pure fresh water every day. 09:40 It's important to get regular sleep, an early bedtime and at 09:45 least 7 hours of sleep a night, not exceeding 9 is important 09:49 for a very efficient carbohydrate metabolism 09:53 and efficiency in insulin function. 09:55 So these are some tips on insulin function. 09:58 - Yes, and we know that insulin is also a very good appetite 10:05 stimulant, it's the very best appetite stimulant known to man. 10:09 So if we need to stimulate the appetite of a person 10:13 artificially we may give a little insulin, not much, 10:16 just a little so that the person who is really struggling 10:20 to eat to have an appetite, it can help to give them 10:24 an appetite, so the person who is overweight they have a 10:26 high insulin level, because they are trying to keep the 10:31 sugar level down, the body is trying to keep the sugar 10:33 level... so it does that by high insulin level, 10:36 as the insulin goes up it makes the person hungry 10:41 so that they eat their meal insulin goes up, two hours later 10:45 they could eat again. 10:46 Sometimes it is 20 minutes after they have just finished 10:49 eating, they are hungry again. 10:51 When that kind of thing happens the person should know 10:54 that they are indeed struggling with insulin and 10:58 not with hunger. 10:59 - Yes, and what can become a vicious cycle there 11:02 is that as the person becomes insulin resistant 11:05 more and more insulin is secreted into the body 11:08 and in it's effort to keep the blood glucose level normal 11:12 it will store more and more as fat. 11:14 It reaches the point where a person with insulin resistance 11:17 could eat the same meal as someone without insulin 11:19 resistance, and store a much greater portion of that as fat 11:23 rather than having that used as fuel, 11:25 so you can see why this stuff is so important. 11:28 The other step that I mentioned in weight loss is to help make 11:32 your digestion just as efficient as possible. 11:35 Well what does that have to do with weight? 11:37 If we are not having an efficient digestion, 11:40 we won't be fully absorbing the nutrients that are in our foods 11:44 we also can be creating an inflammatory state in the 11:47 digestive system, and both of these very readily contribute 11:51 to food cravings, and those are difficult to overcome 11:55 as you know if you struggle with weight at all. 11:57 So some guidelines in helping to make a very efficient digestion 12:01 are again simplicity. 12:04 Simplicity in your diet, avoiding rich foods, 12:07 very stimulating spices, things that are salty, 12:10 sugary, avoiding all of the refined food products. 12:14 Then it comes to very simple things too, things like 12:17 chewing your food well, saliva is your friend when it comes to 12:21 digestion, the digestion of carbohydrates begins 12:24 in our mouth, and so it's important. 12:27 - And also as you spend time chewing the stomach fills with 12:31 gastric juices which gives one a better sense of satiety 12:36 than if they just eat fast then the insulin level goes up 12:41 they could again eat right away, in fact they often do 12:43 and again they eat fast, and the insulin level goes up 12:48 and shortly they can eat again so it is this thing that makes 12:53 people who are traveling, every time they pass a place 12:55 where they could eat, if they can possibly eat they pull in 13:00 and get something to eat if they don't have something 13:02 already in the car. 13:03 - Yeah! You know another important thing about really 13:08 mixing our food well with saliva, and making sure we have 13:10 efficient digestion is not to take liquids with our meals. 13:13 Liquids dilute things, we often will swallow food that has not 13:17 been mixed well with saliva if we are taking liquids with 13:20 our meals, it also dilutes the gastric juices that have been 13:23 secreted and prepared, and foods can pass on into the bowel 13:27 with really incomplete digestion and creating that inflammatory 13:32 state that we discussed. 13:34 Another important thing is to.., another important thing is to... 13:36 one thing that is helpful for digestion is to take 13:38 a gentle walk after meals, this is something to help keep 13:43 the action of the digestive system stimulated, 13:45 not a vigorous walk that would suppress the digestive system 13:49 something gentle just to help get things moving so to speak. 13:53 I'm sure in your experience you know many other things 13:57 that are important for us, and helpful for us. 13:59 - Yes I do, a lot of things, but I appreciate these things that 14:02 you have mentioned, and I think you spoke about a two meal plan? 14:10 - I have not yet but, thank you. 14:12 - Ok, I've heard you speak about a two meal plan, 14:14 and would you elaborate on that a bit? 14:16 - Yes I would, both for improving insulin efficiency and 14:21 efficiency of digestion, a two meal plan is really helpful. 14:26 This is something that I have personally adopted and 14:29 will continue for the rest of my life. 14:30 I have found it to be very healthful for me, 14:32 it helped me get over some gastric reflux problems that I 14:35 had, it helped me sleep a lot better at night. 14:37 - But don't you go around hungry all the time, 14:39 especially after lunch? 14:41 - I don't and I have learned that if you have a very 14:46 nourishing breakfast and lunch with good whole foods 14:49 rich in fiber you won't be hungry for your third meal. 14:53 - That's been my experience as well Rhonda, 14:54 I think I have had maybe 10 in the last 30 years, 15:01 I've had maybe 10 nights when I really felt I would love 15:06 to have a supper, but the rest of the time, sometimes I feel 15:11 faintly hungry, but most of the time I don't feel hungry 15:14 at all, I can leave the dinner table which is the middle of the 15:18 day, not evening and go all the way through the rest of the day 15:24 and the night and wake up the next morning really interested 15:28 in breakfast. 15:29 Then I eat a very nourishing breakfast and I'm very satisfied 15:33 with that. 15:34 What about such things as irritants for the stomach? 15:38 - There are many that are very commonly taken in the 15:41 American diet, probably one that I didn't think I would ever 15:44 give up was black pepper, I loved pepper on everything, 15:47 and have learned that, that is a common irritant 15:51 vinegars and pickles that are made with vinegars, 15:54 other types of irritating spices like cinnamon, cloves, 15:57 those are things to take out of your diet if you are trying 16:00 to help your digestion to be more efficient. 16:02 One other point that I wanted to mention and that is 16:05 how important it is to undergo a very low fat diet 16:09 as you are loosing weight. 16:10 We do need fats in our diet, healthful fats are especially 16:13 beneficial for us for nice skin and hair, and cardiac health. 16:18 - What would you say are the best fats 16:20 that a person could take when they are loosing weight? 16:23 - The best fats are those fats that are still found in their 16:26 whole state that are plant based fats. 16:29 - Like nuts. -Yes! Like beans. -Yes! 16:31 - and whole grains, -Yes!, - and avocado, 16:35 - avocado certainly. 16:36 - What about olives, can you have olives? 16:38 - Olives certainly, and of course in moderation, 16:41 but as for nuts there are some nuts that tend to be 16:44 more healthful than others, 16:45 almonds, pecans and walnuts tend to be the best for the 16:49 healthful fats that they have, they are lower in the 16:52 saturated fats that we find in cashews and macadamia nuts 16:55 those types of things. 16:56 - But they are so good. - Yes they are! 16:58 - Can I ever have any? 17:00 - Of course, in moderation. - In moderation. -On occasion. 17:03 - How can you tell what a good portion size is 17:07 when you are overweight? 17:08 How would you suggest counseling a teenage girl who was 17:15 quite hefty, and she eats lunch with you? 17:18 This is a personal experience that I had, 17:22 a patient ate lunch with me and this was before the start 17:29 of her weight control program, she filled a plate high 17:34 with food, and I thought that girl will never be able to eat 17:38 that much food, it was just an enormous amount. 17:42 She not only polished that all off, but she went back 17:45 for a second plate and it was as large as the first. 17:48 I thought that's true... I'm sure she hurt, 17:53 she couldn't possibly do anything but hurt, and yet 17:57 she was able to eat all of that and then took a dessert 18:00 on top of all of that. 18:01 So how do you tell what portion sizes are? 18:05 - This is an excellent question because people who are 18:07 overweight often are very out of touch with their hunger 18:10 and fullness signals. 18:12 - Hunger and fullness, we need to recognize that there are 18:16 two things, one is hunger and one is satiety, we can be filled 18:23 and still be hungry. 18:25 - Oh yes! Oh yes! 18:27 - One is appetite and the other is genuine hunger. 18:30 - Yeah! 18:31 - So when we know we've had enough to eat, at that point 18:39 we can know that we should stop eating and so I need to have the 18:44 power, the strength in myself to stop eating. 18:48 But already I know Rhonda that I don't have that power 18:52 in myself because I have tried not once nor twice, nor 100, 18:57 nor 200, but probably thousands of times I have said 19:00 when I go to a meal, I'm not going to overeat, and I did 19:05 how do you council people with that, do you have any good way? 19:11 - I do have one way that's been helpful for me personally 19:13 and it takes the courage to admit that you have a problem 19:16 with a trusted friend and that is to incorporate their help, 19:20 let them help be your judge, your guide, it may be 19:25 that you ask them to come to meals with you, or that plan 19:28 with them that they can help you, that you eat what they eat 19:31 or that they spend time with you in prayer. 19:34 I had a friend that prayed with me every morning for a period 19:36 of time when I was going through difficulty, 19:38 and helped me really fully surrender this principle of 19:41 appetite, and I appreciate that and you will too as you have 19:45 trusted friends that can hold you accountable to you plan. 19:48 I will mention too on things like portion sizes, 19:52 sometimes if you really have lost touch on what is healthful 19:57 you may have to measure some things, watch to see what those 20:01 who are slender are eating for their portion sizes. 20:04 If you have eaten a lot in restaurants you will have a 20:07 distorted idea of what a normal portion size is on foods, 20:11 the portion sizes there are greatly expanded. 20:14 What about eating in restaurants is that a good idea for the 20:18 overweight person? 20:19 - You know I used to think that that would be fine because 20:22 more restaurants these days have options that seem 20:26 acceptable, but you really don't know what has been put into 20:30 that food, how it has been prepared, or what might be there 20:33 that would mess you up along the way. 20:35 I would encourage those who are trying to loose weight 20:38 to avoid restaurants as much as possible, there's many things 20:41 that will tempt you when you are there, even if you go there 20:44 with good intentions to eat something healthful, 20:46 and you may find that the vegetables that are on the side 20:49 are covered in margarine or that those... 20:53 - They have some very highly spiced things, 20:56 or a lot of vinegar in it and you the serving 21:01 and then you realize that it's unhealthful 21:04 and cause improper digestion. 21:06 - It's best to do your own food as much as possible. 21:10 - Do your own food, eat as much as you can at your own home. 21:13 - Yes! 21:14 - Thank you so much those are wonderful tips and I appreciate 21:17 then I subscribed to all of these myself, and I believe that 21:21 you will benefit from this as well. 21:24 Now not everybody who is dealing with weight 21:29 is dealing with overweight. 21:32 Some people are dealing with underweight, and I think that 21:36 some of the young ladies that I have seen who have been 21:39 underweight have been as distressed about their 21:43 underweight as those who are overweight are distressed 21:47 about theirs, and so I've asked Dr. Donald Miller 21:50 who is our colleague at Uchee Pines, welcome Dr. Miller. 21:54 - Thank you! 21:55 - And I can see very easily that you've probably never 21:59 struggled with a weight control problem, on the overweight side. 22:06 - Well you know struggling with an appetite doesn't just deal 22:09 with weight, I can overeat and become skinnier. 22:13 People deal with food in different ways, and it depends 22:16 on your..., I don't know what it depends on quite frankly 22:19 but I have always been thin, from my youngest years, 22:23 and I used to hate being thin. 22:25 When I was in Boy Scouts when you are wearing your shorts, 22:29 some boys would have their socks pulled up and they would just 22:31 stay up, and mine would just fall down around my ankles 22:33 because I had no legs, just bloop! drop down to the bottom. 22:36 I hated being thin, I hated being thin for most of my life 22:40 until I got to the point where most of the people my age 22:43 started bulging out in different areas, and I stayed thin and so 22:47 I'm very happy with that, so if you are thin, 22:50 look on the bright side, it's a whole lot healthier than being 22:54 overweight, but even there you can get to underweight, 22:58 you can look downright malnourished. 23:01 I was in the Marine Corps for many years, 23:03 and I did in fact when I was in the Marine Corp battle 23:06 sometimes getting a little bit overweight, 23:09 because there you had to be very trim and very slim 23:12 and fit into your uniform and I found that one of the most 23:16 important things especially when you are young is to be 23:18 physically active, the more physically active you are now, 23:22 the more benefit you are going to get later in life. 23:25 I'm almost 60 now and when I was a young man, 23:28 and I was very active, I became a runner, see I've got a... 23:31 I like to call it a runners physique, "that I'm skinny. " 23:33 Runner, I was a Marathon runner I have kept that physique 23:38 and I'm very thankful for it. 23:39 But if you sincerely want to gain weight, 23:42 basically you do the same thing that Rhonda was 23:45 talking about, about loosing weight. 23:47 Is chewing your food well, is eating the right things, 23:50 it's not eating more food, it's taking the food that you 23:53 are eating and using it in a better way. 23:56 - How about being regular in your meal times? 24:00 - That's important for almost everything, if we are not 24:02 regular in our meal times, we throw our bodies off. 24:05 See if your body is not ready to receive food, 24:08 your brain gets you all ready, see we eat on schedule, 24:11 we're in a thing called Circadian rhythm, 24:13 and if you have not set up a schedule, then your body's 24:18 not knowing when you are going to dump the food in there 24:20 and if you dump your food in off schedule, you don't have 24:23 salivary amylase, your pepsin everything is not ready to be 24:28 digesting food, it sort of just passes on through and passes 24:32 on out not completely digested. 24:35 See basically when I teach this I tell people, your body 24:39 can't use protein, it can use amino acids, 24:42 you take in protein, your body breaks it down to 24:45 amino acids and then it builds proteins on that. 24:48 It can't use carbohydrates, it breaks it down to 24:51 simple sugars, and then it builds up what you need 24:53 in your body, and so if you are not getting good complete 24:56 digestion, because first, well basically digestion does not 25:00 begin in the mouth as many people say, it begins in the 25:03 mind Pavlov proved that with his conditioned response 25:07 type of thing when the dog sees, smells, or hears, 25:10 he starts salivating, it's a thing that sometimes even before 25:13 we are thinking about it in the Circadian rhythm we start 25:16 getting ready for meals while we are still asleep. 25:18 So when that 6:00 comes when you eat your breakfast, 25:21 or 7:00 or whatever, you eat your breakfast on time, 25:24 your body is now ready. 25:25 You once told me this Dr. Thrash if you have 15 minutes to eat 25:30 eat 15 minutes worth of food. 25:32 Many times we don't have enough time, and we sit there and we 25:36 stuff it into our faces, and our body cannot use it that way 25:39 and this is the trick, if we have a tendency to be slim 25:43 it will make us slimmer. 25:45 If we have a tendency to be corpulent, it will make us 25:47 a little bit larger, and so we need to make sure that we break 25:50 that food down in our bodies by giving us the advantage 25:53 of eating at the right times, the right amounts, 25:56 eating to much food for people who are thin, 25:58 it will just sit there and send it on out, 26:01 without ever stopping by to build up those muscles. 26:04 So you would say that more important than 26:06 the amount of food that you eat to gain weight, 26:09 you would say that efficient digestion 26:12 and assimilation of that food is the more important. 26:16 I like this little saying, and if you can write this down 26:18 you can see what I'm talking about, write down 26:20 on a piece of paper "DON'T EAT FAST" 26:23 that's the key for gaining weight, don't eat fast 26:27 take your time, chew your food well, take a mouth full 26:32 of food you put the fork, spoon, whatever it is down, 26:36 and you sit on your hands if you have to, and chew that food. 26:39 If you want to gain weight, you just put a coma between 26:43 eat and fast, don't eat, fast. 26:46 - Same words. 26:48 - It's just that coma makes all the difference, 26:50 so I find for myself, when I want to gain weight... 26:54 now I was down to 119 Ibs a couple of years ago, 26:59 high stress in my life, I got rid of this big stressor 27:03 in my life and started exercising and that's the key. 27:06 Exercising and eating right, I'm on a two meal plan 27:10 I'm happy with a two meal plan, I feel good, and when I can 27:15 when I'm not in an airplane flying over places, 27:17 I like to get into a good exercise program, 27:20 build up my muscle mass, that has more weight, 27:23 I feel a whole lot better, I look better and 27:26 I'm going to live longer. 27:27 - Some people tell me though they are under weight 27:32 they certainly don't want to exercise because that's a 27:34 weight loss program. - No 27:36 - No, it actually does build up your muscles, 27:40 it increases your appetite, it makes the digestion more 27:43 perfect so that you can assimilate and store the food 27:49 that you do eat better, so I hope these remarks 27:52 have been helpful to you on both sides, 27:55 overweight and underweight. |
Revised 2014-12-17