Lose Weight with Time Restricted Eating, Pregnancy Care, Covid-19 update

I am a healthy eater.  I don’t eat sweets (no candy, ice cream, soft drinks), I only have desert on holidays (usually pie).  I’m not a junk food eater (unless the snack is 100% all natural with zero trans fats or corn syrup) and only then it may be one serving a day or two a week.  I tend to eat low carb (meaning very limited on pasta, rice or potatoes).  I definitely do not eat bread or cereal.  My diet is mostly made up of vegetables, protein (meat, poultry, fish, eggs), nuts, beans and plain yogurt.  If I go out to eat or I am a guest at someone’s dinner table, I happily eat the food offered on the menu or what the host has prepared (so, I’m not that bad!).  Many people ask me, “how can you live like that?” and “Why?”

The main reason is for good health.  The other is to maintain body weight.  The important thing to know is that I was not always like this.  In my youth, I could eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting or polish off a dozen corn muffins fresh out of the oven.  In college, I would eat whole boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese, made with wads of margarine!!  What changed me?  Well, I always did have an interest in health and fitness, that’s why I choose to go into the chiropractic profession.  If I had to pick one event that changed me from a guy who was interested in health and nutrition to a strict, regimented, stick to a diet plan eater, It was bodybuilding. Growing up from High School until I was 25 years old, I was always a very big bulky guy.  I did heavy weightlifting, threw the shot put and discus, competed in powerlifting and played competitive rugby.  My weight for some of these sports was as high as 235lbs.  Then one day I had this great idea.  I was going to enter the Mr. Georgia bodybuilding contest. 

I started reading up on how to cut bodyfat and keep muscular size through diet, strict diet.  I began the 6 month bodybuilding contest dietary prep by painstakingly keeping a written food diary, measuring calories, cutting down on and eliminating fats.  I basically lived on canned plain tuna fish, egg whites, chicken breast, raw broccoli and portions of brown rice.  By contest time I had dieted down from 235 lbs of fat and muscle to 198 lbs of ripped up muscle and placed 4^th place in the contest.

Prior to the contest, I thought that would be the end of it, one and done.  But since I was in really good shape, I entered another one and this time won the Atlanta bodybuilding championship in my weight class.  Now I was done.  Or that’s what I thought.  I definitely did not compete again, but for lack of a better term, the bodybuilding mentally scared me, as it turns out, forever.  I went back to my “normal” eating ways, but I found that every time I attempted to eat my junky food I felt weird.  Not just physically from the effect of having junky ingredients in my body, but psychologically I felt guilty eating it, like I was harming my body.  I found I couldn’t go back to the old ways.

So, here we are. Over 30 years later, I am still a healthy eater.  I do give into a few unhealthy urges.  I love pizza and chicken wings and the beer that goes along with it.  Those are my go to treats.  Over the years, my interest in health and nutrition has increased.  I read all the latest research on dietary science.  I have seen all the fad diets over the last 3 decades and I have probably tried most including low carb, low fat, high protein, low protein. Keto, paleo, etc.   

The past few years, I have really latched onto the low carb, moderate protein, healthy fat way of eating.  My diet is primarily vegetables (very limited on fruit – too much sugar), protein and healthy fats from fish, olives, walnuts and avocados.  My carbs are limited to serving sizes of rice, sweet potatoes or a gluten free, non-grain pasta. The only drinks I have during the day are water and a morning plain hot tea (beer is my weekend treat). I won’t even drink juice as it has too much natural sugar.

It has taken me six paragraphs to get to the part where I tell you what I have found to be the best way of eating.  Yes, what I stated above is the way to go – healthy fats, low carbs and lean protein.  But for the last few years I have added a twist to my eating ways, that not only enables you to maintain or lose weight, but also contributes significantly to overall health on a cellular level.  Intermittent fasting or time restricted eating.  This is where you do not eat anything for 14-16 hours after your last meal.  Done twice a week you will have a steady weight loss. Once a week to maintain your bodyweight.  Done 3-4 times per week, you will easily lose weight.  The key to success is eating normally when it is time to eat.  Not feasting.  The health benefits to intermittent fasting are lowered insulin levels, cellular repair, increases in HCG (growth hormone), gene expression that affects longevity and fights disease, heart health, immune system enhancement and intermittent fasting lowers inflammation in the body.

I have been doing this for a few years with great success and it is extremely easy.  I have never gotten hungry yet.  It has now become so popular that it has been given a catchy new diet name. It is called the 5:2 diet.  5 days a week, eat normally (for me that is the low carb, healthy fat way) and then two days a week intermittent fast.  As I said above, if you have weight to lose you can add another day or two, but two days a week will contribute to a steady, slow weight loss.  The reason it works for weight loss, is that when your body does not have fuel (food) to burn for energy which takes about 6-8 hours, the body begins to burn stored body fat.  Thus the weight loss.  The reason this is so easy is that for 7-9 hours of the fast, you are sleeping, this only leaves 6-8 hours of fasting during the day.  For instance, the last thing I ate was at 9pm on Friday night, the next day, I woke up and had tea, I went to the gym for a workout, then ran errands for another 2 hours, came home and started on outdoor household chores and by the time I was finished it was 2pm and time to eat.  That was a 17 hour time period with no eating.  And It was easy.  15-16 hours is plenty for a fast, but I typically go 17 if it’s a weekend.  Drink as much water as you like and plain tea or coffee are fine.  If you give this a try, you will be surprised by the results. You will feel better, have more energy and lose weight.  If you have a health issue that requires eating, this may not be for you and it is always best to check with your doctor first before making any dietary changes.

Prenatal, Pregnancy Chiropractic Care Information:  Recent research reported in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic on pregnancy found that chiropractic spinal adjustments have an important role in the management of prenatal pregnancy patients.  “Numerous case studies and some clinical studies are revealing that there is a relationship between abnormalities in the spine, the nervous system and the various health challenges that women experience with pregnancy” stated Dr. Matthew McCoy, a chiropractor, public health researcher and editor of the journal that published the study. The nervous system which originates from the spinal column controls and coordinates the function of all the systems and organs in the body which includes the reproduction system and the reproductive organs such as the uterus.  Misalignments in the spinal joints can cause interference in nerve impulse flow and disrupt the important function of these organs which are responsible for the health and development of the unborn child.  The chiropractor when caring for pregnancy patients uses prenatal care designed for improving nerve impulse flow and pelvic alignment which can help to make pregnant patients have less discomfort during their pregnancy and will as contribute to a healthy labor process.

COVID-19 Update:  A new study published in the medical journal, Circulation and recently presented at the meeting of the American Heart Association, found that people receiving the Covid-19 vaccine may be at increased risk for heart attacks. Lead author, Dr. Steven Gundry a pioneer in infant heart transplant surgery stated,  “We conclude that the mRNA vacs dramatically increase inflammation on the endothelium and T cell infiltration of cardiac muscle and may account for the observations of increased thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and other vascular events following vaccination.”  “Recently, with the advent of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (vac) by Moderna and Pfizer, dramatic changes in the PULS score became apparent in most patients.”  The PULS (Protein Unstable Lesion Signature) test measures the most clinically significant protein biomarkers that leak from cardiac lesions in the blood vessel walls, providing a measure of the body’s immune system response to arterial injury.

ICU Doctor Suspended:   A top critical care physician who filed a lawsuit against Sentara Norfolk General Hospital over its ban on administering life-saving drugs to treat COVID patients, has had his hospital privileges suspended.

Dr. Paul Marik, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School and director of the ICU at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, learned about the 14-day suspension when he arrived to work on Saturday and found a letter on his desk.  Marik filed his lawsuit against Sentara Healthcare on Nov. 9, arguing the organization is endangering the lives of its COVID patients by preventing him from using his treatment protocol, which he says has reduced mortality rates in the ICU from approximately between 40% and 60% to less than 20%.  Dr. Marik uses the Math+ protocol for treating covid-19 patients which includes the use of Ivermectin, vitamins C, D, zinc and melatonin as well as traditional medicines.  The Math+ protocol has been endorsed by 100’s of critical care doctors from around the world and has saved thousands of live.

Atlantic County, NJ and Covid-19:  Atlantic County has 809 new cases of Covid-19 over the last two week period, up from 733 cases the prior 2 weeks. Our 7 day average cases reported 57 cases per day.  Atlantic County has had 8 deaths in the last two week period.    On 11/27/2021, there were a total of 836 people admitted in all of New Jersey’s hospitals for care of Covid-19 infections, up from 755 a week ago.  In the USA, 454 million doses of the vaccine have been given out.  195,713 million people are fully vaccinated, 60% of the population. 48.9 million people have contracted the Covid-19 virus in the USA.  Atlantic County has had 41,093 total cases of Covid-19. 

Vaccine Informed Consent Information:   Informed consent means that the person to be vaccinated has to be informed about all the risks, the risk benefit ratios, the potential dangers and what is known about side effects. For example, informed consent takes place in all drug advertising.  Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data released 11/12/21 by the CDC showed a total of 894,145 reports of adverse reactions from all age groups following COVID vaccines, including 18,853 deaths. Serious injuries reported in this time period totaled 139,126 between Dec. 14, 2020 and 11/12/2021.  This week’s data for 12- to 17-year-olds show 23,105 total adverse events, including 1,429 rated as serious and 30 reported deaths among 12- to 17-year-olds.  Severe reactions in all age groups of anaphylaxis include 2,125 people, 3,145 reports of myocarditis and 11,058 reports of blood clotting disorders. In the irony department, “CDC strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccination either before or during pregnancy because the benefits of vaccination outweigh known or potential risks,” the agency said in a health alert.  This week’s data for pregnancy /prenatal vaccination shows pregnant women had over 4,362 adverse events reported including 1,376 reports of miscarriage or premature birth.  VAERS is the primary government-funded system for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S. Reports submitted to VAERS require further investigation before a causal relationship can be confirmed. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database contains information on unverified reports of adverse events following immunization. Reports are accepted from anyone and can be submitted electronically.

Author

Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.