We have created a 12 -step program for two reasons: First – to call attention to the fact that the typical American diet causes your body to become dependent on damaging levels of glucose. The second is to give you someplace to start – and then to make steady progress. You can’t make the required changes all at once. You beat insulin resistance and chronic inflammation steadily – over time. You go forward step-by-step. Mastering each step makes you that much healthier. If you stumble – you know where to pick it up again and go forward.
There is no “miracle cure”. There is no pill to take. The pills you may take now treat symptoms, not the real problems. We provide no short-cuts, no false expectations, no hard sell. This is about you, your mirror, and how you feel about yourself. It is about you and how you treat others around you. Step-by-step you can get healthier every day.
Step One: Realize that you respond just like you are addicted to the way you eat now. We begin like every other 12-step program – with the acceptance that “I am a glucose addict.” Don’t believe it? Ok – run the experiment in your own life. Stop eating all forms of Fastcarbs © (refined carbohydrates) right now – this minute. Lets see how long it is before you are standing in front of the cupboard craving carbs without thinking about it. When you come back here – move to Step Two.
Step Two: Drink ActuWell ATN everyday – preferably for breakfast. Yes – we sell it, so this must seem obviously self -serving. Its true that unless you buy and use it – we won’t be here to you learn for very much longer. Its also true that unless you use a very powerful nutritional tool like ATN, you will have a very difficult struggle breaking your addiction-like glucose dependency. Look at the ATN label. There is no magic there – except that it is exactly what you need to fight insulin resistance and chronic inflammation. The magic is that we have distilled the science, made it very easy, affordable, and taste great. It is the inner experience you gain using ATN that makes everything we say here credible. Until you “get it ” – by your own experience – this is all just so much more noise.
Step Three: Drink water-lots of water, every day. Drink one-half your body weight in ounces of water every day (eg: a 150 lb person should drink 75 ounces of water every day.) That’s a lot- right!? Not really. All liquid you drink counts. Yes – even coffee. Dump all soft drinks, diet or regular, and replace them with water. We know regular soft drinks are loaded with sweeteners (High Fructose Corn Syrup) that feed your dependency. Research also shows diet soft drinks cause carbohydrate cravings. The science isn’t clear about why or how yet. Fruit juices also tend to be loaded with Fastcarbs© – avoid them.
Whenever you feel hunger – first drink water. In many people, thirst is experienced first as hunger. Very few of us drink the amount of water we need to be healthy each day. Its time to start.
Two important considerations. First, we do not advocate bottled water – it can cost more than gasoline and the empty bottles are a HUGE disposal problem. Filter your own water and use personal refillable bottles. Second, if you have circulatory, heart, or kidney problems you must follow your physician’s instructions regarding fluid intake.
Step Four: Exercise! Its easy. No need to hurt or punish yourself. Just walk. The goal is 30 minutes every day, rain or shine at a brisk pace. Park father away from your destination and walk. Take the stairs. Walk away from your house for 15 minutes, then turn around and come home. If you can’t go that far to start – do what is comfortable, then do a little more each day. Every step forward is working for you. A treadmill is an acceptable alternative. If you use a wheelchair – you already know that the upper body workout from rolling the chair for 30 minutes can be much more demanding than walking for the same period. That’s it? Yep- that’s it.
Step Five: Begin to base your diet on high quality protein, and Slowcarbs©. Meat and fish are good sources of protein. ATN uses a proprietary blend of soy and whey protein designed to provide steady energy over several hours. Nuts, cheeses and dairy provide primarily protein and are healthy snacks .
Slowcarbs© are primarily whole grains, many fruits, and non-starchy vegetables. Examples of starchy vegetables to avoid include corn and potatoes. Learn to use the glycemic index to make healthy choices. Avoid foods with a GI higher than 55. Use the glycemic index calulator to evaluate how much of your diet is Fastcarb© vs Slowcarb©. You’ll find some surprises. For example, mashed potatoes are very, very fast. PizzaHut© Supreme Pizza is rather slow… The issue with a cheeseburger is the white bread bun, the fries, and the soft drink or shake. You do not need to be deprived. Look at the recipies forum here (and contribute!) for proof of that. You do need to become very “aware” of what you put in your mouth and swallow.
There are Slowcarb© alternatives for just about every Fastcarb© food. Regular pastas and white breads can be replaced with the whole grain versions. Sweet potatoes can replace regular potatoes. There are even sweet potato fries! Whole rolled oatmeal can replace “quick oats”. Whole wheat flour can replace enriched white wheat flour. In general, if its white in color – unless its dairy – avoid it.
There are more surprises: boiled potatoes are right on the edge of acceptability per the glycemic index. The more potatoes are processed – in the factory, restaurant, or your kitchen – the more they cross the line into Fastcarb© territory. Bananas are another chameleon. When underripe, they have an acceptable glycemic index. The more ripe they are – the higher their glycemic index becomes. Do you know there is no valid science that shows protein-rich eggs are bad for you? They got their bad rap from having cholesterol in them. But if you spend time learning here, you’ll know its the cholestrol you make as a symptom of insulin resistance and glycation that is the issue – not the cholesterol you eat. There is a lot to learn- get busy!
Step Six: Low fat foods are generally bad for you! The world around you is still operating on old science that says fat is bad. The science that said fat in food clogs your arteries is obsolete. Fat packs lots of calories in a small package. That is a concern. It is also hard for your body to digest. This makes fat very sloooow…..Fat will never spike your blood sugar. You know those “no-fat” rice cakes you eat to lose weight? They almost instantly spike your blood sugar. That supports insulin resistance which is driving your weight gain in the first place.
Fat tastes good, so when you remove it from a food, it tastes pretty bad. So food processors add back Fastcarb© to make low-fat foods taste good! That spikes your blood sugar. If a food says its low fat – read the ingredients! You are almost certain to find lots of refined carbohydrates.
Step Seven: READ ingredient labels of all foods. See a pattern here? You must go right to the carbohydrate section of the label first. In general, you seek to maximize protein and minimize carbohydrate. Fiber is a kind of carbohydrate you don’t digest well. It slows down the rate at which you convert carbs into glucose. The more fiber relative to other carbohydrates, the slower the food converts to glucose. Subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate. Is the remaining carbohydrate fast or slow? You have to know before you eat it. Its not hard to get used to doing this.
And watch-out for label claims. In general, label claims are a marketing ploy used to keep you from reading the ingredients list. When the package screams-out at you that something is “made with whole grain” – go right to the ingredients. You may find that there is just enough whole grain to defend the label claim while the bulk of the carbohydrate is “enriched wheat flour”. Avoid it.
Step Eight: There are some food additives you must treat as if they are poison. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a manufactured sweetener that is found in an astounding number of processed foods. Do not put it in your mouth. Low fat yogurt should be healthy for you, right?…. Watch out for HFCS! Low fat salad dressing? – gotcha! Seven percent of the calories consumed in the USA come from HFCS just in soft drinks….. This artificial form of carbohydrate effects your body chemistry in more ways than we yet understand. Avoid it.
You must also legislate your own personal ban on trans-fat. If the ingredients list says “hydrogenated” or “partially-hydrogenated”, that is code for trans-fat. Margarine is out. But then butter is in! Like HFCS, you will find trans-fat everywhere. When you see it- put the product back on the shelf.
Step Nine: Apply what you are learning to eating-out. You are committed to a meal based on protein, Slowcarbs©, and fiber. Protein when eating out usually means meat or fish. Non-meat eaters know where to find vegetable-based proteins. Your protein is almost always paired with a Fastcarb(c) like potatoes or white rice. Ask the wait person to substitute a double order of vegetables instead. Salad is fiber and Slowcarb(c) – go for it- but beware of the dressing. Low fat dressings may be hiding transfat and High Fructrose Corn Syrup. The best bet is to ask for vinegar and oil cruets at the table.
While you should use only whole grain pasta at home, pasta is almost always made from Fastcarbs(c) at restaurants. And oh yes – that white bread that comes to the table first? Ask your waitperson for whole grain bread, or to simply take it away. If you can send away the white bread – you have proof that your Fastcarb(c) addiction is broken!
Desert is tough. Its best to just say no. Most deserts are Fastcarb(c) by definition. You’ll find it much easier to say no once your Fastcarb(c) addiction is broken. There are flourless cakes made with ground nuts…. pies made without sugar, but the crust is deadly unless its whole wheat. See the recipes forum for solid examples. if you are going to have dessert, fruit- especially berries – is usually your best option here. Ice cream is a compromise. There are lower carb versions now. Its dairy – which means protein. It has some sugar – yes. But if you don”t load a reasonable portion with syrups and toppings, you’ll be ok as treat once in awhile.
Ok – but what about fast food? In general, when you think fast food, think Fastcarb(c). Again its not the burger – its everything else that comes with it – including the white bread bun. Yes – lots of calories in those burger patties- and much of it comes from fat. But that fatty meat will not spike your blood sugar! The fries, drink, and bun will. Can you find a whole grain sandwich that is filling, tasty , and comes out of a drive-thru window with a water and a smile? Yes. Try Market Fresh sandwiches at Arbys. Know of others? Use the forums here to share with the rest of us! Just keep in mind that even this healthier fast food has to be a rare treat, not an every day routine.
Step Ten: Know your fats. If low fat tends to be bad for you, then some fats must be good for you? Correct. Your body needs some kinds of fat. This topic gets confusing fast: saturated fats come from meat, polyunsaturated fats come from vegetables, and monounsaturated fats come from olives and canola. Its hard for most of us to keep this straight.
Lets break this down. Limit fat from meat – it has lots of calories. Lean meat is always better for you than fatty meats. Avoid common vegetable oils like corn, safflower, soybean, sunflower and cotton seed. They contribute to insulin resistance. Use olive oil instead. Canola oil in processed foods is ok, but use olive oil at home.
There is one fat you only get enough of from food by eating cold water fish (commonly sardines, tuna, anchovies, trout and salmon) a few times per week. Omega -3 fatty acids are essential to make healthy cells. Most Americans get very little Omega 3 in their diet. Fish oil or flax seed oil supplements are cheap, effective ways to met your need for adequate Omega 3. Just do it.
Step Eleven: Count calories. Here we are at the next to last step in our program – and we finally come to counting calories. We are very aware that the common knowledge out there is that weight loss begins with consuming fewer calories than you burn-up. True enough – after you are no longer insulin resistant and fighting chronic inflammation. If you have made it here – to Step Eleven – you have made huge progress in this regard. To accelerate weight loss now, get serious about counting the calories you put in your body – and burn-up via increased activity and exercise. You’ll get quick results. Counting calories before you get here can lead to weight loss – but you’ll put it right back on when your will-power falters. Remember – for most people – weight gain is a symptom of insulin resistance and chronic inflammation. Treating the symptoms leaves the problem running in the background doing its damage- just less visibly.
If you are serious about weight loss- replace a second meal with ActuWell Therapeutic Nutrition anytime after you have implemented Step 4. Doing so fills you up, automatically reduces your calories and gives you a second daily boost to your immune system.
Step Twelve: Teach. Congratulations! If you have arrived here, you have made a serious improvement in your health and your life expectancy. You did it by going against the common calorie-counting knowledge and applying the latest science in your life. You know you are much better off for it. Others are noticing too! They will comment about it. That gives you a perfect opportunity to talk about what you have done. We are swimming upstream against the so-called experts using old science to blame people, and make us all feel badly about our health and appearance. Its got to stop.
The plain truth is-many of us were addicted to glucose as infants. The first cereal we ate were Fastcarbs©. The fruit juice we were given in a bottle were Fastcarbs©. The O’s type of cereal we chased around on our highchair trays learning to feed ourselves were Fastcarbs(c). It wasn’t a choice any of us made. We grew-up in world that increasing makes money by feeding our Fastcarb© habit.
You are a rare person. You made a choice to stop the madness in your own life. When others notice – that is the teaching moment . Lead by your example. Preaching doesn’t work. Your own success does. Teach what you know and encourage them to join the ActuWell community to learn more.
If you have not done so already, enroll in the Earned Credit Program. We will help you succeed as you help others to do so.