My gut made me do it

New Year’s resolutions often focus on losing those holiday pounds. As we are deep into January at this point, some of those resolutions have met with frustrating failure.

Current thought and research is moving away from fat and toward sugar as the obesity culprit. Some ideas such as the Paleo diet avoid refined sugar, other plans such as the Whole Thirty Diet by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, avoid all added sugar including honey, agave and maple syrup.

Why, dieters often wonder, is giving up sugar such a hard thing to do? The answer may lie not in your own lack of will power, but in the power of your bad gut bacteria calling the shots when you get the munchies.

A 2014 article titled, “Do Gut Bacteria Rule Our Minds? In an Ecosystem Within Us, Microbes Evolved to Sway Food Choices,” written by Jeffrey Norris for UCSF, explains the link between gut activity and food choice found through research conducted by UC San Francisco, Arizona State University and University of New Mexico. Norris writes, “microbes influence human eating behavior and dietary choices to favor consumption of the particular nutrients they grow best on, rather than simply passively living off whatever nutrients we choose to send their way.”

“While it is unclear exactly how this occurs, the authors believe this diverse community of microbes, collectively known as the gut microbiome, may influence our decisions by releasing signaling molecules into our gut. Because the gut is linked to the immune system, the endocrine system and the nervous system, those signals could influence our physiologic and behavioral responses,” Norris continued.

The good news is that the make-up of gut bacteria can be changed by encouraging good bacteria and discouraging unhealthy bacteria.

So, how to quiet the call for sugar coming from the gut? It’s helpful to picture gross little bacteria telling you what to do, but it is also helpful to proactively jump start the process by increasing healthy bacteria through quality probiotic supplements and probiotic foods such as kombucha (fermented tea), kimchi, yogurt (without added sugar), apple cider vinegar and other fermented foods.

The Whole Thirty Diet is one version of a low-sugar plan. It is an elimination diet that has dieters avoid all added sugar, all dairy, all grains, food additives, carrageenan and most legumes. Nuts, seeds, vegetables, small amounts of fruit, avocadoes, ghee, grass-fed meat, eggs, fish, coconut products and poultry are the mainstays for 30 days after which foods are gradually re-introduced to determine food sensitivities. The diet purports to reduce inflammation caused by the foods we eat.

I have tried various iterations of sugar-free diet plans, and can report first hand that after about a week of committed sugar-avoidance, it stops crossing my mind to pick up a cookie or six. The second hardest thing about a diet however, is sticking to it. A few slips and the sugar-craving bacteria will surge ahead of their healthy companions, and the craving cycle begins again. Better not to slip, or at least have some kimchi on hand at all times.

(Published in the East Haddam News Feb. 2016)

Getting my First Hug

When Steven Yates’ son was born, he, his wife and 3-year-old daughter were overjoyed, and happy that he had been born healthy — all fingers and toes accounted for.

As the boy grew over the next two years, mom stayed home with the kids, dad went off to work as a civil engineer, big sister played her role and life went on smoothly. They were what Yates calls a “white-bread, two-parent stereotypical family.”

Shortly after the boy’s second birthday things began to change for the Yates family and their newest member. Some developmental milestones were not met; subtle differences emerged between this sweet toddler and their memories of their chatty daughter at the same age. Their long search for answers began with library research and an evaluation at a prominent child center which ended with a “diagnosis” of PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified). Today his son would fall somewhere along what’s known as the “Autism Spectrum,” which better accounts for the range of autism’s manifestations.

Yates wrote and self-published “Getting my First Hug” about his family’s journey and the role the medical community, educational and legal systems played over 20 years to help, or hinder, along the way.

“I want people to read it, see that there’s hope. Nobody could tell us what things would look like in five or 10 years, we didn’t know anyone like this. I want people to know that they’re not alone, and that there is hope,” the dad said.

Yates began this journey in the mid-1990s when not much information was available, the internet was in its infancy, and autism was much more narrowly defined than it is today.

There are no real names in his book, other than his own, to protect his family’s privacy. When people do connect his son to the story, he often hears “I had no idea your son had special needs.”

Yates said his son “innately didn’t want to stand out, tried very hard to blend in, and he used scripts to communicate,” mimicking dialog from TV or stories he had heard.

Much of the book focuses on the educational system and how important parents are as advocates for their children.

“Schools are working with limited funds, most of them are doing the best they can do with what they have, but there is inconsistency in staff, and time is on their side. They are responsible until the special needs student turns 21.”

“Each child with special needs is different,” Yates said, “It really falls to the parent. Kids who don’t have that support fall through the cracks, I know they fall through,” he added.

When first entering the world of special education, Yates writes, “I pictured Anne Sullivan tirelessly working with Helen Keller…But the sad fact is that no public school system has such resources to devote to a single child for an extended period of time. And once you dilute this kind of resource it becomes largely ineffective.” Yates became his son’s Anne Sullivan, identifying strengths and weaknesses, breaking down skills, teaching him what he needed know to get through school, get a driver’s license and continue with his life.

The Yates raised their children in a suburb close to New Haven, which Steven Yates chooses not to name, and moved to Old Saybrook a few years ago.

Now retired from engineering, “I write. Mostly autobiographical stories,” he said. He used to write with a songwriter friend in high school and always “harbored the idea” to write.

“I thought the most remarkable thing I could write about was what we had gone through. It seemed like the natural thing to do.”

“I self-published online through a company (Kingston House Publishing) that formatted the text, designed the cover, supplied the ISBN number and hooked it into Amazon - for a price. There are probably less expensive ways to do it,” he added. “I’m not looking to make a profit from the book. Once it breaks even I plan to donate the profits to an autism-related charity.”

The book is available through Amazon.com, ISBN 978-0-578-13268-6.

(Published in the ShoreLine Times and CT Magazine April 2014)

River Valley Slim-Down Challenge: Losing weight by the water in Essex

Fitness by the Water’s yoga and meditation studio is an airy space overlooking the peaceful Essex waterfront. It’s only been open for two years, but even newer than the space itself is petite blonde manager and instructor, Donna Scott.

Don’t roll your eyes, “petite blonde fitness instructor…great…” may be what you’re thinking, but talk with her for a few minutes and you’ll realize she gets those of us who aren’t as petite as we would like to be, and understands that personal problems with weight and health also have personal solutions. More importantly, she knows how to find those solutions through a holistic mind, body, spirit approach in conjunction with The Essex Wellness Center, Fitness on the Water’s parent organization.

As frequent weight loss warriors know, we win some battles and lose some battles, but finding permanent peace with ourselves can be elusive. We’ve tried one-size-fits-all diets and exercise - don’t eat carbs, don’t eat fat, or don’t eat anything; pick up heavy things and put them down again, repeat in sets of 10, three days a week; or simply run until you lose your cookies. Some things worked for awhile, some never worked, but it all felt like trying to pin the tail on the donkey blindfolded after being spun around by hundreds of weight loss fads.

Fitness on the Water can help put your whole donkey on the wall, in one piece, tail and all. A great introduction to the program is the River Valley Slim-Down Challenge, Jan. 9 through April 2 at the Fitness on the Water facility, 8 Novelty Lane.

“I started the River Valley Slim-Down Challenge about five years ago,” Scott said of her 12-week program, adding, “In that time I’ve had about 365 participants, and about 3,075 pounds lost.”

Scott joined the Fitness on the Water team Dec. 1, after 10 years of teaching fitness in the river-valley. She most recently owned I Found Fitness in Deep River. She started the River Valley Slim-Down Challenge five years ago as part of that business.

The challenge uses weekly weigh-ins, exercise classes, social support, consultations, financial incentives and workshops to guide participants into healthier lives.

To participate, clients pay a $65 program fee that goes into a prize pool and a $35 fee that is refunded when participants complete the program, not if they drop out. Participants also receive discounted entry fees and special class package pricing for the duration of the 12 weeks.

Sometimes there is an obstacle to weight loss, which becomes a matter of “sitting down and figuring out what’s going on. There are so many variables. It could be water intake, eating patterns, or hormonal causes for women of a certain age.” Scott said. For some, the answer may be more exercise. The key is “finding something that you like, and is going to be enjoyable for you,” Scott said. “If you hate spin class, don’t do that, find what you do like. That is the magic solution.” Start small, “it can be as simple as taking the dog for a walk, just some way to get in those 30 minutes.”

Fitness has been Scott’s solution to more than just losing weight. “I started my own business after my divorce. I tried to go back to the corporate world, I had been in Human Resources, but found that after being away from it while raising my daughters that I would not be able to earn enough to support us. I had always had an interest in fitness, I started our teaching Zumba classes in a church basement, then I got certified, and then an opportunity came up to rent a space in Deep River.

“I gained 70 pounds after my first child, it was a big struggle to get back to where I was. It took a long time. I’m very familiar with the struggle, how hard it is emotionally to be overweight.”

“Because we’re very small, people can feel comfortable here. In bigger gyms, people can be afraid, self-conscious, surrounded by people comparing who’s wearing the latest Lululemon. Here we are more focused on getting people healthy and in shape so they can live longer. We are small and intimate, warm and welcoming,” Scott said.

“It’s a really nice thing we do here, after class participants get scented towels.” Recent barre class-takers welcomed the lavender-scented perks that were passed around to the happy, sweaty group. “We also offer complimentary coffee, water and tea,” Scott said.

Classes include yoga, barre (a mix of ballet, yoga and Pilates), Tabata Bootcamp (a 50-minute high intensity interval class), Zumba, spin, Tai Chi and tone-balance. Free meditation sessions take place Wednesday morning and evening.

Fitness on the Water offers a variety of membership options from a day pass to class bundles to a family membership. Members get unlimited use of the space and equipment including weights, bands, spin bikes, studios and cardio equipment. For more information visit essexwellnessctr.com, or call 860-767-7770.

(Published in the ShoreLine Times, Jan. 12 2016)