Real Nutrition MD

07/14/2024

08/09/2023

A solid workout regimen is meaningless if your nutrition isn’t on point. 💯

Let’s talk exercise… Your instructor at the gym says “I’m gonna work you so hard that you can have that 2nd drink at Happy Hour!” 🏃🚴‍♂️🏋😤
And after that sweatfest and your watch saying you burned 600 calories, you’ve earned that extra Margarita, right? 🍹🍹

This message has been hammered into us for decades - as long as you smash your workouts, you can eat whatever you want and reach your goals. Gyms, food tracking apps, and workout programs have us sold on this promise. Not only is it wrong, but it’s actually doing nothing to help our growing obesity and overweight problem. Scholastic papers argue it’s quite the opposite because exercise:
Triggers hunger 🤤
Increases cortisol 😩
Metabolism compensates by dropping when you’re not active to conserve energy🥱

Sure, you’ve seen examples of those exercising their way to a trim body while eating anything they want, but as a general rule don’t expect to lose a lot of weight by simply ramping up your physical activity. You probably have people you know who have religiously hit the gym for years, looking the same and carrying the same amount of fat.

But that doesn’t change the fact that exercising does our body and mind good. If resistance training and cardio is your jam, continue to kill it!🤘 Muscular strength💪 and cardiovascular fitness🫀 are the secrets to longevity and a high quality of life. Don’t stop.👍

Excess fat storage is almost always a fueling issue. Here’s a little perspective:
100% of the calories we gain come from the food we eat🍴
But only 10% of our calories burned is through exercise🏋
(up to 30% if you’re a beast in the gym, a professional athlete, have a physical job)

Despite what we’ve been told and taught, DIET (calories in) and EXERCISE (calories out) don’t have equal weight when it comes to the obesity debate. If your goal is to lose weight, nutrition should be your mission. Having an erratic off-beat exercise plan is actually very forgivable, as long as you stay in step with a healthful eating plan.🕺💃



In health,
Harry J. Cerezo, MD🩺

06/29/2022

Now why should you be interested in serotonin? It's one of the main chemical messengers responsible for your happiness, that's why! 😁

Deficiency is the most common condition (excess is rare), and things affected are:
Memory 🧠
Mood 😠
Motivation ➕️
Sleep 😴
Digestion 🤮
Learning 🤓
Anxiety 😟
Sexual behavior 🍆🍑

Scientists still have a lot more to learn about its effects as studies show serotonin influence on wound healing 🩹 and bone health 🦴

Where do we get this feel good hormone? Our body makes it (our brain makes a little, but 90% is produced from the cells within our gut lining). Unfortunately, we can't ingest serotonin to raise our levels up. Age is a major factor in the slowing of production, but that doesn't mean that growing into an "old grumpy forgetful fat fart: is something we should accept 😂

Low serotonin level in clinically symptomatic patients is traditionally treated with prescription antidepressants like tricyclics and SSRI's. These are classes of drugs with much undesirable side effects and should be used as last line defenses and severe resistant cases (consult your medical professional). You can actually do a lot naturally get serotonin to wellness-promoting levels. How?

1) Nutrient-dense diet w/quality protein 🥩🍗🥦🥚🥜
2) 20-30min of daily physical movement 🤸‍♂️🏋‍♀️🚴🏃‍♂️

"Diet and exercise?!?! What a cop-out thing for all doctors to say! 🙄"

Solutions to improving health are almost always about as simple as they come. Like a lot of things, the basics are the things that are most important, yet they're also the most neglected. I don't want you to neglect your well-being so it bears repeating (which you know I do with just about every post 😬👍)

In wellness,
Harry