Posts from — October 2009

I know what seed I am planting, do you?

This article is just so true……….enjoy the read.

 An excerpt from The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them.” Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out.

We become what we think about. Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry – his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing… he becomes nothing. How does it work? Why do we become what we think about?

 Well, I’ll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind. Suppose a farmer has some land, and it’s good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision. We’re comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant. Now, let’s say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land…and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted. As it’s written in the Bible, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” Remember the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants – one corn, one poison. The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant…success…or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal…or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us. You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant. What seed are you planting?

Get Fit From Within

Michelle xx

Hi There,

I had a wonderful training session Saturday with my friend Rae Cattach. We did a shoulder workout that was full of new unique exercises and I must say our shoulders got a great pump. We are both focusing on our training for next years shows and we both know the best bodies are built in the off season.  

We are tailoring our eating plans for off season to ensure we have all the nutrients we need to grow good quality muscle and stay fairly lean. Our eating plans are full of nutrient dense live foods and good quality complex carbohydrates along with EFA’s in each and every meal. With these foods going in daily we will feed our bodies what it requires. Everything we eat will be used by the body for growth and repair. We have designed a great supplement regime to compliment our eating and it is as follows. We will be using Next Generation Mega Pro protein Powder, Next Generation Refuel BCAA’s, Next Generation Megarecovery Glutamine, Next Generation Megamass Forte and our favourte Juice Plus.

If anyone wants more information on our off season plan please don’t hestitate to e-mail us.

Get Fit From Within

Michellexx

Oh my we have come a long way since this shot in 2006. Michelle, David and Rae hamming it up back stage. We always have so much fun when we compete together. Looking forward to doing it again in 2010

Good Morning everyone, I hope you are all well and enjoying your week.

I would like to share a great article on isolated supplements versus whole foods. This article was written to market Nutriplex Formulas by Dr Vic Shayne.

I am passionate about getting my nutrition from whole food sources wherever I can because that is what the body is designed to take in.

Clinical Nutrition

“Whole-Food” Concentrates Versus Isolated Supplements

Your best nutrition will come from “Whole Food”, not synthetic vitamin Supplements?

REFERENCE; Excerpt from Dr. Stephen Byrne’s Newsletter.

As vitamins are only a small part of the nutritional healing picture, I have over several years converted my practice from using isolated and synthetic supplements to using whole-food concentrates. Although there is always much debate about which supplements are best, owing to the large numbers of companies selling them, they are different. Whether one supplement is better than other amounts to the particular physician’s goals, naturalist philosophy and food research data. A “Whole-Food” concentrate is one comprised of foods (not extracts, but entire foods) that have been concentrated into supplemental form.

Isolated supplements are singular (or groups of individual) vitamins, minerals and/or amino acids.

Whole Foods contain vitamins, but isolated vitamins never contain the rest of the whole-food “complex.”

According to Vic Shayne, PhD, author of Whole Food Nutrition: “The Missing Link in Vitamin Therapy”, “Vitamins never exist in isolation, but rather within an interwoven complex of food nutrients and substances along with a myriad of cofactors and synergists.”

For instance, a vitamin A supplement is usually vitamin A palmitate, a synthetic form of vitamin A. Or, the supplement may consist of beta carotene, an isolated precursor to vitamin A. Conversely, a Whole-Food supplement contains the food(s) which not only consists of vitamin A, but particularly vitamin A1; vitamin A2; retino; retinal; retinoic acid; carotenes (there are more than 500 carotenoids in nature); essential fatty acids; fibre; grass factors; pigments; natural sugars; minerals (such as zinc and copper); lipids; bioflavonoid; and nutrients that fall under the broad spectrum of “phytochemicals,” ranging from terpenes to isoflavones.

Doctors using “Whole-Food” concentrates in their nutritional practices look not only for vitamins, but, more importantly, rely on these cofactors to bring the body back into biochemical balance.

Many biochemical researchers, nutritionists and herbalists have noted that without the “Whole-Food” complex, the body will never achieve whole nutrition.

Richard Murray, DC, an avid biochemical researcher and lecturer for the past 30 years, taught that isolated vitamins eventually lead to biochemical imbalances and consequential nutritional deficiencies, as the body is forced to surrender its stores of nutrients in order to make any isolated vitamin work.

Dr. Murray went so far as to state that the use of isolated/synthetic vitamins amounts to the practice of “chemistry,” wherein the use of “Whole-Food” concentrates translates into the practice of “biochemistry”.

“Whole Foods” are alive with enzyme activity, while isolated vitamins are not living substances in the least.

Vitamins do not resemble foods, but they resemble parts of foods. It is the rest of the food complex – the other parts – in which proponents of Whole Foods are interested.

Retired USDA botanist, James Duke, PhD, author of The Green Pharmacy, agrees: “Vitamins and phytochemicals are better taken in their evolutionary context – as they occur in plants – not isolated and out of context.”

Although it is true that isolated vitamin supplementation may “work,” we must define the word “work.”

Certainly, experiments have shown the efficacy of isolated vitamins against symptomatology, but some experts claim that this is a matter of practicing pharmacology, not nutrition.

Nutrition relates to nourishment by “Whole Foods”, not isolated chemicals.

“Whole Foods” work biochemically and harmoniously, while isolated vitamins always run the risk of creating biochemical imbalances.

When speaking of minerals, there is the added risk of toxicity, as minerals must enjoy a biochemical balance to promote health. Zinc; copper; iron; calcium; magnesium; phosphorus; and other minerals are easily upset and offset by an improper ratio of minerals in the body. Taking isolated minerals and mineral toddies, even in a multivitamin /mineral supplement, is a biochemical risk.

Too much magnesium or phosphorus may imbalance calcium; too much copper may imbalance vitamin C; zinc; manganese; molybdenum; vitamin B6; and iron; too much zinc can lead to copper deficiency, and so on. Because nutrients in foods are balanced within the Whole Food complex, the risk of toxicity is very low.

Conversely, trying to balance the body’s biochemistry with isolated mineral and vitamin supplements is very difficult because of the dynamic complexity of the human organism; the daily diet; exposure to environmental poisons; stress factors; genetics, etc.

If my patient needs minerals, I use a “Whole-Food” complex concentrate containing a multitude of plant foods known to be mineral-rich, and also include synergistic vitamins; amino acids; trace mineral activators; and enzymes.

I have found that nature’s design is a safer choice due its inherent intelligence in providing a variety of nutrients, synergists and low dosages. When using Whole-Food concentrates, doctors must realize a paradigm shift and the need to stop regarding foods as chemicals.

We have to give up the reductionist line of thinking and grasp the holistic perspective, understanding that the “more is better” attitude does not apply to food; vitamins; minerals; or amino acids. The quality of the “Whole Food” complex becomes more important than the quantity of individual vitamins, minerals or amino acids.

As with all supplements, buyers beware. If you don’t read and understand what’s on a supplement label, then you may be contradicting yourself to your patients.

The truth is that many companies tout their products as whole foods when they’re offering mixtures of foods along with isolates. And some so-called “whole-food” supplements are not grown in soil, under natural, traditional farming conditions.

The way to tell the difference is rather simple: A “Whole Food” is just that – a food like a carrot, beet, celery or potato flour, for instance.

Isolates are stated on the label by their chemical names, such as vitamin A palmitate; mixed tocopherols; ascorbic acid; pyridoxine; niacin; niacinamide; etc.

By Russell W. Shurtleff, DC. Biochemical Researcher. References (partial list)

1. Shayne, Vic, PhD. Whole Food Nutrition: The Missing Link in Vitamin Therapy, 2000.
2. Begley, Sharon. Beyond vitamins. Newsweek, April 25, 1994.
3. Duke, James, PhD. The Green Pharmacy,Rodale Press, 1997.
4. King, Michael W.,PhD. Dept of Medical Biochemistry, Indiana State University, Nov. 1999.
5. Seibold, Ronald. Cereal grass: what’s in it for you. Wilderness Community Education Foundation, 1990. Journal of the Am Dietetic Assn, 26:668-672.
6. Haas, Elson,MD. Staying Healthy with Nutrition,Celestial Arts Publ., 1999.

Although I don’t use Nutriplex Formulas, I do use another wholefood supplement and this type of supplementation has definitely helped me get into great condition this year as I was getting massive amounts of live nutrients all the way through my competition prep.

Here is a photo of my condition this year and see what you think. I can tell you I could not have built this body so quickly after the birth of Sierra Skye without  getting over 2kg of fresh fruits and vegetables daily right through my entire comp prep.

Get Fit From Within

Michelle xx

Well I have finally fulfilled another goal of mine, which was to make the cover of a fitness magazine. I have gone one better than I thought and I am on the cover of the next issue of HardCore Aussie Muscle which is Australia’s only true bodybuilding magazine.

I am truly honoured to be even considered worthy enough to feature in this magazine along with the likes of legends Rosa- Maria Romero, Warren Clampit and Trevor Huni to name a few. So thank you Craig Lucas and the team for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.

I hope you all like it and please buy this great magazine and support Australian Bodybuilding. It hits stands soon! 

Get Fit From Within

Michelle Nazaroff xx