The Schwarzbein Principle Journey

[BlessedMama]

I thought I'd start a thread and share tidbits from her books, and if any of you are following Schwarzbein and want to share your experiences, please do!

I had found her books 3 1/2 years ago (probably due to the forums here, LOL!)

In the spring of 2008, I tried to do her program. I wasn't 100% perfect, but I was headed that way. At that time I noticed some things improving--the mental fog was better and although I didn't lose much inch-wise, I lost another size and got off a plateau I had been on for awhile.

Unfortunately, I got busy helping my mom get her house ready to sell and move her, and SP (for Schwarzbein Principle) fell by the wayside.

Over the next 2 years I had more stress hit my life (miscarriage, sick kids, losing grandparents and Mom within 8 months of each other). Now I'm ready to try to do it again, but I fully expect my transition will have some bumps this time. I'm not 100% sure where I fit, but adrenals burned out or close is probably me!

The Schwarzbein Principle II: The Transition is probably the most comprehensive of the books:

http://www.amazon.com/Schwarzbein-Pr...4063424&sr=8-1

(The sample at Amazon gives you just a taste of the first chapter and only gives you the very first paragraph of her own story! Her story and that of others are interwoven throughout the book.)

The first book (The Schwarzbein Principle) is very informative and also tells her story of how she "discovered" all this.

The Transition gives you a lot of why with a lot of how!

The Program (the third book) outlines a typical program for several weeks. All three books give you menu plans and ideas. I would highly recommend you start with one of the first two books before just getting The Program.

Reading "Metabolic Aging" at the bottom of p. 4 and top of p. 5 is very helpful! (That is on Amazon)

Dr. S was a skinny girl who still had a damaged metabolism. Your size is not necessarily your indicator!

We started discussing SP on this thread:

http://forum.t-tapp.com/showthread.p...d-Thing!/page3

That page is where we started talking about it and there are some quotes on there.

I'll be posting some quotes from The Transition and maybe her other books, too.

I guess this will be a "journey" of sorts, where I'm going to be accountable to how I'm doing. I've wanted to do this, but have been dragging my feet at figuring out what to eat!

I won't be perfect--I know that. I wasn't before, but still could tell it was helping. But I really believe, just like T-Tapp, that if I stay consistent, I will see results eventually! Dr. S. says it can take up to two years to heal your metabolism, depending how bad off you are to start! Her own journey took several years, but she was kind of figuring out some things as she went, and didn't fully understand it all until she was on "the other side".

On pp. 12-13 she has a wonderful short section called Understanding Your Metabolism. I don't want to quote the whole thing, but here are a few paragraphs to "chew on"!


"This combination of using up and rebuilding biochemicals is called regeneration. Think of it this way--every time you breathe, think, go for a walk, read a book, eat a meal, watch a movie or do any other activity during your day, you are using up biochemicals. Your body must then rebuild the same biochemicals so that you can engage in all your life activities again. What you use up you must replenish, and you get the materials you need to rebuild your biochemicals from the food you eat.

"The sum of these regeneration reactions, all the using-up reactions plus all the building-up reactions that are occurring, is what you know as your metabolism. You have an efficient metabolism if all of these chemical reactions are occurring on a continuous basis and you rebuild just as many biochemicals as you use up.

"Every system and funciton in the body is connected, so when these chemical reactions occur efficiently your metabolism runs efficiently, helping you reach your preset genetic age. When regeneration is not efficient (use is greater than rebuilding, or rebuilding occurs more than using up), premature disease and death occur because of accelerated metabolic aging."

(The Transition, pp. 12-13)


I confess right now that I am not off to a good start today! Homemade cocoa wheats are just NOT on the SP protocol!

But I'm going to sit down over the next few days and figure out a workable menu for me, as we go shopping this Thursday. Dh is interested in doing this too--now he is a beanpole, an active construction guy, BUT, he is noticing some "signs of aging" that might be reversed through this. We discussed last night how his serious accident 6 years ago likely did a major hit on his adrenals.

It sure helps when those in the household are willing to help!

If any of you have quotes you particularly found helpful, please feel free to share! I feel Dr. S is to the diet/eating what Teresa is to exercise/movement! Dr. S. is about BALANCE, not deprivation, and her mantra, which I LOVE is:

"You have to eat well to feel well, and you don't lose weight to get healthy--you get healthy to lose weight!"

Your "assignment": Write that out and paste it to your mirror...your computer...above the kitchen sink...until you have it memorized forwards and backwards!

[Callicrowe]

Trisch,
I got all three books from the library, then ordered the third one from Amazon. Sounds like maybe I need to order the second one as well, although I haven't read the third one yet. I did read most of the first.

I will be following this with interest, but am not sure at this point what I will do with it. My diet is pretty close already, so I want to see how I might tweak it to make it better.

You can do this! Step by step...

[OzFriend]

Trisch,

This sounds very helpful. I know you've mentioned this before in other threads and I keep telling myself I need to check it out but I've never gotten around to do it. Now you've just given me push I needed.

I started T-Tapp not just because I want to lose weight but also because I know I need to look after myself better. I live under a lot of stress that is not going to go away. At first I thought it was selfish to take time I don't have to do good things for me but then I realized I can't look after my family if I don't look after myself. T-Tapp has really helped, I now feel stronger, less tired and my back has been rehabed in a major way. But that is just the beginning and it sounds like the Schwarzbein Principle might be what I need to continue my journey. From reading around the forums I think my adrenals might be compromised (no surprise really) and I really want a diet and lifestyle change that is going to support all of me, not just help me lose weight.

So off to buy the books and I'll keep you posted when I receive them.

[just7]

As you know---I'm on this journey with you, Sister!! (Need to get out the cookbook and make some plans!)

I'm reading the 1st book and the Program book in tandem together right now. I need to make a list of what we would eat in each category---Fats, Proteins, etc. Then I need to put a list beside those of what 2 of my children need to avoid. THEN---we need to come up with menus for every meal!!!!

A definite work in progress. I'll post quotes as I read that really speak to me!

[MiPaloma]

I thought I'd start a thread and share tidbits from her books, and if any of you are following Schwarzbein and want to share your experiences, please do!

Well, Trisch, I can say that each time I've visited her site to read this tidbit or the other, I've been impressed with the logic of her voice.

I think, though, that I haven't wrapped my brain around the nuts and bolts of what she's saying, foundationally, to be able to grasp the whole concept.

Perhaps reading the books would do that for me, eh?

[just7]

Could be, Angi. I know that I have a hard time reading online after a while. Plus---I like to write things down, write in the margins, underline. A df let me borrow one of her books and she had earmarked some pages (quite a few) and wrote a key word on the flap to help her find things easily. I thought it was a great idea!

[BlessedMama]

Angie, I agree with Jennifer! Teresa always says Tappers like to be "in the know" and she loves to educate us! So, of course that transfers over to other areas of health, too. That's why I love the way Dr. S. explains what's going on, why you're feeling what you're feeling (especially during the transition phase). One of the reasons she wrote the second book is people read the first book and got the idea that insulin was bad and went too far that way trying to get their insulin down. So she felt a more comprehensive book explaining more of the mechanics of it all--nuts and bolts, as you said!

It flies in the face of many diets out there, even seemingly "good" ones. Like many of you, I don't want to just lose weight or get smaller--I want to be healthy now AND in 30 years! And 40! If I can live to be 120, I want it to be the most healthy 120 I can be!

Any of you reading the books, feel free to add quotes that really helped you.

Peggy, I know you've been addressing your eating, and I know I may not be able to be 100% consistent with this, but whatever changes I make have to be good! And if you have read the other books to understand what's going on, you'll be okay with the third one. Although I refer to the first and second one a lot when I'm looking things up! That gets comical--"WHERE did I read that? Was it in The Program? The Transition? I'm sure it was in this one....nope! The FIRST one!" LOLOL!

[Anna Louise]

I'm going to watch this thread! Thanks Trish!

[Callicrowe]

Well, after my first "allergy elimination" session today I am more motivated to pursue this. From discussions we've had here, plus research I've done, I was pretty sure my adrenals were compromised to some degree. When Sandi muscle-tested me for all the different organs and systems (kidneys, lungs, etc), the only one that I was weak on was the adrenals. She mentioned some things that I might experience with that (fatigue, moodiness, irritability, etc) and I was nodding my head the whole time. I think I've already recovered to a great degree, as the symptoms are all mild, but now I have another confirmation that this is a real issue for me.

In this first session she tested for some common food allergies and I tested sensitive to several, including dairy, sugar, corn and some other grain (maybe wheat... not sure), soy, artificial "stuff", not sure what else. So I got my first "elimination" session for those things. It's a very interesting process. She said that people who have hives as a symptom, though, are difficult because it's usually an auto-immune problem that triggers the outbreaks. But, they have about 85% success with either totally eliminating symptoms or reducing them considerably. I'll be doing this every Monday for the next several weeks, possibly up to 15 sessions. I'm hopeful.

Oh, and my Vitamin D test came back at 99! I've been taking 10,000 IU for the past three weeks, so she said to cut back to 5,000. She doesn't want it to get any higher. (I've been taking 5,000 a day for several months. My last test was 46).

I know, some of this isn't directly relevant to Schwarzbein but in a way it's all connected, isn't it? We are complex beings! So, I'm going to order the second book tonight. I should probably just go ahead and get them all! They're pretty reasonable on Amazon.

[BlessedMama]

Good going on your vitamin D!!!! And yes, it's ALL interrelated!

I got out my copy of The Program, and she does explain some in there what all is going on. But if someone really wants to understand the why behind the how, The Transition is the best one!


Glad you're finding out about the food allergies--which, are also directly related to the adrenals!