The majority of us live with the idea that slavery is a dark memory of our nation’s past. That the days when innocent lives were forced to work or sexually exploited are long behind us. Well, the sad reality is that now more then ever slavery thrives and is all around us, but in the shadows.
Just to give you an idea of the gravity of the situation here are some of the numbers. In the United States cases of human trafficking are found in all 50 states, and almost every country.
It is estimated that more than 40 million people are forced to live in modern slavery, 25 million of which are in forced labor situations. And worse is that almost 5 million women are forced into sexual exploitation. This is a life many are forced to endure all their lives, so much so that 15 million victims are forced into marriages against their will.
This raise in Human Trafficking will only keep worsening unless we stand together and fight for those who can not defend themselves. We can read in the pages of scripter the need to be advocates for weak, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” –Proverbs 31:8-9
I know there is an army of believers willing to fight for these children who need to be rescued but the issue many have is they are not aware of the signs showing someone is a current victim of human trafficking.
What are some of the signs to look for to give you a clue that someone needs your help? Well here are some of the key signals to keep in mind:
- Victims will usually avoid direct eye contact with others.
- They will be mostly silent and not allowed to speak for themselves.
- Their physical appearance may seem uncared for, unclean or malnourished
- They may be working or living in locations where there is unusual levels of security like dark tinted windows, gates, cameras or guard dogs.
These are signs that we should look out for but it’s important to not confront the problem alone. The traffickers who are responsible for these victims will be armed and willing to hurt anyone which is why bringing your concerns to the police or non-profit organizations like Zoe International is the right plan of action.
Zoe International and its supporters have taken on the mission to finally end human trafficking with the ultimate goal of reaching every person & rescuing every child. Zoe does this in 3 steps, Prevention, Rescue & Restoration.
The prevent human trafficking by bringing awareness to the very real issue that’s on the rise on a global scale. They Rescue victims in collaboration with local law enforcement when a victim is brought to their attention. And the Restoration of victims is just as important, this is done by bringing them to a safe house to receive specialized care, love, and support.
The mission to end Human Trafficking will take a tribe, a global community to support the effort. Become part of the solution and team up with Zoe Internation. Click the link below to learn of all the different ways you help save a life today!
Do this the smart way by having a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of MCT oil for breakfast. MCT or Medium-chain triglyceride is a healthy fat found in coconuts. It is a shorter-chain fat that by-passes the digestive system and goes straight to the liver where it is converted into Ketones. You can find a great brand on the recommendations page of the Burn it Nutrition website. MCT will help increase your cognitive ability and blunt your hunger for hours. You want to try and fast for most of the day, but if your treat meal happens to be a late dinner, then have your workout and after that’s done, have a very light meal. Maybe make yourself a small chicken salad or a Protein shake with MCT oil.
This is one of the most crucial strategies to implement. When you train fasted, especially with higher intensity exercises, you force your body to tap into its stored energy and deplete muscle glycogen. Glycogen is a stored form of glucose which comes from the breakdown of carbohydrate. Depleting your muscular glycogen before a carb-up meal with a fasted workout frees up room for the carbs that will be consumed later. Consuming a higher carb meal with full glycogen stores will cause excess glucose to be stored as fat. (4) Ideally, its best to do your fasted workout right before the carb-up meal to increase muscle growth, but if that’s not possible, then at least make sure it’s done sometime before the treat meal.
Take your time and savor every bite! You have been anticipating this meal for some time, so slow down and enjoy the delightful pleasures of being alive. Startup interesting conversation with your dinner guest and use them as small breaks to your feasting. Slowing down the pace of how you eat should allow your brain to catch up with your stomach and get the signals that you are getting full and should stop eating. Try to be aware of changes in how you feel while eating these different foods. Make a mental note on how your energy and mood changes. Many will notice that they don’t feel as good as when they first sat down to eat. Use this as a reminder next time you are fighting an urge to have an uncontrolled cheat meal. 
Paleo helped me begin a process of detoxification at a cellular level. This is where I feel I really began my transformation from the inside out and truly started to see progress. I stopped eating processed junk like chips, cookies, and fast food and started to include more fruits, veggies, and healthy homemade meals, but I wasn’t focused on low-carb. I saw a big improvement in my body scan results and also in the mirror. I wasn’t just eating healthier paleo friendly foods but I was also doing heavy resistance training in the gym. My friends and family began to really start to notice that I was losing weight and getting in better shape. You will see in the scans below that I was able to maintain my muscle mass while also burning away 12.7 lbs. of pure fat mass. This was from the end of month 3, through month 5. This started to give me a more muscular aesthetic since I wasn’t just getting skinny, I was strengthing my muscular frame. Resistance training was key to my body transformation. It helped accelerate the process of change in my body, begging the shift from obese to getting fit and strong. But I wasn’t done, I kept reading and learning which lead me to discover the Ketogenic diet.
I wanted to keep seeing results; I firmly believe you should never stop learning, never stop trying to progress, so I decided to give keto a try. This shift into the ketogenic diet took a total different approach that I previously never heard of. But I was willing to give it a try, so one of the big shifts I made in the next 4 months was to cut out almost all the fruits and starchy veggies that I was eating on the paleo diet. The theory behind keto was to reduce my carbohydrates low enough that I allow my body to shift engines. Going from a toxic and inefficient sugar burner to a ketone fueled fat burning machine. It took some time to adjust but after the first 2 weeks, I felt a shift in my energy and focus that changed everything. This new upgraded way of using nutrition, allowed me to be free from my ravenous hunger. The shift happened once my body became fat adapted and was now able to use the healthy fats on my plate and on my body as its main fuel source.
My whole life I have had issues with what felt like never-ending hunger. I felt like I was never satisfied and could snack all day. Always dealing with that constant cycle of thinking about my next meal. Well now that was finally gone; Keto essentially blunted my hunger naturally without the use of any artificial diet pills or surgeries. It allowed me to be in a caloric deficit while still giving my metabolism the nourishing fuel it was asking for through mostly healthy fats & veggies and a moderate amount of protein. I had come a long way from the start of my body transformation and was truly happy with the results. I noticed a big change in my overall daily energy and mood. My gym workouts also improved and my indigestion, that I have had for years, finally went away. My relationships improved since I was never hangry (hungry/angry). This may be TMI, but my sex drive/endurance increased. Also, my focus and cognitive ability improved and all this was most likely from the healthy fats that keto included. I know that I still have more weight to lose but I am not going to wait until I hit my “ideal weight” to be happy with my results. That’s one crucial shift in mentality that I learned along the way. You must enjoy the journey, for it is in the Process of your transformation that the important changes will happen. Those are the inner changes that will make you happy in the end.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst when we applied the flawed 1950s research of a scientist named Ancel Keys. When the government changed the dietary regulations to support his hypothesis is when obesity and diabetes become a widespread problem. Keys inaccurate study began to convince many that fat was the enemy, and so people began to avoid it at all costs. They began to look for low-fat everything at the stores, and the food manufacturers caught on. Over the years, we started eating higher amounts of processed carbs, increasing the levels of sugar addition and starting our nation’s battle with obesity and diabetes. Thanks to the internet, people are starting to get educated, learning the importance of real whole food, the truth about dietary fats and the real benefits of cholesterol. (4)
Now Let’s dive into my blood work results to compare a few changes that occurred when I shifted into keto. One thing I would like to mention is that I followed a modified ketogenic diet. I have found that this version of keto is much more attainable than the very strict method that is used to treat people with epilepsy or cancer. I was still able to get the majority of the health benefits and enjoy a bit more starchier veggies. Also, since I was doing heavy resistance training, I gave myself the ability to eat a bit more protein to rebuild my muscle mass.
So, let’s talk about the results from my advanced lipid panel. The results from the third column were taken first. Up to this point, I was eating a higher carb modified paleo diet. I was consuming higher amounts of fruits and other starchy carbs. I also would have rice during this stage since I am not dogmatic about my paleo method, remember I was doing this for weight loss not to be a paleo radical. Looking at the first set of results I will say that overall the numbers are great!! The one that jumped out at me was the LDL Pattern B.
If a person who has already developed insulin resistance continues along the same diet and lifestyle that got them there, then they will most likely develop Type 2 Diabetes. Many studies have shown that this will increase the risk of heart disease (2) some by up to 93%! Type 2 Diabetes is starting to become a global problem as more and more countries begin to adopt the convenience of the Western diet that provides fast and cheap meals. For decades people sacrificed the quality of their food just to save time and money and the effects are starting to show. There are other serious diseases that are linked to insulin resistance, some are Metabolic Syndrome, PCOS, Alzheimer’s and even cancer. (3)
One of the best ways to know if you have this serious problem of insulin resistance is to have your doctor run a fasting insulin test. Unfortunately, these can be a bit pricey, so if that’s not an option then just look down and take a look at your belly size. If your currently obese and have increased belly fat like I did, then most likely you have a form of insulin resistance. Another more accurate way to see if you have insulin resistance is to check your ratio of Triglycerides to HDL cholesterol. You can do this by having your doctor run a standard lipid panel, then divide the number of triglycerides by the number of HDL-C and if the result is greater than 3.0 then you may have Insulin Resistance. There is also a link between skin tags as a possible sign of insulin resistance. So, if you have more than three skin tags that have recently shown up, then consider insulin resistance as a possible cause.
Just to give you an idea of why insulin is such a big factor for weight loss we can look at people with type 1 diabetes. These people are born with a pancreas that unfortunately can’t produce insulin. In some of them, a clue to their diagnosis was that they were thin, tired and had trouble putting on weight. An untreated Type 1 Diabetic can eat and eat but they don’t put on much weight. This is because they don’t have the ability to secrete the hormone insulin that is needed for the use and storage of energy. This is a big problem for Type 1’s because they don’t get the nutrients their cells need and so they have to inject themselves with insulin to be able to absorb the nourishment. The majority of us living in modern cultures have the opposite problem, we have too much insulin being secreted leading to issues with insulin cell receptors.
