HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS AND IMPROVING BODY COMPOSITION (PART III) – THE FIX
What helps us have a healthy body composition, overcome our food addictions, and subsequently lose weight?
1) To begin with, we need will power; that’s for sure. There is no magic pill, no easy fix. We need to realize that food addiction is like any other kind of addiction: tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, etc. We need to be conscious in every decision we make about what we put into our bodies, every time, realizing it is our choice. Also, and perhaps MOST importantly, we need to be patient and loving with ourselves. We must understand and accept that change happens gradually. After a long time in meditation, Buddha realized that he didn’t need to transform himself, he just needed to be kind to himself. I believe that the greatest transformation happens when we learn to be kind to ourselves.
2) We need to increase our metabolism, our basal metabolic rate. This means increasing metabolic tissue, i.e. muscle! How do we build muscle? We exercise! There are so many kinds of safe exercise, and all are good. The main thing is to find one that you will do consistently! Here are some examples:
Resistance Training – working with weights or bands to increase muscle strength and size.
Aerobic Exercise – bicycling, running, dancing, aerobic movement classes.
Interval Training – a mixture of short bursts of intensive exercise to rapidly increase heart rate, combined with interim slower aerobic movement. This form of exercise increases insulin growth factor (IGF) production by the liver. The more IGF, the more efficiently we burn fat, and build muscle:
On a stationary bike or treadmill, for example, after a 2-3 minute warm-up at a steady – but not strenuous – pace, you walk, run, or pedal as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds, followed by a normal, steady pace for 90 seconds. After 8 rounds of 30/90 second intervals, you finish with another 3-5 minute warm-down.
In order for the IGF to stay circulating, it’s important that you do not eat any grains or sugars within the first hour after your training. Interval training not only increases your metabolism while you’re doing it, but if done regularly will increase your daily metabolism.
Yoga – is another wonderful form of exercise that incorporates strength training, flexibility and meditation. It is not only good for the body, but also good for the brain. Yoga exercises incorporate many balance postures that enhance cerebellar function and neuronal plasticity. This keeps us well coordinated and steady on our feet. It has also been well documented that meditation helps enhance mood and reduce stress, thereby helping keep our stress hormones in balance, further helping us to lose extra pounds and maintain healthy weight.
These are just a few examples of the wide variety of exercise activities from which you can choose. As I mentioned earlier, the point is to find what works for YOU – and stay with it. It could be swimming, dancing, running or speed walking; just make sure your exercise challenges you! When I see people at the gym on a bicycle, chewing gum and reading while pedaling at an easy pace, not a drop of perspiration on their bodies, I can’t help but think, “what’s the point?” One is much better off committing to an intensive 20-30 minute exercise routine 3-4 days per week, than a daily hour-long bicycling, gum-chewing routine. The only thing that’s being exercised there is the jaw, and that will definitely not help with weight loss, unless, of course, one’s jaw is too tired to actually eat afterwards.
AND REMEMBER: Whenever you embark on a new exercise regime, it’s a good idea to go slow, and an even better one to check with your health care professional to make sure the fitness regime you choose is the correct and safe one for you.
3) We need to eat the right kinds of food; that means real food:
Proteins – we need protein to build muscle, but it should come from lean sources: fish, nuts, legumes, lean, grass-fed, organic beef, or free-range, hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken.
Foods that burn fat – we need good fats to burn fat: coconut oil, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, avocados. These actually increase your metabolism and help you burn fat faster, but you only need them in small amounts: ¼ cup or a handful of nuts for example, not a cup or several handfuls. Also green tea, hot peppers, and celery help to increase metabolism and burn fat. You can easily find lists of fat-burning foods on the Internet.
Vegetables – lots of them! Vegetables provide us with phytonutrients: plant nutrients that are important for cell protection. They are rich in antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory. They help support liver detoxification, and decrease cancer risk. They give us energy!
Specific Nutrients – There are several nutrients that help with increased insulin sensitivity and better glucose utilization for energy. Here are just a few: Alpha lipoic acid, Cinnamon, Gymnema Sylvestre, Fennugreek, Chromium Nicotinate, Biotin, Acetyl-l-Carnitine, CoQ10, Irvingia Gabonensis, Garlic, Green Tea, Vitamin D, Gingko. One doesn’t have to take all of them, and I strongly recommend working with an experienced health care professional to determine which ones can best meet your specific needs.
Gastrointestinal Health – A healthy gut relies on having a good balance of pro and pre- biotics in ones diet. Probiotics such as acidophilus and bifidobacteria and others are found in fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, and coconut kefir. Prebiotics are found in foods like garlic, leeks, onions, dandelion greens, radicchio, and endive. They feed the healthy probiotics. Polyphenols in red and purple foods such as berries, grapes, red cabbage and beets help encourage the bacteriodetes microbes in the gut. This increases the ratio of good to bad bacteria, making it easier to lose weight.
Hormone Balance – To improve hormone balance we need, as much as possible, to avoid endocrine disruptors, the xenoestrogens found in our environment: plastic food containers and water bottles, pesticides, coated sales receipts, birth control pills, IUDs with progestins, and conventionally raised animals such as beef and chicken that have been injected with synthetic hormones. We need to eat organic, as much as is feasible and affordable. There are sites on the Internet listing which non-organic foods are the most and least toxic. Generally, if a fruit or vegetable has a thick skin or rind, like bananas, melons and avocados, one doesn’t need to worry as much about pesticides getting into the fruit. But foods like berries, tomatoes and lettuces are much more vulnerable and should only be eaten if organic. Other ways to keep hormones in balance are exercise, meditation, and avoiding excessive carb consumption.
What gets in the way?
Habits/addiction – We are creatures of habit. It’s always very difficult to break or change an undesirable habit in the beginning. So what do we do? We create a NEW habit. Instead of having a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, have organic yogurt, fruit and nuts every morning, or eggs and steamed spinach, or a rice cake with nut butter and fruit. Little by little you will develop healthier habits. Also, when changing habits it’s a good idea to plan ahead so there’s less likelihood of falling back into the old, unwanted habit. Regarding addiction, as I said before, one really has to go cold turkey. We DO have to eat, but we DON’T have to eat sugar or bread.
Peer pressure and family – Much of the time people get used to you the way you are and don’t want you to change, often because they feel THEY have to change as well. So one must be careful not to act holier-than-thou while opting for the healthier life style. You can say: “my doctor told me to…” or “ it just makes me feel happier.”
Knowing what to do, what to buy, how to cook – That’s where having a knowledgeable health care professional comes in; especially in the beginning, when you’re likely to need some help figuring out what to eat, when, how much, which nutrients, which gut support, etc. Then, once you’re on the right track and you’ve changed your lifestyle, you can be on your own!
How to change and implement…
“Add a little to a little and you get a great big heap.”
I recommend taking things one-step-at-a-time, starting with reduced grain consumption. Depending on how severe the extra weight, blood lipids and blood sugar are, I usually recommend only 1 serving of grain/day; i.e. 1 piece of whole grain bread, ½ cup of rice, 1 rice cake, 1 tortilla. And if one needs to satisfy the starchy desire one can also have ½ sweet or Yukon gold potato, beets, carrots or squash. Also, if you can do it at the same time, avoid all sugar.
Eat LOTS more vegetables. One can find fabulous recipes online by simply typing in a few vegetables. One site I especially like is YUMMLY.
Next you might want to reduce your dairy and/or animal consumption (meaning the ones with the hormones and antibiotics in them).
After few weeks, try adding a little exercise. Perhaps yoga once a week, walking, or bicycling.
After another month you can start to exercise twice a week. The more you do it, the better you’ll feel, and the more you’ll want to do it.
Feeling and being healthy can be addictive as well; endorphins are released that make us feel good. But keep in mind that it’s a healthy addiction, and that’s OK! And remember, one-step-at-a-time is still moving you closer to your goal.
I hope this blog series has been helpful to you, and that you feel inspired to make some BIG changes, little-by-little; and to, above all, be kind to yourself!