5 Tips For Healthy Weight Loss

Losing weight can be very hard, but it’s not impossible. Especially with some support and guidance. Below you will find 5 steps to take to change your lifestyle and your waistline. By slowly incorporating a few of these steps, you'll see a positive improvement on your scale, as well as in your joints, with your energy, and even on your lab results. Furthermore, maintaining an appropriate weight can help with blood sugar regulation and cancer prevention.

1. Eat the good stuff. I believe that 70% of weight loss can be achieved through diet. 70%!!!

How: Start now by removing things from sight, because it’s true (for the most part) – out of sight, out of mind. Go around your house and get rid of the pre-packaged meals, sugarcoated candies, extra-salty treats, and foods that seem to never go bad. Keep in mind that the foods that you should be consuming will have an expiry date that likely doesn’t go past a couple of months. And, don't buy them again. If you want a snack, get a snack-sized portion or be willing to eat a little and to immediately throw the rest into the garbage.

Try substituting your cravings for sweets and snacks with dark chocolate, almonds, walnuts, pecans, real shredded coconut, chia seed pudding, chocolate avocado pudding, and plain yogurt with a couple tablespoons of maple syrup. Use sweet potatoes or kale to make chips (just a heads up, kale chips take some practice to make), and try salt and vinegar chickpeas.

2. Eliminate the crap. If your car has a clogged engine, can it run properly? It at least can’t run at its full capacity and neither can you without proper bowel elimination.

Clear that s#*& out of your system. With properly functioning bowels, your body will be able to get rid of the things that it doesn’t need, like excess fat, hormones, drug metabolites, and byproducts of food that you eat, and it will more easily process the good stuff that you’re putting in - likely even giving you more energy.

How: Get enough fibre (think legumes, vegetables, certain grains, and fruit, as well as psyllium, chia seeds, and ground flax seeds) and drink lots of water. Cascara and Senna are natural botanical laxatives. Senna can cause bowel dependence (meaning your bowels might get so used to the effects of Senna that they become lazy and won't work without the Senna), so be sure to closely follow the directions or consult a naturopathic doctor.

In addition, try sweating things out to help you to lose a little water weight and to get your lymph flowing in order to move out those things your body just doesn’t want.

How: Drinks lots of water, drink nettle tea, move your body, breathe deep, try an infrared sauna, learn dry skin brushing, get a massage, and do contrast showers.

3. Put out the fire. Identify food sensitivities and diminish inflammation.

Food sensitivities can cause bloating, constipation, abdominal pain, joint pain, weight gain, and weight retention. How? Interestingly, sometimes your immune system can get out of whack and send out an alarm because it thinks that piece of cheese (for example) that you're eating contains foreign invaders. That alarm starts by hitting the cheese straight on in your gut (causing bloating, gas, and diarrhea), but eventually its message goes haywire, spreads throughout your body, and can hit your joints, intestines, and stomach, causing you further discomfort.

How: IgG blood test, be aware of how your body reacts to certain foods and stop eating them for 6 weeks, try an elimination diet, probiotics, bitters, and digestive enzymes.

Inflammation can also result from/cause autoimmune diseases, degeneration, and chronic disease. The best way to help your body through these situations, is to keep the disease under control.

How: Be diligent with your medications, don't place unnecessary strain on your joints, try glucosamine and chondroitin for cartilage regeneration, NEM for joint pain, and curcumin is also well-researched for its anti-inflammatory effects.

4. Move your butt (and the rest of your body). I know you're in pain, but start out small and eventually you will be moving big. It's an unfortunate situation where pain will stop you from exercising, but I promise that a little bit of the right exercise will help your pain. However, don't overdo it. Start small (meaning a limited amount of time and impact), then grow from there. I highly recommend consulting a professional who understands your condition before jumping into an exercise routine. This could be a naturopathic doctor, medical doctor, physiotherapist, personal trainer, or possibly your exercise class instructor. Whatever your chosen activity, aim for a goal of around 150 minutes a week. This varies depending on your exercise capacity and specific health conditions, so again, check with a knowledgable health care provider.

How: Pick one! Swimming, exercise classes (aerobics, boxing, step), zumba, walking, gardening, hiking, biking, sports, yoga, dance, weight lifting, or get a personal trainer.

Check youtube.com, apps, and search for online routines. Simply google search "7 minute workout" and apps, youtube videos, and written exercise routines will pop-up. Again, before beginning, consider talking to a health care professional to ensure that your chosen exercise is good for you.

5. Begin working on decreasing the stress in your life. Stress raises levels of a hormone called cortisol. High and prolonged levels of cortisol can increase appetite (especially for comfort foods) and reduces your body's ability to burn calories (2). Basically, your body is eating more, but burning less energy. Furthermore, it has been studied that cortisol is responsible for weight gain particularly around the abdomen.

How: Calm.com, diminish contact with people who stress you out, choose the feeling of happiness over stress (check out this book), re-prioritize to focus on yourself first (as opposed to work, children, partners, etc), take a vacation, spend time in nature, get some extra sleep, meditate, seek professional guidance (cognitive behavioural therapy, psychotherapy, psychiatrist, lifestyle coach, ND, etc), try out an adult colouring book, check out some herbal teas (valerian, passionflower, hops, chamomile, Melissa), cut back on activities.

In Conclusion

If you have excess pounds on your body, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, joint pain, and/or fatigue, there is something you can do about it besides medicate and treat the symptoms. Hit the problem at its source and choose to be healthy. Tweak your lifestyle to include eating smart, encouraging proper elimination through bowels, skin, and lymph, lowering inflammation in the body, exercising, and decreasing stress. No, it's not always easy, but that's why I'm here to nudge you along and to provide you with sage advice (haha plant joke!). It will be a bit of a struggle, but when all is said and done, you will have more energy, be more mobile, be pain-free, and have more happiness in your life.

How? Try some of the above and/or come book with me.

References:

1. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_adults/en/

2. http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/science/article/pii/S0739724016300340

#weightloss #cancerprevention #resolution #health #exercise