Steps to Healthy Weight Loss

Interested in healthy weight loss? The holidays are fast approaching and we all will be tempted by high-sugar, high-fat treats. On average, people gain 7 to 15 lbs over this time of the year. Not only that, but this high sugar intake depletes our immune systems, leaving us more vulnerable to seasonal colds and flu’s. This guideline is meant to encourage you to stick to your healthy eating plan, to stay healthy, and to avoid the weight gain, or even drop some unwanted pounds.

Causes of Weight Gain

In addition to taking in too many calories for our bodies’ needs, excess weight can be caused by several different factors. Most people with weight struggles have a combination of these: liver stress / toxicity, adrenal / thyroid fatigue, and digestive deficiency. (In Oriental Medicine diagnostics, these would equate to Liver Qi Stagnation, Damp-Heat in the Middle, Spleen deficiency with Dampness, and Kidney deficiency.)

Steps to Successful Weight Loss

In addition to the appropriate acupuncture and herbal regimen, the following guidelines are essential to help correct these imbalances, and shed excess weight. The more of these steps you follow, the more you will benefit.

Reduce your stress levels:

Take up yoga, meditation, prayer-work, breath-work; whatever helps you manage your stress. This is #1 for a reason. If reducing your stress means changing your career / job, relationship, or residence, then you should consider doing so.

Why? Aside from halting weight loss, and promoting fat gain, stress is a killer! It is a major precipitator of all forms of disease and dysfunction in the body. Stress puts a burden on the adrenals, which weakens the thyroid, and causes cortisol release, wreaking havoc with hormonal balance, and adding belly fat. Stress also impedes the processes of the liver, which is vital for detoxification, blood sugar balance, hormonal balance and metabolism. Lastly, stress makes us crave junk food & refined / processed carbs and leads to overeating.

Sleep 8 hours every night:

Why? Enough sleep allows the body to recharge and renew itself. Without it, the adrenals, thyroid and liver become depleted. Too little sleep also adds more stress into the system. Plus, we tend to crave junk food and overeat when we are tired.

Walk at least 30 minutes every day, after a meal:

after lunch or dinner, or both. This is in addition to any other exercise you are currently doing. Why? The light, low-impact, rhythmic movement of walking after meals promotes digestion and stokes metabolism. This is not about burning a lot of calories, so you don’t have to walk fast.

Drink enough water:

Women, 64-96 oz daily. Men, 80-112 oz daily. This should be filtered or purified water. No added flavors other than fresh squeezed lemon, lime or sliced cucumber. (After about 10 days, your body will get used to the water, and you won’t have to run to the restroom so often.) Why?  Studies show that increasing water consumption boosts metabolism, aids in detoxification of liver and kidneys, assists hormonal balance, decreases aches and pains (inflammation) and calms excessive hunger.

Have a snack between meals: Do not allow yourself to get too hungry:

If you are feeling hunger pangs between meals, eat a handful of nuts, some fresh fruit, a clean protein shake, or some fresh veggie sticks.

Why? Allowing ourselves to get very hungry drops blood sugar too much, causes adrenal and liver stress, and leads to poor food choices and overeating when we do eat again.

Limit caffeine intake:

to 1 cup daily of organic coffee or tea, before 10 am. Why? More than this stresses the adrenals and liver, releasing stress hormones that throw off blood sugar levels, making us crave sugar and adding belly fat.

Follow the “50/25/25 meal plate” at your 3 main meals per day:

Visualize dividing your plate into 4 quarters:

50% (2 quarters) of your meal is vegetables: raw, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, roasted – it doesn’t matter – it just needs to be vegetables (not corn or peas). Do not add cheese or creamy dressings to your vegetables. You may add dressing made of balsamic vinegars, herbs, spices and raw flaxseed oil or hot sauces (if they don’t contain sugar.) For roasting or sautéing use grass-fed ghee, sesame oil, coconut oil or authentic virgin olive oil.

Why? Vegetables are nature’s perfect health & diet food; Low in calories and fat, while being high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and anti-cancer properties, as well as countless phyto-nutrients that assist the thousands of processes that our bodies and organs must perform everyday.

25% (one quarter) of your meal is clean protein: (about 4-6 oz) all animal protein must be ORGANIC and GRASS-FED or FREE-RANGE. Any fish must be WILD CAUGHT. You may also choose gluten-free, vegetarian protein options such as whole cooked beans, nuts, organic tempeh/tofu, or a clean sugar-free protein powder. Any dairy must be ORGANIC and GRASS-FED. Any eggs must be ORGANIC and CAGE-FREE.

Why? Animal-based foods that are not organic, grass-fed, free-range and wild-caught have higher concentrations of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, PCB’s, dioxins and other toxins, due to the biomagnification of fat soluble toxins as they travel up the food chain. All soy products must be organic because non-organic soy is genetically-modified.

25% (one quarter) of your plate is either Wheat-free, Whole-food Starch or Fresh Whole

Fruit: Wheat-free, whole-food starches include: Baked sweet potato, yam, acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash; or Slow-cooked brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, buckwheat, or oatmeal.

Why? These are the most healthful, lowest glycemic starchy carbs. Contrary to popular fad “low carb” diets, our bodies actually need high quality whole-food starches to perform optimally. Low-carb diets stress the liver, gallbladder, thyroid, adrenals and hormonal processes.

Eliminate:

alcohol, sugars of all types (except for whole fresh fruit), sweets and sweeteners of all types (other than stevia), hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fats), all flour-containing products such as breads, tortillas, chips, pretzels, crackers, as well as instant oatmeal or other instant cereals/grains. Also avoid all artificial colors, flavors and preservatives (as much as possible!)

Why? All of these products burden the liver and adrenals, and wreak havoc with blood sugar balance, slowing down or halting fat burning, and making us crave junk food.

Notice if you are sabotaging your own weight loss:

If you find that you are eating in response to negative emotion, then seek counseling or coaching to help you resolve the emotional issue, and find healthier ways to manage stress. Why? Many emotional-eaters have experienced an abuse, major loss or trauma in the past that precipitated overeating. If this is true for you, you must address and resolve this before you will be able to shed the weight for good.

Taking it to the Next Level

Those who are the most successful at dropping and maintaining their weight also incorporate these things:

1. Use the free My Fitness Pal to track calorie intake. It includes a program to determine how many calories you need per day. In general, meals should be between 300-400 calories (women) or 500-600 calories (men) and snacks between 100-200 (women) or 200-300 (men). More than this at any one sitting usually gets stored as fat.
   

2. Plan your meals! Know each day what and when you are going to be eating. Get creative! Try new tasty, vegetable-heavy recipes, such as salads, soups, stir-fries, and green smoothies.
   

3. Maintain a positive attitude. Realize this is a day-by-day process. Successful, long-term weight loss is not a quick fix. You will slip up, and hit plateau’s. It is important to stay positive and keep on going.
   

4. Stick with it. It can sometimes take 2-3 months on this program before you see significant change. This is because you are feeding your body vital nutrients and rest that it may have been lacking for many years; often the body needs time to heal and detoxify before it is “willing” to release excess weight. Be patient. Have faith, know that you doing the right thing for your body. Even if you can’t see the changes externally yet, your body is getting healthier.
   

5. Add a regular routine of resistance training, cardio and/or yoga. A regular fitness routine will help tremendously. Building muscle revves up the metabolism, tones the body, greatly helps to balance blood sugar, and decreases the aches and pains of everyday life. It also keeps us more mobile and able to do things as we age.

Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and healthful Holiday Season!

#food #health #nutrition #weightloss

Reflections, New Perspectives & Wishes for New Year

I just returned from an unexpected trip to New Mexico to help a good friend who has just been diagnosed with cancer. When I lived in New Mexico, over 10 years ago, this friend was a sister to me, and her parents my family. So, when the news arrived of her diagnosis, and that she could use some assistance following abdominal surgery, I wanted to be there to help in her day-to-day care, to be a moral support, and to share with her the information I have learned over the last 3 years regarding diet and lifestyle for cancer care.

Much time was spent happily preparing organic, vegan meals for her and her boyfriend, while listening to jazz on Pandora, cleaning out her kitchen cupboards of expired or unhealthy foods, preparing her Chinese herbs, driving her to various medical appointments, taking advantage of a bit of energy she had to go shopping when she felt stir crazy, catching up with each other’s life events, watching comedies together (laughter is healing!) or educating the family on the merits of a whole food, organic, vegan diet, especially for bodies fighting cancer.

But, in the quiet moments, I did a lot of reflecting.

Simply being in New Mexico, a place that is dear to my heart, provokes introspection, as does being away from my everyday life for a week. These were compounded by this time of year – winter holidays – which always trigger reflection for me. And to further deepen this contemplation, of course, was my friend’s diagnosis.

I thought about her, our friendship, what she meant to me over the years that our lives were intertwined, and the years that have passed since then; the ways in which she helped me to grow and develop as a person; my ever expanding appreciation of the incredible person that she is; and the profoundly difficult journey she is now required to make.

I also found myself contemplating what it means to have a cancer diagnosis. How it instantly asks you to scrutinize your priorities; life looks wholly different when you must make your healing your number one daily priority. And when, at age 35, you realize all of your plans now must be put on hold, and may never be the same.

She is doing an amazing job of staying optimistic and positive, for which she has every reason, since her type of cancer usually responds very well to treatment. While I cannot speak for what my friend is finding during her own introspective moments,  I can say that some questions are standing out for me:

What if I were diagnosed with cancer tomorrow? What would I change about my present life? And why? And, perhaps more importantly, why would I need to have cancer to re-evaluate my priorities and make changes? I think these are worthwhile questions for all of us to consider.

As a rule, my friend has always been a great teacher for me, simply by her own example. My pondering of these question found her life to be, yet again, a great teacher:

Friendships.  

I was struck by the number of visitors that my friend had during the week. She has cultivated so many beautiful friendships with people who brought meals, groceries, gift cards, flowers, hugs, smiles, laughs, babies, moral support and love. I was floored, pleased, and a bit envious of the community she has built around her. This was in stark contrast to my life: though I know many people, I only have a few close friends, and those I rarely see. My life is very busy, I work a lot, and I’m an introvert, which means I need alone time to recharge. So I don’t find much time for socializing, making new friendships, or deepening existing ones. If I had cancer, would this change?

Being in Nature. 

One reason for my love of New Mexico is the mountains and the desert. It is difficult to explain, but this landscape feeds my spirit in a way that no place else yet has. When I lived there, I could go to the mountains whenever I needed to reconnect – with my own center, with universal love, with God – to gain a higher perspective on my life. The mountains and their view over the valley “fill my cup” so to speak.

I’ve not yet found a place in Florida that does this for me as powerfully. But, I have now resolved to try. It must become a priority to find the natural places near home that feed my spirit. It is when my cup is full that I am the happiest, at my best, and the most effective in my contribution to others.

Having Fun. 

Again, my friend is a teacher for me. She and her boyfriend partake in many activities they find enjoyable, completely outside of their jobs: taking and teaching dance classes, renovating their house, running a booth at a consignment store of mid-century furniture and décor (and shopping for items with which to stock it), looking at houses for sale, traveling around the world, making and selling beaded jewelry, hosting parties and entertaining at their home. These things bring them obvious pleasure.

While I will probably never take on as many different activities as they have, I certainly feel an obvious lack of enjoyable activities in my life, for too much time and energy spent working. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy my work, I do. But one needs to create balance in life. It is time to reconnect with “play” and find those activities that bring me joy.

Focus on Health. 

Like most healthcare providers, I am not as good about taking care of my own health as I should be. While I eat a healthy diet, get regular acupuncture and massage, and take herbs, which keeps me feeling good, there are things that could be improved: I often eat sugar when I am stressed, I don’t always get enough sleep or drink enough water or exercise enough, and sometimes I rely too heavily on caffeine.

During my stay in New Mexico, my friend treated me to a massage from a deep-tissue therapist with whom she works. It was amazing and very intense. I knew I needed the deep work, so I let myself breathe, laugh, grimace, resist, release and sob through it. I felt completely emptied out afterward, like a wet washcloth that had been wrung dry.

The therapist encouraged me to continue to get deep tissue work, reminding me of the importance of releasing emotions that get trapped in body tissues (“cellular memories”). I was already familiar with this concept: it is not uncommon for patients to shed some tears or experience emotion during or after their acupuncture treatment.

But this reminder had me wonder about my friend and her cancer. Was there an emotional component to the development of her cancer? There exists research that says many cancers are diagnosed or develop shortly after an emotionally traumatic event in the person’s life. It is an important possibility to explore, and it underscores the need for routinely releasing emotions in a healthy way as another aspect of health care.

Being Present. 

A short time ago, I read a quote on Facebook that says something to the effect of:  if you are depressed, you are living in the past; if you are anxious, you are living in the future; it is only in the present moment that you can experience true peace, contentment and joy. Since reading that, I’ve been “trying on” this bit of simple insight in my life.

Every time I feel melancholy or blue, I examine my thoughts, and they are, in fact, dwelling on times or events that have passed and in some way wishing for their return, in order to experience them again, or change something that happened. And when I feel nervous my thoughts are on something that hasn’t happened yet – something I must do, haven’t completed, or am fearful might happen. And, usually, when the actual event does occur (if it does), it was not worth all the worry and anxiety that I created around it.

But, when I get present – become aware of my surroundings, see what is around, listen to sounds around me, sniff for any aromas, feel the temperature of the air, notice the position of my body, and how it is feeling right now – it has an immediate calming effect.

I am beginning to realize that this moment is no less magical than any of those times in the past for which I am longing. And, it is in being present that I am able to enjoy myself. I notice that I have the most fun when I am completely present, and not giving in to the “hamster wheel” that my mind can spin ad nauseum. It certainly takes practice, but it seems that being in the present moment is giving myself permission to be happy.

Gratitude. 

As an extension of the previous point, I find that being present is the only place from which to notice all the wonderful people, situations and things in my life, that I could be grateful for. I think that gratitude is a powerful agent of healing on many levels and is important to make into a daily practice.

Love. 

Lastly, I notice that when a crisis is going on, like serious illness, that I appreciate people more. I become less self-conscious about telling my friends and family that I love them. When something makes me stop long enough to remember that we all have a finite amount of time here together, it becomes more important to let others know they are loved and appreciated. Why wait until something major is happening?

So, once again, I thank my friend for being a great teacher. Life is a canvas of many colors, textures, shadows, lights, connections, and puzzle pieces, and she always seems to help me gain a new perspective on it. She is an amazing person; I am very grateful for her, I love her deeply, and I wish for her a speedy recovery and profound healing.

May your 2013 be full of friends, fun, experiences that “fill your cup,”  good health, happiness, gratitude and love.

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

#health #friendship #priorities #perspective #cancer #love #gratitude #bodymindconnection #beingpresent