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

The Five Tibetans

First thing every morning, I partake in a lovely 20 minutes of rejuvenation with the Five Tibetans. They wake me up gently, work out my kinks, get my blood flowing and my energy moving. I really enjoy my daily practice with them, and you can too…

THE FIVE WHO?

The Five Tibetans, also called the Five Tibetan Rites, are a group of 5 exercises practiced in a specific sequence to affect benefits to your body that are said to include everything from core strengthening, spinal flexibility and circulation to endocrine balancing, weight loss and anti-aging.

I first learned of them when a patient was talking about wanting to make a routine of The Five Tibetan Rites every morning. She said this was a practice her mother was doing, and it completely reversed her need for eye glasses.

I’d never heard of this practice before, so I decided to look it up. It turns out this is a very old exercise regimen, that supposedly came out of a Buddhist monastery in Tibet, and has been practiced for as many as 2,500 years, though this is difficult to confirm. These practices were first introduced in the west in 1939, in a book entitled “The Eye of Revelation” by Peter Kelder, who gleaned his information from a retired British army colonel, who claimed to have traveled through Tibet, and been taught these movements at a Buddhist monastery where he lived for a time.

THE BENEFITS:

The Five Tibetan Rites, when practiced daily, are said to be beneficial in myriad ways. It is obvious from the movements that they increase strength and flexibility in the core (abdominal and spinal muscles), arms, shoulders, legs and hips. From a TCM viewpoint, this practice is sure to move stagnant Qi (reducing the effects of stress and sedentary lifestyle on the body) and it appears to “work” most of the acupuncture energy meridians with a pump-like action; which reminds me of many Kundalini Yoga practices.

Also, claims have been made regarding The Five Tibetans creating effects of anti-aging, weight loss, hormonal balancing, benefits to eye sight, skin, hair and much more.

While it is hard to say how many of these claims are valid, I decided to give it a try, to see what sort of benefits I noticed. I’d been looking for a daily practice that would be easy to learn and remember, and that would only take about 20 minutes to complete; this fit the bill.

THE PRACTICE:

Be sure to check with your doctor before starting this or any exercise program. It is best to start with 3 repetitions of each Rite. Then increase by 3 repetitions each week as your body feels stronger, until you have worked up to 21 of each. Remember, if it feels better to do so, you can put your hands under your hips in Rite 2, and keep your knees slightly bent. Do not do anything that feels painful.

The easiest way to learn The Five Tibetan Rites is to watch some videos of it. There are many to check out, but these are my favorites:

1. This lady does a great job of breaking down all the movements and breathing after showing you a quick demo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCRY8AUJxVw

2. Maryse does a lovely job as well, and does all 21 repetitions of each, so you can practice along with her video once you feel you can do all 21 reps of each Rite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLKhvsfQKc

3. And gentlemen, lest you think only women practice the Five Tibetans… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gWJo2mpI-w

Also, the original book says that doing more that 21 could have counteractive effects on your endocrine glands, so don’t do more than 21 repetitions of each Rite per day.

WHAT I HAVE NOTICED:

I’ve been doing these Five Tibetans almost every morning for about 2 months. I absolutely love it. It is the first thing I do (after feeding the cats) upon waking. I have worked up to 21 repetitions of each Rite.  Because there are several yoga poses that help keep the 3 bulging discs in my low back from becoming problematic, I have added them to the end of my Five Tibetan routine.

The whole thing takes about 20 to 25 minutes. It is a bit of a workout… my muscles are working and my heart rate and respiration increase during the practice, especially if I put a little pace on the movements. And I feel amazing afterward. My daily aches and pains are nearly gone, and my body feels stronger. I am finding that I look forward to the practice; it is my favorite part of the morning. Plus my energy is better; I no longer require any caffeine to get me going.

I am curious to see what other benefits show up as I continue this practice.

Let me know if you start the practice, and what benefits you notice!

#detoxify #corestrength #energy #weightloss #dailypractice #yoga #flexibility #stressrelief #hormonebalance

Optimizing Weight Loss with Hormonal Balance

Are you struggling with losing weight?

We all know that there is no magic pill, potion or powder. And I am not here to tell you there is. Any long-term successful weight loss program requires a healthy eating plan and a program of regular exercise. However, there is some information that may be useful to you on this journey. Information that may explain why you’ve had such a difficult time losing weight despite doing everything “right”, and how just a few changes might make all the difference.

Many of us have been on multiple weight loss programs, eating as healthy as we know how and exercising as much as we have time for. And somehow the weight just won’t budge. This is because, as much as we have been told time and again that weight loss is merely a mathematical equation (calories in must be fewer than calories used), there is actually more to it, especially if we wish to keep the weight off. Namely, hormonal balance.

Do you know that our bodies create 3 hormones that cause fat-building and others that cause fat-burning? Though most people think of hormones as only relating to male and female characteristics (sex hormones), we have many others that serve vital purposes in our bodies. They are chemical messengers created by our endocrine glands including our thyroid, pancreas, adrenals, pituitary, hypothalamus, etc. If we can better regulate our 3 fat-building hormones then our fat-burning ones will work better and make our weight loss goals more attainable.

So, what are these 3 hormones?

1.  Cortisol. 

Produced by our adrenals glands, we need cortisol in small amounts to get us out of bed in the morning and ready to start our day. But, it is also produced in reaction to stress and to stimulants such as caffeine. When produced in excess, this hormone negatively impacts our blood sugar metabolism, depletes our adrenal gland function over time, and puts weight on us in the middle of our bodies (think lower abdomen and muffin top) as well as upper back (buffalo hump area).

Action steps to help balance cortisol:

1. Reduce your stress levels and stress responses. Adopt a stress-reduction practice, such as meditation, yoga, breath work, or prayer; anything that has you feel calm and emotionally uplifted afterward. Of course, acupuncture qualifies, but you also need something that you can do in the moment, when you need to bring your stress levels down quickly. Even taking a stroll outside can be stress-relieving; anything that is sustainably pleasurable to you without being taxing.

2. Eliminate or restrict caffeine intake, including coffee, tea, energy drinks and sodas. (If you must have something, the best option is one cup of green tea in the morning. Green tea doesn’t spike cortisol like coffee and black teas do.)

3. If you have pain, get acupuncture, massage therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic or other treatment to address the cause of it. Pain, especially chronic pain, is a major stressor, and triggers significant cortisol release on a regular basis.  It is very likely that if you have chronic daily pain, it will be quite difficult for you to drop weight until you can get the pain under control.

4. Allow yourself plenty of sleep. Sleep is amazingly healing to the body, to recharge the adrenal glands, and to heal the damage done to your tissues and glands as a result of too much stress. Sleep also triggers the release of growth hormone, which is a fat-burning and anti-aging hormone. The more stressful your life, the more sleep your body requires. Aim for 9 to 10 hours per night.

2.  Insulin.  

Insulin is released by the pancreas after we eat. Our bodies turn all of our food calories into “blood sugar” or glucose, so it can be used by our body cells. Insulin ushers glucose from the blood into muscle cells and other cells to fuel them. However, if our body cells already have enough glucose from the previous meal, insulin instead diverts that excess glucose into our fat cells, making them grow bigger.

Action steps to help balance insulin:

1. Avoid sugars (especially high fructose corn syrup and white sugar), refined carbs (especially white flour products), and overeating at meals. All of these spike the blood sugar releasing large amounts of insulin.

2. Do not skip meals (yes, this includes breakfast). This drops your blood sugar too low so that you will be more likely to overeat and make unhealthy choices at your next meal. It also slows your metabolism.

3. Use regular exercise to burn up the glucose in your muscle tissues. This way insulin can feed your muscles, rather than your fat cells, with the glucose from your meals (and even burn fat to feed your muscles). This does not have to be high intensity exercise (even walking, bike riding, or yoga can be great options). Try to do at least 30 minutes of some type of physical activity every day. Exercise also triggers the release of growth hormone, like sleep does.

3.  Estrogen.  

We all need estrogen. Women need more and make more estrogen than men do. However, we are all exposed to toxins in our foods, water and air that mimic estrogen in our bodies. These chemicals can displace our natural estrogen from the estrogen receptor sites on our cells. As a result, our displaced estrogen instead goes into our fat cells, growing them larger, typically in the hips, buttocks and thighs.

Action steps to help balance estrogen:

1. Reduce exposure to chemical toxins. These include hormones in non-organic meat, poultry and dairy, artificial sweeteners, pesticides, genetically modified foods (which always contain higher levels of pesticides), preservatives, plastics, chemical household cleansers, bug and weed killers, chlorine bleach, and personal care products containing artificial fragrances, parabens, phthalates and sulfates. Drink only filtered and purified water.

2. Be loving to your liver. It is your liver that must process all chemicals and toxins in our bodies, as well as excess hormones such as estrogen. Liver function is also vital for the proper functioning of all of our hormones, including thyroid, blood sugar balance, adrenal sufficiency and sex hormone balance. When it gets overburdened in its job due to too many toxins, the liver can fall behind in performing all of its vital work for us.

3. The liver loves fresh lemon water, beets, green veggies, onions, garlic, cruciferous vegetables, organic apples, fiber rich foods, plenty of clean water, and flax seed. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, fast food, trans fats, deep fried foods, artificial food additives, fumes of all types, vehicle exhaust, smoking and unnecessary drugs. And, reduce or eliminate intake of animal proteins, to give the liver a well-deserved break.

If you have weight or bloating in your upper abdomen, this could be excess fluid build-up from your liver struggling to keep up. In addition to the above action steps, it is recommended to reduce sodium intake and consume more potassium rich foods such as avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, beet greens, tomatoes, spinach and peaches to help flush this excess fluid.

Take these action steps and expect to have an easier time dropping the pounds. If you find that you are still struggling, come in for an evaluation. You may have a deeper imbalance that we can address with acupuncture, herbs and more specifically-targeted nutrition. These could include a clinical or subclinical thyroid imbalance, adrenal gland imbalance, sex hormone imbalance and/or a liver burdened with too many toxins, all of which can be improved, and in many cases optimized, through natural means.

Please note that if you are on medication for any hormonal or glandular condition, you should not stop your medication. You can safely implement the above suggestions while on your medication. If you wish to get off of your medication, or reduce the dosage, this is something we may be able to do, gradually, with proper natural treatment, and with the appropriate lab work findings, while keeping your prescribing physician in the loop.

Recommended Viewing:  Hungry For Change.  This documentary is available on Netflix.

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

This article was published in Tampa Bay Wellness, Feb 2014

#detoxify #cortisol #weightloss #liver #hormonebalance #nutrition #insulin