Dr. Mark Hyman said it best in this quote, “What people don’t realize is that food is not just calories; it’s information, It actually contains messages that communicate to every cell in the body.”
When it comes to “health food” options run the gamut from $90 tubs of meal replacement powders juice cleanses that promise to cure all too inexpensive supplements with questionable ingredients or bars and shakes that claim to help you lose weight in 30 days.
STOP WASTING YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY!!
Although all of these products have similar claims that they promise to, in some way improve your health, none of them address the roots!
You may find that you have some progress with the above interventions, but none will be lasting! You have to address the roots! The soil where the roots lie is also very important as is the environment where the leaves and the branches exist.
Let’s take, for example, weight loss! This is a common goal that we all have. A common driver for this goal is our desire to look and feel good. So, marketing will capitalize on this desire and offer solutions that promise you will achieve not only your weight loss but look and feel better too!!
If you only address the calories in/calories out component of weight loss, you will not fully address the roots and many times will drive further dysfunction once the period of caloric reduction is over.
Although you may be taking in too many calories for your body, the likelihood that there is not also an associated physiological dysfunction is slim! The body will only shed weight when it is in a safe place, free of stress and happily in balance. So, how do we get there?
Big Four Factors That Could Be Halting Weight Loss
Check your gut! Poor gut health will impair digestion, which impacts your ability to break down and absorb nutrients from your food. Poor gut health will also increase inflammation.
Check your hormones! If your stress hormones are out of balance, your body is in a state of chaos. Think about times when you have been very stressed about it, The last thing your body will do when your hormones are out of synch!
Check your mineral balance! The mineral balance in the soil where your roots lie. Without the proper balance of minerals, your roots will not have anywhere to take hold and heal!
Check for the environment! If your environment, that is your air, water, personal products, clothing, and furnishings, is contributing to the accumulation of toxins you will not have the capacity to detoxify. When your body burden is too great, weight loss will remain elusive!
Other big factors.
Sleep: Poor sleep can increase your appetite, increase your caloric intake, decrease your resting metabolic rate and increase insulin resistance. Sleeping less than 6 hours per night increases the risk of obesity by 55% in adults and 90% in children!
Hydration
Exercise: Physical activity throughout the day contributes to stress reduction as well as improving your metabolic rate. Instead of looking at exercise as an event, look at it as an all-day activity!
Food quality: Eating poor quality food, congests your body, overloads your detoxification system, and congesting your liver. Poor food quality also negatively affects your endocrine system and contributes to a low-level chronic stressor.
Stress: If we don’t manage our stress we will NOT lose weight! The overproduction of cortisol at inappropriate times (that is, times when we don’t need it) can lead to systemic inflammation, widespread hormonal imbalance, and nutrient depletion.
Where To Start
We should ALL invest in our health before a health crisis occurs. But, where you invest will make all of the difference!
Start with food: buy organic whenever possible, and avoid conventional meat and dairy! Choose nutrient density often!
Run high-quality labs with a knowledgeable coach or practitioner: Checking in to see where you are before or early on when symptoms arise is key!!
Don’t accept the line of “it’s just part of getting older”: There is too much that is accepted as normal whether it is fatigue, weight gain, or pelvic floor dysfunction... it is not normal! You deserve to feel awesome every day!
Get moving! Invest in high-quality equipment including a good pair of sneakers or two, exercise tools, guides, or a trainer! Then use that equipment and tools every day and move your body! You can have the PERFECT diet, but without movement, you will not make forward progress!
If you are looking for more help and want to customize your plan.. stop wasting money on canned plans! Work with a practitioner or coach to get the right plan just for you!!