Maintaining a healthy weight is important to overall health. If you feel sluggish, confused by all the conflicting information out there, or feel like no matter what you do, you struggle to lose weight, consider joining the Winter 2023 session of our Virtual Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle program. It is a 10-week program beginning on January 16, 2023 that will address all aspects of weight loss. This course will give you practical information you can apply to your life right away. Can’t join the winter session? We offer this program 2 – 3 times per year, or you can work with me one-on-one to support healthy weight loss.
“Achieving healthy weight loss is about nourishing yourself in a better way .”
If you eat a typical American diet, often overeat, don’t sleep well, or are overly stressed, it can be challenging to take weight off and keep it off. Getting to a healthy weight requires CHANGE. A change in the way you view food, the quality of the food you eat, and the environment around you.
Studies have shown that for changes to stick, it takes 12 weeks to reinforce it. This means it is most effective to begin with small changes that you know you can sustain, and go from there. Don’t try to take it on all at once! Remember that every healthy weight loss plan out there has 3 things in common:
- Eating fewer refined carbohydrates
- Eating more vegetables
- Eating nutrient-dense foods
In addition to the three points above, here are ten more tips that can help!
Tip 1: Quality is King
Garbage in equals garbage out. If you want to feel good, give your body the best food quality you can afford. This means YES to organic, YES to minimally processed, YES to short ingredient lists, and YES to foods that provide a variety of nutrients. (And YES, that may mean reducing or eliminating many processed and packaged foods you like.)
Tip 2: Eat Whole, Nutrient-Dense Foods
Choose foods that look as close to the way they do in nature. This eliminates overly processed foods. It ensures that your food has lots of great vitamins and minerals for you to run on.
Tip 3: Hydrate
Water is life-giving and many of us don’t get enough! The National Institutes of health just released a study indicating that adequate water intake can slow aging and reduce chronic disease. Or ask Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, MD, the author of, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water.” He believed proper hydration was an important factor in treating and curing diseases.
Tip 4: Feed the Microbiome
Tip 5: Protein is a Slow Burn
Tip 6: Address Medical Issues
Whether it’s SIBO, diabetes, high cortisol, or high insulin, there are medical issues that could keep you from losing weight. Get the right bloodwork and other tests done to identify where your issues are.
Tip 7: Lifestyle Matters!
Stress management, proper sleep, connection, and movement all have direct physiological effects on your body. Improvement in any of these areas can positively impact weight loss.
Tip 8: Sugar is a Condiment, Not a Food Group
Sugar consumption has increased by over 20 pounds/person/year since the 1930’s, according to the CDC. That mirrors the extreme rise in obesity over time. Chronic sugar overload increases insulin, and insulin tells the body to store fat. Minimizing refined and added sugars is a must for healthy weight maintenance. Fortunately, the USDA has recently begun requiring Supplement Facts on all foods to show “Added Sugars”. Reading labels is very important!
Tip 9: Supplements Can Speed the Process
Food quality and lifestyle are the most important factors for weight loss. Supplements can provide a necessary assist to build metabolism. They can also address medical issues that can hinder weight loss. Talk to the experts (us!) about how best to use them.
Tip 10: Don’t Give Up
Resiliency and consistency are a must in your journey toward better health. Don’t let a bad day, week, month, or even years stop you! Just begin again. Each week, aim for progress, not perfection.
Remember that achieving a healthy weight is for YOU. Not your friends, not for society, nor for your partner. For every 10 pounds you lose, there is a huge benefit to overall health. Join our Winter 2023 Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle group or work with me one-on-one to learn more.
