EATING FAT GETTING THIN
HOW TO SHIFT EXCESS WEIGHT
There is so much frustration when it comes to weight issues. In clinic, I have met people who have dieted on and off their whole lives. The cyclical daily war that they inflict on themselves is one of the most needles self-defeating behaviours that women (mostly) all too often indulge in. It is a needles struggle.
First and foremost, understand that you are not going to succeed with willpower. There is an assumption that it is lack of willpower that makes people eat too much or eat uncontrollably. This is not true. There is a whole body of circulating hormones communicating with every cell in your body. If too many cells tell your brain they want a doughnut then you might resist for one, two or three weeks but you will relent. Drum roll for the guilt and shame. Roll out the green light for the binge of the century.
It is also essential to understand that calories have little to do with the size of your waistline. 100 calories from a head of lettuce are 100 very different calories to a can of coke.
Understand that it is not your willpower that it the cause of the problem. It is the communication that is going on between your cells and your brain.
Beneath the neck line there is a cacophony of communicating hormones that are finely tuned to tell your brain the need of every cell in your body.
Your brain reads the messages and impels you to act accordingly. Your rational mind says no. The struggle between the rational brain and the primative animalistic impulses begins and at some point you will lose. If you are clever you will drop this war on the animalistic mind. The secret is not to force the mind to behave differently but instead to change the messages going back to the brain. But How?.
There are a few simple strategies that anyone can put into practice to speed up the weight loss process.
Get off the carb train. If I wanted to make someone fat I would feed them cereals, sandwiches and pastas and pizzas. Increase healthy fats and proteins and limit the amount of grains that are in the diet.
Increase fibre: Take 1 Tbsp. of psyllium husk in a glass of water and follow with a second glass of water 1-2 times every day. This will balance blood sugars, reduce hunger sensations and reduce constipation.
Increase fats. Yes, eat fat to get thin. This is a maxim used by doctor Mark Hyman in America and it works. Healthy fats include coconut oil, flax oil, olive oils, nuts & seeds, eggs, fish and my favourite avocado. Aim for an avocado every breakfast.
Cut out food intolerances. If you want to get a food intolerance test done. My favourite is the CNS food print test. I have never not seen weight reduce when a high allergy food was removed. The most likely explanation for this is that the inflammation caused but the high allergy foods causes the body to hold onto some fat. If you don’t fancy a test cut out gluten and dairy first. Other high-risk foods include corn, rice, peas, eggs and soy.
Get you breakfast right: Start the day with a smoothie or an egg based breakfast. Having a high fat and high protein breakfast will keep you running for much longer in the day. Grain based breakfasts dysregulated the blood sugars too much and will leave you reaching for a snack too early in the morning.
Drink two litres of water daily. Very often we confuse thirst for hunger and eat unnecessarily.
Finish eating as early in the evening as possible. This is one of the most efficient and effective weight loss strategies that I have seen in clinic. Finish eating at 6pm and start again the following day leaves you fasted for 15hrs a day.
Ditch the bread. Below the neck line the body treats bread the same way that it treats cake. It’s a refined carbohydrate and this is the one food to avoid if you seriously want to lose weight.
Get your gut bacteria balanced. The bugs in your belly dictate how you digest your food. The bugs in an obese person are geared to digest foods in such a way that it predisposes the individual to extra weight. This has been proven when they put a faecal transplant of an obese mouse into a skinny mouse and the skinny mouse became obese. Far out but very true. Balance you gut bacteria by adding a probiotic to your daily regimen. You can improve the population of the bacteria by adding them into a cooled bowl of stewed apple which has a fibre that acts as fertiliser to the bacteria.
Take the right supplements. My favourite supplements include:
Udos choice super 8 Probiotics
5HTP Supports serotonin production
B Vitamins: Viridian high B1 is my go to go on a weight loss program as it helps balance blood sugars and support energy metabolism.
Protein powder: Really liking the revolution vegan protein powders at the minute.
Viridian Vitamin D liquid. Take 2000ius daily now that we are in the summer months.
Viridian cinnamon and chromium complex to balance blood sugars
Paul is a nutritional therapist and runs private clinics in the UK. Get in touch through his website at www.pfoleyclinic.com.