Discover the Components of Sustainable Weight Loss

Two weeks into 2017 … how are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Did your resolutions – like so many others’ – include an intention to lose weight? I’m going to go out on a limb and guessing that you aren’t having a great deal of success.

Now, I don’t doubt your intention or your efforts. Yet I do know something about how our bodies work. We women tend to focus on body size, or more specifically, on the number on our scale.

How long have you been fighting the battle? How many different plans have you followed – counting calories, skipping meals, depriving yourself, feeling hungry, and counting more calories? Yes, calories matter. But hormones matter more.

If you struggle to reach or maintain your preferred weight, it is quite likely that you have underlying hormone imbalance(s) or system blockages that are hindering your efforts. A body out of balance will not release excess weight that it considers a facet of self-protection.

Are you wondering what hormones may be playing a part? There are three that come to mind.

Thyroid is a metabolic hormone that controls your body’s thermostat. Hypothyroid tendencies are rampant and often overlooked, though it is not necessarily because of a faulty thyroid. Nutritional deficiencies can hinder different aspects of thyroid hormones and its interaction with your cells.

Insulin is another metabolic hormone which has the important task of escorting glucose into your cells. When dietary choices result in repeated spikes of blood sugar followed by crashes, our cells can become resistant to insulin, resulting in storage of excess sugar as fat.

Then there’s cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Its primary job is to protect your body from the effects of stress. Ideally, cortisol would take the lead during occasional moments of stress, yet it is far more common for us to live and work in a sustained stressful environment. As a result, this master hormone causes blood sugar levels to be increased beyond the effect of food and other hormones are hindered in their effectiveness.

Your weight is a symptom of how your body reads the status of your world – both inside and outside. Is your body feeling threatened by its perception of your environment, or by the foods that you are feeding it?

Would you like support in identifying the obstacles to succeeding with your weight loss resolutions? I would be glad to do a consultation. Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Green Tea – EGCG found in green tea helps to increase your metabolic rate. I know that it’s readily available in convenient bottles, but I recommend that you brew your own and sweeten it with stevia or raw honey.
Grain Free – I know this sounds extreme, but breaking the habit of eating highly refined carbs is key to beginning to re-sensitize your cells to insulin and reduce the overload of glucose in your system. In place of processed flour-based foods, I recommend you increase your consumption of vegetables, quality proteins, and healthy fats.

You don’t need to walk this path alone. As a Functional Medicine Health Coach, I can help you pursue wellness. Remember, health is wealth!