10 Tips for Effortless Weight Loss
Nourishing Food As Medicine, Diet for Life
The background and pathways to weight gain
Did you know that the food industry spends about $36 billion on advertising? If you merely remote surf on TV, notice billboards as you’re driving by, half-listen to ads between songs on the radio, or glance through magazines, you cannot help but be exposed to someone’s ad for some food. And what do you want to bet the ad that catches your eye or ear is probably for something high caloric and low in nutrition—probably not for the brown rice and steamed vegetable special at the local vegetarian restaurant?
In the food industry, it pays to advertise for food that is high in consumption and low in nutrient value, primarily junk foods. Most junk foods are designed, formulated, and manufactured to be very tasty and addictive—they temporarily satisfy a temporary taste craving creating a need to want more and more. It’s no secret—when you add sugar, salt, and fat to foods, they taste better, feel better, and the body gets hooked and wants more to get that lovin’ feelin’.
This addiction leads to cravings, weight gain (for some), and chronic disease, starting with arterial spasms and leading to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, food sensitivities, and Type II Diabetes. So, most people, in order to pacify their doctors or, if they’re recognizing their own responsibility in the process, vow to go on a diet and start exercising.
The problem with diets is that if you plan to go ON a diet, then somewhere in the conscious or subconscious decision-making process, there lies the implication that you will eventually go OFF a diet. This report talks about 10 ways people can enhance their weight loss strategy effortlessly.
Maximizing Your Diet Plan
Have you ever been on a diet? Are you now? How many diets have you been on? And have you ever found one that is perfect—that helps you lose weight and keep it off permanently without having to count points, calories or fat grams?
Just so it’s clear, I don’t believe in diets, if you haven’t picked up on that already. The way diets are designed, they are a temporary measure to fix a couple of possible underlying problems. The real cause of weight gain is that we eat more calories than we can burn off (poor food choices, inefficient digestive/metabolic system, not enough calorie-burning mechanisms), and we don’t design our lives to process the foods we do take in. We remain stressed-out, tuned out, and unconscious to the effect of our choices each meal and at the end of each day. And those choices are not limited to food choices.
Everything we are exposed to we digest in one way or another—we digest our food by burning calories and absorbing nutrients; we digest information by turning external stimuli into patterns of nerve firings and interpretation. How we digest (our food and information) determines our levels of nutrition, and that determines our levels of nourishment–feeling healthy and feeling happy.
I’m going to offer you 10 tips that, when applied regularly, will improve not only the quality of your food, but will also improve your quality of life. And isn’t that why most people go on a diet anyway? It’s not just to lose a few pounds; it’s what the results will get you: more energy, less pain, more fun playing, easier to move around, more time on Earth to do what you want to do.
So regardless of what diet plan you’ve chosen, and I do hope you choose healthy foods for yourself for the rest of your life and not temporarily, follow these ten steps. You will find that you will feel better and lose weight faster because your whole mind-body system will be getting better nourishment.
1. Breathe. Take 5 deep breaths. Do it right now. C’mon. No one is watching. When you’re under stress and under the influence of the “fight or flight” response, your body cannot digest properly. Breath is the mechanism that changes the way your body responds so it can processes food appropriately. Your body has two parts to the nervous system that controls automatic responses—the stuff your body does without your conscious decision to do it—like blinking, the beating of your heart, digestion, creating goose bumps, and the impulse to run when you sense danger. Stuff like that. The part of the nervous system that tells your body to digest your food is different than the part that keeps you safe when you perceive threat. So when one part is turned on, the other part is turned off. This means that your body cannot digest food properly while stressed out. Your food will, for all intents and purposes, stay undigested until your body is relaxed and the correct part of the nervous system is turned on. This can result in gas, bloating, indigestion, and the inability of your small intestine to absorb nutrients. Deep breathing is a very easy thing to do to turn off the “fight or flight” response and turn on the “feed and breed” response.
For ideas on breathing exercises you can do before eating or during the day to calm your nervous system, read this article on my website: www.centerforhealthandharmony.com/Giveaways.htm/breathe.pdf
2. Do a body scan before you eat. Take a minute to mentally scan your body for areas of tension or discomfort. Deeply inhale and Imagine your breath going to those areas and releasing pain and tension. Pay particular attention to midsection—are you really hungry? Give your level of hunger a number on a scale of 1-10. Check in with yourself again a few minutes after beginning your meal. If you’re not significantly hungry, stop eating. The greater your attention to your body, the more tuned in you will be to your food. This can result in a conscious choice to eat less so you can lose weight simply because you’ll be consuming only what your body needs to feel full and satisfied and no more.
3. Chew. Chew each bite a minimum of 32 times, and until it becomes liquid. When you chew you create saliva in your mouth which creates the enzymes necessary to digest the food. Not enough chewing creates not enough enzymes which makes it harder for your body to digest what you’re eating. Many digestive problems can be solved if you just slow down and chew your food. If you’re in a rush to eat, it’s healthier for you to take several bites and chew them well than to wolf down an entire meal and not chew each bite. Besides, the longer you chew something, the more taste each bite has which makes eating much ore enjoyable, and not just a means to get calories. You certainly will not be getting nutrients or nourishment. Chew each bite until it’s liquid, then swallow it. You’ll enjoy your food more, you’ll get more out of it, and chances are you’ll consume fewer—but better quality—calories.
4. Reduce portion sizes. Portion control is the most effective way to drop calories. That doesn’t mean you have to skimp on everything—start with small portions of foods high in sugar, dairy, and fat, and instead fill your plate with 75% vegetables. Choose your portions wisely and avoid the super sizing of America. Serving sizes have gotten ridiculously huge and normal portions now look like deprivation to our 21st century American eyes. With the steady increase in portion size over the last 20 years, our belt sizes have expanded right along with the amount of calories. A piece of meat should be the size and thickness of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand, ½ cup cooked veggies is one serving. Super sizing your portions is a heart attack waiting to happen, not to mention an expanding waist line and increased risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers. There are studies to support that people who simply eat less live longer. If you are also breathing to slow down and chewing your food completely, you will find you are rarely hungry, even with smaller portions.
5. Eat with the seasons. Balanced and healthy meals are different in July and January. Eat with the seasons. In the northeast, balanced and healthy meals are different in July and January. You wouldn’t have a craving for hearty stew after spending time in the garden, and chances are you wouldn’t feel a hankering for a fresh fruit salad on a cold winter’s day. Eat what’s available in your geographical location throughout the year. If papaya and coconut grow in your back yard in February and March, then by all means have them. But if you find that bitter greens and berries are all that the Earth is providing after a period of rest and hibernation, enjoy and celebrate what is available, and you’ll be maximizing your body’s ability to process what Nature provides.
6. Eat the largest meal of the day at noon. Besides the obvious that you’ll have more time the remainder of the day to digest a larger number of calories, energetically your body has a stronger digestive ability at mid-day. According to Ayurveda, an ancient comprehensive healing arts system, your digestive fire is strongest between 10 am and 2:00 pm, so it’s best to eat by noon or 12:30, at the peak of the time when your body’s digestive thermostat is on its highest setting. This same energy is not available during the time when most of us typically have a large meal (dinner time) so that means that the majority of our large meals are not nourishing us to the extent we hope they do. Logistically, it’s actually easier for many of us to work a large meal into our busy schedules earlier in the day. With our increasingly busy schedules—especially families–that have us pulled every which way to get everyone to their respective practices and rehearsals, it might work better for everyone to plan to have the largest meal at work or at school, and have different options available for everyone from about 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Healthy, simple options could be salads and soups, fresh fruit and vegetables, and maybe what we think of as healthy snacks (e.g., baby carrots and hummus). It’s very important to not have a heavy meal late in the evening and go to bed on a full stomach. Your body cannot digest the food properly, and you rob your body of its normal detoxifying time (natural detox and processing happens from 10:00 pm until about 6:00 am), so you wake up feeling heavy, sluggish, and bloated. Plan to have a large midday meal some time in the next week, plan to have a light meal at the end of the day, and take note of how you feel the next morning. This step, combined with going to bed early, cleanses the digestive system and you will start to feel more energized and more satisfied by your food, causing you to eat less and release fat.
7. Take sips of hot water all day. This keeps you hydrated and feeling less hungry. Hydration is imperative for proper functioning of the body. Has this ever happened to you? You start drinking more water because you know it’s a healthy thing to do. You go from drinking a little bit to drinking a lot of water. Unfortunately, this frequently leads to having to visit the bathroom quite often, and that becomes so inconvenient that you dread drinking the water and you stay dehydrated instead. Well, I have an answer for you. You know how when you water a plant whose soil is dry the water just pours right through? The dirt is so dry it cannot absorb any of the water. Well, that’s kind of what’s happening when you go from 8 oz to 64 oz quickly. Your tissues are so cold and dry like an old dried-out sponge they cannot absorb the water, so it literally passes right through. You need to slowly hydrate your body. To do this most effectively, you need to warm up and soften your tissues so they can absorb moisture. When you take a sip of hot water, your body can absorb it better. Take small sips about every 10 minutes (ideally) to s-l-o-w-l-y soften and warm your body’s hard and dry tissues. If you do this consistently for a day or two, you will rehydrate faster then if you were to chug down a gallon of cool water all at once. Hydrated tissues = healthy tissues, and that decreases thirst and hunger. When your body is in a state of balance and health, cravings will disappear and you’ll eat only what you need.
8. Make sure “hunger” is not “thirst.” Drink water first before eating. Wait 20 minutes. Many people are dehydrated and to us it feels the same as hunger. So when you’re feeling like you need to eat, drink some water first (not soda, not wine, not coffee—all of which are dehydrating) and see if that stops the hunger. This can save you so many calories and will increase the health and hydration of your body’s tissues, creating balance and health.
9. Drink 8 oz of water 30 minutes before meal, not during the meal.
For really easy weight loss, use the logic of displacement. Drinking water half an hour before your meal partially fills the stomach, reduces hunger pangs, helps to hydrate the body, and reduces calorie consumption without decreasing digestive capacity/ability. Refrain from drinking liquids, especially really cold liquids, during eating because the cool liquid can actually reduce digestive effectiveness. It’s like pouring cold water on cooking rice every few minutes—the rice can’t cook because the temperature keeps cooling off. It’s the same way in your digestive system. Give your body the space and focus it needs to fully burn the fuel you’re adding to the system.
10. Eat low glycemic foods 80% of the time. What is low-glycemic? Foods that take longer to break down in your body due to combinations with fiber, healthy fats, and healthy proteins.
For more articles on how to lose weight and inches effortlessly and permanently, visit the resources section of my website at www.centerforhealthandharmony.com
What is the Glycemic Index?
Dr. Jansen, 1975, white bread, glucose, measurement of how long a food takes to break down in the body and affect the blood sugar levels.
What is the Glycemic Load?
The impact on the blood sugar related to the calorie value of the food being eaten, relative to its glycemic index. For example, having a piece of fruit raises the blood sugar due to a high glycemic index, but because fruits (or vegetables) are low in calories relative to processed, refined, packaged carbohydrates, its load on the body is significantly less. Much healthier to eat a high glycemic piece of fruit than a lower glycemic muffin.
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