An Inspirational Quote
“Health is inner peace. Healing is letting go of fear.”
from Teach Only Love by Gerald Jampolsky M.D.
YOU have dieted. You have over exercised. Each time a new fad comes along, you jump on the bandwagon, only to have your hopes crushed, time and again. “I can’t lose weight,” you think to yourself. “Nothing ever works for me.” If this sounds like you, read on.
You basically have two choices: one, you could continue the cycle of failing with the latest fads or secondly, you could take the time to get to the root cause of why you have not yet achieved your ideal size.
This is exactly what we do here at Total Fitness. We aren’t interested in the latest fads – we have already heard them all. What we are interested in is empowering you to address the individual key factors that have really been holding you back.
For many of our clients, one of the biggest factors to address is a damaged metabolism. Just exactly what does that mean? If you have a damaged metabolism that means you are breaking yourself down faster than you are building yourself back up.
The fact that you can’t lose weight or keep it off for good is just the tip of the iceberg. You’re also aging yourself faster than necessary and possibly setting yourself up for a chronic illness, if you don’t already have one.
As Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., author of The Schwarzbein Principle, explained on a recent appearance on Total Fitness radio show, about 20-30 percent of people under the age of 35 and about 70-80 percent of those over the age of 35 have a damaged metabolism.
Once you understand these statistics, you will begin to comprehend why the usual advice you hear, “Just eat less and move more,” may not have worked for you in the past.
Many people don’t understand what their metabolism is in the first place. Metabolism is the combined using up and building reactions that occur at the cellular level in your body on a daily basis. That’s why I always say you can only look as good on the outside as your cells are healthy on the inside. A damaged metabolism is where using and building reactions are no longer matched.
Here are a few ways you may be damaging your metabolism:
Skipping Meals
Getting less than 10 hours of rest every day
Getting less than 10 hours of rest every day
Aerobic exercise where your heart rate exceeds 90 bpm
Low calorie dieting
Excessive carbohydrate consumption
Low carbohydrate diets, like the Atkins diet
Failing to balance proteins, healthy fats, vegetables and carbohydrates at each meal
Poorly planned vegetarian diets
Inadequate protein
Eating disorders
Chronic unresolved emotional stress
Excessive consumption of toxic chemicals, including tobacco, alcoholic beverages, street drugs, sugar, sodas and caffeine
Digestive disorders, including food sensitivities
As you can tell from reading this list, many of the activities that most people do to try to lose weight are actually damaging their metabolism and making it even harder to be thin long-term. For sure, these tactics may have worked short-term, but look again in another year. Talk to me again in 10 years when you can’t lose weight and don’t know why. I am always helping clients who have lost 50 lbs. on a commercial diet plan, only to regain another 75 on the return trip.
Recently, I was invited to speak to a prestigious group of executives who wanted to hold a weight-loss contest. I pointed out that such a contest would not be fair because different members of the group would more than likely be in different stages of metabolic health. Two individuals, each 180 pounds, could have totally different requirements for nutrition and exercise, depending on how healthy their metabolisms are.
The most important thing you can do when you want to lose weight for good is to assess your metabolism. Just to throw yourself into an intense exercise program and starvation diet may only lead you to experience more exhaustion, hopelessness and frustration. Once you have faced the reality of where you are metabolically, ask your Total Fitness practitioner to help you determine the key factors you will need to address to achieve your ideal size.
How would you know if you have a damaged metabolism? Here are a few signs you may be able to recognize:
Addicted to sugar, caffeine, alcohol or drugs
Insomnia
Allergies, asthma
Anxiety or depression
Autoimmune disorders, including eczema, lupus, MS, Chron’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis
Candida
Candida
Chronic fatigue
Chronic nagging pain and inflammation
Excess weight around your midsection
Heart disease, high blood pressure
Digestive disorders, food sensitivities, ulcers, irritable bowel
Migraine headaches
Pre-menstrual syndrome lasting most of the month
Insulin resistance, diabetes
Cancer
If you have any of these symptoms, that does not mean you can’t lose weight. Yes, you can – and you can lose the excess fat for good. But you will want to work with a practitioner who can teach you what will actually work long-term.
If you have any of these symptoms, that does not mean you can’t lose weight. Yes, you can – and you can lose the excess fat for good. But you will want to work with a practitioner who can teach you what will actually work long-term.