LOSE WEIGHT NATURALLY AND AGE SUCCESSFULLY
My Weight Loss Journey
I used to weigh 225 lbs in my early 30’s. The American diet is not the fast track to health or wellness. It definitely is the path to poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), estrogen dominance, insulin resistance and obesity–Metabolic Disorder. During the mid-1990s, I tried the fat-free diet of the time and exercised and lost enough weight to reduce PCOS and get pregnant. However, during pregnancy I developed gestational diabetes. I also noticed a rapid heart beat when consuming a sweet alcoholic drink and eating sugar. After the pregnancy I, of course, gained weight back and continued to go from 180 lbs to 200 lbs and back and forth on the Standard American Diet (SAD). As long as there was sugar and wheat in my diet I felt out of control, depressed, full of anxiety and continued to gain weight. If you have any of these symptoms of metabolic disorder, a SAD diet that contains wheat and refined sugars (which are addictive foods) may raise insulin levels and encourages your appetite resulting in pre-diabetes. It definitely doesn’t encourage sustained weight loss or weight management or a non-pre-diabetic state. It does age you quickly and sets you up for future disease not health and vitality.
Thus began my journey of studying health and nutrition with a focus on weight loss management to improve my own health. It took me years of reading and living through different diets to realize that it was basically sugar (excess refined carbohydrates) that increased insulin levels and promoted fat storage. 14 years ago, I began working at a health food store and started experimenting (biohacking) with nutritional supplements to improve my immune system. I then learned about HCG (Human chorionic gonadotrophin) a hormone produced during pregnancy. It is a low calorie, fat-free weight loss program and was a wonderful way to lose weight fast. However, as long as I went back to sugar (even unrefined and fruit only) and wheat the weight always came back as well as the feelings of frustration, loss of control and the desperation. Although I had begun to reduced my cravings for wheat and sugar by continually going on the HCG diet, I noticed as long as I kept any wheat in my diet the cravings and brain fog continued. I learned about the detriments of wheat consumption from the book “Wheat Belly” by cardiologist William Davis, MD. By deciding to not eat any wheat I was finally able to purge the addictive wheat cravings from my brain. I then no longer had wheat-induced brain fog and was able to control my appetite.
How does one reduce refined sugar and wheat from the diet? Sugar and wheat are everywhere and in everything and so is cheap and easy to obtain. I started reading and studying everything there was on a Paleo (Paleolithic) diet. A Paleo Diet is our natural, ancestral diet. It is how our ancestors survived for millions of years. The onset of the agricultural era did filled our bellies and was easy access to carbohydrates. It allowed our population to expand and develop cities but it didn’t cause us to thrive. It created shorter stature, dental carries and disease, Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.370bc) wrote, “Sudden death is more common in those who are naturally fat then in the lean.” He advised, “Treatment for obesity should include exertion after meals and eating a high fat diet.” He recommended, “They should, moreover, eat only once a day.” (Hippocrates, Hippocratic writings, ed. G.E.R. Lloyd(New York Penguin Classics, 1983). There is also a fascinating book into weight loss and reducing disease by Dr. Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore, “The Complete Guide to Intermittent Fasting,” 2016. Dr. Jason Fung, The Diet Doctor, also has a book out called “The Obestiy Code” 2018.
The advent of processed and refined sugars, wheat and vegetable oils has been an ongoing explosion in the market and has created the perfect storm of overfed and undernourished, sick and diseased people. The 19th and 20th centuries brought us heart disease and cancer. Now in the 21th century we have an epidemic of Diabesity (diabetes and obesity)–Dr. Mark Hyman, Director for the Functional Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. This is now called Metabolic Disease. It includes: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Estrogen Dominance, Insulin Resistance, Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol. All of this puts us at high risk for Cancer, Heart Disease and Alzheimer’s. It all stems from high insulin levels turned on too much and for too long, 365 days of the year.
We can, however, turn this off by what we eat (epigenetics–the practice of turning off disease causing genes) and practice Nutrigenomics (the interaction of nutrition and genes, especially with regard to the prevention or treatment of disease)–Food Matters. Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac, a clinician in Berkeley, CA, stated, “If everyone followed a paleo diet there would be no unhealthy people with disease”. His book is called “The Paleo Cure.”
Finally, an answer to my problems and a way to LOSE WEIGHT NATURALLY. Incorporating a Paleolithic diet, I no longer felt voracious hunger and my food cravings became more controllable. I lost weight naturally and with less hunger and I was in control. Paleolithic nutrition is a low-carb diet. It is a moderate high-quality protein, moderate fat, grain-free, refined sugar-free diet. Basically, it is a whole foods, anti-inflammatory diet with good fats, lots of vegetables, berries, grass-fed and wild animal proteins, nuts, seeds, olives and avocados.
Through my health and wellness journey, I have read and listened to as many books and podcasts and articles as I had time for. I am a voracious reader. I have read a lot of books. My idea of relaxing and entertainment is listening to the Bulletproof Podcast. I have taken all this information and applied it to myself. I have discovered the common thread which is reducing insulin levels with a low-carb, ancestral diet. It has been mentioned over and over again that to reverse metabolic syndrome and lose weight we have to eat a low-carb, good fat, high-quality protein diet–A Paleo Diet. Fat and protein satiates the appetite and does not store as body fat and are the macronutrients we need for nutrition for healthier bodies and a better working brain. Eating refined sugars and wheat (which turn into single sugar molecules) increases insulin (our fat storage hormone) and stores more body fat. A Paleo Diet allows our bodies to reset and lose weight naturally. We no longer have to stay fat, sick and unhappy with an out of control appetite. We can transition into a Paleo diet and find foods we can love that makes us feel good, helps us lose weight and upgrades our lifestyle–thus the beginning of AGING SUCCESSFULLY.
People spend years thinking about making a change but don’t know what to do. If you would life to work on losing weight naturally with habit and lifestyle changes, let’s work together with Health and Wellness Coaching to make powerful changes. I can show you the way. As a nutrition and vitamin specialist, I also set up individual and package sessions on nutritional coaching for weight loss and health management. I am not a medical doctor and don’t diagnose or treat disease.