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Weight-Loss Tips Not For Dummies

If you’re serious about losing weight, you’ll want to be smart about your plan. If your goal is weight-loss and keeping it off, then you need to be smart. Read on then, for proven, “Not for Dummies”, expert tips to help you attain your goal.

It’s Your Loss

So often we see in the media, people touting their magnificent new figure, sans 40-100 or more pounds than they were previously. But before long, oops! The weight-loss turns back to weight gain. Why?

A true “good” diet is a habitual regimen of healthful, mindful eating.

The main reason why people’s weight fluctuate so greatly is because they go on a diet. “Going on a diet” connotes temporary, extreme changes in eating habits. If you go, you eventually come back—like “going on a vacation.” You’re enthusiastic to go, but the return trip turns out to be a downer.

Forget the Quick Weight-Loss Fix

Once you “go off the diet,” you generally gain back the weight.

The only way to lose pounds and keep them off is by adopting a particular lifestyle. That lifestyle includes a balanced, nutritional, whole-foods based, forever-diet—along with regular exercise, and proper rest.  Period.

The Only Worthy Tips are the Smart Ones

There’s so much information to filter through and digest; it’s surprising we even have any motivation after we’re done researching diets. The reality and scientific truth is that no gimmick or “trending” diet will give you desired results if your goal is to keep the weight off.

Healthy weight reduction and maintenance is possible with a commitment to a smart plan.

Smarty-Pants Tips

Weight loss is not about merely cutting calories. It’s about providing your body with nutrients and reducing inflammation in your body.

Focusing on those two factors will naturally shed pounds with ease.

How do you provide nutrients? The only way is through ingesting non-processed, whole foods. Vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins will provide you with vitamins and minerals.

The way your body absorbs nutrients is to combine them with fat-soluble foods. This means you need to eat “good fats.” Here are some yummy examples:

  • blueberries with walnuts
  • carrots with hummus (garbanzo beans, good)
  • sweet-potato chips with guacamole (avocado being the good fat)
  • almond butter on a brown rice cake
  • a teaspoon of flaxseed oil in your berry smoothie
  • avocado oil in the pan with your scrambled eggs
  • asparagus with your salmon (omega-3 fatty acid rich)

I bet you’re getting the picture!

Tipping the Inflammation Scale

If your body is experiencing inflammation externally, you know it. You can see redness or swelling. Internally, you really don’t know if you’re inflamed until you feel lousy or experience pain, or you get diagnosed with a disease.

Inflammation, clearly, is not a good thing. In order to decrease it and help you on your weight-loss plan, there are certain foods you might consider removing from your diet. Inflammatory foods include:

  • wheat, gluten, and casein
  • dairy
  • processed and cured meats
  • soy
  • processed grains
  • sugar
  • sugar
  • sugar

Awww, Sugar Sugar

Yep, sugar mentioned more than once was not a typo. Sugar in the form of granulated or powdered sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and fructose is unacceptable in more than minuscule amounts if you want to lose weight, keep it off, and have a healthy body.

And, forget the artificial sweeteners. They are equally or almost worst. Read why here.

Here’s the Skinny on Weight-Loss

Regardless of the propaganda circulating by the sugar, wheat, and corn industries, “no dummies” do not fall into that trap. The truth is that those ingredients cause inflammation. If you want to lose weight, you need to say bye-bye to them for a while, if not, your lifetime.

It may sound grim, but the reality is that’s it’s a challenge and can be fun.

Don’t starve yourself by any means.

Start out your day with a nutritious breakfast. A smoothie that includes berries, protein (like a nut butter), fresh spinach or kale, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a bit of almond or coconut milk will fill you up and get your digestive system and brain into forward gear.

You can snack on any of the foods mentioned above. Your lunch and dinner should consist of at least half a plate of veggies and the rest with lean protein and good grains and fats. Make herbs and spices your best cooking friends too—they will add flavor and also help reduce inflammation.

Drink tons of water throughout the day and try to get at least eight hours of sleep per night. Toss in a bit of daily exercise, and you will start losing weight before you know it. Maintain a healthy diet, and you’ll keep those pounds off, and you will feel better than you ever have!

Ask a friend to join you on your positive eating challenge. If you need more support, there are terrific programs already set up to get you started. Restart TM offers groups with trained coaches to help with mindful eating. Arbonne offers a 30-day healthy living package with nutritional supplements and professional support. You can always check out other weight-loss and positive health-affective diets on www.GetThrive.com

Does Sugar Cause An Abnormal Metabolic Change?

Chemical abnormalities can create a drastic change in your health, especially when a few different groups of abnormalities accumulate. Some experts call this biological condition “metabolic syndrome.” It now appears that sugar may play a large part in producing this abnormal state.

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

A syndrome is generally characterized by a cluster of symptoms. A syndrome is not a disease, but it could be part of a disease, and in some cases, could lead to disease. A syndrome can also be described as an accumulation of several risk factors that are interrelated.

When referring to “metabolic” syndrome, the five risk factors are: high triglycerides, low good cholesterol (HDL), high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and abdominal fat. These factors significantly increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.

When one of the above factors is combined with another—or two others, or three or more others—your risk of “disease”, for example, Coronary Heart Disease (CDH) increases exponentially.

You have to have at least three of the five risk factors to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

Does Metabolic Syndrome Really Exist?

Many regard metabolic syndrome as a valid condition. Some others, however, are wary of committing to the term “syndrome” even though each of the high-risk areas is interrelated.

The bottom line: According to the American Heart Association, 47 million Americans currently have metabolic syndrome, and the CDC estimates that approximately 75 million Americans suffer from it.

Regardless of the legitimacy of its “name”, the truth is that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and large waists (over 35 inches for women and over 40 for men) contribute to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Those are facts.

Statistics also show that when any of those factors are combined, your risk of diabetes is increased by five times.

A dire chemical abnormality is irregular blood sugar levels. Resistance to insulin can cause fluctuation of blood sugar. This is usually when a diagnosis of diabetes is presented.

So Where Does Sugar Fit In?

Until the 1850s, there were few-to-no medically recorded cases of diabetes in the U.S. Coincidentally, there was a surge of sugar-filled products during that era. Soda, candy, and ice cream began becoming commonplace. Due to mechanical advancements, treats could be made by machine (instead of by hand), and were exceedingly more available to the public. In 1885, there was the introduction of Dr. Pepper, followed by Coca-Cola the following year.

In the 1970s, we witnessed the birth of high-fructose corn syrup. Over the ensuing 20 years, there was a 1000% increase in American’s consumption of this variation on sugar. By 2012, Americans were consuming, on average, over 25 pounds of HFCS a year, per person.

Today, the extreme prevalence of sugar and high fructose corn syrup added into the American diet can be directly linked to obesity and the increase of cases of diabetes.

Is Insulin Resistance Caused by From Sugar Overconsumption?

Insulin is a hormone. It guides the body on how and where to use fuel (from sugar). If we ingest too much sugar, our cells resist insulin. So what happens to all that sugar? It goes to fat stores and, then, basically, poisons the rest of our body.

Sugar is stored as glycogen in the liver, to be used as energy, for short term. When the liver decides it’s had enough, the leftover sugar goes to fat cells. That’s stored for the long haul. But what happens when your storage is full?

The sugar spills into your bloodstream.

Normally, you eat, your blood sugar rises and the hormone insulin is released. The insulin takes the sugar out of the blood and sends it to your tissues. In effect, the insulin eventually lowers your blood sugar (by dispersing it properly).

So then imagine, the more sugar you ingest, the more insulin your body releases. As your level of insulin increases, so does its resistance to insulin. As your resistance to insulin increases, so does your inability to naturally and healthily handle your food intake. This would be called the onset or progression of diabetes.

Sugar, Sugar

Nutritionists, doctors, naturopaths, and a deluge of other health experts can offer 100 reasons why adding sugar to any food (whole or processed) is not a beneficial option. In fact, it may turn out to be a dangerous one. Without getting too radical, simply consider the idea of decreasing your sugar and high fructose corn syrup consumption.

Check out food labels. Substitute applesauce and stevia as natural sweeteners when baking. Do not substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar as they are known to contribute to other health risks. Educate yourself and then choose your personal best practice. For more information on healthy choices for you and your family, see www.GetThrive.com

 

 

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAwgdX5VxGc

http://www.candyhistory.net/candy-origin/history-of-candy/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/is-sugar-killing-us-1481303447

http://www.webmd.com/heart/picture-of-the-heart#1

http://www.webmd.com/heart/metabolic-syndrome/metabolic-syndrome-what-is-it#1

Surprising Treatment for Diabetes May Be “The Cure”

There are medical treatments available for Type-2 Diabetes that moderate blood sugar and help provide a “normal” lifestyle. What most of us don’t know is that there is a natural way to treat it—and may also finally cure it!

Understanding Type-2 Diabetes

Type-2 diabetes is something your body develops over time. It used to be called “late-onset diabetes.” That would be a misnomer nowadays because even adolescents are acquiring the disease.

Common, available medical information explains that those who develop type-2 diabetes either cannot use insulin adequately or simply don’t produce enough insulin. But there may be more to the diabetes-2 story.

What’s With Insulin?

Cells in the pancreas create insulin, which is a hormone.

Insulin converts the sugar we ingest into (glucose) fuel and directs it where to go. If functioning properly, it sends it first to your muscle cells and your brain. If there’s too much sugar in the blood, it sends the extra elsewhere—to cells waiting to accepting the overload. They are fat cells.

It’s a good thing sugar (glucose) overload is redirected away from vital organs.

The more sugar you hoard, the more fat cells have to reproduce in order to handle the overload. Those cells also expand. So, if your body didn’t protect you from the high sugar levels (and place it into fat cells), hyperglycemia would prevail, and eventually, you’d go into a coma. And then, die.

You can thank your brain for saving your life and instead giving you that tire around your belly.

Insulin Has Had Enough!

As Type-2 diabetes develops, your body becomes less resistant to insulin. So now what’s going to happen? Insulin was on your side, diverting all the sugar from your organs. Resistance ensues. This leads to inflammation.

Inflammation is the Ultimate Destroyer of Good Health

Inflammation in our systems can occur from too much stress, toxins in our systems, and an overload of sugar in our bloodstream, (among other causes).

Inflammation is not a direct cause of diabetes, but it has been proven to participate in its development.

Inflammation, externally and internally, causes our good-fight cells to work overtime. When they work too hard and too long, they give out. Eventually, this is one of the reasons why we wind up with an autoimmune disorder.

Our body’s fighting-cells start fighting against healthy cells—they’re tired and confused. Type-2 diabetes is being redefined as an autoimmune disorder, just like Colitis, Celiac, and Lupus, to name a few.

Here’s The Secret…

Approach treatment and the eventual cure of type-2 diabetes by decreasing inflammation.

How to Decrease Inflammation

Basically, you want to decrease the influx of anti-inflammatory chemicals into your body. That would include foods you ingest, but also the other toxins in your environment. With a healthy diet and exercise, you can definitely accomplish this!

EXERCISE increases cellular sensitivity to insulin. Exercise also releases a ton of natural hormones into the bloodstream. This includes serotonin, which perks up your mood (but basically because it cleans up your gut.)

FOODS that are whole, organic, and don’t create an allergic reaction in your body, will help decrease inflammation as well.

The BOTTOM LINE is eating well and exercising. Do your best in both, and you can prevent type-2 diabetes.

Getting to the Cure

Continuing on a path of low-inflammatory foods and some type of daily exercise can pretty much assure you of preventing type-2 diabetes. In order to “cure” your prognosis, you’ll need to be consistent in your commitment to good health.

That would entail eating meals rich in: avocados, nuts, leafy greens, seeds, lean proteins (fish and poultry) and avoiding: processed foods, red meats, white foods like bread, rice, and potatoes.

You can eat: sweet potatoes, brown rice, grain-fed beef, peanut butter, spinach, berries, and a ton of other foods you’ll love. Don’t think of it at losing things you love, but rather adding new foods you’ll love even more!

Of course, if you have type-2 diabetes, always notify your physician first of any dietary changes you plan on making.

Thrive will be adding more articles on inflammation reducing foods soon, so check us out often. In the meanwhile, if you want to read other informative tidbits about health and everyday living, click here.

Omega-3s May Prevent High Blood Pressure Later in Life

Most Omega-3 fatty acid studies have been focused on those who already have high blood pressure. A new study out of Switzerland, however, reveals some interesting findings from healthy participants aged 25 to 41.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Don’t be frightened by the term fatty acid. It’s a necessary element in our diet, and our body doesn’t naturally produce it. Omega-3s, in particular, have shown to improve the functioning of our blood vessels, decrease inflammation, and strengthen heart health. It can be found in foods such as: fish (salmon, tuna, halibut), walnuts, flaxseeds, olive oil, beans, winter squash, tofu, and others.

Very high doses of omega-3s can lower blood pressure momentarily. But what about long-term, moderate use? Will that prevent high blood pressure in the future? That’s what the scientists were wondering…

The Study

Lead researcher, Dr. Mark Filipovic, studied results from 2,000 participants in the program. Men and women, aged 25 to 41, were divided into four groups. All of the people were considered healthy, did not have diabetes and were not obese. (Those conditions tend to impact blood pressure levels.)

Those with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood had the lowest systolic and lowest diastolic of all the groups. Systolic pressure is the top number of the blood pressure reading; it measures the pressure exerted against artery walls when the heart beats. Diastolic pressure, the bottom number, measures the pressure exerted when the heart rests between beats.

How an Omega-3-rich Diet Can Benefit You

The assumption, after that particular study, is that encouraging diets rich in omega-3s could be a tool in preventing high blood pressure. Filipovic expressed that, overall, if blood pressure levels were lowered—even a small amount—it would make a big difference. Fewer people might suffer strokes and heart attacks.

An alternate study, which focused on those who already have high blood pressure, noted that adding omega-3 fatty acids into their diet reduced their levels. Even less than a gram made a difference. (That’s a handful of walnuts and a half of an avocado, or a 4-ounce piece of Alaskan salmon.)

Instead of taking more supplements, it’s best to incorporate fresh foods that promote optimum health. And when it comes to your heart, you don’t want to mess around. Click here for other helpful information on good-for-your-body foods.