Get off the Fat Wagon
By Sharon Hoehner
With all the diet books and diet foods on the market it’s incredible to see that about one third of Canadians are either overweight or obese. Losing weight is not just about being slim and sexy! It may be a matter of life and death. Life quality. Earlier death. Excess weight escalates the rates of conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. So why do so many of us fail at dieting? Why are we too tired to exercise?
There are multiple issues. Usually one factor alone will not cause obesity but when you add two or more together you’ve got a prescription for failure. Go through this mini questionnaire and check off which of the following apply to you:
__Do you have stress at work or are you unemployed against your best efforts?
__Do you have stress in the family?
__Do you have insomnia or other sleep challenge?
__Do you find the thought of exercising overwhelming?
__Do you feel like you just cannot live without your “treats”?
__Do you eat less than 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day?
__Do you consume more than one cup of coffee a day?
__Do you consume sugar or fried foods on a daily basis?
__Are you tired all the time?
__Do you get depressed in the winter (SAD) or are you mild depressed on a regular basis?
__Do you have amalgam fillings?
__Have you had any unusual exposure to toxins?
__Have you eaten a lot of fast foods in your life?
Saying yes to any two of the above will put you into the danger zone for gaining and storing weight. Years of eating fast food, junk food, MSG, sweeteners and other chemicals combined with environmental toxins can lead to a hormone imbalance in the hypothalamus, thyroid or adrenal glands which all help to control our weight.
How can you know which diet is best for you? First of all you need to eliminate all toxic fake food. Combined with several short periods of daily exercise-like a 10 minute walk or bouncing on an exercise ball while you watch TV, increased water consumption and getting an extra hour of sleep may be all you need to start losing. Once damage is done to the glands though, further action is necessary.
Eliminating very acidic foods will also help. Pork, farmed salmon, dairy, sugar and white flour are the most common offenders. These will cause inflammation which will lead to tiredness and pain, leaving you exhausted and unmotivated. Consuming a diet high in raw vegetables, greens and fruits will give you energy, help your body to detoxify and typically weight loss will ensue. If you switch overnight to a completely raw food diet, you may be expelling too many toxins at once so be sure to use a safe detoxifier to remove heavy metals and volatile organic compounds so as not to overburden your liver which will stall weight losses.
If you fall off the diet wagon just start over the next day rather than giving up. Concentrate on becoming healthy, energetic and feeling good right into your 80’s and 90’s.
*This article is not meant as medical advice and upon embarking on a weight loss or exercise program you should be checking in with your health care practitioner of choice.
Sharon Hoehner is a nutritional & detoxification consultant. For a list of resources and appropriate supplements or to be notified of her upcoming book release about proven ways to get healthy with ease, contact her at 250-245-9240 or detoxexpert@gmail.com or visit www.sharethecause.com/detoxqueen.
This article first appeared in the Herbal Collective Jan/Feb,’09, www.herbalcollective.ca or www.herbalcollective.ca/subscribe.html
January 9th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Great information - Detoxing and Changing the diet are obviously critical to any weight lose program and few people recognize the need to detox in particular.
I think that for most people there are two huge challenges in addition to what you have mentioned, that are critical to the success in losing weight permanently.
First there is an emotional component to all healing whether it is Weight Loss, Cancer or some other ailment, which is the underlying cause that got the person to where they are today. For example none of us started out unable to do without those treats or fried foods. We typically start eating them as a habit we form to bury our feelings. It may have even been taught by our families as a way of being loved. For example you are a good girl or boy if you eat everything on your plate. Love, Protection and Anger are the most prevelant underlying emotional components to excess weight.
The second is that we typically try to change everything all at once, which you touched on - and truly can’t be emphasized enough. We gain weight over a long period of time and we expect to lose it all next week. If instead we begin to change out lifestyle one step at a time, over time we will make a more lasting impact and change in our lives and our health.
Thanks again for your the great information about the importance of detoxing and also the reminder of some of the ways toxins get into our body’s like amalgams.
March 6th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Nice information for those who are interested in weight loss and body detoxifiation and not only . Also this is good in get rid of tiredness.Gaining weigth will disturb you hormonal and digestive sistem and will have a big impact in your daily behavior, getting tired or sleep disorders.
To consume herbal tea every day is good not only for get rid of fat tissues but also some of them are good for aroma therapy, relaxing your brain and body.
Thank you Sharon.