I would like to start this week with my personal story. When I was a baby, every time I cried my parents stuck a bottle in my mouth. From that young age I learned that when I was in distress, the answer was to eat, so that’s what I did.
Except for a year in high school and one year in college, while working at a fast food restaurant, I managed my weight pretty well. That was until the stress began at age 38 with some life- changing events.
That’s when that old memory really kicked in of “eat to calm yourself!” So, I got bigger and bigger and eventually by the time I was 59, I was in a size 20. I didn’t even realize how I looked until I had a picture taken in a swimsuit and OMG!
I knew I had to do something about it, and so the research began. I’ve have dropped four dress sizes and working on more. This got me interested in helping others as well, so I decided to open an office to do just that.
There is not enough room in this column to tell everything; however, today I will express to you some of the weight loss secrets I discovered.
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Have you ever been on a diet, loss the weight and put it back on and maybe extra? Most people do not diet correctly. This rollercoaster effect causes loss of muscle mass, which causes the body to burn muscle for energy. Muscles require more energy keeping your metabolism high. When you lose muscle mass, your metabolism slows down and so does your fat burning capacity.
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Have you ever completed a diet and stilled returned to your original weight? In order for you to have a new normal weight, it needs to maintain the new weight for approximately six months in order for it to become your new normal.
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Do you eat when you are stressed? Eating for the wrong reason, using food for emotional comfort for when you are depressed or a celebration when you are happy puts fat on.
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Do you consume alcohol? Alcohol triggers insulin, which stimulates the body to store fat, thus causing weight gain.
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Do you skip meals or let yourself get hungry? Skipping meals, reducing calories and allowing yourself to get hungry makes the body think it should store fat. It goes into survival mode.
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Do you eat refined grains, white bread, rice, pasta and sugary foods? Eating refined carbohydrates, refined sugars and grains, cakes, candy, etc. all stimulates insulin production, which stimulates fat storage.
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Do you have recurring or chronic pain? Cortisol is your body’s anti-inflammatory hormone. It is released when you’re in pain, but when cortisol is elevated, it tells the body to hold onto fat. This hormone causes the storage of belly fat, so getting anybody pains reduced helps put you in fat burning mode. I suggest a good chiropractor or acupuncturist.
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Do you overeat? Overeating stimulates fat storage hormones. What you don’t need the body will store.
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Do you consume caffeinated drinks like coffee or colas? Caffeine stimulates cortisol, which triggers fat storage.
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Do you often get stressed? Stress causes an increase in the hormone cortisol, which blocks weight loss and puts you in the fat storage mode.
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Do you have poor sleeping habits? If your body is not well rested, your metabolism is reduced and puts you into fat storage mode.
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Do you drink tap water, and do you eat meat that is not organic? There are more than 80,000 chemicals in the food and water today. You must drink thoroughly filter water or consume spring water, and you must eat organic foods, especially the meat. If not, chemicals are polluting your body.
Regular American meat is loaded with steroids that make you fat and antibiotics that make it very difficult to digest your food. Also, your body will lay down fat, putting these toxins in your fat cells in an effort to keep them from circulating in your body.
There is so much more to weight loss, but this information should help you some.
Dr. Ramona Valentine
