How to Achieve Sensible Weight-Loss
By Liz Barrington, Natural Body Healing
Want to get fit and lose weight? Sadly there is
no safe ‘magic potion’ available. Permanent weight loss can
only occur when you aim to improve your ‘overall health’ over
the long-term; you’ll fail to keep off the weight if you simply
focus on ‘losing weight’ quickly.
Don't
worry, help is at hand -
here are some great healthy tips that will help you steadily
yet sensibly reach and maintain your desired weight!
-
Detoxify your body. The body uses fat tissue as a buffer to store toxins
away from important organs so they’re not able to cause any
harm. Therefore, if the body is overly toxic, it won’t release
any excess fat. If you are a smoker, it’s important to stop
smoking to prevent serious damage to your health. Toxins
cause oxidation and therefore inflammation in the body, along
with water retention and also cellular malfunction and disease.
Regular ‘cleanses’ are therefore essential in managing your
weight and keeping healthy. Click
here, for more information about Aqua Detox - the effortless
way to rebalance and detoxify your body. Alternatively, try a 10-day 'herbal detox’
- please
click here for further details.
-
Drink plenty of good spring/filtered water (2-3 litres a
day). Healthy hot drinks such as herbal teas throughout the day,
will help curb your appetite too.
-
Stabilise your blood sugar levels by avoiding simple (refined)
carbohydrates and use natural supplements, such as
liquorice root to support your glandular system. Excess
blood sugar is converted to fat and stored in the body, so when
high blood sugar levels are constant over many years, the weight
simply piles on. Unless you change to a low GI/GL diet
(consisting of complex carbohydrates) over the long-term and
stabilise your blood sugar levels, your excess weight will be
difficult to shift.
-
Remove
dairy and wheat products from your diet. In addition to
increasing your fat and calorie intake, these foods irritate the
mucus membranes within the digestive tract, cause bloating and
slow down the body - therefore hindering the entire digestive
process.
-
Greatly
decrease the amount of ‘stimulants’ in your diet – such as alcohol,
tea, coffee, chocolate. These play havoc with the adrenal glands;
they also introduce more toxins into your body, are often high
in empty calories and prevent the absorption of many
nutrients in the body.
-
If you
suspect you suffer from certain food allergies, eliminate them
from your diet. Over a period of time, once your body has been
cleansed sufficiently, you may be able to re-introduce some of
these foods back into your diet,
-
Cut down
on unhealthy saturated fats (found in milk, cheese, butter,
biscuits, sweets, vegetable fat etc).
-
AVOID
sugar, sweetened foods, processed foods and salt.
-
Stay away from short-term ‘fad’ diets.
Short-term weight loss never
stays off and fad diets, such as high-protein diets with few
carbohydrates, can often cause longer-term health
problems.
-
If you
eat ‘nutrient-rich’ foods (including high quality food
supplementation) the body becomes satisfied and you’ll lose
your cravings. Useful daily supplements to aid weight loss
include:
A good quality
Vitamin and Mineral
supplement,
Zambroza
(antioxidant),
Psyllium husks
(high fibre),
Omega-3 EPA/DHA,
Vitamin B Complex,
Vitamin C,
Zinc,
Bifidophilus Probiotics
and
Food Digestive Enzymes
(take
these enzymes after heavy meals but only for 3 months
maximum). To order the highest-quality natural supplements
at 15% discount online, please click
here.
-
Eat plenty
of whole foods, wholegrains, beans, pulses, fresh fruit and
vegetables (for their high fibre content) to help you feel full
and to help absorb toxins in the colon.
-
Only eat
high quality protein such as fish, chicken,
non-GM soya (an excellent source is
Synerprotein), pulses, beans,
spirulina and eggs at
breakfast and/or lunch time. This is easier on the body’s
digestion and provides ‘slow-burning’ energy throughout the day
which reduces your cravings for sugar.
-
Get some
balance in your life and try to avoid too much
stress. When the
body is under stress it produces excess ‘cortisol’ which
increases blood sugar levels and causes the body to crave rich
fatty foods. Eating healthily is difficult to achieve unless
you’re able to manage your stress levels.
-
Always eat slowly and chew your food properly; follow a
low-glycaemic diet and NEVER miss breakfast! Eat sensibly and
have any larger meals during the day time if possible. Always
aim to eat a simpler, smaller meal well before
7.30pm in the evening (mainly consisting of carbohydrates which
are easier to digest). -
Make sure you eat the right balance of foods to maintain the
body's proper
pH levels. In other
words, 80% alkaline-forming foods (primarily fresh fruit and
vegetables) and 15% acid-forming foods (protein, dairy,
nuts, other types of fruit and vegetables).
An imbalance in the body's pH levels can affect all major
body systems - especially the digestive, intestinal,
circulatory and immune systems.
-
Exercise aerobically 2-3 times each week including some
muscle strengthening exercise such as pilates, yoga, weight
training. Find a good gym with a one-to-one trainer if possible. We
are all different and we each have different needs and
capabilities.
-
Always start any new exercise regime slowly and then build it up
gradually.
-
'Warm up' before you start and 'warm down' afterwards; Always
stretch gently once you’ve warmed up.
-
Always do just enough exercise – overdoing it results in either
injury or over-exertion - both of which are likely to put you
off continuing.
-
Seek your doctor's advice before starting a new exercise regime
if you have any health concerns; If you are considerably
overweight, ask your doctor to check whether you have any
thyroid problems.
-
Eat healthily – and go for ‘organic’ natural food wherever
possible.
-
Avoid toxins, artificial colourings and flavourings in
your food.
-
Never shop for food when you’re hungry!
-
Ask for support and encouragement – get your family and
friends behind you.
-
Weigh yourself no more than once a week and more
importantly, measure yourself too.
If you can permanently adopt these lifestyle changes to become healthier, the weight will drop
off and it will stay off. You’ll enjoy being a slimmer, fitter and a more confident person
and you’ll become much healthier and happier too.
The nutritional supplement product links stated in this article can only be purchased from this website in UK and in Europe; however all other health product links stated on this page are available worldwide from Natural Body Healing.
The above information should not be treated as a substitute for the
medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care
professional.
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