Expert Weight Loss Tips

Expert weight loss tips

Why can't you lose weight? Try these 10 surprising mind-body strategies from our top holistic health experts that you will only read here.

1. Choose good fats

Don’t think of your new way of living as a diet, but as an opportunity to make new, healthy choices. ‘Diet’ implies a short-term situation rather than a permanent lifestyle change. Dieting without exercising will cause your metabolic rate to slow and lead to huge rebound weight gain. Aim for aerobic activity for at least 40 minutes, five days a week.
If you’ve tried all the low-kilojoule diets and still have a weight problem, chances are you have some degree of insulin resistance. Try limiting your carbohydrate intake to fruit and vegetables only, and eliminating bread, rice, pasta, sugars and potatoes. Eat little and often: never go more than four hours without eating. Have a substantial breakfast that includes protein and low-GI carbohydrates. Cutting out all fat leaves you feeling ravenous and so more likely to binge on carbs. Choose healthy fats, such as nuts and seeds, fish, avocadoes, rice bran, and oils such as olive, avocado and flaxseed. Set small weight-loss goals and reward yourself when you achieve them.
Lynda Wharton, traditional Chinese acupuncturist and naturopath

2. Heal emotional wounds

Initially, I used a regime of three protein-rich meals and two small protein-filled snacks, along with abstaining from high-carbohydrate foods, dairy products and alcohol. However, I was continually frustrated by clients' lack of commitment and high drop-off rates. When I explored the reason, I found weight is a symptom of a deeper concern. We use food as an emotional blocker to prevent us from really feeling something – whether a past experience or trauma, or a current issue. When someone embarks upon a weight-loss program that involves giving up fattening, sugar-filled comfort foods, feelings that have been previously suppressed by those foods start to arise.
Now, I always do some healing work with my clients first, and provide continuous support throughout the program. I also encourage a gentler approach to food. I prefer to look at it as creating a new lifestyle involving healthier eating choices, enjoyable exercise, and love and relationships with friends and family. If someone has all these things happening in their life, weight naturally begins to normalise. It's not about depriving yourself, but instead tuning in to your body’s needs.
Nina Barnes, naturopath

3. Balance hormones

Busy, stressed people secrete too much cortisol from their adrenal glands, which causes accumulation of abdominal fat. I always work on repairing the adrenal glands and balancing energy to ensure these glands are healthy. Master hormonal secretions from the anterior pituitary gland play a big part in weight control. TSH 9 (thyroid stimulating hormone) is critical for thermogenesis and metabolic balance. Exercise, regular small meals, and supplements such as magnesium and iodine help balance this hormone.
Research consistently shows that pre- and post-menopausal women who have low levels of oestradiol gain weight faster than those with good oestrogen balance. I test for hormone levels to ensure ratios are good for age and sex. Herbal medicines help women and men with low oestrogen levels lose weight faster and not fall into the cycle of stubborn fat gain that is difficult to shift.
To lose weight, you need to remove toxins from your cells. Sweating during exercise is excellent; so is drinking juices. Ideally, a naturopath should supervise you on a detox program. Up to 10 kilos of putrefaction can lodge in your digestive tract and this needs to be cleared. Keep your body in an alkaline state. If your system is acidic and you follow a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, you put your kidneys at risk, as high acidity damages the tiny nephrons. Eating the ‘supergreens’ - spirulina, chlorella, and barley grass - keeps your body alkaline.
Dominique Finney, herbalist

4. Cherish your body

How you see your body is the key to achieving a healthy weight. My recommendation to anyone regarding losing weight is to examine their thoughts about their body. This can be the first time people even think about their body as something to be cherished, fuelled with good food, and exercised in an enjoyable way that promotes fat burning. The body responds to what we put into it on all levels, and for the majority, it will maintain a healthy weight range when it is cared for in this way.
Adrian Buckly, writer, owner of www.fitforlifeonline.com.au

5. Boost your metabolism

Start the day with the juice of half a lemon or lime in a cup of warm water to stimulate digestion and cleanse the liver. This is also an excellent tonic before meals, and the better your digestive system is working, the healthier and lighter you feel. Exercising first thing gets your day off to a great start: even 15 minutes of brisk walking kick-starts your metabolism. Green tea stimulates metabolism and digestion. To ensure the tannins don’t interfere with iron absorption; drink it about an hour after meals. Identify food allergies or intolerances, such as gluten and dairy, as they can cause bloating and heaviness. If you snack between meals, make it a handful of your favourite unsalted nuts. A recent study showed women who ate 90 grams of almonds a day lost more weight compared to women who didn't eat almonds.
Bridget Carmady, naturopath

6. Follow the 95 percent rule

We live on a pleasure planet, constantly tempted by treats. If we deny ourselves all the time, we’ll go mad, so use this rule as a guideline: eat for the body 95 per cent of the time and for the mind five per cent of the time. You can take control of your diet (and budget!) by planning meals in advance. Do not drink within two hours of a meal. Have days where you eat carbohydrates and green vegetables, but no protein. Balance these with days where you eat protein and green vegetables, but no carbohydrates. A positive attitude will take you all the way.
Gwendoline Ford, principal, Health & Harmony Colleges

7. Check your thyroid

Thyroid problems are epidemic, fast becoming the leading cause of rapid weight gain. Many people suffer this without even knowing it. If you're gaining weight for no reason, or finding it impossible to lose weight, even with a healthy diet and exercise, you may be one of them.
A well-functioning thyroid gland is crucial to your metabolism. In fact, this gland is the body’s major metabolic regulator. A sluggish thyroid slows metabolism, sabotaging your best weight-loss efforts. Thyroid-damaging foods, nutrient deficiencies, toxic food ingredients, environmental chemicals and stress all contribute to thyroid irregularities.
If you suspect you have a thyroid problem, request a complete thyroid check-up. Medical diagnosis involves measuring blood levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroid antibodies and the major thyroid hormones; thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Adequate T3 is essential for long-term weight loss. T3 is normally converted from T4, but low levels indicate reduced conversion. A drop in T3 puts the brakes on metabolism and fat burning. Restoring optimal thyroid health may be the key to naturally reaching and maintaining your ideal weight.
Louise O’Connor, naturopath specialising in natural weight loss

8. Go low GI

Quickly digested carbohydrate meals cause blood-glucose levels to rise sharply and then plunge, usually about two hours after eating. The body perceives this drop as an emergency and sends signals to eat sweet food to restore blood glucose to normal, triggering sugar and carbohydrate cravings and binges. The brain and nerves are temporarily deprived of fuel when blood glucose drops, leading to energy slumps, tiredness, irritability, and loss of concentration. To prevent this slump, eat high fibre, minimally processed carbohydrate (low GI) foods. Have a substantial breakfast soon after rising, and eat five to six small meals of protein or savoury foods, no more than three hours apart.
Dr Fay Paxton, naturopath and nutritionist

9. Release emotional blockages

One factor with weight management in TCM is diet; the other is emotion. Underlying stress and problems need to be managed, for they have a direct effect on your weight. I find when I talk to clients about this side – something that must be done with great care, as emotional problems often go back to childhood – most end up crying. Some choose not to deal with them because it's too painful, and so they give up. Our weight-management program, for those who choose to stay, combines diet, appropriate foods for their body constitution, and emotional counselling. If the problems are serious, we refer the person to a psychologist. Once the emotional blockage has been released, they start to achieve results.
Yun Niu PhD, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner

10. Eat according to your constitution

The one factor that really determines the sort of diet that will work for you is your body constitution. It's very important to understand your body constitution before you rush into any diet: a particular diet that was suitable for your friend may not work for you because your body constitution is different. If, for example, your body constitution belongs to the yin type, and the foods you eat are also yin type, this makes your body more extreme in yin energy, which can result in weight gain.
Another thing to understand is that body constitution changes throughout your life: sickness, operations, life stages, or moving to an area with a different climate all affect body constitution. This is the reason you hear people complain they can no longer eat particular foods. No single diet or food will suit you forever. It's also the reason that the blood-group or blood-type diets aren't successful for everyone. Some who follow them say they feel better. Others, though, feel they don’t work – and this is because your blood type never changes, but your body constitution does.
Kent Wang, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner

Source : Nature and Health