Eleven Ways to Stay Healthy and Control Your Weight
No one can maintain long-term deprivation diets. Nutra-Systems,The LA Diet, the numerous liquid fast diets and other nasty "can't have this-can't have that" programs are bound to fail because of something we really can't help: Our genes.
Our bodies, from the Neanderthals on to present day - are programmed to avoid scarcity, starvation and discomfort so when confronted with the idea of starvation, our bodies will automatically and physiologically react to KEEP THE CALORIES and to KEEP THE WEIGHT ON in order to preserve energy. This results in MORE stored fat and has to do with our caveman ancestors chasing saber toothed tigers, hibernating in winter, the availability of food source, insulin and a host of other stuff. If you are interested, there is a fascinating book all about this: Lights Out by T.S. Wiley)
The influence of the ancestral physiology is also why when anyone goes off a calorie restricted diet, they invariably gain back all the weight they lost plus more.
The best way to stay healthy and control your weight is to work with your body's chemistry rather than against it - don't starve it, don't make it uncomfortable - because Mother Nature will not be fooled with your drastic measures and your body will just rebel and not obey you in the least way, no how. Oh sure, you might lose some weight for the wedding, the 25th high school reunion, the new boyfriend, but it will come right back. So do it right by changing your eating habits and maintaining a cheerful and patient attitude while you are changing your life around. Also, don't expect it tomorrow. A permanent change of lifestyle and subsequent weight loss will take you a good year. (I will be giving a three week cleansing and weight loss class in mid-August where I will be discussing all of this.)
But, in the meantime, here are eleven ways to stay healthy and control your weight - ten of them, thanks to Dr. Mehmet Oz, Oprah's new darling doc. Read on, it's not what you've heard before.
Spice up your morning eggs with cayenne or other forms of red pepper. This will suppress your appetite, increase your metabolism and decrease the desire for food later in the day.
Consume fiber early in the day. It will make you less hungry in the afternoon when most of us plummet into coffee or sugar hell. Consume 30 grams of fiber per day in the form of high-fiber cereals (steel cut oats are good for breakfast), fruits, veggies and whole grains.
Eat nuts. Nuts stimulate the production of CCK, (cholecystokinin) a chemical messenger that slows the rate at which the stomach empties. It also reduces your appetite without putting your body into starvation mode. Before lunch and dinner try 12 almonds.
Drink coffee instead of soft drinks. See, I've been telling you that coffee is now a health food. It's a rich source of antioxidants, low in calories and it stimulates the release of norepinephrine, a hormone that suppresses appetite and promotes calorie burning. If you don't like coffee, green tea is also excellent.
Supplement with 5-HTP, a precursor of tryptophan. It will increase your brain levels of serotonin and pretty soon, you will be very happy about substituting that kale salad for the brownie! In one study, people taking 5-HTP for six weeks lost an average of 12 pounds compared with only 4 pounds in a control group. Try 300 mgs.daily.
Turn up your thermostat. Heat is a natural form of appetite control. Every one degree increase in body temperature increases your metabolism by 14%.
Smell grapefruit. I suggest eating it, too. But the smell of grapefruit is thought to affect liver enzymes and help promote weight loss.
Control your emotional stress. People who live with chronic stress - divorce, four children under 6, job junk - produce high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that increases the propensity for the omentum - the fat pad covering all the internal organs around your waist (liver, stomach etc.) to store fat. This will increase your waist size which is a significant risk factor for heart disease.
I am including #9 and #10 just because I found them interesting, not because I agree with them; this is Dr. Oz talking, not me. He suggests taking Tagamet, the heartburn drug. The active ingredient - cimetidine - is thought to activate CCK and suppress appetite.
(Again, this is Dr. Oz talking, not me, but it's an interesting concept.) Consider using a nicotine patch or gum. When combined with small amounts of caffeine, it can help some people speed up the weight loss process. And, as an added benefit, I guess that you will feel high all the time, too.
Practice hachi bu. Push away from the table when you are 80% full.
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