February 26, 2020 // by Dr. Jacque Moser DC
So you’ve been dieting for the past year or so, or maybe you set a New Year’s Resolution… but the resolution didn’t stick like the extra few pounds you put on last year. So what do you do?
From my career in bodybuilding, I know what it is like to have the ups and downs of the human physique as well as how impossible it can sometimes feel to figure out and stick to new “diet” plans. What I learned, is that dieting is a negative word. Diet in my definition is where we are FORCED to starve ourselves to the point where our body shrivels up and has no other choice but to lose weight. Now, that may see harsh but isn’t that what you feel emotionally when you hear that word?
So Doc, what is the alternative? Well, this is why I am writing to you. This Article is for those who are struggling to either gain, maintain, or lose weight. Look below for my 5 tips on how to fix your weight loss struggle.
1. The wrong foods
Doc, I am eating EXACTLY what I read online to eat. I am going with broccoli, spinach, chicken breasts… let’s stop. Just because one food is good for one person, doesn’t mean that it is good for you.
Research shows that if you have any history of digestive distress, that we can have a condition called “leaky gut.” This condition sounds very harmless, when in fact, it can be very damaging.
Leaky gut can allow for food proteins to cross into the blood stream and illicit an inflammatory reaction where your immune system goes and attacks the foods that you eat. So when one person can eat those “bodybuilder dieting foods,” another person may have a sensitivity to those foods.
My doctoral advice, run a food sensitivity test to find out whether or not your nutrition is coming from healthy foods, or from foods you may have an inflammatory reaction to. Because remember, where there is inflammation, there is weight gain.
2. Too much sugar
Doc, I don’t eat any sugar or baked goods so I am fine. Well, not so fast. Most people associate sugar, with sugary foods. Things like elephant ears, donuts, cupcakes and pies, when really, the main things we need to worry about are going to be the carbs that come from your baked goods, your pastas… more of your everyday foods vs your guilt foods.
The more we eat carbohydrates, the more glucose is released into the blood stream which then requires an increase in a hormone called Insulin. This leads into a whole other category of Insulin Resistance, which is your body having to product far more insulin than it should to be able to get your glucose under control (1)
So cut the sugar out completely? Heck no, you can still have carbohydrates, but you must be smart at what you are consuming and if we are lowering our carbohydrate intake, it is important to consult your practitioner on how to add in healthy fats to allow for proper caloric increases to keep you healthy and well.
3. Wrong type of exercise
Ok, so what is the right exercise for you? Well, that’s the thing, different people respond differently to different exercises. I don’t think I could have used the word different more in one sentence. So let me explain.
Person A loves to run, they do great with low intensity walks or more of an aerobic type workout. Person B hates to run, but can handle sprints or harder workouts. Different people are built differently.
Some of us have more slow oxidative muscle fibers, some of us have fast twitch muscle fibers. Each enable us to be more efficient at different exercise. So I recommend working to your build. You can also do a combination of both, depending on results.
4. Sleep
I love my wife Megan, but when I met her, she would be the first to tell you she was addicted to the Nyquil. It was the only thing that would help her to sleep while she was flying all across the world. Why? Because sleep was massively important for her to be able to wake up the next morning and do her job in different time zones.
She’s since been through my Nyquil detox, which consisted of me throwing away her hidden bottles in our apartment back in Texas, and since, has noticed great improvement with overall sleep, unless our son wakes us up.
So let’s talk about Sleep. An article from 2018 states that sleep deprivation in adults, has been associated with an increase in Body Mass Index (BMI), due to increases in levels of ghrelin, salt retention, inflammatory markers and then a decrease in Leptin and Insulin Sensitivity. So in short, it can cause leptin and insulin resistance which would in turn, cause weight gain! This is just with less than 7 hours of sleep! (2)
My recommendations, meditation before bed, be sure not to eat any meals up to 4 hours before bed time or even have a nice warm cup of calming teas. If this still isn’t working, then I would recommend an in person or virtual consultation to go over any hidden triggers.
5. Stress
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, Stress. Stress can deplete a woman’s Progesterone which can then cause an increase in Estrogen Dominance as well as cause an increase in aromatase activity converting Androgenic Hormones to your Estrogens (yes with an “s”).
This can then turn into a vicious cycle where you are stressed, you can’t lose weight, so that stresses you out, so you then get more stressed due to hormonal imbalances! Wow, what a cycle. So what to do?
I have my patients consult with me on any hidden stress in their lives and allow for it to be brought to the surface, just like we do with our testing. If we cannot find the trigger, we cannot come up with a solution. There are natural calming herbs you can take as well like California Poppy, or even Kava Kava that can help to calm you, but more help may be needed.
If you want to learn more about yourself and where you may have any hidden weaknesses in your body, I would encourage you to reach out and schedule an appointment. We offer in person consultations as well as Virtual Webcam consultations to all of our patients across the country.
Photo: By Unsplash.com by Bill Oxford
References:
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459280/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6196958/
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