Losing weight can be like water running down the side of your shower. As the droplets form they “stick” everywhere. As more accumulate and get bigger, gravity takes over and they fall. As they fall they hit more little drops and pick them up and get bigger and faster.
Once your have a nice steady stream running down your shower wall, you will notice that the water doesn’t run straight down. How amazing is that. It zigs and zags as it hits little droplets.
But it always goes down.
Water has a destination.
Water is a necessity that we all need and it has a lot to teach us. Losing weight can be very similar, and I’m talking about lasting weight loss not a fad diet.
I don’t want you just losing weight.
Huh? Not just to lose weight, because you could put on a track suit and sweat off 10 lbs. In the class, I talked about lots of small changes that can add up over time and form a larger droplet of change that will snowball into major changes.
When my wife decided to lose a few pounds, the first month she didn’t lose a pound. Nada, zilch. Here comes the frustration, she wanted to quit, because she felt like it didn’t make a difference, so whats the point.
She didn’t quit. She also didn’t weigh herself for a whole year. It took doing some balancing of her hormones to really get her body rolling, but she never gave up. She knew she was losing weight because her clothes were getting looser.
Just remember, even a stream of water doesn’t flow perfectly straight, you’ll encounter bumps in the road that will force you to zig and zag. But, if you have and keep your goal a head of you, you’ll get there. But you must have a goal. You need something to keep you on track and working towards.
Here are many little droplets of information on weight loss
You can pick and choose at your leisure, but the more small things you do and incorporate into your lifestyle the more your body will drop weight like a stream of water getting bigger.
Really, it is about clean, whole food eating. If you have questions about any of the topics, just do a little more digging, or send me an email.
- Do not count calories. All calories are not created equal and DO Not react with your body equally. If you follow the rest of the advice you’ll never count calories again.
- Malnutrition is guaranteed. Most people think of starving kids in Africa, but being overweight is a malnutrition. The food you are consuming is devoid of nutrition and instead of nourishing your body with vital nutrients that make your body hum along you are just packing on dead, empty pounds your body doesn’t have a use for. Get Standard Processes multivitamin “Catalyn” quickly and take it 1/2 hour before any meal. Start eating more whole foods and less packaged “enriched” foods. Quality leads to less quantity.
- Seriously watch out for MSG. Watch labels for monosodium glutamate or (MSG) for short. It will trick your brain into eating more food than you need. When drug companies want FAT rats to experiment on they feed them MSG.
Are you tired?
Have a hard time getting up in the morning?
Do you ever get dizzy standing up?
- Then you are a prime candidate for adrenal fatigue. This is a long complicated subject so take this test for more confirmation. If this is you, you aren’t losing weight / fat easily. This is such a big problem, if you said yes to any of those 3 questions, email me or talk to me in the office.
Your liver. What else can I say. It is a powerful fat burner and at your disposal. There is a problem, though. It needs good nutrition from things like kale, Brussels sprouts, eggs, bitter herbs, etc. No nutrition, no detoxing. If your liver can’t get rid of junk, it is forced to store it. Ever seen a guy with a huge belly and stick legs? Classic liver junked up. Everyone, and I mean everyone, can benefit from helping their liver do it’s job better. Your liver is your filter, so bad air quality, non-organic food, alcohol, and any other chemical you come in contact with had to go through your liver. I take Cruciferous Complete from Standard Process and alternate that with LivCo from Mediherb to compliment my diet.
- Hormone problems are another huge stumbling block. This is how my wife switched on her fat loss fires. If you suspect your hormones are out of balance, you will likely want to see a homeopathic doctor, naturopathic doctor, herbalist, or someone who understands whole food supplements and herbs that support the glands. Try supplements and herbs before jumping right to natural hormones.
- The all important thyroid gland. If you are tired and / or can’t lose weight. Have your thyroid tested, but be aware, the tests can be very deceptive and just wrong. I know this because most people have their TSH tested and tada!!! it is in range. But, I’ve taken those same people and tested their “Free” T4, “Free” T3, and the thyroid antibodies and one of those numbers is off.
They had thyroid problems. Here is a easy at home test. If your body feels like it has thyroid problems but the blood tests say otherwise try this from Broda Barnes.
Barnes developed and promoted a diagnostic test for thyroid function that became known as the "Barnes Basal Temperature Test". This test is performed by placing a thermometer in the armpit for 10 minutes immediately upon waking.[11] Barnes considered a measurement of 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) or below to be highly indicative of hypothyroidism, especially when hypothyroid symptoms are present. Barnes believed that a reading over 98.2 °F (36.8 °C) was indicative of hyperthyroidism, unless a patient had advanced arthritis, which he claimed would falsely elevate the temperature due to muscle contractions.[3]
- Perhaps the most important is INSULIN control. Basically, the more carbohydrates, and sugar you consume the more your pancreas has to pump out insulin. The more insulin floating around your blood stream, the less fat you’ll lose. Insulin tells your body to “store” FAT. Don’t pound down a soda or a energy drink before your workout. You might as well lock your fat in a vault.
- Exercise like you are being chased by a rabid dog. Pick up the pace and intensity. This is an enormous topic, but walking and gardening aren’t going to cut it. This is why programs like P90X and Insanity are so popular. They are higher intensity. If that is too much for you right now the single best and easiest thing to do is swing a kettlebell. It is like a one weight gym.
My favorite Kettlebells are sold here, only buy the blue ones. Kettlebells sold in stores are generally very rough. I've never walked into a sporting goods store and seen a kettlebell I'd buy, and I look in every store I go to. They are either too rough, have a seam, or are too light.
The all important trio. Eat Protein, veggies, and legumes / beans. If you get those in each meal, you won’t be snacking later or counting calorie.
There is something much more powerful at play. The nervous system controls everything going on in your body. I saw this directly in practice with patients. You know I don’t pull any punches and this is for your own good. I’ve had a patient with hyperthyroid problems get instantly better with an adjustment. He'd come in all shaky and nervous, get adjusted and be fine. I’ve also had a patient with hypothyroid problems start losing weight after getting multiple neck adjustments. Now, do NOT misinterpret what I just told you, we don't treat thyroid problems. I've just had patients get a little better and see improvements with adjustments. I just want you to realize a spinal problem can affect anything.
ALL the patients who were getting adjusted did significantly better than the patients I only did diet counseling with. It was so black and white, that I no longer took on patients for diet or supplement counseling if they weren’t getting adjusted. It took me 5 years to figure out, and it was a hard decision to turn away business but it was such a dramatic difference in results I couldn't keep patients who weren't getting adjusted.
Since chiropractic frees up the nervous system to work at 100%, you have no down side. If you aren’t getting adjusted you are just making life harder for yourself and none of the above topics and ideas will be as effective.
-Dr. Altman