It's easy to walk into a wellness center, pay the money to have slimming treatments and see gratifying results. However, what's your follow-up plan? Once you hit your last day of contouring sessions, where will that leave you in terms of maintaining your newfound body-love? These simple tips are designed to take your knowledge and motivation to new heights as you continue improving your health.
Losing weight is more than simply counting calories. We also need to take a look at genetics & DNA; what we were born with and what we can alter. Toxins, excess or lack of hormones, neural signaling, and blood pressure are only a few of the factors that contribute to an environment that's ready to facilitate weight loss. Let's take a look at some very basic ways you can help your body prepare for losing inches.
1) Drink pH balanced water
Westernized diets and ambient pollution put our bodies at risk for a high acid load. Known as acidosis, excess acid in the body for prolonged periods can wreak havoc on our tissues. Alkalinizing mineral waters can influence the acid-base equilibrium of the body to improve cellular function. According to WHO: The optimum pH will vary but is often in the range 6.5–9. I like to keep the water above 7.35 to make it slightly alkaline. Alkaline mineral water can improve metabolism, decrease the risk of coronary heart disease, protect beta cells of the pancreas (which helps to balance blood sugars) and prevent osteoporosis (1). In terms of kidney function, it will aid your body in neutralizing harmful acid and preserve the essential trace minerals found in alkaline water to replenish your body’s storage (1)(2). It also helps to neutralize high acid composition from the stomach and small intestine to improve oral health. By decreasing circulating free radicals and buffering acidic load, alkaline water can help to reduce systemic inflammation and chronic conditions down the line (2).
2) Boost Fiber
Even if you don’t change anything in your current fitness and diet routine, increasing fiber is a sure way to deliver benefits such as increased metabolism, improved cardiovascular health by decreasing LDL cholesterol, balancing blood sugar levels, building a healthy microbiome of the gut, binding and excreting heavy metals as well as balancing hormones associated with hunger and stress (3). Health Canada recommends: women need at least 25 grams of fiber per day and men need 38 grams of fiber per day to experience these effects. Most Canadians are only getting about half that much. Make sure to incorporate both soluble and insoluble fiber. Check out our blog on how to add more fiber into your diet.
3) Eat Chocolate, Chips, Pizza-Whatever Makes You Happy, Every Day
It’s true. I eat what I want when I want it. I don’t restrict myself at all. However, I do make a healthy version of every food that I love. Don’t give up the foods that make you happy, just find an alternative and healthy version of them. For example, if I feel like pizza I use a cauliflower crust and other healthy ingredients such as basil and spinach. If I want an apple pie, I use low glycemic index flours like almond and coconut. Ice cream? Definitely! Chocolate coconut ice cream with no added sugar (4 ingredients)! Example here
4) Get Moving!
While my program will help you reduce subcutaneous fat there are super easy ways that you can enhance your results. Namely, through sweating. Skin is an unrecognized POWERHOUSE. Its huge surface area allows us to shed a lot of toxic loads every day through its excretory mechanisms of sweat and oil (there are both water-loving and fat-loving toxins, the skin tackles both) (4). Furthermore, if these toxins and free radicals aren’t excreted they can cause chronic inflammation making it difficult to lose weight (Read more). Both the accumulation of free radicals paired with inflammation is harmful to mitochondria (cells necessary for metabolism), muscular cells, and whole-body health (5). This could help to explain why maintaining your desired weight has been so difficult, to begin with. You can slowly change your lifestyle, even just a little, to dramatically improve your health. In addition to sweating exercise and diet will especially benefit your organs by reducing visceral fat. More about types of fat here (read more).
6) Portion
I dislike portions. I like to eat as much as I want at any sitting. But, I make sure to add key items to my plate. Foods that contain phytochemicals (antioxidants) as well as other properties to benefit health. For example a large variety of vegetables, moderate protein, minimal carbs, adequate fiber, digestive herbs, and healthy fat. To increase fiber I’ll add a tablespoon of chia seeds, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds with hemp seeds. For digestive herbs (herbs that help your GI tract in many ways) I usually add parsley, ginger, cumin, etc. For healthy fats, 1 tbsp MCT oil, 1/2 an avocado, flax oil. You get the point.
I am an adapted keto girl, I love to fast as well as add flexibility and variety to my meals; more about adapted keto here (coming soon)
7) Decrease water weight
A ketogenic diet is one of the best ways to keep the kidneys flushing water out of your system (as much as 5lbs). As glycogen is depleted from the liver and muscle cells, water follows (7). Not only does ketosis decrease glycogen in the body freeing up water to be excreted, but it also promotes our antioxidant system to reduce circulating free radicals (6). More on ketogenic adaptation here (coming soon).
In summary, creating an environment that prepares your body for weight loss is just as important as the diet itself. Drinking alkaline water, including fibre in your diet, sweating, eating high-quality foods such as healthy fats and minimal non-fibrous carbohydrates can all contribute to boosting your health and keeping you naturally slim.
References
1) Mousa, Haider Abdul-Lateef. “Health Effects of Alkaline Diet and Water, Reduction of Digestive-Tract Bacterial Load, and Earthing.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27089527.
2) Passey, Caroline. “Reducing the Dietary Acid Load: How a More Alkaline Diet Benefits Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.” Journal of Renal Nutrition : the Official Journal of the Council on Renal Nutrition of the National Kidney Foundation, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28117137.
3) Lambeau, Kellen V, and Johnson W McRorie. “Fiber Supplements and Clinically Proven Health Benefits: How to Recognize and Recommend an Effective Fiber Therapy.” Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, John Wiley and Sons Inc., Apr. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5413815/.
4) Sears ME, Kerr KJ, Bray RI. Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in sweat: a systematic review. J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:184745. doi:10.1155/2012/184745
5) Ma, Sihui, and Katsuhiko Suzuki. “Keto-Adaptation and Endurance Exercise Capacity, Fatigue Recovery, and Exercise-Induced Muscle and Organ Damage Prevention: A Narrative Review.” Sports (Basel, Switzerland), MDPI, 13 Feb. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6410243/.
6) Masood W, Uppaluri KR. Ketogenic Diet. [Updated 2019 Mar 21]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2019 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/
7) Olsson, Karl‐Erik, and Bengt Saltin. “Variation in Total Body Water with Muscle Glycogen Changes in Man.” Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 10 Dec. 2008, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1970.tb04764.x.
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