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GLENN ELLIS' STRATEGIES FOR WELL BEING: Tips on Losing Weight
Once a decision has been made to lose weight, you must them decide the way you plan to do it. This is probably the most crucial point in the whole process. If you look around, you see “diet pills,” “diet shakes,” cabbage soup, starvation plans, frozen diet menus, and super-human aerobic workouts. As a responsible health and wellness practitioner, I am very concerned about the willingness of people to fall prey to the dangers of these types of approaches to weight loss.
The fundamental challenges that prevent safe and effective weight loss/control for the majority of us are two-fold: laziness and lack of information.
The laziness factor is evidenced by how quick some are to jump at diet pills that offer to “ lose weight while you sleep.” In regards to the lack of information, most of us don’t truly understand how the body works. Without the basic knowledge of body function, it is impossible, if not extremely difficult, to know how to properly and safely lose weight.
In my years of experience in designing weight loss programs, I have found that after consideration for the proper nutrition and daily water intake, boosting the metabolism is by far the most prudent way to go. In keeping these facets in mind, the individual is capable of:
• Keeping the colon clean
• Burning excess body fat
• Suppressing the appetite
• Creating lean muscle mass
These are the magic goals of 99.9% of all people concerned about weight loss.
By definition, obesity is the accumulation of excess body fat.
With the exception of people who have very muscular builds, anyone who is 20% or more over their “ideal” weight is considered obese. This excess is made up of fat stores. Fat stores are designed to protect our organs and prevent starvation. Nature actually makes sure that we have fat stores because fat is the main source of energy. The problem with body fat comes in when our poor diet and/or lifestyles cause us to have an imbalance between the fat that is stored and the fat that is used for energy.
Once this happens, the body’s ability to use fat for energy decreases. As you can imagine, eating fried foods, sweets, fast foods, and the like contributes greatly to this problem. This type of regular eating habit puts nothing but empty calories in the body, and brings on cravings for more of the same kind of stuff. Now the fat becomes nothing more than non-moving energy, and fat cells become building blocks for fat stores.
You might think that the solution is lots of hard exercise and a light diet. Wrong.
This will only cause the body to hold on to the fat stores for dear life and convert whatever else we eat to fat, because the body recognizes your wonderful exercise and dieting as starvation.
Before I give you a list of supplements to consider as you tailor a weight loss program that suits you let me share a list of things that your personal weight loss program should include:
1. Your body must be cleansed of toxins that are stored in the fat cells. Once you begin your program, your body starts eliminating toxins as it breaks down fat cells and removes the wastes and fat deposits. During this process, the waste is eliminated faster that the new cells are made, and thus you will lose tissue weight that is not needed.
2. Your cravings for salty foods and sweets must be squashed. Remember, those types of foods will upset the balance between the usage of fat for energy and the fat storage.
3. Improve your appetite and unnatural hunger by increasing your intake of the proper nutrients. Eating good wholesome foods, and taking the “right” supplements will let you experience what it means to feel full after a normal meal, and prevent the tendency to “pig-out.”
4. The burning of calories holds the key to safe and effective weight loss. You must increase the metabolism so that the calories that you consume are burned clean and efficiently just like a clean flame on a gas stove.
Keep in mind, that if the weight loss plan you undertake is to work, it must include these four key points.
Here are some pointers on specific herbs and supplements to consider among your options in designing your program:
• CHROMIUM PICOLINATE- a mineral that helps to normalize insulin and optimize the burning of fat.
• FLAX SEED- Three tablespoons daily will result in added weight loss and lowered cholesterol. Great for breaking weight loss plateaus.
• KELP- Helps to nourish the thyroid gland, which determines our metabolic rate. Using Kelp can increase our ability to burn fat.
• SPIRULINA- Second to none as a complete meal replacement and balancer of blood sugar levels. My secret weapon to stop late night binges.
• BRAGG’S APPLE CIDER VINEGAR- Adding one teaspoon to each glass of water you drink each day will support efficient digestion of the food you eat, as well as flushing fats and toxins from the body. Watch the fat melt away!
In closing, let me remind you that no diet will work without some form and degree of exercise. Also, make sure your physician feels there are no health problems that you have that could cause your program to present a danger or threat to your health. Afterall, I’m not a doctor; I just sound like one.
TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF AND LIVE THE BEST LIFE POSSIBLE!
Glenn Ellis, author of Which Doctor?, is a syndicated health columnist and radio commentator who lectures around the country on health issues relevant to the African-American community. E-mail me at glenn@glennellis.com. For good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.
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