Work Smarter, Not Harder
Grrrrrrr. Few things are more frustrating than working hard towards a goal and not getting any results.
I know we're taught to focus on the journey, but I admit it... I'm a results-oriented person too. If I'm going to put the work in, I want results. So I understand when my clients feel this way and I like to help them get maximum results for their effort so they don't waste their precious time and money.
I see this in the form of stubborn belly fat all the time. You start an exercise routine. You watch your calories. You do All The Things. And nothing shifts.
Similarly with labs. I see folks who get their labs back and cholesterol comes back high, maybe their blood sugar and liver enzymes too. They try to improve it on their own for 3 months, but it doesn't shift fast enough and on medication they go. Nothing wrong with medication, but we'd all love to take fewer pills and actually FIX the problem instead of masking the symptoms with drugs. Right? Espeically if it also results in a healthier weight.
So here are my Seven Steps to help push past that block and ...
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
1. DIAL IN BLOOD SUGAR AND INSULIN
Blood sugar and insulin regulation might be really key here. Insulin levels control your fat storage and ability to "burn" stored fat. Each person deals with carbohydrates differently and it varies according to what you eat, when you eat, stress levels and your sleep. Testing can really help you understand this, using test strips at strategic times during the day. A very useful way of tracking is a continuous glucose monitor. While expensive, they can be used for just a few months to understand how your own body reacts to food so you can find what works for you. Otherwise, trial and error is the way to go.
You might be experiencing Metabolic Syndrom or "Pre-diabetes". If so, you might want to learn more about that specifically HERE.
2. EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN
When I ask my clients to keep a diet diary, I almost always find they are coming up short on protein. Also, this protein should ideally be spread throughout the day. Eating at least 50% of your daily intake by lunchtime will help. Good protein sources include both animal and plant-based sources such as food made from eggs, beef, chicken, lamb, fish, cheese, beans, nuts and seeds. I also appreciate the convience of a protein smoothie now and then as I detailed in a previous post.
3. MEAL TIMING
We operate on a circadian rhythm. In terms of our metabolism, this means we can metabolize glucose better at breakfast and lunch than we can at dinner. So while time restricted eating has become more popular (for good reason!), people often use it unwisely to justify skipping breakfast and waiting until lunchtime to eat. I find this can often lead to overeating in the evening and doesn't translate to the weightloss people are looking for. I say, front load your day with protein and nutritious meals. THEN, be sure to stop eating 2-3 hours before bedtime.
4. SLEEP
Poor sleep will derail your weight loss efforts every time. It will also increase your cholesterol levels and blood sugar. But balancing blood sugar will improve sleep! So working on both your diet AND your sleep will be the most beneficial.
 |
| QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF SLEEP MATTER |
5. STRESS LEVELS
Never underestimate the power of stress to cause all of your health problems. (Ask me how I know!) I know it's hard to hear this because many of use don't even know how stressed out we are until we aren't stressed anymore. Even if we do know, we don't know what to do about it. It ruins our sleep and raises our blood sugar and blood pressure.
6. THE RIGHT EXERCISE
Too much exercise without adequate recovery can actually INCREASE our stress levels leading to all the things stress does. Overexercising can netatively impact sleep, weight gain, cravings, etc. How frustrating is that?? So we need to balance it with good recovery. Also, 45 minutes of cardio may not be the answer. Walking daily is great, but it also might not be enough. Strength training where we focus on building muscle may give you more benefits. You may want to look into switching things up a bit.
 |
| MIX IT UP & BUILD STRENGTH! |
7. THYROID LEVELS
Get these checked. And I don't mean just TSH levels, I mean a whole panel. TSH, Free T4, Free T3 and Reverse T3. Subclinical hypothyroid will cause your metabolism to really slow down, leading to weight gain, hair loss, brain fog, poor digestion and other hormone disruption. And you know what can slow down your thyroid? Stress, not enough food, nutrition deficiencies and inflammation. So here we see how addressing some of those underlying health issues like infections, dysbiosis, food intolerances, nutritional deficiencies and eating ENOUGH will create the foundation for a healthy weight in the future.
It's all really about learning to work WITH the body instead of against it. Some of this requires good lab testing to see what's going on. But a lot of it is very un-sexy work of making those small but consistent efforts to improve your sleep, moderate stress, eat protein at breakfast and cut out inflammatory foods.
ARE YOU EVEN MORE CONFUSED NOW?
Sorry. I get it. But hopefully you see how it's more than just calories in vs calories out. There is a whole slew of variables at play. And this can be GOOD news! It means you probably don't have to deprive yourself for the rest of your life or burn yourself out on the treadmill (literally and figuratively). But you may have to be a little more strategic if you want to see results.
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
Sometimes it helps to have someone to partner with to bounce things off of, get some testing, or identify the areas where you'll want to focus to reach your goals. That's what I do. And I'd love to work with you!! I help people one-on-one, but I also have a class that I made JUST for this. And the next one starts in October.
If you'd like to learn more about HOW to do this, get lots of support and learn the WHY behind all the recommendations, I hope you will join my next session of Nourish Your Roots.
It's an 8-week program for you where we learn and practice ALL of these things together, not in isolation. You get weekly coaching sessions, a check-list for each week, videos to watch with your family, recipes and handouts. It's like graduate school for the care and feeding of you. You even get 2 one-on-one sessions with me to help you personalize things a little more. By the holidays, you'll be sleeping better, have more energy, have a solid routine in place that will carry you through the winter where you can keep making gains in your health. Even better, you'll have a solid knowledge base from which to make sound choices for you and your family.
Now that the kids are finally back in school, I hope you will take just a little time to prioritize your own health this fall. I made this class just so you could do that.
Comments
Post a Comment