Constipation......what’s really backing you up?

If your'e struggling with chronic or frequent constipation check out this article to find out why.

http://www.peaknutritionandhealth.com/article-constipation.html. 

What the hell should you eat?

The other day I sat down with a woman who really helped me to realize something important that I often lose sight of.  Most clients that come to me eat reasonably “healthy” but can’t seem to lose weight.  This woman that sat down with me was over 200 pounds, but she had never gone on a diet or anything else in attempts to lose weight. 

To put it in her own words “I don’t have a clue what to eat.”  I often forget that the majority of the population doesn’t have a clue about what to eat.  So if you have no I idea what you should be eating to lose weight here are some basics to get you started. 

1.        Read the ingredient list, if you don’t recognize one or more of the ingredients don’t eat it!  Most of the food that is on shelves these days isn’t really even food as far as I’m concerned and it will make you fat.

2.       Drink ½ an ounce of water for every pound of bodyweight at a minimum.  And ditch all the other crap drinks, juice, flavoured water, diet pop, pop, etc.  If you’re drinking these crap beverages they will make you overweight even if they are low calories drinks.

3.        Eat every 3-4 hours.  This is the first step to balancing blood sugar and decreasing fat storage.

4.       Eat fruit and veggies more frequently than any other food group.  You should eat fruit and veggies far more frequently then grains (the less grains the better not just for weight loss, but for better health).

I’ve seen people lose 20+ pounds just by following these basics.  Having said that, most people will have to very quickly move to more specific nutrition to really target fat loss.  But if you have no clue what to eat that is a great start for you to take.   

Are low fat diets making you feel depressed?

Check out this quick video.  If you're on a low fat diet please watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X67KXc4K9Jw&feature=feedu

If you’re restrict calories you’re restricting weight loss

Most people’s strategy to lose weight, especially if they want to lose weight quickly is to restrict calories and increase the amount of exercise they are doing.  There is a serious problem with this strategy that leaves people with short term results and hitting plateaus very quickly. 

Here are a few of the things that occur when you restrict calories:

·         Feel hungrier because your body responds by releasing hormones that signal hunger

·         Your level of thyroid hormone drops, causing a slowing of your metabolism (which will stop weight loss very quickly)

·         Stress hormone levels increase due to the stress of not consuming enough food, this signals your body to breakdown muscle for energy which slows your metabolism

·         Reproductive function slows because of a decrease in sex hormones (which can lead to a decrease in testosterone making it difficult to maintain muscle mass)

·         Growth function such as cell regeneration and tissue repair is inhibited (again making it difficult not to lose muscle, which slows your metabolism)

Most people that start restricting calories will notice an initial weight loss, and then seem stumped when it stops after a few weeks.  This is often occurring because of the points that I’ve listed above, basically the person is often decreasing their metabolism by having less thyroid hormone and decreased muscle mass while trying to fight their hunger cravings.  All of this causes your body to release more stress hormones which signals your body to store more fat.  Not a recipe for weight loss success.

I’m sure you’ve probably experienced this, most people’s solution to break through this plateau is to eat less and/or exercise more which is actually making the problem worse.  Typically they get frustrated and go off their “diet.” This leads to all the weight that was lost being gained back (in some cases even more weight is gained).

With my clients I don’t worry about counting or restricting calories, because they are getting their hormones, digestion and detoxification systems working properly again.  This combined with eating the right food will signal your body to start release fat burning hormones.  You will be able to lose weight without having to worry about counting/restricting calories or feeling deprived. 

If you’re looking for help with developing a strategy to lose weight without feeling deprived, without suffering from cravings, and sets you up for long term success contact me at info@peak-personaltraining.com to book a free consultation to see how I can help you.

Do you have an estrogen Imbalance that’s affecting your health?

Many people today are having problems with estrogen imbalances.  Many women are suffering huge side effects that are creating problems in their everyday lives.  Are you suffering from any of the following symptoms? If so you could have an estrogen imbalance. 

Common Side Effects:

·         Cravings sweets, caffeine, carbohydrates

·         Weight gain especially through the hips, butt, and thighs

·         Allergy symptoms

·         Cold hands/feet

·         Hair loss or thinning

·         Heavy or light periods

·         Hot flashes

·         Lower sex drive

·         Mood swings

·         Memory lapses

·         Night sweats

·         Osteoporosis

·         Water retention

Most female clients that come to work with me are suffering from at least 3 or 4 or these symptoms if not more.  Especially if these symptoms got worse once menopause began they are often related to estrogen dominance.  Most people think that their hormones are out of their hands, but here are some of the things that you could be doing that can create estrogen imbalances in your body.

·         Alcohol consumption (as little as 2-3 glasses of wine a week can have effects on estrogen levels)

·         Blood sugar imbalance

·         Stress (all types not just mental/emotional)

·         Frequently eating foods that contain soy

·         Frequently eating foods that are wrapped or stored in plastics (especially higher fat foods such as meats, fish, and nuts)

·         Heating up foods in plastic containers

·         Using non stick cookware

·         Eating foods that have had commercial pesticides sprayed on them

·         Poor liver function (the liver when functioning properly breaks down estrogens, when the liver is overloaded it decrease the amount of estrogen it breaks down)

These are just a few of the ways in which you can be creating your estrogen imbalance.  If you are doing multiple things that are listed above, start trying to improve in those areas.  Some are really easy to change, ie. purchase glass storage containers instead of plastic or cast iron pans instead of tephlon non-stick. 

If you’re struggling with symptoms that I’ve written about contact me to book a free consultation to see if I can help you start getting back towards peak health. Send me an email to book a free consultation today at info@peaknutritionandhealth.com.

To lose weight don’t eat after 6:00pm?

I hear this every time some mainstream expert is telling people how to lose weight.  The theory being that if you eat past 6:00 or 7:00pm that you won’t have time to “burn” off those calories because you’ll be going to bed soon.  I’m going to tell you right now for most people this is actually going to create problems with their attempt at losing weight. 

On the surface it seems to make sense, but if we actually look into this in a little more detail it’s actually creating two big issues. 

Problem #1:

When you have gone too long without eating your blood sugar levels will drop too low.  To bring your blood sugar levels up your body will release a hormone called cortisol (this is your stress hormone), one of the things that it signals the body to do is a process called gluconeogenisis.  It’s a really fancy scientific word that means your body will breakdown protein (this means muscle in your body) and converts it into carbohydrates because your body needs to raise blood sugar levels.  This means that your body will actually begin breaking down muscle to give you energy when you go too long without eating.

What happens in most people when you don’t eat after 6:00pm your blood sugar levels usually plummet between 1:00 and 3:00am.  So your body begins release cortisol to get some energy.  The problem with this is that if you’re doing this consistently you’re going to begin losing muscle, which will actually cause your resting metabolism to decrease......which translates into weight loss coming to a quick halt. 

How many people start off losing weight quickly, then hit a quick plateau?  Often times this is a results of losing muscle mass and slowing the metabolism.  A lot of the weight loss they experience isn’t even fat, a lot of it is often muscle.  I’ve measured people’s percent body fat and have seen it not change despite the fact that they have lost 15-25 pounds.  That means you’re losing equal amount of lean mass and fat, which is disaster for long term weight loss.

Problem #2:

So you understand that your body releases cortisol when you go too long without eating, typically this usually happens between 1:00 and 3:00am as we discussed above.  When your body releases the cortisol your brain is signalling that you are under stress, and this triggers your brain to wake you up.  A large number of clients that come to see me wake up between 1:00 and 3:00am almost every single night and don’t know why.  There are a number of potential causes, but typically once they start eating a balanced snack 1-2 hours before bed they stop waking up, because they are no longer getting this release of cortisol.

What to do?

Try to have a small snack 1-2 hours before bed.  Some people even have to have it 30 minutes before bed, we all have different metabolisms.  You will have to play around with the time to see what works with your body.  Try to make sure that the snack has either a strong source of protein (meat) or a strong source of fats such as yogurt (not the low fat crap), nuts, or seeds.  And you can have some veggies with this, such as some cucumber, peppers, celery, etc.  Give this a try and pretty quickly you’ll notice you won’t be waking up in the middle of the night and you’ll be getting your weight loss back on track.

For more free information on losing weight naturally download a free copy of PEAK Fat Loss at http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/freefatlossmanual.html. 

Fitness legend ahead of his time

If people had listened to this message we wouldn't have the problems we have today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBVk071N88M