Healthy Weight Management

Many people struggle to lose weight, or to stay at an ideal weight.

Obesity has become a major problem in the United States, including childhood obesity & teen obesity. Excess weight is accompanied by many health risks, including diabetes & cardiovascular disease. It is estimated that the children being born today will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents because of the widespread obesity among children & teens.

Getting rid of the excess weight is very difficult, & frustrating for most people. Many diets have been tried & failed, or tried, succeeded with substantial weight loss, only to be gained again after the diet was discontinued. Many diets fail because of a lack of understanding about the cause of obesity. Many people think that those with excess weight lack self control & always gorge themselves with food. They believe that they are not healthy because they are overweight. These beliefs cause diets to be created that focus on depriving their clients of food, or making them eat tasteless prepacked food, or meal replacement shakes. The initial result might be weight loss, but after the diet is stopped, the weight often returns. The choice is to eat the meal replacements every day for the rest of your life, or find a solution that deals with the actually cause of obesity.

We need to realize that being over weight is not the cause of an unhealthy body, and the associated health problems, but it is actually a symptom of an unhealthy body along with the other health problems. The lack of essential nutrients that are found in real, nutrient rich foods leads to a body that is deficient of these essential nutrients. This nutrient deficiency leads to reactions in our bodies that cause unstable blood sugar levels, cravings, and weight gain, in addition to diabetes type II and cardiovascular disease. When you give your body the essential nutrients that it needs, it is easier to shed those unwanted pounds.

The highly processed, refined, and empty calorie fast foods that are so common in our modern eating habits are major contributing factors to the nutritional defecit that leads to weight gain. According to the FDA, most Americans get more than the required amounts of meat & grains, but within the grain group, are eating mostly refined grains, which have very little nutrition, and mostly calories. When we feed ourselves these foods with very little nutrients, our bodies are not satisfied with the amount of vitamins & minerals they are receiving, and crave additional foods in order to receive more nutrients.

High Fructose Corn Syrup.

High fructose corn syrup has become the sweetener of choice for most sweetened beverages, including soda-pop, juice drinks, and sports drinks. I have even seen high fructose corn syrup in things such as yogurt, a food you usually think would be good to eat while trying to lose weight. Studies have shown that high fructose corn syrup turns off the "full" signal from the stomach, so the body doesn't get the message that the stomach has reached the maximum capacity. The high fructose corn syrup also adds substantial calories to any meal & is quickly digested to make room for the triple burger, that supersized french fry, or that second helping.

Yeast Imbalance.

As I have been researching, and trying to deal with my own obesity, I have found a connection with yeast imbalance, obesity, and many health concerns that are usually blamed on obesity, like type II diabetes (insulin resistance), high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. In particular, I have found that the conditions called Metabolic Disorder, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) have many of the same conditions associated with each of them, including obesity, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and eventually type II diabetes if left untreated. Seperate studies have been done that have each concluded that a low-carb diet (like the Atkins Diet) was helpful to decrease the conditions associated with these 2 disorders. PCOS is also associated with infertility, and many of those with PCOS, that were on a low-carb diet were able to become pregnant. What I found really interesting was that the yeast-free diet, the diet that is recommended to control a yeast imbalance, is also a low carb diet, very similar to the Atkins Diet. Basically yeast thrive on carbs, so if you restrict carbs, you starve the yeast and they die off, so they are no longer causing an imbalance. I, myself, have been diagnosed with PCOS. I receive this diagnosis after I was trying unsuccessfully to conceive my second child. I didn't know about the low-carb connection, but I was told that a yeast imbalance could cause hormone disruption and infertility. Of course, at first I was sceptical, but finally I decided to try some meds, and herbs that are designed to kill yeast. WOW! My irregular cycles became regular, and I was finally able to become pregnant. I have a friend that stopped having any cycle at all when she was in her 20's. She also has been diagnosed with PCOS. She was taking metformin (a prescription usually used to treat insulin resistance of type II diabetes, that has been found to be successful in treating PCOS) for several months, and then finally had a light cycle. She stopped taking it due to financial reasons. Then she started taking an herbal suplement that is designed to kill yeast. The recommended amount is 2 capsules, 1 or 2 times a day. Well, she started off taking just 1 capsule, once a day, and after 2 weeks, she had a light cycle. Neither one of us went carb free, but we have tried to stay away from high sugar foods, and refined carbs (like white bread, or white rice).

So I have come to the conclusion that somehow, an over growth of yeast, or the toxins they give off, is the cause of Metabolic Disorder, PCOS, insulin resistance, and all the health problems that are associated with them. Somehow they contribute to insulin resistance, which leads to high insulin levels in the blood that starts a whole chain of events that leads to other problems like hormone imbalances. It also causes the blood sugar to swing high and low which contributes to obesity. When the blood sugar is too low, or bodies feel hungry, and we crave food, especially high calorie snack foods. When our blood sugar swings too high, it puts our bodies into storage mode, and converts the excess sugar into fat. If you kill off the yeast either with medications, herbs, or a low-carb diet, you will be able to stop the chain of events that has been created by the yeast that leads to obesity, Metabolic disorder, PCOS, etc.

I personally don't recommend that you restrict carbs too much, other than restricting high sugar foods, and refined carbs. A low carb diet does have health risks. For a detailed explaination, click here.

I recommend that you follow the Food Guide Pyramid recommendations for your age gender given for the lowest activity level, since this will give you the lowest calorie recommendations for your group. When you eat smaller portions at each meal, the things you want smaller portions of, are those foods that have the most calories and the least amount of nutrition: refined carbs, high fat meats, and fats. According to survey results that I found at the mypyramid.com website, most people eat more than the recommended amounts of grains and meats, so decreasing the portion sizes of those things might just result in the actual recommended amount for your group.

It would also be helpful to find out your food triggers and try to avoid those foods. Contact me, and I will help you locate a VivaTouch Specialist in your area, so you can get your VivaTouch Assessment and find out your food triggers.

I would also recommend taking an herbal suplement that helps to fight off yeast. The one that I would recommend is VivaSlim, from VivaTRU. It not only helps to fight yeast, but it also has special herbal ingredients to help keep blood sugar levels steady, help your body decrease cholesterol, help build lean muscle mass, and control appetite, so you feel satisfied with smaller amounts of food. It is like it is breaking several of the links in the chain of obesity all in one herbal suplement. VivaSlim is an all natural herbal supplement with NO stimulants. You simply take it 30 minutes before you eat, and it helps to curb your hunger, so you are satisfied with those smaller portions of food.

Click here for a list of other things that are often used to control yeast.

I first was able to finally start losing weight after I found out my food triggers, and started to avoid those foods. After I added VivaSlim to my healthy living program, I noticed that the weight started coming off faster. So far, I have lost 50 lbs, and I feel great. And since I have regualar VivaTouch nutritional assessments, I can track my nutritional status while I am losing weight, to make sure as I am eating less food, that I am still getting all the nutrients my body needs for optimal functioning at the cellular level. In fact, since I have started my healthy living program and losing weight, my nutritional balance score has actually increased. Check out my blog, I am tracking my progress, and I post health & nutrition information.

For additional tips for successful weight loss click here.