What is wrong with losing weight?
Article Abstract: Everyone wants to lose weight, but
unfortunately, stepping on the scale doesn't tell the truth
about what's wrong. This easy to read article spells it
out while giving heaps of details for turning
things around & leading the reader towards health & fitness.
What's Wrong with Losing Weight ?
12 Steps to Make It Right
No matter where you look, it appears that everyone seems to
have weight issues. There are those who want to lose pounds
& others not wanting to gain pounds. It's not uncommon to
live one's emotional life in relation to the dial on the
bathroom or supermarket scale.
Truth be known, the scale is not the best determining factor
of what is going on weight-wise. The scale only reports
the total weight, not the lean body mass nor body fat per-
centage. In addition, there are people who do not appear
over-weight, but do have an unhealthy body fat percentage &
a low-weight lean body mass. For one reason or another they
are not burning fat & more than likely, they are building
insulin resistance on their cell borders, leading down the
path to the killer diseases. Keep in mind that here are also
individuals who have a dense lean body mass & lower body
fat percentage who will weigh more than they appear as
muscle weighs more than fat. Athletes often fall into this
category.
Here are some keys to attaining a healthy lean body mass,
body fat percentage & weight:
1. FIRST....you must have a HOT DESIRE to not only REACH
your goal but to ATTEND to it FOREVER !! It needs to
be fed each & every day with powerful affirmations,
loaded with positive emotion. All negative mind
states that present themselves MUST BE diminished
as soon as they are noticed. Then, you must re-edu-
cate those emotional states, not only with new be-
haviors, but with HOT DESIRE.
2. Next, it's important to take stock of where you are
RIGHT NOW in regard to your lean body mass & body fat
percentage. You scale weight is actually a secondary
issue at this time. There are websites that will help
you to figure this out & also give you an idea of a
healthy body fat percentage for your age & level of
health. If you would like to write to me, I will be
happy to help you as well.
3. Once you know your lean body mass, you will need to
find out how much protein your body needs in a total
day in order to burn fat. Again, check the web or
write to me. Depending on your body fat percentage,
body weight & exercise levels, you may need even more.
You will also need to know how to divide your required
protein throughout your day. Protein is calculated in
grams or units. 7 grams equals one protein unit, so
if you are measuring tofu or nuts as a protein choice,
be sure to estimate your serving. Don't eat out of
the package. Place your serving on a plate. An ounce
of meat or poultry, one ounce of cheese & 1.5 ounces
of fish constitutes a protein unit. There is usually
no need to measure, but one certainly needs to "eye-
ball" serving sizes. Do know that when the meals are
properly designed, hunger levels will normalize. That
means that "I could eat the wallpaper off the wall"
hunger levels will be gone forever.
4. Meals must be scheduled every 3.5 to 4 hours to avoid
"big bridges" that interfere with healthy blood sugar
levels. "Walk-by" & "thought-less" eating patterns
also need to be broken to preserve this healthy fat-
burning physiological state. These negative eating
habits over-produce insulin & since insulin stores
fat, you can guess the outcome. Heightened awareness
& interactive self-hypnosis will help with this. If
"break-through" hunger occurs, the previous meals need
to be reviewed. In most instances one will find insuf-
ficient nutrition or hidden insulin triggers. Common
ones include coffee, caffeinated tea, diet soda,
artificial sweeteners, gum or breath mints. Insuf-
ficient water causing dehydration is also a possibility.
5. Its important to learn the difference between low,
SLOW & high glycemic carbohydrates. Certain high gly-
cemics, such as refined foods containing white flour &
high fructose sugars tend break down very rapidly,
causing the hormone insulin to be over-produced. Al-
though we need insulin to survive, when it is over-
produced it leads to excess fat storing, as well as to
a condition known as insulin resistance, the precursor
to the killer diseases. In addition, if a person
smokes or has alcohol dependency, cravings increase.
6. Low-glycemic carbohydrates include all varieties of
lettuce, sprouts, cucumbers, peppers, radish, arti-
choke, kale, zucchini, snow peas, asparagus, brussel
sprouts, okra, arugula, broccoli, endive, spinach,
green beans, cabbage, mushrooms, eggplant, yellow
squash, turnips, to name a few. Tomatoes can be ac-
ceptable in smaller amounts as they are actually a
fruit. These vegetables help to balance the blood
sugars, as well as containing lots of vitamins &
minerals. You can eat them raw or cooked.
Most obese individuals under-eat low-glycemic vege-
tables & over-eat high-glycemics, especially the re-
fined choices. They have a strong tendency towards
disorderly eating, eating too little of what their
body needs to burn fat & compensating with larger
portions or overly-frequent eating of foods that raise
their insulin levels & place their body into food
stress. When the needed meals are not properly
balanced & delivered when they are needed, the pan-
creas WILL over-produce insulin & the body will store
fat. Keep in mind that the body NEEDS proper
nutrition & cannot go & get it for itself. Believe
me, if it could it would !! The body looks for homeo-
stasis or balance & so if the nutrition is not DE-
LIVERED, the body will break down the lean body mass &
store it as fat.
7. High-glycemic vegetables include acorn squash, butter-
nut, corn, lima beans, refried beans, artichokes,
beets, kidney beans, parsnips, peas, white & sweet
potatoes, chickpeas, lentils, carrots to name a few.
All grains are high-glycemic carbohydrates. Choose
whole grains & stay away from refined ones. Read the
labels. Choose breads that are dense & have no sugar
or sweeteners of any sort added to the dough. If you
suspect a sensitivity to yeast, choose a yeast-free
product. If you suspect a sensitivity to a particular
grain, check it out & if necessary take it out & try a
different grain. Other grains include rice, both
white & brown, barley, quinoa, millet, rye, buckwheat
& oats. Bulgur & couscous are both wheat.
8. All fruits are high-glycemic & need to managed pro-
perly. Stay away from juices & pretend juices. They
stimulate insulin production & very quickly. As for
whole fruits, much will depend on your already present
level of insulin resistance & how sensitive you are to
the particular fruit. If your body fat percentage is
high, you may need to limit fruits & to choose those
that have less tendency to drive the blood sugar up.
Those include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries &
strawberries. Dried fruits, bananas, guava, mangos,
papayas & dates are very glycemic & should be avoided
unless there is some very good reason to include them.
Most people I see in my office tend to over-eat fruit.
They see it as a healthy food & therefore interpret
that as an "ok" to eat it whenever they like & as
often as they like. I have one patient who nibbles
grapes throughout the day. Think about that for a
moment. She is actually asking her pancreas to pro-
duce insulin each & every time she pops one into her
mouth!
9. Breakfast should consist of protein, healthy fat & a
slow or dense carbohydrate. The portions depend on
the needs of the body in the front part of the day.
Fruits are usually not a good choice here, especially
if the body fat percentage is high. They are often
responsible for break-through hunger in the middle of
the morning, or in the early afternoon. Depending
upon the time one starts the day, there may be a need
for two small breakfasts. I find this occurring in
nurses who wake up at 5 AM & start their work shift at
7 AM. They may not be scheduled for lunch until 12 or
1 PM. It's important to work with "the bridges" so as
to manage the blood sugars properly. All caffeinated
beverages stimulate insulin production !! One is
still paying for 8 ounces of coffee ten hours later !
10. Lunch is time for protein, healthy fat & lots of low-
glycemics. By lots I mean at least 3 cups. Depending
on the individual, a serving of grain may also be
needed here. When one is looking to lose body fat
percentage, the amount of food needed during this time
is often higher.
Obese individuals usually over-eat at lunch OR starve.
Once again, disorderly eating is a big problem here.
Those who are disorganized find themselves dealing
with lack of planning & looking for the easy way out
that usually means joining the "let's order out"
group in the office. For those who are home, it's
easy to join the children or to just open the re-
frigerator & let the hands do the walking instead of
the head. Water is the beverage of choice. Decaf-
feinated green tea is acceptable. I'm not talking
about the bottled variety, but that make from loose
tea or a tea bag.
11. Mid afternoon is low blood sugar time for most people
& an afternoon snack is often a must. Once again,
count those hours & watch out for "big bridges." The
size of the snack depends on the body needs. The
choices fall into the categories of protein, healthy
fat & low-glycemics. These foods balance out the
blood sugars & form a healthy bridge to dinner.
Most people tend to make poor choices at this time of
day. Some reasons include the fact that breakfast &
lunch were not properly balanced & so the body is
screaming out due to the over-production of insulin.
When this happens the body looks for carbohydrates to
balance out, but unfortunately the kinds of foods
chosen are not what the body had in mind. Sometimes a
person will "be good" & choose fruit. This usually
has a back-lash & within an hour or so, the body is
screaming to eat again or their could be symptoms of
hypoglycemia including shakiness, light headedness,
extreme hunger, blurred vision, etc.
12. Dinner is the time for a balanced meal. It should
contain healthy protein & fat, low-glycemic carbo-
hydrates & a balance of healthy high-glycemics. When
the body fat percentage is too high, it's a good idea
to eat at least two cups of low-glycemics to help hold
the blood sugars. I'm not in favor of eating refined
sugars at this meal, but sometimes it takes awhile be-
fore an individual can wean themselves. I always sug-
gest that my office patients stay away from binge
choices. If one "must have" a cookie or something
sweet, choose one that is "ok" but "not to die for."
Once again, the serving sizes at dinner depend on the
needs of the body including the lean body mass, exer-
cise & stress levels. When a person eats correctly,
after a short while, the physiological appetite levels
usually balance themselves. Emotional & compulsive
eating are separate issues & need to managed in a dif-
ferent way. The body is very intelligent & knows what
to do when it is provided with what it needs. Of
course, in rare instances there are other medical
problems, but for the large majority of people the
problems are nothing more than lack of desire, lack of
knowledge, lack of planning, lack of exercise, lack of
stress management, lack of follow-through & self-
disorder.
Diets don't work. One needs to know how to eat for
what the body needs & then to learn how to eat those
other foods that the mind wants. In "interactive
self-hypnosis" we learn to "contain" those foods.
We can have everything we desire, but not all the time
or when the urge presents itself to us. As we learn
to work with our mind-body connection, our emotional
child-self, our compulsive nature & old patterns, we
can break through the dangerous habits of the past &
re-edit these with new facets & desire for healthy
outcomes.
Disclaimer:
The information in this article reflects the author's ex-
periences & is not intended to replace medical or
psychological advice, nor is it the intent of the author to
diagnose or prescribe. The intent is only to offer infor-
mation to help the reader cooperate with their physician in
the mutual quest for desirable health. Always consult your
physician before embarking on any lifestyle change,
nutritional or otherwise.
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, SRN, CPH is a Workplace Health
Educator, President & Program Designer, Sarasota Medical &
Sports Hypnosis Institute located in Sarasota, FL & online
at
www.hypnosis-audio.com
&
www.sugar-addiction.com.
She specializes in stress management, high level health &
achievement for adults, children, executives & athletes. Her
sites are inter-active & offer more that 350 CD programs to
enhance self-development. She is the author of "Sugar the
Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It."
