Ok, maybe you aren't fat, but that got your attention, didn't it? I mean, as adults, we are all trying to either maintain weight or lose weight. We think about it every day, we make choices every day that are based on what we think is good for our weight. Some things are really obvious at this point - most people understand that fast food and processed foods are really sabotaging our efforts and when we eat those things, we are making that choice consciously. It's not a mystery. However, there may be some things you are still doing that are making it harder for you to meet your weight goals, just like I was 😳
Eating light meals and grazing - come on! Surely this isn't true? When I grew up, this was all the rage... the less you ate at meals, the more weight you lost. My best friend, Jennifer and I, used to skip meals, but then snack on baby food (pineapple/banana) and orange peanut butter cracker snack packs. And we were thin! And awesome ballet and jazz dancers, by the way! Oh, the energy we had back in the day... How is this bad?
Let me tell you...this is one of the WORST things you could be doing... snacking between meals and not giving your stomach a long enough break between meals causes the gut to get over-worked, tired, and dysfunctional over a period of time - by the time you are an adult, this is happening. It causes "leaky gut" (tears/too much permeability in the gut lining), and gut dysbiosis (an imbalance of good vs. bad bacteria). Leaky gut causes 2 problems primarily related to weight management - 1) it causes nutritional deficiencies - essentially, all the nutrients you are trying to eat are slipping through your gut into your blood system and other body systems; 2) inflammation - the body views those food particles as foreign pathogens and spends all of its time attacking those (can also lead to auto-immune conditions). Lack of nutrition = trouble losing weight because all of your metabolic processes (digestion, de-toxifying, hormone production) require specific nutrition to keep the organs and processes efficient. Inflammation = trouble losing weight because the immune system (including the liver) is distracted and focused on attacking the food particles or fighting off pathogens. When this happens, the metabolic processes are shut down/not as efficient. Bottom line, when inflammation is high in your body, your metabolism will be compromised.
You may be thinking... come on, Aimee, this is ridiculous! How am I supposed to not snack? I get HANGRY! Well, so did I. Being Hangry is a sign that you didn't eat enough at your last meal AND that you are have some blood sugar issues. Read on to the next paragraph for addressing blood sugar. And to help you with being hangry between meals, here's a tip. Eat at least 1 tablespoon healthy dietary fat, tons of fiber (veggies/fruits), and add a condiment size/serving of organic protein (animal sources are chock full of critical vitamins and minerals that you are hard to absorb/find in plant foods). - If you are vegetarian or vegan, find a plant-sourced protein to add to your meal. Fat, protein and fiber all help you to last longer between meals.
Try allowing at least 5 hours between
meals. Essential oils you can use to help decreased hunger between meals while you are getting used to the decrease snacking are grapefruit, peppermint, and slim and sassy blend (if you are a DoTerra oil user). Put 2 drops in your 8 ounce glass of water, or take the drops in a veggie caps (2-3 drops is typically the best dosage). Do this between meals to help stave off hunger.
Hidden Sugars - my story with sugar is long and windy so I will try to summarize. I always, always, always remember, as far back as middle school, having sugar cravings and being hungry ALL THE TIME. I also just felt weird - irritable, and often a little nauseous or faint. This led me to reach for carbs (granola bars, bread, etc...). Little did I know that was contributing to the endless sugar cycle. In 2018, when I got off the birth control pill in an effort to manage my hormones better, I decided to do an elimination diet. Part of that diet was to remove all excess sugars for 30 days, including the love of my morning, my special honey.... At the time, I was consuming 4 tablespoons of sugar first thing in the morning with my 2 cups of coffee!!! I thought I was making a healthy choice because honey is lower on the glycemic index, and it is really good for your immune system. But I was mistaken. Once I removed the honey for 3 days and replaced it with stevia, I was shocked. Shocked at how for the very first time in my life, I did not feel HANGRY in the morning... Here's what happens with sugar, especially in the morning, but this occurs anytime you eat it. Sugar is converted to glucose, which causes your blood glucose to rise. The body then releases insulin so that it can help the body uptake the glucose from the blood, and therefore balance out the glucose in the blood. Insulin also has another function, and it is this function that causes the primary problem - insulin helps your body store extra energy (sugar/glucose) in the liver and in fat cells. So when there is an insulin surge from eating sugar, insulin is going to be doing its job really well - storing that extra glucose in the liver and in the fat cells. The simplest way of looking at it, is that the body doesn't like too much sugar, so it removes the extra sugar you ate and stores it in the liver and fat cells. Literally your fat cells! 'Nough said. You get it, right? There are some sugars that cause a higher insulin rush (like high fructose corn syrup), but all sugar, even fructose (from fruit) has this result. Your goal should be to reduce any kind of sugar. If you are trying to lose weight, you should be consuming WAY LESS than 20-25 grams sugar (which is about 4 teaspoons of sugar). Remember my honey situation? I was using WAY MORE than 4 teaspoons.... To help you understand what this will look like, one soda has 39 grams of sugar.... Yeah, removing soda would be a great first choice (but don't replace it with fruit juice, iced tea, kombucha, because they all have sugar in them). To help you with sugar cravings, use the afore mentioned essential oils, as they were found to help with sugar cravings as well, in research studies.
Fragrances in your cleaning products, candles, plug ins, sprays, shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and perfumes - this one was a SHOCKER to me. And, I had to really dig deep to be willing to overcome. I LOVE my candles!!! Here is what I found out: there is an actual class of chemicals that is used under the label FRAGRANCE, phthalate, bisphenol - A (BPA), triclosan, nicotine, MSG and some prescription medications) called obesogens - yes, that is their actual name... You reading between the lines? Some obesogens are endocrine disruptors - they mess with your hormones by sitting at your cell receptor sites. They fill the entire space so natural estrogen can't get through. And they sit at that site for an incredibly long time, while the body is unable to get rid of them. This causes estrogen dominance symptoms - heavy periods, cramping, endometriosis, chronic migraines and yes... weight gain, particularly belly fat. If that wasn't bad enough, some of the obesogens are lipophilic - meaning that they are fat loving and fat soluble. How they cause weight gain is that they promote the storage of toxins in your fat cells. Your body tries to protect you from the toxins by storing them in your fat cells rather than allowing them to move freely around your body into your organs.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners, https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/airfresheners.pdf 12 of 14 air fresheners they tested contained phthalates. Here's how it works: When you use air fresheners, phthalates are released into the air where you might inhale them or absorb them through your skin. Once phthalates get into your bloodstream, they can alter hormone levels and weight gain. The air fresheners from the study that had phthalates in them are:
Air Wick
Scented OilCitrus
MagicFebreze
NOTICEables Scented Oil
Glade Air
InfusionsGlade
PlugIn Scented OilLysol
Brand II DisinfectantOust Air
Sanitizer SprayOust Fan
Liquid RefillsOzium
Glycol-ized Air SanitizerWalgreens
Air Freshener Spray (had the highest levels of phthalates by far)Walgreens
Scented Bouquet Air Freshener
Woe is me! So what do we do? Where do we even begin? It is a simple process, but lengthy. Slowly replace all your toxic products with natural ones that do not have the chemicals listed in this article. You can use the THINK DIRTY app to get a rating on how toxic your product is. Cleaning products, air fresheners, and candles are the easiest to replace quickly. Basically, essential oils can replace all of these. Oils in a diffuser replaces the candle and air freshener. You can make spray air fresheners with essential oils, and you can make your own cleaners that are stronger and more effective than the toxic ones you are currently using! I promise! Look at this picture of how oregano and on guard essential oil beat out Lysol and clorox cleaners in a middle school science project led by an oil user friend of mine,
So now you know - all your weight loss efforts are being sabotaged by your little cappuccino, your favorite plug in scent, your bleach smelling bathroom, and your snacking (even on healthy foods) between meals.
Recommended products to assist with weight loss:
Life Long Vitality Vitamins from DoTerra (decrease inflammation and use whole food nutrition)
PB Assist DoTerra (a pre and probiotic to help you with gut dysbiosis), or a high quality probiotic
On guard, oregano, tea tree, and lemon essential oils (use these instead of toxic cleaners) + vinegar
Stevia herb sugar (organic) and with no preservatives (sugar replacement)
Yakon Syrup (still has some sugar, but much lower sugar content than honey or other typical sugars)
Peppermint, Grapefruit, and Slim and Sassy blend for sugar and hunger cravings
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