I have been blogging about easy tips to losing a pound a week.  Most of the ideas are commonplace.  One area that is often overlooked is food sensitivities.  If you experience food sensitivities, you may actually crave foods that don't agree with your system.  These foods can create problems with your system, causing inflammation, stomach, sinus, and skin issues.  Identifying and eliminating food sensitivities can lead to weight loss.  Common culprits are corn, dairy, soy, eggs, tomatoes, and gluten. Stress is another huge factor in weight loss.  If you have constant low grade stress (which most of us do), your body can be storing fat because your body is planning for starvation.  Exercise is a great way to burn off extra cortisol caused by the low grade stress.  Have a great day!  Shanna
 
Ultrametabolism By Dr. Hyman

Stress does not get enough attention when related to health and weight loss.  We all have heard that we should reduce stress, but don't make many changes, because stress is just a part of life.  We are under a constant level of stress which leads to weight gain and a breakdown of health.  Following is a survey by Dr. Hyman which can be an indicator of how much stress you are coping with:
  • Do you have low blood pressure?
  • Do you get dizzy when you stand up?
  • Have you been diagnosed with hypoglycemia?
  • Do you have cravings for salt or sweets?
  • Do you have dark circles under your eyes?
  • Do you have trouble falling asleep and or staying asleep?
  • do you feel groggy and not refreshed when you wake up?
  • Do you experience mental fogginess or trouble concentrating?
  • Do you get headaches?
  • Do you get frequent infections (for example, colds)?
  • Do you feel tire easily on doing any exercise or feel very fatigued after exercise?
  • Do you often feel stressed?
  • Do you have panic attacks or startle easily?
This list goes on - what it indicates is a stressed adrenal system.  When we are under so much stress, we lose the natural rhythm of our bodies.  We no longer sleep well, which leads to fatigue, which leads to sugar cravings, which leads to weight gain... and so on and so on.  To resolve this, we have to go back to simplifying our daily lives.  We need to slow down, support our systems with whole foods, water and supplements, get out in nature, and most of all, relax.  Stress affects every part of our lives.  Have a relaxing weekend - Shanna


 
The Blood Sugar Solution By Dr. Mark Hyman

Dr. Hyman talks about  numerous hormones in his book, but I am going to focus on the adrenals and cortisol.  Dr. Hyman isn't concerned about the stress that short term, and then resolved (speaking in front of a group, meeting a deadline, etc.), his concern is for the stress we put ourselves under on a daily basis, and the stress that we never resolve.  This keeps the body in a state that requires high cortisol production.  This leads to weight gain and attributes to most health concerns.  Here are some questions from Dr. Hyman to ask yourself to see if your adrenals are stressed:
  • My life is very stressful
  • I am easily startled and suffer from panic attacks
  • I feel tired but wired
  • I feel fatigued
  • I often feel weak and shaky
  • When I stand up, I feel dizzy
  • I have dark circles under my eyes
  • I crave sweets or salt
  • I don't feel refreshed after a night's sleep
  • I have difficulty either falling or staying asleep
  • I frequently experience headaches
The list goes on - if you said yes to many of the questions above, it is worth looking into adrenal fatigue to see if that is a roadblock to weight loss and optimum health.  Dr. Hyman recommends finding ways to relieve and manage stress to improve health, overall (exercise, meditation, laughing, praying and more).  Have a great day - Shanna