Weight Loss Tips and Tricks from Dr. Skip at Surefire Clinic in Allen, Texas.
It’s not as easy as just exercise more and eat less…
I wish it were that simple! That being said…losing weight doesn’t have to be all that hard either. There are many simple things that you can do that will make a huge impact on your weight.
Exercise is beneficial and if you are not…then start now. It doesn’t need to be high intensity 7 days a week. I would recommend that you do something to make yourself sweat every day. I am extremely pleased if you will commit to a brisk walk for 30 minutes 5 times per week, preferably after meals. This will help your metabolism and digestion as well as assist with weight loss – and general health and wellness. There is an old Chinese proverb about walking after eating and living to 100. This is such good advice. From a naturopathic perspective, digestive health is paramount.
My goal here is to show you ways that you can modify your lifestyle and dietary habits – adding things in some places, removing from others. As much as I like the benefits psychologically of losing weight quickly at the onset of a “diet” I can assure you in the long run you will be healthier, fit and happier if you chose to lose weight the right way. When you do it this way you not only lose the weight and heal the metabolism, you have also created new habits that will help you maintain the weight you so heartily wanted to lose. Stick with it! It can and will happen. If you need additional help with losing weight then contact us at the Surefire Clinic and we will be pleased to help you formulate an individualize program just for you and your specific biochemical needs.
Start your day off right. EAT BREAKFAST!!
Make it protein please…not carbs and sugar.
If you don’t eat breakfast, you’re putting your fat-burning metabolism in time-out. It takes calories to digest calories, so eating will assist in cranking up your metabolism.
Perfect breakfasts: organic sliced deli meats are a great choice, any veggies (that aren’t starchy) will work. A few eggs with some organic turkey bacon can be great too. Please try to plan ahead as waiting until you are hungry is too late…you are more likely to lose inhibitions and eat naughty food when you wait too long to eat.
Snack during the day!
Eating between meals will continue to rev your metabolism. I want you to keep snacks on hand at all times. Dry roasted nuts, organic chemical free beef/turkey jerky is a great pick me up. A tablespoon of nut butter – try them all till you find one you like.
Why snack you ask? Because if breakfast beefs up your metabolism, then snacks keep those metabolic fires burning between meals and throughout the day. Planning your snacks in advance keeps you from making poor food choices.
Additional ideas can be gluten-free pretzels, a slice of hormone free cheese, or a yummy piece of fruit such as a peach, plum, orange or pear.
FIBER, FIBER, FIBER!!!
Most of us do not get enough of this. It’s no wonder why bowel issues, such as constipation, are such an issue. Fiber-rich foods are just about the only thing you can have in unlimited quantities. They contain much less calories and make you feel full. You should consume around 25 grams of fiber daily. Many folks typically only consume around 12 grams in a day. Nutritionally and healthfully…this just isn’t enough.
Fiber sources can be from consuming at least three servings of vegetables and two fruit portions per day. Adding beans to salads and soups is another great option. I recommend an amazing green drink called Nanogreens…It is available on our site. It contains all of the greens that most people just don’t get enough of each day. It is a very easy way to get them into your diet in a quick drink and as far as green drinks are concerned – this one is pretty tasty. Choose whole-grain breads rather than those made with refined-white flour. In fact, please look for and only purchase flour that does not contain bromide. King Arthur makes great flour that doesn’t contain the harmful additive of bromide. If you are a cereal eater, than please chose the highest-fiber cereal that tastes great and doesn’t contain an overload of sugar. Select almond, oat or rice milk over cow’s milk. Remember: You get more calcium from dark leafy green vegetables than from milk.
FAT, FAT, FAT!!!
Most recently everyone seems savvy towards the health benefits of unsaturated fats! Those found in fish, nuts, avocados and olive oil. Coconut and Palm oils are also great choices. If you are doing anything on high heat please look into using Ghee.
With low-fat diets people tend to replace the fat with carbs. This is no good. Carbohydrates and anything that converts into sugar will provoke a rise in insulin, not to mention that just a small amount of sugar will suppress the immune system. More insulin equals more hunger…hence the recommendations for higher protein in your diets. I am not advocating Dr. Adkins here, just higher protein and less carbs. You digest carbs much faster than fat, and this will also lead to more hunger.
Fat has neither of these issues. Your body digests it slowly, and it doesn’t cause an insulin spike. By adding a small amount of the “good” fats to your meals will actually accelerate your weight loss. Fat gives you the feeling of satiety which is why we recommend certain products that contain these fats that makes you feel more satisfied after a meal.
Be cautious, as too much of a good thing can have a detrimental effect. My Great Grandfather always said “Everything in moderation”. Too much fat will make you fat. Fat has way more calories than protein or carbohydrates.
Add some nuts and olive oil to your salads. This sounds weird, but you can drizzle some melted coconut butter on your salad. Also, put some avocado on a turkey-breast sandwich – I would make it by using the turkey as the bread. A spoonful of any of the nut butters in the morning is also a great way to add these in as well. When dining out, never pass up a chance for a nicely prepared piece of tilapia, sea bass, salmon, herring, tuna, or mackerel. Be cautious of eating too much fish too often because some of these fish can contain high levels of toxic metals.
WATER, WATER, WATER!!!
Juices even those that contain 100% juice are usually loaded with sugar and even worse are the juices that contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Please minizime and elimate the consumption of carbonated beverages – cola-type products as they are the worst culprits in this arena. These drinks can hit you with a tremendous amount of calories from even just a small 16-ounce beverage.
Hydration is paramount from a health perspective. At Surefire Clinic we all consume filtered water that has been charged on the hydromag. These are available on our site. Water contains no calories and it will hydrate you. Diet soft drinks are to be avoided at all costs. They are loaded with many ingredients that I wouldn’t even use to feed my plants with let alone use or recommend them for human consumption. Please see the article on artificial sweeteners. Herbal teas and coconut water are acceptable. The Bragg’s apple cider vinegar drink is a great beverage that balances your pH, quenches your thirst and is a phenomenal overall health tonic.
86 the alcoholic beverages as well. Alcohol will help you quickly pack on the pounds in more ways than we realize as well as make it extremely difficult for you to lose them!
Alcohol contains loads of calories. Alcohol is very dehydrating. Coffee is dehydrating. Light beer has 100 calories. Drinks with creams and sugary juices and colas…loaded with calories. Alcohol will help you store fat – this is something we don’t want at all when we are trying to get you healthy and to lose weight. Your body views alcohol as a poison and it does everything it can to cleanse it out as quickly as possible. Your liver will stop processing all other calories until it has removed all the alcohol. In a nutshell, anything else you consume during the drinking and cleanings process is likely to end up being stored as fat, exactly what we don’t want! So nix the alcohol.
Did you know that alcohol lowers testosterone? With increased amounts of abdominal fat, testosterone levels quickly decrease. This can wreck havoc on a man’s physiology, not to mention a woman’s. Low levels of testosterone will make it much harder your body to burn fat.
Sleep is essential for weight loss as well as overall health and wellness. Your body produces its biggest surge of a growth hormone, a chemical that signals your body to use fat for energy while you are sleeping. The less growth hormone you release, the more fat you will accumulate.
Green tea & Oolong tea -boost your metabolism. I use and recommend Oolong tea in our practice, as it is a fantastic addition to a weight loss protocol. If green tea sounds strange to you, don’t turn your nose up at it until you have given it a fair shot. There are many different brands. I love the one from Good Earth with Jasmine and green tea. I have been an avid green tea drinker for many years and I just stumbled across this one the other day. If you must have it sweet – and this is really a habit for both weight loss and health that you should really implement you may add a small amount of agave nectar, raw honey or stevia. There are also many brands of stevia on the market. Some have a bitter aftertaste some do not. Trial and error until you find the one that you like. Personally I like “Now Brands” stevia in packets. It dissolves easily in ice tea as well as hot tea and to me it doesn’t have a strange aftertaste.
MEAT, MEAT, MEAT!!!
Its lunchtime…and you are out and about on your lunch hour. Salad or burger? Decisions…decisions?!?! At first, you may think that the salad is the best choice nutritionally. And why wouldn’t it be the better choice? It’s full of leafy veggies, lettuces and it looks way healthier than the cooked hamburger. However, in actuality the burger is probably the better choice. My recommendation would be to 86 the bun, add grilled onions and mushrooms and maybe even a piece of cheese (any cheese except American – that isn’t cheese it’s chemicals and garbage wrapped in plastic – avoid it at all costs). A side of veggies or a salad with oil and vinegar or low calorie Italian dressing if you feel that won’t fill you up.
The salad will have fewer calories if you limit what you put on it. Once you start adding things like turkey, ham, cheese and dressing, however, you could be looking at more than 700 calories for a small serving. A ‘quarter-pound’ burger contains around 400 calories. The burger will certainly give you that feeling of satiety – that sensation of feeling full and satisfied, and the meat is rich in zinc, an important mineral which has been shown to help raise testosterone levels.
MODERATION, MODERATION, MODERATION
You can eat anything and lose or maintain weight, as long as you don’t eat too much of anything. So it’s not necessarily about depriving yourself of anything…just remember like my Great Grandfather says…”Everything in moderation”. That statement has always made such an impact on me. Please remember this when you are on the road to health and weight loss.
Portion control should also be a top priority. In Ayurveda (the ancient medicine from India) you should stop eating when your stomach is just over half way full. Look for individual serving of things like frozen dinners – your local grocery store is probably carrying more organic, wholesome choices than you realize. We live in Texas and have been very pleased with the selection that our local grocer, Tom Thumb has. They have their own line of organic choices called ‘Organics’. Amy’s brand makes great frozen individual serving sized portions…so you buy one serving, eat one serving, and you’re done. Please steer clear of large portion restaurants or take a friend and split the meal – healthier and cheaper!
Be sure to eat lots of vegetables. Choose fresh fruits and vegetables, if possible. Secondarily choose frozen and then as a last resort select canned. I usually prefer them to be frozen as most companies flash freeze them thus locking in a many nutrients as possible and the shelf life is longer than fresh.
Please don’t forget to exercise. Sweat, move your body, move your lymphatic system and boost your immune system. If we can be of help to you for your weight loss needs please schedule an appointment with us. We take the guesswork out of losing weight. We are not about diets we are about lifestyle changes that lead to health and long lasting weight loss.
