Weight Loss #1 – a simple problem?

Well, its input verses output. If you ingest more than you burn, you gain weight. If you burn more than you ingest, you loose weight. So, what’s the problem?

Well, there are a lot of problems. For starters I will discuss the physical reasons you eat more than you should.

1.  Empty Calories

If you eat empty calories (refined carbohydrates – sugars, breads, pastas, etc.) your body will not be getting what it needs and your body will be asking you to eat more. Refined carbohydrates trick you into believing you are getting real food. After a bit, the body says, “that’s not real food – give me some real food.” So you eat more and more – the result is weight gain, though you are really depriving your body of real food.

Many overweight people are malnourished and need nutrition but don’t know how to get it.

What to do: Increase your intake of good, organic vegetables. Reduce your intake of refined foods (each step of food processing reduces the value of the food – the more life in your food, the more life you get out of your food). Work with your health care practitioner to make sure you are getting adequate nutrition.

2.  Blood sugar regulation

If you can’t regulate your blood sugar, your blood sugar levels will regularly go low giving you uncontrollable food cravings. This is caused by the consumption of high glycemic-index foods. These are the refined carbohydrates again plus some foods you may not expect, like fruit juices, carrot juice, beer (maltose is worse than table sugar) – basically, every step of food processing raises the glycemic-index and increases the problem of blood sugar regulation.

When your blood sugar goes low, your brain will tell you, “YOU HAVE TO EAT NOW!”

3.  Food sensitivities

If you are sensitive to some foods – and most of us are – you will crave those foods. This may seem backwards but one way to pin down food sensitivities is to ask the question, “are there any foods you will not give up?” The body is often less reactive to sensitive foods if you eat more of them. This trains people to eat more of the foods that are bad for them, thus reducing their symptoms in the short term, while hurting their body in the long run. Keep this in mind while testing yourself for food sensitivities. For this reason and others, you will tend to eat more of these foods. Also, often the reaction to these foods will include bloating and water-weight gain.