Heather Lietz here; you may know me from the front desk at the clinic. A friend of mine had forwarded me some information about the Total Wellness Summit presented by Food Matters. I decided to join the free access to the online summit which is taking place from March 21st through March 31st. Each day they present a different topic with videos of an interview with an expert, a documentary, a recipe, and a yoga or meditation practice. So much great information about health is being provided that I thought I would share the knowledge.
Here is what I learned on Day 1: Detox and Weight Loss Part 1
All the follow
ing information is taken from an interview with Jon Gabriel, a weight loss coach, who once weighed over 400 lbs. He lost 220 lbs over a 2 1/2 year period and kept it off for 7 year without dieting. He has is own website at http://www.thegabrielmethod.com
Our bodies have fat programs which cause us to retain and gain fat. Our fat programs are activated by:
–Nutritional famine occurs when we are eating an adequate amount of food but our bodies are not receiving the proper nutrients. Manmade foods such as bread and sugar are nutritionally void and trick our bodies into thinking that they are still hungry because our cells not being nourished.
–Dieting creates famine. Our bodies biologically react to famine by triggering the storing of fats to protect against future famine. The mechanism in our bodies that controls heartbeat and breathing also controls hunger, meaning we can’t control how hungry we are. Therefore, we can only force our bodies to eat less in the short term because of the body’s survival laws.
–Emotional stress causes the exact same chemistry as a famine in our bodies. This includes childhood traumas, stresses caused by our hectic world, and sleep deprivation. Our bodies are essentially trying to protect us by putting on weight!
–Toxins are abundant in today’s world and our fat protects us from those toxins. We are exposed to so many toxins that our bodies are not able to process out all of them. They in turn get stored in our fats. There are over 800 toxins in our fat cells! Our bodies won’t let us burn our fat if we take in more toxins then we are able to eliminate. If the body did burn that fat then more toxins than the body is able to process would be dumped into the body’s blood stream.
–MSGs are in 80% of modern manmade foods. They are used to enhance flavors which makes us desire more and also excites the part of the brain that activates fat programs. After all, MSG is the substance that scientists use in studies to make mice fat!
–Vitamin D deficiency
–Diet sweeteners
***Remember, calories in calories out is nonsense. If we consume items that activate fat programs, i.e. manmade foods, we will gain weight.***
Jon Gabriel’s solution:
1. We need to cope with stresses, especially childhood traumas which trigger feelings of unsafety that are experienced daily. We can learn to reclaim feelings of safety through visualization techniques. The brain doesn’t know the difference between real and visualized events; that’s why visualizing safety will increase feelings of safety. Visualization is the language used to talk with the subconscious and is also found to be successful with weight loss. Therefore, visualize your ideal body and this message will be sent to your subconscious. The power to visualize gets stronger with practice!
2. Skip the manmade foods. Add foods that our bodies are starving for such as meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. It’s very important to eat live foods. Live foods contain the life force energy from the sun. Years ago, it was all we ate as our foods were primarily farm to table. Today, as a society, live foods are minimal in our diets. Live foods contain healthy bacteria and enzymes which promote proper digestion. With proper digestion, nutrients get absorbed and fat programs get turned off. Eating live foods will change our taste and cravings, and we will crave healthier foods!
3. Adding omega 3s to our diets is beneficial. A great way to do this is by grinding linseeds (or flaxseeds) and sprinkling them on our foods. The best fish oil supplement to use is krill oil as it has the least amount of toxins.
4. We needs to get our sun! Vitamin D turns off fat programs.
***Check out Part 2 of this blog which will include Jon Gabriel’s recommendations regarding consuming fats, eliminating sugar cravings, exercising and eating healthy cheaply!***