Do we lose muscle when we lose weight?

You may have heard that with weight loss “diets” you use up your muscle tissue and that’s a bad thing?

It is indeed a bad thing!

When we have less muscle, our metabolic rates are slower, we are weaker, we have an increased risk of osteoporosis, and we are more susceptible to falls and injuries.

We want all the muscle we can get!

Intermittent fasting preserves muscle tissue. Want to know how that works?

What is Ketosis Anyway? And why do we care?

Ketones are chemicals produced by the liver that are a bi-product of burning fat for fuel.

When the body has no external supply of glucose for the brain from food, the brain, heart and muscles MUST find another source of energy, and that energy source is ketones! The vital organs continue to function without a hitch as long as there is fat to burn and ketones to use.

Thank you Mother Nature (or whomever did the engineering) for the perfect plan to keep our vital organs working even in the absence of food!

Our bodies are amazing.

One way to get your body into ketosis is to be on a “Keto Diet,” an ultra-low-carb eating style.  Eliminating carbs forces ketosis by restricting the major source of glucose from food.

Although some people thrive on a Keto Diet, what I have observed is that the vast majority of people are “on” the diet, and lose some weight, but the eating style is not sustainable for the long haul and they go “off” the diet and gain the weight back.

Another way to burn up fat stores and lose weight is to practice intermittent fasting.

Once you are “fat adapted,” during your daily fasting period you will be burning body fat and your vital organs will be happily using the bi-product of ketones for fuel.

This is why “hangry” never happens when you are fat adapted. Your body quickly switches from external glucose (food), to glycogen (liver stores), to ketones for energy as needed.

This ketogenic process has nothing to do with whether you are eating carbohydrates!

It has only to do with going a period of time without external food.

How easy is that?

Want to learn more about ketones and ketosis?

I’m here to help.

This cake makes me feel better!

“Eating this cake makes me feel better.”

Did the cake really make you feel better?

Or did the thought about it make you feel better?

If you had to eat your cake in front of a large audience of people staring at you while you ate, would the cake still make you feel better?

No.

In fact, you would feel entirely different about eating it. I’m guessing it would NOT make you feel good to eat it.

And does your body feel fantastic AFTER eating cake? Full of energy and vigor? Highly satisfied and nourished?

Probably not.

So it’s not the cake that makes you feel better, it’s the fantasy attached to eating it.

Yes, you got your dopamine reward. Your brain chemicals got a “hit.”

But really what’s happening is that when you ate the cake you quit thinking about “x”.

That’s what made you feel better, not the cake.

Do you know what’s inside your GI tract?

No, not that stuff. The GOOD stuff!

And what’s this have to do with insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity??

Much more than you might have thought, actually.

Individual bodies react differently to the exact same foods, and now we know one major reason why: the tiny organisms that live in our GI tract called the “gut microbiome”! 

Did you know that these tiny fellows (the good bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, and eukaryotes) are considered so important to our health that scientists consider them collectively as a separate “organ” with its own metabolic and immune functions?

And did you know that inside a HEALTHY gut there are about 100 trillion microbes, representing over 5000 different species, and they weigh about 4.5 POUNDS???

We are just beginning to understand what role our gut microbiome plays in fat storage, insulin resistance, and weight loss, but what we DO know is that a healthy microbiome is incredibly important to all those functions!

SPECIAL NOTE for those with IBS: checkout my sister-website all about IBS, what it is, what to do about it, and a TON of IBS-friendly recipes!

Do you credit lack of exercise for your weight or blood sugar problem?

Think Again.

Weight loss, eliminating insulin resistance and reversing diabetes begins and ends with understanding and managing our physiology (see blog post on FAT for more information on that topic!).

Did you know that studies show exercise plays a very small role, or no role at all, in weight loss?

Weight loss and blood sugar control has EVERYTHING to do with the kitchen, and almost nothing to do with the gym.

What is Fat Even For?

Ready for a brief physiology lesson about the awesome thing we call FAT?

I’m not kidding. Fat is fantastic!

Here is what your body is doing right now:

•         We eat food and it is ultimately broken down into components including glucose, which is the fuel for all of our body’s cells.

•         Glucose circulates in the blood stream.

•         Insulin opens the cell to accept this circulating glucose. Insulin is like the butler opening the door for the guest (glucose) and allowing it inside.

•         Insulin moves glucose into all cells that need fuel. Some cells, like muscle cells, store some extra glucose for quick energy whenever we need it.

•         When muscle cells are full of glucose, insulin facilitates filling our liver with glucose for the next level of energy storage. If muscle cells run out of glucose, glucose can be accessed quickly from the stores in the liver and sent to the muscles for energy. This is useful physiologically – we need to be able to run away from the tiger and not run out of fuel in the muscles too quickly!

•         When the liver is full, insulin helps the liver turn extra glucose into triglycerides and stores them away on our body in the form of body fat. If the stored glucose in the liver is used up, the stored body fat is mobilized for fuel.

What a fantastic system! As long as we have body fat, we won’t starve even when food is unavailable. We can access the fat on our body for fuel! And if we are trying to lose weight, this is actually our goal - promote a physiological environment in which we access our own body fat for fuel and use it up!

But what happens when there is just too much food coming in too often?

Insulin resistance, high blood sugar, diabetes…do you know what those words actually mean in your body?

What exactly is “diabetes”?

And what is the difference between the types?

And how does your body develop diabetes?

And what can you do about it?

And, the MOST IMPORTANT question of all: HOW CAN YOU REVERSE IT????

If you want to know all the details in language you can understand, read the full article.

I’ll explain it all.

But that last question: how can you reverse it?

By eating in a way that makes your body’s physiology work properly! And no, I don’t mean “cut out the desserts.”

If you are curious, I invite you to read more!

And if you want my personal help with this, join my program. I’d LOVE to help you prevent this disease, or reverse it if you already have it. YES. This is entirely possible.

Your Body is your Lunchbox!

I NEVER considered fasting. Ever. Nope. Not happening. I do not skip meals.

“I feel terrible if I skip meals!”

That was 99 pounds and several years ago.

I wasted so much valuable time being so dang wrong. I think that is one of my biggest professional regrets as a Nurse Practitioner, that I did not do the research into our physiology a long time ago and find all the data that was hidden and suppressed.

Want to know more about Intermittent Fasting? It is a Game Changer!

Bodyset and Mindset

I’ve heard of Mindset, but Bodyset?

There are three systems involved in changing your health and your habits: your Physiology, your Psychology and your Neurology.

I like to think of harnessing these three systems as an athlete might in training for her sport:

1.      Bodyset: “The body’s function when given a physical task.” Our current typical western lifestyle and SAD diet prohibits our body’s natural physiology. If we want to lose weight, we have to train our bodies to re-learn how to function normally – for most of us, our lifestyle has prohibited that normal function from when we were infants! If we are giving our bodies a physical task (weight loss), we want it to function optimally to help us achieve that task. We want the proper Bodyset.

2.      Mindset: “The brain’s attitude when given a task.” Neuroscience shows us that our brains function in a certain way, creating “neuropathways” which are the backbone of habits, urges and cravings. And our psychology gets involved too! How we are thinking directly creates the results we are experiencing, both good and bad. Did you know you can change both your neurological function and your psychological function to eliminate those pesky habits, urges and cravings? If we are giving our bodies a neurological and psychological task (weight loss), we want it to function optimally to help us achieve that task. We want the proper Mindset.

I am passionate about teaching anyone who will listen to me the techniques of body and mind which harness our natural physiology, neurology and psychology. I want everyone to learn these techniques, and then experience an entirely different state of health!  

 I would love to help YOU with this if you are interested!

Weight Loss is NOT a Math Problem!

What is the ONLY fuel 100% of us who want to lose weight need to use?

OUR OWN BODY FAT.

That’s right – we don’t’ need to count calories. We simply need to change our physiology so that we can ACCESS our stored fat and use it up, just the way nature intended.

You can count calories until the cows come home!

But if your physiology is not supporting your ability to access your body fat, and your gut biome is unhealthy, and your genetics need a different eating style than the weight loss diet you chose, you will fail to lose weight and keep it off.

I can practically guarantee you won’t be successful at keeping the weight off if you do manage to lose it. Notice how confidently I say that? Because only 3% of those who lose weight counting calories keeps it off.

You heard me right. THREE PERCENT. 97% gain it all back, and then some.

Has that ever happened to you? It sure has for me.

Calorie counting ignores the natural physiological function of the human body. Once we understand what is happening, and work WITH our bodies, the weight comes off and STAYS off.

Want to learn more about the physiology?

Three-point contact…what the heck does that mean?

In construction, it is a rule used to prevent falls. It means that at any one time, if you have three different body parts supporting you when you are in a dangerously precarious position, you will not collapse and fall. You are not at risk of catastrophic failure.

 Change can feel dangerous.

The fact is, your brain is wired to fear and avoid change. Fear of deprivation, fear of loss of security, fear of the unknown, fear of embarrassment, fear of attention, fear of giving up what’s comfortable, fear of failure. The brain mistrusts all of it, and that’s normal!

My program teaches you 3-point contact through the process of change.

You will not fall.

Right this minute, you have three major systems functioning together to create your body and your current state of health: Physiology, Neurology, and Psychology.

You will learn how these 3 systems are currently working to give you the results you have right now, and how to change them so you can get far healthier results. Mastering how these three systems are working gives YOU the natural “3-Point Contact” you need to carry on, in full control, for life. Learning how this works is a Game Changer!

And you know what? You CAN learn this, and you WILL be successful. I’ve got you. You have 3-point contact every step of the way.

A better you is on the way!