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Weight gain, bloating and those stubborn fat deposits on your hips, thighs and buttocks—the very thought rattles your senses, not to mention your self-esteem. It is downright frustrating, to say the least. And believe me, you are not alone. There are more than 100 million of us currently fighting the infamous battle of the bulge. For most of us it is a rigorous combat at best, trying one diet plan after another. Some regimens are too hard to follow whereas others lack any real variety of satiety. In the end we usually wind up back where we started— unhappy and overweight once again.

As a nutritionist I am always on the lookout to identify and correct metabolic and nutritional imbalance, I have searched beyond the conventional answers to uncover the root causes of unexplained weight gain. Thankfully my investigative nature has paid off. Years of hands-on experience and avidly following the latest research studies and diet trends led me to insights into lasting weight control.

As you embark on your quest for healthy weight loss, I would like you to keep a few things in mind. You are an individual and so is your rate of weight loss. Your body is unique, which means your weight loss challenges are not necessarily like your best friend’s or even other family members’. You will discover your own roadblocks and learn how to remove them, one step at a time, at your own pace.

For this reason your weight loss plan should be as easy and natural as possible. You should start slowly and gradually make a couple of dietary and lifestyle changes, one at a time, even before you start. By easing into each progressive phase of your diet you will not feel overwhelmed.

Your struggles with weight are not the result of simply too much food and too little exercise. A myriad of unsuspected elements come into play. Take this Quick Quiz to put your own lifestyle in focus. Answer yes or no.
  • Do you drink caffeinated beverages daily?
  • Are you taking antidepressants or prescription or over-the-counter drugs?
  • Do you eat margarine or foods made with hydrogenated (solid or semisolid) fats?
  • Do you take birth control pills?
  • Are you on estrogen or hormone replacement therapy?
  • Did you take antibiotics two or more times during the past twelve months?
  • Do you avoid fat at all cost (e.g. by eating fat free yogurt and fat free cookies)?
  • Do you often crave sweets, bread or other high carbohydrate foods?
  • Do you eat pasta, potatoes, bread or other carbohydrates two or more times daily?
  • Does at least one meal a day contain processed and/or packaged foods (e.g. frozen entrées or luncheon meats)?
  • Do you eat fewer than two servings of protein (e.g. meat, eggs or fish) daily?
  • Do you drink fewer than eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily?
  • Do you regularly sleep fewer than eight hours a night?
  • Do you lead a high-stress life?
  • Do you frequently skip a meal because you are “too busy to eat”?
  • Would you describe your lifestyle as sedentary?
If you answered “Yes” to even one of these questions, learn how you may be unknowingly sabotaging your efforts at weight control and what you can do to make a difference.

If you are like most people, this is not your first attempt at weight loss. You have exercised, counted calories and cut out fat, then protein and now even carbohydrates. Perhaps you lost weight, perhaps not. Chances are you have regained most, if not all, of the pounds. For those millions of individuals who have regained the pounds and inches I believe this is because their diet plan did not target the five hidden factors that bring on unwanted pounds: liver toxicity, waterlogged tissues, fear of eating fat, excess insulin and stress fat. How do these factors really affect your weight? Over the past several years I have followed the research and in some cases, the work of the nutritional pioneers who spearheaded breakthroughs to answer this question. If you are like many of the Fat Flushers who have followed my work, when you understand some of the no-nonsense reasoning and the science behind the plan, you’ll march confidently toward your ultimate success.

Healthy weight loss is more than a diet program. It is also a journey into self-care. However that seems to be a difficult concept for many twenty-first century individuals, especially women. According to a 1999 Wirthlin Women’s Health Issues Survey, today’s woman appears to be so entrenched in caring for the daily demands of work and family that she neglects the much needed care of herself. Too often she is penciled in at the bottom of her unending to-do list. As a result, she falters under tremendous physical and emotional stress, totally drained of energy.

I believe that you deserve to put self-nurturing at the top of your to-do list. That is why simple and healthy habits are built into a good program, habits such as keeping a journal, moderate exercise and going to sleep at a set bedtime. By following a total plan, you will not only enjoy effortless weight loss but you will become renewed and revitalized.

I learned about the remaining weight loss stumbling blocks through my most dependable sources—my readers and clients. Time and time again I was finding that even when some of my clients were doing everything else right, they still could not lose weight. Thanks to the nutritional assessment questionnaire and food diary record sheets I have every client fill out, a pattern began to emerge. I discovered that many of those who were resistant to weight loss had a history of long-term use of birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), antidepressants and other medications as well as hidden food allergies. This kind of weight gain is really not fat per se but rather severely waterlogged tissues masquerading as fat.

In addition, I noted from my clients’ assessment forms that those who had the hardest time losing weight were also those who were the most stressed out. They were living on caffeine (from two to four cups daily), with juggling home and career, definitely not getting enough rest (four to six hours daily), feeling “on edge” most of the time and reporting an increase in food cravings and fat storage, particularly in the abdominal area. I suspected that the adrenal glands—our “fight or flight” glands that produce hormones in response to stress—were intimately connected to the stress-fat cycle. And I had a very strong hunch that I could disrupt this cycle with some simple changes in lifestyle habits.

So I began to recommend stress-relieving protocols that would zap the stress trigger and accelerate weight loss. Probably the most vigorous stress-busting dietary suggestion is to increase protein, at least eight ounces or more of poultry, fish or lean meat because the body has higher protein needs when it is under stress. Just by adding another couple of ounces of protein to lunch and dinner, I had elated reports from clients who were dropping two dress or belt sizes in two weeks—at last.

Take things one day at a time. Remember weight loss is a journey toward a destination. Be kind to and supportive of yourself. It is important to learn how to recognize and applaud even your smallest accomplishments of the day. And even if you slip sometimes—as we all do—that is okay. It is called being human.

 
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