by Linda Page, N.D., Ph.D.
Discover your weight loss blocker
 The dieting craze goes on, yet
one out of every two Americans
is overweight. This doesn't
count kids who are rapidly
becoming an overweight generation.
Obesity sets the stage for health problems
all through life. Still the diet fads keep
coming, most leading to yo-yo dieting which
is hazardous to good health and usually causes
even more weight gain.
So why doesn't will power work? The
human body is made to be a self-balancing and
largely self-healing mechanism. When your
body becomes unbalanced, because of illness
or pollutants or even dieting, it will try to
rebalance and right itself when the illness or
diet are over. One way the body tries to balance
is by producing cravings.
The keys to an effective weight control diet
are low-fat, high fiber, regular exercise, plenty
of sleep and lots of water. But there are other
factors that affect weight control.hypothyroidism,
sluggish liver, and brain chemistry.
which lead to many different weight loss
problems. I've identified six of the most common
weight loss blockers and have developed
comprehensive programs to address them.
Here is an overview of the most common
weight loss blockers, with some helpful tips.
First, define your biggest weight control
problem. There may be more than one but
don't try to address everything all at once. As
you begin to see improvement in the main
problem area, secondary problems often start
to correct themselves in the process. If lingering
problem spots still exist, approach them
with additional supplementation after the first
program is well underway and producing
noticeable results.
Do you have a lazy metabolism or thyroid imbalance?
Here are the signs:
- General weakness and fatigue (especially in the morning)
- Digestive disturbances like heartburn and indigestion
- Unusual depression and anxiety
- Breast fibroids
- Hair loss
- Swelling of the ankles, hands and eyelids
Helpful tips: Boosting your metabolism and
supporting your thyroid is easy with herbs and
spices.
- Add sea vegetables to your diet—kelp, dulse and nori are rich in natural iodine. Two tablespoons of dried chopped sea vegetables are an effective daily dose. Or take sea greens in capsules or extracts.
- Add thermogenic (calorie burning) spices like cinnamon, cayenne, mustard and ginger to speed up your fat-burning process. Try dipping raw veggies in mustard throughout the day. One tsp. of mustard can increase metabolism 25 percent for up to three hours.
- Take a hot seaweed soak once a week to help stimulate thyroid activity.
Do you overeat fat and calories?
Here are the signs:
- Binge eating on junk foods, especially fatty and sugary foods, about every 10 days
- Eating all your calories at one meal and then trying to eat nothing for the rest of the day when you are dieting
- Having second and third helpings at a meal but still feeling hungry
Helpful tips: Overeating is a big reason why it
is so hard for people to lose weight, especially
men. Men are often encouraged to take second
or even third helpings as a sign of manliness or
approval for the cook. Men also tend to
overeat when they are under stress, tired or
on-the-run.the way many American men eat
today.
- Control your portions so you don't overeat.
- Reduce fats to 20 percent of your food intake. (Don't replace fats with fat substitutes like Olestra.)
- An herbal appetite suppressant with St.-John's-wort decreases appetite and increases will power against fatty food cravings.
- Have a green superfood drink in the afternoon to give you that extra energy boost.
Do you have sugar cravings and blood
sugar imbalances?
Here are the signs:
- Moodiness
- Becoming easily frustrated with crying spells (women) or emotional outbursts (men)
- Great fatigue (especially after sugar binges)
- Having a wired feeling that is only relieved by eating sweets
Helpful tips: If you are on a very low-fat diet,
you may be trying to make up for the missing
taste in your diet by adding sugar. Cravings for
sweets may indicate that your body really
needs more protein. Green protein from spirulina
can relieve sweet cravings.
- A low glycemic diet with plenty of whole grains and vegetables is a key.
- Add essential fatty acids (EFAs ) from sources like seafood, sea greens and flax seed oil.
- Target excess sugar in the blood with herbs for weight loss. Try a ginseng-licorice combination (licorice curbs appetite).
- Try stevia, a natural sugar substitute effective for weight control because it contains no calories yet significantly increases glucose tolerance and inhibits glucose absorption.
Do you have a sluggish liver and cellulite
formation?
Here are the signs:
- Extreme, unrelenting fatigue; unusual depression and sadness
- Unexplained weight gain
- Poor digestion (worsens after fatty meals); chronic constipation and heart burn
- Food and chemical sensitivities
- Bulging, dimply skin on hip, buttocks thighs and knees (women); torso and stomach (men)
Helpful tips: Your liver metabolizes fats. Today
most people have a liver overloaded with toxic
build-up.this problem can be responsible for
weight gain. Cellulite is a body shape problem
related to liver malfunction.fatty wastes lodge
more easily beneath the skin's surface when the
liver or lymphatic system is sluggish.
- Take a two week course of herbal bitters like gentian, cardamom and Oregon grape to regenerate the liver by increasing bile production.
- Detox your liver.see the liver detox program in my book, Detoxification.
- Add vitamin B complex to assist with liver detoxification and fat metabolism.
- Lipotropics like lecithin, choline, inositol, methionine break down and liquefy fats during digestion.
Do you have poor circulation and low energy?
Here are the signs:
- Hands, feet, face and ears become cold easily
- Poor memory
- Ringing in the ears
Helpful tips: A lifestyle with little exercise slows
down circulation, metabolism and elimination—factors which impede successful weight loss.
- Get plenty of exercise even if it is just walking every day.
- For circulation stimulation, try the herb butchers broom.
- Add COQ-10, 200 mg daily for antioxidant enzyme activity.
- Mineral electrolytes turn body energy circuits back on.
- Dry brush your skin before your shower to speed up your circulation. (Great for cellulite, too.)
- Have a massage once or twice a month.
Do you Have Poor Elimination?
Here are the signs:
- Frequent bad breath and coated tongue
- Body odor
- Constipation and infrequent bowel movements
Helpful hints: If your colon is sluggish, with
chronic constipation, your body hangs on to
toxins and wastes that would normally be
removed through elimination channels. This
build-up of waste materials in your blood and
bowel slows down all systems and you can't lose
weight.
- Take 2 tbs. of concentrated aloe vera juice in the morning for effective relief.
- Add more fiber foods, like prunes, to your daily diet.
- Massage your lower back (near the kidneys) to relieve colon congestion.
- Go on a colon cleanse program—see the colon detox program also in my book.
Fat cells and calcium
Could low calcium be your weight loss blocker?
Analysis from five different studies reveals that
women with the lowest calcium levels weigh the
most. Here's why: High levels of calcium
increase fat burning while low levels increase fat
storage. Include more high calcium foods in
your diet like broccoli, dark leafy greens and sea
greens like nori.
I recommend calcium from plant sources
like nettles, watercress, chamomile, valerian,
pau d'arco bark and lambs quarters greens
rather than dairy. They are highly absorbable
and don't have the risks of hormone or antibiotic
injections that may accompany dairy products.
A high quality liquid herbal calcium
preparation is highly bioavailable and works
extremely well for weight loss results.
Stress and weight gain
You may have heard about the effects of stress
on health. Did you know that stress can also
keep you from losing weight? Stress boosts the
body's release of adrenaline and cortisol from
the adrenal glands, which creates a short-term
energy rush and increases appetite and cravings
for sugary, high carbohydrate foods that the
body stores as fat.
Stress-related fat is stored in the deep abdominal
region.some experts theorize that our
bodies actually try to protect our organs from
stress by storing more fat around them. Here are
a few tips: Herbal nervines cut stress reactions.
St.-John's-wort helps overcome stress-related
weight gain because it helps balance appetitecontrolling
serotonin in the brain. Rhodiola
helps reduce stress reactions that lead to food
binges. In addition, deep breathing reduces
stress by helping you take in more oxygen which
boosts metabolism and prompts your body to
burn more fat. Exercise is a proven stress releaser,
increasing endorphins to lower stress hormones.
Sleep your way thin
Get plenty of sleep. A University of Chicago
study shows a lack of sleep results in significant
changes in the two hormones related to hunger:
leptin and cortisol. These changes also contribute
to impaired glucose tolerance. Bottom
line: lack of sleep makes you eat more.
Remember, body imbalances create biological
urges. Don’t beat yourself up because you
find it hard to stay on a diet. Use good sense in
your quest for your perfect weight. Follow a
healthy, mostly fresh foods diet, drink lots of
water, get plenty of sleep and exercise and follow
the programs I’ve outlined above. Don’t worry
about the pounds and the calories. Worry about
the inches and fat. It is a real achievement when
you look in the mirror and watch your clothing
size go down. You’ll not only look great, you’ll
feel great, too. It is a program, not a pill, that
produces real, lasting results.
The complete cleanse programs are found at www.healthyhealing.com and also in my book, Dr. Linda Page’s Guide To Weight Loss and Cellulite Control, available at www.healthyhealing.com along with more weight loss information, herbal products, seaweed soak and many packaged organic sea vegetables.
Resources:
Spiegel, K., Leproult, R., Van Cauter, E. “Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function,” Lancet, Oct. 1999.
Swedish study: Stress makes people fat, CNN.com, Jan. 7, 2002 . Levine, Stephen. Ph.D. “Buffered Vitamin C to the Rescue. How one simple supplement may have a dramatic effect on weight control,” Nutricology In Focus, Summer 2000 (calcium studies).
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