Go back to the beginning - There is no weight loss pill (SORRY!)

What if I told you that you would never have to diet again?  That when you think of the word "diet" it has zero reference to weight loss.  Are you shocked?  You shouldn't be, but then again we have been told for decades that we need this weight loss pill, or this highly restrictive, zero fat weight loss plan. We are told that this highly processed food or pill, will result in astounding physical transformation.  Well, you can't have weight loss and highly processed, chemical laden, zero fat cookies, or anything like that.  The human body knows when it is not fed a proper diet (as in real food).  It will try to fight back.  Signs that your body doesn't like what you are putting into can be: heartburn, improper digestion, constipation, inflammation and a general ill feeling.

If you have been in the Paleo world you probably have heard of Jason Sieb.  If not, you should check out his site here.  I was listening to his podcast - AltShift (fabulous program BTW) and he said something along the line of "You can have sustainable weight loss or YUM".  Think about that for a second.  Now, I am not stating that all your food should be bland, not even close.  What I am saying is, if you want to fix your body that "yum" may not be in the equation.  What do I mean by "yum"?  I'm talking about highly refined treats and foods.  Pre-made frozen meals, high amounts of carbs from sugar, candy, and chocolate with more ingredients than you can read or even pronounced.  Now, I do believe in having a treat, maybe once a week, if your body is in homeostasis (you feel great!).  BUT, until you get there I would advise leaving "yum" alone until your body can handle it.  Then again, maybe once you get there your idea of yum will be totally different than once it was.  My idea of yum is bbq fatty brisket, bacon and eggs, Primal Kitchen's avocado mayonnaise, and avocado.

Why haven't you lost that weight you are so desperately trying to get rid of?  What's the real reason you fail to start, or you start and then that one bite of something (cupcake?!?) that throws you off and you forget the whole eating "healthy" thing.  Do you even know how to start or pick it back up?  Do you think you have to starve?!  Have you followed every diet out there and just gained everything back?  Do you have a medical condition that you are having trouble managing and it's throwing your weight all over the place?  I get it!

It's more simple than what you may think.  But there's no magic pill.  There never has been.  Americans are getting fatter and sicker by the year.  Here are some stats from the CDC.  Why?  Simple, food manufacturing.  Here is an article from NBC News on the highly processed foods and cancer.  We "create" food's, GMO's, we don't grow them.  It's sad to say.  Registered Dietitian Diana Rodgers writes a fabulous article here about diets and foods (from 2017).  

The next time you go to the grocery store, pick up a random item and read the ingredients.  Can you pronounce everything listed?  Do you know what every ingredient that is list is?  Pick a random one and look it up.  Need more help with what something is?  There are also a lot of food/allergy apps out there and they show you what foods to avoid when shopping (great for newbies!).

So, what do you eat?!  How do you finally lose the weight you want and not starve yourself?  Well, it's very individual.  What works for what person may not work for the next person.  What I can say for sure is that eating a properly prepared whole food diet is where you want to start.  This I have known for a long time and it has been shown to be true time and time again in the paleo/primal/low carb sphere and further cemented by the Nutritional Therapy Association where I have been doing my training (as you already know).  

If you want to read other points of view you can read one here from WebMD, here, and here from Chris Kresser, and one from The Paleo Mom, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne with the scientific studies here.  The proper amounts of protein, fats and, carbohydrates again are all bio individual. Some will do better with higher fat and moderate protein.  Others will do best on a keto version with lower carbohydrates.  You can again head over to The Nourished Caveman's site or Maria Emmerich's site for more information on the Keto diet.  I guarantee that it will change.  What works for you now may not work for you 6 months from now.

For me at this current time, carnivore-ish, is working for me.  I'm about 95% carnivore, which means I eat meat.  The other 5% is coffee, avocado and nut butter (my favs!).  I find that I don't need to eat as often but ONLY if I eat enough protein and fat.  To read more on carnivore you can head over to Dr. Anthony Gustin and his views here.  The Nourished Caveman (Vivica Menegaz) talks about her experience (7 weeks) here.

I never gave you the answer to "How to lose weight" because there is no magic pill and no one way of eating.  You have to go back to the beginning.  What's the beginning?  As I stated above, whole foods that are properly prepared, like our grandparents ate or maybe great grandparents at this point (I'm older!).  No need to drastically cut calories or be at the gym 3 hours everyday.  Sure those may be able to help you in the beginning, but you don't even need to go there.  They will only set you up for failure.

You can contact me about how you can look better, feel better and have a happier, healthier life without the word "diet" coming into play.  Manage symptoms better from other conditions.  I can't diagnose or treat disease but I can help you feel your best!  

I would love for you to comment on this post about your struggles and what you have tried and also if you have any conditions that have hindered you from achieving your healthiest life.

I gave up my FitBit and my recent functional appointment

So much has happened not only today but in the last week (-ish)!

Just today alone - I was able to sleep in until 7!  Woot!  I did wake up a few times but made myself fall back to sleep because I so needed it.

I made a "regular" breakfast of maple bacon sausage, broccoli and avocado.  On days I am off I am eating a "normal" meal, which is my protein mix and yogurt, sometimes I do avocado mixed in and coconut butter.  I know I shouldn't need to apply "" but I figured these to be emphasized since what is normal to me is not what is normal to others.

I had my Skype appointment with Dr. Allen.  Immediately he stated how tired I sounded.  True that!  I worked 4 days straight and that normally doesn't fly well for me.  Plus Labor day was super busy.  My lab work is worse than ever!  My liver values are back up again, my thyroid is all over the place, my cholesterol is up and do you want to know why?!  Nope, my diet is pretty damn good despite the few chocolate chips I eat once a week.  STRESS!

I like to think this is how I am on the inside and on the outside I am completely fooling myself.  Stress has been the one component I just can't keep in check.  It's suspected that I am in adrenal fatigue.  I'm guessing stage 3, but could be 2....

BUT, I am committed to meditation and talking with a health coach.  I figure I need to learn what it takes to be able to help others and I can't do that unless I help myself.  Makes sense right?!  So I am going to talk with Stephanie after I get my labs done.  Dr. Allen told me that she has hashi's and had adrenal fatigue (there was something else too that I forgot) and she got them under control.  I know it can take a long time to manage it, but it didn't take me overnight to get here either.  I have also spent money on supplements that didn't make my numbers budge because I didn't have stress managed.

As I write this I have made the commitment to meditate daily.  I have done it twice today, for 15 minutes each.  Easy enough.  I went on Youtube and search for 15 minute meditation and boom done!  I opted for just music.  I want to avoid any guided meditation and once I get into the grove I will drop the music and just sit and be still like I use to do.

I did some baking for work and was then told I was over on hours.... so I need to manage that time a little better.  I went to the gym and half way through I just wasn't feeling it at all.  I was feeling week and tiring quickly, so I chose to stop and headed to the store to pick up a few items.  But, prior to that I sent an email about a class I was going to be teaching and informed her that due to my health that I just cannot teach it.  As soon as I sent it I felt immediately better.  I know I probably shouldn't have taken the class on.  I know it's only one hour, plus drive time, of my life.  It was causing a huge amount of stress, but that I could feel and had the dread I didn't want to do it.

I came home and finished up a few things and made an easy dinner - prepared chicken kabobs that I just needed to cook and extra veggies.  We had to stop at the store after that and then home for more meditation.

I'm feeling better already.  Which brings me to the other point of this post.  I've dropped my Fitbit for a while.  I was being super obsessive about it.  I was listening to Jason Sieb on the AltShift podcast and him and Erica were talking about getting rid of the tracker for awhile once you already know how many steps you get in.  I can say I don't get enough at times on my days off but I more than make up for it when I am working.  For now it is put away.  I'm sure I will put it back on again, but not for awhile.

I think I am going to leave this for now.... maybe next will be about carbs.  I'm finding I want all the chips all the time (avocado oil chips, fyi).