Category Archives: Weight Loss

    Categories Advice, Anxiety, Autism, autoimmune, autoimmune crisis, brain disorders, Diabetes, Diet, Elimination Diet, Fibromyalgia, Inflammation, Thyroid, Weight Loss

    Why Can’t I Lose Any Weight?

    Weight loss can be a constant struggle for both women and men.  There are a variety of variables that can impact weight loss.  It is important to identify the issues that might be impacting you, specifically.  Most individuals that seek assistance from Health Coach or professional to assist in identify your obstacles and create a plan that is right for you.  I’m writing this post because I have 2 clients that are currently facing this struggle and I am developing an individualized plan for each them.  Let’s discuss the most common obstacles to weight loss.

    Lack of Sleep – sleep quality and quantity impacts health and weight loss.  It is double edged sword because high stress impacts sleep which then impacts stress, weight loss and other health factors.  Research shows that even small sleep alterations can increase cortisol levels and create insulin resistance.  Lack of sleep is associated with a variety of health issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, mood disorders and depression.

    Poor nutrient intake – nutritious foods are essential for a healthy body.  It is more important than you think to eat fruits, vegetables, healthy proteins and nuts.  A diet high in nutritious foods that focuses on anti-inflammatory meals helps promote weight loss. Its important to avoid processed foods, granola bars, cereals and bread because they are filed with empty calories and create inflammation in the body.  A diet high in healthy fats, protein and healthy carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables revs up the metabolisms and gears you up for a healthier lifestyle. Check out my presentation on You-Tube to see what harmful ingredients can be impacting your gut, brain and causing your weight gain.

    Inflammation– inflammatory foods, like those in the video I shared, create a slow and constant inflammatory response that disturbs our body in many ways.  The biggest problem with inflammation is that it is invisible, if people could actually see the damage inflammatory foods cause at the cellular level, they wouldn’t eat the foods that cause it (See video if you haven’t yet).  Inflammatory foods are foreign invaders to our bodies and it responds with systemic inflammation.  The cycle continues and inflammation multiplies, leading to a multitude of diseases anemia, autism, Alzheimer’s, carpel tunnel, gallbladder disease, GERD, autoimmune leaky gut, fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, psoriasis, Crohn’s, celiac disease and many more… (The purple diseases are some of my personal conditions related to chronic stress and inflammation).  Some symptoms of inflammation are tired, fatigues, sleepy, brain fog, attention issues, upset stomach, bloating, achy joins and muscle pain. These are signs your body is going through inflammation and its time for an anti-inflammatory elimination diet to identify your food triggers.  Now, let’s talk specifically about inflammation and weight loss.  Inflammation impacts a hormone that regulates fat in the body.  The hormone called Leptin, controls your metabolism and appetite.  Healthy people get the message from leptin, causing their bodies to suppress appetite and speed up the metabolism, thus burning fat.  Chronic inflammation impairs the bodies ability to receive the message from leptin to suppress your appetite, causing you to eat more and gain weight.  As you can see inflammation can be a vicious cycle, the good new is you don’t have to tackle it alone.  Back to ways to fight the chronic inflammatory response. The best way is to identify your inflammatory trigger foods, develop a diet and supplementation plan that will help build up your digestive tract, immune system and reduce the inflammation. Ask me how?

    Chronic stress– stress is the biggest obstacle to weight loss and everyone has stress on a daily basis. We are faced with highly stressful fast paced lives, and stress is not going anywhere.  Stress in the body causes a flight or fight response which impacts your cortisol and adrenaline hormones.  This is a normal response but our bodies are faced with it too rapidly and frequently.  This response elevates cortisol levels, which can cause weight gain.  These continuous state of chronic stress impacts the immune system, lowers good gut bacteria and places individuals at risk for infection and autoimmune disease.  Unfortunately, after 20 years of age our bodies lose the ability to properly fight stress at a cellular level.  The simple fact is that our bodies no longer produce the antioxidant enzymes that help the body heal and recover from stress, thus it accumulates daily throughout our adult lives.  The only true way to impact this stress daily is by fighting back with nutrigenomics.  Ask me more?

    Toxic overload– We are exposed to harmful toxins and chemicals throughout our lives.  These toxins are in the water, food, hosehold cleaning products, lotions, cosmetics, paint, candles, plastic containers and much more.  Even items that seem healthy can be filled with harmful chemicals, like toothpaste, bread and shampoo.  These toxins can create inflammation and hormonal imbalances in the body.  This also impacts the bodies Leptin response and created inflammation in the body.  These toxic levels can stop your bodies weight loss even with exercise and healthy diet.

    Estrogen Imbalance– More estrogen than progesterone can play a role in weight gain.  Estrogen dominance causes increased cravings and decreased metabolism.  The most common cravings are sugary foods, if this is the case and you can’t control your cravings, estrogen might by the culprit.  Increased cravings, more calories and slow metabolisms promote weight gain.  You can try to attack the inflammation in your body with an elimination plant to see if the cravings improve.

    Low testosterone – It is well known that testosterone levels drop with age.  This drop causes increased body fate, heart disease, insulin resistance and cancer.  Interestingly, obesity can also cause testosterone to drop.  The most visible sign of low-testosterone is belly fat and difficulty loosing weight.  So if this sounds like you, its time to attack that inflammation and fight back.

    Insulin imbalance – Insulin resistance occurs when the body is not able to absorb extra blood glucose and keeps generating more from the food you eat.  The liver convert the glucose into fat and its a vicious cycle.  Inability to regulate blood sugar and insulin levels creases excess belly fat and difficulty with weight loss.  Processed foods, which we discussed earlier cause insulin resistance, inflammation, chronic stress, etc.  It is important to find someone that will support you in your journey.  Someone that can help you identify the foods that are harmful for you and develop a plan to fight back.

    Losing weight can be a difficult journey but it is possible.  The most important part is finding your particular challenges or obstacles and creating a plan with a Health Coach to tackle them.  If you feel stressed or overwhelmed by all the information and possibilities, let me help you develop a plan that you can stick too.  Some of these obstacles may require medications or supplements specific for that condition. If you are not able to resolve these issues with diet modification and supplementation, you may need medical attention, so make an appointment with your physician.

    Categories Biohacking, Detox, Diet, Elimination Diet, flare up, Health, Inflammation, Weight Loss

    Case Study: Weight Loss & Inflammation

    Case Study: Weight Loss

    Author: Diane Vich

    Key words: Weight loss, Inflammation & Bloating

    Introduction:

    Lourdes Mogal is a mom of two. She has tried countless diets and her weight will not come off. She has a big vacation coming up and would like to shed some weight before the trip.  She is frustrated that diets are not working for her. She also has some digestive issues and bloating with certain foods.  She is motivated and ready to start her plan right away, the clock is ticking.

    Case Presentation

    Lourdes does not have time to incorporate exercise yet but really wants to establish a healthier eating plan.  She wants to lose 15-20 pounds in the next 2 months.  She is highly motivated and ready to start her detox plan.

    Management

    • Weight gain and inability to lose weight is caused by oxidative stress, inflammation, cortisol levels and insulin resistance in the body, impacting the body’s ability to burn fat lose weight. The treatment plan will provide a diet that will enable to diet to reduce sugar and inflammation build up, promote detox, remove fluid buildup in lymphatic system and promote weight loss.

    Treatment

    • Supplementation/Dosage: (2) Nrf2, (2) fat burners twice a day, essential oils and (3) Probiotic.
    • Diet: High in low sugar fruits, gluten free, high in green vegetables, beans, organ meats, bison, fish, shrimp, eggs and turkey (rare carbohydrate like cereal, cakes and dessert).  No sugar or iodized salt.  No inflammatory vegetables or fruits.  No processed foods.  Sea salt and spices to taste.
      Coaching: 2 months of coaching recommended
    • Motivation statement: My thinking is peaceful, calm and centered. I am ready to take on the obstacles before me.

    Discussion

    A multitude of diseases (200+) are linked to oxidative stress and inflammation.  Oxidative stress is an imbalance between antioxidants and Free radicals.  Patients with weight gain and inability to lose weight have high levels of free radicals in the body.  They cause damage to the body on a daily basis.  The body has poor capability of creating antioxidants like glutathione, catalase and SOD.  These antioxidants are the only way to fight free radicals, so as they decline illness, disease and decline progressively continues through life.  By enabling the body to produce antioxidants and remove toxins, they client will reduce inflammation, bloating and fat build up to promote weight loss.

    Outcome

    1 month: Lourdes has started the detox plan.  She is enjoying the detox soup and meals.  She is motivated to lose weight for her trip.  She noticed that she experienced some bloating after a few meals.  She reached out for some coaching to relieve her symptoms.

    • Coaching Session: Lourdes health goal is to lose weight for her trip.  This will improve her ability to feel better about herself and be happy in her own skin.  This was desperately important to her because she has been sad and depressed that she has not been able to lose weight.  All of these things were important to her because she will be happier, and motivated to enjoy her life.  She decided the diet and treatment plan is going to help her achieve her goals.  Elimination plan: After her digestive issues, she asked the coach for some digestion relief suggestions. The coach added essential oils for digestion and an elimination plan to determine her food sensitivities.  She was able to identify “tomato and black pepper sensitivity.”  Her symptoms improved and she realized the importance of keeping these ingredients out of her meals.  She was happy that she had the essential oils and tips to help her if new problems arouse.  Craving support: She will continue to call in weekly for support and to deal with temptations and cravings.  She knows that she has trouble dealing with temptation at parties and asked her coach if she could reach out during these times for a little motivation.

    2 month:  Lourdes was so motivated to the plan that she did not even use any of her cheat days.  She did not want to eat any carbs because she really wanted to reach her goal quickly. She contacted her coach 3 times during the last month to get support during times of temptation and some food sensitivities.  She felt confident that she had the tools to deal with her temptations and she kept on the diet even at parties.  She lost 20 pounds.

    • Coaching Session: Lourdes was happy with her progress. She did realize the support was important and wanted to continue with a Maintenance plan after her vacation.  Elimination plan: She is glad she has essential oils and natural remedies that she can keep with her all the time.  Through her food trigger journal and coaching she was able to identify some additional foods to avoid.  She realized raspberries and mixed fancy green salad caused her symptoms.  She plans on signing up for 6 months of coaching to help her incorporate some paleo recipes in her routine, to keep her satisfied and meet her desire for some desserts.  She signed up for some shopping, easy workout sessions and cooking lessons. Lourdes really wanted to learn to make healthier desserts and snacks, in order to maintain her weight loss.

    6 months: (After 6 months of coaching)

    • Coaching Session: Lourdes successfully incorporated all the strategies for the 6 months of her coaching.  She felt energized and happy.  Elimination plan: She continued her food journal to monitor food sensitivities.  She identified two more triggers during her maintenance plan.  She identified apples and watermelons were trigger foods.  She is glad that she has the tools to identify, treat and deal with her food sensitivities.  She was able to participate in yoga and exercise regularly.  She truly enjoyed the quick exercise tips because she was able to do them wherever she was to ensure she was active.  She loved the shopping session because she truly understood how to read food labels, buy foods that were right for her body and eat for her blood type.  The cooking lessons helped her learn the benefits of using a variety of herbs to enhance food flavors and enjoy her healthy eating habits.  Lourdes felt excited and ready for new challenges. She maintained her weight loss and successfully incorporated all the strategies she learned for the 6 months.