Posts Tagged ‘weight loss’

Newer Entries »

The Benefits of Fiber

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Dietary fiber is the edible part of plant cell walls that gives plants its structure. Because it is undigestible it is not considered a nutrient, but it does aid in digestion, helps promote weight loss, helps regulate blood sugars and had been found to offer protection against certain diseases. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.legumes

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, and has also been known as “roughage”. It is found in whole-wheat products, nuts, seeds, dark green leafy vegetables, and in the skins of fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes and green beans. Here’s a list of some of the ways insoluble fiber works in your body:

1. It makes you feel full, and promotes a reduction in over-eating and weight loss.

2. It stimulates the intestinal wall to contract and relax which helps food move through the intestinal tract, acting as a natural laxative.

3. It adds bulk and softness to the stool, which promotes regularity and prevents constipation and hemorrhoids.

4. It allows waste to move through the colon quickly. This is important in preventing harmful substances from staying in the intestinal tract and coming in contact with the intestinal lining. 

5. It help prevent colon cancer by keeping an optimal pH in intestines to prevent microbes from producing cancerous substances.

Soluble fiber dissolves in water. Some good sources of soluble fiber are: oats and oat bran, barley, nuts, apples, carrots, legumes, psyllium husk and flaxseed. In your body, soluble fiber:

1. Promotes weight loss by slowing down digestion (you feel full faster).

2. Helps reduce your risk of diabetes by controlling blood sugar: The gradual absorption of digested food helps control the amount of glucose that enters your blood stream.  

3. Helps reduce your risk of heart disease.

4. Appears to help lower cholesterol. The pectin in some soluble fibers binds to fatty substances, preventing the absorption in your body and instead aids in their excretion.

When trying to add more fiber to your diet, remember to choose whole grains (including breads, cereals, and pasta), replace white rice with brown rice, and choose whole fruits and vegetables instead of canned or in the form of juices. If you have questions or would like more personalized information for your body’s needs, feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

 

Dorothy Lizak

Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

 

 

References:

Nelson, Miriam E. Strong Women Eat Well, Berkeley Publishing Group. 2001

http://www.myfooddiary.com/resources/ask_the_expert/soluble_insoluble_fiber.asp

http://www.healthcastle.com/fiber-solubleinsoluble.shtml

Photo: thank you to: http://www.body-perfect-fitness.com/images/Legumes.jpg

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Nutrition Tips | 1 Comment »

Weight Loss: Do’s and Don’ts

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Many people come to us with the goal of losing weight,weight-loss21 but as we work with more and more clients we find that there are several common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. In fact, some of these choices actually have the opposite effect and make people gain weight instead.  What’s most important to understand is:

You need to be healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to be healthy. Your body is a system of systems that all work together to keep your body healthy and in balance. So, if one system is out of balance it can affect your whole body. This is why a holistic approach to weight loss and improving health is so important. If your body is out of balance, you will have trouble losing weight and will probably feel a variety of other seemingly unrelated symptoms such as: energy highs and lows, fatigue, depression, neck or back pain, headaches, PMS and the list goes on and on and on. 

 

Read below to learn some things you should and shouldn’t do if your goal is to lose weight.

1.     Don’t : Skip Meals

Skipping just one meal puts your body in starvation mode. When this happens, you body panics because it doesn’t know when it will get food again so it stores your food as fat (a survival mechanism).


2. Do: Eat protein, carbohydrates, and good fat for every meal.

Learning your metabolic type (what ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat your body needs to work best) is ideal. We can provide you with a simple questionnaire to identify your metabolic type.


3. Don’t: Assume more cardio will help you lose weight.

Depending on the health of your hormonal system, more cardio can actually make you put on weight. Imbalances in the hormonal system make it difficult to lose weight.


4. Do: Learn more about hormones and how deeply imbalances affect your health. 

You can sign up for our Hormone Health seminar (see our events page for more information) or contact us for a complimentary consultation. We can also recommend several useful books on the subject. 


5. Don’t: Do the same exercise routine over and over again.


6. Do: Add variety to your workout, and include exercises that help you with “working in” as well as working out.

Be sure to include weight training which boosts your metabolism and also “working in” exercises such as walking, yoga or meditation. 


7.  Don’t : Assume that “No Pain=No Gain”.

You can be doing your body more harm than good and could seriously injure yourself.


8. Do: Understand that “Pain=No Gain”.

It’s always best to have your exercise routine evaluated by a trusted Corrective Exercise Coach who understands the body and how to correct postural imbalances.  Contact us for more information.


9. Don’t: Assume that there’s a “One-Size-Fits-All” approach to getting healthy.

Just as we are all different on the outside, we are all also different on the inside. What’s key is to learn how to read the signals your body gives you (constantly) and to respond with what it needs. Only you ultimately have that information, we just teach you what to look for.


10. Do: Learn more about what your body needs so you can achieve your wellness goals.

If your not sure about one on one coaching, our Wellness 101 workshop is a great place to start. (See the events page for more information).

 

 Feel free to write in with stories or questions. We’d love to hear from you.

To your health!

 

Dorothy Lizak

Nutrition and Wellness Specialist

 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Weight Managment | No Comments »

Are you a supplement junkie?

Friday, September 11th, 2009

supplementsIf you walk into any health food store you will find a supplement for everything and you will be promised results, guaranteed! There is always a new craze and always will be but I am guessing that many of you out there have spent tons of money and don’t feel any better or look any different? Are you persuaded easily by supplement ads that promise weight loss, anti-aging or just general wellness?   If so, read on…

This blog article is not about bashing supplements but it is about giving you insight on when and how supplements should be used.  We use supplements in our office however, the supplements are used after running detailed lab work.  What you need to understand is that typically when you are feeling tired, have trouble sleeping, suffer from skin reactions, headaches, night sweats, and constant infections or just want to loose weight it is because something in your body is not in balance.  This is where people go wrong.  They usually walk into a store or see an ad on TV and they begin to self diagnose and self treat.  When you ask the clerk for some guidance they walk you over to the aisle for what they “think” may help you based upon what they know about the supplements themselves but what they don’t have is the information that is pertinent to you.  What you need to remember is that everyone is different and requires different supplements for treatment.

In our practice we believe that supplements are just that, that they supplement what is needed or lacking at the time until we get your body back into balance. As I mentioned above the body goes astray when it’s out of balance and the way it goes out of balance is through poor food choices, lack of water, lack of sleep and stress just to name a few.  So, these are the strategies that we begin to work on within our practice and help you by setting up a lifestyle plan.

So many times people need supplementation because they are lacking nutrients due to poor food choices.  If your diet (we define diet as a food plan…not a food restriction) consists of processed foods, sugar, caffeine and alcohol then it may be a good idea to begin slowly removing these items from your diet and begin eating more live foods:  organic meats, poultry, fish, fruits and veggies.  Remember supplements are meant to supplement temporarily not be a permanent fix or a quick fix for that matter.  Getting healthy and staying healthy takes times. If you would like more information about supplements or have comments please feel free to contact us or visit us on the web at www.replenishingsoul.com

 

Lori Metroka

Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Weight Managment | No Comments »

Are you suffering from adrenal fatigue?

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Do you…

Suffer from sleepless/restless nights?

Suffer from night sweats?

Suffer from constipation and or diarrhea?

Suffer from fatigue and lack of energy?

Struggle to lose weight and or keep it off?

Suffer from mood swings?

Suffer from lack of libido?

If you answered yes to any one of the questions above you may be suffering from Adrenal fatigue.

 

WHAT IS ADRENAL FATIGUE?

There are two adrenal glands and each one sits on top of each kidney and are responsible for hormone production.  The hormones excreted by the adrenal glands are cortisol and DHEA.  In turn these two hormones continue to go on and make the sex hormones.  Therefore, when the adrenal glands have been overworked due to stressful situations such as long hours of work, lack of sleep/staying up late and a poor diet the adrenal glands stop working properly.  When the adrenal glands stop working this leads to adrenal fatigue.

Once the adrenals have become weakened you will begin to see situations arise as listed above.  The reason being is that when we are in a stressful situation whether it be physical or emotional our body releases cortisol to help up deal with the stressful situation.  In stage 1 of adrenal exhaustion one does not even feel stressed. In fact, typically one will fill energized and good because of the extra cortisol running through the body.  However, in later stages of adrenal fatigue typically stages 2 & 3 are when one begins to feel tired no matter how much sleep one gets.  The reason being is that as you move into later stages of adrenal fatigue your cortisol begins to run low and overtime the sex hormones become affected as well thus leading to severe fatigue, loss of sex drive, possible nights sweats, digestive problems and severe PMS symptoms for women.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF I SUFFER FROM ADRENAL FATIGUE?

You can test for adrenal exhaustion through saliva testing.  What needs to be assessed is ones cortisol and DHEA levels.  Cortisol should be higher in the morning as this is what wakes you up in the morning, hit its peak around mid day and then tappers off into the evening making one tired and sleepy.  Because cortisol changes throughout the day saliva tests are a good idea as you can test  the entire cycle (4 samples) of cortisol within a day. It is also a good idea to test estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels.  Saliva testing also tests for the active hormones in the blood stream where as blood tests the stored hormones. However, it is a good idea to have both tested.   If you are interested in saliva testing you can contact Replenishing Soul and we will gladly send you a kit that you can perform in the comforts of your own home.

CAN I RECOVER FROM ADRENAL FATIGUE AND IF SO HOW?

Yes, you can recover from adrenal fatigue.  However, it does take time.  The reason being is because your body has to reset and get back into balance.  Your brain and adrenal glands need to relearn how to communicate to each other.  If you suffer from adrenal fatigue it is a good idea to work with a Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach.  They can help you get back on track by evaluating and restructure your lifestyle as this is what weakened your adrenal glands in the first place.  Getting healthy again is about learning what foods and what proportions are right for your body and what type and what intensity of exercise is appropriate for your body at a particular time. You need to be taught how to manage stress through ways such as meditation or yoga.  In addition finding hidden stressors such as food intolerances also needs to be assessed.   Even though each person that we see in our clinic is entirely different and needs different strategies specific to them here are a few quick tips that will help you get back on track.

  • 1. Eliminate C.R.A.P. from your diet- caffeine, re-fined sugar, alcohol and processed foods
  • 2. Eliminate Gluten
  • 3. Get to bed by 10:00pm. Between 10pm-2am your body repairs physically and between 2am-6am your mind repairs. Therefore, if you are not sleeping between these hours your body is not healing.
  • 4. Find ways to manage stress

If you would like more information about Adrenal fatigue purchase James Wilson’s book:  Adrenal fatigue the 21st century stress syndrome.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Prevention information | No Comments »

BEING WELL IN 2009

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Wellness is defined as “the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind” or “an approach to health care that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating disease”. Doesn’t that sound and feel better than the pressure we put on ourselves to look a certain way and be a certain weight? When you set a path to wellness so many areas of your life becomes enriched because of the mind body connection. You begin to generally feel better and when you feel better you become more connected to your “self” and this sense of self begins to take away depression, fears, worries or frustration for situations that you would not have the strength to deal with in an unhealthy state. Wellness brings empowerment, security and a higher quality of life.

 
One of the first concepts we teach our clients at Replenishing Soul is that wellness takes time. We live in a society of quick fixes and instant gratification. We go through life year after year eating the wrong foods, not getting enough sleep, being ill or staying in jobs or relationships that don’t fulfill us yet we expect to get well and see changes in just days or weeks. When we don’t realize that our bodies need much more time to get back into balance, we get frustrated or feel as if we have failed and give up on our health goals. 

Wellness encompasses lifestyle and lifestyle encompasses what we eat, when we eat, sleep, stress, personal and professional relationships as well as understanding our purpose in life and knowing what we want and what makes us happy.  This is why wellness takes time, it is a process that never becomes stagnant, it is ever moving just like life.

 
Take the wellness challenge with us at Replenishing Soul.  We invite you to visit our NEW website at www.replenishingsoul.com and welcome you or someone you know and love to sign up for a FREE personal wellness consult.
 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Prevention information | No Comments »

Newer Entries »