In this post, I wanted to shift things up a bit. Make it more of a question and answer format…

Question – What can I do to lose weight? My metabolism or my age or my hormones is why I can’t lose weight.

Answer – That’s a great question and most definitely a frustrating one.

In order to find this answer, (and among our practical experience working with individuals for years on lifestyle and nutrition coaching at BEFIT), Karen and I have travelled to nutrition conferences all over North America to speak with PHD’s in nutrition searching for these answers. These travels have led us to the conclusion that the above issues are almost always ‘excuses’ for eating too much sugar and in turn consuming too many calories, not being consistent enough with a healthy lifestyle that includes walking, eating too much “packaged health food”, not enough quality protein and vegetables, and not strength training.

(Yes, there are people that struggle to lose weight due to hormonal imbalances. Individuals with a history of yo-yo dieting have taken their metabolism for a ride and  lost so much muscle that their metabolism has been reduced to the point where they can’t even look at a carb without gaining weight. Fortunately, with diligence and patience regulating their set point they can lose weight again.)

But let’s address the points individually that I highlighted above…

If you aren’t taking care of yourself and are constantly eating sugary food, your insulin hormone is constantly elevated. This is known as hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) and will affect your other hormones such as cortisol, estrogen, testosterone. These hormones all interact with each other, leading to everything being out of balance!

So there are 2 manners by which we can improve this hormonal soup so to speak…

1. Move more. We’re not talking about stress-inducing high intensity cardio, we’re talking about just walking, stretching, fidgeting, the type of movement that we do daily that does not cause a stress response (cortisol elevation) in your body. It has the opposite! This can be very powerful, especially in times such as now where you may have a bit more time on your hands. You’ve heard that you should probably walk 10,000 steps a day right? We’ll this number is just the baseline to not be classified as inactive (sedentary). It’s the same minimum requirement similar to getting enough vitamin c to not get scurvy or enough vitamin d to not get rickets. In reality, we should be aiming much higher. Try getting 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day and see if your weight loss problem is still there.

2. Control insulin. By eliminating sugar and carbs from your diet for a period of weeks, your body will start to clear itself of toxins, inflammation, and your body will become more efficient at using fat as energy.

What I am getting at here, is the results and the power is in your hands.

It’s in your control.

If you put the work in daily and eat real food (not fake packaged food), and do this consistently, being honest with yourself about your actions and what you eat and how much you train:

– then you can make change
– you can make progress
– and you can achieve your goals (even if you are stressed out and over 50 ).

I’ve never seen anyone not lose weight when they follow the instructions of our metabolic reset. (Now following the instructions may be hard for some people, but that is ultimately why they are struggling with this issue right now.)

Our metabolic reset is super simple and what we recommend for everyone to start with in our Biggest Winner weight loss challenges. It is a strict method of eating to help shift their body from being inflammed, toxic, and sugar adapted to efficient, clean, and burning fat in their sleep.

So to summarize:

• Move more

• Eat protein and vegetables at every meal

• Don’t train recklessly to the point where you are fried

• Stop eating sugar

Awareness precedes change.

And you can change anything you want right now.

Committed to your health and fitness,
Josh Saunders
BEFIT