Have You Been Given the Wrong Reason for Being Overweight?

You may have read or heard many reasons for being overweight:

• That eating food has something to do with your emotional state
• You have a problem with will power
• You need to try the “X”, “Y” or “Z” diet
• It’s just a part of aging
• And many more theories.

If all of these theories didn’t help you lose weight then they are the wrong reasons for your weight gain and inability to lose weight.

Maybe you are confused about what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. Maybe you did have some success and lost weight, but then put it all back on again.

Here’s something to consider. Being overweight is a symptom of the body not functioning as it should. Just like high blood pressure, high blood sugar or high cholesterol are symptoms, so is being overweight a symptom of non-optimum health. A weight problem is really a health deficiency.

When your body is healthy you have tons of energy, high stress tolerance, and can sleep peacefully through the night and get out of bed refreshed. Healthy bodies can digest their food and feel satisfied without any cravings. A healthy body has flexible joints, relaxed muscles and no inflammation.

So, to reduce excess fat and get back to a normal weight, the solution is to return the body to optimum health. Do this, and the extra fat will be taken care of.

The secret to optimum body health is to have optimum cellular health and that means your metabolism is functioning the way it should. Your metabolism is the sum of the chemical reactions that take place within each cell and provide energy for vital processes.

Overweight is a metabolic disorder.

The Link between Excess Fat and Insulin Resistance

Sugar (glucose) is the source of energy for the cells. Healthy cells take in the sugar that results from digested food and use it to power the cells.

It can happen that there is excess sugar in the blood and when this occurs it turns into fat. Excess sugar in the blood is a result of Insulin Resistance.

Today, most people consume a large amount of simple carbohydrates (which turn into sugar), sugar and processed foods.

Continual excessive sugar intake means insulin is being pumped into the blood continually in order to help the cells take up the sugar for energy. Over time, the cells become resistant to the normal amount of insulin and don’t utilize the sugar. The body’s response to this is to create even more insulin. So, over time there’s more sugar and more insulin in the blood while the cells continue being resistant to utilizing the substances they need to produce energy.

Both excess sugar and excess insulin have an effect on fat. The excess sugar has to be stored and normally that storage is inside the fat cells or fat droplets. Excess insulin can promote greater fat storage in the body. The result is excess fat around the waist and other areas of the body.

So, excess fat is a result of Insulin Resistance.

The good news is that Insulin Resistance and excess fat can be addressed by lifestyle changes that reduce the amount of sugar (including carbohydrates) being put in the body and promote better uptake of the sugar by the cells.

Diet

A high carbohydrate diet is not the diet that our bodies evolved with. Genetically, our bodies are designed to respond to nutrition from meat, fat and plants.

One of the reasons humans have been successful in adapting to changing environments is because the human body can also use carbohydrates to survive on an emergency basis. For about the last 80 years the consumption of simple carbohydrates, sugar, and processed foods in the average diet has skyrocketed. Our bodies have increasingly been using carbohydrates for energy and that has led to an increase in Insulin Resistance.

The best diet to counter Insulin Resistance focuses on gaining nutrition from meats, plants and healthy fats, and reduces the amount of carbohydrates eaten. Please refer to the Insulin Resistance page for:

• Foods that will help reduce Insulin Resistance and excess fat
• Foods that won’t help reduce Insulin Resistance and excess fat

Regular Exercise

Exercise will help support your dietary and nutritional efforts to reduce excess fat. Suggested exercise is: 

• Low-intensity cardio workouts such as walking, cycling, jogging, recreational sports, or swimming,
• Strength training exercises such as weightlifting (fewer reps with lighter weights).

Nutritional Support

Anyone who has Insulin Resistance, and in turn is overweight, will most likely have a nutrient deficiency. This is why overweight people often develop all kinds of health problems.

The answer to this is to provide the body with the correct type and amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients through nutrient-rich foods and supplementation. Nutritional supplements allow you to give the body nutrition without any calories.

It is virtually impossible to consume all the nutrition your body needs and still support fat loss. Your weight loss efforts will be improved by taking the correct nutritional supplements to support the cells to change the way they operate and improve your metabolism. That means the correct vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients your cells need.

Supplements should be natural, including plant-based nutrition, with ingredients that are specifically selected to address metabolic disorders. They must provide targeted nutrition at the cellular level and simultaneously support all of the body’s systems.

A diet consisting of nutrient-rich foods while limiting carbohydrates, nutritional support through supplementation, and regular exercise can help you return your body to optimum health and optimum weight.