Weight Management

Over 60% of New Zealanders and Australians are overweight or obese

If you have come to this page the chances are high that you are looking to prevent weight gain or lose unwanted body fat. In either situation the solution is not a quick fix and probably not a fad diet; low carb, low protein, low fat and low calorie diets seem to have statistics showing that the great majority of dieters experience little or no permanent weight loss, most dieters report some weight loss temporarily but within a 12 month period they have recovered the lost weight and more!!!!!!!

Why don't diets work?

Many diets designed to reduce a person's fat mass do so by lowering the body's fluid levels and muscle mass. This can cause a rebound effect in weight gain very soon after losing all the desired weight. Not only will you potentially put back on all the body fat but you may damage the immune system and, in some cases, cause irreparable harm to yourself. Put simply in most instances (and setting aside rare genetic or chronic disease causes) people carry excess weight for the most simple of reasons - they eat the wrong foods, the wrong types of calories per meal, and they also eat meals in the wrong patterns each day.

It follows that by eating the right foods the weight problems can be reversed. FOOD is more powerful than most prescription weight loss pills because the FOOD that you eat can either make you SLIMMER or MORE OVERWEIGHT.

Exercise?

You don't get overweight just because of a lack of exercising, that's a certainly having little or no regular exercise does not help but exercise alone in many cases will not allow weight loss without the support of good diet and mental approach to weight control. There is a formula to gain weight and a formula to lose weight and the approach to either is holistic - it requires all facets of the program to be followed not just the bits that are 'palatable'.

What causes the problem?

Modern medical evidence points strongly to insulin resistance being the underlying cause of weight gain. Many people believe that being overweight can lead to type 2 diabetes but in fact it is normally the case that a person who is overweight is piling on unwanted fat because they are already insulin resistant and this will lead to Full Blown Type 2 Diabetes; (this type of diabetes used to be referred to as adult onset Diabetes but since we now have 7 year olds with the same form of diet caused Diabetes the name has been changed!).

For anyone who has developed insulin resistance their metabolic state has now trapped the fat in making it almost impossible to lose weight without correcting the insulin intolerance first (this can be done through diet and lifestyle as well as through drug treatments)

In short insulin resistance is caused by constant consumption of High Glycemic Index (fast release sugar) foods. Consumption of High Glycemic Index (high GI foods and highly processed carbohydrates have the aA repetitive cycle of consuming High GI carbs spikes blood sugar levels and leads to carbohydrate addiction, obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Constant spiking of the blood sugar causes us to become less and less sensitive to our insulin causing the body to produce more insulin. In turn the higher levels of insulin metabolic changes occur: blood pressure rises, triglycerides increase, HDL or good cholesterol falls. Mid-section fat increases and the elevated insulin will eventually act as a double edged sword trapping this fat and making it very difficult to remove. Inflammation increases and leads to significant increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Are Carbs OK?

It is important to point out that carbs are not the problem - High Glycemic Index carbs are the problem...Remember that good carbs are a main source of all the important vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants the human body needs for optimum health. Without adequate volumes of Carbohydrates we would expire.

Also, the pattern that you choose to eat your meals each day is more powerful than any prescription weight loss pills. This is true because your body is like an "engine" and it only needs certain foods at certain intervals each day so if you don't eat the right foods at the right times then it won't burn those calories -- and you wind up storing those calories as fat tissue.

You have gotten overweight by eating the wrong foods, that much is a fact. And guess what? You can get SLIM by eating the RIGHT FOODS at the RIGHT INTERVALS each day.

Listen to an exert from Dr Ray Strands CD - Reset Your Life (give me a call and I will post you a copy).