Five things you can do right now to make it easier to maintain a healthy weight
1, Reduce your coffee intake
Coffee contains a lot of caffeine which is a stimulant that affects your insulin response and therefore your blood sugar levels. High blood insulin leads to insulin resistance and weight gain. Caffeine is hard on your liver. When you’re losing weight, your liver has a lot of work to do converting fat into energy. Reducing your coffee intake takes some of the strain off your liver so it can convert fat into energy more easily. Be careful not to replace coffee with lots of tea. Tea also contains caffeine. A cup of tea contains about a third of the amount of caffeine in a standard cup of coffee.
2, Try going wheat free
Wheat and wheat products can set up inflammatory responses in many people. When your body is inflamed it’s stressed. When you’re any type of stress your body produces hormones to help you cope…the trouble is those hormones also help you store weight.
3, Avoid dairy products
Being sensitive or intolerant to dairy products is more common than you think. You may have been consuming cow’s milk based products for most of your life, so you mightn’t be aware of how they affect you. Leave dairy off the menu for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference. As inflammation reduces you should start to feel more energised! If the thought of giving up a particular food seems tortuous, it’s likely to be a problem food for you. We often crave the foods that are unhelpful!
4, Address stress
When you have a busy life, your stress hormones are ramped up and your digestion suffers. Excess stress hormones and poor digestion have many negative effects on the body including unwanted weight gain. Take a few moments to think of some ways you can reduce stress in your life. Any changes you make for the better will help.
When you’re happy and relaxed your body finds it far easier to digest your food and achieve a healthy weight.
5, Get more sleep
Constant tiredness is a major stressor, and as discussed above, stress hormones make it easier to store weight and harder to lose it (by slowing your metabolism). Quality sleep is essential for a healthy metabolism. Eight hours per night is considered necessary for your body to perform well. Interestingly, it’s the hours before midnight that are the most important, so it’s good to be asleep by 10 pm (or even earlier when you feel tired). If you have difficultly achieving eight hours a night you may need some help to get back into a healthier sleep pattern. Mineral deficiency and hormone imbalance can play a part in sleep pattern problems. Talk to a natural health professional about what might help you.
