Alright, we are back in action after some vacation days, travel and the joy of
catching up after time off. I hope you’ve been putting into practice the last
6 strategies I’ve shared in this series. You’ve gained valuable knowledge to
get you moving, eating, and thinking different. All to get you feeling great!
In part 7 of our series we are going to learn how digestive imbalances can stop
you from losing fat. So let’s dive right into the fun…
This topic is one of the most overlooked components of an effective fat loss
plan. You don’t see it talked about a lot in the media, magazines or the
majority of the guru’s weight loss books. If you do see it talked about it’s
usually to the extreme and with impractical concepts that most people can’t
implement.
First, I’m going to apologize if I get a little technical, but it’s important for
you to know these factors or you can be working very hard, not get results and
possibly continue being very frustrated with another failed attempt.
If you want to lose fat you need to have your physiological systems working
properly. You learned in the prior posts of this series how a successful fat
loss plan involves creating an ideal hormonal environment. You learned how this
is done through exercise and nutrition combined. Now we’ll look at optimizing
your digestive system, an important system in the body that allows the proper
assimilation nutrients.
My goal is to help you see how this is all connected. It’s not starving yourself,
eating foods you don’t like and exercise methods that only cause you to hate
exercise. It’s an intelligent and balanced approach that takes your body’s
physiology into consideration. Not gimmicks.
In working with hundreds of clients over the years, one of the more uncomfortable
questions to ask a client whose progress is slow is: how regular are you? In
other words, I’m trying to identify how healthy is their digestive system. I
usually get a puzzled look because it’s not usually at the forefront of someone’s
mind when it comes to reasons people don’t lose weight.
The fact is there is no way you can lose fat and use fat as fuel if you are not
regular, if you’re only defecating every couple of days. It’s a clear sign of an
unhealthy digestive system and in many cases an imbalance in their digestive
system due to a buildup of metabolic waste and toxins.
This buildup of waste and toxins can come from improper diet. Typically diets
high in sugar, processed foods and foods containing high levels of toxins.
Other contributors can be nicotine, caffeine or exposure to poor environmental
conditions. Today we’ll focus on how food can contribute to a healthy or
unhealthy digestive system.
Let me quickly touch on an example of a poor digestive system symptom that many
women will be able to identify with. A lot of times we are doing a great job
with workouts and changing the overall shape of a female client’s body, but the
client starts to express some frustrations with the dreaded “pouch” they can’t get
rid of. It doesn’t appear to be a lot of excess body fat, but none the less
they’re frustrated with not being able to flatten out their stomach a little more.
I came across this time and time again over my career, which caused me to do some
research and find out what’s going on. What I found is many people can commonly
have yeast imbalances. I’ll keep the focus narrow on the most common situation.
Yeast called Candida Albican is normally in your system, but can grow out of
control if there is a change in the physiological environment. For example, a
suppressed immune system, sickness or improper nutrition can cause Candida to
become infectious.
Nutritional causes for a disrupted digestive system can be too much sugar or
processed foods, which increases Candida, which creates inflammation in digestive
system. This inflammation can contribute to the “pouch” belly and more importantly
disrupt the normal function of the digestive system.
An inflammation in digestive system will inhibit the proper assimilate of nutrients.
It’s one thing to eat good foods, but it’s another to actually assimilate them.
In order to get benefits of your training, exercise and changed eating habits you
need to assimilate nutrients. If your body doesn’t assimilate good nutrients,
your workouts will feel harder and your recovery from your workouts will be slower.
All resulting in slower results!
It’s critical to get this. You can be eating healthy, but if your digestive system
is overburdened by years of improper eating you are going to be seriously
handicapped. So what do we do? I would strongly recommend you start with a
cleansing process. A simple step you can take to ensure a properly functioning
digestive system. I’m not saying you need to go on some crazy colon cleansing
diet with supplementation or some other unrealistic method. Keep it simple and keep
it real. Otherwise you’ll never implement and therefore never get the benefit.
My suggestion is to give your digestive system a rest and reset for 4 weeks by not
eating red meat, limiting sugars, alcohol and add lots of fiber, lots of veggies and
water. Essentially we are talking about a natural cleanse. No craziness.
There you have it, the seventh reason you may not be losing weight regardless of how
many hours you’re exercising or how many “points” you’ve eaten.
Thank you for allowing me to guide you through the health and fitness maze.
In Good Health,
Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
Brookfield 262-780-6350
Delafield 262-646-5444
Wauwatosa 414-453-9800
Woodbury, MN 651-436-8137
www.fitnesstogether.net
P.S. If you would like to learn more about our services you can schedule a complimentary
introductory session and consultation or request our DVD and information guide at our
website: http://www.fitnesstogether.net
P.P.S. If you want to see the results of putting all of the principles outlined in this
series in action, make sure to check out our Fitness Together Transformation Challenge
contestants and their results. See how one of our contestant’s has lost 83 pounds in
last four months (and we’re not done yet!): http://michaellong-ftc.blogspot.com/
