There is an old formula that says: If I want to lose weight, I need to eat fewer calories than I expend. If I take in more calories than I expend (through my regular daily activities) then I will gain weight, and if I take in less, I will lose weight. This equation is not only old, it is outdated.
It is an old approach that we know today to be inaccurate. There are a lot of factors that affect weight loss.
There are actually 4 things that are important in the weight loss process, and if we do not pay attention to them, no matter how well we think we are doing, the weight will stay on:
1. Nutrition: It matters less how many calories you eat, and more what these calories contain
Real food is packed with nutrients. This means that it contains a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, fibre and more. In a relatively small amount of food, we get a wide range of good things.
Here is an example: One medium banana (118 grams) has 105 calories.
What else is in the banana? Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, choline, betaine, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and fluoride.
Stop counting calories, start counting nutrients.
2. Physical exercise: The more you do the better you will feel
Seriously, you know that. How good do you feel after a short walk on a Saturday morning, with the sunshine and the birds and the clean air? We all know that sport causes the secretion of endorphins, and makes us feel better.
To keep ourselves healthy we need to make sure that what goes into our body is good, but we also need to make sure that we help with the cleansing activity of our body. You may have heard of all kinds of liver cleanses? So I'm talking about daily maintenance of the body's excretory systems. There are three main ones: kidney, liver, and skin. If you eat less processed food, you are helping your liver. If you drink enough water you are helping your kidneys. If you exercise and sweat, you are helping your skin.
Sweat a little every day.
3. Screen time: The less time you spend in front of a screen the more time you will spend being creative
Well, there are plenty of reasons for this.
First of all, the more time we spend sitting in front of the TV, computer, tablet or phone, the less time we spend on the move. Movement is life. More than that, the more time we spend in front of screens the less time we spend interacting with friends and family, and doing things that really make us happy.
But it's not just that! These screens all emit blue light. This light can cause hormonal disruption (note that the latest versions of the phones almost all have a red light app in order to reduce the damage), and cause sleep disturbances due to the disruption in melatonin activity.
4. Sleep: Good sleep leads to better decisions
Seriously. Did you know that even one night without sleep will lead to a change in the decision-making process? How? When we don’t sleep enough, instead of a more developed part of the brain being responsible for making decisions, responsibility is transferred t
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast!
We'd love to continue the conversation, so please follow us on social media
https://www.instagram.com/maya_naturopathy/
https://www.facebook.com/ActionForWellness
And of course as usual the full information discussed on the blog is available on the website
mayanaturopathy.co.uk
Maya x