Waiting on the new year! The stress of politics! The pandemic!! What else you got? No doubt, these stress are real but when are you going to get out of your sweats and put on your jeans? And do you really want to? After almost a year, some of us have not put on a pair of jeans knowing that maybe, just maybe they don't fit. There have been many surveys done on weight gain in 2020, and all concluded at least a 16 pound gain for all. Along with the weight gain came many excuses. Well it's time to stop with the excuses. It's time to commit to your health and put action to it , just like the action of eating yourself out of house and home.
Over the year, I'm sure in addition to eating everything in sight, we stopped moving. We blamed the gyms closings, and that even working from home was long and tiring. Really? It really should have been easier since there was no traveling involved. Whatever the case, we no longer need to settle for putting on more weight and being sedentary. To bring things back into balance, the top three areas you can begin to focus on are your sleep patterns, your stress levels and your diet.
It's been shown that a lack of sleep can lower both your immune system and your metabolism. Only at rest do you begin to heal. Your breathing needs to be slow, your organs working just enough to sustain life so that any illness can be the focus of your immune system. Sleep deprivation increases stress which will decrease muscle production. When you have a loss of muscle your metabolism will decrease as well. There are a few ways of increasing sleep. Increasing your collagen consumption can help greatly. Our LivlLife New and Improved Collagen has many health benefits including strengthening hair, nails and creating more supple skin. It also increases muscle production, bone strength, joint mobilization and reduces stress on the body and brain so that sleep comes more easy.
Stress affects our bodies three ways. Mentally, physically and chemically. All three types of stress will raise the cortisol hormone which can lower your metabolism. During these stressful times our bodies go into "a fight or flight mode. Our digestive and immune system goes into shut down temporarily. So if you are always stressed, this mode is constantly happening wrecking havoc within your body. Some ways to deal with stress can be exercising, meditating, doing yoga, reading and even drinking some herbel tea. LivLife is in the process of formulating a special relaxing tea blend that will reduce your cortisol hormone while calming your nervous system. It will even helps reduce the belly fat! You should also strive to sleep in complete darkness. Shut all electronics at least a half hour before bed including your televisions. When you realize that your body requires 7-8 hours daily, you will start dropping the weight, period.
Lastly, making some dietary changes is key to losing weight. Avoiding inflammatory foods like artificial sweeteners, sugary drinks, vegetable oils and processed food is a great start. There are actually metabolism boosting foods you can add to your diet like protein rich foods that help add muscle to your body. Green tea, ginger, chili, red pepper and cayenne pepper will not only add spice to your life, they will increase your metabolism as well. Mixing warm water with lemon or apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning will help also. Eating is very important when trying to loose weight. Starving yourself will eat away at your muscle causing your body to slow down and gain weight. Drastically decreasing your calories is not the way to reach your goal. At LivLife we can help you reach your goals with a specific dietary plan customized for your individual needs as well as an exercise program based on your goals.
You see, getting healthy is not hard. You need to commit first in your mind. Write out your plan. Talk to someone that can guide you to your specific goals. Then, be disciplined enough to take action and continue on the path. If you have any questions or need a push to get started call me at my office, 631-979-8508. Its not a short term goal but a lifestyle. Make it the best year ever, "The Come Back Year", and don't forget to LivLife.
Dr. Livia Valle, Mother/Chiropractor/Health and Wellness Coach.