The Weight Loss Resolution

 

The coming of a new year offers us a time to reflect on our past and also a chance to prepare for our future.  Setting goals and making new resolutions is a great way to encourage growth and prosperity.  One of the continually most popular resolutions for the New Year continues to be weight loss.  Our major focus on our weight or external appearance is most commonly associated with the feelings of self-confidence and acceptance within today’s society.  The weight loss industry is well aware of the psychology behind this external beauty and markets their products and services accordingly.  The weight loss industry has become big business and continues to grow every year.  If there are continually more and more weight loss programs and fad diets coming out year after year then why are the rates of obesity, diabetes and many other chronic illnesses on the rise?

The big mystery of weight loss and good health is actually right under our noses.  The problem is that no one has told us what it is?  The real answers to weight loss and optimal health lack one thing that’s driving today’s industry and that’s the huge profits that a lot of these fad diets and quick gimmicks generate.

The big mystery behind the hurdles of controlling our weight and our health is mainly due to the toxicity levels that our bodies have to sustain.  Our bodies are continually exposed to toxic elements in everything from the foods that we eat, the cosmetics and toiletries that we put on our skin to the air that we breathe.  All of these toxins that go into our bodies have a limit cumulatively speaking and it equals what’s called our “total toxic load”.  In other words our bodies can only take so much toxic chemicals and the body wasn’t designed to metabolize chemicals in the first place. It was however designed to metabolize natural foods and oxygen. 

Unfortunately, chemicals are everywhere around us.  Some examples include deodorants that contain carcinogenic elements like aluminum and parabens.   Industrial smoke stacks disseminate leftovers from the manufacturing of plastics, items such as dioxins and PCB’s are in our air and that air is circulated from here to China and back.  Our food supply contains plenty of bad stuff, items that I wrote about in prior articles, including:  ugly fats like hydrogenated oils, which are classified as trans-fats, refined carbohydrates and meats that have been previously injected with antibiotics and growth hormones can all compromise our immune and hormonal systems.  All of these items collectively contribute to our “total toxic load”. 

Well I’m sure that all of these toxic items can either make your head spin or discourage you from doing anything at all.  My intentions are for you to do just the opposite.

We and only we have the ultimate control when it comes to our health.  Where do we start?  Let’s begin with the question: Where do all of these toxins go? 

The body stores these adverse elements mainly in the liver and the fat cells.  The liver is the body’s filtration system much like the air filter in your car.  When the liver gets backed up with toxins and doesn’t filter properly this leads to a back flow of toxins throughout the body.  With this back up of toxins the body has to store it somewhere and that somewhere is in the fat cells.

Fat cells comprise some key areas of the body.  The brain and spinal cord with all of its nerves are made up predominantly from fat cells.  Today there is more of a prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, MS, and other neurological diseases than ever before. Breast tissue is also predominantly comprised of fat cells and unfortunately the rates of breast related diseases are also not declining.  Every organ in the body is supported and insulated by fat too.  So you see fat plays a major role in our body and can store a lot of adverse chemicals.

These chemicals stored in the body don’t just disappear and there is no magic pill to make it go away.  The way to make it go away is to do the opposite of what brought it there in the first place.  This process is called detoxification or a better way to describe it is “purification” or “revitalization”.  In a nutshell what we are trying to do is decrease an individual’s toxic load.

There are many ways that can be implemented for detoxification to occur.   Some methods are quick and intense and others take a little longer and are much milder.  In theory, once you detoxify the body, you basically want to detoxify a little bit each day.  It’s like cleaning your house.  You’ll do your biggest cleaning jobs in the fall and spring, but if you didn’t clean a little bit each day then your house is still going to be messy. 

My preference with my patients is to detoxify slowly utilizing specific protocols that take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks.  Most importantly I try to educate my patients on decreasing their “total toxic load” and keeping it as low as it is physically possible for that particular individual.  The programs I lean toward mostly include foods and supplements that help the body cleanse and rejuvenate itself from the inside out.  The list of items is too long for this article but a few include vegetables such as kale, brussel sprouts, or dark green leafy vegetables in general that contain lots of healing properties. 

You will never be able to escape toxins all together.  However, there are many factors that are within your control and can have an immense influence on your life, especially if you have health issues that are chronic or go unexplained.