Fat Gain – Fat Loss
by Janis M. Betz, RN, BSN
Fat gain is an epidemic! Sadly, more and more children are victims of fat gain. This situation is very frustrating to many people. I have clients who have been on almost every weight loss diet and product on the market, and they may lose 5-10 pounds and then nothing. Next to digestion and bowel problems, weight problems drive people to try anything to lose weight. Millions of dollars are spent on diet books and diet products every year. With all this effort to lose weight, there should not be an obesity problem in this country.
Those of you who have read the various diet books have read the scores of pages blaming your current diet and lack of exercise for your fat gain. So now you know that your fat gain is your fault. Reason dictates that if what you are currently doing is making you gain fat, then stop it. This is simple, right? If it is just that simple, then why is the US the fattest nation in the world? The problem in giving up what is making you gain fat is that the food causing the fat gain tastes so good. It is hard to give up the food you love. Guess what? The food industry knows how much you love their fat-gaining food, and they are more than happy to keep you fat. So now what do you do? You have choices to make. Do you eat the fat-gaining food you love and stay fat and in ill health? Or do you give up the fat-gaining food and struggle to stay thin and healthier?
The problem I have with many weight loss diets is that they advocate a radical departure from your current diet. They go to the extreme by having you drink diet shakes, take diet pills, and eat excess protein and fat beyond your body’s requirements. So, after you lose weight on these radical diets, most people slowly return to eating the fat-gaining foods.
How can someone on a diet cope? Is there a conspiracy to keep you fat? Think about it. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) really cared about the obesity, heart disease, and cancer problems in this country, then the fast-fat food industry would be sued and made to pay a very high tax, and fat-gaining food would be taxed very high, just like cigarettes, to help pay for the treatment needed to treat obesity-related problems, heart disease, and cancer. Let’s admit it: you love junk food, processed food, and fast food. It is a tremendous challenge to avoid eating them because they surround you.
I have a copy of an article called “Is Joe Camel really so different from Ronald McDonald?” This article contrasts the ill health effects of smoking with the ill health effects of eating fast fat food. I want to quote just one sentence from this article. It states, “Unhealthy eating habits along with inactivity kill as many people as tobacco does.” This is why I say that health is a choice. What you choose to put into your mouth today and the living habits you choose today will positively or negatively affect your health tomorrow. In other words, you cannot expect to be healthy for very long when you eat junk food and lie around day in and day out.
I want to take the time to review some fat-gaining foods. Some of the following information will contradict what you conventionally know. There are three primary fat-gaining food groups to avoid. 1) Commercial (non-organic) meats, eggs, and dairy products contain the estrogen hormone, drugs, and pesticide residue that stimulate fat gain hormonally. These products may also stimulate estrogen-driven cancers in the breasts, ovaries, uterus, testicles, and prostate. If you are going to eat these foods, then buy organic. I want to expand on dairy. The only reason cow’s milk exists is to cause a 70-pound calf to grow to 400 pounds in 1 year. Cow’s milk was never designed for human consumption. You are not a calf and do not need to nurse from a cow. 2) Excess fat consumption packs in the calories in a small amount of food, and it does not meet your nutritional needs, so you go back for more. Fat contains nine calories per gram, and carbohydrates and protein contains four calories per gram. You can eat many raw vegetables to stay full and still lose weight. 3) Refined white flour, white rice, cooked potatoes, and sugar break down quickly to glucose, which causes your insulin to spike to store excess glucose in your fat cells. It also burns quickly, and you get hungry faster; therefore, you will eat more.
Don’t be fooled by food labels saying low carbs, low fat, sugar-free, fat-free, and diet. These products contain a lot of fillers, chemicals, and harmful additives to make their products taste good. For example, aspartame is a dangerous chemical used to sweeten “diet” drinks and products. This chemical has been shown to destroy brain cells. The FDA knows this, and they keep it on the market anyway. Food products marketed to dieters will not necessarily help you to lose weight. The toxins contained in these products fill the fat cells, and the fat will go nowhere if it is needed for storage. Processed and cooked foods are nutritionally poor and may not meet your body’s nutritional requirements. Eating these foods may make you feel hungry sooner, stimulating you to eat more calories and leading to fat gain.
There are three primary food groups that will help you to lose fat. 1) Eat all-natural foods in their natural packages (i.e., apples). Raw fruits and vegetables will help you to lose weight. Locally grown, organic, fresh produce is the best, but if this produce is not available, then any raw produce grown in the USA is OK, preferably organic. Make sure that the produce is not irradiated (radiation sterilization). If the produce is from another country, the US will often pump it with radiation to kill any bacteria. If you need to cook the produce, then lightly steam it. 2) Consume deep sea, cold water fish (i.e., cod, mackerel, salmon, mahi mahi), and organic eggs. These protein sources are easy to digest, and their amino acids are more readily available for the body to use. The amino acids from meat protein (i.e., beef, chicken, pig) are tightly bound and difficult for digestion to break down. 3) Choose complex carbohydrates (i.e., whole grains) because the glucose takes a long time to absorb in the small intestine, and they tend not to be stored in fat. Complex carbohydrates increase your metabolic burn, which stimulates fat loss. Not all carbohydrates are bad.
I have found that the Blood Type Diet works. The best book to read on this subject is Live Right for Your Blood Type by Peter D’Adamo. Certain foods will stimulate weight loss or gain according to your blood type. This is why ‘one size fits all’ diets do not work! For example, Blood Type O and B people lose fat best when they follow a moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet. On the other hand, Blood Type A people lose fat best by following a vegetarian-complex carbohydrate diet. Personally, as a Blood Type B, when I gave up all wheat and corn products, I lost fat.
WATER! Don’t forget to drink your water. You need to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day (136 lb. = 68 oz. or 8½ c./day). This will help to flush the toxic material out of your fat cells. Lemon water is excellent for helping with fat loss. If you don’t like the taste of lemon, add a tiny amount of real maple syrup to cut the pucker effect. Maple syrup is a long-chain sugar and burns slower than sugar. In the book The Obesity Code, Jason Fung, MD, recommends putting two teaspoons of Braggs Apple cider vinegar in one cup of water and drinking it before a carbohydrate meal. Studies have found that apple cider vinegar inhibits insulin spikes, increases satiety, and slows stomach emptying.
Another key component to fat loss is to consume soluble fiber, such as flax seed meal, chia seed meal, and apple pectin. Soluble fiber reduces carbohydrate absorption, slows stomach emptying, reduces blood glucose and insulin levels, and keeps your bowels moving. Drinking water with a fiber supplement is critical. When you are not eliminating properly, toxic material from your bowel will be absorbed into your body, which may be deposited into your fat cells. Taking a fiber supplement before you eat will cut your hunger, so you eat less.
There is a basic rule for fat loss to occur. For fat loss to occur, your caloric intake must not exceed your caloric burn. In other words, if you are eating 2000 calories a day but only burning 1500 calories throughout the day, then the remaining 500 calories will be converted to fat. If you know that you cannot get out and exercise, then consume less food that day. When you feel hungry, drink water, take a fiber supplement, and/or eat raw vegetables. Intermittent fasting is very beneficial to help keep your caloric level below your burn and your insulin level low. This can be done by not eating for 12-16 hours. Eliminate snacking, decrease portion size, and eat only one serving.
I have clients who have followed all of my directions for fat loss to a tee, and they still can’t lose weight, or they get so far, and then they can’t seem to lose any more fat. Four main factors contribute to the inability to lose fat. 1) A disturbance in the fat cells, such as toxins and emotions. I use prayer and encourage you to use prayer to release emotional and trauma disturbances. 2) Genetic programming. Let me illustrate this by discussing women who have under-gone breast reductions. Breast size is a genetic program. I know many women who have surgically altered their breast size to be smaller, only to have their breasts grow back to their original size many years later. Genetic programming is the most frustrating factor for fat loss. I have obesity on both sides of my family and struggle to keep my weight down. If I eat more than 1200 calories a day, I gain weight. The best weight control I can do is to reduce my carbohydrate intake to one serving daily. 3) Endocrine/gland malfunctions. Many factors inhibit and affect hormonal balance and weight gain and loss. 4) The lack of willpower, discipline, and determination greatly hinders fat loss success. No secret method or pill gives you willpower, discipline, and determination. Pray for it.
Dr. Fung states in his book The Obesity Code, “Obesity is a hormonal imbalance.” He identifies nine hormones needed to regulate your weight. Dr Fung says hormones tell us we are hungry (ghrelin). Hormones tell us we are full (Peptide YY, cholecystokinin). Hormones increase energy expenditure (adrenaline). Hormones shut down energy expenditure (thyroid hormone). The hormone insulin promotes fat storage, while the hormone leptin reduces fat storage. Leptin is a satiety hormone telling your brain to signal you to stop eating. The stress hormone cortisol will stimulate the rise of both glucose and insulin levels, resulting in weight gain. The stomach and small bowel produce the hormone incretin, which stimulates the rise in insulin when glucose is present. I have found through muscle testing that dairy and wheat negatively impact the function of these hormones.
