Don’t focus on losing weight. Instead, focus on building health.

This does not mean go on a diet! Dieting refers to a temporary restriction of eating. Once weight is lost, the dieter returns to his/her ‘normal’ way of eating and usually regains weight. Various diet plans have pretty much the same results: Average weight loss is 6% (about 10 to 15 pounds) and most dieters regain all the weight they lost within five years. Programs in which food is purchased or diets from diet books don’t teach people enough about food, so old eating patterns, when resumed, lead to regaining the weight.

Cutting calories alone is a losing game. Because at some point, weight loss stops even while continuing the lower calorie intake. The more you slash calories, the more your metabolism slows, and the less weight you lose.

Instead of dieting, and trying to subtract calories that ‘make you fat,’ add foods and activities that improve overall health and well-being. You’ll find that a happy side-benefit will be loss of excess weight and unsightly fat. Improve yourself more by addition than subtraction! Eating well should be a lifetime goal, not something to do for a few months or a year.

How to lose by addition? Focus on where your calories are coming from. Our bodies can distinguish one type of calorie from another. What you eat has a huge influence on long-term weight management and how the body determines whether to store fat or use it for energy. Foods and drinks must be looked at not for just their calories but how they affect your body. You can count calories all day long and still be eating poisonous junk. And if you eat nutrient-poor “non-food,” your body can do little else but quickly ‘burn’ it or store it as fat; if you eat nutrient-dense “real food,” your body uses it for healthy function and to maintain muscle. Muscle tissue not only looks good, but continually burns energy. The more lean muscle you have, the greater your metabolic rate and fat-burning capacity.

The typical calorie-counting weight-loss diets can decrease muscle mass and lower metabolic rate by 10 to 20%. By reducing calories with low-nutrient non-foods, you may lose weight, but your body suffers, you lose muscle tissue, and it will be easier to regain weight. People who focus on nutrient-dense foods tend to consume fewer calories. One big reason is that your body knows it’s getting the nourishment it needs so you don’t need to eat more.

Don’t eat low-quality foods! Do you ever wonder why you often continue eating and craving food even when you’re full? Because if you’re eating lots of non-foods, even after a meal your body still needs nutrition. Your body needs nourishment from real, naturally nutrient-rich foods, not over-processed non-foods low or devoid of nutrients. Overweight usually means under-nutrition, a body craving vital nutrients. You’re hungry because although you just ate, you didn’t eat real food!

Real foods are packed with nourishment and are satisfying, keeping you full longer. Fresh vegetables and fruits; whole grains; beans; eggs; quality meats, poultry and seafood; nuts and seeds; and certified raw milk products – these benefit weight loss, weight maintenance, and true health. And they taste good.

The big obstacle to surmount is we tend to like foods we’re used to eating. Yet retraining your taste buds is not as difficult as it seems. You learned to enjoy foods and nonfoods. You can re-learn to enjoy more healthful foods. Find palate-pleasing preparation methods. Pay attention to texture, flavor, spiciness and various nuances of real foods. Many people are amazed to discover that they begin to savor foods they used to (or think they used to) dislike. Later, when they eat a non-food they used to cherish, it doesn’t taste as good; they’ve lost their enjoyment of it. This transition takes time, but it definitely happens. Cultivating a taste for unfamiliar foods requires exposure, so try and try again.

We want our children to be healthy. Children learn to like what their caregivers eat. The best way to teach someone that healthful, nutritious foods are important and delicious is to eat them yourself.

What else helps? Eating more raw foods (vegetables, fruits, raw milk products, nuts, seeds) can result in dramatic improvements in weight and health. Try beginning each meal with raw fruit, a veggie-rich salad or a broth-based soup. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Instead of chips or pretzels, eat raw nuts or seeds (combined, if desired, with dried fruits) or raw milk cheese. Eating breakfast may help keep you lean while skipping breakfast is linked to weight gain.

As you begin this process, you will likely notice food (or nonfood) cravings. Cravings can reflect hormone imbalances, blood sugar fluctuations, a poor sense of taste or smell, a lack of digestive enzymes, or use of medications that increase appetite. Adrenal fatigue, for example, often causes cravings for salty items and/or chocolate. Cravings can point to nutrient deficiencies as well. I had a patient who craved mayonnaise; she would get a spoon and eat it straight from the jar. Of course, it contained refined, altered fats. She had difficulty digesting fats and deficiencies of fatty acids. Her body was trying to tell her what was wrong but her mind misdirected her to a wrong solution. Once support to fat digestion and supplemental sources of fatty acids improved her situation, the craving disappeared. Cravings always mean something, but some detective work may be needed to discover what it is.

Keep an eye on these cravings and write them down. When you call and make an appointment, we can sit down and discuss the possibilities that they might suggest. As always, LiveWell is your partner in good health!

This study followed 10,529 patients taking such commonly-prescribed drugs as Lunesta and Ambien, and also other barbiturates and sedative antihistamines. The study found a risk of death increasing by five times among those who took more than 132 sleeping pills in a year, a group that also experienced a 35% greater risk of cancer, compared to the control group of 23,676 people.

The researchers wrote: “Results were robust within groups suffering each comorbidity, indicating that the death and cancer hazards associated with hypnotic drugs were not attributable to pre-existing disease.”

This is another example of why it is always important to get down to the root cause of your symptoms and not just medicate those symptoms away. The question that needs an answer, is what is causing my insomnia? Is it stress, cortisol, adrenal fatigue, blood sugar problems, hormone imbalance, serotonin deficiency, poor food choices close to sleep, poor sleep hygiene? You find that answer and fix the root cause, then you have restful, restorative sleep without the need for medication. If this is something you are struggling with, come in and let me help you.
1. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000850.short?g=w_open_current_tab

Work out like crazy. Slack off. Work out like crazy. Slack off. Sound familiar? This irregular exercise pattern can mess with your weight and your health, by raising your body’s natural set point (the weight your biological system naturally tries to maintain) and making it harder to dip below that number. And research shows that bouts of vigorous exercise followed by weeks of inactivity can increase fat levels and put excess strain on your heart. All of which can be emotionally and psychologically taxing as well.

So the most important thing you can do in this battle is to adjust your mindset and adopt an effective, yet sustainable, routine that keeps you moving all year long.

Setting a goal is good, but stay away from “I want to lose X number of pounds.” Why? Because when you hit that magic number, you have an excuse to slack off again; if you don’t hit that number, it’s too easy to become frustrated and quit. I recommend setting a goal like, “I want to work out X minutes a day, X days a week,” which should ideally lead to “I want to maintain working out one hour each day, five days a week.” This is still measurable, but it makes regular exercise part of your healthy lifestyle; it raises your energy, lifts your mood, and makes you feel stronger and healthier.

Remember to ease into any new fitness routine. Starting off with an hour a day, five times a week is too fast. Doing too much too fast can lead to injury. Also, change things up and rotate your workouts to avoid boredom (another excuse to stop working out). Also doing the same thing over and over will lead to diminishing results as your body plateaus. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

If you are all unsure about how to do this, make an appointment for us to go over a safe routine and amount of activity for where you are right now.

Do not arrive at holiday parties hungry! Most people will overeat if they skip meals. Our bodies are designed to eat every four to five hours. Skipping meals to “save calories” for party eating will set you up for failure, because your appetite will be keen. Eat a light meal, or drink one of our shakes, before a party and you will arrive in control of your appetite and will actually eat less.

Make time for exercise during the holidays. Even the best plans leave room for error. Exercise will help burn off some additional calories. How about planning a family walk or hike together before the holiday meal? Keep in mind, however, that you have to walk approximately 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour to burn off one small slice of pie.

Limit your alcohol intake to one or two drinks. Calories from alcohol add up very quickly, particularly if you are consuming mixed drinks. Try drinking water or sparkling water between alcoholic drinks — this can help keep you hydrated as well as consuming less alcohol and empty calories.

Be a social butterfly. Holidays are a time to be sociable. Spend time enjoying the company of others. The more you talk, the less you will eat.
Do not wear loose-fitting clothes during the holidays. If you can’t feel your waistline, you’re more likely to overeat.

Fill up on vegetables and fruits. They are loaded with vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting phytochemicals, and are low in calories. The fiber in these foods may help you feel full and leave less room for high-calorie, tempting treats.

Look up some lowfat versions of your favorite holiday recipes. For example, use lowfat milk instead of whole milk when making mashed potatoes. Applesauce can be substituted for oil when baking.

Try new side dishes instead of traditional ones. Serve baked sweet potatoes or grilled asparagus or steamed artichokes as a nice new side dish (use a non-fat dip for the artichokes or just sprinkle with lime juice).

Limit your indulgences. Choose the one food you will indulge in and enjoy it while taking small portions of the other offerings.

Fiber is your friend. Your good friend. Add in fiber throughout your day as fiber keeps you feeling full. Try adding beans to soup or making pumpkin soup or pancakes (pumpkin is great source of fiber as well as vitamins A and C).

Attitude is everything. If your holiday meal is a late lunch or early dinner, start off the day with a high fiber shake made with fruit. Get away from the attitude of: “Oh well, I’m going to blow it anyway today, so I might as well start the day off with sausage and high fat, high calorie egg nog…”

Swap this for that:
* Green tea with a few drops of stevia instead of coffee.
* Drink sparkling water sweetened with root beer flavored Stevia instead of diet soda.
* Try almond milk instead of dairy milk and soy milk.
* Avocados, nuts and seeds are great alternatives for cheese on your salads.
* Use lettuce instead of bread for sandwiches and wraps.

Many of my patients find they enjoy the holidays more – and feel better both during and after – when they make sensible choices like these suggested above. Happy holidays from Dr. Ridley and Emily at LiveWell!

Redness and blotchiness of the skin can be triggered by stress or chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.

Dry skin is often a sign that you are not consuming enough good fats, or that your fat intake is not balanced. Always make sure you are taking a good quality fish oil supplement along with borage seed oil.

White spots on the skin are most probably the result of a fungal infection, and brown spots may be due to sun damage or another symptom of hormonal imbalance.

Most of these unpleasant skin conditions are reversible once we figure out and square away the underlying cause. Your skin is one of your most valuable assets and one of the first things people notice about you, so if you have problems or questions about your skin, come in and we will figure it out.

It is important to recognize that every bite of food affects both your own and your children’s taste preferences. Every time you give in and eat unhealthy (high fat and sugary) foods, it makes it harder for you want healthy (low fat and low sugar) foods.

One study divided sixty 4-year-old children into three groups. One group was shown a nine-minute segment of Spongebob Squarepants; the second group was shown a nine-minute segment of a slower-paced cartoon; children in the last group did not watch any show, but were given paper, crayons, and markers, and drew pictures for nine minutes.

After the nine minute activity, “each child was administered a set of standard exercises designed to test such aspects of executive function as working memory, attention and self-regulation.” The first group performed much worse on such tasks than did either the slower-paced TV show viewers or the kids who colored. This study suggests that viewing frenetic animated television might impair a 4-year-old’s executive functions, such as memory and attention.

If your child is still in the developmental stage of life, I recommend you encourage activity that helps promote healthy brain function, such as puzzles, sports and playing outside. Stay away from anything that harms brain function, such as fast-paced TV shows and video games, and make sure your child receives all the vital nutrients needed to ensure healthy growth.

A new study, probing why people tend to eat more nutritious meals at home than away from home, suggests that psychological factors involved in eating pleasantly at home may help override our hard-wired cravings for high-fat, sugary foods. Researchers believe that, since home is where people often feel most content, the positive emotions associated with home-cooked meals may be part of the recipe for a healthy diet.

These findings suggest that people, who are in a good mood at home, enjoying the atmosphere there, tend to prepare healthier meals. They also feel better emotionally after eating. This cycle of positive reinforcement was more pronounced at home than elsewhere.

Using strategies such as attractive kitchens and eating areas, positive communications around meal times, your own music, and a pleasant view outside the window entice people to eat at home. And when eating at home, in a pleasant atmosphere, you just might find you’re eating healthier. Bet you never thought your doctor would give you a script to remodel that kitchen!

Aspartame is the most commonly used artificial sweetener in the United States. It represents over 50 percent of the market, with sales exceeding a billion dollars in 2010 alone. This is mostly due to Americans consuming close to 50 billion liters of soda every single year (which equates to roughly 216 liters, or about 57 gallons per person), much of this in the form of “diet” soda loaded with aspartame. There is little doubt that people are cramming themselves full of this toxic synthetic chemical because of their mistaken belief that drinking diet soda will help fight weight gain.

The truth is that it doesn’t. And it never has. And it never will.

You may think you’re making a healthy choice by swapping out sugar for artificial sweeteners, but the truth is that you’re not. Your body, when given artificial sweeteners, begins craving sweets because you are not giving it the proper fuel it needs. Then you tend to not only eat the wrong foods, but too much of them.

Not only does aspartame contribute to weight gain, it is toxic. The FDA, in fact, rejected aspartame, not once but multiple times. The scientific data just did not support it as a safe product. There is ample evidence that excitotoxins such as aspartame and MSG correlate highly with tumors, especially brain tumors. But the FDA is a federal agency, and is subject to the manipulations of politics and big money. And the FDA Chairman who stood in the way of aspartame’s approval was removed from office. His replacement, a man named Arthur Hayes, was much more congenial to the idea of approving what some doctors have called “an addictive excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug that interacts with drugs and vaccines.”

But even with a friendly new FDA Chairman in place, the agency still rejected aspartame for approval by a 3-2 margin. So Chairman Hayes added a sixth member to the approval board, who voted in favor of aspartame. Then, with a 3-3 tie on the issue, Chairman Hayes himself broke the deadlock with his own vote of approval for aspartame. Much later, one of his last acts in office before he left the FDA in1983 amid accusations that he was accepting corporate gifts for political favors, was to approve aspartame for use in beverages. The story is as ugly and sad as aspartame’s actual effects on the human body.

As our nation grapples with skyrocketing rates of learning disabilities, autism and related neurological disorders like lupus and MS, the Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to release a roster of the pollutants likely to contribute to these or other neurological disorders. Aspartame has been included on this list.

Healthier alternatives exist when you just want a taste of something sweet. One safe, natural alternative to be used in moderation is a natural plant called Stevia. Unlike aspartame and other dangerous chemicals, Stevia is a safe, natural alternative that’s has been around for over 1500 years and is ideal if you’re watching your weight, or just trying to avoid sugar. Stevia is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and has virtually no calories.

I prefer to use Stevia in its liquid form and I personally recommend the English Toffee and French Vanilla flavors. I want to emphasize, however, that if you have insulin issues, you need to avoid all sweeteners, including Stevia, since they all can decrease the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

Bottom line: I encourage you to toss out all artificial sweeteners and products that contain them, immediately. Poison has no place in your pantry or your fridge.

Processed Sugars
All variations of table sugar are acidifying, but the worst offenders are the refined and bleached kind – the most common granular sugar, both white and brown. A variety of toxic chemicals are used to bleach sugar, including sulfur dioxide and phosphoric acid. Sugar causes depletion of vitamin C, copper, trace minerals, magnesium and calcium – all of which are essential to bone health. Instead, choose honey whenever possible, or the sugar substitute Stevia, since both are alkalizing. If you must use sugar, then go for turbinado raw sugar, or maple syrup.

Bleached Flour
The process of bleaching flour, to make white breads and pastas, involves using toxic and acidifying chemicals. Alloxan is a byproduct of the flour bleaching process. This lovely substance is used to induce diabetes in laboratory animal experiments because it destroys the insulin-producing cells. Bad for the lab mice, and bad for you. Instead, if you are going to eat bread, stick to sprouted breads.