digestion issues including gas, heartburn, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal pain
insomnia
autoimmune diseases
hormonal imbalances like PMS or menopausal symptoms
How do I fix a stressed liver?
The
great news is that we can reduce and eliminate these unpleasant
symptoms. By reducing our exposure to processed foods and chemicals,
along with liver-supportive herbs and foods that support our body’s
detox pathways, we can lower our total toxic load, making us feel better
and experience more vibrant health and longevity.
Who needs to detox?
If
you have any of the above symptoms for a stressed liver, you should
definitely consider going through a detoxification program to regain
your health and quality of life back. These days, I personally think
everyone would benefit from going through a holistic cleanse or detox to
reduce our toxic load and help support our liver.
How do I detox?
There
are many gimmicky detox programs out there selling pills and products
and making big promises to lose weight and feel great. But please be
careful, do your research and choose a program carefully. Some programs
can be downright dangerous. I recommend looking for a whole foods based detox or cleansing program that helps you transition into a long-term healthy lifestyle.
I personally recommend and can vouch for this 3 week detox program by nutritionist, Mary Vance called Three Weeks to Vitality (find it HERE). I especially like this program because it’s a whole foods based detox plan that focuses on liver supportive real, whole foods and liver cleansing herbs that support our body’s detox pathways.
Mary clearly lays out easy to follow directions and guidelines for each
week. There’s even meal plans, recipes, lifestyle tips, product
recommendations and a wealth of valuable nutrition information. One of
my favorite parts is that she teaches
how to transition off the 3 week detox program and how to maintain it
for LIFE, which is so key to a healthy liver and a healthy, vibrant
life.
Have you ever done a detox cleanse before that brought you good results? Let us all know which one you did!
Because
our liver works best between 1 and 3 in the morning so when we take
these drinks before bed we let you carry out the cleaning process with
everything you need and at the best time. This also makes our metabolism is healthier and reduces the toxins that are in our body which leads to fat burning.
1. Chamomile tea
It
is ideal because it is mild and purifies liver with its
antioxidants. Another plus is that it has sedative properties so it
helps us to sleep better and more relax.
2. Lemon tea
It
is the simplest thing in the world. Just mix warm water with the juice
of one lemon. It’s great because it’s a diuretic and purifies our body.
3. Lemon and ginger tea
This
option is extremely effective if you also want to lose weight. The two
ingredients contain lots of vitamin C and a number of other antioxidants
that prevent various diseases besides helping our metabolism. Not
only that but also the ginger is anti – inflammatory helps to treat
cellulite and serves to eliminate waste and calories from our body. Lemon
is a great friend if you want to strengthen your immune system and
serves to debug which leads to the swelling of our belly. Sources
If you weigh over 200lbs, I bet you already tried the following things before you stumbled upon my blog and read this article.
Counting calories to starve yourself
Tried some demanding fitness programs
Chase from one shiny weight loss program to another
You felt like you are constantly trying to lose weight, making lots of good choices while still getting nowhere. At this point, it’s not just the looks that bother you. It’s the
sweating, the thighs rubbing together, the loss of breath…It’s your
health. It’s not the question do you want to lose weight or not. You have to lose weight, for the sake of your own health. Your weight loss journey is harder if you are over 200 lbs. Your weight loss approach should not be the same as some 20+ girls trying to lose the last 5 lbs to be perfect on the picture. It’s much deeper than looks and calories.
Instead of sitting on the couch crying and watch the scale hit
another high, or looking through the reddit (where people post before
and after photos) and get frustrated, let’s look at how we can alter the
direction and get back on track with the weight loss battle if you are
over 200lbs.
1. Do you have the right knowledge about how your body works?
If you understand your body and why it is adding on weight, it should
become much easier to figure out what you need to do to lose the weight
and keep it off.
To make it straight forward, a lot of women weight over 200+ lbs gain
unwanted weight due to hormones. It rarely has anything to do with
calories or exercise.
There are three essential hormones – leptin,cortisol, and insulin.
Leptin is in charge of letting you know when you are too full to eat anymore.
Cortisol is the stress hormone. When you are under stress, it rises
to encourage the sugar (glucose) you take in from food into fat.
Insulin is the hormone that manages blood sugar. It transports the
glucose to the liver and muscles and stores some as fat in your body.
When these three work together perfectly, you should be in good shape.
But when there is any problem with either one of them, maybe because
you eat too much fructose (processed foods and added sugar are the main
sources), your leptin level increase too high and it stops sending the
“you are full” message to your brain. When your insulin becomes
strained, you become insulin resistant, the easiest thing it can do is
to store the glucose as fat in your body.
You probably hit all three when you are over 200 lbs.
If you don’t have some chronical disease related to your overweight (
yet), it’s time to get your hormones in check before it’s too late.
You can improve your hormone functionality by eliminating sugary
foods, eat more fatty fish, exercise regularly. But the best way to
stick with a well-balanced diet.
2. Do you love vegetables?
Probably not your favorite thing. When you are 200 lbs plus, and you are asked to keep your calorie
intake under 1500, (your normal calorie needs probably is above 2000).
you could be constantly hungry, your body turns into the starvation
mode. Whenever you get the chance to eat, it will try very hard to store
the fat in the body for emergency. That’s how our body works naturally.
That will make losing weight really hard. If you don’t want to be “hungry and grouchy” the whole time, the best
way to turn this around is to eat vegetables as much as you can. Vegetables are nutrient dense, full of fiber, and low on calories. Even you are convinced you do not like vegetables, give it a try. There are a lot of options. Trying to be open minded, but don’t force yourself to eat it. This is the tip you can try – pick out one new veggie a week or a
day, cook in different ways. Always eat them raw does sound boring. If at the end of the week, you still don’t like it, stop eating it. Move onto the next one. A lot of time, you might find you actually do like a bunch of
different veggies. You just don’t like the one type of cooking your mom
always did when you were as a kid – boiled to death and soggy with no
seasoning.
3. Drink more water.
Our bodies are mostly comprised of water. When our bodies don’t have
enough water they can’t work as efficiently and our organs switch gears
to help each other out. You should drink 8-10 cups of water at least. You will need more when you are 200 lb or more. When you start to drink this much water you quickly find yourself
going to the bathroom more. That’s a good thing because it gives your
body more opportunities to flush out toxins. More water also means more oxygen flowing throughout your body.
Increased oxygen leads to increased blood flow meaning faster metabolism
and more energy for you. Ever eat a heavy lunch and just crash in the afternoon? Drink more
water and you’ll find that afternoon crashes quickly disappear. Don’t take this wrong. Soda drink is not water, it is condensed
sugar. It will make things worse. Drink water infused with fruits and
vegetables.
For example, I use Brita Everyday Water Filter pitcher
to remove the odor in my tap water, I also like to add some lemon
slices and drink it the first thing in the morning after getting up.
It’s part of the morning routine. It’s very refreshing, keeps me
energized and helps to suppress my appetite until lunchtime.
4. Plan your meal ahead.
Planning your meals ahead can help you restructure your life and make the healthier choice easier. For example, it’s Friday evening after work. You had a hard day and
you are hungry, grumpy, and tired. You know you will make the easiest
choice available at the moment: If you have not thought ahead, as though it’s a
surprise that you have to feed yourself every day. You might either
figure out a healthy meal to make, probably have to swing by the grocery
store and pick up ingredients, come home, prep everything and cook. Or, you could order delivery. Honestly, if I were you, I probably will order delivery. Because it’s easier. But if you have a plan prepared, it is previously decided that dinner
is chicken fajitas. There’s chicken thawing in the fridge and the
veggies are washed, chopped, and ready to go. There’s no tough decision
to make at the moment. Plus, it’s faster to just make the fajitas. You probably will not order delivery. I’ve used this strategy a lot to make healthier choices. I used to eat a ton of chips. When I decided to lose weight, I have
to cut back the chips. So I decided to not buy them when I do grocery
shopping. When I really wanted them I would have to go to the store and
buy a single serving. That’s a lot of work for like 10 potato chips. This strategy drastically reduced my chip consumption. Shifting the
regular structures of your life in this way could allow you to use your
laziness as an advantage. If you make unhealthy choices too much work,
you are WAY less likely to choose them.
5. Find your thing for exercise.
Our
body is designed to move. Nowadays, most of us have desk jobs which
make it really hard to be active if you don’t schedule time out for
exercise. With the weight over 200 pounds, being active becomes more challenging. That’s why you need to find the thing you love doing it. I bought a treadmill years back imagining I would be running/walking
on it like what you see in the treadmill commercial, but it ended up in
my garage full of dust and never turned on after the first few months.
From that, I knew I hate running mindlessly on treadmills. Even the
personal trainer strongly recommended it, I never felt good about it. It’s really hard to force yourself to do it if you don’t like it. If
you started, you probably won’t continue to do it very long. But losing weight needs consistency in the long term, especially when you are over 200 lbs. Trying different things until you find your thing and fall in love with it. You will stick with it. Not everything you experiment with has to work, but some things you try just might. I started with walking accidentally. I enjoy it very much. So I start
walking 30 minutes every day to 1 hour, 2 hours when the weather
permits.
I started practicing yoga 8 years ago and found my love in it. After trying different types of yoga in various studios with
different teachers, learning the yogic energetics, eastern and western
philosophy and anatomy training, I finally created the Tone Up in 30 Days Power Yogaand use it for my daily yoga practice at home. It helps me keep in shape and gives me more energy to get through my day. If you are interested in yoga practice and want to use yoga to help you lose weight, you can check it out HERE.
It can save you the expensive studio membership and commute
frustration. You can learn what I’ve learned in the past 8 years in just
30 days!
Hi! My name is Nancy! Welcome to my Blog, your ultimate guide to healthy living! I want to help you find your very own happily ever after through a balanced approach to health and wellness. Together, we’ll make all your dreams come true!
Planning your meals ahead can help you restructure your life and make the healthier choice easier.
