5 Easy Steps To Jumpstart Your Weight Loss And Health Goals!

I am sure you have heard that making dietary changes could be beneficial to your health. How do you know exactly which diet is right for you or which is going to give you the highest weight loss and superior health benefits? Nutritional consulting is most likely the best way to figure that out if you are ready for a lifestyle change. Consult with someone who is qualified and has experience with individuals just like you. Someone who cares about your weight loss goals and personal health issues. Usually patients primary goals are getting off their medications, decreasing pain, feel healthy, improve their blood profiles to decrease long-term health risks. But eating healthy usually leads to easy weight loss, too. These are all achievable goals when you have the support and guidance of a skilled nutritionist. 

It may surprise you that we usually don’t count calories, carbohydrates or fat, take a special pill, or start a significant working out. The first step for everyone is to switch from the low-quality, chemical-laden processed food brands to higher quality, additive-free natural food brands as well as adding fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. This is so because the most popular brands of processed, packaged chemical-laden foods widely consumed today, are harmful to your body. Aside from the obvious diet-related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, or obesity, few people realize poor nutrition in general, is the primary cause of all chronic symptoms and disease. What you eat makes up the cells in your body. Let's respect that idea and take more care of what we eat.

Food Matters!

1. If it’s not food, don’t eat it! The very definition of “food” is that it is nourishing to the body. Consequently, anything that is not nourishing to the body (ex. refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, chemical additives, etc.) is not food—do not eat it!
   
2. Eliminate or relegate stimulants to rare occasions. Stimulants or extreme foods send your body’s chemistry soaring out of balance causing a variety of symptoms including fatigue, brain fog and weight gain. Stimulants include: caffeine, sugars and other refined carbohydrates (ex. high fructose corn syrup, white refined flour, etc.), refined salt, and alcohol.
   
3. Eat an abundance of whole, fresh, natural foods. A Rule of thumb-anything that comes in a box, can, bag or package is a processed food (with the exception of some unprocessed brown rice or legumes). Whole, fresh, natural foods such as produce, grass-fed meats, wild caught fish, free-range poultry, whole grains, legumes and seeds are always a better choice.
   
4. Account for food allergies & sensitivities when making food choices. The most common food allergens (i.e. wheat, dairy, soy, corn, etc.) are notorious for causing acid reflux and other digestive problems, constipation, sinusitis, depression, arthritis, just to name a few. Most people today are allergic or intolerant to one or more of these foods and don’t know it! A basic elimination diet to learn which foods may be affecting you.
   
5. Account for ailments when making wise food choices. As you start improving the quality of the foods you eat, you’ll start feeling better and improving the overall quality of your health. Also, learn which foods exacerbate or help improve any specific conditions in order to give your body every opportunity to heal. 

Bottom Line

 If it's not food don't eat it! 

 What have you tried in order to jumpstart your weight loss? Did your efforts yield desirable results? We would like to know in the comments below!

Author Dr. Lori Nuzzi