Eighty percent of 10 year old girls in the USA go on a diet.
Why?
When you look in the mirror do you like what you see?
Unfortunately, if you are like most people, that is an uncomfortable question to answer.
I mean, even if you like what you see, does it make you feel arrogant to say … “yes, I like what I see in the mirror”?
Or perhaps if you are unhappy about being over weight, when you look at someone else who “looks good”, you feel unpleasant feelings of envy arise within you.
Jill was very unhappy when I met her. She was the new licensed practical nurse hired to cared for Mr. Mendes, a heart failure patient that I had been taking care of for many years.
One afternoon while Mr. Mendes was sleeping I stopped by to check up on the two of them. Since Jill had some time on her hands we decided to enjoy a cup of tea together.
During our conversation, she expressed how frustrating it was for her to understand the diet restrictions that Mr. Mendes’ daughter had instructed her to adhere to when planning his meals.
4“I think it is cruel to deprive him of foods that the rest of the family is eating”, she said.
I explained to her that Mr. Mendes’ daughter had done a sensitivity testing study with an elimination diet and had discovered that her father was VERY sensitive to wheat gluten. When she removed it from his diet, his fluid retention issues subsided considerably.
As a nurse, Jill understood how dangerous fluid retention could be for someone with advanced heart failure, so she was enthusiastic to learn that something as simple as avoiding certain foods could be so very helpful. She also became a little curious about her own sensitivity issues.
She confided in me that she had been unable to lose weight no matter what she did, and that her fluid retention issues were very bothersome at times.
I was happy to create a food elimination plan for her and instructed her how to reintroduce foods to test for sensitivity. Once I was certain that she understood the importance of total abstinence from her forbidden foods for the full 28 days, I wished her well and parted.
The next time I saw Jill, she looked like a different person. She said that stopping the foods she was sensitive to made a HUGE difference immediately. Her fluid retention issues vanished and her weight dropped dramatically without “dieting”, other than avoiding those problematic foods.
You might think that Jill was over-joyed! …..
Jill was about as far as you can get from joy. She was struggling with her body image. She said she had spent her entire life feeling invisible and she wasn’t sure that she liked the change. It was hard to feel like the world was looking at her.
I told her that she looked great! But when I said it she blushed. And then the excuses started. She said that she was kind of tired of feeling weird. She couldn’t eat like her friends did and she felt like an outcast. In fact, she felt like her weight loss had caused a strain with many of her friends.
She said, “maybe I’m supposed to be a chubby girl.”
Should Jill be carrying around an extra 30 pounds?
When Jill asks herself, “How much am I supposed to weigh?”, it isn’t just a question of what’s healthy, it’s a question of basic body image.
My advice to Jill was to change her question!
“How much am I supposed to weigh?” … just isn’t a useful question. When you step on a scale, it doesn’t tell you how much of your weight is fat, how much is muscle, how much is water … so the answer to the question just isn’t very useful.
Do you want a better question?
I’ve got a much better question for you!
How do you decide what to eat? Do you eat your favorites all the time? Do you have a weekly shopping list that never changes? Are you getting at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetable everyday?
Here’s your better question:
If you want to feel better, are you willing to make better food choices?
- whole food is complete food
- processed food is incomplete food
- if it comes out of a box or bag, it isn’t whole
- eating a wide variety of whole foods gives you a better chance of meeting your needs
- eating the same foods all the time causes over exposure and food sensitivity
Food Sensitivity Experts Say That One of 5 Foods Is Probably Your Problem
1. eggs
2. dairy
3. wheat gluten
4. soy
5. corn
The first 3 foods are fairly straight forward, but you’ll be surprised to find soy and corn in everything!
Are fruits and veggies MIA in your diet?
Let me introduce you to some REALLY amazing foods. Once you are a little more familiar, perhaps you will allow them more time on your plate and your pallet.
As far as weight loss tips go, you won’t find any more valuable than “Eat a Wide Variety of Fruits and Veggies”.
Meet the Apple:
Eating 11 pounds of apples will make you gain one pound of weight.
Researches have discovered that eating five or more apples a week is linked to better functioning of the lungs.
4% of an apple is made up of minerals and vitamins, and over 80% is made up of water.
Meet one power packed veggie … Broccoli:
One-third pound stalk of broccoli contains more vitamin C than 204 apples.
(Vitamin C reduces inflammation and protects against heart disease!)
Meet the coconut:
The coconut is the largest seed in the world.
The water inside of a coconut is identical to human blood plasma. Many lives in third world countries have been saved from coconut water fed through an IV.
(Isn’t that amazing?!!)
Meet the banana:
The banana fruit is a berry and does not grow on a tree but actually grows on the world’s largest herb and is a member of the lily family.
Eating a banana at night can help in falling asleep.
Bananas contain a natural chemical which can make a person happy. This same chemical is found in Prozac.
Smelling bananas can help a person lose weight.
Who knew food could be so extraordinary!
Spend some extra time this week getting to know fruits and vegetables!
You deserve awesome food!
Feeling a bit overwhelmed to address this issue on your own?
JJ Virgin is a health coach who is very experienced at uncovering food sensitivities and her ideas about exercise are incredibly liberating! Click on the link below and check her out!
Overcoming Weight Loss Resistance
Many blessings,
Carrie Tucker, RCP
The Life Breath Coach
Heart Failure Solutions
PS– Remember everyday:
- Relax and Release tension
- Exhale slowly
- Be active in a way that adds Joy to your life
Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter
