Nourishing Ways to Weight Loss

By Theresa McCarthy

Weight loss isn’t about deprivation, counting calories, or going on yet another diet. Weight loss is about thoroughly nourishing your body to such an extent that you return to natural balance. Once natural balance is regained, you lose that extra weight effortlessly, you sleep soundly during the night, and you wake up feeling refreshed and energized in the morning. In short, you feel great, you enjoy life more, and you have more to offer.

If you’re a woman over 40 who’s been caring for others at the expense of caring for yourself, whether as a mother or as a helping professional, you may very well have lost your natural balance. As a result, you may have extra belly fat that won’t budge, no matter what you do. You may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. You may have trouble getting going in the morning, turning to coffee to push yourself through the day and then feeling as though you need a glass of wine just to unwind before bed. You may feel irritable, anxious, or just plain emotional. You may feel bloated or fat, spaced out, or easily frazzled. In short, you’ve lost your natural balance!

Regaining natural balance is not an arduous task. It’s not another challenge to add to your ever-expanding to-do list. Regaining natural balance begins with the simple desire to feel better and the essential step of reaching out for support. From there, regaining natural balance becomes an adventure in self-discovery and feeling better. It’s fun! And everyone we come in contact with benefits. We really do have to nourish ourselves before we can nourish others.

So what does this look like in practical terms? In practical terms, regaining natural balance begins with nourishing the body with nutrient-dense, antioxidant-packed whole foods. Say good-bye to yo-yo dieting, say sayonara to food cravings, say hasta la vista, baby, to a mind-set of deprivation. Because when you nourish your body throughout the day with nutrient-dense, satisfying, real food, you physiologically switch your body into a state of wholeness and vitality, and away from an environment of craving, and striving, and “not enough.”

“But wait,” you say. “How can I eat like that when I have so many obligations, so many commitments? I don’t have time for all that shopping and chopping. It’s so easy to grab a cup of coffee, and I have to eat on the run, and chocolate is so yummy.” Yes, yes, and yes! But of course this is all true. You have become physiologically dependent on these coping mechanisms, even though they perpetuate the very problems you wish to solve. And that is why the next step in regaining natural balance is to nourish your brain.

Our bodies are truly amazing, but once they’re out of balance, they tend to want to stay out of balance. One way this happens is that we get addicted to the very foods, beverages, lifestyles, and stress levels that cause us to be out of balance in the first place. Through time, our brains become low in certain neurochemicals, and once this happens, things such as willpower and mindfulness go out the window. It becomes our biological imperative to find a druglike food (i.e., a food we’re addicted to) to fleetingly substitute for our brains’ missing chemicals. These brain chemicals regulate our comfort levels in our bodies, including our emotional bodies, and regulate our appetites, including our weight. Without them, all bets are off. There’s no way we’re going to give up our comfort foods, whether they be coffee, alcohol, chocolate, sugar, pastries, other starches, or cheese and other fats, when our brains are screaming, “Feed me! Feed me!” in an effort to replace those depleted brain chemicals.

There is another way. And it’s not about having willpower or swearing off anything. (You know how this doesn’t work. The minute you say, “No more chocolate” is the very instant you begin craving chocolate.) You can immediately regain natural brain chemistry balance by supplementing your diet with targeted amino acids that refuel your brain. Amino acids are powerful protein fragments that act as supernutrients for the brain. Without them, the brain cannot make the neurochemicals it needs to regulate comfort, appetite, and balance in the body. By working with a skilled nutrition consultant to assess your unique situation, you can determine which amino acid supplements will work best to nourish your brain.

The good news is that once the brain is nourished, our bodies naturally crave the foods that bring comfort, ease, and balance. And we naturally slim down to the ideal weight that supports our health and wellness. Nourishing ourselves becomes “no big deal,” so we can get on with the task of nourishing others.

Theresa McCarthy is a certified nutrition consultant and health and wellness coach. Her business is Nourishing Solutions: Supporting You to Make the Healthy Choices You’ve Been Yearning to Make. Theresa believes that when we nourish ourselves, we nourish the world. It is her passion and joy to work with clients who are ready to transform their relationship with food to one of wholeness, health, nourishment, and ease. She is extremely grateful to be able to welcome her clients to a comfortable, nurturing space in Afton Place, the chic office building at 630 Salem St. in beautiful downtown Chico. Call Theresa at 530-809-0492 and get started on your customized Nourishing Ways to Weight Loss program.