Strengthen your metabolism by choosing with your heart

I have just been doing some further research on weight loss, especially after last night's "weigh in and measurements. Fiona pointed out that she was confused as to why she had lost 12 cm on her tummy and yet gained 1 cm on her calf and lost 8lb of body fat and because of this she was unable to feel good about the positive changes and was feeling bad about the gained centimeter and her perceived "small" weight loss. Well, there is no easy answer as to why the measurements show these changes in body composition and of course we "expect" that if we have lost centimetres we should have lost weight because that is what we are told to expect. (mmm and if we don't do as we are told then we are told we are in the wrong - would this explain your confusion and lack of feeling good Fiona? When you ask a doctor about losing weight they will usually tell you it's about eating less and exercising more, and yes, this is the theory and it makes sense but the research I have found today suggests that it's about eating less of the foods that make you "hungry" and more of the foods that satiate you. Now, I'm not saying that this is the answer but again, it makes sense and is worth taking into consideration. This is slightly different to the eating less and doing more theory which I have always struggled with as if you keep on eating less and less and doing more and more, somewhere along the line you will get to the point of eating nothing and having no energy to do anything!

Last night I was talking to Mandy and Fiona about the fact that they are struggling with "weight loss" because they have a very low metabolic rate. Today I read that a persons metabolic rate could be low due to the quality of the foods we eat rather than the quantity. It was suggested that if the food is lacking in the nutrients our body needs then the metabolic rate will be lowered to meet the nutritional values that are being consumed..for example if the body is not getting enough protein then it will not have enough fuel to power the muscles so perhaps muscle size is reduced to meet the level of incoming protein. And perhaps, if this is the case, it is the same for every nutrient we consume, if the level of the nutrient required by our body is not high enough then our body will not be able to operate at maximum efficiency. I believe that it is  not just the amount  (energy value) of food we are putting into our body that determines how well our body functions but the amount of quality (nutritional value) food and the amount of enjoyable (emotional value) food we are putting in our body. When our body is not having its energy needs, nutritional needs or emotional needs met it is going to send out signals that it is "hungry" (lacking in these needs)  and if these needs are not met, then more signals will be sent out. We might become aware of these signals by feeling hunger pangs, craving certain foods, feeling empty, feeling tired, feeling unloved etc and  it is when we misinterpret these signals or do not acknowledge them that we remain "hungry".

Last night I related the story of my restaurant lunch (Butternut squash salad - just salad leaves and squash and a few seeds) and how I did not feel satisfied from it (it was low in protein and fat and did not have enough variety of textures, colours and taste to satiate my senses!). I also made the choice to eat the bread roll that came with it as I thought this would help to "fill me up" but after  my lunch I was still craving something. (protein and fat I guessed) Because I was aware of this I was able to make up for the lack of protein as soon as I could and when I got home I ate some homemade sausage roll!! Now, you may be thinking..what Sue ate sausage roll!!! And I say yes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I felt it was what I wanted and I felt satisfied from eating it. Of course I could have made a "low fat, high protein" choice like a piece of chicken, and actually I did have that choice available to me but that wasn't what I fancied, perhaps it was the fat I was needing as well as the protein (Yes, we do need fat!!!!!)  and perhaps I also was guided to it because it gave me a combination of different textures and taste which had been lacking in my meal! Anyway, the point is, I ate a small amount of what I fancied, enjoyed it and felt good from it!!! I listened to "my hunger", and I believe that I gave my body what it was asking for. I also believe that I gave it something that it did not need, perhaps too much wheat from the bread and the pastry, as I was up in the night with inflammation in certain areas of my body that I have not had since I have eaten less grain so I will listen to those signals and heed them.

So I would suggest that if you are not feeling good or happy about what is happening to your body, whether it is around your lack of weight loss, your lack of health or your lack of well being it might be due to your lack of nutritional requirements, your lack of physical requirements or your lack of emotional requirements. When you become more aware of the signals your body is sending you through how you are feeling, what you are thinking, what you are noticing, what you are hearing and what your intuition is telling you, you can respond to these signals and feel different. When you are feeling hungry for example and tune into your senses, you can eat the quantity of food that satisfies your physical hunger signals; you can eat the quality foods that satisfies your nutritional hunger signals and you can eat the pleasurable foods that satisfy your emotional hunger signals. Perhaps finding the right balance of quantity, quality and pleasurable foods that satiate you in every way is the magic formula for you to gain a stronger metabolism?

We are all different and we all have different needs, including different nutritional requirements, as the metaphor says " One man's meat is another man's poison",  there is no magic formula of how much nutrition we all need, it is very much down to us listening to our own individual signals and learning to eat intuitively. How can you do this? Well, I believe that by noticing how you feel when you eat and after you have eaten is a good signal of whether the foods you have given you your correct nutritional requirements. When you accept that you are different to everyone else, and that your friend may be able to enjoy eating different amounts of different quality foods to you because they have different physical, nutritional and emotional requirements you will find that it is easy to accept the choices that you need to make to get the best from your body.

I am often told that I must have strong will power to make the food choices I make and yes, I think that is true. When you say you will do something, you commit to it and the stronger you are committed to something the more you will stick with it. Strong commitment comes from strong belief, the stronger the belief you have in something the more passionate you are about it.  My willpower comes from my strong belief that the quantity, quality and enjoyment of the foods I eat will have an effect on the way I feel physically, nutritionally and emotionally so I am passionate about food, committed to eating what I am going to feel good from eating. My strong willpower means it's easy to say yes to my "medicines"  and no to my "poisons".

Choose with your heart and your heart will feel good.

Sue x