Weight Loss -- A Different Approach

My friend (who is my weight loss partner) has suggested for months that I adopt some of Larry North's (fitness guru) suggested weight loss habits. I have started reading one of his books and many of the things he says make perfect sense. Let me see if I can highlight some of the Larry North weight loss suggestions:

- eat every 3-4 hours
- eat lean protein, starchy carbs and fibrous vegetables at most meals
- eat very little fat (including nuts and other good quality fats)
- eat little or no sugar
- avoid getting yourself so hungry that you make bad decisions or eat a lot of food

What he says is very interesting and avoids that starvation and deprivation feeling. You are eating so much good food constantly that you never put yourself in a position to make bad choices. He also talks a lot about when your muscle gets all of the food it needs, the only other place for the excess calories to go is your fat cells -- even if it is good quality food. This has really made me think about what happens when I overindulge.

The other important point that I found about controlling your weight is that if you are constantly satisified, you will find that you are not craving sugar (which gets us into trouble)!

Another note: when I put all the food I eat from the Larry North plan into my points for Weight Watchers, it is fewer points than I need in a day yet I am eating constantly.

Inflammatory Foods and Weight Loss

Did you know you could be making your weight loss efforts worse by eating inflammatory foods?things you eat? The foods you eat either contribute to inflammation or minimize the inflammation in your body. Eating inflammatory foods constantly puts your body in constant systemic inflammation. Some people believe that when your body is in a state of inflammation, your fat cells encourage obesity and disease (like Type 2 Diabetes). Weight loss is constantly thwarted even you are eating fewer calories -- if those calories are poor quality foods. Here are some of those foods:

- trans fats (including partially hydrogenated oil)
- harmful saturated fats
- white flour
- white sugar
- processed foods
- high fructose corn syrup
- fruits and vegetables with high pesticide contents

Avoiding these foods will free your body to function better and more effectively so that you do lose weight.

These foods should help minimize inflammation and boost weight loss:

- walnuts and other nuts
- whole foods
- whole grains
- fatty fish
- organic food and produce

What do you have to lose? A few pounds?!