How to Lose Weight Naturally
I’m sure you’ve seen the statistics about how overweight America is, so I don’t even have to harp about it here.
Look around ya, there’s no denying it. There’s something going on and most people just can’t comprehend why they can’t shed those few extra pounds. Now, we are in the era of medication that is being used for weight loss- ya know, the one that starts with an “O”.
Take a look at a celebrity that was always a little heavier. Now they’re suddenly skinny. WOW! They’ve had a personal trainer for years and suddenly they’ve now lost 20 pounds in just these past few months! How shocking! What changed? Well, it probably wasn’t their workout routine. But I digress.
If that’s the route you want to take, then this probably isn’t the post for you. Come on, you knew that the second you clicked this blog post: this isn’t going to be about how to lose weight with pills.
Some of this stuff you’re going to probably say “duhhhh” to. However, I am hopeful that a majority of it will get you thinking about your relationship with food and your lifestyle in general. We all have room for improvement in our lives, so here we go- let’s get started!
[DISCLAIMER]: Keep in mind I am not a doctor and this is NOT medical advice. This post may contain affiliate links meaning I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using these links. I only recommend products I love and trust. To see our full disclosure, click here.
Our Fat Cells are Full of Toxins
Yep. You read that right. Our fat is full of toxins. Wanna know why?
When our bodies are overrun by toxins, it’s not worried about burning fat or really doing anything else other than trying to alleviate the toxic burden it’s overwhelmed with. Life happens and all of a sudden, you’re overrun with toxins and your liver is busy trying to deal with the other plethora of toxins that came in first. So, where the hell are those things going to go? Our body knows it has to do something with them, so as a last-ditch effort, it sends the toxins to fat cells. Kinda like an “I’ll deal with you later” situation. And thus, that’s where they stay until we burn them off by either eating properly or exercising. If that even gets rid of them. I truly believe that this is why so many people experience stubborn fat that won’t go away no matter what they do- including incessant exercising. It’s not that your salad is betraying you- it is your lifestyle that is betraying you.
You may say, “Christina, I don’t have toxins in me.”
You just about made me spit out my earl grey tea, girl (or guy). You do. I do. We all do. Our world is toxic as hell. That is the bottom line. If you want to ease yourself into lessening your toxic exposure, this is a great blog post for you to read. However, if you’ve already read that post, I advise you to take a lifestyle audit for yourself. Here’s some stuff to think about:
Food Consumption
Are you eating processed food? If it came in a package, it’s processed. It’s that simple. Processed food is not a naturally occurring food, obviously, so it’s more difficult for our body to break it down. There’s also normally junk in it. Now, I will say, there are some packaged foods that are made with real ingredients (shout out to my personal favorite, MacroBars), but that isn’t the stuff I am talking about. I am talking about chip bags, granola bars, cereals, oatmeal packets, noodle bowls, lunchables and so on.
Most of these products are going to have some sort of corn syrup in it. Yuck. It is linked to obesity and it is in a lot of stuff. Along with artificial dyes, which are also, you guessed it, toxins. This is where I encourage you to learn to read the ingredients on your labels, if you’re going to be eating packaged foods. If you don’t have time to learn all of this, get my FREE LIST OF INGREDIENTS TO AVOID! Some ingredients I do my best to avoid at all costs:
Artificial dyes: red dye 40, blue lake (of any sort), yellow (of any sort)
Soy: normally, it’ll say “soy lecithin”
Xantham and guar gum
Corn syrup: regular or high fructose
Are you eating organic food? I know, I know. Not the GMO debate. But this isn’t necessarily a debate. It’s fact: if it isn’t organic, then it is sprayed with chemicals. Heck, even organic is sprayed with chemicals, but less so than the GMO stuff. Chemicals are toxins. If you’re eating food that isn’t organic- especially produce- then you’re ingesting the chemicals. Yeah, that’s even if you’re washing your produce. It’s pretty darn near impossible to get rid of all of the chemicals that are sprayed on our food. Where do those chemicals go once they’re in our body? Look no further than the fat cells, my friend.
Personal Care Products
I am talking shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, face wash, lotion, make up, deodorant, and so on. Literally, think about it. You’re putting that on your skin, letting it sit there all day, and sometimes even massaging it into your skin and you expect it not to get into your body? Come on, you’re smarter than that!
Unfortunately, most of our personal care items are junk. Check out the EWG website to learn about what is in your personal care products. Then, I advise you to slowly start weeding out the junk and introduce a healthier alternative as you run out of each of them- that's the most cost effective way to do it, in my opinion. Here’s my blog on some personal care products I use currently that I really love- give it a read. My recommendations are nontoxic, safe and affordable (home girl isn’t rich, okay?).
Mental Health & Mindset
If you’re stressed, you’ll retain weight. Stress causes Cortisol to soar and that, in turn causes us to gain weight. Then, if we are continually stressed because we are not dealing with our source of stress, we will retain the weight we have gained. Simply put, if you’re stressed, then your body isn’t going to perform optimally. I talked about tips to help improve our mental health in my last blog post. I advise you to take a look into these pointers and apply them to your life today: vitamin levels, gut health, your relationships, moving your body, and your cell phone use. We all deserve to be happy, amirite?
Blood Sugar Balance
If you take ANYTHING away from this blog post- THIS NEEDS TO BE IT!
Growing up, I never knew what diabetes was. I had heard of it but had not a single clue what it did to the human body and what caused it to be a problem. Fast forward to my pregnancy in 2021-2022 and I quickly learned exactly what diabetes was because I had gestational diabetes. Little ole me- who weighed in at 132 pounds prior to pregnancy and gained like 17 pounds during pregnancy. I was pissed. I led a way healthier lifestyle than a lot of women I knew and none of them had gestational diabetes. Why me?
Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I spoke to my midwife about options. For me to not risk out of a homebirth, I had to stay on top of my blood sugar. This meant charting every. single. thing. I put into my mouth. No joke, if I ate a meat stick, I was pricking my finger and writing it on a chart an hour later. I set alarms on my phone so I would not forget. It became my way of life for the last 13 weeks of my pregnancy.
Although it sucked not being able to eat ice cream whenever I wanted when I was in my third trimester, I am seriously so thankful that my midwife had me chart my blood sugar. Wanna know why? Because I learned that my blood sugar still is not right and probably never was. Yep, even though I am 13 months postpartum, I still check my blood sugar every now and then. Based on my blood sugar levels I take now, I am prediabetic. AKA I will get Type 2 if I don’t control myself with my diet now. Luckily, I have done extensive research on what I can do to prevent developing Type 2 diabetes in the future. This research has taught me exactly how to eat in order to not spike my blood sugar. You can read my very general overview of blood sugar balancing hacks here or you can enroll in my blood sugar balancing course (it’s affordable, quick and easy to follow!)
So, there you have it! A quick overview of my tips to naturally lose weight: reduce your toxic load by taking a health audit of your lifestyle, reduce stress in your life, and learn to balance your blood sugar!