Lose Weight Naturally : A No BS approach for women

I almost let being overweight stop me from sharing online. I would think to myself how can i share about health and wellness when i’m still “fat”…. I know, harsh right? But our minds can often be that harsh.

Honestly it was a ridiculous thought, BUT one that I know many other women have had. I have been gradually losing weight over the past 6 months, and I've seen improvements in my hair, skin, nails and overall energy levels especially within the last couple months. I don't want to diminish all of that progress just because I'm not at the weight that I want to be.  I’m sure some of you have had similar experience’s. But if you are still searching for a way to feel better in your body, don't despair. I’m gonna share some things that can help women of all body types and shapes. 

Getting off hormonal birth control

I have had weight problems throughout my past, when I was young I was a chubby kid. But by the time I was 16 I had naturally reached a healthy weight. Sadly I started hormonal birth control not long after,  which threw my hormones into a tailspin. I gradually started to gain weight year after year and had no idea why. Until last year when I did my research & learned how birth control can cause weight gain as well as a host of other issues. I got off birth control in hopes of getting healthy and getting pregnant. But I was quickly hit with the reality that my body and hormones had been put through the ringer.

Maybe you have had a similar experience with hormonal birth control, many women share in that story. So I went looking for a way to balance my hormones, heal my body and my fertility. I stumbled across the Pro-Metabolic space & delved deep into The Freely Rooted Podcast which is SO good, highly recommend it. Slowly I started to get some answers about what had happened to my hormones and metabolism over the years.

What is Pro-metabolic

I have heard a lot of people say that you gain weight when you start eating Pro-metabolic and I know that is some people’s experience. But since implementing  Pro-Metabolic principles, I’ve been losing pounds and inches, but its not a fad diet, the changes I've noticed have been slow and gradual. The most encouraging part of changing my lifestyle and eating habits has been better mood regulation and energy levels.

For those of you who don't know what pro-metabolic is or what ancestral traditional foods look like, Pro-Metabolic means foods that improve your metabolism. You’ve probably seen some of the staples of Pro Metabolic swimming around on the web. Staples of pro-metabolic include; adrenal cocktails, eating breakfast before having coffee, pairing protein with a fat and a carb, making sure that you are eating enough and consistently throughout the day, and cutting out seed oils. That's just a few of the things that the Pro-Metabolic approach teaches.

What I align with the most is ancestral & traditional foods, maybe it's because I love gardening and my husband is a hunter. Both Ancestral eating and Pro-metabolic have a lot in common; like avoiding processed foods, consuming full fat raw dairy, and eating lots of grassfed beef. Ancestral eating means to eat a more biologically appropriate diet. This includes wild game, animal products like red meat, bone broth, eggs, and raw milk. Also, eating a lot of nutrient dense seasonal foods; like seasonal fruit and veggies. Eating ancestrally has been the most beneficial to my overall health. I enjoy using pro-metabolic principles alongside nourishing traditional foods. The two work well in tandem.

Here’s some things I've been doing that I can share with you and maybe help you or inspire you to incorporate more ancestral foods and try pro metabolic principles.  Here are my favorite tips for trying to lose weight by first improving overall health and the quality of the food that we consume.

Cutting out seed oils.

This is number one for a reason. Some seed oils have been touted as somehow healthier than their naturally occurring fats. But I can't see how anyone can buy that when you consider that these oils were not originally created for human consumption but instead for machines. The natural oils and fats that I feel good about consuming include olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, and homemade tallow.

Getting more sunlight

We spend so much of our modern lives indoors and that's not how God intended for us to live, he created us to be a thriving part of a larger ecosystem. Getting outside and getting more sun is actually not the easiest for me as I am very pale with Polish, German, and Russian heritage. I was also born and raised in the Pacific  Northwest where most of the year is cold, rainy, or overcast. I genuinely prefer fall and winter to hot and muggy summers. But I've learned to embrace warm weather, walk with bare feet and get lots of sun without sunscreen. I still don't get tan and I stay a pearly white  unless I accidently get sunburnt but it boosts my mood! Also if you live in a cold climate, going outside when there is overcast sunlight is still beneficial to your health, so give it a try.

Eat more ancestral and nutrient dense foods (i.e. raw milk,eggs, red meat, fruits, vegetables)

These foods are the best foods! Tasty steaks, bone broth, raw milk, egg yolks, potatoes, and lots of yummy fruits and vegetables. Life is just better when you're getting a large variety of nutrients from your food. I spent years eating foods with empty calories like takeout chicken and cheeseburgers. The great thing about ancestral eating is you can still eat these foods. We still love eating fried chicken and cheeseburgers. We just make it from scratch with the highest quality ingredients that are available to us.

Eating sourdough

At this point we have completely stopped buying bread from the store. I made a challenge to myself this year to not buy any bread or bread-like products like bagels, buns, biscuits, etc. It definitely has been challenging but I'm so proud that we only eat homemade sourdough from scratch. Now that I make all our bread from scratch we also eat a lot less bread, and when I make bread it becomes a real treat for us.

Cutting out processed foods

This has actually been the hardest part of switching to ancestral foods to be honest. When I step into a grocery store I'm confronted with so many highly processed food products and I spend a lot of time making sure that what I'm buying is made with simple ingredients and not packed with preservatives. But when I bring home food that I know is going to heal me instead of harm me, it's worth all of the effort.

Moving my body

My favorite ways to move my body is by engaging in activities that don't feel like exercise. They raise my heart rate and get me moving but they feel gentle and nourishing. A few examples of this type of movement include pilates or yoga, walking or hiking, gardening, swimming, yardwork. Some of these are just productive tasks in and of themselves which is a double win. As the summer weather has started here in the northwest, I'm spending a lot of time out in the garden and swimming in the lake. Swimming is by far my favorite form of movement.

Listen to your fullness and hunger cues.

So many of us are completely disconnected from the natural rhythm of our bodies. I love slowing down and listening to my body. Oftentimes we eat quickly and then overeat because we aren't listening to the fullness cues our body is sending. Fullness cues aren't just the feeling of being really full either,there are more subtle cues that your body begins to send. Such as no longer enjoying the food or the feeling of hunger diminishing. These are some small ways our body says “okay we’re done” long before we feel full.

Use natural sugar sources

Natural sugar sources include honey, organic cane sugar, coconut sugar, and maple syrup. But don't overdo the organic cane sugar. It may be less processed and organic but sugar isn't naturally occurring. Try to prioritize naturally occuring foods like honey and maple syrup and molasses. Try to avoid highly processed white cane sugar, and fake sugar products like stevia and artificial sweeteners.

Use healthy fats wisely.

Sometimes the ancestral space can get a little nutty about natural fats like butter, ghee, and tallow. As I said above there is no question that these options are better than seed oils. Still that doesn't mean we should overdo it. I’ve literally heard people say they eat butter as a snack… ewww. But some grassfed raw l butter slathered over a slice of sourdough.. Yumm. Our area has a large Amish presence, and I have to say Amish butter is the BEST butter ever! 

Moderation is one of the reasons I find the pro-metabolic approach helpful when intertwined with ancestral eating because the pro-metabolic approach emphasizes having balance between your protein, fat, and carbs also known as your macronutrients. 

Drink Raw milk.

I drink A LOT of raw milk. I feel more nourished when I include raw whole dairy in my nutrition. Try switching your other dairy sources to healthy full fat, raw options. Get the most nutrients you can in your food. I use raw cream in my coffee, sometimes organic half and half if that's what I have on hand. I always buy raw milk and organic whole milk, and I try to buy less processed or raw cheeses when I can find them. As well as kefir and natural yogurt.

Drink and cook with bone broth.

Bone broth is a nutrient dense superfood. You can add a lot of nutrients to your meals simply by switching regular broth and vegetable broth with bone broth. There are also a lot of yummy bone broth recipes like the very popular bone broth hot chocolate which I can't get enough of in the dark winters here in the northwest.

Eat seasonal foods

This is my last and one of my best tips. Also one of the things I'm still perfecting in our diet. I have a harder time sticking to this one but I always feel better when I do. We tend to eat a lot of meat during the winter, as well as bone broth soups, and hearty roasts with root veggies. Then when summer and fall hit and harvest is in full swing we get to enjoy so many naturally occurring produce here in Washington like fresh apples,plums, pears, and berries.

Don't underestimate the benefits of eating fresh veggies from the garden and seasonally abundant foods.

In our area each season brings about different availability of meat as well. If we are lucky we will get an elk, we also get a deer every fall to fill the freezer. Every spring and summer the fish become abundant and we enjoy lots of bass, trout and walleye. We also have two turkey seasons here, one in the spring and one closer to thanksgiving. We can pretty well fill our freezers with biologically available meat throughout the year. The rest of the meat we eat like chicken and sausage and ground beef is something we enjoy year round thanks to the abundant farming that occurs in our state.

Reduce Stress

I'm leaving this for last for a very good reason. I have experienced weight loss resistance for many years. But to my surprise, the weight I carried has started to melt off now that I’m getting divorced. I know its crazy to think but the relationships you stay in that are toxic, that stressful situation that you haven't removed yourself from our detached fully from could be the missing link in your journey towards better health. Our body knows best and sometimes our “symptoms” are our bodies way of screaming for change!

I hope some of this inspires you to at least take a look at your eating habits and diet especially if like me you grew up eating a standard american diet. Our bodies are our physical home in this life, and god gave us all the bio available foods we need to thrive within them.

Also if you are on a health journey like me and your mind tells you that you aren't worthy of sharing just because you aren't yet where you want to be. Silence that voice in your mind, disregard it and speak about your experience anyway!

Take Care, Danielle