Don’t make excuses; make improvements. – Tyra Banks

Bloating and weight gain are very common in midlife, but they do not have to be. There are solutions to help you.

It can be challenging to beat the bloat and lose weight during this time of our lives. What we did in our 20s and 30s is not going to work in our 40s, 50s, and beyond. Our bodies are changing, so we need to change our approach to weight loss.

Here are a few good tips:

1. Remove flour and processed sugar from your diet.
2. Drink at least 8 cups of water per day
3. Move your body for a minimum of 30 minutes per day
4. Add in weight training, if possible
5. Improve sleep habits by practicing a bedtime routine each night
6. Practice deep breathing exercises each day. Deep breathing exercises have been shown to help with bloating, gas, overall digestion and even reduce anxiety.
7. Peppermint Tea or Ginger Tea can help with bloating.
8. Making your health a priority and not making excuses as to why you can’t do it. This is the most important tip because, if you do not do this, then you can’t get all the other tips done.

If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up. – Unknown

Below are things you may have experienced while on a ‘traditional’ diet:

• Weight is typically lost quickly in a set period of time
• Foods are categorized as “good” or “bad”
• Entire food groups are left out (i.e., dairy, carbs, etc.)
• Calorie consumption is greatly restricted
• Progress is dependent on a number on the scale
• “Calories in; Calories out”
• Once the diet ends, the weight comes back on…and then some

Here are some things you will experience with a lifestyle change:

• Eating healthy, nutritious and whole foods, knowing they will nourish and sustain you
• Slower, more permanent weight loss because it’s done at a healthy pace
• Second nature (actions of restriction vs. feelings of restriction)
• Less likely to experience extreme hunger, food deprivation, and mental stress
• Measuring your progress beyond what the scale says
• Something that you can stick with for the long haul

Remember…
This is not a short-term diet.
It’s a long-term lifestyle change.

Freedom from the control food has over you. Freedom from medications you may be on due to excess weight you’re carrying around. Freedom from feeling tired all the time. Freedom from having to worry about what you’re going to eat. Freedom from feeling sick after eating too much.

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Oh, how good it feels!

2 C. green beans
1 C. garbanzo beans/chickpeas
1 C. kidney beans
1 large red onion
1/2 C. of vinegar

Steam green beans until tender, and then cool. Combine all ingredients and let sit in fridge overnight.

From The Skinny Coach Solution Recipe book
You can get your own here

In a 12-week study, 40 women were randomly split into two groups. Each group was given approximately two tablespoons of either soybean oil or coconut oil and instructed to follow a reduced calorie eating plan and to walk 50 minutes a day.

At the end of the study the “coconut oil group” increased their good cholesterol, reduced their bad cholesterol, and significantly reduced their waist circumference (stomach fat).

The soybean oil’s group levels of cholesterol went up and they didn’t lose any stomach fat – even with a reduced calorie eating plan and walking 50 minutes a day.

Organic sources of fat like coconut oil and macadamia nut oil have saturated fat, but it does not matter because they are full of nutrition and are better for you than processed vegetable oils, like canola and soybean, that cause inflammation in your body.

Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. – Jim Rohn

Cravings will come and go every day, depending on how tired you are, what stressors you have in your life, etc. The good thing about cravings is that they are normal and will eventually pass. They will also decrease in strength and frequency over time.

Here are some coping strategies that may work for you.

Learning to resist cravings

The mental activities of cravings and urges disappear over time as long as you don’t actively pay attention to them. After some time, they will run their course and disappear, usually within 10-15 minutes. It’s ok to sit with the temporary discomfort. It won’t “kill” you and will pass pretty quickly. You then can feel good about your achievement!

Remember that it’s important not give up what you want most for what you want in the moment.

Work on NOT giving in no matter how bad the craving is and it will eventually pass. All the cravings you have ever had have passed. Once you stop giving in to your cravings, you know you can and will do it again and again. And after a short time, there will be fewer cravings and the ones you have will continue to diminish in intensity. The key is to wait them out.

Another thing you can do when you experience a craving is to quickly substitute a thought or activity that’s more beneficial or fun. Take a walk or any other form of exercise. Pick up something new to read or turn on something to listen to. Reach out to me or Sandra or your accountability partner. The possibilities to substitute (and lessen the craving more quickly) are endless.

Think about and write down some possibilities so you will have a list on hand when cravings occur.

Why do some women lose weight easier than others? There are so many things involved in weight loss. It is much more than just calories in and calories out. Some of the things that affect ability to lose weight are:

– stress levels
– sleep
– hormones (estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, cortisol, insulin, etc.)
– food intolerances
– gut bacteria

We focus a lot on the “calories in”, which is easiest to control, but all these things make “calories out” harder to control.

You don’t have to settle for dull moods, foggy brains, flabby bellies, night sweats, insomnia, fatigue, low libido, weight gain and bone loss so “common” and “accepted” with getting older.

Learning how sugar and flour effect your mood and health is critical, especially as you age. Check out my facebook page for menopausal women.

2 eggs OR 6 oz. tofu OR 1 egg AND 2 oz. chicken or 2 oz. steak
1 C. cooked rice
2 C. veggies (onions, cabbage, carrots, peas)
1 T. sesame oil
Tamari and white pepper to taste
Non-stick spray

Lightly scramble the eggs/tofu and set them aside. If using chicken, cook through, remove from pan and dice. Stir-fry the veggies with a non-stick oil spray and tamari. Add the protein and cooked rice to the veggies, top with a bit of Tamari and the sesame oil and stir.

From The Skinny Coach Solution Recipe book
You can get your own here

“I’m still very happy living with this new way of eating. It is a welcomed lifestyle change that has allowed me to live with a normalcy in connection with food. I eat appropriate amounts of healthy, simple and delicious foods. I no longer binge or crave foods like a use to. I feel very satisfied and content and do not feel like I’m missing out on anything. Ironically, I have found that other people think I am. It is interesting to see people’s reactions and hear their comments when I politely say I don’t eat that anymore or that is no longer part of the way eat. I often see looks of sorrow or get reactions that I must feel deprived. This couldn’t be further from the truth, yet it is very difficult to convince people of that. I know that is not how I feel but that may be a feeling they are identifying within themselves.

It made me realize that when you are in a dysfunctional relationship and you start to make healthier choices or changes, people don’t know what to do with it when they are use to another way. It makes them feel uncomfortable. Since I have changed the dynamics of the foods I choose to eat and the relationship with my food, it seems to make others feel uncomfortable. And that is ok. I know how I’m eating is healthy physically and mentally.”

-Maureen

A diet containing roundup tolerant genetically modified corn (GMO) can cause tumors and organ damage and lead to death in laboratory rats, according to research published in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology. The rats’ diet reflected the kind of exposure to genetically modified food that humans, who eat genetically engineered food, should expect. In other words, it was the type of and amount of GMO that you eat when you eat GMO corn.

Try to do your body a favor and do not eat anything that is genetically modified – especially corn.

It’s not about starting another diet; it’s about making a lifestyle change!” Lifestyle is the buzz word right now as people are becoming painfully aware that diets have a dark and dirty under belly. Unfortunately, while we may hear it every day it doesn’t change the fact that when you wake up tomorrow, and start eating 1200 calories a day and exercising like Peyton Manning you feel like you’re on a DIET.

Allow me to clarify what the difference between another diet and having a true and meaningful lifestyle change. Your body has been on one diet or another since you were born. Whether it was the ‘junk food diet’, the ‘I’m in college and eat Top Ramen diet’, or the ‘I’m pregnant, step away slowly diet’; either way it’s a diet. It’s a conscious decision to eat a certain way every day- that literally is all a diet is.

Think for a moment the first time you tried something; for instance, your favorite ice cream- once you started eating that ice cream, once you realized you liked it and it made you feel good, you started eating that food repeatedly. Therefore, making that ice cream a part of your diet. Once the ice cream became a regular part of your diet, it became a lifestyle change in which you now eat ice cream almost every day. You can see through this chain of thinking – a diet decision became a lifestyle change before your very eyes.

Of course, that leads to the next thought- which is how can I make healthy food that will make me thin, healthy and happy a lifestyle change. There is good news and bad news. Our brain is very clear about what it desires, if you consume something that rewards your pleasure center you will crave that thing… Potentially a lot. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that you can train your brain that healthy food, while it may not light up your pleasure center right away, still makes you feel good and right If you eat good wholesome food every day, and you never get stomach aches or bloats from rich food, or indigestion from fatty or greasy food, and you feel light and energetic, your brain will get that message. That means that you are always speaking with your brain, you are constantly trying to communicate.

If you tell your brain and body that the best you can do is light up that reward center- it will take what it can get. But, if you tell your brain that these certain foods can make you clearer, give you less headaches, and allow you to be at your best- your brain will hear you!

So, the truth of the matter is that everyone starts a ‘diet.’ You can’t escape it, if you are eating in a way that is making your fat and sick today, you will have to start a diet if you want to be thin, and healthy- there’s no trick. But once you start that diet, once you (and your brain) really believe that this diet food is rewarding and making you feel good- you will start to crave good food!! Believe me, today I crave yummy creamy yogurt with cooked apples and cinnamon- and my brain believes me!