Lean For Life Method

Your gut bacteria can influence your weight! We are more bacteria than we are cells. The majority of these bacteria are located in your intestines. Our gut bacteria can play an important role in our health. They communicate with our immune system and they can affect how different foods are digested. Furthermore, they can produce chemicals that will help make you feel full! ... So as a result of the above - they can also affect your weight! Since your gut bacteria line your intestines, they come into contact with the food that you eat and this affects what nutrients you absorb and how energy is stored in your body. There have been many studies completed when it comes to gut bacteria and these are some of the results that were found: Obesity has been shown to be associated with lower gut bacteria diversity. Meaning fewer types of bacteria in the gut. Individuals with high fibre intake have a lower weight. This is due to the role the gut bacteria play in digesting fiber. Gut bacteria also digest certain antioxidants found in plants (flavonoids) which have been shown to prevent weight gain. Your gut bacteria can influence how dietary fats are absorbed in the intestines, which has an affect on how fat is stored elsewhere in the body. Gut bacteria play an important role in inflammation. Some species produce LPS which causes inflammation when they pass into the blood. This causes insulin resistance and weight gain. Again this was seen with lower gut bacteria diversity. Different gut bacteria can affect how the hormones that affect appetite (leptin, ghrelin, peptide YY) are produced and whether you feel hungry or full. It's important that we eat a wide variety of different foods to maintain gut bacteria diversity. Foods to include: Whole grains (unrefined) Fruits and vegetables (lots of variety) Nuts and seeds Polyphenol rich foods (dark chocolate is in this group) Fermented foods Prebiotic foods (to feed the probiotics) A healthy gut bacteria can be a super important way to maintain a healthy weight. Save/share this valuable info with others! See more

Leptin Resistance may be one reason why you're having trouble losing weight! Yesterday we touched on what leptin resistance was and today we're giving you some solution to improve leptin resistance! Intermittent Fasting: fasting for 16 hours can help to improve insulin sensitivity as well as reduce inflammation which is beneficial when trying to improve leptin responses.... Eating whole foods: removing sugar and processed foods from your diet is paramount. Incorporate fruits, vegetables and whole unprocessed foods to support gut health and reduce inflammation! Physical Activity: we were meant to move! Incorporate movement/exercise into your routine to help reverse leptin resistance. Stress Reduction: leptin resistance influences the stress response and increases cortisol production. Cortisol acts directly on adipose tissue, increasing leptin synthesis and further contributing to leptin resistance. Sleep: it's important to get good quality sleep every night. Aim for 7-9 hours. Sleep controls our hunger hormones and is absolutely necessary if we want to reverse leptin resistance. Include protein: eating plenty of protein can help with weight loss, which may result from an improvement in leptin sensitivity. Though there is no simple way to eliminate leptin resistance. Making long-term lifestyle changes will definitely improve your quality of life. Save/share this with others! See more

Weight gain and weight loss is not just all about calories and willpower! Meet Leptin! Leptin is a hormone that is produced by your fat tissue and regulates satiety and energy balance. When all is working well, your fat tissue makes leptin. It then goes up and crosses the blood brain barrier and talks to your hypothalamus. The healthier your leptin is (meaning your in good balance) the more your brain will burn any excess energy, not store any fat, use up any exces...s sugar, increase metabolism and down regulate your hunger. The fat cells use leptin to tell your brain how much body fat you carry. High levels of leptin tells your brain that you have plenty of fat stored, while low levels will tell your brain that fat stores are low and that you need to eat. Now if you have a lot of body fat and you make more and more leptin, eventually it cannot cross the blood brain barrier and the hypothalamus cannot get the message. So now the brain has no leptin signal and it believes you are starving so it starts to increase hunger and slow down metabolism. This is called leptin resistance. When this happens, this makes your brain change its behaviour: You eat more - because your brain thinks that you must eat in order to prevent starvation Reduced energy expenditure - because it makes an effort to conserve energy your brain decreases your energy levels and makes you burn fewer calories at rest. If you are having issues with weight loss resistance you can always have your fasting leptin levels checked by your health care practitioner. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where we will give you some solutions to help reverse leptin resistance. Hint: it involves diet and lifestyle factors! Save/share this post and let us know if this was helpful! See more

Ancient wisdom for modern times. Dry brushing is a process of brushing skin with a natural brush to stimulate lymphatic flow, improve circulation, invigorate the body, exfoliate skin, and support the body's natural ability to detoxify...all while leaving the skin silky smooth. The skin is the largest organ of elimination and if its function is impaired it will place stress on other organs. By polishing the skin with a dry brush, the skin will shed its outer layer ...of dead cells, keeping the skin active and the pores clean. Blood circulation will increase, the lymphatic system will be stimulated and the immune system supported. Traditionally this practice is done using raw silk or linen gloves, although many prefer to use a natural bristle body brush or loofah. Dry skin brushing is recommended for people who have symptoms of stagnation, which may include: dry lustless skin fatigue sluggishness feeling physical or mental dullness constipation poor immune health How to do it... Start at your feet, using brisk circular motions and/or long even stokes. Brush towards your heart. Move up the legs and torso, being careful to adjust the pressure on any sensitive areas. Brush the stomach area in a clockwise motion to support the natural flow of the digestive process. Brush from the hands up to the shoulders and neck area. Use a facial brush on the face, using gentle circular strokes. Take a shower to wash away any dead cells. NOTE: Best time to dry skin brush is in the morning before you shower. It will leave you feeling invigorated and ready to tackle the day. See more

To our friends in the USA...we wish you a healthy and delicious Thanksgiving!

One of the biggest contributors to inflammation is insulin resistance! You'll want to tap to save this post! TOO MUCH insulin can: First and foremost insulin INCREASES inflammation, oxidative stress and ages your brain... Insulin will dictate how much fat you will store Insulin stimulates the growth of cancer cells Insulin will make sure you're fighting a losing battle when it comes to weight loss (acts on your brain to increase appetite) Insulin causes hormonal issues that can lead to infertility, acne, decreased testosterone, facial hair and acne Insulin increases LDL (not so good kind), lowers HDL and raises triglycerides and blood pressure Insulin leads to mood disturbances such as anxiety, panic attacks, depression and insomnia The good news is that correcting insulin resistance is totally within your reach & the effects are dramatic. Some ways you can rebalance insulin both through nutrition and lifestyle. Eat whole unprocessed foods. Consume vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fish, chicken etc. Try intermittent fasting 2-3 times per week. Start slow and move up to 16 hours fasting and eating in an 8 hour window. Sleep 7-9 hours a night. Good quality sleep is essential to keep hunger hormones in check and thus insulin. Build & maintain muscle. Use it or lose it! Resistance training, strength training and yoga all help to keep muscle mass. Reduce stress is a must. Stress hormones such as cortisol increase blood sugar, amplify appetite and cause weight gain all which promote insulin resistance. MAGNESIUM supplement. Research has shown that insulin receptors DEPEND on magnesium to function properly and respond to insulin. The real concern is the chronic smouldering inflammation that slowly destroys our organs, compromises our health & leads to rapid aging. Preventing insulin resistance may be one of the most powerful ways to live a longer, healthier life. See more

Leaky gut can go far beyond digestive issues. Continuing on from yesterday's post... WHAT IS LEAKY GUT? Leaky gut, aka increased intestinal permeability is a digestive condition in which the tight junctions that usually hold the walls of your intestines together have become LOOSE. This allows undigested food particles, toxins, microbes and more to escape your gut and enter your bloodstream. ... When these foreign things enter the bloodstream it causes widespread persistent INFLAMMATION and triggers your immune system which makes losing weight impossible. WHAT CAUSES LEAKY GUT? Inflammation of any kind can lead to intestinal damage Medications especially NSAID & antibiotics Alcohol is a direct irritant to the GI tract Infections can cause dysbiosis and damage to the gut lining Poor diet causes the gut to lose its integrity and also causes inflammation Toxins cause an immune response and leads to inflammation Stress. High levels of cortisol reduce the production of sIgA, an immune complex that forms a protective mucus layer in the intestines Food sensitivities such as gluten cause inflammation and weaken the intestinal barrier. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Optimizing your diet and lifestyle is the FIRST step in healing a leaky gut. Remove factors that may be causing leaky gut. REMOVE gluten, dairy, grains, eggs, sugar and caffeine. INCLUDE bone broth and foods that contain Quercetin (blueberries, onions, green tea etc.) to help with healing and repair. Gut healing nutrients include things such as L-glutamine, zinc, collagen, medium chain triglycerides, fatty acids, vitamins A & D, probiotics and selenium. Increase healthy gut healing fats that include wild caught salmon, nuts & seeds, avocado, olive oil & coconut oil. Take MAGNESIUM to help with reducing inflammation. Leaky gut also compromises magnesium absorption. See more

Your gut is a huge factor in chronic inflammation! LEAKY GUT! This is when the tight junctions in your small intestine loosen up and allow partially digested bits of food to leak through. It happens due to stress, a lack of sleep, problematic food choices, medications & a host of other reasons.... Since most of your immune system is located just on the other side of your intestinal wall, it sees this partially digested food as an invader. And when that happens your immune system responds with inflammation - EVERY SINGLE TIME IT HAPPENS! This is how we develop low grade chronic inflammation, you basically trigger it every time you eat a food that your immune system has learned to mistrust! And, then you start to gain weight and experience health issues. But the really bad news is that chronic inflammation is the underlying root cause of most if not all disease today! And it's definitely a big underlying root cause of weight gain! To make matters worse, as you get older your digestive system starts to lose a bit of its resilience. You may have fewer digestive enzymes, lower stomach acid and less saliva. In addition to that you might also have compounded gut dysfunction from years of stress, food sensitivities and a lack of good quality sleep. So as you can see over time, as your gut function deteriorates, and your stress keeps building; your inflammation will mount and you create a kind of perfect storm. And once you get into an inflammatory downward spiral things just get worse. Then your seemingly healthy diet starts packing on the pounds and triggering symptoms and you feel like you just want to give up! BUT... here's the good news! You need to work on your gut to reduce the inflammation and once you have done that you'll support optimal digestion and your overall health improves! And... you'll lose weight easily! See more

Are you looking to release weight and improve your health? Then you'll want to read this post! These are the pillars of success that we use in the Lean for Life Method! Want to check it out? DM us if your interested!... We MUST deal with the underlying root cause of weight gain and these pillars do just that! Let's dive in! SLEEP: Is near the top for a reason, it's super important and vital to our well being! Our body does it's most important job (healing and repairing) while we sleep. Proper sleep is NOT something to think about casually. MANAGE STRESS: There is nothing more inflammatory than stress. It suppresses our immune system and the link between stress and all disease is HUGE! Take a yin yoga class, practice meditation, get out in nature, do some deep breathing or have a epsom salt bath. REDUCE TOXIC LOAD: One of the top ways to increase inflammation in the body is by ingesting toxic products. Read labels when it comes to your cleaning products, personal care products and stay aways from plastics! The hormone disruption from toxins is unreal and can send your body into a real tailspin! DECREASE INFLAMMATION: This is a big problem when it comes to weight loss. It's important that we deal with reducing inflammation through diet and lifestyle so that your body can start to work effectively and efficiently. It's also one of the top underlying causes of weight gain! INSULIN RESISTANCE: This is the number ONE cause of weight gain as well as Type 2 diabetes! It's so critical to regulate our blood sugar to prevent cravings, reduce inflammation and maintain optimal health. Are you ready to join us for the next session in the Lean for Life Method? If you know someone that can benefit tag them! We would love it if you saved/shared this post with them. See more

We're going to let you in on a little secret today! Exercise is a super important to tool to staying healthy and fit and we are big proponents to making sure you have plenty of movement in your day. But... whenever you do something too often, whether that's eating the same food or repeating the same workout you're going to risk triggering a negative reaction.... These reactions include inflammation, symptoms, weight gain and plateaus. Today we're going to specifically talk about exercise! Your body is in a constant state of flux and always responds best to new stimuli. So if you want to see change you need to rotate things or your body is going to react! For instance if you have been doing yoga for years, you might want to try weight training or running. If you've been doing weight training and strengthening for years then you might want to try pilates. Ideally, we like to see you change up your workouts every season. For example, in the winter you might take up weight training, in the fall you do yoga, in the spring you do some running and in the summer you do some strength training and swimming. This creates muscular balance and avoids inflammation and plateaus. Here a few ways to switch things up: Change intensity: change your intervals if you're doing high intensity training, switch up your weights if you're doing weight training - whatever the case switch it up. Change frequency: if you're doing 12 reps, bump it to 15, if you're doing lower weights then bump it up a bit, if you're working out 2 days a week, switch it to 3 (make sure you leave room for recovery). The best is one vigorous workout with one restorative workout. Rotate your exercise: as we mentioned switch up what you do. Switch from yoga to kettlebells, pilates to running, running to tennis, weight training to yoga - you get the picture. This is just one of the concepts we're teaching in our 6 week program: Lean For Life Method! Want to give it a try? DM us if your interested! See more