Instead of Dieting, Try Balancing
As women age, hormonal changes make it even more difficult to lose weight. But the answer has been with us forever---balance our hormones!
Tucson, AZ (PRWEB) June 7, 2006 -- I have been fit and I have been fat. I have tried almost every diet that came out. I know how hard it can be to overcome a weight problem. And I know that as women age, hormonal changes make it even more difficult to lose weight.
After a lifetime of searching, much of that time running a medical practice that specializes in women’s health, I have several conclusions to report – some of which you have probably already figured out on your own:
- Weight loss is difficult. Period.
- There is no “magic pill” after all.
- Men lose weight easier than women, at all ages throughout life (decidedly unfair!)
- Deep inside, you and I both know that “diets” don’t work in the long run (we always gain the weight back – don’t we?)
- We get fatter as we get older (women blame this on “hormones”; men blame this on “beer.”)
It has taken me 20 years of detective work, study and searching international medical literature on hormones, weight, nutrition and exercise to come to the understandings that I have used to help women keep the pounds off.
I can tell you with certainty that what we eat at each meal and snack makes a huge difference in such critical aspects as our daily energy level, memory, mood stability, concentration and ability to focus, how well we sleep…along with the obvious effects on body weight and body-fat composition.
And I can also tell you that an optimum diet combination for women, especially at midlife, consists of a caloric intake of 35 percent protein, 30 percent fat and 35 percent complex carbohydrates. It keeps your blood sugar steady throughout the day. This balance minimizes the release of insulin that makes it harder for you to lose excess body fat. Make sure each meal and snack contains a balance of these three. An example of this ideal mix would be turkey+mayo+wholegrain bread+lettuce+fruit and a glass of milk.
The 30 percent fat recommendation usually stops women in their tracks because most of us think of fat as something to avoid. What most people don’t realize is that fats take much longer to digest, keep blood sugar steady longer, and don’t cause an insulin “surge.” Keeping blood sugar steady throughout the day is key to weight control. And healthy fats are necessary as a building block to make our hormones, too.
Food really is one of our most fundamental medicines for healing. We can’t make serotonin in the brain to help lift our moods if we don’t take in adequate tryptophan, as one example. We can’t make the hormones that run our bodies without fat. We can’t make immunoglobulins for our immune system without protein.
When I was in my 20s, women’s magazines talked about cutting out the “fattening” carbohydrates. A decade or so later, we heard “carbs are good; it’s the excess fat we put on them that is bad.” This idea focused on the belief that excess fat on your body came from the excess fat on your plate: all the sour cream, butter, oils and mayonnaise that were added to foods like baked potatoes or pasta or salads. While there was some truth to this, the excess weight gain has more to do with the higher calorie consumption (plain potato, 100 calories; potato with sour cream, bacon bits, and butter, 500 to 600 calories) than the type of food consumed.
Now we hear a lot about carbs being “bad.” So what’s the real scoop? Should you follow the low-to-no-carb school, or the high-carb/low-fat school? How do you know who or what to believe with all the conflicting claims? Part of the answer depends on your body size and build. If you are slender and already at your ideal body weight and composition, you probably don’t really have to worry too much about which way you go—stay with what is working for you.
However, if you are one of the millions of women, particularly those who find themselves losing their waist at midlife, it becomes crucial for you to really concentrate on the right type and amount of carbohydrates in your overall meal plan. Continued high intake of carbs—especially the simple carbs such as breads, pastas, fruit juices, alcohol, and sweets—will overstimulate production of the fat-storing hormone, insulin, leading to increasing body fat.
The good news is that there is hope for keeping your weight down without letting diets rule your life and destroy your energy. The right combination of foods, along with exercise and optimal hormone balance, are the keys to rolling back the “pound creep” and “scale inflation.”
(Elizabeth L. Vliet. M.D. is a nationally recognized physician and author specializing in women’s healthcare issues)
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