This is Why You’re Fat (and how to get thin forever)

No, no… I’m not saying that to you. This is the name of a newer book I just recently found, and am MADLY in love with...

As most may have gathered over the past few months of chatter, my husband and I embarked on a 2 phase self-created program. We’ve been putting it together in pieces as we go, to get our eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle choices under control.

phase 1 >>> Exercising regularly. To keep from overthrowing our system and causing us to quit, we first started exercising only. We made absolutely no dietary changes whatsoever. We chose Jillian Michaels Revolution, to make sure that we had 3 solid months of intense exercise, that brought us from chunky beginners to fitness pros.

phase 2 >>> The dietary changes. I don’t mean diet. I do not diet. I mean a clean eating permanent regimen. I’ve looked into every type of eating and lifestyle plan to find the perfect one. We finally struck gold!

The book. Jackie Warner created This is Why You’re Fat (and how to get thin forever), from her years of expertise in nutrition and personal training. She combined it with case studies and other facts to back up everything. It is a New York Times best seller, which we all know is a list of the leading best-selling books in the US.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It has seriously changed the way I look at food and has quite literally scared me straight.

At first I was thinking it would be another book about how to starve yourself and exercise all the time, cut back calories, etc… that is not what it is at all. It is so informative. I wish it were on the mandatory reading list for high school English. I think the information is that important.

part 1 >>> This is why you’re fat. This entire section breaks down and actually shows you what you are doing to your body when you don’t eat properly. It educates you on hormones and your organs. How they work. How they balance and imbalance and most importantly, sugar. What sugar is, where it is and how it wreaks havoc on your beautiful body from the inside out.

part 2 >>> This is how you eat to get hot and healthy. Not a diet plan. A permanent clean eating regimen. How to eat, what to eat, how to not starve yourself and how to get thin in the real world.

part 3 >>> This is how you exercise to get hot and healthy. Full of cardio plans, power circuit info and awesome fat burning exercises.

part 4 >>> This is how you stay hot and healthy. Full of meal plans and recipes, sample food journals and training logs.

My entire life I was in pretty good shape. So was my husband. He was a soccer fanatic. I was a cheerleading, tap dancing, ball playing fitness nut. I’ve never been overweight. After having my twins, I have been LAZY for 3 years. The hormone imbalance, the sleep deprivation from having twin babies, self-medicating with sugar highs and glasses of wine late at night to wind down from a hectic day, have all brought me here. To lazy town. Still in my BMI, now newly re-fit, but as of 4 months ago, just tired, rundown and on the downside of staying fit.

Before I read this book, I thought having fat on your body, being chunky, etc… was simply a choice of eating bad foods. I thought there was fat and there was thin. You could just choose to be either. The past 3 years, I was choosing to be a chunkster. I hung around in my BMI and stayed just fit enough to snap everything back when I had the energy. I had no idea there was so much in between. What actually happens inside your body when pumping it with caffeine, sugar, wine, etc…

While reading I literally felt like those kids on Beyond Scared Straight. I had no idea where my poor choices were leading. I thought I was just chilling until I had the energy and time to focus on myself and get back into shape. Had I known the disruption I was causing inside my body, I would have put down the Laffy Taffy years ago.

So here it is. The best book I’ve had my hands on in years. A book that is changing the lives of my entire family. I’ve adjusted the way my kids eat, I’m working on my husband’s habits and I’m kicking mine far, far out of my home. I highly suggest picking up this book if you are at all interested in fitness, are already fit and like to learn more, or are overweight and ready to do something about it. It is for everyone.

 

an excerpt from the book via Barnes and Noble...

 

Part 1

THIS IS WHY YOU’RE FAT

1 >>> It’s All About Chemistry, Baby

 

In This Chapter:

 

* Three hormones that make you thin

* Four hormones that make you fat

* Balance your hormones naturally

* Outsmart cravings

* Get rid of cellulite

 

Let’s start talking about why you’re fat. Fat control has largely to do with hormones. I always knew that hormones played a large part in how we feel, but I never dreamed that they were so responsible for metabolizing fat and maintaining muscle. Take testosterone, for example. The hormone testosterone is the reason, ladies, that your husbands and boyfriends can eat whatever they want and not gain a pound, while you count calories and can’t lose a pound.

 

My extreme interest in hormones happened in my late thirties after I went to my doctor, complaining that I felt tired and didn’t have the energy for my usual exercise routine. He did my blood work and found that I was terribly low in progesterone. My blood sugar was also low. I learned that low blood sugar is a precursor to diabetes, which runs in my family, and I learned that low progesterone causes sleeplessness and fatigue.

 

None of this was acceptable to me, so I started to research natural ways to balance my blood sugar and my hormones. As I researched, I was astonished to find out how much cutting-edge data linked weight management to hormones! Out-of-whack hormones disturb your body chemistry and cause weight gain. When you control your hormones, you can control fat!

 

Hormones, of course, are powerful chemicals and a crucial part of your inner environment. They impact every area of your life—how you feel, how you act and react, and how you look. When hormones are nicely balanced, your health is great. You enjoy strength, energy, and beauty. But when hormones shift and fluctuate, things can get pretty ugly. Having hormone dysfunction feels like you are constantly fighting a battle and never winning the war. You have constant cravings for unhealthy food, you feel slightly lethargic and depressed, and you don’t have the energy for a real workout.

 

There are actually four hormones responsible for making you fat and three hormones responsible for making you thin. The secret is to have all seven in balance and operating as they should. That’s when you’ll truly lose weight, without a lot of painful sacrifices, and keep it off. I’m going to tell you what all these hormones are, how they work, and how lifestyle affects their balance, so that you can get thin and healthy. Here’s the deal.

 

Hormones That Make You Thin

Human Growth Hormone: The Fountain of Youth

 

One of the greatest get-thin hormones is human growth hormone (HGH). It’s a fat burner that works in the following manner: Normally, your body uses glucose (blood sugar) for energy before it taps into fat for energy. But HGH reprioritizes everything. It forces your body to draw energy from your fat reserves first. This turns you into a fat-burning machine, even during inactive periods like when you’re sleeping. With plenty of HGH in your system, you don’t have to diet all the time.

 

Another great benefit of HGH is that it helps your body to grow new muscle cells. Normally, you stop making muscle cells after your teen years. If you do resistance training, you’ll increase the size of the muscle cells you do have. The number of muscle cells never grows, however, unless there’s adequate HGH in your body. So HGH helps you get toned and sculpted by creating more muscle cells.

 

HGH also gives you more energy, a higher sex drive, and youthful skin and hair. HGH is truly a wonder hormone.

 

But here’s the challenge: HGH starts plummeting through our thirties and forties, making it harder to get toned and look lean. Luckily, diet and exercise actually boost HGH levels, allowing it to rejuvenate and beautify your body.

 

So how can you naturally raise your hormone levels? It’s not as hard as it may seem. Here’s how I did it.

 

Continues...