Many people do overeat and eat the wrong types of food – but in clinic I have found that in most cases it is the body sending a message and crying out for help. 

Weight gain due to overeating might mean that the person could be nutrient deficient or fatty acid deficient, low in energy and searching for a boost, there may be emotional eating habits that need exploring…

In weight gain that doesn’t seem to be due to overeating, there may be heavy metal or toxicity of some kind inhibiting the metabolism, there could be an allergy addiction, a thyroid disorder, a hormonal imbalance, blood sugar issues – the list goes on.

A good naturopath will not just give a standard program of “eat less and exercise more” without looking into the underlying factors that have caused the weight gain.  For many people that have a true metabolic problem, they are already eating very little, and dropping their food intake even more could be very detrimental to their health.

Most of the time less food is not the answer, but changing the type of food is.  Cutting out processed “dead” food and changing to whole, living foods diet will mean that people can eat as much as they like and not feel deprived while correcting their health issues.

Frequently people who have been overweight due to a metabolic problem need to re-learn how to eat healthful quantities of food.  People are often surprised when they learn how much food I actually eat – it is all in the type of food, not the quantity. 

When you are eating good quantities of fruits and vegetables, especially if they are organic, you will also benefit from the increased amounts of nutrients that you are taking in.  So often I hear from someone trying to lose weight “I was so good yesterday, all I had was one slice of toast with low fat jam and a cup of tea”

Where are the life-enhancing nutrients in that?

Compare that to having a huge green smoothie for breakfast with three banana’s, half a bunch of silverbeet and frozen raspberries.  A bunch of grapes and an apple for morning tea, a large salad with a basil pesto dressing for lunch, flax crackers with sunflower seed cheese for afternoon tea, and a piece of living pizza with a salad or a huge fruit salad for dinner!!

That is large amount of food and no-one would feel deprived or hungry with it, yet this type of eating, (as long as you are not overloading of fats), can bring with it natural weight loss and increased energy and vitality.  And eating this way will also support whatever other health measures need to be taken to correct metabolic problems.

If you have a weight issue, don’t just beat yourself up for a lack of willpower.  Chances are, that’s not it.  There are other factors at play, and identifying and correcting those will allow the body to heal and function properly.  Moving to more of a living and whole foods diet will improve and support the process.

In the end, good health is more than just being an ideal weight - it is about feeling alive, having a positive outlook, and living a lifestyle that allows you to be the best that you can be.

Whenever we discuss health and fitness, the subject of weight loss or achieving our ideal weight is always going to be a part of the conversation.

Weight is such a huge issue (no pun intended) that we have industries making billions of dollars out of people’s desperation to attain a thin physique.  Often the health aspect is disregarded, as the latest “quick fix” pill, powder or potion is touted as a cure all for the “disease” of being overweight.

If we do explore the health aspect though, we can start to see things from a different perspective.  More often than not, there is a causative factor that is contributing to the weight gain, and it’s not purely a lack of willpower. 

I don’t believe we need to be fanatical about being stick thin either, but we do need to find that balance of energy and vitality that comes with having a fit, healthy body.  I’ve experienced both sides of the weight issue, and I can tell you that I prefer fit and healthy!

My weight problem started when I broke my leg (femur) at Tae Kwon Do training and was unable to exercise for six months.  Little did I know at the time, but the trauma and the following operation to pin the bone, shut down my adrenals and thyroid – I just thought I was having a hard time recovering, but it was much more than that.

Over that six months period I started to gain weight – and I went from my normally fit and toned 48kg (I am only 5ft tall if this seems light to you!) – up to about 62kg at my heaviest.  That might not sound like a lot, but it was a gain of 30% of my body weight and I felt terrible.  With that also came the fatigue, depression, thinning hair, brain fog, and feeling the cold that is part of a thyroid disorder.

With all my knowledge on health, once my leg was OK, I started exercising again (when I had the energy) and I made sure that my diet was perfect – but I could only lose about half of the weight.  The other half stubbornly stayed put.

It’s a long story but until my thyroid and adrenals were properly supported nothing made much of a difference to that extra bit of weight.  I know, it’s not like I was obese and had 50 more kilos to lose – but I’m just illustrating that even the best diet and exercise will not do the trick if there is a metabolic or hormonal disorder underneath.

Once I had the correct treatment, that last 7kg dropped off in a few weeks and I was able to feel human again -the thyroid symptoms all reversed and I could sustain my previous levels of exercise, which I had found exhausting up until then.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I will discuss some of the problems that can cause weight gain, and what simple things you can do about it.