Leptin and Ghrelin: Two Powerful Hormones to Heat Up Your Holiday Fat Burning Furnace
Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes when you get hungry?
What gives the signal that you’re full?
Have you ever eaten beyond full and felt uncomfortable?
With Thanksgiving coming up in just a couple of weeks followed by the winter holidays – Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s – holidays focused around food, you may have thoughts of getting out your “eatin’ pants” to avoid the painful dig and pinch of a waistline that often becomes too tight this time of year.
You’ll need those pants, unless you learn to make friends with leptin and ghrelin and the powerful effects you can have on fat burning when you understand how to make them work for you.
The Fat Burning Benefits of Ghrelin
Neither ghrelin nor leptin has a gland the way that estrogen, thyroid, cortisol, and insulin do. Ghrelin is secreted by your stomach and leptin by your fat cells.
Your stomach secretes ghrelin when it’s empty, signaling the hypothalamus to turn on your appetite. As a society, we’ve come to fear hunger and avoid it like the plague. As soon as we feel hungry, we look for ways to satisfy our desire for food.
But what if you could make friends with hunger and actually learn to enjoy the feeling?
There are benefits to prolonging eating and staying hungry for a while. You see, ghrelin is a potent stimulator of growth hormone, and growth hormone has profound effect on fat burning and building lean muscle. It is often considered an anti-aging hormone.
So the next time you get hungry, remember that the longer you hold out (within reason) the more you rev up your fat-burning furnace.
The Appetite Attacking Benefits of Leptin
Did you know it is now believed that eating many small meals actually contributes to increased fat rather than decreased?
By delaying eating and spacing your meals 5 – 6 hours apart, you profoundly affect leptin levels. Leptin is the hormone your fat cells secrete after a meal to tell your hypothalamus to turn off your appetite.
Leptin levels are optimized when you space your meals 5 – 6 hours apart, avoid snacking, stop eating within 3 hours of bedtime, avoid high carb breakfasts and instead include protein at breakfast, and avoid overeating.
“Whoa!” You might be thinking, “That sounds hard AND it flies in the face of what I’ve been taught. I thought it wasn’t a goodidea to let myself get too hungry because that’s a sure-fire trigger for overeating.”
Yes, indeed. Getting too hungry can cause you to eat everything in sight. That’s why I recommend a gradual approach, so you can retrain your conscious brain as well as your hormones.
Eating small meals may keep you from getting hungry and overeating at your next meal, but generally the results for weight loss are short lived. When you eat all day, you keep your insulin and leptin levels elevated all day. Insulin puts you into fat storing mode, which is the exact opposite of what you want.
Elevated leptin does indeed turn off your appetite, which is a good thing, but chronically elevated leptin results in leptin resistance, wherein your hypothalamus doesn’t hear the cry of leptin any more and it shifts your metabolism into starvation mode. You’re constantlyhungry and your metabolism is so low that every morsel you eat gets protectively stored away around your waist like an energy insurance policy.
In my B4 Be Gone program, I share my Snack Attack Strategy for dealing with the desire for food that creeps up on you in between meals as you move towards spacing your meals.
Part of the trick is to eat enough at each meal to hold you for 5 hours. Many of my B4 Be Gone members are finding that they can’t even finish the meals I’ve laid out for them because they get too full, so they’re not hungry again for many hours.
When retraining yourself, it’s important to start with choosing snacks that are nutrient dense and calorie and carbohydrate sparse to prevent insulin spikes.
Things like green smoothies and juices, vegetable sticks with delicious omega-3 fat-rich dips, steamed or raw vegetables, and chia seed drinks or porridges are the most helpful here.
Ghrelin and Leptin Optimization Strategy for the Holidays
To keep the extra weight from creeping in this holiday season, follow these guidelines:
- Start your day with a low to moderate carbohydrate meal that includes ample protein. You can include choices that will stabilize your glucose, insulin, and leptin levels and keep you satisfied for hours if you include more:
- green smoothies made with low-glycemic fruits like berries and green apples
- green juices
- shakes made with powdered greens and veggie protein powder for when you’re in a hurry
- chia-rich meals like shakes or porridge
- Do a 30-second burst of high intensity exercise every couple of hours to increase fat burning.
- Be prepared. Make a variety of delicious vegetable dishes and dips to satisfy the nibbles when everyone else is eating the low-nutrient, high-calorie hors d’oeuvres and hoarding away the extra pounds. If you’re looking for ideas, click here.
Learn delicious alternatives for traditional dishes. There are all sorts of great book resources for Thanksgiving and winter holiday ideas. You can also find videos and recipe guides.
- Satisfy your sweet tooth healthfully. While sweet desserts, even the healthy, gluten-free raw kind are not the best for daily consumption when you have a few extra pounds, they are welcome and delicious alternatives to traditional apple pie, pumpkin pie, cookies and truffles. All you need are some mouth-watering recipes and some guidance on how to recreate some sweet treats.
- Pace yourself. Eat slowly, give thanks for every bite and truly enjoy. Then stop when you get the signal you’ve had enough.
- Wait to be really hungry before you eat your next meal. Remember, ghrelin, the appetite stimulating hormone, is your friend. You burn more fat when you’re hungry than when you’re full. Spacing your meals allows for the normal ebb and flow of leptin so you can retrain your brain to turn off your appetite when you’ve had enough.
Above all, learn to eat with an attitude of gratitude, fully conscious of the effects the food has in your body. You are what you eat, digest, and absorb. Keep that in mind as you eat.
Do I want this to become a part of my cell structure? What you put in and on your body becomes your body, so choose wisely.
Tags: belly fat, cortisol, ghrelin, Healthy Holiday, holiday diet, hormone health, hormone imbalances, leptin
Posted in Healthy Holiday, Holistic Nutrition, Hormone Imbalance, Natural Hormone Support, Reduce Belly Fat, Sleep for Vibrant Health
Thyroid Issues: What’s Really Leaving You Feeling Flabby, Foggy, and Fatigued!
- by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Thyroid imbalance can leave you feeling flabby, foggy, fatigued and unfocused because your thyroid gland rules your metabolic rate.
Fatigue is a huge part of thyroid imbalance… and not just general fatigue either. Did you know that your organs and glands can suffer from fatigue? Your skin and immune system can too.
When you turn down the internal metabolic furnace and burn your fuel more slowly, the inevitable result is weight gain or the inability to easily shed your extra pounds. Generally, this slow-down is accompanied by a feeling of exhaustion, but not always.
Often the “exhaustion” is at a cellular level. When your skin is tired, you get outbreaks and slow wound healing. When your digestion becomes sluggish, you may experience constipation or indigestion. A fatigued immune system can’t adequately protect you from microbes and starts to attack itself. And a worn out liver is unlikely to be efficient at eliminating toxins.
While fatigue and exhaustion can have many causes, an underactive thyroid is a very common one. And what most people don’t realize is that most hypothyroidism (about 80%) is caused by an autoimmune process. Which, incidentally, means the real cause of your fatigue and weight gain has nothing to do with your thyroid. The thyroid gland is just an innocent bystander in the war that’s raging in your immune system, for it’s your immune system that creates antibodies that attack the thyroid and make it malfuntion. So simply replacing thyroid hormon without fixing your immune system does not solve the problem.
Learn all about thyroid function, testing, and a few tips to restore balance on my video here. It’s best to identify autoimmune thyroid problems early on, before your thyroid is completely destroyed. And the best way to do that is to balance your immune system. We’ll discuss that more in the new 5-part video series Bye-Bye Belly Fat, Brainfog, and Burnout, so be sure to sign-up and follow the series!
Join the program here:
Tags: belly fat, digestion, Exhaustion, fatigue, hormones, immune system balance, thyroid
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Brain Fog, Chronic Fatigue, Exhaustion, Fatigue Treatment, Hormone Imbalance, Reduce Belly Fat, Vibrant Health
Explanations and Exclamations for “Belly Fat, Brain Fog, and Burnout!”
If you’ve been following our newsletter or if you subscribe to the blog, then you’ll know we’ve been focusing on helping people fight fat, fog, and fatigue. Dr. Ritamarie’s brand new 5-part FREE Video Series Bye-Bye Belly Fat, Brain Fog, and Burnout was juuuust released on Friday and it’s already receiving an overwhelming response of comments and subscribers.
To see why the buzz has been so exciting, Click HERE!
How to Fix Your Fat, Fog, and Fatigue:
While many people want to change their lifestyle, so many have struggled to find long-term success because the programs they attempt to follow fail to address the underlying conditions that created the weight gain, cloudy thinking, and energy drain in the first place. This series puts a spotlight on the biochemical individual reactions that may be occurring in your body.
Every other day or so, until the final Webinar on September 7th, 2011, a new video in the series will be released including:
- Video #1: 3 NOT-So-Sexy Hormone Imbalances
- Video #2: The Dangers that Lurk Around Your Midline: Balance Your Blood Sugar Naturally
- Video #3: Breaking Through the Fog
- Video #4: Quenching the Fire of Burnout
- Video #5: B4 it’s Too Late!
- Webinar: Mend Your Metabolism and Maximize Your Vitality!
- Including bonuses such as Breakthroughs that Balance and Foods that Flatten Your Belly, Focus your Mind, and Fight Fatigue!
Even though ONLY TWO videos have been released so far, it’s exciting to see the comments and stories that are already being shared:
Comments on Video #1: 3 NOT-So-Sexy Hormone Imbalances:
- I am so thrilled to be hearing what you are sharing about hormones, cortisol, adrenal glands, thyroid, growth hormone and brain fog/belly fat!!! The DC I am seeing recently told me the same thing you reviewed in this video and right now I’m taking natural ways to clear my liver and getting rid of cortisol thru exercise. Your explanation of eating… is something he did not mention, he didn’t go into the growth hormone aspect of it all yet, so I am thankful to have a heads-up on this so I can put this into practice also! What a blessing to learn this, and you put everything into such easy-to-understand terminology…good thing since brain fog can make things a little bit harder to absorb at times LOL! Thank you so much!!! - Stacy
- Dr Ritamarie:
Thank you for all the information. You explain things in a way that is so very easy to understand. I always learn something new when I listen to your classes. As someone who just stopped taking cortisone, what I learn in your Webinars is priceless in helping me regain fantastic health. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
Muchas gracias, - Beatriz
You can read these and see all the comments when you sign up here and open the link to Video #1!
Video #2 was just released a few hours ago and already we’re receiving feedback.
Comments on The Dangers that Lurk Around Your Midline:
- I was very glad to receive this notice from you for these online courses. My doctor is the standard “eat less, excercise more” type, but with little guidance. I have hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, osteo-arthritis (one hip replacement), Factor V Leiden (genetic blood clotting disorder, overweight… I identify with all the symptoms; I am supposed to have the other hip replaced, but, the doctors want me to lose weight, of course to eliminate a risk factor, understandably. I haven’t felt like myself in many years… I am now 63. I have looked into “raw foods”, but don’t seem to fully get onto it… hunger wins out. BUT, I am open….. still… bring it on. – Sheryl
You can share YOUR comments when you sign up here. You’ll have instant access to both Video #1 and Video #2!
We all know some people are more ready than others for natural lifestyle changes. While excess belly fat, brain fog, and burnout may seem like superficial conditions, they can be symptoms of more serious illness. Dr. Ritamarie recently lost some close family members to conditions that could have been addressed through a better understanding of how the body works and the underlying causes of disease. This 5-part video series is her free gift of education to the world to prevent others from suffering.
We hope you’ll share it with those you know. Let’s help spread education instead of midlines!
Click HERE to watch the free 5-part series, Bye-Bye Belly Fat, Brain Fog, and Burnout!
Tags: belly fat, biochemical individuality, blood sugar, brain fog, burnout, Dr. Ritamarie, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, fatigue, hormones, imbalance, insulin, natural health, nutrition, solutions, strategies, testimonials, video, weight loss
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Brain Fog, Health Coach, Hormone Imbalance, Immune System Support, Reduce Belly Fat, Vibrant Health
Thyroid Health: Assessment and Care for Hasimoto’s Thyroiditis and Low Thyroid Function
Thyroid problems leave you feeling tired and unmotivated. Learn to assess yourself and balance your nutrition for better health. Jumpstart your energy with our free 7-day e-course!
http://www.JumpstartYourEnergy.com
Tags: autoimmune disease, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, Gluten Free Diet, Hashimoto's, hypothyroid, natural health, nutrition, thyroditis, thyroid
Posted in Chronic Fatigue, Exhaustion, Holistic Nutrition, Hormone Imbalance, Natural Hormone Support, Vibrant Health
Belly Fat Breakthrough: How Your Muscles May Be Adding to Your Midline
- by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Have you noticed that excess belly fat appears to be almost epidemic these days, even amongst the very slender and the very young?
I’ m so tired of all the websites and programs that promise the answer to getting rid of those stubborn inches once and for all, while you still eat your favorite foods. They always flaunt someone with 6-pack abs to prove their point. The average person has tried at least 3 of these programs, only to find themselves back where they started, plus a few more inches in many cases, just a few months later.
Why are most waist-targeted diets simply a waste?
Most belly fat targeted programs fail to help you to change the habits that lead to your expanding waistline. Small and occasional “favorite food” indulgences could possibly be just fine and not sabotage your progress, but the truth is those foods are so addicting that small and occasional portions soon become small and regular portions, then larger portions regularly, and in many cases soon become all-out binges.
When the “favorite foods” include bread, chips, crackers and muffins, it becomes very challenging for most people to keep the portions small. These foods not only are deficient in nutrients, they generally also cause a spike in insulin, a hormone that’ s responsible for keeping your blood sugar at its optimal level. Too much insulin creates all sorts of problems, which we explain in detail in our Taming Your Midline Program.
If you want a smaller waistline you need a bigger understanding of insulin
In summary, when you eat high carbohydrate comfort foods regularly, your insulin levels become dangerously high and your cells become resistant to insulin. This means you can’t get enough sugar into your cells and you feel tired, unfocused, and hungry after meals.
To get control of your belly fat, you need to break the viscous cycle.
How your muscles may be adding to your midline
On top of the difficulty and stress people experience due to insulin resistance, worry and fear trigger increased cortisol, an adrenal hormone.
Here’s the kicker that keeps the belly fat from burning…
Cortisol mobilizes muscles to raise blood sugar quickly to prepare you to run or fight. When you’re sitting around worrying about something that may or may not occur, there is no way to burn all that extra blood sugar. So insulin comes to the rescue and stores it as fat.
And cortisol’s favorite place to store the fat is around your belly.
So how do you keep your thigh muscles from turning to belly fat?
One way is to stop worrying. As a society, we do it all the time. Huge real estate in the local paper is devoted to gloom and doom predictions and stories of catastrophie. The goal is to induce fear. Fear sells.
Listen in on the conversations that surround you. You’ll repeatedly hear people say, “I’m so worried about… .”
When you worry over an event that has not happened and may not happen, the response in your body is identical to the reaction you’d have if the event was really happening. If the event does in fact transpire, you’ve paid twice! The wear and tear of worry on your body is huge, and constant worry over the years just may be a contributing factor to your expanding midline, especially if you’ve been exercising and eating well and don’t seem to be making progress.
One of the strategies presented in my free e-course and e-book, 7 Simple Strategies to Jumpstart Your Energy Practically Overnight, is to take a news fast. Try it for a week.
You just may find yourself being flatter around the middle, and as an extra bonus you’ ll be more focused and get a lot more done.
This is just one of the strategies I will be sharing in my hot new free video series called Belly Fat , Brain Fog and Burnout Breakthroughs.
Subscribe now to Jumpstart Your Energy and then watch your inbox later this week for the Belly Fat Breakthrough signup link!
Tags: belly fat, blood sugar, cortisol, diets, food addiction, insulin, midline, stress, weightloss
Posted in Fitness, Health Coach, Hormone Imbalance, Reduce Belly Fat
