The winter times brings a sense of hibernation in the Northwest…not because of snow but because of our cooler wet weather days. I have lived in Bellevue for over thirty years (yikes!) so I have been through our various seasons for many years. Also I have been a fitness trainer, coach, instructor and manager for over twenty years so I have seen the change in activity levels and eating habits. People in the Seattle area are always trying to avoid gaining weight or trying a new diet to lose weight after summer and after the winter holiday season. We love to play, travel and be social but we all want to look and feel amazing.
After my many years in the fitness industry in various roles including a competitive Ironman distance triathlete, marathon runner and endurance cyclist, I have created the “Fitness Forward 21 Day Sugar Detox Challenge”. It has a new twist… a different method to lose fat that any other program or diet. I call my approach when working with clients the “Wholestic Method: the eight secrets to improving fat loss, health and performance”.
Losing weight isn’t about exercising hard every day. I see this all the time at the fitness clubs and even in my private fitness studio (Fitness Forward Studio) in Bellevue. We are programmed to lose weight by cutting calories and increasing calorie burn. If we really gained one pound of fat for every excess 3500 calories (1 lb. = 3500 calories in theory) then all Ironman Triathletes would be emaciated looking and overeaters would be 5000 pounds. The theory of calories in and calories out isn’t that simple.
We have these things called hormones. We have fat storing hormones and fat releasing hormones. You can learn more on my health and fitness podcast called “Shut the Front Door” and I can also recommended many other podcasts and blogs that go deep into “underground wellness” that you don’t hear in the mainstream media.
The main hormone we work on controlling or managing in our sugar detox program is the hormone Insulin. Our goal is to get people off the blood sugar roller coaster and stop burning sugar when they are sitting and sleeping… we want to become fat burning machines all day long. If we have approximately 1200 calories of stored muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbs) and we have around 80,000 calories from stored fat in our bodies then why do we continue to drop into our carb storage for fuel versus our fat fuel when at rest or doing endurance exercise? Welcome to the world of metabolic efficiency.
How can you become a fat burning machine?
Well we go over eight elements that contribute to losing fat, improving health and performance in life and in sports.
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Stress
- Movement
- Digestion & Gut Health
- Hydration
- HappinessWhen I coach my clients we begin with metabolic typing and health questionnaires to see where they are now then retest every few months. The main secret to success in our program is to be mentally ready to change and improve lifestyle habits. The first step is working on our nutrition habits and relationship with food… the results inside and out can be drastic as we eliminate processed prepared foods, excess sugar, gluten/grains, commercial dairy, soy, corn and peanuts. It is not a diet but a way we should be eating (reviewing ancestral primal eating habits) based on how we are designed as humans.
- If you would like more information on our upcoming challenge or how you can become a fat burning machine then please contact coach Debbie Potts at www.fitnessforwardstudio.com/fuel for more details or a consultation to learn how to get started.
- That is our first part of the program… eating real food. We need to clean out our pantry and fridge to start fresh and restock with good sources of fresh food without a foreign ingredient list on the lablel. Then we need to create a supportive atmosphere and network at home, in our workplace and with our social network. This is why we create teams of three to five people in our sugar detox challenge as I found clients had the most success when they were feeling accountable to their group as well as their coach. Team work just works!
- It’s called eating real food…organic (when possible) plant based diet with free range animal protein (happy animals) and healthy fats (omega 3) in the right ratio for your type.
Register for our January Sugar Detox Challenge if you want to become a fat burning machine in 2016!
Coach Debbie
www.fitnessforwardstudio.com
