Did you know that having only one single pound of excess body fat adds to the inflammatory and infection response in your body? This inflammatory cascade is the number one reason we get any type of disease. Remember, your body is smart. When toxins accumulate from breathing, eating, or skin absorption, your body wants to pack that stuff as far away from your vital organs as possible. This is one of the reasons they are stored in your fat cells. The more stress there is on the liver to filter these toxins, the more that poor burdened liver gets backed up and the more your body will force the junk into the fat cells and pack on the pounds. You can see how this quickly becomes a vicious cycle. Once that liver is clogged, it is going to become nearly impossible to lose weight due to the fact that your fat cells need to be filtered through that same clogged liver in order to be metabolized by the body. It's no wonder less than 2% of people who go on a 'diet' are successful. And not only that but most of the people who ARE successful end up gaining all the weight back and then some! The good news is that I am going to give you a secret that has been well over 95% successful in my own practice and many of my colleagues'. The two main parts to the trick of losing weight without stress and keeping it off is dependent on the timing of your meals and your specific body type. I will get into these below in my 5 steps.

1. Zero sugar at breakfast. One thing we now know thanks to a recent study on police officers and doughnuts (sounds a bit strange, but it did produce great findings on insulin balance and weight gain/loss), is that if you are someone who just has to have a sweet tasting snack, whatever you do, DON'T EAT IT IN THE MORNING! You must steer clear of all sugar (including fruit) your first meal of the day or you're certainly headed for excess weight. The study showed that skipping morning sugar will drop up to 28% of any excess body fat. Understand that your kidneys are working their little rear ends off from the time you wake up until about 2pm. By then they start to load any waste product into your legs if they're feeling lazy. You'll notice this if you get swelling in your feet, ankles, or legs after 2pm. As the years go on, you'll notice it takes 3 or more tries to rock yourself up out of your chair. Just after those kidneys start to decrease in function is when you're starting to feel a bit fatigued or you may start to crave something sweet. Right around 3pm is the best time to have your sweet treat if you must have one. According to these studies, what seems to work best is a small organic banana. Your kidneys love the potassium, and your brain gets a quick pick me up too.

2. Eat ONLY if you are hungry. Please please please listen to your body. It really will tell you when it's hungry but you have to pay attention. Most of the time, you're either bored or stressed. Eating when you're stressed will create even more toxic waste build up. Take at least 3 very deep cleansing breaths before each meal or snack and after those breaths, your body might say it's just thirsty. So have some herbal tea or lemon water instead of eating.

3. Have your main meal at LUNCH. We are so used to our big American dinners but this is part of why you're in the predicament you're in! Your gall bladder is in full force from 10am-2pm. Eating a big old meal after 2pm will cause your clogged liver and gall bladder to once again be forced to store what they can't metabolize in your abdomen and hips. Having a nice light salad with some raw (or better yet fermented) nuts or seeds is plenty, and your liver can continue to work on the old junk instead of anything new coming down the pipe. If your pH is not in an optimal range, however, you may need more protein at the dinner meal to help it along. Make sure it's a small piece of lightly cooked meat (wild caught fish or a poached egg is best).

4. Find out the specific foods that are no good for your body type, and don't eat them! We go by the Ayurvedic types in our clinic. Knowing your type will give you insight on what works best for your body.

5. The kick it in high gear plan: Sip on lemon or lime water from the time you wake up until about 11:30am. Eat a (lightly cooked) protein and fat meal at that time with zero carbs. Have your banana or granny smith apple at 3pm. Eat a power salad for dinner (with fermented nuts/seeds). Drink water and/or herbal teas throughout the day and end your day by sucking on a very high quality himalayan salt before bed (about 1-2 small rocks). Take a 90 day grain HOLIDAY and with the exception of grains, eat whatever the heck you want one day per week (to be successful we have to hush the little voice in our heads and one day/week typically is enough to do so). Get your rear moving by doing something you LIKE at least 20 minutes 3 times/week. You'll never keep it up if you hate it, so don't even try. There is something out there that you can do-dance around your house if you want! There is nothing that keeps the toxins flushing like the E word (exercise)!

So that's the plan. Keep it easy and take lots of time to just breathe. I really mean that, breathing is key. Anyone can do this! Making these easy changes will allow you to enjoy a continued drop in toxic fat. If you are someone who needs a faster drop, you may need accountability as well. Find a practitioner or even a friend you can trust and get it going. But don't wait, the longer you do, the harder it is to get it off and the faster you are headed toward disease. You can do it!