Building a Strong Lean Body If You’re Tired and Overweight

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Want to build a strong lean body when you’re tired and overweight?

Need movement that’s easy but effective?

Are your hormones imbalanced? What’s the right diet and supplements for energy and weight?

Here are my Clinic/Consult steps for a stronger, healthier body.

First: Check Those Carbs

A high-carb diet is the most common cause of weight gain. Period.

Pasta, bread, rice, beans, juice, potatoes, dessert, candy, sodas, chips and cookies have more carbohydrate calories than we can use for today’s energy. So, we store those calories as fat.

We become Insulin Resistant and find that doctors don’t diagnose this correctly. This article will help you!

My top product to restore Insulin Sensitivity is Synulin Glycemic Balancer by Systemic Formulas. Take it 3 months or more – you didn’t become Insulin Resistant overnight and it is a complex process to allow Insulin to escort nutrients inside cell walls again. And burn fat!

What’s Wrong with a Starch-Based Diet?

• Humans didn’t eat grains, sugars or high fructose corn syrup historically.
• We were hunters and gatherers until we began to farm about 13,000 years ago.
• As meat from hunting became more scarce, calories from starch became more common.
• In the Paleo/Primal Ancestral Health community, we say humans were born to be “fat burners” but have become “sugar burners”. We run on short term carb calories these days. As a result our weight, triglycerides and glucose climb.

Becoming a “fat burner” means eating vegetables, proteins and healthy fats with only small portions of starchy foods. The body adapts to this and weight will improve as it burns fat for fuel. As a clinician of 35 years I have seen this many times in Consults.

My DVD “The Diet For Human Beings” explains this.

Second: Balance Estrogen and Progesterone

If you’re tired and overweight, you probably have more Estrogen than Progesterone. (Especially on Days 19 – 25 in your cycle when Progesterone should be at its peak).

Estrogen Dominance can begin in our 20’s or 30’s and affects fat metabolism, insulin and blood sugar, and therefore weight and energy.

Control excess estrogen

• Estrogen causes growth, and maintains fat tissue. (Think pregnancy!)  Cows are fed growth hormone for exactly this reason. Stick with organic or pasture-raised meats that have not been fed growth hormone.
• Buy organic body care products to reduce chemicals that cause estrogen disruption. Use simple ingredients you can pronounce.  The Environmental Working Group can help you.
• Eliminate pesticides from food and home. The worst food offenders are “The Dirty Dozen“. Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides inhibit proper estrogen detox/recycling.
• Avoid soy. It’s a potent endocrine disruptor.
• Take good antioxidant and liver support like these in my online store
• Run a Female Hormone Profile with a Salivary Hormone Test. I run this test on my female Clients. Other Functional Medicine doctors do too. I use Diagnostechs Labs.
• Avoid synthetic birth control hormones

Increase Progesterone

There are many herbs to increase Progesterone levels naturally. Chaste Tree (Vitex) is one. Systemic Formulas FPMS can be used to build Progesterone and improve the balance of Estrogen to Progesterone once you bring Estrogen under control. DO NOT take FPMS if taking birth control pills or other hormone therapy.

The goal is to have a stronger burst of Progesterone during the second half of your menstrual cycle if you have one. If post-menopause, to keep Estrogen and Progesterone in a balanced ratio.

I have seen over a hundred salivary hormone tests, more accurate than blood tests as they test FREE Estrogens and FREE Progesterone rather than Total or Bound Hormones found in blood. The vast majority of these show the need for Progesterone (but retest annually to keep it balanced!).

Third: Tired & Overweight? Improve fat burning ability 

*** Fat cells hold estrogen, and estrogen produces fat cells. ***

Losing FAT (not water or muscle) is key. The Paleo Diet will break the insulin/glucose cycle and initiate fat burning.  Use better fats such as Coconut Oil, Ghee, Organic Butter, Avocado Oil and real Olive Oil.

Get rid of Soy, Canola and Corn oils. And processed/take-out/fried foods using these oils.

My DVD/Video “The Diet For Human Beings” is an easy way to learn what to eat and why it helps you lean up. Cut those carbs and increase the right kinds of fat, animal proteins and vegetables.

Most people notice a big increase in energy and an immediate change in fat stores around the belly with gluten free, grain free, low sugar Paleo foods.

Fourth:  ** Fix Insulin Resistance **

• If you have eaten high carb for a long time and now have pre-diabetes, high triglycerides (over 125) and belly weight gain, you are Insulin Resistant. This is called Metabolic Syndrome.
• Doctors prescribe Metformin for this but seldom give all the other advice on this page!
• ****  Follow the plan AND take Systemic Formulas SYNULIN faithfully for at least 3 months. This helps restore the cells’ ability to USE Glucose again so your body doesn’t just STORE it as fat.  ****

How to Start Exercising If You’re Not Fit

Super Slow Training or Isometric Exercises work well if you’re tired and overweight. Ben Greenfield describes these clearly on our 2014 podcast and on his website. Find more at Dr. Mercola’s site. Search there for Super Slow Training articles. Or, enjoy my podcast with Mark Sisson on this topic. These are not hard workouts and will begin to get you in shape for further work.

Now Boost Metabolism…

Super Slow will not raise your metabolism enough if you are tired and overweight, so get light aerobic motion every morning you can, before breakfast. Yoga, Tai Chi, gentle calisthenics, walking the dog, will get your blood flowing and the fat burning. You haven’t eaten yet, so the body burns fat to give you the energy. (HINT:  swing your arms fully when walking.  Good for burning calories and firing the muscles).

Then once or twice a week for 10 to 15 minutes, get anaerobic! Aqua-jogging or Water-Robics are great for short bursts of intense effort. Power walking too, even if for short distances.  Anaerobic builds muscle which burns fat.  Use short bursts of high energy.

The longer, steady state cardio work such as the elliptical will burn fat and get the metabolic rate up too but don’t rely on cardio work alone.  It’s known to raise cortisol and that can cause weight gain.

Body Composition, the Thyroid and Diet

• Body composition is 80% WHAT YOU EAT and only 20% due to exercise.
• Exercise alone will NOT help you lose weight.
• The right food can make a difference quickly. You can eat hearty meals as long as you avoid grains, starch and sugars.

The thyroid plays a key role in metabolism. Systemic Formula’s Gf – Thyroid has been a top seller in my clinic for more than 35 years. Try it for a few months (not recommended if you’re on thyroid hormones). Combine it with this Thyroid Metabolism + Iodine for even better support. 

The role of Adrenals and Cortisol in weight management

Being tired and overweight is often a sign of Adrenal dysfunction. Excess cortisol holds weight on the body, but low cortisol causes trouble with weight too. My advice?  Slow your life down and review your priorities!

I write a lot about the adrenals and the thyroid. Read “Are Your Adrenals Affecting Your Thyroid” and  “Test Your Adrenal Function at Home” and listen to this Adrenal Health podcast on my Primal Diet – Modern Health show for starters. I have many more.

Here’s a Podcast on Building Lean When Tired and Overweight

I spoke with Ben Greenfield on this topic. He’s an elite athlete and super-coach with great exercise and lifestyle videos, podcasts and more. We spoke on my 2014 Primal Diet – Modern Health podcast about the not-so-super exercisers who need help getting started with fitness, health and weight. Tune in for his free coaching advice.

Supplements to Help Manage Weight Loss

1). This Hormone Multi Pack has Ga – Adrenal, Gf – Thyroid and TMI Thyroid Metabolism + Iodine. These help with energy and can boost a slow Thyroid and fatigued Adrenals. Do not take Gf or TMI if on Thyroid medication.

2).Systemic Formulas Synulin for several months (2 to 4 daily) to restore cell sensitivity to Insulin and Glucose.

3). Orthobiotic brand OrthoBiotic is a premium Probiotic. Studies show that the correct balance of bacteria in the gut helps weight management by improving Insulin Sensitivity.

4). The Anti-Fungal Multi Pack can help Candida from overeating carbohydrates. Candida is associated with weight gain, fatigue, menstrual irregularities and much more.  Removing excess starch and sugars from the diet will help these products work.

5). If you’re tired because you’re not sleeping well, Pharma Gaba at bedtime will help.