There are three simple modifications you can make to your diet, that not only help you lose weight, they can also dramatically improve your overall levels of health and wellbeing.  

 1) Cut your “Added Sugar” consumption.

Seriously, not only is consuming Added Sugars one of the greatest enemies to achieving your weight management goals, they are also detrimental to your overall levels of health, wellbeing and longevity.

While we could literally write a book on this subject, here are just a few of the pertinent facts.

Added sugars are not the natural sugar found in Milk, Fruits and Vegetables. They are additional sugars and syrups that are added to processed foods as they’re manufactured. These ingredients are added to make these food-like substances taste good — VERY good. This great taste is not an accident, as they are specifically formulated to trick your brain into overeating them.

The problem is that while the taste is great, they do not give your body any of the nutrients it needs to thrive, as they are full of what are known as EMPTY CALORIES. BTW” “Empty” literally means “containing nothing” and when it comes to food, empty means that that food contains little or no essential vitamins or minerals. In other words, these junk food additives, provide absolutely nothing of value to your body beyond useless calories that over time, create more and more health related problems and weight gain.

As an example, just 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the common sweetener corn syrup contains 120 calories — exclusively from carbs.

Putting 2 teaspoons of sugar in your morning coffee loads you up with another 40 calories. (Using calorie free Stevia instead is a great idea).

Another example is Fructose. Eating too much of a type of sugar called fructose — can significantly increase levels of the hunger-promoting hormone ghrelin while decreasing levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone peptide.

In simple English, a high-sugar diet can cause you to gain weight in a lot of different ways. It is full of empty calories that offer no nutritional value, causes your body to create extra fat, and tricks your brain into craving more of it.

The ABSOLUTE WORST Added Sugar products are “Sodas”. As an example a 12 oz can of Coke contains 39g (NINE teaspoons) of sugar and 140 totally useless empty calories.

Mountain Dew is even worse, as a 20oz bottle has 77g of sugar (SEVENTEEN teaspoons) in it. To put that in perspective, if you drink just ONE BOTTLE a day of it, you are actually dumping an extra FIVE POUNDS of totally unneeded added sugar into your body each month. Care to guess what most of it gets converted into?

Also, as Coke has a ph level of 2.7 (Mountain Dew is 3.3), it is highly acidic and contributes to a condition known as excess body acidity. This condition weakens all body systems as excess acidity forces the body to borrow minerals including calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium from vital organs, bones and teeth to buffer (neutralize) the acid and safely remove it from the body.

When our body is too acidic, we suffer from a condition known as Insulin Sensitivity. This forces excessive insulin to be produced. As a result, the body is flooded with so much insulin that it diligently converts every calorie into fat. Having an acidic pH long term, often results in the development of serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

BTW: Sodas are not totally useless though, as they do have some really good uses as inexpensive, industrial strength cleaners. Removing bloodstains from clothes, cleaning grimy coins, cleaning you car battery terminals, getting gum out of your hair, getting paint off metal surfaces, cleaning oil stains from your garage floor and cleaning water stains from your toilet, are just a few of them.

Oh and for anyone who thinks that “Diet Sodas” are better for you, they are actually far WORSE. This is because when you drink them, the artificial chemical sweeteners they contain, send a signal to your pancreas to begin producing unneeded insulin. Insulin is what tells our cells to either use sugar as food or store it as fat. When your pancreas produces insulin to deal with anticipated sugar, but then no sugar arrives, it confuses your body and disrupts its metabolic process. This may explain why several studies have shown a link between regularly drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome, a collection of symptoms that includes larger waist circumference (from the stored fat), higher blood pressure, and higher blood sugar.

In simple English, anything you can to to decrease the acidity and increase the alkalinity of your body, will provide you with all sorts of beneficial results.

One of the reasons we recommend using our PURE FULVIC – HUMIC ACID MINERAL BLEND as part of our Weight Management Support Pack, is that it really helps removing built up acidic poisonous toxins and the bad bacteria in the gut, from the body. BTW: Don’t be fooled by the name. While Pure Fulvic and Humic Minerals, like vitamin C, are slightly acidic in nature, they actually have a significant alkalizing effect on the body.

Consuming junk foods with lots of added sugars actually keep you hungry. If you keep eating foods that contain lots of added sugar in them instead of actual nutrients, your body gets hungry a lot sooner than if you had eaten a balanced nutritious meal. People who drink pop all day, or eat candy do so because the body is looking for nutrition and it’s not receiving it, so it stays hungry. As a result, you wind up eating way to many empty calories every day and packing on more and more pounds and inches.

BTW: An estimated 75% of the population don’t just like sugar, they were actually addicted to it as children. Although it may seem like a strange concept, sugar addiction is a very real problem and is similar to addictions to substances such as drugs or alcohol. When foods that contain sugar are consumed, dopamine is released in the system, which is responsible for “feel good” sensations.

For a perfect example of just how quickly the “feel good” effect of sugar reaches the brain, go to YouTube and search for the “Baby Tries Ice Cream For First Time” video.

This is why that two of the ingredients we include in SIZZLE RED are known to help break sugar addiction. If you do not yet realize how much of a problem breaking that addiction can be, the results of one study in PubMed sum it up perfectly. “Available evidence in humans shows that sugar and sweetness can induce reward and cravings that are comparable in magnitude to those induced by addictive drugs, like cocaine.”

2) Increase the “Nutrient Density” of the foods you eat. If you are unfamiliar with the term, nutrient density is simply the number of nutrients per calorie in a food. One weight-loss secret is simple: If you want to lose fat, you need to control your appetite by finding a way to get more nutrients from each calorie of food you consume.

Nutrient-dense foods are low in sugar, sodium, starches, and bad fats. They contain both more vitamins and minerals and fewer calories. Your body needs vitamins and minerals, known as micronutrients. They nourish your body and help keep you healthy. They can reduce your risk for many chronic diseases.

Try to eat a variety of foods to obtain different vitamins and minerals. Foods that naturally are nutrient-rich include fruits and vegetables. Lean meats, fish, whole grains, dairy, legumes, nuts, and seeds also are high in nutrients.

3) Choose the between meal or late night snacks you eat carefully, very carefully.

Eating a lot of processed junk food snacks is a very fast way to pack on extra pounds. Snacking on chips, ice cream, sugary sodas, donuts, pastries, puddings, pretzels, microwave popcorn and candy will add pounds.

As an example, lets look at all the calories present in just one perfect, junk snack food example – an 8oz bag of “LAY’S® Classic Potato Chips”. The Nutrition Facts panel for this product tells you that One 28g serving contains 160 calories, 10g Fat and 15g of Carbs. So you sit down on your couch and munch your way through the bag before going to bed and your body then has to deal with those 160 extra empty calories you just fed it.

The REAL PROBLEM with that scenario, however, is that you do not realize that unless you have read all of the small print on the Nutrition Facts panel very carefully, you have no idea that ONE SERVING is ONLY 15 chips. So, that 8oz bag you just ate, contains not one, but EIGHT SERVINGS. Congratulations, you have just stuffed an extra 1,280 Empty Calories, 80g of Fat and 140g of Carbs into your body.

As an alternative to these junk foods snacks, replacing them with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, jerky or a good trail mix will both fill you up a lot quicker and be MUCH more healthier for you.

BTW: Most overweight people do not realize that “Snacking”, particularly at night on “Comfort Food”, is a habit primarily caused by Stress. Two of the best ways to eliminate this habit is to use Adaptogens to reduce your stress levels and also simply drink a glass of water whenever you feel like snacking on something.

Two of the reasons we recommend using our ADAPTOGENS product as part of our Weight Management Pack, is that the large doses of Vitamins, particularly the B Group Vitamins really helps boost natural energy levels and the adaptogenic ingredients can significantly decrease overall stress levels as well. Both of these features can help accelerate weight loss. 

BTW: If you really need a snack before going to bed at night, try eating some Cherries, Tomatoes, Pomegranate, Olives, Grapes, Cucumber, Pistachios or Almonds, as they are all nutritious and the Melatonin they contain, may help with your sleep.

Sugar Laden, Empty Calorie, Junk Food Like Substances to Avoid, or at Least Minimize:

Processed and high carbohydrate foods.
Treats like packaged cakes, cookies, and donuts.
Sugar laden Breakfast Cereals.
Beverages like soda, sports and energy drinks, and fruit drinks that contain added sugars.
Processed cheese, ice cream, and other sugar- laden dairy.
Meats like sausage, hot dogs, bacon, and ribs.
Fast food — like pizza, burgers, french fries, milkshakes, etc.
Hard candy and candy bars.

Replace Those Sugar Laden, Empty Calorie Junk Foods With Any Combination of These Actual Nutrient-Dense Foods That Nature Has Provided For Us:

Spinach, Seaweed, Dulse, Carrots, Broccoli, Garlic, Brussels sprouts, Kale, Dandelion greens, Arugula, Broccoli rabi, Beet greens, Swiss chard, Beets, Asparagus, Red cabbage, Sweet potatoes, Collard greens, Watercress, Cauliflower, Red, Yellow, Green, and Orange bell pepper, Microgreens/Sprouts, Green peas, Artichoke, Scallion, Winter squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Tomato, Chinese Cabbage, Chard, Leaf lettuce, Onions, Kohlrabi, Mushrooms, Fennel, Parsley, Radish, Chickory greens, Romaine lettuce, Turnip greens, Mustard greens, Endive, Chive, Water chestnuts, Turnips, Rutabaga, Leeks, Green beans, Okra, Iceberg Lettuce.

Raspberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, Acai, Gogi, Camu camu, Gooseberry, Apple, Bananas, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, Dragonfruit, Mango, Avocado, Starfruit, Kumquat, Papaya, Melon, Cantaloupe, Apricot, Mulberry, Pineapple, Nectarine, Cherry, Watermelon, Grapefruit, Currant, Guava, Tangerine, Loquat, Elderberry, Plum, Peach, Grapes, Pomegranates, Soursop, Clementine, Cranberry, Fig, Jackfruit, Quince, Plantain, Asian pear, Date, Lychee, Persimmon, Pear, Olives, Durian.

Almonds, Brazil nuts, Pistachios, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Cashews, Chestnuts, Pecans, Macadamia nuts, Peanuts, and Nut butters.

Sesame seeds, Quinoa, Flax seeds, Chia seed, Pumpkin seeds, Hemp seeds, Poppy seeds, Sunflower seeds, Pine nuts, Pomegranate seeds, Cucumber seeds.

Amaranth, Barley, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Oats, Buckwheat, Millet, Rye, Bulgur, Sorghum, Spelt, Farro, Whole wheat, Teff, Corn, Wild Rice.

Great Northern beans, Garbanzo beans (Chick peas), Lentils, Peas, Lima beans, Kidney Beans, Black-eyed peas, Black beans, Pinto beans, Navy beans, Split peas, Cannellini beans, Soy beans (Edamama), Cranberry beans, Peanuts.

Raw cheese, Kefir, Almond Milk, Almond Coconut Milk, Yogurt, (whole milk Greek Yogurt for added protein), Goat Milk.

Grapeseed Oil, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Sesame Oil, Peanut Oil, Walnut Oil, Virgin Coconut Oil (Limit and do not heat over 350 degrees).

Don’t forget to Add Some Lean Meats – The Protein is Beneficial:

LEAN CHICKEN

Skinless chicken breast, Skinless chicken leg, Skinless chicken thigh.

LEAN CUTS OF PORK

Pork Tenderloin, Pork bonelesstop loinchop, Porktop loin roast, Porkcenter loin chop, Pork sirloin roast, Pork rib chop.

LEAN CUTS OF BEEF

Beef eye of round, Beef top round, Beef tip round, Beef top sirloin, Beef top loin, Beef tenderloin.

LEAN FISH

Cod, Flounder, Halibut, Orange Roughy, Salmon.

Fatty Fish in Moderation (These are all high in the Omega-3s we all need).

Albacore Tuna, Wild Salmon, Atlantic Herring, Mussels, Anchovies, Swordfish, Sardines, Atlantic Mackerel, Trout, Alaska Pollock.

NOTE: For those wondering why “Processed Cheese” is on the list to avoid and raw cheese is on the eat more of list, here is the reason.

Processed Cheese is not actually cheese. It is an artificial, chemical laden product that is manufactured from some cheese, chemical emulsifiers (two insoluble liquids), sodium citrate, calcium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), cheese culture, milk fat, extra salt, saturated vegetable oils, whey and artificial food coloring’s. Raw cheese, however, is made from raw, unpasteurized milk, and is full of healthy saturated fats, great flavor and wholesome nutrition.