If you have an over 40 sluggish metabolism or a thyroid issue, then follow these 5 Radical Rules to lose weight and feel great!
"When I turned 40, it seemed like every bad habit I'd ever had caught up with me and my health and weight paid the price. I didn't have the energy to do the things I enjoyed, and looking in the mirror all I saw were lumps and bumps in places there used to be curves. No matter what diet or exercise program I tried, I couldn't lose the weight or feel better. I might've lost a few pounds from my efforts, but it all came right back—and more—as soon as I even looked at a donut. Even drastically cutting calories didn't help. Fat, forty, and fatigued is not where I wanted to be. Ann Louise, can you help?"—Anne R.
Anne, and countless others like her, are the reason I dug deep into the research and wrote my Radical Metabolism Plan. After working with thousands of women with low thyroid function and a sluggish metabolism, finding the weight creeping up on the scale despite their best efforts, the pieces of the puzzle finally came together for me. I came to the realization we need to look at the cellular level to find true health and effective, lasting weight loss.
A healthy metabolism needs healthy cells, and when your cells are full of environmental toxins and stored emotions and traumas, their energy production is affected. They become bogged down and stall your metabolism until it becomes sluggish. Top that off with a diet void of nourishing essential fats, the necessary building blocks of a healthy cell, and it's easy to see how disease can move into these weakened cells and further affect metabolism.
The good news is Radical Metabolism works to flush these toxins from your system, feed your cells what they crave, and supercharge your metabolism! Let's look at the 5 Radical Rules you need to follow for healthy, lasting weight loss. It's time to get your energy back and feel good looking in the mirror!
Radical Rule #1: Revamp Your Fats
We've all heard about the many health benefits of Omega 3 essential fats, but my "aha" moment really came when I gained a new understanding of the Omega 6 essential fats. I'm not talking about the fried foods, processed vegetable oils, or trans fats that Omega 6 gets such a bad rap for—not all Omega 6 fats fuel inflammation. I'd like to introduce you to the healthy Omega 6 fats, found in whole foods like hemp, nuts, and seeds.
These healthy Omega 6 fats are an essential component of the protective membrane that covers each and every one of your cells, and when the toxic variety is substituted, you make damaged cells that are prone to inflammation and disease. So the first Radical Rule is to lose the inflammatory, overheated, overprocessed, toxic Omega 6 essential fats, and choose healthy Omega 6 fats from nuts, seeds, and their oils.
The second half of this rule is to balance those healthy Omega 6 fats with the superstar Omega 3 fats that are so famous for their health benefits. The golden ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fats for optimal health and weight loss is 4:1. This sounds complicated to figure out, but I promise you, Radical Metabolism breaks it down and makes it easy. Core supplements from UNI KEY Health for the plan include CLA-1000, GLA-90, and Super-EPA fish oil, radical essential fats that help you burn fat, reduce inflammation, and rev up your metabolism.
Radical Rule #2: Restore Your Gallbladder
If you've tried a high-fat diet like Keto or Paleo and felt bloated and more fatigued, then your gallbladder—or lack thereof—is the likely culprit. This "throwaway organ" is essential to proper fat metabolism. Gallbladder disease and obesity are occurring at epidemic rates, and the two are related. The connection is bile, the "liquid gold" your liver makes to break down fats, usher out toxins, and keep a healthy pH in your intestines. If you can't break fats down properly, they're absorbed into your bloodstream in an unusable form and your body has no choice but to store them—as extra padding on your thighs and rear.
Your gallbladder is the silent hero of your fat metabolism, working behind the scenes to release bile into your small intestine, to help you break down and digest fats, remove toxins, and boost your fat-burning metabolism. But, when bile becomes thick and sludgy, it gets congested with toxins the liver can't process and bogs down not only the liver but the gallbladder as well. This leads to gallbladder pain and even stones, and that's typically when this valuable little green organ gets removed. The key to building better bile—and giving your gallbladder some TLC—is bitter foods. This is where your favorite coffee and chocolate (in its raw form of cacao) come to the rescue for your fat metabolism—they are bitters! Also, Bile Builder from UNI KEY Health is one supplement I wouldn't go without if you are missing your gallbladder or have trouble digesting fats.
Radical Rule #3: Rebuild Your Muscles
Muscle is an energy-burning powerhouse, and lean body mass is crucial to your health and longevity. When you start to lose muscle—which happens much earlier than you realize—you gain fat in its place. Starting as early as age 30, you can lose up to five percent of your muscle mass every decade, which leads to insulin resistance and weight gain. Whether your muscle loss is caused by hormone imbalance, inflammation, lack of movement (especially sitting), or inadequate nutrition, Radical Metabolism addresses it all!
The two major reasons muscle loss occurs are eating poor-quality proteins and impaired protein digestion. Proteins break down into amino acids, and just like there are essential fats, there are also essential amino acids. And just like your cell membranes need those essential fats, they also need these essential amino acids. When these are lacking, you build damaged cells, which are prone to inflammation and disease. To break high-quality proteins down into amino acids, you need adequate stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Sounds simple, but it's common for people to have a 40 percent decrease in stomach acid production in their thirties, and another 50 percent by age seventy. Symptoms of this include GERD, bloating, nausea, and so much more, because you also can't absorb minerals without enough stomach acid, so you become mineral deficient.
To increase your lean body mass, choose high-quality proteins, like grass-fed meats and dairy, pastured poultry and eggs, and wild coldwater fish. Radical Metabolism also includes vegan sources of protein like beans, tempeh, and hempfu (the hemp version of tofu). Supplement with UNI KEY Health's HCL+2 for optimal stomach acid levels and protein digestion.
Radical Rule #4: Repair Your Gut
Did you know there are "skinny bacteria" that live in your intestines that promote weight loss? It's true! There's a whole community of organisms living inside of you, known as your microbiome, and if it gets invaded by unwanted hitchhikers, the whole balance is thrown off and you can gain weight and inflammation as a result.
Your microbiome is not only critical to your digestion; it's on the frontlines of your immune system as well. Like the rest of your cells, your microbiome is under attack by environmental toxins, poor diet, parasitic infections, hormone imbalances, medications, and even emotional stress. Once the balance is thrown off, not only can you become obese, but also everything from digestive issues to depression can happen.
It's so important to cleanse and repopulate your gut with probiotics—the "good guys"—to get your health and weight back on track. Radical Metabolism not only uses UNI KEY Health's Flora-Key to rebalance your microbiome but also incorporates probiotic foods like naturally fermented, unpasteurized pickles and sauerkraut to add a little zing to your diet.
Radical Rule #5: Reduce Your Toxic Load
While this is the last of the Radical Rules, it certainly is not the least! No diet is effective without detox. This has been my mantra for years and for good reason. It's not just calories that stall your metabolism, toxins play a big part in bogging down your metabolic engines. We are being bombarded with toxins in our environment, and while we can do our part to reduce them, we can't eliminate them entirely.
Many chemicals we come in contact with today through our air, water, and food are known as obesogens because their unwanted effects on the body include causing weight gain. When your body is full of toxins, it's too much for your liver and other detoxifying organs to process, and as a result, your metabolism becomes toxic. Once your metabolism is toxic, no diet in the world will help you lose weight.
That's why Radical Metabolism is a lifestyle plan. It's not just about what you eat, though that's a huge part of it. It's also about detox, detox, detox! You need to breathe clean air, and look at the toxins inside your home (even in your cookware and personal care products) and reduce that toxic load. You need to drink clean, pure water, and eat foods that fuel your cells and are as toxin-free as possible.
