Action Steps:

1.   Clear Out Your Liver and Free Your Body to Burn Fat

Burning fat gives off waste products that have to be cleaned up by your liver. If your liver is functioning below par, it won’t let your body burn fat. The liver is the body’s major detox organ, and everything artificial that we put into our mouths, such as the preservatives, pesticides, colorings, and other chemicals in processed foods, takes a toll on our livers. Reducing your exposure to these chemicals is important for both weight loss and life health. The more you can do to minimize your exposure to toxic chemicals – wash produce thoroughly, buy organic when possible, avoid processed foods (soda, candy, snack chips, TV dinners, sugary boxed cereal, etc…), and drink filtered or bottled water -  the better your liver will be. A few common nutritional supplements, such as milk thistle (available in capsules at health food stores) and dandelion (try a dandelion green salad, or buy the root extract in capsules) also aid liver function. Finally, a One Week Detox is a great way to rid your body of toxins.

2.   Make Sure to Eat Three to Five Times per Day

When you go longer than 7 or 8 hours without eating, your body begins to think that it is starving, and switches out of fat burning mode and into fat storing mode. The exact number of meals you should eat varies from person to person (get an idea from your Free ReEvolution Fitness Action Plan), but everybody should have at least three meals per day. The amazing thing about eating regular meals is that you can actually consume more calories, and still lose weight!

3.   Rev Up Your Adrenals

Your adrenal glands are your body’s powerhouse. They help you wake up in the morning, work with your thyroid to regulate your metabolism, and give you a sudden rush of energy when you need to be at your best. Since they are so important in controlling energy metabolism, sluggish adrenals make it very hard to lose weight. Nourish your adrenals with plenty of Vitamin C (take about 1500% of the RDA each day complexed with bioflavinoids or  rose hips to aid absorption and utilization) and think about substituting green tea for your morning cup of coffee. Strong stimulants like coffee lash your adrenal glands into a full out sprint, giving you a sudden burst of energy, but leave them exhausted.

You can also add the amino acids phenylalanine (Buy a form called DLPA, available at any health food store) or tyrosine to your breakfast. Your body actually makes adrenaline from phenylalanine and tyrosine, and getting a bit more phenylalanine and tyrosine into your diet (both occur naturally in hundreds of foods, chiefly pork products, but also other meats, eggs, and beans) can pick up sagging adrenal glands. If you suffer from consistent fatigue and also have troubble losing weight, you may have a serious adrenal insufficiency (and/or a thyroid problem - the two frequently come hand in hand) . There are a number of natural preparations based on glandular extracts that can work wonders for this. Track down a naturopathic physician or holistically minded doctor and ask them about adrenal (and thyroid) support supplements.