October 2009 Newsletter: Weight, It’s Not About Calories and Willpower?

Welcome fall! The seasons are changing and so are the times in which we find ourselves. I know I’m wondering how I got to be 31 (birthday is today!) and why are the Steelers 1-2, losing to the Bears and Bengals. Really, is this happening?

It seems a 31st birthday has hit me more than my 30th. All of a sudden I’m like, “Woo, I’m really not getting any younger” (even though I feel it), and life is what you put into it. Hallmark wasn’t lying. Two years ago I left my corporate job and would have never imagined life would be this rich, spectacular and challenging (I have some really exciting news to share with you next month so stay tuned!). I see so many people like myself, reconfiguring their lives to match these crazy times, bucking the status quo and going for it, whatever “it” may be.

As someone who is not a huge fan of authority or of old-fashioned institutions, I find this all very exciting. People are finally starting to question and wonder, “Why” and “How”, and they are searching for new meaning. A little dose of skepticism (or intellectual curiosity for those Pollyannas) is healthy!

I see my clients understanding how much more powerful food is than pills. I see them getting savvier about what food even is! They are educating their doctors about food and healing themselves from diagnoses that were slapped on them by outdated medical information. For example, there is Dan, a former client, who had various diagnoses and struggled with digestive problems for most of his life. In four short months, his health was completely restored. Hear from Dan here with what life looks like now.

It’s empowering when you know you can heal and control your body. If you can do that, what else is there to master?

Before we get back to debunking myths, a few housekeeping items:

1.    Many have written that you’ve missed some of the Lounge & Learn classes but are interested in the various calls. All class recordings are available on my website. The $30 is an introductory price and will be going up along with my new website in two weeks. So get them here now. From “Gluten-Free” to “Supercharging Your Metabolism”, each one is designed around radical changes through rational strategies.

2.    The next Lounge & Learn will be Monday, October 19 @ 7:30 p.m. We’ll be discussing “The Divine Secrets of the Unemotional Eating Sisterhood”.  Sign up here (space is limited and these calls are growing immensely in popularity because of all the juicy information discussed).

3.    My new website (www.alishapiro.com) will be up very soon. If you want to continue to receive my newsletters, you will have to sign up from the new website. There will be a complimentary Lounge & Learn for signing up. I’ll send out an email giving you instructions but be alert!

As you have followed me the past couple of newsletters, I’ve been debunking popular health myths.  We are now onto myth number 4: I just can’t lose weight. I’ve struggled with my weight all my life and probably will forever. No matter how much I count calories or exercise, I can’t seem to get my weight under control.

Sound familiar? It has to, because 95% of people aren’t losing weight and keeping it off. And it’s for three main reasons:

1.    Weight^loss is not about calories in, calories out
2.    Conventional cardio makes you fat
3.    Most of weight^loss isn’t about weight

Remember what I said about times are changing – keep that open-mindedness even with what may seem obvious!

There’s a new emerging equation and by now, some of the mainstream media is picking up bits and pieces of it (my “Supercharging Your Metabolism” call ties all this information together in a nice and neat 7-step equation). And well, food companies have been aware of this information for years which is why they meticulously design their foods to exploit your genetic weaknesses and raise their profits.

While calories are important, equally important are caloric quality and balancing your hormones. When eating poor quality, processed foods, signals that keep your metabolism running smoothly don’t get delivered and the memo that you are full never arrives. On the hormonal side, which is affected by food, environmental toxins and lifestyle habits, hormones control satiety, appetite and the thyroid, (which is the gas pedal to the metabolism). When they are out of whack, so is the scale (here’s an article on plastics role in weight gain).

Our food quality and lifestyles have gotten so out of sync with our ancestral heritage that our bodies are on the fritz. Yes, evolution is real.   Because there is so much added stress on our bodies, from poor diet to lack of sleep to environmental toxins, doing long bouts of cardio can actually  stress the body even more. The excessive adrenaline and cortisol production that results from this exercise further aggravates the hormonal dance.

$%!*$%(*) It really isn’t that complicated though, I promise.  If you try to make it complicated and dramatic, then you are probably using your weight as an excuse not to address some other issue that is more painful to your soul than your pant size. Furthermore, if you get annoyed just reading that, then I’m probably speaking directly to you.

So enough with the problems, give me some answers! Here are five tips to get started on melting the weight off, permanently:

1.    Get on the “Cook It Yourself” diet. If you want to eat it, cook it. To understand how processed and restaurant food messes with your appetite for DAYS (yes, not just one meal), read this .

2.    For meals and foods you can’t cook, focus on nutritional value, not caloric value. Real food is packed with nutrition making you feel full and your hormones balanced. See here how I surprised Bill Henley on NBC about what real food is!

3.    Upgrade your grocery cart with these metabolism-boosting choices

4.    Integrate interval and weight training into your work-outs. This is crucial! You can work out less and get better results.

5.  Sit somewhere quiet. Be with yourself or a trusted friend who will be supportive yet candid. Ask the questions, “What would I have to deal with if I weren’t trying to lose weight?” Once you figure that out, get moving on solving that. Weight loss will be much more effortless when you have a life void of emotional landmines.

If you are really serious about weight^loss (and don’t want to wait years till doctors and the mainstream media catch on), I’m going to plug my “Supercharging Your Metabolism” call again, because it’s that good – and accurate. It will save you months of frustration and lay out the entire seven pieces of the real weight^loss equation (it includes great interval and mental exercises for weight^loss). And it’s only a $30 investment. Remember, prices are going up when I launch my new website.

And if you know it’s more an emotional-eating problem versus a logical one, join us on “The Divine Secrets of the Unemotional Eating Sisterhood” call on Monday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. We’ll peel back the onion and explore what is making you eat emotionally and then provide a plan to end this de-habilitating cycle. It will be liberating and packed with great insights and mental exercises to have you stop eating and start living.

As I close, I want to give a special thanks to all my clients who have worked with me over the past two and a half years. Thank you for trusting in me to co-pilot your health and for being a rebel rouser. Many of my clients would never think of themselves as rebellious but they are, in the most quiet and influential of ways. They have bucked a social milieu and an economy that can only exist when we feel inadequate – in our bodies, our health, in our knowledge and in effect, our power. They are living and breathing inspiration to their families, friends, communities and doctors, of the power of whole foods and whole living.

You see, when you adopt this lifestyle, you aren’t just changing how you eat; you are changing the world. The times are definitely changing and for those people like my clients, it’s definitely for the better!

Here’s to some fabulous fall foliage,

Ali

Rocket man: Dan’s full throttle success

Ali’s program was amazing.  Hands down the best investment I’ve ever made in myself.  And I’m someone who invests a lot in myself.  The program was full of fun, discovery and friendship, and by the end, I found myself feeling the happiest I’ve felt in tens years and the most in control of my emotions and energy ever.

I lost more than 10 lbs and got back down to my high school weight as an unintended (but much appreciated!) side effect of our focus on getting my digestive, energy and mood issues under control.

Ali also helped me see how nutrition and health fit together with my long term goals and with the things I value in day to day life. Now I’m rocketing forward towards my goals while also enjoying the simple pleasures of each day more than I ever have. ~ Dan S., Washington, D.C.

Weight, it’s not about willpower? How losing weight really works.

Believe it or not, weight loss is not about calories in versus calories out. I know it sounds like I’m saying the world isn’t flat circa 2000 years ago. (Yes, the Earth as a round object was known way before Magellan and Columbus. Many scientists knew the earth wasn’t round before the Church finally came to that public conclusion…do I see a pattern here?)

I recently did a teleclass on “Supercharging Your Metabolism”, (and yes, it’s available for download for only $30. This is an introductory price, which will go up October 1) which summarizes the real equation to weight loss. Calories are a factor, but so are many other things which I got into great detail on this call. But just like much other nutrition and health information, lots of industries benefit from you being in the dark.

Pharma companies can continue to sell Alli or other prescription weight loss pills. The dieting industry gets reoccuring revenue from all your failed attempts. Food companies can peddle their  junk and make ridiculous profit margins because they are disguised as diet and health foods. Restaurants continue to sell more food because what they do to their food, makes you eat more.

Let me explain. In a nutshell, losing weight is about metabolism and metabolism is about all the chemical reactions in your body, including hormones. And a lot of processed foods interfere with this dance and as a result, the body doesn’t get the chemical message that it’s full.

Recently, a scientific study out of Texas (yes, there is some good there) showed how high amounts of saturated fat cause the body to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals from leptin and insulin, hormones involved in weight regulation. This can sabotage your dieting efforts not just for a meal but for days. What does this mean for those uninterested in the science but obsessed with scale – you will eat like a pig because the body knows no better.

So for all those who think losing weight is all about will power, think again. Self responsibility is key but it’s a will to cook your own food that is important. If there’s any diet I recommend, it’s the “Cook it Yourself” diet. This is the biggest piece of the REAL weight loss equation. I discuss the other steps in balancing your bodies metabolism and a simple action plan to maximize your metabolism in my teleclass which is available for a nominal investment in your health of $30.

If you are serious about weight loss, get it here now  because it’s going up in price to $43 this Thursday, October 1. It’s worth it’s weight in gold, frustration and self-confidence. And if you aren’t trying to lose weight, try not to be so judgemental of those who are. It’s a jungle out there.

September Newsletter

It’s September 1 and I’m curious how we got here. Seriously. What a bullet train of a year it’s been. Somehow it got to be August and I realized, “Wow, I haven’t had one week of vacation all year!”  That’s how consumed I have been with all that I’ve been juggling.

Fall is a time to reflect and refocus. For those ready to finally lose weight for good and ditch their dieting drama, my September teleclass will be about what the dieting industry doesn’t want you to know and the proven, scientific weight loss formula that those 5 percent of people who do keep weight off, including myself and my clients, know that you don’t. All the details are here. It’s going to be life-changing.

To give you an idea of some of the success I’ve had with the approach I’ll be discussing on this call, check out a former client of mine Sera’s story here . It will inspire you to really look behind your dieting drama.

This month I’m taking a break from debunking myths and hours of writing, researching and witticisms. I’m a little tapped out from an e-book I’m writing for my summer grad course on sustainability which point to our industrial food system as the largest contributor to global warming. Yep, before you get smug over your hybrid and recyling habits, look at your fork.  More details to come about when that will be available. In the meantime, support your local farmers!

I’ll resume in October with my view on crappy health information that you need not digest. For now, I am just going to be. Because I write this newsletter a couple of weeks in advance, I want and need my one week of summer vacation which allows me to be “unplugged”. I’m recycling some blog posts to keep you on your toes and engaged in some of the most important health topics of our day.

If you are only going to read one, please read the conservative view on health-care reform written by Dr. Andrew Weil. It’s important because if we adopted true conservative reform (not what’s being peddled as conservative!), the system wouldn’t be overburdened or overpriced. Everyone could have access to quality care and we’d actually have a health-care system worth fighting for. Life would really be so simple if some people would just play nice in the sandbox and share!

A view of REAL conservative health-care reform

Be Patriotic with your Fork

Before you go hating on Michael Vick

Exhale. I’ve had to do that a lot lately as I feel people have become particularly judgmental, especially without a whole lot of facts. I guess it’s a survival technique – and so is rest, relaxation and unplugging! So rest assured, I’ll be back in October fired up all over again.

Bring on fall and dem Stillers (for those not from Pittsburgh, that’s how they say it in Pittsburgh. It’s not a typo)!

Ali

Are You Settling for Mediocre Health and Don’t Even Know It?

Here is a great testimonial and incredible inspiration from one of my recent clients. The reason I love T.P’s story so much is because she refused to accept she had to live with horrible PMS symptoms. I’m talking dehabiliting, life interrupting symptoms.

She might have been skeptical at first (read her story and you’ll get a laugh!) but she was open to dreaming about possibilities. And knowing how smart T.P is, I know she’ll now be better equipped to challenge other things that might come in her path about how things “have to be”. She’s in charge now of her health and her life.

Here’s her amazing story:

When I originally started to work with Ali, all I wanted was to lose weight. What I got was a new positive relationship with food, an understanding of how important balancing all areas of your life area and an end to emotional eating & PMS symptoms…oh yeah and I lost weight. Thank you Ali, for giving me my life back!

Ali’s approach is not a diet and it’s not only about food. I learned a lifetime worth of lessons in months. In addition to learning about new foods and food combinations, my love/ hate relationship with food became one of love/ love. I now understand that cravings are not just about food and taking time for yourself is just as important as eating foods that are good for you.

I also found the answers to my emotional eating. I have always been an emotional eater, but by asking myself the right questions, I no longer let my emotions control my eating habits. What I loved about working with Ali was that she would always suggest things; she would never say, “You MUST do this.” She would say, “Let’s try this and see if it works for you.”

It was through these suggestions that I realized that I have gluten sensitivities. I discovered that gluten was wreaking havoc on my body. Since being gluten-free, I have noticed an incredible difference in how I feel and how much easier my body digests foods.

One of my biggest issues was that due to my crazy PMS symptoms, I would have 1 good week out of the month. My symptoms included: sore breasts, very drastic manic mood swings and intense cramps. These symptoms would last for 3 weeks out of every month. But I had just assumed this was my plight and there was nothing I could do about it.

Ali said that changing my way of eating would lessen these symptoms. To be completely honest, I thought Ali’s great and all, but she’s lost her mind. I mean that’s just crazy. I’m a woman! Of course I’m going to have crazy PMS symptoms. It’s just the way it is! I could not have been more wrong!

After a few months of working with Ali, my symptoms have not just lessened…they are gone! Yes, you heard me, I said GONE! I actually had to check the calendar to see when my period was coming because I had NO symptoms! This has changed my life in the most drastic way…I can actually have one now! Gone are sore breasts that lasted for 2 weeks, drastic 3 week long mood swings and intense cramps. Now every week is a symptom free week! To say that I’m downright giddy is an understatement!

Ali really works with you to come up with a way of eating & living that works with your schedule and lifestyle. She is a joy to work with!

T.P., New York City, NY

Spring Clean Your WHOLEself Workshop for Women

It be hard to imagine with the wind, the layers and the downright chill, but sun dresses and inspiration for change are just around the corner when Spring brings its long awaited sunny and warmer days.

Be ready! It’s time to dust off the cob webs inside your body and outside your life! Fast track getting your WHOLEself in shape for 2009 and beyond with the “Spring Clean Your WHOLEself” workshop. It’s time to stop putting your life off and jump in!

Come join Certified Health Counselor Ali Shapiro, Psychologist Dr. Nicole Lipkin and like minded women for this workshop designed to balance your Mind, Body and Spirit.

During this four week boot camp, you’ll benefit by walking away with:

• What foods work best for your unique body
• The real equation to permanent weight loss, including identifying certain food and attitudes that keep on the pounds (hint: it’s not about fat and calories)
• Strategies for managing and eliminating cravings
• A healthier relationship with food and exercise
• The savvy to fit healthy eating and a balanced mindset into your busy life
• Cutting-edge exercise science to show you how to get more out of your work-outs in less time
• Understanding how to eliminate self-sabotaging behavior and keep your priorities straight
• A detox workbook and action plan to support you in doing a spring detox designed for your body and life
• Development of a healthy mind, food and spirit action plan to keep you motivated throughout the year

Come connect with other women while getting incredible support to help you make the changes you desire in your life. Each session is from 6-8 p.m and will include healthy snacks and recipes.

March 11: Finding the Best Foods and Mindset for Your Body and Your Life
March 18: The Best Way to Exercise Your Body and Strengths to achieve a body and life you love (with special guest and Philadelphia premier trainer Brandon Mentore)
March 25: Detoxing Your Body and Life for Spring
April 1: Making Healthy Habits Last

You will have the combined expertise of well known Philadelphia professionals who have been helping individuals accomplish their goals and preferred lives for years.

Investment for this workshop, which will provide you with strategies for sustained life change, is only $349 per person and payable by credit card or check. Bring a friend and you each come for $299. Payment is due upon RSVP (deadline for sign-up is March 1) as space is limited. Contact Ali Shapiro at alishapiro@pyournutrition.com or 215.279.7491 for questions or to RSVP.

Location: 525 S. 4th Street, Suite 471, Philadelphia, PA, 19147

KS Loses Weight and Gains Her Strength

I was referred to Ali through my physical therapist while I was in the process of recovering from ACL surgery. I was trying to lose weight but was unsuccessful. This was frustrating as years ago, I lost 60 pounds on my own through diet and exercise. But for the past couple of years, I had hit a wall and now, unable to work out, I started to panic and get very discouraged.

The first day I met Ali I felt like I was catching up with an old friend. She was warm, understanding and just wanted to learn about ME! From this first meeting, I knew she was the person I wanted to help me learn about nutrition and how the food I was eating (or not eating) would affect my body and mind.

It was important to find someone who could work with my busy schedule, be willing to listen and work around my likes and dislikes (I have many), and accept that “I’m not perfect”, and be willing to be my cheerleader and friend when sometimes I just needed to talk.

The next couple of months Ali taught me although I wasn’t eating horribly, I was eating a lot of processed food and hardly had any fat in my diet. My body was unable to digest the food and in turn was not allowing me to lose weight. In addition, we realized that I was not eating enough to truly allow my body to thrive. Go figure! Ali’s dedication and support over the past six months has been invaluable to me as I’ve lost weight and learned to connect with what my body needs.

Additionally, I needed another ACL surgery while working with Ali. She mapped out the foods I should eat and exercises I could do to get my body/mind prepared to make a quick recovery. My surgery was two months ago and I’m feeling great.

Ali is someone I would recommend to anyone, whether you have weight to lose or want to learn how you can help yourself truly feel better through nutrition. Most importunately, Ali will become your friend and someone you can always call when you just need some extra support.

Thanks Ali –

KS, Philadelphia, PA

J.C.S Loses 10 Pounds and Gains a Life

Working with Ali at Pyour Nutrition helped me with much more than just my diet. In addition to helping me eat for chronic stomach problems, I realized that reforming my diet and losing weight was about so much more than just food, portions and calories– as was overeating. Health and happiness are about much more than being thin, but about nourishing both your body and your life. Once you learn how to do these things, your weight doesn’t matter as much anymore, although this is when you actually begin to lose weight easily.

Even though I lost those pesky extra ten pounds– which was my initial and foremost goals– it now seems like the least important benefit of the program. Through the program I gradually learned not just how to gradually add healthiness into my life, but also happiness. I realized how necessary happiness is to healthiness and weight loss—this seems so obvious to me now after working with Ali, but never did before in my many previous years of dieting. ~ J.C.S, Philadelphia

Jess’ Tune:Living Her Version of a Rock-Star Life!

When I began with Ali, I felt I was already pretty healthy. But I was still a little overweight, felt hungry most of the time, and did not feel completely satisfied emotionally. I realized I had a few unhealthy eating habits learned from my family, who has always struggled with their weight. I was engaged and am now married. I realized during the first few weeks that I wanted to take charge of my life and gain healthier habits so that I could be a good example for our future children.

Ali opened so many doors for me. I learned about myself, tuned into my body, started prioritizing my life consistently and found terrific resources for healthy food (places to shop, restaurants, and information). Through our work together, I have found so many things that I enjoy (cooking, learning French, etc.) and how to incorporate them into my life. Over the first six months, I discovered and began:

-Enjoying life even more though confronted with more challenges and stressful
situation
-Learning about so many different foods, resources, and activities
-Being able to stay away from unnatural over processed foods (I began being able
to taste high fructose corn syrup in foods)
-Continuously making choices based on my priorities
-Stop biting my nails, which I have done for as long as I can remember

After the six-month program, I continued meeting with Ali to help keep me in check and discover new things to add to my life. I am excited to say that I lost some weight during my busiest time of year which is when I usually gain weight – woohoo!

~ Jessica Fox, New York City

Christa’s Success

Ali has been an outstanding partner on my journey to better health. Her innovative approach and unique integrative health counseling method have helped me lose weight and improve my overall fitness level. I highly recommend her to anyone who would like to improve their health.

~ Christa Cordova, Stamford, CT