1.28.2010

Appetite and Metabolism --- Part 2

Adequate nutrition combined with moderate physical activity automatically keeps our bodies at a healthy set point,a predetermined body fat ratio within a 10-15 pound weight range. Your metabolism is designed to vigorously defend your set point by speeding up or slowing down if its thresholds are threatened.

Hunger is one way your body signals that it needs or wants food. These are very susceptible to stress. Hunger hormones are part of a larger feedback system that tells your body through almost every major body function that it needs to eat. Our fat cells are metabolically active tissue that help us sense "fullness" and regulate our body heat and weight.

How much you eat and when are governed by your brain, your fat cells, and central nervous system which can be highly influenced by your environment. How well you digest your food and rid your body of toxins relies on the helath of your GI tract and other organs. These include your liver, kidneys, and lymphatic system. How efficiently the cells in your body convert food into energy is affected by the health of your respiratory, musculoskeletal, endocrine, and immune systmes.

The reality is, that losing weight really means shifting your point of view away from calories and fat in, calories and fat out, toward a more holistic approach. Our way of life today has confused our biochemistry into accepting what is essentially an "abnormal" state: being unhealthy and overweight.

To permanently lose weight, your body has to feel safe enough to just let go. This means getting all your major systems in your body healthy, for your body relies on these chemical messengers, your hormones, as these regulate metabolism.

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