Cracking Your Body's Code: The Metabolic Balance Approach to Lasting Wellness

Do you feel like you’ve tried ALL the diets, health trends and superfoods only to find yourself circling back to ground zero again? You’re not alone. This endless loop of fad diets, instagram trends, ‘what I eat in a day’ commentary has led a lot of women feeling lost when it comes to releasing weight.

On the flip side of this I’ve witnessed women feeling ashamed and shamed for wanting to lose weight. It sucks either way and leaves women feeling a sense of damed if they do, damed if they don’t.

I want to remind you that it’s no ones business but your own what you do with your body, with your health and with your own spiritual growth and healing journey. Trends, fads and different movements can leave you feeling depleted and less than but always remember that YOU have the answers within and you know what’s right for you.

At this point I really want to emphasise that I am not in the business of making you a super model, nor am I interested in summer bodies or shredding kgs to look a certain way. What I want for you is to feel good in your skin.

I want you to wake up feeling hungry and ready for your day. For you to enjoy a delicious and nourishing breakfast, move your body in a way thats right for you and feel full of energy and ready to start your day. I want you to flow through your day feeling comfortable and happy. I want for you to enjoy your lunch and look forward to your dinner. To taste the flavours. To let yourself feel hungry and then nourished.

My dream for you is that your body feels light. Your mind feels light. You feel joyful and have a positive relationship with food again. You are making delicious and healthy choices that fuel your body and you have control over your life again. I want you to sparkle, to glow.

This isn’t a dream. It’s a reality. I work with so many women who by the end of their 12 weeks with me don’t recognise that woman from the initial consultation. It’s transformative and it’s very real.

So where does it go wrong?

The story often goes, after trying a new diet you might lose a few kgs but as soon as you stop following it, the kgs pile on again. You might even find you feel even puffier and worse than before. The reason being? Fad diets don’t really work. Standard dietary advice (often tailored for men and not women in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s) do not cater to your individual needs at all and leave you feeling confused (the calorie myth anyone).

The Downfall of Traditional Diets

Although traditional diet programs usually make big claims, they rarely furnish sustainable results. There is a reason for this.

One-size-fits-all Approach

Imagine buying a pair of “one size fits all” shoes. While they might fit some people perfectly, most will find them way too tight or way too loose. The same applies to how traditional diets operate. They rarely take into account personal differences in metabolism, hormones and lifestyle. Studies tell us that 95% of people who lose weight through dieting tend to regain it within one to five years. This happens because they don’t consider the factors that are unique to each person’s weight gain and health status. And let’s face it, some are also just too hard to follow long term.

Quick Fixes

Quick fixes are focused on losing weight really quickly and the number on the scale. This is at the expense of improving your health for good. The National Institute of Health reports that more than two-thirds of dieters regain more weight than they initially lost. In most cases, this way of losing weight doesn’t help you to develop lasting eating patterns or address your health problems. Once these diets are done away with old habits tend to roll back in, leading to….you guessed it - weight gain. This repetitive scenario can be so annoying making it difficult to stay motivated and just leave women feeling confused.

The goal should be metabolic flexibility where your body is efficiently able to switch between different fuel sources like carbs or fats and allow you to burn fat more effectively for weight loss. When your body achieves this flexibility, it becomes easier to tap into fat stores, even when you're not actively dieting. This means you can lose weight more sustainably, without the extreme restrictions often associated with fad diets. Metabolic flexibility also helps regulate hunger hormones and insulin levels, reducing cravings and making it easier to maintain a healthy eating pattern that supports long-term weight management. You can read more about it in an article I wrote here.

Why Personalised Nutrition Works

Maybe I’m bias but I love Metabolic Balance. I love it for myself and I love it for my clients. Metabolic Balance is an alternative to traditional one-size-fits-all diets because it takes into consideration individual variations in metabolism, lifestyle, blood results and what’s going on with you as a women.

Made-To-Fit Plans

Metabolic Balance isn't about dishing out cookie-cutter advice that might work for some but flop for others. Instead, it's all about getting personal with your body's unique needs. This program dives deep into your blood chemistry, measurements and medical history, creating a tailor-made meal plan that's as unique as your fingerprint. It's like having a nutrition plan that speaks your body's language. The beauty of this approach? What works for you might be totally different from what works for your friend, and that's exactly the point. Your body, your rules. Research backs this up too - when you eat what your body actually needs, you're more likely to stick with it and see those kgs melt away for good. It's not just a diet; it's your body's personal blueprint for success. When you're fuelling your body right, based on what it's actually asking for, you're setting yourself up for long-term success and feeling fabulous in your own skin. It also helps you to establish a better relationship with food and deeply understand what a balanced way of eating feels like in your body for the long term.

Clients who work with me using Metabolic Balance as a tool to improve their health usually stick to good dietary habits long after the 12 weeks is over. It’s hard to stop eating well once you know how good your body is designed to feel. Focusing on whole foods and balance meals is the key along with supporting herbs and supplements where needed.

Metabolic Balance isn't just about shedding a few kilos - it's about setting you up for the long haul. Think of it as your body's personal tune-up. By getting your hormones in check and firing up your energy production, you're not just losing weight, you're gaining a whole new lease on life. We're talking about finding that sweet spot where your body hums along at its best, keeping your weight in check and keeps your health markers looking good. The science backs this up. Studies show that when you eat according to your body's unique needs, you're more likely to see those blood sugar and cholesterol levels behave themselves than if you were following some one-size-fits-all diet plan. It's like giving your body a VIP pass to better health, and who doesn't want that?

Gut Health

Now, let's talk gut health - because, let's face it, no self-respecting naturopath would skip this bit. Your gut isn't just along for the ride; it's the VIP in your metabolism's party. By eating a diverse array of real foods tailored just for you, this keeps your gut bugs happy, it's like giving your metabolism a superhero sidekick. Those little microbes in your belly? They're the unsung heroes of weight control and metabolic health (along with so any other benefits). Seriously though, the research is singing their praises left, right, and centre and confirming what naturopaths always knew. Your gut health is fundamental to good health . So, by showing your gut some love, you're not just sorting out your digestion. You're setting the stage for your body to absorb all the good stuff from your food and giving your overall health a massive high five. It's a win-win-win situation.

Scientific Backing: Metabolic Balance Study

Metabolic Balance effectiveness is not mere rhetoric; there are scientific proofs. In an article published by the Journal of nutrition and Metabolism the tittle of which was,” Metabolic balance – a method from which everyone benefits” it was noted that this program is highly effective in terms of both reducing one’s weight as well as enhancing quality of life. The research because done in collaboration with the Quality Management Department at Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. A few takeaways:

With resect to Long term Weight Loss 62.5% participants stayed at least 5% below their starting weight after one year; additional 31.1% lost over 10% from original body weight​

There was also a significant improvement with blood values with a notable change in blood test results depicting an ameliorated metabolic health status among the study subjects​

Enhanced quality of life: Before commencement of the study, only 38% of involved people reported living without encumbrances; over 12 Months nonetheless these figures rose significantly with a drop in severe health challenges from 27% to 11.3%.

Conclusion

Let's be real - you might be at that point where you're thinking, "I've tried everything under the sun, and nothing works Carolyn." But here's the thing: when you've got a plan that's tailored just for you and you are working with a practitioner that is kind and supportive but also knows how to get the best out of you, the real magic happens. I’m talking about results that don't just disappear as soon as you look at a piece of cake (because you should be able to enjoy cake). It's about ditching those one-size-fits-all diets that leave you feeling like a yo-yo and embracing a solution that's as unique as you are. I encourage all the women I work with (and those I haven’t worked with yet) to stop putting up with temporary fixes and confusing fads. I want you feeling happy and healthy for the long haul? Life is short. You don’t know how you’ll be here. You deserve to wake feeling energised, healthy and full of vitality. You deserve to live a really good life and I really want this for you. So even if Metabolic Balance isn’t for you, make a commitment to say goodbye to the diet merry-go-round and work towards a way of eating that feels true to you.

If you are interested in learning more, you are so so welcome to book in a FREE 15 minute discovery call with me. Here we can have a chat about what’s going on with your health and decide if Metabolic Balance is right for you. If not, we can always use one of my other naturopathic tools to get you to where you need to be. I am so excited to connect with you.