Why I love Metabolic Balance® as an Anti-dieting Clinical Naturopath
As a clinical naturopath I am not into diets. I am especially not into fad diets or anything that makes people feel like the objective of life is to be hot and skinny. Because you know what? The concept of being hot and skinny is bullsh*t and spoiler alert, you will never feel good enough if you don't already love yourself for the beautiful human you are! Ok. Rant over.
As a woman born in the 1980’s who grew up in peak diet culture and the era of heroin chic, I have really struggled to get off the hamster wheel of not feeling good enough around my weight. It’s only been in the last few years that body image has improved and I have found acceptance for my beautiful body. Yes, I am slim but I would beat myself up for having thighs with cellulite, wobbly bits or whatever bullsh*t idea I was fixating on at the time. This is why when I first heard about Metabolic Balance® I thought ok, but is this just another “diet” out there that might work for a little bit but eventually yield the same results as every other “diet” on the market?
Not the case as it turned out. The more research I did on Metabolic Balance®, the more excited I became to do the further training and implement it into my clinical practice. My decision was made after a client of mine who I had been seeing for 12 months and who had experienced some positive results with her health, kept steadily putting on weight despite doing all the “right” things. She felt really down about it all and felt like her list of medications and supplements just kept getting longer and longer. I referred her to a friend of mine, a Metabolic Balance® practitioner and clinical nutritionist and the two of them started working together. Fast forward to today and this client's results have been incredible. Yes she lost a lot of weight but what has been even more impressive is the improvements in her blood results and overall health. Oh and the fact that her doctor took her off several medications she thought she would be on for life. Incredible. Her case is not a one off. I have countless examples of women who have had the same success.
This is a common theme for a lot of the women I see. They get to a certain age and it’s like no matter what they do their weight steadily (or sometimes very quickly) starts to increase and they feel incredibly uncomfortable in their own skin. They feel inflamed, may find it hard to move easily and their blood results indicate they have several health issues brewing. Maybe it’s thyroid dysfunction, auto-immune diseases, hormone related issues, infertility, prediabetes. Whatever the case, it’s a problem for a lot of women and the feeling of being out of control no matter what you do is so frustrating.
It also doesn’t help that women are now made to feel guilty if they do need to lose weight because of the “you should love your body at whatever size” rhetoric which is now mainstream. In full disclosure I absolutely think you should love your body at whatever size but it’s become a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation ultimately leaving women feeling guilty……yet again. Like most things its not black and white.Yes love and appreciate your body and size doesn’t matter BUT what does matter is if you can’t move freely because of inflammation, or your list of medications are getting longer or your chronic health conditions are worsening or you’re struggling to get pregnant. Changing the way we eat is less about losing weight and more about improving how you feel.
I am one of these women minus the weight gain who for the last few years had found myself always symptomatic. Feeling tired all the time, hormone issues, moody, anxious, gut issues and always getting sick. You name it, I’ve felt it. BUT I am a naturopath and I am one of those people you would look at and think oh she’s so healthy. I meditate twice a day. I practise yoga daily, I exercise a lot. I don’t drink alcohol. I try to limit my sugar intake (although I am a sugar addict so this is hard). You get the picture. I am doing all the things. Yet my blood results weren’t great and the autoimmune thyroid condition my mother has, had slowly started to knock at my door (go away Hashimotos I don’t want you).
I was also feeling really out of control on a day to day basis, like I couldn’t count on myself for how I would feel on any given day. Would I be moody, anxious, or have low motivation? Would I feel bloated and yucky or pick up another common cold or suffer through ovulation flu like symptoms each month? I felt like I couldn’t plan anything because who knew how future Carolyn would be feeling.
At this point you might be thinking, Carolyn, what hope do I have if even a naturopath is struggling? If someone who appears to be doing all of the “right” things still has these issues? The thing is, health is subjective and there is so much to being healthy. It's not a matter of doing this one thing or taking this magic pill or supplement and everything will be ok. It’s a combination of things. All of this is why I also chose to do Metabolic Balance® myself. I wanted to bridge the gap between my healthy lifestyle and actually feeling healthy and well long into old age. And you know what. It worked for me and I am not surprised at all.
Metabolic Balance ® is designed to make you feel good. It is so much more than your standard weight loss program. Its ethos is around restoring you to a balanced state which allows your body to have the space and environment to really heal properly, not just on a surface level. It teaches you to really feel into how your food choices makes your body feel. Not just like oh my taste buds liked that, but how different foods give you energy, or fill you up. How much food your body really needs to thrive. It helps you to work out where in your life you tend to use food as a crutch. For me, although my snacks would be considered healthy, I was snacking all day and my body was completely inflamed and my digestion sluggish. For myself and for many of my clients we used food as a reward all day, eating for the sake of it because we were bored.
Metabolic Balance® will detox what needs to come out of your body, balance your hormones and may help you to;
Manage your weight
Stabilise blood sugar levels
Reduce your sugar and carb cravings
Increase your energy levels
Improve your gut health helping you to feel lighter, less bloated and ensure you are doing a really good bowel movement every day (super important).
Metabolic Balance® was created by a team of medical doctors and naturopaths and can only be executed by degree qualified medical doctors, naturopaths or nutritionists/dieticians. This makes a big difference. It’s not your run of the mill, DIY detox plan that you read about online, or something your friend tried once and it worked for a bit, or something your PT recommended for weight loss. It’s not a short term solution. It’s also not a quick fix. It is a program that is scientifically backed using your unique blood work to create a personalised nutrition plan just for you. Alongside the plan you have a highly qualified practitioner there to guide you through your plan, tweak anything that needs tweaking and prescribe herbs and practitioner only supplements when needed. If you want to know more about the science side of it all check out my article here. You can also read the research article here.
Some of the other benefits you may experience with Metabolic Balance ® include;
Lose weight and keep it off for good
Reduce inflammation
Balance your hormones
Improve your blood pressure
Restore your nervous system
Reduce your risk of developing serious health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Learn how to use basic whole food ingredients in a whole new way
With the guidance and approval from your medical doctor, reduce or eliminate the need for certain medications (always with the approval of your doctor).
So if you’re struggling right now and any of the above resonates with you, I highly recommend you book a free 15 minute discovery call with me to chat about if Metabolic Balance® is right for you. I am so passionate about sharing this program with people. It's not a fad diet. It’s not a miracle cure. It does take work from your end but the results are incredible and you will feel amazing.