Submitted by Dr. Daryl Bourke

The natural way to lose weight and maintain permanent weight loss is to follow the laws of nature. These laws state that in order to maintain your body weight you must burn as many calories as you consume. Attempting reducing calorie intake alone can be a poor form of dieting which will lead to poor results and possibly damage to the body. If you want to lose weight without “dieting” then you have to increase the calories you burn and this requires exercise.

If you were to eat the same amount of food and exercise the same way your whole life, you would still on an average gain half a pound of body weight per year after age 30 due to the body’s natural metabolic slow down. After age 25 the body starts to produce less hormones and enzymes which reduce our youthful zest. If you engage in a short term starvation diet and then return to your old eating habits, not only are you doomed to fail but will damage your metabolism in the process. If attempt a diet that is too restrictive it is unlike you will stay on the diet and you will regain weight lost. In short you don’t want to be on a “diet,” you want to change your lifestyle.

Changing your lifestyle would include slowly modifying your eating habit over a period of time that will allow you to enjoy the new foods you are eating make you healthier. When planning a weight lose program not only do you need to change what you eat and how much you eat, but you also have to take into consideration the inevitable slowing down of your metabolism, the a natural decease in the body’s production of enzymes and hormones. So in addition to changing what and how you eat ideally you would want to also slow the decrease of the body’s metabolism, hormone production and enzyme production.

Weight loss should begin with slow modifications to eating habits; changes which you will enjoy or at least can live with are best. We know that eating right makes you feel better and look better, but healthy eating does take time and effort. You will have to spend more time planning and preparing your meals. I have found the challenge that patients have with weight management is that they do not know how to prepare healthy food.

Try to eat more ethnic foods which rely more on spices for flavour, as opposed to the sugar, fat and salt found in North American cuisine. There are additional health benefits in trying ethnic food. If you look at a the ingredients for an East Indian dish for example you find that many of the spices are the same as those found in a book on Botanical Medicine (Herbs) for the treatment of digestive problems. Keep this in mind that what you choose to eat can either increase your health or damage it.

Ideally your weight lose should be no more than one to one and a half pounds per week. If you have been on a yo-yo diet you may have damaged your metabolism. I have seen patients on a 1200Kcal diet who are not able to lose weight. In cases like these the damage to the patient’s metabolism would have to be corrected before weight loss can occur. You should not use a weight scale to measure the progress of your weight loss, instead see how your cloths feel. Lean muscle weighs more that fat so you could exchange the fat for muscle and weigh the same even though your body fat percentage has deceased and you are healthier.

In addition to changing your diet you need to make your body into a fat burning machine, this means increasing your metabolism, also increasing the production enzymes and hormones which burn fat. There are two ways of achieving this: you could increase the amount of exercising you do, or you could use Far Infrared Sauna Therapy (F.I.R.S.T.).

Far Infrared Sauna Therapy (F.I.R.S.T.) will accelerate the body’s metabolism; also increase enzyme and hormone production. You can burn off approximately 800 Calories during a Far Infrared Sauna Therapy (F.I.R.S.T.) session.

Natural Laws of Weight Loss

1. Eat small meals frequently through the day, at least three meals per day.
2. Have a good breakfast to kick start your metabolism, a substantial lunch and a smaller meal at dinner.
3. No late night snacking, by eating a good breakfast, and skipping the mid-night snack you will lose more weight.
4. Drink at least 4 glasses of pure water per day; your urine should be very light yellow if you drink enough H2O.
5. Take a good multivitamin/mineral supplement and anti-oxidant.
6. Avoid caffeine and especially soda pop even if it is diet pop.
7. Drink diluted fruit juice, vegetable juice and herbal teas like Ginseng, Chamomile and Peppermint.
8. Get at least eight hours of good sleep, this will help the body to repair itself and give you more energy the next day.
9. Decrease your salt intake, try switching to Potassium Chloride instead of Sodium Chlo ride and using more spices.
10. Avoid excessive use of alcohol, although relaxing before the meal with a glass of wine can be beneficial.