In her book, The Schwarzbein Principle: The Program, Diana Schwarzenbein, MD stresses losing weight the healthy way. The weight loss plan is more of a get healthy plan with weight loss thrown is as a side benefit.
Rebuild and Repair Damaged Metabolism
If you have been overstressing your body with restrictive diets and excessive exercise programs, you have been damaging your metabolism and speeding up your body’s aging process. Once you hit a plateau, your body won’t respond to the stress you are putting on it anymore, making weight loss nearly impossible and risking your overall health.
The Schwarzbein Principle: The Program works to rebuild and repair your body (metabolic regeneration.) It will heal damage done, slow the aging process and prevent more damage from occurring.
The 5 Step Plan
The Schwarzbein Principle: The Program is laid out into a 5 step program:
- Healthy Nutrition. Find balance by eating a variety of foods five times a day without having to count calories.
- Stress Management. Plan downtime into your busy schedule. Take time to relax and aim for eight hours of sleep each night.
- Taper Off Chemicals. Sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and drugs are harmful toxins that you will gradually consume less of as you heal your body.
- Smart Exercise. Overstressing your body with hours of cardio and heavy resistance training breaks down your body rather than building it up. Moderate exercise is a healthier way to lose weight.
- Hormone Replacement Therapy. When your hormones are out of whack, your body won’t function properly. Sometimes hormone replacement is necessary to find the right balance.
More Food, Less Exercise
“Combine decreasing food intake with increasing exercise and you have a recipe for faster disaster known as accelerated metabolic aging.” (23) The key to The Schwarzbein Principle: The Program is to eat more food throughout the day and exercise less to give your body a chance to heal and repair itself. Starvation diets and over-exercising are unhealthy ways to lose weight.
Unhealthy Weight Loss Causes
- Early Death
- Degenerative diseases
- Autoimmune diseases
- Unhealthy bacteria and fungal growth
- Fatigue, dizziness, headaches, pain, constipation and depression
- Sleep disturbances
- Damaged Metabolic System
- Faster Aging
Health First, Then Weight Loss
“You need to be healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to be healthy.” (13) Health should be your first priority with weight loss ranking as a distant second. Don’t fall for false promises or get thin quick schemes.
The answer to a damaged metabolism caused by dangerous diets is to balance carbs and fat, eat and exercise in moderation, manage stress, get better sleep, balance your hormones and let your body heal itself from diet burnout.
Tracy Rose - Tracy Rose is a powerflifter who holds the state record in deadlifting and has had success in her own weight loss journey.
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