(Part 1 of a 3-Part Series)

The Pitfalls of Weight-Loss Coaching

George was a life coach who consulted with clients about weight loss, diet and nutrition.  One of his long-time clients (we’ll call her Sally) could not lose weight, no matter what she did.  George tried everything to help Sally, starting with divulging to her the “secrets” he was taught that provide the basis for any weight loss program:

1) Eat less and

2) Exercise more. 

George and Sally spent weeks and months on her program, starting with a sensible change of lifestyle, i.e., eating smaller portions, cutting out all sweets and carbs, avoiding foods that kicked up her allergies, adding various vitamins, minerals and herbs, taking a daily walk around the park, and  going to the gym twice a week for a more thorough workout.

Nothing seemed to work.

Despite a few dips here and there, Sally’s weight remained pretty much constant throughout the period of coaching.  Still, she continued to see George in hopes of making some kind of breakthrough.  He added to her routine a few mindset methods like hypnosis, affirmations, NLP and tapping, but nothing seemed to help much.  Sally was getting frustrated and George finally had to admit his coaching didn’t appear to be getting to the core issue of her problem.

George finally suggested Sally go see a doctor.

Desperate to loss weight, Sally obliged and went to see her family medical doctor.  After a thorough examination and extensive blood testing, the doctor came to the conclusion that she was fairly healthy, but could benefit from gastric bypass surgery.

The rest of the story is fairly predictable.  Sally had the surgery, lost several pounds, but after a few months starting gaining weight again, had constant heartburn, and had little energy throughout the day.  Although never became as heavy as she was before she couldn’t say she felt better about it.

Success?  Some would say so.  Some would call it a farce . . . that Sally never had to have this surgery in the first place!  In other words, is there really another way to help Sally that George could have recommended instead??

Alternative Solutions

Alternative thinking about weight loss is the focus of this article.  WHAT IF we could lose weight – naturally and completely – without resorting to invasive methods like surgery?  WHAT IF there were a way – as a life coach – to help these people get results they could never get otherwise?  WHAT IF . . ?  The possibilities are endless.

Keeping with this theme, I present the information below and in this series to give you, as a life coach or consultant, additional resources you might add to your search for the perfect plan to help clients.

DISCLAIMER:  This article is not about prescribing a cure or dispensing  medical advice.  All people are different, and no one can say what a person needs except those trained as a health professional and who conduct a thorough examination and case history.  When in doubt, consult with your doctor or other health professional before acting on any advice given herein.

As a life, health or weight loss coach, you no doubt emphasize these two major cornerstones to healthy living . . . as you should.  Over the decades, this simple formula was expanded to include the kinds of foods to eat, and the best kinds of exercise to do for different body types, blood types, ancestral genome type . . . you name it.  Basically, the eat-less-and-exercise-more formula remains intact.

You probably already know there are other factors that contribute to weight gain or weight loss.  Some of these factors, however, will often elude all but the most diligent researchers.  These are the so-called “hidden” factors . . . and are labeled that way mostly because vested interests don’t want you to know about them!  This is the stuff you really need to know about, however, if you want to make a difference in your own – and your clients’ – weight loss regimen.

Secret #1:  Eating Fat Does Not Makes You Fat

A common myth is that eating fat makes you fat.  This is only true in certain situations.

Below are a few scientifically-solid facts that can really make a difference in the results you and your clients can achieve.  This is an excerpted passage from Healing Is Voltage: The Handbook, by Jerry Tennant, MD, MD(H), PSc.D under the section heading Eating Fat and Obesity:

“The next issue is the belief that eating fat will make you fat.  The truth is that eating plastic fat (trans fats, canola oil) makes you fat.  If you make cell membranes from plastic fats, you will keep eating because your cells are starving even while they are coated with glucose that can’t get into the cell.

“Also, eating plastic fats makes a liver that won’t work leading to [an] inability to manage your metabolism.  Eating plastic fats makes a brain that can’t control your endocrine system, causing your thyroid, adrenals, pancreas, and gonads to malfunction.  The paradox is that eating more good fat and stopping plastic fats causes you to become your normal weight.

“To digest fat, you must have bile.  The liver normally makes one and one-half quarts of bile per day.  Because it makes so much, it needs a storage tank,  That is the function of the gall bladder.

“When you eat a fatty meal, the gall bladder must empty bile into the intestines to digest it.  If you don’t have enough bile, eating fat makes you nauseated.  If your liver can’t work well because it is made of plastic or is full of toxins, it can’t make enough bile.  If you have a gall bladder that is full of muddy debris because it rarely gets emptied, or if your gall bladder is missing, you will not have enough bile to digest the fats you eat.

“As you can see, this becomes a vicious cycle.  You can’t repair your liver without eating and absorbing enough fat (about 0.1 to 0.2 pounds per day).  You can’t eat enough fat if you don’t have enough bile because a lack of bile means you will be nauseated when you try to eat fat, and even if you keep it down, you can’t absorb it.

“The secret is to take bile supplements with each meal until your liver is repaired enough to make bile normally.  You can get ‘Ox Bile’ at most health food stores.  If you don’t have a gall bladder, you must take bile supplements with every meal the rest of your life or you won’t be able to make normal cells.  That means you will be sick.”

Stay Tuned . . .

In the next blog post (Part 2), I will cover the role that your thyroid plays in weight loss . . . and how lab tests almost always get it wrong!