The science behind Intermittent Fasting is simple: when you fast, your body enters a metabolic state called ketosis that helps you burn fat more efficiently. This means fewer cravings and more weight loss over time. Intermittent fasting has other long-term health benefits, like improving cognitive performance, boosting immunity, and reducing inflammation. Intermittent fasting also activates autophagy - the body’s natural process of detoxification.

Does it feel like 2023 is moving at warp speed? The start of the new year brings a flurry of resolutions – fresh plans to get healthy, exercise, eat better, and shed those extra pounds. But by the end of February…a lot of us are sheepishly looking in the mirror and admitting we've fallen off the wagon. Or we've been relatively consistent (80/20 rule, right?!), but we've hit that dreaded weight loss/inch loss plateau. Ugh! Both can rob us of our motivation. Don't give up – resolutions don't have expiration or use-by dates! 

Let's Get Things Moving In the Right Direction 

The first issue of not carrying through with our January resolutions is an easy one to solve. 

• Was your resolution overly ambitious? Recalibrate it and start again.

• Was it unworkable with your life? Set a better plan that works for the real you (be honest with yourself – nobody eats salad every day.)
• Were you just not into it? Hey, today's a new day, and you can try again -- no harm, no foul. 

 

As for the second challenge, if you've hit a weight loss/inch loss plateau, here are some things to consider:

• Muscle weighs more than fat, so don't just obsess over the number on your scale. A scale is a tool, but so is your tape measure. You might find that you're losing inches and transforming your fat mass into lean muscle mass, which means the scale might go up.
• Stabilizing your blood sugar levels and getting enough food and healthy fats can help break a plateau. It sounds counterintuitive, but you've got to get healthy fat to get fit, and you've got to help your body burn fat as fuel rather than cannibalizing muscle or feeding it cheap, fast fuel like sugar. Fat and fiber can be your secret weapons.
• More water can break the weight loss/ inch loss wall too. Focusing on your water intake rather than obsessing about calories will help you achieve your weight loss/ inch loss goals. 

You may be thinking, "How much water do you REALLY think I can drink?!" We have a notion that eight eight-ounce glasses a day will do it – hot tip: that's not 100% true.

Let's dive into why these three simple concepts can be your key to getting back on track.

 

Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

You've probably heard this a million times, but it bears repeating – especially if you're feeling disillusioned. You lose up to four pounds of fat for every pound of muscle you gain! 

Muscle is much more dense than fat, meaning it takes up less space but still holds the same mass. Think of muscle as one big heavy brick versus fat being an entire stack of light foam blocks. Your scale can't reflect that difference, but your tape measure can!

Unlike fat, your muscles do more with less, giving you more strength, endurance, and superior overall performance. More muscle also increases your metabolism because muscles keep on keeping on, and that requires energy…from fat. So, the trick is to ensure your muscles are burning fat for energy rather than robbing Peter (your own Muscle) to pay Paul (your muscles doing essential work that keeps you alive, like keeping your heart beating, your lungs breathing, and your digestive system moving things out rather than letting them ferment in your gut.)  

We tend to obsess about our bodies' rainy-day fat stores. Our bodies store extra fat for energy in places on our bodies that don't get a lot of action – our hips, our knees, our elbows, etc. – in anticipation that we might need that fuel for a fast getaway sometime in the future.  

Thankfully we don't have to escape the saber-tooth tiger too often anymore, we have access to a steady supply of food, and we really don't have those rainy days anymore.

 

How Your Blood Sugar Contributes to Weight Gain – And Weight Loss

Maintaining an even blood sugar level can help break through a plateau. One easy change is eating low glycemic foods so that we aren't fueling the blood sugar roller coaster. We can also increase our gut flora with good microbes that don't encourage sugar cravings.  

If we don't manage our blood sugar levels, it can increase appetite, feed our cravings for more and more sugary foods, and make it difficult to reach our weight loss goals. High blood sugar levels cause more glucose to stay in the bloodstream than is necessary. Your body "banks" the excess energy by storing that extra sugar in your fat cells for that rainy day. 

While glucose is necessary for our bodies to function well, it's important not to flood the body with it. We often overlook foods that look like starches but convert to sugar. We console ourselves by thinking we're not eating "that much refined sugar." 

Did you know that a bagel and cream cheese convert to more sugar than if you'd just eaten a slice of chocolate cake? So, it's important to identify the hidden sugars in our diet and find ways to substitute other foods that make us happy or to blunt their impact.

 

An easy way to blunt the effects of sugar in your body is by adding more fiber to your diet (nobody really gets the USRDA of 28 grams of fiber a day, let's be honest.) Fiber helps with blood sugar in a couple of ways. First, it gives you a feeling of satiety (the signal to your brain that you feel satisfied and full.) Second, prebiotic fiber feeds your good gut bacteria and helps crowd out the bad actors that love sugar and manipulate your hormones and brain to crave more of it (now you know part of the reason you get cravings.) Third, it balances blood sugar by slowing digestion and making it more even throughout the day. This prevents blood sugar spikes and troughs like the famous three o'clock sugar low that causes so many people to faceplant at their desks. Adding more soluble fiber to your daily intake can help improve gut health, reduce belly fat, reduce inflammation, and improve insulin sensitivity, all of which can contribute to healthy weight management. 

 

Another Key To Losing Weight? Fatten Up Your Diet.

We went through a phase when fad diet experts told us to cut out fat if we wanted to get fit. Boy, did they miss the mark on that one! Fats are an essential part of any healthy eating plan. From fueling brain function and supporting cell growth to providing important vitamins and minerals, fats are one of the macronutrients that help us get moving. Olive oil, avocados, nuts, and fatty fish like salmon are great sources of essential nutrients, and their fat content helps us feel fuller for longer.

Fat also helps us absorb certain vitamins and can give us long-term energy. They also help us feel fuller faster, so we eat less. And, as any cook will tell you, the flavor is in the fat. Interestingly when the no-fat diet foods hit the markets, they tasted horrible. To make them more palatable, food engineers added sugar to make them more marketable. Now in hindsight, we've learned what a health disaster that was.  

Polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats help reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol levels and maintain proper hormone balance. There's even recent research that points to inflammation being a contributing factor to depression.

 

"I'll Have Another--Thanks!"

While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how much water a person should drink each day, a commonly cited recommendation is to drink at least 2 liters (or about 8 cups) of water per day. This recommendation is based on the average amount of water a healthy adult might need to replace the fluids lost through sweat, urine, and other bodily functions. 

It's fairly obvious that the "average adult" benchmark is a pretty wide range! In truth, the amount of water a person needs to drink is dictated by several factors: age, sex, body weight, activity level, and climate. For example, if you are exercising, pregnant, and living in a hot and humid climate, you need to drink a lot more water to stay properly hydrated.

 

For a more accurate general recommendation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that men consume approximately 3.7 liters (125 ounces) and women consume about 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of total water per day, including water from food and other beverages, not just water itself. Another good rule of thumb is to use half your weight in ounces from all sources as a baseline for your basic water intake need. 

So how does water help you break a weight loss/inch loss plateau? Drinking more water can help you reduce your calorie intake, boost your metabolism, enhance your exercise stamina and performance, and reduce water retention. That last one probably made you cock your head – reduce water retention? It's true. When you are dehydrated, your body holds onto water in an effort to conserve it. This leads to water retention, which can make you feel bloated and cause the number on the scale to go up. Increasing your water intake can reduce water retention and flush out excess water weight.

If you're stuck in a plateau, more water is often your secret weapon to breaking it. It's important to listen to your body and drink enough water to stay hydrated based on your own unique needs and then give it a little boost with some extra hydration to help your body get rid of that excess weight. To turbocharge water's benefits, combine it with increased prebiotic fiber in your diet. The benefits of both used together are more significant than just each alone.

 

An easy way to get more fiber into your diet is Ready Fiber. Our clear, liquid, unflavored fiber stirs into your coffee, juice, tea, or smoothie easily. You can add it to pancakes, waffles, and muffins. Just one ounce provides 12 grams of soluble fiber! Ready Fiber contains SoluPure™, a proprietary blend of polydextrose (soluble dietary fiber) and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Another bonus of Ready Fiber* is that FOS naturally sweetens anything it's added to without increasing sugar, so you get the added flavor without a blood sugar spike. In fact, you get just the opposite. And, don't worry, if you don't drink down Ready Fiber mixed into a liquid right away, you won't need a chisel to clean things up like other fiber supplement products.

 

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.  

 

Lisa Moretti is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN), the largest nutrition school in the world. She was at the top of her cohort in 2015. She's been involved in the natural health and supplement world professionally since 1981.

We all know stress is terrible for your health but it can dramatically impact your digestive health!  If you find yourself wound up and bound up, there are effective ways to bring down the stress and that sh*t go. Ashwagandha, the time-tested adaptogen used for centuries, may be your answer.  See how and why.

Our bodies are efficient…and miraculous. The ability to extract energy from food is a fascinating biochemical process.

The digestive process is complex but truly amazing; it begins as soon as we see food and that food enters the mouth. Breakdown begins immediately with our saliva, our bodies move things along on to the stomach with its harsh stomach acid and then it breaks down further with enzymes in the small intestine. When it reaches the large intestine/colon, it is condensed into a mass that is ready to leave the body through the rectum, and then it's out the anus as poop. The liquids that have been processed, absorbed, and sent to the bloodstream circulate through the kidneys for filtration and cleaning. That waste is turned into pee and sent to the bladder.

Poop and pee health 101 -- what's normal?

The average person produces between 3-21 ounces of poop every day depending on body weight. Healthy poop should be easy to pass with minimal effort. Your stool color should be a light shade of brown and have the consistency of peanut butter. Urine output varies drastically depending on the amount of water you’re consuming but typically ranges from 4-8 cups per day.

As you eat, your body begins to break down the food to extract the essential nutrients our bodies need from food. Water in our foods is absorbed as it is pushed along by the muscles of the digestion tract (called peristalsis) and sent to the bloodstream and urinary system.

Next, the half-digested mass is moved along through the small intestine until, finally, waste is packaged into solid forms by the large intestine before being expelled as poop. Water and nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream with the kidneys acting as natural filters that eventually create pee.

A clean gastrointestinal tract is essential for optimal health, nutrient absorption, and our overall wellbeing. When we aren't functioning well internally, it can impact our physical and mental health! On average, between 10 and 30 grams of waste gets stuck in the digestive system daily; that’s around 1 to 4 teaspoons!

Generally speaking, it is normal to poop one to three times a day; anywhere within this range is considered healthy. If you don't have three bowel movements a day, don't worry or reach for laxatives. Healthy poop frequency can vary due to many factors. In terms of urine production, you should aim to produce between 4-8 cups of pee a day if you are adequately hydrated. If you aren’t making enough or too much, it may mean something isn’t quite right.

Fun fact: you never actually empty your bladder completely! If you did your bladder walls would stick to each other which can cause infections. Whenever you pee, you actually only empty half of your bladder's contents. Interestingly, the PACs (proanthocyanidins) in cranberry have been shown to prevent the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) from being able to adhere to the urinary tract and bladder's walls. The clinical level needed is 36 mgs of PACs per dose.

Uh, things look and smell a little weird. When should I be worried?

Symptoms that something might be wrong with your digestive functions include constipation, bloating, abdominal pain and discomfort, heartburn, and changes in stool smell, consistency, and color and/or urine color, smell, or consistency along with urge and/or frequency. Constipation is when your system becomes blocked or slowed down and is defined as pooping fewer than three times a week.

Changes in color like green poop, black stool, or undigested foods (except corn) can indicate everything from red blood cells to too much bile to too much fat to malabsorption issues to gallbladder issues. But before you freak out, consider too that what you recently ate can also cause changes. Foods like beets and tomato juice and even food colorings can make things look different.

When it comes to urine, be alert to whether your pee is cloudy or dark in color; it means your body doesn't have enough water for proper hydration. Changes in smell are also alerts; if your pee smells yeasty, you may have a UTI. Remember too though that foods like asparagus and garlic can make your pee smell different, changes can also be a side effect of medications. Getting dehydrated can also make your pee smell more intensely.

In total, getting enough fluids every day is vital for urinary and digestive health.

Where things can go wrong...

Because of how the digestive tract is designed, waste can build up in pockets along the walls of the large intestine. Diverticulosis will begin if these pockets become inflamed because they are filling with waste that’s not moving along. This is a condition where the pockets swell like a bicycle innertube that bulges with too much air. Unattended, it will become diverticulitis resulting in a full-blown infection. The result can be fever, pain, and nausea. Diverticulosis affects about 10% of people over 40 and 50% over 60. Almost everyone over 80 has diverticulosis. (Read more at The Cleveland Clinic's Website)

Fun fact: because the acids in your stomach are so powerful in order to digest the foods you eat, they can also digest the lining of your intestinal tract! Your body digestive linings regenerate every five to seven days! If the breakdown and rebuilding cycle gets out of phase, ulcers can develop along with signs like acid reflux and heartburn.

How to clean that sh*t up!

If you are eating high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, drinking enough water throughout the day, and engaging in regular physical activity and your digestive system isn’t moving smoothly—you need to take action. There are easy steps you can take to produce poops on a regular schedule to stay healthy and happy!

A gentle cleanse and system detox when things aren't working or being proactive with a seasonal cleanse are great ways to stay on track, regular, and clear of toxins. You'll also ensure your investment in good eating pays off with optimal nutrient absorption from a healthy digestive tract.

Take care to choose a cleansing product that is gentle. Three-day cleanses are very hard on the body. The optimal program helps you move things out of your system regularly without leaving you sprinting for the bathroom, getting diarrhea, or causing a rollercoaster of constipation and feelings of blockage followed by watery pooping. (If you are dealing with IBS, be sure to consult a doctor before starting any kind of cleanse.) You could notice some changes in your bowel habits but a gentle cleanse will quickly rebalance to healthy poop consistency and normal pooping frequency as your body acclimates itself.

And, of course, for general gut health, be sure to keep well-hydrated. Keep an eye on the colors in your toilet bowl – your urine and poop can tell a lot about the current state of your health and if you have cause for concern. (See below for The Bristol Stool Chart of types of poop, color, and texture.) And ensure that you get enough fiber too. Most of us don’t meet the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day – UCSF Department of Health estimates that most American adults only get 15 grams of dietary fiber daily.

Diet, water intake, and exercise all play a role in keeping the assembly line from getting stuck, slow, or stopped. Knowing how to help your digestive system work at maximum efficiency will help ensure that your system runs smoothly and that you avoid any unwelcome issues with your elimination.

Next….

For a gentle but highly gratifying cleanse and detox, try Sculpt N'Cleanse.

To help you meet your daily recommended intake of fiber, try Ready Fiber - hot tip - it makes anything you add it to taste sweeter without adding any sugar (it's great in coffee or tea!)

For a funny and fascinating deep dive into digestion, check out acclaimed science writer Mary Roach's book, "Gulp" 

Lisa Moretti is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN), the largest nutrition school in the world. She was at the top of her cohort in 2015. She's been involved in the natural health and supplement world professionally since 1981.

We've all done it. Sitting in class, eating your lunch, during a movie, in a meeting, shopping, at a nightclub, on the elevator, on a date (!!), under the covers, even just some walkabout "crop dusting"…at some point, we've all passed gas.

Farting (aka flatulence) is totally normal, and it turns out it's actually good for you.

Intestinal gas is a natural by-product of digestion. Farts and burps are the body's way of venting excess air or gas from the digestive system. You may have noticed that you tend to pass more gas when you eat certain foods. That's because some foods contain more gas-producing components than others. Passing gas indicates that your digestive system is functioning as it should.

Burping is the upward release of stomach gases and typically happens if you've swallowed air. Some lifestyle habits encourage burping, like drinking carbonated beverages, eating too fast, smoking, and chewing gum. Our bodies tend to release gas more through farting than burping, so if you find yourself burping a lot, get checked out. Too much burping can be a sign of ulcers, gallbladder problems, a hiatal hernia, lower esophageal sphincter issues, or even erosion of the esophagus. That said, a big belch can be very gratifying and in some cultures is considered a compliment to the chef.

So What's a Fart? 

Just a turd honking for the right of way!

Okay, that's a bad "dad joke," but let's look at what's behind the gas you're letting out.

Gases like carbon dioxide and hydrogen are released as a by-product of food digestion. But excess gas can be caused by things like eating certain foods (like onions and dairy products), bacterial fermenting in the large intestine, swallowing too much air (when talking, eating, drinking, or even chewing gum), and even an imbalance in your gut bacteria or a digestive disorder.

On average, a person passes gas up to 14 times per day. This is because the friendly bacteria in your gut are constantly at work breaking down complex sugars and starches. Most of the time, passing gas is nothing to be concerned about; you probably don't even notice it half the time. However, if you're experiencing excessive flatulence and are farting consistently more than 20 times a day or if it's resulting in abdominal pain or discomfort, it may be time to talk to your doctor. You may have an underlying medical issue like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) that could be causing the increased gas production.

For most of us, our gut produces one to four pints of gas per day. If you're experiencing excessive gas and bloating, it could be some of the foods cause gas as they digest than others – like vegetables that begin with the letter b or c and every kid's favorite – the fruit that makes you toot - beans!

Time for another dad joke? Okay! Why should you always count out 239 beans for your chili? Because otherwise, it will be two-fauty. (This one goes over big if you live in Boston!)

What happens when a fart gets stuck?

Sometimes our bodies produce excess gas, or we have a blockage like constipation or an obstruction. This can result in trapped gas in our digestive tract. (Fun side note – in the Urban Dictionary, trapped gas is a slang term for farting in a car and rolling all the windows up to gas out your fellow passengers.)

Trapped gas often feels like a sharp, stabbing pain and typically comes on suddenly. Many people are caught so off-guard they go to the ER for help. About 5% of the trips to the ER every year are for abdominal pain. Gas that builds up on the left of the colon can radiate to your chest, and you might think you're having a heart attack. Gas on the right side of the colon feels like an appendicitis attack or gallstones.

Gas trapped in your abdomen, can make you feel like you're in a scene from the movie "Alien" – your stomach area can bloat, you'll feel acute discomfort, and you keep expecting a creature to explode from your gut.

When it comes to abdominal pain, it's better to be safe than sorry; however before heading out to an expensive ER visit, try some of these:

• Walk around a bit
• Massage your abdomen
• Do some deep squats – try swaying side to side for some added stretch
• Breathe slowly and deeply from your diaphragm so your belly expands on the inhale, and then pull your gut in on the exhale.
• Try some yoga poses like Child's Pose or Happy Baby Pose.

Ladies, What About the Other Kind of Farts….

Sometimes when we pass gas, those farts can redirect themselves to other parts of the female anatomy. Medically this is no big deal, but we girls have developed some fun new names for this, like "vart," "exiting through the gift shop," "cooter pooter," and "retweeting." The same rules of the road apply; however, if you're experiencing an actual vaginal fart, you may want to visit your OB/GYN to be safe. 

When To See A Doctor

If you're experiencing excessive intestinal gas (more than 20 noticeable farts in a day) or feel that your farts are getting trapped too frequently or last a long time, it may be time to check in with a doctor. Likewise, if your tooting is accompanied by unexplained weight loss, blood in your stool, diarrhea, vomiting, excessive and continuous heartburn, or a loss of appetite, it's definitely time to get checked out!

Some things your doctor might suggest are increasing your fluid intake, adding more fiber to your diet as an over-the-counter supplement or as food, and addressing constipation if that's part of the issue. If your physician suspects you have an infection, you may need to take an antibiotic.

Our bodies are miraculous but sometimes surprising machines.

Rather than feeling shame about the things it does – that we all do – like pooping, peeing, farting, and burping, if we can accept our sounds and smells, we'll be more relaxed about them. That's not to say you should just rip a big one at the next dinner party; it's more to say if one sneaks out… don't freak out.

3 Things We Can Do To Help

Try Sculpt N Cleanse to clear out and detox a build-up of waste and overgrowth of gas-causing bacteria from it.

Get more fiber with liquid Ready Fiber. Just 2 teaspoons provide half of your Recommended Daily Allowance of fiber.

Use Restorit if you find yourself anxious and tired all the time.

Lisa Moretti is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN), the largest nutrition school in the world. She was at the top of her cohort in 2015. She's been involved in the natural health and supplement world professionally since 1981.