What your mama never told you about eating your vegetables

As we age, estrogen levels decline which causes inflammation to increase. As inflammation increases, so does unwanted excess belly fat. The more belly fat we have, the more inflammation. 

So, what exactly is inflammation?

Inflammation is the immune system's way of responding to injury or irritants. Chronic inflammation, what we are talking about here, means that your body is responding to problems in your system. This can lead to symptoms that last for months or even years.

When your body is dealing with inflammation it will not release fat readily. So, what can you do?

Let's start with arguably the hardest part, what you put into your body....

What you eat plays a significant role in how your body is able to respond to the changing hormones of peri menopause and menopause. And inflammation is a huge contributor to frustrating stubborn weight and the potential for chronic diseases.

We are not playing games anymore ladies! It is time to pull on your big girl pants and get serious about your health and your wellness. Inflammation causes a wide-range of symptoms but decreasing it is not as hard as you might think. The key is eliminating foods that trigger an inflammatory response in your body as well as adding foods that actively participate in inflammation reduction.

Here's the lowdown on how to support your body in eliminating inflammation:

1. Focus on Anti-Inflammatory foods

Nothing crazy here, just the good stuff! Find ways to add these foods to your daily meal plan: Tomatoes, olive oil, nuts, berries, cherries, oranges, fatty fish, avocados, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Bring real whole foods back into the limelight of your eating plan. 

The low-glycemic focus of the Trim Healthy Mama plan serves as the perfect catalyst as you move away from an inflamed agitated body.

2. Remove inflammatory foods

If it is processed, take it out. Experiment removing the most common inflammatory foods from your meals. If, after excluding that food for about 6 weeks from your diet you notice you are feeling better, then you should choose to stay away from that food. You are not making these changes as a punishment but to bring health and healing to your entire life. 

The most common foods that cause inflammation are wheat, dairy, gluten, corn, soy and eggs.

3. Exercise to decrease inflammation

Please don't read this and think you need to be in the gym for hours every day. I didn't say OVER exercise. 

Movement is key, if you are doing nothing then start with a nice brisk walk every day. If you have a routine, double check that you are not overworking your body by too much cardio. Over exercising will increase the stress on your body which in turn increases the inflammation.

4. Gut Health is key

Your health and weight loss ability is directly connected to your gut health. Start by adding in fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi. Find a good probiotic to increase your gut microbiome. Eat your vegetables to increase your fiber intake. All of these little decisions matter more than you may realize.

5. Manage your stress

Did you know that your body's response to stress is increased cortisol which in turn causes increased inflammation? How, you might ask do I reduce stress in this day and age?

While some stress boils down to choices and decisions that land on your calendar, other stress comes from lack of awareness. Are you aware that late bedtimes are stressful? Are you aware that over exercising is stressful? Are you aware that not taking time to breathe deeply is stressful?

Take an inventory of your day and how you spend your time. What small, manageable changes can you begin to make to reduce stress on your body.

Each step adds up and accumulates to bring your body into a state of less inflammation. Less inflammation becomes the gateway for shedding the weight that just doesn't seem to want to budge.

Making lifestyle and dietary changes will go a long way in reducing any inflammatory-related symptoms.