Just finishing up my first week facilitating my GRIT July 2021 class in which we covered SMARTER goals and guess what? Everyone in the course has an imbalance in their lives, whether it be not getting enough sleep, not eating enough healthy whole foods, or not being able to find time to get moving.
Yes, this is a problem in our daily lives and I know I am not telling you anything new. However, what I want to talk about is this notion of energy imbalance and how it is impacting us in very negative ways.
Let’s get some definitions down first before we dive in. Energy imbalance is defined as not using or creating enough energy during the day, which affects levels of energy throughout the day. Most of this is caused by poor nutrition or sleep patterns and not being physically active, or having enough “me” time.
Energy imbalance is also when the difference between the number of calories consumed and the number expended daily, will either contribute to weight gain or loss and a chronic imbalance will cause a change in weight overall. Not usually good, either.
Another interesting way to look at energy imbalance is Ayurvedically. In Ayurvedic medicine, there are (3) doshas - vata, pitta, kapha - which correspond to different types of energy. The air element guides vata energy, which regulates our body movement, both internally and externally. Kapha is associated with the earth and our sturdiness and form in the world. The third dosha, pitta, is aligned with the fire element, and hence our metabolism, how efficiently we metabolize what we ingest. When any, or all, of these doshas are imbalanced, dis-ease will manifest.
Speaking of disease, this nugget really got my attention today. I was listening to a podcast about health, and it stated that 30% of all cancers are caused by tobacco smoking (no surprise there). What was surprising is what came next - the #2 cause of cancer was “energy imbalance”. What??
I listened further and the guest stated that obesity, too many calories ingested, and not enough exercise was the three-legged stool causing a substantial number of cancers. He also suggested that as smoking continues to go down, by the end of this decade the #2 cause would become #1. Scary!
Another name for this is metabolic syndrome, which I have spoken of many times before on my blog, which is heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity and diabetes - all caused by lifestyle. And can almost always be reversed by lifestyle changes.
Needless to say, I am glad to be at the forefront of helping people change their behaviors to embrace a more healthy lifestyle and help them mitigate the negative impact of energy imbalance (or metabolic syndrome).
This second week of GRIT the group is embarking on a way of eating that crowds out bad choices and replaces them with whole unprocessed foods, and substantially reduces the sugar in our diet. Eye-opening! Join my waitlist for September now, before it fills up.
And I am excited to share that soon I will be launching an improved 90 -day coaching program, with metabolic testing at the beginning and the end, and a comprehensive health protocol in between, to make lasting lifestyle changes you can now measure. I am doing it myself beforehand and will keep you posted on my personal progress and outcomes. You know I am always my best guinea pig (as is the unwitting husband).
Stay healthy!