Metabolic Health Without Extreme Dieting

Sustainable metabolic health doesn't require extreme dieting or deprivation. In fact, the most effective approach is quite the opposite – focusing on balanced nutrition, mindful eating practices, and addressing the root causes of metabolic dysfunction.

Triple board-certified nutritionist Damaris Grossman draws from both professional expertise and personal experience with metabolic challenges to share practical wisdom about creating sustainable health habits. Rather than chasing quick fixes, she emphasizes thinking long-term: "Think about yourself at 20 and think about yourself at 80. What is sustainable for you?"

The balanced plate approach forms the foundation – filling half your plate with fibrous vegetables, a quarter with quality protein, and the remaining quarter with healthy fats. This simple framework naturally supports blood sugar management without complicated calorie counting. Pair this with mindful eating techniques like thorough chewing and eating to 80% fullness, and you'll transform your metabolic function without feeling deprived.

Beyond nutrition, true metabolic wellness encompasses movement, quality sleep, stress management, and gut health optimization. These elements work together to create an environment where your body can thrive metabolically. For those struggling with specific challenges, functional testing can identify personalized interventions addressing the unique factors affecting your metabolism.

The most powerful insight? Small, consistent changes yield profound results over time. By focusing on sustainability rather than restriction, you build habits that support metabolic health through every stage of life. Whether you're managing insulin resistance, addressing inflammation, or simply optimizing your wellness, these principles provide a roadmap for lasting metabolic health without the pitfalls of extreme dieting.

Have questions about your specific metabolic challenges? Reach out for personalized guidance on your journey toward sustainable metabolic wellness.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:25

Hi, how are you? So this today we're talking about in this lesson and discussion about metabolic health and not having extreme dieting. So, yes, we're talking about your endocrine system, your metabolic metabolism and what you can put into your body, and maintaining good metabolic health means that you're following, you know, some sort of healthy way of eating. Now I call it a lifestyle. You know it's about sustainability. So think about yourself at 20 and think about yourself at 80. And what is that sustainable for you? You know it's quite important to understand that this is necessary. What you do for your body at this point is a direct reflection of how you will live long term.

The Balanced Plate Approach

Speaker 1 1:11

Now, having extreme, strict dieting isn't recommended, I mean just in general. Think about that in nutrition. So I'm Damaris Grossman, I'm triple board certified, family, holistic and functional nutrition, and I have really noticed, even just for my own self, a person with obesity in the family and you know, went from skinny to heavy to, you know, genetically all disbalanced and micro balanced, you know. So the yo-yo dieting isn't recommended, right? So I tell people that you know it's all about balance, it's about sustainability and a lifestyle conversation, and that's not always easy to do, but it can promote lasting health and can promote a natural way of thinking. So when you look at the different lessons that talked about behavior and what you eat and your exercise, you put little pieces of that every day. That's why I'm very big on saying a mindful way each and every day we do little mindful steps each and every day you will get sustainability. I'm not a bodybuilder but I would like to be healthy every single day and I want to do active things to keep myself there instead of the old self of unhealthy options and unhealthy things and choices that I've done. And that's not just food, but that's like even like toxic relationships, environmental things, and you know trying not to expose myself into that.

Speaker 1 2:41

So let's start with prioritizing obviously balanced foods, so whole foods, you know, as much as you can, and I, at any budget you can do this, I tell you a hundred percent. It doesn't always have to be organic, but I want you to think you go get some lettuce, you go get some fruit, you go get some vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, even if it's not like the perfect veggies, the perfect things. I would rather you just get the whole foods and cook it at home than just buying the junk and and you do. That in itself is going to be better than concerning yourself if it's organic, um, because like just getting some quinoa, some sweet potatoes, you know some good oats and some beans and some rice, I mean that in itself is sustainable. Than you know, uh, these prepackaged junk foods out there and then from. Than you know these prepackaged junk foods out there and then from there, you know, after you've made your meal, you know not putting it heavy, you know contains of serving sizes. So that's understanding, so that's there's the mindfulness of that. So then you make your food and then are you mindfully able to eat it.

Blood Sugar Management

Speaker 1 3:48

So ways of eating nutritiously, or they'd say like kind of a mindful plate would be half your plate. You want it to be like veggies, fiber, okay, veggies and fiber, a quarter of that plate. Think of it like the good fats and a good, a good salad, let's say. Or like um, avocados and then the um, the other quarter of the plate would be like a protein, whatever that protein is for you. Um, now, if it's like breakfast, you think of that like is 50% in, like that fibrous, and then a quarter, uh, 25% fatty and 25% in the protein. I would go a little bit more on the protein side, but you know that varies on each person.

Speaker 1 4:30

But mindful eating and having those cues, not only, um, with what you put on your plate, then how do you consume? So consuming slowly, listening to your hunger cues, understanding sometimes hunger is actually hydration. You need to drink water, um, or it's nutritional deficiency. Understanding when you're full and not to eat to fullness, eat to about 80%. Those individuals and those areas of the world where individuals do not have as much obesity in their culture, most of them are not eating to full, they're eating to about 80% and that means that they're chewing their food thoroughly. So, say, you have a sandwich, right, you have two slices of a sandwich and you're going to be eating that sandwich. When you eat those 20 to 30 bites per bite in your sandwich, you would actually find that you could be full with half of that sandwich because you're taking more time to digest. You're taking more time for the body to break down with the enzymes in the mouth and ferment, digesting into the stomach that you actually don't need to overeat and it improves your digestion overall and even like reflux, belching and such. So that also is a big factor in when you're talking about balancing and finding mindfulness.

Speaker 1 5:58

Now, additionally to that is, what kind of foods are you putting into your body? What have you chosen? So anti-inflammatory foods are recommended most of the time, like that would benefit your overall gut health overall. You know nutrition Now, and that's not for everyone, but you know things that are usually anti-inflammatory are like berries, leafy greens, turmeric, ginger, garlic, omega-3, fatty foods like salmon, avocados, mackerel, sardines, certain types of olive oils, avocado oil, and then limiting much of the processed stuff as you can. You know that's varied for all of us. We all want to have some of it, but it's when you have it on a constant. Your body will have more metabolic stress and it will kick up more inflammation within. So we're trying to kind of like see if we can work that through.

Speaker 1 6:57

Now, how do you balance your blood sugar? You know we're talking about GLP-1s, right? So balancing the blood sugars, you know trying to get that GLP-1 uptick to where it needs to be. Trying to get that GLP-1 uptick to where it needs to be, and you regulate that with the types of meals that you're picking when your times, that you're gonna be eating so that you don't have as many of those spikes. So in the morning you're gonna be hydrating and then you're gonna be picking maybe it's a coffee drink to break your fast. Try to time fast at least 10 to 12 hours, as my recommendation, but that's up to you. And there is a lesson on that, on intermittent fasting and what time eating is for you. And then what you're picking in your meals.

Speaker 1 7:36

Protein is paramount, but think about all macros are important, but how are you doing it? So I'd say, like I said, about 40% or so about protein, and then the other percent divided out in in your other macros, your carbs and your fats, um, and your plate. It let's say it's like half in the fiber, fat, or even you could do about quarter of the protein, um, and quarter of the fat, and then half in fibrous foods and the quality carbs. I also sometimes will even say sometimes half in the morning I actually would want you to have a little bit more protein and then the fiber. So then you know kind of balances it out, so that you don't have those big spikes, because when you choose in the morning, I'll give you an example.

Speaker 1 8:22

I've done it too. I'm just as guilty as you are. I've had a cinnamon roll, right, and I love it, right. So now what I do. I'll tell you my trick. That doesn't mean that it's correct, but I will add in fiber and collagen to my food when I'm going to have those types of foods, and that doesn't mean that it's fixing everything or my insulin resistance. What I'm trying to do is try not to have those spikes. That's not a quick fix. The real goal is to have more protein and good fibrous foods. So then you don't have those spikes up and down, because by the end of the day you'll end up wanting to have more and more and more.

Hydration and Detoxification

Speaker 1 9:05

Now, stay active. Now, how do you stay active? You don't want to overdo it. I've talked just previously about exercise and movement and what that is for you. Now, I don't think there is a one size fits all here, but we did talk about movement, daily movement, non-exercise things that you can do for your body just by, like parking farther away, walking up the stairs, farther away, walking, you know, up the stairs, thinking about where you can go to get a little bit more walking into your day having a walk, a standing desk, maybe having a walking pad, a cycle, something that can get you doing a little bit more than you would maybe do on the regular. And you know I have a cycle elliptical underneath my desk. I have a, I have a pad, I have vibration pad, I have a walking pad, just different my desk. I have a pad, I have vibration pad, I have a walking pad. Just different things to kind of get you moving, even when you may not realize you know you need to.

Speaker 1 9:58

And then, paramount of need to need to need to sleep and rest Around seven to nine hours is ideal quality sleep, if that can be, and I talk more about sleep hygiene and the sleep optimization and how you can get that Um. And this enhances your metabolic health. This helps your hormone regulation and your weight management. Now, how do you do this? You know many times I will talk about mindfulness, mindfulness meditations, deep breathing, exercise, a gentle stretching, all to help improve your cortisol levels and your balance and your hormones. Now, balancing hormones, balancing cortisol it's going to fluctuate on and off constantly, so there's never like okay, it's going to be perfect every moment of the day, but what we want to do is try to at least get you even keels so that you're not making poor decisions and your behavioral and your psychology, like your stressors, are not making you go and choose um foods or keep on the weight because it's not able to get rid of some of that um excess stressors, so that that body fat isn't, like you know, um releasing through the body.

Speaker 1 11:09

Hydration, of course, um, you know our body's made up of around 60 to 7% of water. So staying hydrated in the best possible way supports digestion, supports your metabolism, supports detoxification, because detoxification is getting rid of the poop, you know, helping um detoxify the liver. You know you need that. You know helping detoxify the liver. You know you need that to get rid of things. You know you can't, it's just it's needed. You know there's no other like way around it. You need to hydrate, you need to drink more water and not junk. And if you drink the sugary stuff, you know sorry to tell you, but that's not going to work.

Speaker 1 11:55

Now, gentle, detoxing. So detoxing itself is not the green juice, but it is eating fibrous foods and clearing out, you know, the gut, clearing out the junk, so, um, but there are some benefits of juicing for individuals. So I I do like them, um, but that's not like the juice thing, you know, it's really hydration and and kind of clearing out your GI track and getting it to like the optimal set. You know, think of it like broccoli, cauliflower, some citrus foods, green teas, and dandelion tea is helpful, just supports, kind of just your body's way of detoxifying. And then also too, we also want to get the metabolism and the liver to be able to clear out, because the liver can hold so much. There's different stages, how the liver can become actually fatty and you know it's non sterile, hepatic, like they call it, fatty liver disease. And you don't want to get to that point and to actually clear some of that gunk out and excess of fat and cholesterol. You need to have some detoxing and you need to avoid the excess of glucose that's in the liver, because the liver has many purposes and if it is not able to get rid of or go through glucogenesis it will actually accumulate more byproduct.

Functional Nutrition for Long-Term Wellness

Speaker 1 13:19

Now of course I talk tons about my gut and tons of the gut and brain connection and how so important this is. Now think again. Prebiotics are the foods that are before you eat. It helps feed the probiotics. So think apples, bananas, onions, asparagus. It helps heal and feed the good gut bacteria and probiotics are the things that are integrated and brings the good flora with it. So things that people will do are fermented foods, yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, things of that nature. Now, it's different for each person but you know there are different ideas and if you have more questions I can absolutely tell you more about that.

Speaker 1 14:06

Now, how does go and equate to like functional medicine or long-term wellness? So, like functional nutrition really is what functional medicine is. It's about nutrition. It's about what you put into your body and how your environment and your life surrounds you to protect you, right? So think of it as it's a holistic approach. It's a covering away to get to root cause, but I consider root cause more like what is underlying that you need to manage. I don't necessarily always say root cause. I think about management so that you can transform and integrate your life. Like certain things in my life, I need to manage and put the right things in my body and expose myself to the right things so that I feel good and it's personalized. Unfortunately, it's not a one size fits all, but you can do a lot of these things for yourself. So let's see how it is.

Speaker 1 15:00

So whole person I'm very big about maybe what is your genetics Like? Is there something that may have triggered it on, that may have gotten you to a point where you're like well, how do I maintain a metabolic you know, healthier state? Like for me, I have type two diabetes. In my genetics I have the snip that will cause me more insulin excess. That doesn't mean that I won't get type two diabetes. I may, um. But what I can do is I can prevent or manage this before it gets significant. You know, hopefully it won't come on until like my seventies or late eighties. You know, like I would hope that my um, use of food, lifestyle and environment and overall holistic approach will make me be the best that I can be in my metabolic health at any age. So think of it like incorporating your genetics, your lifestyle, your environment, your diet and the emotional factors that help you be the best person that you can, and how to make a treatment plan for that.

Speaker 1 16:15

So when I'm identifying and discussing like root cause or management cause, I'm really just trying to find out what else is going on with you, like is it just, you know, just because you're you're, is it just an insulin resistance issue? Is it a sugar issue? Is it a stress issue? Is it a gut issue? Is there inflammation throughout the entire body? Are you stressed. Are you not having a regulation there? Is your hormones off because it's age related, or is there a way to balance that at some point, like, optimize it.

Speaker 1 16:47

It's going to fluctuate, everything is going to fluctuate, but is there a way to get it? You know that buck of inflammation or that irregularity of flora. Is there a way to get that gut biome into some sort of more manageable state, homeostatic state? Is the inflammation more where? Instead of it a big full bucket of inflammation, can we get it down to like a quarter? So once you're exposed to different things, it's not an all or nothing, it's not oh, I take this and that's it. But if you can lower some of that, can we lower some of those symptoms from? So it's a more of a management than it is necessarily always a root cause. I mean, I will find out. Oh, wow, it's probably because of X, y, z that this is happening, plus your genetics. Okay, let's see what we can do to manage it. And you know it takes time and it's effort and if it was a quick fix, I'd tell you you probably aren't coming to me for the right reasons. If you're wanting a quick fix, I mean, just go meet me in the urgent care or the ER. If that's what you want, I can help you there for a quick fix and acute care. But for these kinds of things it takes more time.

Speaker 1 18:02

Now think with proactive. Think of yourself as trying to be preventative. Think of yourself of wanting to make early interventions, so avoiding metabolic dysfunction or trying to prevent progressive metabolic dysfunction in your overall system. Think of it as you're trying to not get diabetes. You're trying to not get increased obesity, you're trying to not have a heart attack. You're trying to not have metabolic syndrome where your blood pressure or things are irregular. You're trying to not have excess inflammatory response or autoimmune responses that will cause you other health illnesses, like for females, like a PCOS, for thyroid issues. You're trying to not have excess inflammatory response or autoimmune responses that will cause you other health illnesses, like for females, like a PCOS for thyroid issues. Um, men, it could be a prostate issue. For um, it could be a headaches, excess headaches.

Speaker 1 18:47

There's many of things that come out in inflammatory process in the body that actually um are related to hyperinsulinemia or high insulin. So testing that can be done. There are different hormone panels. I usually prefer, like Dutch testing for complete tests, nutrient panels like metabolics, has a good nutrient panel. And then there are, you know, an array of different um tests to find out where your metabolic health is on average. A little bit extended panel would be like a lipoprotein A.

Speaker 1 19:25

I'd want you to do a fasting insulin, a1c. I'd want you to look at a lipid panel, um, cascade and um, those are usually my top. Oh, homocysteine. Sometimes I don't necessarily think that's a major marker, but I really need to know. All right, do you have a cascade marker for lipids? Where are you at? Your insulin resistance, your fasting insulin, your glucose, your A1C and thenP I will look at for inflammatory markers, um and the nutrient things. It depends upon each person, but I will do a full panel there.

Speaker 1 20:03

And then gut biome. You can do stool testing. Now, how do you restore this and what does that look like? Uh, that varies for each person, but think of it like you're trying to fix your immune system. You want to work on your mood and your inflammatory process.

Restoring Balance and Sustainability

Speaker 1 20:18

So, depending upon if it's inflammation, you know it depends upon what, the what is going on in the microbiome. Is it that there's not enough flora issues? Is it a leaky gut that they call it, or intestinal permeability? Is it inflammatory? Is it a um, something more of the mood or cortisol issues, or does it have to do with your metabolic, your choice of foods, the foods that you're choosing? Is it not enough short chain fatty acids, like the cruciferous vegetables, and whole foods? So it could be a combination. And then there is those that have some infection too. I don't think all of patients have and clients have that, but you know it's good to find out because it could be a mold or environmental toxin or parasitic or Lyme. But I'm not going to say everyone has that, it's just you know there is one of six things that it could be in the gut and you want to try to.

Speaker 1 21:08

You want to clear that out too. You don't want to work on it. You have tailored diets. You know certain probiotics and prebiotics that are used digestive enzymes, if it's needed, nutrient foods and things to help with the gut lining, legumin, bone broth, you know, but those are only used in a certain amount of weeks, not forever. But that helps with the integrity and the metabolic health of a person.

Speaker 1 21:34

In addition to that, then, when I talk about optimizing people's hormones, that's like fluctuating right. That will fluctuate depending upon the person. But insulin is a hormone, cortisol is a hormone, Thyroid hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone all of these impact your metabolic health. So when someone says to you, oh, everything's off. So balancing is not as easy as it seems, it's a little bit more complex than that. But think about when you get yourself at least in an optimal state, you're doing yourself a service, yourself a service Ways that. I have done this for individuals and for myself included. I will use dietary foods, nutritious meals, adaptogens as needed, lifestyle adjustments, depending upon what people are their high cortisol, low cortisol, not low impact depression, anxiety. So each person needs something different and then they may need medications. I'm more on the sense of slow and low. So like low and slow. So not against taking medications, I'm completely for it. I just want it to be done smartly and start slow.

Speaker 1 22:49

Stress reduction a hundred percent is super important. And you know your physical and your behavioral health like. How are you doing that? Mindfulness, meditation, emotional support. You know support yourself with surrounding your environment with good people. If you find yourself you're around toxic relationships, you're not supported with good people, then you need to get yourself, um, put some boundaries up. You're going to have to really manage that and put up boundaries because if you don't, you're going to um. It will be quite difficult to um, get through some of the hard stuff. So think environment in who you connect with and also mindfulness of what you're doing to reset, whether that's yoga, meditation, mindfulness and the cornerstone of this is really trying to restore yourself back into a balanced, optimal state.

Empowering Yourself Beyond Quick Fixes

Speaker 1 23:53

And it takes time. But I will tell you for someone that's had PTSD, you know health issues, metabolic dysfunction and gut issues. You can work on it each and every day and I'm healthier now, even with my choices, younger and even with my um endometriosis that I had um. I even had to learn so many more behavior things and modifications and until I opened my eyes to that I wasn't able to understand that. You know I had to make change. So until you can make changes, it takes time but it's totally doable. It's long-term.

Speaker 1 24:35

It's not a quick fix. When you empower yourself with more information and the right information and you don't solely rely on one thing one diet, one pill you empower yourself to do more. That's why, in reference to GLP-1s, yes, the medication is a tool, but it's not the full picture and if you don't fix these other elements, you're not going to um, get past, because the underlying beliefs in your behaviors is how are you eating? What's your emotional patterns? Can we fix that? Can we, can we adjust it? What's your stress triggers? What make make you eat more, eat less? What are your lifestyle habits? How do we improve that? What can we do in your life to make changes on that? And then you know, make it sustainable. You know it's about sustainability. You know mindful ways each and every day. If you have questions, of course, reach out and I'd be glad to help. It's all about you know I'm here to support you and be part of your getting to where you need to be. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you on the next lesson.