intermittent fasting Archives – Wild Lyons Wellness

95% of women that go on a diet gain back all the weight they lost & then some

I remember that feeling, that high I got when I started seeing changes in my body and the scale. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I wanted everyone to know about the diet I was on and how good I felt. Until I didn’t. I remember throwing away all the bigger clothes I had telling myself there is no way i’l ever be that size again!

This is my story, but after years of working with women we all have the same story. The conclusion is- diets don’t work.

You see. Dieting feels really good for awhile, years even. Dieting triggers the chronic release of cortisol. Running on stress hormones gives you a great high. But you eventually come crashing down. You simply can’t fathom your “healthy” diet could be the cause!

This includes all diets from carnivore to vegan to the MLM “mom coaches” and everything in between.

Every diet has the same method; restricting calories, food groups or macros. In response to this our bodies slow our metabolisms to hang on to nutrients to keep us alive.

When you restrict your metabolism slows. Sure you may lose weight but at the expense of muscle then when you eat normal again (because you will) you will gain most of your weight back in fat.

What happens overtime as our metabolisms get slower we start noticing the impact it has on our digestion, hormones, skin, hair, moods, etc. In order to feel well we need to have a robust metabolism. Your metabolism has nothing to do with weight.

You have a set point and that weight will change throughout your life. Your body is always adapting and changing. Your set point at 25 is different from your set point at 35 because girl, you have grown and lived a full decade! Shocking I know.

Whenever your weight changes too much, your brain will intervene to push it back to the correct weight for you. You might not prefer the same weight your brain prefers.

The healthiest women inside and out are the ones that have zero dieting history.

If diets worked there wouldn’t be so many. Think twice!

Instead focus on the foundations. Eat real, nourishing food, move, balance your blood sugar, be consistent, enjoy life and if needed work with someone to help you figure out imbalances in your body.

Ready to join a community of like-minded women ending the war on their bodies and breaking free from diet culture? Ready to finally balance your hormones, understand your body, and become your own health advocate? Ready for unfiltered and uncensored wellness talks? Then you’re in the right place! Click here to learn more + enroll.

A self-paced program designed to help you overcome your uncomfortable digestive symptoms without restrictive diets and stressful protocols so you can enjoy food again and live a happier, healthier life. Click here to learn more + enroll.

9 Lies You Have Been Told About Health and Your Body

Talk about confusing and stressful as hell.

If we followed all this advice we would be loaded with synthetic hormones, energy deficient, eating loads of PUFAs, ridden with disease and digestive issues, starving and malnourished AF.

So what’s the actual truth?

Birth control is classified as a carcinogen. Yes, it’s that harmful and does not get to the root of your symptoms but rather masks them with synthetic hormones.

No you can not get pregnant all month long! You have a tiny window you can get pregnant each cycle, learn the FAM method and ditch the birth control.

Meat, diary and saturated fat are some of the most nutritious foods on planet earth. You could sustain life and thrive off of dairy alone if you needed to, it is that nutritious.

Plant based diets are void of so many bio-available nutrients, are highly estrogenic, loaded with rancid PUFAs, and simply do not work for our physiology.

Sugar and carbs? They are your body’s preferred fuel source. Without it your body will have to go through a super stressful process to create it’s own from other resources. Eliminating sugar and carbs does not fix insulin resistance but actually makes you more insulin resistant.

Seed cycling and cruciferous veggies, take about adding to the estrogenic, hormonal shit storm you are trying to fix in the first place.

Dairy is causing your acne? Come on. Not eating quality dairy, having a history of low carb dieting or an estrogenic plant based diet and that wrecked gut of yours is likely the culprit.

No. You can not lose weight and reverse symptoms in 30 days with some detox or cleanse. Stop falling for that BS and stop using bandaid diets to help with symptoms.

Imagine starving yourself willingly? Fasting is a massive stressor on the female body and will wreck havoc on your hormones. Every study done on fasting and the benefits is done on men. Men don’t have menstrual cycles.

The blanket advice to eat less and exercise more. Talk about ruining your metabolism.

This is why knowledge is power. All this advice seems to work short term, until it doesn’t and you are back at square one.

Once you understand how your body works the rest is history.

Has Diet Culture Wrecked Your Gut?

Diet culture. When eating a traditional, nutritionally supportive diet goes out the window and all that matters is whatever the next trendy physique is in style. Whatever the next most profitable and trendy way of eating is that will give you false promises that you will reach your health and weight loss goals. Restrictive diets. Low carb. Fasting. Only eating if you deserve it. Food is the enemy. Excessive exercise. Cheat days. Skinny teas. Appetite suppressants. Detoxes No pain, no gain. 1200 calorie diets. Glorified eating disorders. You know the drill. We have gone from “heroin chic” being in style in the 90’s, zero curves and being malnourished AF to now being obsessed with big booties and six packs. Not to mention all the other fad physiques in between these 2 eras. It’s one big mind fuck. Let’s see what’s in style in a few years that we can all strive to be. 🙄 One thing I know for sure. Diet culture is ruining our health, our metabolism and our digestive system. It is putting us in a chronic stressed out state. What does our digestion require to run optimally? Lots and lots of nutrients AND a robust well functioning metabolism. Funny how dieting actually down regulates and destroys our metabolisms huh? Talk about false promises. One thing I know for sure is I will never look like Megan Fox or whoever the hell the world idolizes as a vision of beauty. And you know what, that is okay. I am not willing to starve myself, live a boring life and have my health go to shit to strive to be something I am not and neither should you. We all have false expectations of what our bodies should look like. Look at your family, look at your genetics. Let’s be realistic here. Look at other markers to determine health. Weight, restriction, ability to workout excessively and your will to not eat does not say anything about your bodies overall health. Swipe right to learn more about how diet culture has messed with your gut. Don’t be fooled into the next trendy physic at the cost of your health and digestive system. Diets were so last year. I dunno about you but I’d rather have a bangin’ digestive system than a bangin’ body. Nourishment always wins.

What I used To Care About VS. What I Care About Now

“I’l be happy when I lose these extra pounds.” “My life will be better when I lose weight.” “I will finally feel good when I shed these 20 lbs.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news but stop fooling yourself. You know damn well this isn’t about the weight. If you’re unhappy it has nothing to do with your weight. Weight does not define health and it certainly should not dictate your mood or happiness. The misconception that it does all comes back to diet culture. It has never been about the weight, it’s all about selling the next best thing- diet, cleanse, supplement, whatever they can profit off of. Are you letting a number on the scale dictate your mood? I’ve been there. I once only cared about being skinny and at the cost of my mental and physical health, altho I would never admit that. “I’m just really healthy” – Me telling everyone (Who even asked? And who gives a shit?) After I saw through my own bullshit. I started caring a whole lot more about my health than just losing weight. What do I care about now? Having a robust metabolism and thyroid as seen through pulses and temps. A strong digestive system free of symptoms that is able to detox and prevent illness. Having strong healthy hair, skin and nails. Having a regular menstrual cycle. Sleeping like a baby and waking up happy with energy and excitement. Being able to handle all the stressors that come my way. Having a strong, capable body that can climb mountains and allow me to see all the world had to offer. Being able to live my life exactly how I can because I feel damn good and my world does not revolve around food and the number on the scale. Undernourishing to lose weight will only leave you depleted and sicker in the end. Some of the “skinniest” people I know are actually the sickest and unhappiest people I know. It is not something to envy. I’ve said this before and I will say it again. Women are best anywhere from 15-30 lbs (shocker) heavier than their “desired “weight or the weight the world tells you that you should be. I see it every single day in my practice and I firmly believe being well-fed is far more important than trying to shed 🤙🏻

This program is designed to educate you to understand your body better, ditch the diet confusion, optimize your metabolism, and balance your hormones (for real this time) by providing the foundations necessary for you to thrive in a world of diet culture and confusion. Click here to learn more + enroll.

Your Breakfast Will Make or Break You

I know. “BUT I heard fasting in the morning is SOOO BENEFICIAL and working out fasted is even better”… 🙄
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The number one thing you can do to balance your hormones is to eat breakfast. SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK! Yes, I am talking a nice balanced nutritious breakfast consisting of carb and protein within an hour of waking up. No this does not include some bullshit coffee with a fat bomb in it to hold you over until lunch.
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“But why Laura? I feel so good when I fast in the morning.” 🙄
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Give it some time Girlfriend- you are running on stress hormones and eventually your body will crash.
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We have always heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day until recently when the fasting community decided we no longer needed to nourish ourselves after ALREADY fasting for 10 hours a night. Excuse me? Talk about adding fuel to the stress fire. As if our hormones are not already out of wack because of day to day life stressors why not make our body feel even less safe and secure by STARVING it.
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Blood sugar balance is the NUMBER ONE thing we can do to balance our hormones and eating breakfast. Reason being is our bodies are completely depleted from fasting overnight. Our liver can only hold on to glucose for 8-10 hours until it has to start making it’s own.Talk about stressful. And if our liver is compromised at all from things like low carb diets and nutrient deficiencies then it will run out of glucose even sooner. When your body has to make its own glucose that’s when the stress hormones kick in – cortisol and adrenaline. What do these guys do? The lower progesterone and increase estrogen causing a hormonal shit storm- moodiness, PMS, PCOS, headaches, HA, acne, and poor thyroid function.
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Eating breakfast when you wake up prevents your body from having to do this super stressful process and keeps your hormones in check.
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No appetite in the morning? That is a clear sign your body is conserving energy and suppressing your hunger, digestion, and reproduction.
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Don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach, quit fasting for 12-16 hours a day, and ditch the fasted workouts. And remember you are not more worthy because you don’t eat breakfast.