What is the Pro Metabolic Diet?
The pro metabolic diet is less of a diet and more of a nutrition and lifestyle philosophy.
I discovered the pro metabolic diet after desperately researching for new ways to heal my hormones and skin.
For just over 8 years, I used restrictive diets, low calorie diets, fasting, keto diets, juice cleanses, you name it, to control my weight and manage my health symptoms.
Since the age of 16 I struggled with chronic fatigue, mental health issues, hormone imbalance including estrogen dominance, high insulin and low thyroid. I had painful periods, PMDD, PCOS and most recently, cystic acne.
Restrictive dieting and taking supplements did help but as soon as I would stop, my symptoms would return.
In 2020, my weight was climbing, my skin had broken out in painful, cystic acne and stress was at an all time time. I tried to get my health back on track the way I always did, I cut out sugar, carbs, wheat, gluten and dairy. I started taking my supplements again and to my surprise, things got worse.
I kept persisting suspecting the worsening of my symptoms may have been a healing crisis but things did not improve. After several months I started to feel lost and completely disillusioned by everything I had learnt in my naturopathic training.
What did the Pro Metabolic Diet Teach Me?
The pro metabolic diet taught me that instead of cutting out more and more food, looking for the next thing to blame my health issues on, I needed to actually heal my gut and improve the way my body responded to sugar, carbs, wheat, gluten and dairy.
Instead of taking handfuls of supplements daily, hoping something would work, I needed to cut out ALL supplements and focus only on 1 or 2 key nutrients to heal my gut, nervous system and hormone health.
Instead of seeking blood tests, hormone tests and over priced gut tests, I needed to listen to my body and pay attention to my symptoms, in the end, my symptoms revealed more than any functional test.
What are the main principles of the Pro Metabolic Diet?
The main principles of pro metabolic nutrition are:
1. Nurture your nervous system and improve your resilience to stress
No part of your body will heal without addressing nervous system health. For over 15 years, I kept relapsing with the same hormone issues, gut issues and mental health issues. This was mostly due to nervous system dysregulation that was never discussed or addressed.
2. Nourish your body
Most women, (myself included before finding the pro metabolic diet) are chronically underfed. We are so busy trying to not eat too much, trying not to gain too much weight and all the while we fail to meet our basic nutrition requirements while our health slowly deteriorates.
3. Focus on the foundations of health
Are you moving your bowels daily? Are you sleeping deeply without waking in the night? Are your minerals balanced? Are you eating enough protein?
We often skip past the basic foundations of health because they seem so obvious and boring but without addressing the basic principles we cannot heal our gut, we cannot balance our hormones and we cannot move towards a healthy weight without doing more harm than good.
The Pro Metabolic Diet for Weight Loss
Pro metabolic nutrition for weight loss is different to any other diet I have ever encountered.
Mainstream diet advice encourages women to try to lose weight through restriction. Whether it be calorie restriction, carb restriction, shake diets or fasting for weight loss, the message is “eat less”.
Pro metabolic nutrition takes a different approach. Instead of eating less which results in metabolic adaption, plateaus and subsequent weight gain, the pro metabolic diet teaches us to eat more which has a positive impact on metabolic adaption and long term weight loss.
The pro metabolic diet teaches us that not all calories are equal. Some foods will support metabolic function, hormone health, gut health and energy production while other foods sabotage metabolic function, hormone health and energy production.
The foods that support metabolic function are known as pro metabolic foods, these foods support weight loss. Pro metabolic foods include animal based protein, carbs like potato, rice, fruit and honey, and healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and butter. This is just a very small snapshot into the wide variety of food you can enjoy on a pro metabolic plan.
The foods that sabotage long term weight loss success are known as anti metabolic foods. Not only do these foods make it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight but they can create hormone issues, gut health issues, inflammation and other chronic issues.
Many of the women I work with (myself included) have been restricting carbs for years due to the fact that they usually cause bloating and weight gain.
The pro metabolic diet taught me how to improve the way my body responds to carbs so instead of storing them as fat, my body can now use them effectively as fuel. This means I have been able to eat carbs, achieve a weight I feel happy with and stay there long term. This is not something I have ever been able to do before without extreme restriction.
In addition to teaching you how to nourish your body with the right foods, the pro metabolic diet focusses on helping you to resolve the real root cause of health issues and weight gain.
Most restrictive diets aggravate the root cause of weight gain leading to temporary weight loss and a lifetime of yo-yo dieting. Pro metabolic nutrition will support you in achieving long term results.
How do I get Started on a Pro Metabolic Diet?
The best way to start the pro metabolic diet is to work with an experienced practitioner who can guide you on the right path for your body.
It took me 2 years of trial and error to find what pro metabolic principles work best for weight loss.
Working with a practitioner like me will help you to learn:
1. What pro metabolic foods are best for your body and what foods you should avoid
2. What supplements are worth your money and what supplements are just clever marketing
3. What pro metabolic lifestyle changes are the most leveraged (which means you can do less while achieving better results)
4. How to uncover the real root cause of health issues and weight gain.
5. How to create pro metabolic recipes (recipes and a meal plan will be provided)
Conclusion
The pro metabolic diet is a life changing protocol that can help you to gain freedom from hormone issues, gut health issues, nervous system dysregulation, skin issues, stubborn weight and yo-yo dieting.
It is non restrictive, fun to follow and something you can maintain for the rest of your life.
As with all diet and lifestyle philosophies, there is a lot of conflicting information and the easiest way to get on the right path is to work with an experience practitioner.
If you would like support to navigate your way back to optimal health, here are 3 ways I can help:
1. Work with me! Book a consultation in person (Evandale, SA) or AUS + NZ wide online via Zoom
2. Listen to the Holistic Weight Loss Podcast
3. Connect with me on Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook
