If you want a free metabolic self test there are a couple that I have gone through but the one I prefer is here at natural healthy yellow pages:

http://www.naturalhealthyellowpages.com/metabolic/self_test.html

What that will tell you is how to eat well according to your metabolic type, which has definitely helped me with weight loss

While searching around the web I also found a great question that asked if eating less slows our metabolism how can we lose weight when we are on a diet? Which of course is a great question and the answer is :

You touch an aching fact…our body is a genius machine that is built to save energy. When we loose fat tissue it stops sending a hormone named “Leptin” that is a one of the hormones that control our metabolism. The idea is to know this fact and continue with your diet as planed. A well balanced diet that is followed with regular physical effort will not loose weight as fast as it did on the first 2 months, but it’ll eventually do so. After loosing weight the important thing is to continue the life style you adapted until your body will regulate the amount of leptin it needs. Leptin is the cause people gain back their weight after a diet.

source : free medical dictionary

That was a great answer for me because now I know to just keep going through the weeks of no weight loss and eventually your body will start again.

No, I am not insulting you. It is actually a fact. If you suffer from constipation, bloated stomach, over weight, irritable bowel and a whole host of other illnesses research has shown that the cause could be the 5-25lb worth of fecal matter stored in your colon.

Your colon is full of old, rotting food that hasn’t left your body, making it toxic and proven to develop parasites that live in your intestines and colon and this is the cause of many people being over weight, rather than the food we eat or our lack of exercise.  Of course eating healthy foods and exercising are vitally important but if you have ever lost weight and gained it again or if you have ever struggled to lose weight then it is time to look at colon cleansing. In order to remain healthy we must cleanse our colon. This learning is thanks to the ebook Top Secret Fat Loss Secret

How to cleanse your colon

I looked around for this information on the internet and found a number of interesting sites. There are a few things that help including black walnut, pumpkin seeds, garlic, milk thistle and a few others.

Firstly, I looked at some fairly simple things we could do at home

Peppermint: Long known for its calming effects on upset stomachs it is also good to help with eliminating parasites. Either seeds or by drinking it as a tea (fresh leaves are better)

Green leafy vegetables: Juicing vegetables is a great way to keep the enzymes in them and make it easier for the body to absorb nutrients. Celery and apple are also great for cleansing the body.  If you decide to start juicing you need to start slowly and make sure you drink plenty of water (5-8 glasses a day). It is better to start with one or two glasses a day of juiced vegetables and build up from there. As juiced fruit can increase your insulin levels it is better to juice vegetables than fruit.

Fruits: Not just any fruit but you want to stick to fruits that are full of enzmyes like mango, kiwi, pineapple, papaya – eating them first thing in the morning. One thing I am reading about is the effect of eating fruit and food together. If you normally have fruit with a sandwich or after dinner you might want to know that eating fruit this way causes the fruit to stay in your stomach longer and ferment.  Fruit only takes a few hours to digest but something like meat takes a lot longer so when they are in your stomach together the fruit has to wait which causes it to start fermenting right there in your stomach. Yuck! Best time to eat fruit is as a snack and first thing in the morning. I remember reading about this month ago on a network I am a member of but you never know what to believe to be honest!

Chewing Pumpkin seeds : By chewing pumpkin seeds you paralyze the parasites and they lose their grip on your intestines and die. Chew them to paste in your mouth and swallow. Luckily I keep a bag of pumpkin seeds on my desk as a snack so hopefully I have been killing them already!

Garlic: I think I would rather have the parasites than everyone running away because I stick of garlic! But this is another home remedy and you have to crush and chew garlic cloves a few times a day.

If you are going to buy something instead you need to ensure it includes 3 important ingredients Black Walnut Hulls, Wormwood and Cloves – the combination of these 3 not only kill the parasites but will also eliminate their eggs.

I am not a Doctor so do your own due diligence, shop around, find out information for yourself, visit your Doctor if you are unwell and unsure about this. There are juicing detoxs on the net and you need to find a reputable one and then follow the instructions because too much too soon will have an adverse effect on your body.

If you want to read more about this get your own copy of  Top Secret Fat Loss Secret

I have never fancied the idea of having a colon irrigation but I might have to give it some serious thought

In case you are interested here is a quick summary of everything I have discovered since seriously looking into my weight problems (October 2009)

1. I kept wondering why I was over weight because I never ate much. Not eating much was the course of my excess weight along with periods of starvation and then massive hunger followed by over eating. My metabolism slowed right now and stopped functioning correctly.  I started to eat small meals often (every 3-4 hours) and  my metabolism began to work again, which started my weight loss and returned my energy for life.

2. When I started drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day aches and pains in my back and hip area disappeared. I felt better, my skin felt better, I felt more alert. Dehydration is the major cause of some serious illnesses that could be avoided by simply hydrating your body – drink more!

3.  Once I found out my metabolic type all I needed to do was focus on eating that way. More protein and less carbs. Thanks to Diet Solution

4.  Raw food could be a future lifestyle for me. Food isn’t uncooked but is cooked at warm temperatures ensuring enzymes in the food live which is better for the body. This for now is a long term goal once I reach 14-15 stone and I need to ramp it up to lose my final 2 stones.

5.  I help my digestion when I chew the food in my mouth to a pulp (Paul McKenna I can make you thin! Didn’t buy it but watched it on TV), eat slowly and put less in my mouth.  The serving of my carbs (e.g. rice and pasta) should never be bigger than my fist. This has been a great way for me to measure out how much food I need to eat. Still have trouble with it because it looks like such a tiny amount but its a work in progress.

It seems that middle age women go through something called “peri-menopause” – like a test menopause before hitting the real thing! Plus our thyroid levels go down and insulin up which causes weight gain. All of this activity also slows down our metabolism which helps the weight pile on. There are so many reasons why we gain weight as middle age women – not that I am making an excuse of course but it all contributes to the mix.

So is there hope! Well of course – exercise is a major plus for us and it is the solution to so many other problems that I really don’t know why it isn’t made legal for our own health and sanity because let’s face it after a hard day at work then coming home to family chores and responsibilities sometimes exercise takes a back seat.

There is a great video about middle aged spread that you can watch at the end of this article. Click the link ===> middle age fitness <===