The other day, I slipped on my spring jeans…well I tried. You know the pair; they’re lighter in colour than your winter jeans and have a couple of intentional rips. Problem was, I could barely zip them up. There I was struggling to get them on, falling onto my bed as I felt transported into the 80’s where using a pair of pliers would generally do the trick. I took a deep breath and sucked in the world hoping that they would just.zip.up. And as much as I’d like to tell you that I work out diligently throughout the winter, I’ll confess that I don’t. And if you’re anything like me your winter pounds have overstayed their welcome. So what’s the answer?

Liver Cleanse Weight Loss.

Now let me preface this by saying I actually don’t like focusing too much on weight loss in my practice. I won’t bombard you with fitness experts with prosthetic planetary boobs telling you to get in shape when they themselves look like they can unearth a house. In my opinion, its own doesn’t look realistic nor attainable. I find those images to be a little disheartening for many women rather than motivating (but that could just be me!). And the reason I don’t focus on weight loss much is because I truly believe that weight gain is a symptom and rather to just tell you that it’s only about what you eat, it goes much deeper. In fact, your liver definitely plays a roll. Let me explain:

Liver & Fat Metabolism

Your liver plays a crucial role in fat metabolism, so processed foods, smoking, alcohol, excess carbs, artificial sweeteners, refined sugar, etc. are huge contributing factors to clogging up our precious organ that has over 560 functions! So when I see weight loss sites with close up booty shots of a girl squatting and a generic meal plan, I think they’re missing a big picture – the liver. And get this, when your liver is congested, we tend to gain weight around our midsection.

Liver, Stress & Weight Gain

Live in North America? Then chances are you live in a relatively similar society where everything was due yesterday. We work hard, some of us play even harder and many of us struggle to get some adequate shut-eye. But all that adrenal stress can add insult to injury. Higher stress levels induce more cortisol release to buffer the inflammatory effects of stress. It has now been discovered that as cortisol levels rise, a protein (HES1) in your liver elevates, which turns off your liver’s ability to break down fat. This also contributes to fatty liver and abdominal weight gain.

Liver, Digestion & Weight Gain

The liver plays a crucial role in digestion and as you know as the honorary Poop Whisperer herself, having good solid, regular poops is vital to your health overall, including weight loss! Your liver needs to squirt out bile so that we can metabolize fat and so that we can assimilate nutrients from our small intestine. And trust me, if your body is nutrient deficient, say goodbye to even the thought of losing weight, because you need those powerhouse nutrients to do so. But in many people, the liver is congested not allowing for the smooth flow of bile (or the smooth flow of Qi – vital energy – according to Chinese Medicine). This makes us frustrated, angry, stressed (see above) and our fat metabolism becomes impaired. Now before you go running to your nearest health food store to pick up a liver cleanse kit, understand that some of the values of supplements listed are maybe enough to detox a hamster.