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Are you struggling with...
The natural approach to
optimal health
Solaris Whole Health
5
Morristown Rd, Suite C
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
908.221.1112
www.solariswholehealth.com
Visit us at our
NEW & EXPANDED
location!
Weight loss?
Getting out of bed in the morning?
Food cravings?
Staying focused & productive?
Indigestion or heartburn?
Joint or muscle pain?
Sleeping through the night?
Headaches?
Allergies?
&
?
Anxiety, depression irritability
whole heal th
nutrition & weight loss
Q&A WITH HEALTH AND
NUTRITION EXPERT
By: Stephanie Solaris
Question:
How do I keep the belly fat
off I’ve lost since the holidays for swim-
suit season?
Answer:
I hear this from my clients all
the time at Solaris Whole Health. I often
say “It’s easy to lose weight; the chal-
lenge is keeping it off!“
At Solaris we work on Whole Health by
balancing and optimizing each person’s
unique nutritional, biochemical and
lifestyle regimes while supporting their
exercise goals. My clients typically know
what is best to eat and once we correct
the biochemical imbalances it makes it so
much easier for them to stick with the
best nutrition plan for their optimum
health. However the third component to
maintaining this great feeling is often
overlooked; maintaining positive daily
lifestyle choices over the long haul.
Between holidays, changes in school
schedules, traveling, vacations and the
typical stressors of each day there is
always an excuse to ‘treat yourself’ or a
reason that can throw off your routine.
This is the beginning of the ‘yo-yo’ diet-
ing cycle – wine or dessert one night and
juicing it the next day to make up for the
indulgence causes stress on your body.
This will kill your metabolism in the long
term, cause sleep disruptions, hormone
imbalances and other chronic symptoms.
I always emphasize balance.
In
The Power of Habit
by Charles Duhigg,
he states “Any habits, bad or good, cre-
ate neurological cravings. Why? When a
habit emerges, the brain stops fully par-
ticipating in decision making. It stops
working so hard, or diverts focus to other
tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a
habit – unless you find new routines –
the pattern will unfold automatically.”
The National Institute of Health showed
that this habit automation sparks a
dopamine response in your brain creat-
ing a ‘feel good feeling’ regardless of
whether the habit is good or bad for you.
Therefore the biochemical craving of the
habit is created.
40
percent of the actions people per-
form daily are not actual decision but
habits (Duke University Study 2006).
Grabbing for that snack at 3pm, nib-
bling off your kids plates, drinking that
16
oz coffee concoction after your
workout, treating yourself to that after-
noon latte or glass or two of wine after
a long day or blindly snacking after din-
ner are habits that are not serving your
body or your belly fat.
So how do you enjoy life and your beach
body at the same time?
The key is consciously creating daily
habits/routines/rituals and making sure
there is a reward attached. I like to call
them the “Solaris 3-R’s! Recognize,
Replace, Reward.”
Here’s your
21-
Day, Solaris 3R Chal-
lenge
to keeping the belly fat off all
summer long!
1.
Recognize –
choose ONE daily habit
that is ‘weighing you down’ and seek to
understand it. Why are you making this
choice? A treat, loneliness, habit, stress,
fatigue, relief? Habits can be changed if
we first understand how they work.
2.
Replace
this habit with a ‘better
choice’ for 21 days – replace a specialty
tea or green smoothie/juice for coffee,
almonds or a greek yogurt for french
onion dip, popcorn, cacao smoothie for
chocolate, a workout/yoga or 15 minute
stretch/hot shower/change into comfy
clothes for wine after work.
3.
Reward
yourself for doing a great
job – give yourself 30 minutes to look
through your favorite catalog, watch
sports center, surf the web, give yourself
a hand paraffin treatment at night, read
your favorite book in bed or snuggle on
the couch. Usually what we don’t do is
give ourselves the time to indulge in the
simplest things, so we indulge in a food,
drink or cigarettes to keep us going.
The tiny wins you will experience each
day will instill new cravings for positive
habits as you become conscious of your
triggers and patterns, conscious of the
replacement and conscious of the reward
you give yourself.
Remember, it’s not
willpower, it’s routine.
Good luck with your
21-
Day Solaris 3R
Challenge
and see you at the beach!
Stephanie Solaris, is an Integrative Health and
Nutrition Practitioner, featured speaker and
the Director of Solaris Whole Health located in
Bernardsville, NJ. She lost
100
lbs 11 years ago, has kept it
off and helped hundreds of
others do the same. For ques-
tions and to learn more go to
www.solariswholeheatlh.com or
call 908-221-1112.
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