People used to believe if you consumed less calories thanyour body needed then you would lose weight but now the focus appears to have shifted somewhat.



There are numerous diets, slimming and eating plans around, some healthy and others downright ridiculous. However, they all claim to work - if you stick to them.

I have never been slim but eat very little in comparison with everyone else I know. I'm told I store fat because my body thinks it's in starvation mode all the time.

Listening to various class members claim they'd been very good despite not having lost weight it was was

apparent several suffered from "selective amnesia".

Perhaps they felt if they forgot about the chocolate, ice cream, biscuits, cake, wine, meals out and bar-b-que's then the calories wouldn't count.

However, it's just possible there may be a very good reason for that and it's not an excuse anyone else in the class used.

Perhaps it's the synthetic chemicals in food, skin care

and detergents, and before you think I've gone absolutely mad, there is a lot of evidence to suggest this may indeed be the case.

How many people do you know whose memory is not as good as it used to be and who

Are tired all the time

Have aching joints

Sudden high blood pressure

Middle aged spread?

And how many of them put their symptoms down to the

inevitable signs of aging and the need for more exercise and a healthy diet?

They could be right.

On the other hand every time you feel tired, get a headache or put on an extra pound it could be a tell-tale sign that toxins are building up faster than your body can clear them.

We are surrounded by toxins. They are in the food we eat, the air we breathe, our medications, household goods, clothing, beauty products and even in the beds in which we sleep.

Every year the world grows more and more toxic and our

bodies have to work harder to remove them.

Current estimates suggest each year men and women are

gaining weight by 225g and 450g respectively despite the many diets they undertake.

Why?

Fat is one of the body's protective mechanisms against

toxins. When you ingest toxins, albeit from pesticides or food preservatives, you gain weight as a means of protecting the cells.

Toxic synthetic chemicals are highly fat soluble. When we are exposed to them the body creates fat to safely store the ones it cannot process and eliminate away.

Your body is a sponge for toxins and not just from the food you eat.

Think about that the next time you stand barefoot on a

recently fertilised lawn or newly carpeted room.

Take care when you fill your car with petrol, shower in

chlorinated tap water or put on a freshly dry cleaned shirt.

And what about all those household cleaning products you use without wearing protective gloves, and all those beauty products you put on your skin?

Health and beauty aren't always synonymous.

Remember - toxins are everywhere!

Exposure to large quantities can result in acute poisoning but it's the long term exposure to much lower levels which makes it increasingly difficult for us to control our own weight.

We end up getting fatter even if we eat less food.

In today's society we appear to be more interested in the size and appearance of our food than the actual nutritional content.

Most food is devoid of minerals and vitamins and unless you choose organic products you will be exposed to pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, growth promotants and goodness knows what else.

Carbamates are a synthetic chemical used in insecticides and herbicides to promote food growth. They are also given to battery farmed livestock to slow down their metabolic rate and fatten them up.

So what happens when we consume the produce containing these carbamates?

You've guessed it - we consume synthetic chemicals

specifically designed to promote weight gain!

It appears therefore that the calories we need to reduce to lose weight are the chemical ones.

Unfortunately we can't conveniently forget about them

because most of the time we aren't even aware we are

consuming them. "Selective amnesia" doesn't work.

Seemingly the highest slimming nutrients are found in

organically grown produce.

It is recommended food, skincare, cosmetics and household products containing toxic synthetic chemicals be replaced with organic products.

As it's unlikely I'll change my entire lifestyle before my next slimming class I think I've got a very good explanation if I don't lose weight, don't you?