There are things you don’t want to lose when you are losing weight.

In fact, it would be smarter to think in different terms — not losing weight, but reorganizing it.  Let’s take another peek inside and see what our body looks like underneath the skin.

Let’s start with the bare bones — literally.  Your bones are that important stuff that holds up everything else.  Without bone you can’t use your muscles, because muscles have to be attached to something to work.   If you didn’t have bone, you would be a puddle of stuff.  It wouldn’t be a living puddle, either, because your organs have to have a place to work and if you didn’t have bones to hold you, your lungs couldn’t breathe and your heart couldn’t pump.

The trouble with getting older is that we naturally start losing our bone density.  That’s a problem, because if our bones are fragile, they break more easily.  A broken bone will definitely slow you down and keep you from living life to the fullest. And if you are afraid of breaking a bone, that will eliminate lots of activities, too.  In severe cases, the bones are too weak to hold up the rest of the body.  The organs cave in on themselves and quit working.  The end.

If you are losing bone density at a dangerous level, you have osteopenia. If your bones are already brittle and weak, you have osteoporosis.  You probably knew that — but did you know that losing weight can also cause you to lose bone density?  That’s why you want to concentrate on not just losing pounds, but losing fat.

And losing fat is good for your bones. So how can you lose weight without harming your bones?  Switching to a healthier, low glycemic diet and cutting out the things that weren’t helping your bones anyway, like sugar and processed food, is a start.  Walking also helps, so your step program is also good for your bones.

Another big thing you can do to help preserve your bones?  Quit drinking the sodas — diet or regular.  I heard a doctor refer to it as “osteoporosis in a can.”

Supplements help, too.  Glyconutrients have been proven in massive studies to improve bone density.  Calcium, with Vitamin D3 helps, also.  However, there are lots of calcium products out there that are a waste, because they are  synthetic or from shells or bones and your body can’t absorb it.  Plant source or dairy sourced is better.

Often diets —  especially the crazy ones — lead to bone loss.  It’s not worth it!  Our goal is to lose fat, build muscle, and strengthen our bones.  If we do that, we’ll look better, but that’s not really our goal.  We’ll be stronger, healthier, and able to live a fuller, more active life.  That’s better than gorgeous!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown