Have you noticed your weight creeping up, more fatigue, cravings, and a sluggish metabolism? If you have tried just about every diet with minimal success, leptin is the hormone you need to know about. Leptin comes from fat cells and communicates directly with your brain to tell it how much fat is in storage. It controls energy, appetite, and metabolic rate. Leptin problems are the primary reason for food cravings, overeating, and slow metabolism. Learn how to eat in harmony with leptin and kick your metabolism into gear!

Leptin: The Survival Hormone

One major role of leptin is to help you survive a famine, which isn't such a big deal now but was the top priority for a very long time. The leptin your fat produces is like the gas gauge in your car. You have no way of knowing how much fuel is in your car's tank without looking at the gauge. Likewise, your subconscious brain has no idea what you look like in the mirror; it uses the amount of leptin entering your brain as its gas gauge.

Problems occur when you eat in a way that clogs leptin entry into your brain. Snacking is public enemy number one as far as leptin is concerned, as snacking raises your triglycerides too often during the day, in turn clogging leptin entry into your brain. Once this happens you develop a problem called leptin resistance – and your body behaves as if it is starving. This means your brain is saying, “turn down thyroid function and run your metabolism in slow motion to preserve energy so that you don't perish during a famine.”

Eating in harmony with leptin is more important than any other dieting strategy – because leptin is about survival of the human race. There is no more fundamental principle. Body types, metabolic types, and blood types are all junior concepts compared to the fundamental principle of survival that leptin coordinates. When you combine eating in harmony with leptin with high quality food and regular exercise, you open the door to permanent weight loss and real health.

The Five Rules of the Leptin Diet

Most diets start by having you reduce calories. This will work for a while, but after a few weeks your will power may give out or your body will enter a starvation mode, at which time you will experience a weight loss plateau. The Leptin Diet is not a typical calorie-deficit diet but more of a lifestyle – a sustainable way of eating for healthy metabolism, energy, and health.

Eating in harmony with leptin is the secret to activating your metabolism and maintaining weight loss without feeling deprived. The quality of the food you eat is of course very important, but when it comes to Leptin, when you eat is what makes all the difference. To eat in harmony with Leptin you must follow five simple rules.

Here are the Five Rules of The Leptin Diet:

Rule #1: Never Eat After Dinner
Allow 11-12 hours between dinner and breakfast and finish eating dinner at least three hours before bed. Leptin follows a 24-hour rhythm. When working properly, leptin levels should be highest in the evening.

It is noticeable when leptin is not properly balanced. You will experience cravings for food later in the day or may find yourself circling the refrigerator after dinner. This is the leptin nightmare, the drive to eat even though rationally you know you don’t need food. Make every effort not to eat after dinner at night.

Rule #2: Eat Three Meals a Day, No Snacking
Allow 5-6 hours between your meals without snacks. You are supposed to get a snack between meals – but it should come from your liver. Your liver acts as a storage tank for energy. When your metabolism is working properly, your liver will feed your cells a constant supply of stored sugar called glycogen. When the sugar runs out, your body will turn to fat next. Now you have enetered a fat burning state, but this can only occur with time between meals. As it turns out, snacking between meals is one of the worst things you can do to your metabolism.

Rule #3: Do Not Eat Large Meals
The fastest way to induce leptin resistance is to overeat. Always try to finish a meal when you are slightly less than full. The full signal will catch up to you around 10 minutes after you begin eating. Eating slowly is important. As you begin to have better leptin control, this will get easier. Practice listening to your internal cue to stop eating when you are satisfied, or even better, just before you are full.

Rule #4: Eat a Breakfast Containing Protein
Protein is the single most important calorie that influences your metabolic rate. A high protein breakfast can increase your metabolism by up to 30 percent for as long as 12 hours – the calorie burning equivalent of a two-mile jog! If you have trouble going 5-6 hours between meals, are diabetic, or struggle with cravings – particularly, sugar or carbohydrate cravings – be sure to increase the amount of protein you eat at breakfast.

A good target for weight loss is one-half to three-fourths of your ideal body weight in grams of protein per day. At least 25 to 30 grams of this should be consumed at breakfast. So, if your goal weight is 140 pounds, you want to eat 70 to 105 grams of protein per day.

Rule #5: Reduce the Amount of Carbohydrates Eaten
Your body loves to burn easy-to-use fuels called carbohydrates. As long as there is a steady supply of carbohydrates, that is the preferred source of fuel your body will burn. If you eat too many carbohydrates, there will be no need for your body to dip into its energy savings account – stored fat.

If you wish to burn off some of your extra fat in storage, it is important that you reduce the number of carbohydrates you consume. It is important to get some carbohydrates. You need them to make serotonin, activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest state), feed your brain, keep your pancreas healthy, and more. However, most Americans eat far too many carbohydrates. Aim to consume about a palm sized amount of complex carbohydrates which are high in fiber. That way there is no carbohydrate or calorie counting. Fill up on fiber-rich vegetables, as desired.

Dietary Supplements as Weight Loss Tools

Nutritional supplements are very helpful tools that may be taken in conjunction with The Leptin Diet guidelines to make weight loss easier, help you stay on track, and overcome obstacles as you try to lose weight. If you find it hard to follow the Five Rules at first or if you are following the guidelines perfectly but your metabolism is sluggish from years of yo-yo dieting, nutritional supplements can help you resist cravings and get metabolism into gear.*

Wellness Resources Leptin Diet supplements are specially formulated to improve leptin hormone communication, reduce food cravings, increase energy, support healthy thyroid function, and improve sugar metabolism. They make getting started on a weight loss program easier and can help you get beyond a weight loss plateau. They do not contain any hormones, stimulants, or fat blockers. Instead, they provide key nutrients for healthy metabolic function.*

The Leptin Control Pack contains the most comprehensive nutritional supplements for weight management support in convenient on-the-go packets. These nutrients support healthy thyroid and adrenal health, blood sugar, leptin communication and more. The Leptin Control Pack contains: Leptinal, LeptiSlim, Thyroid Helper, Stress Helper, Cinnamon Plus, Green Tea Extract, and Quercetin.*

A high protein breakfast helps to balance blood sugar, keep you full longer, activate metabolism in the liver and support weight loss. Protein intake also helps preserve muscle mass while losing weight. Whey protein, which is particularly high in the branched chain amino acid leucine, is particularly weight loss friendly. Wellness Resources Daily Protein Plus contains the highest quality whey protein and is casein free, lactose free, cholesterol free, and sweetener free. 1-2 scoops mixed into a smoothie for breakfast helps ensure you start your day right!*

Dietary fiber is essential for weight loss to help move fats and toxins out of the body. Aim to get 35-60 grams of fiber daily. Adequate fiber helps support healthy weight loss by fighting cravings, balancing blood sugar, keeping digestion moving, and sopping up toxins. Fiber Helper is a soluble fiber supplement that mixes easily in water and won’t gel up. It has very little taste and absolutely no sweeteners of any kind. It is helpful to take 1 heaping tablespoon in water before meals to help reduce overeating at meals and help you stay full longer.*

When you eat in harmony with leptin your head will feel clearer and your energy will be better. Your cravings will go away and your health will improve. There is a lot of power in these five simple rules. Get started today!

Additional Leptin Resources

• The Leptin Diet book - learn the connection between leptin, thyroid, blood sugar and more!
• Mastering Leptin book – more in-depth science behind the hormone leptin and your health.
• Jump Start Your Weight Loss – 21-day plan 
• Leptin Diet Recipes 
• Daily Protein Smoothie Recipes 
• Leptin Diet Nutritional Supplements