Weight Loss

Scope of the Problem

The best estimations place over a third of our population in the category of obesity. This is generally defined as being twenty percent or more over your ideal body weight. While genetics, diet and lifestyle all play a role in this epidemic, effective approaches to treat this are crucial. The increased risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and disabling musculoskeletal disease with obesity make this among the most serious of diseases. What few people know is that obesity related disorders and diseases constitute the greatest expenditures in healthcare and are among the most costly on a personal level. It is true that achieving “normal” weight is the single most important health and disease prevention practice one can do besides stopping smoking.

Is Dieting or Exercise Best?

This is a trick question, obviously. In order to be vibrantly healthy and to have the greatest amount of freedom in your life you should pay close attention to your diet and exercise on a regular basis. The evidence is that attention to both diet and exercise achieves the greatest gains in sense of well-being, cognitive function, cardiovascular fitness, and prevention of many common diseases such as dementia, hypertension, strokes and heart attacks, cancer and maladies such as insomnia, constipation, fatigue, and indigestion.

We see many people who exercise vigorously every week but have not achieved their weight goals. This is generally due to excessive calorie intake and or poor food choices. In some, there is a hormonal dysfunction that contributes to difficulty in losing weight. Recent studies have shown that irrespective of the amount of exercise involved, normal weight is achieved only with attention to an appropriate diet and caloric intake for that individual. This means that you cannot exercise yourself to an ideal weight if your caloric intake is excessive for your energy expenditure. Very simply, calories in will stay in if you don’t burn them.

What We Do For You

The first order of business is to assess where you are in your own practices of exercise and diet. Many people who are overweight or obese intermittently diet with various degrees of caloric restriction until some weight loss is achieved only to go back to poor food choices, and overeating. This can be due to food addiction and may need to be addressed as part of your treatment program. Acupuncture, amino acids, and nutritional supplements may be helpful and in some cases prescription medication may be necessary.

In addition, we help you tailor your diet to one that is appropriate for you to reach your health and weight goals. For most people this means portion control as well as careful adherence to the foods best for you. We have found that nearly everyone with excessive weight is not aware of the caloric density of the foods they consume. We address this by a period of calorie counting, food weighing (especially of protein foods), and record keeping of one’s diet and weight to help you see the connection. Once this connection is clearly in your awareness you can begin to make progress.

After much research, a recent addition to our weight loss program has been the use of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). This has been remarkably successful for many of our patients, especially those who have struggled with their weight for years, have see-sawed with their weight loss/gain, have diabetes, are obese or morbidly obese. This whole food diet and hormone approach has helped hundreds of patients achieve success in initial weight loss and weight maintenance. Along with the weight loss, we have seen blood pressure and cholesterol lowering, elimination of fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome, and in a number of our Type II diabetic patients, a reversal of diabetes and independence from medication! In addition, the use of HCG appears to cause a shift in the body’s set point so that unwanted pounds stay off.

We have found that with the daily injections and supervised diet that an average of ½-1 lbs. are lost daily in men and women. Many people report that they are free from food craving and overeating for the first time in their lives. Almost everyone reports an enhanced sense of well-being, an improved mood, and for those with joint and muscle pain, an overall reduction in aching and stiffness. After the initial weight loss phase, a maintenance period is characterized by careful monitoring of your diet and any untoward weight gain to determine what foods are not your friends in terms of symptoms such as bloating, indigestion, fatigue, pain, and metabolic slowing. Getting control of your weight and determining the whole foods that are optimal for you is an integral part of preventive medicine and one of the most important self-care goals you can achieve.

If you are struggling with weight gain or any of the problems associated with it, we are here to help. Come in for a consult to see how we can help you solve your challenges and get you on the road to a better, healthier you. You’ll be glad you did.