Ever get stuck in a rut. Cannot lose weight and constantly worried about it. It is all consuming and every time you pass in front of a mirror you get frustrated with the way you look. Disappointed with the rapid weight loss centers? Heck that only works for the beach season then all that weight comes back. Tired of trying dangerous stimulant drugs and one medication after another? Tired of the diet-of-the-month revolving door? Weight loss is better redefined as weight management. Some of us are pre-set to be at homeostasis with a particular weight or mass. Thank your parents for passing on those genes. But it cannot all be blamed on our genetic makeup, there are many factors that can work against us. Gender, ethnicity, culture, toxicities, chronic medical conditions, inflammation that cannot go away, hormonal issues and food cravings are just some of the factors that are roadblocks in the journey to maintain proper and health weight. Many rapid weight loss clinics and bariatric surgical interventions are downright dangerous. One of the deadliest surgeries is the bariatric surgery and gastric bypass. Because it is quite invasive there is a high mortality rate associated and after all they are being performed on high-risk patients anyway. The yo-yo weight loss and gain seen with pharmaceuticals are not long lasting. The drugs used are only FDA approved for very short periods of time, they are habit forming and can lead to addictions and mental conditions. Some in the past have led to heart conditions. Best to avoid them in the long run, but they can be effective in the short run. However, be warned, once you stop the pills the weight will return. Since the body was ‘’tricked’’ and shocked into losing that weight rapidly it will come back with a vengeance and oftentimes come back more than what you lost originally. Losing again with this paradigm becomes much more difficult with each cycle.
For true weight management one must follow a different paradigm. One must be free of toxins and environmental agents that jinx your ability to lose weight. One must certainly be free from inflammation. The inflammation I refer to is not the pain you feel but internal workings of your immune system that blocks proper metabolism and this can be measured with select inflammatory biomarkers. Clean up the inflammation and it opens the door to better weight control and lasting control. Gut health is one of the leading causes to be conquered before inflammation can be stamped out. Of course, there is the balance of good and proper exercise. Research has proven that overexercising can have the opposite effect. Over Exercise syndrome causes a sustained rise in adrenal cortisol hormones and raises oxidative load leading to inflammation and disruption of the HPA-axis. Proper nutrition (not fad diets) is a must. It is rather simple and not complex or some weird food cult you have to join. And finally proper hormone balance is key. Not just the thyroid, but the adrenals and the sex hormones too. There are many biomarkers to follow for adjustments in therapy. Neurotransmitter testing has now joined the select testing to be performed. After all, mood and mental health are at the forefront of dealing with any medical condition and it is no different with being overweight or obese. Mindfulness is another aspect, not only as a means of stress reduction but also of balance.
If you are drawn into a TV infomercial about some newfangled weight loss gimmick and it sounds too good to be true, then it is not a good idea to pursue that. It will end in failure and frustration and you will have wasted time and money. Every eight months it seems some celebrity or upstart company comes up with something novel and exciting, maybe a new product or supplement; maybe a new diet book. Only a year later to be realized it had nothing but empty promises. Within Functional Medicine we have been trained to seek out root cause no matter what chronic illness and that includes obesity or being overweight. So, following the proper strategies eventually a root cause (or causes) can be discovered, tackled and yield the results you wish for with long-term results. It is not that difficult but requires patience and dedication. It also requires the proper healthcare provider. It will not be a quick fix, but what in life that is meaningful is a quick affair?
Weight management and weight loss can be a realization if one is to follow a set of principles and a program. The providers at Carolina Holistic Medicine follow the Functional Medicine weight management paradigms to achieve lasting results.