Category: Weight Loss

According to the U.S. Department of Health, nearly 1 in 3 Americans are considered to be overweight. Societal conditions make it hard to maintain good health while dealing with daily stresses, busy work schedules, and imbalanced sleep schedules.

With more focus being placed on fast foods and sedentary lifestyles, the weight loss problem continues to escalate.

Thankfully, there are new advances in handling weight loss that can help you to turn around your health and rethink how you lose weight.

Contrary to popular belief, there is more to weight loss than simple quick-fix diets. A real solution takes sustainable changes and long-term lifestyle adjustments.

This is why considering weight loss as a medical condition and getting professional assistance can help you to understand your body’s unique needs better and to design a custom health plan that treats you like an individual.

Before we get into the best ways to handle weight loss, let’s go over the causes and common symptoms of being overweight.

Risk Factors and Common Causes

Being overweight happens due to a combination of many different factors. Some people are more genetically predisposed to becoming overweight, while others may not have been taught a proper lifestyle that supports good health. Some of the most common risk factors and causes of obesity include:

• Genetics

  Your genes can cause your body to either store more fat or burn it. Some people are born with slower metabolisms that store fat much more readily than others. These genetic patterns determine how efficiently your body uses food for energy.

• Medications

  Certain medications can slow your metabolism and make you a lot more susceptible to weight gain. These medications require extra precaution through a steady diet routine and exercise plan to make up for the side effects of these medications.

• Lack of Sleep

  Not getting enough sleep can lead to changes in hormonal activity. These changes can cause appetite increases and cravings for high-carb and fat foods.

  Other risk factors include smoking, age, and inactivity. These risk factors do not determine whether or not you will be overweight, and they are just signs that can help you and your doctor determine a better health and fitness plan to reduce your risk and keep you at a healthy weight.

Health Risks

There is more at risk than simply cosmetic concerns when it comes to being overweight. When your BMI, or body mass index, exceeds the threshold for a healthy weight, many health risks become apparent.

These include:

• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Arthritis
• Sexual health issues

Rethinking Weight Loss

As you can tell, being overweight is a very common problem that is triggered by many unhealthy habits and lifestyles that are popularized in modern culture. While being overweight is becoming more commonplace, this does not mean that you have to be just another statistic.

Treating weight loss effectively requires more than just a simple one-size-fits-all diet plan. If you are serious about losing weight, you may want to reconsider how you approach this problem.

You might be surprised to see the difference when you begin to treat your weight loss as an actual medical condition. You will better pinpoint the areas of your lifestyle that could use improving and also identify any underlying medical conditions and unique traits that may be putting a halt to your progress while practicing these popularized diet plans.

The Importance of a Customized Weight Loss Plan

When you come to our medical weight loss clinic, we will help you design the perfect plan of action based on your specific health criteria and medical conditions.

After a physical and medical examination, your weight loss doctor will be able to help you decide which foods work best with your body, what fitness plans could help you shed more weight, and will even help you understand why each step and action is being made in the process.

This is the problem of most popular diet plans – what works for one person may be useless to the next.

Not all diets are compatible with everyone. Your metabolism is unique and requires its own diet plan to maximize your health.

This is why treating your weight loss as a medical condition is so smart – it removes all of the guesswork and gossip from dieting and takes you directly to the right choice for your body.

So no matter what your risk factors are or how many different diets you have tried, working together with a professional can help you get a deeper understanding of how your body works and find the best ways to maximize your health and longevity. Once you are educated, you can make lifelong changes and always be confident that you are doing what is best for you.

Cryotherapy is a fairly new buzzword in health circles, but the truth is, it’s been around for many years. Developed primarily in Japan and spread throughout Europe, the techniques have become popular through most areas of the world in recent years.

WHAT IS CRYOTHERAPY?

Cryotherapy is a cold temperature treatment technique designed to provide cures and improvements to overall body health. The word “cryotherapy” literally means “cold therapy”. It is a science based on applying cold air, water or other materials to various local areas of the body. An example is placing an ice pack on a bruise or immersing an injured arm in an ice bath.

WHOLE BODY CRYOTHERAPY

Whole body cryotherapy takes the principles and techniques of local cryotherapy and adapts them into an overall full-body experience. The individual enters a special area with minimal covering, allowing the cold treatment to reach all areas of the body at once.

HOW IT WORKS

When the body is exposed to extremely cold temperatures for several minutes, the tissues are affected both internally and externally, and several transformations take place. Damaged tissues recover more quickly, and constriction of vessels slows blood flow to extremities, reducing inflammation and lowering levels of pain. Infections and diseases are often destroyed, and the body is set free to recover more easily and create healthy replacement cells.

BENEFITS

There are many potential benefits to whole body cryotherapy.

1. Pain and Muscle Treatment. 

   Whole body cryotherapy is an effective method of reducing pain from muscle fatigue and from some types of injuries. The freezing temperatures have a soothing, healing effect on the muscles of the body, rejuvenating tissue and helping to reduce inflammation.

2. Weight Loss.

   Proponents claim that a single session of whole-body cryotherapy can burn off hundreds of calories and that repeated applications can boost your everyday metabolism and keep your body consistently burning calories at an enhanced rate.

3. Skin Conditions.

   Cryotherapy is also used as a treatment of various types of skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. The surface tissue exposure to the cold temperature freezes the affected area, killing the condition and helping the body create fresh clean skin cells.

4. Arthritis. 

   Many patients are using whole body cryotherapy as a way of reducing the inflammation and pain symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The simple principle of placing cold items, typically in the form of ice packs, on inflamed areas to bring relief is expanded to include the entire body, with overall satisfying results.

5. Cancer Treatment.

   The development of cancer in the human body has long been tied to inflammation. Since whole-body cryotherapy is effective at reducing inflammation, the treatments have the potential to help lower the risk of developing cancer, to slow the progression of any existing cancer cells, and even help reduce it in an infected body.

IS WHOLE BODY CRYOTHERAPY SAFE?

While the technique is fairly new and long-term studies are not available, testimonies of successes continue to abound.

Most who try whole body cryotherapy testify to the advantages and benefits they are seeing from the treatments, and many are scheduling repeat sessions to continue to experience the positive effects long term.

Come to try a treatment out at our clinic!

While too much fat anywhere in your body should be a health concern, belly fat can be particularly troubling if not addressed. However, working your core and incorporating a day or two of more vigorous exercise (high-intensity training) into your weekly schedule can help reduce excess fat around your middle.

Here are some exercises that can help you get rid of that stomach fat without the need to turn to strict diets or expensive supplements. The best part is that you even don’t need to go to the gym to do them.

PLANKS

The plank is a great way to start your routine. It puts the muscles of the entire body to work while strengthening your abdomen, glutes and lower back.

DIRECTIONS

With your face down, support yourself on your forearms and tips of your toes. Position your elbows directly under your shoulders and at a 90 degree angle. Balance your weight while keeping your body straight, forming a perfectly straight line from the crown of your head to your heels.

Make sure to contract your abs and hold the position for at least 30 seconds. Do this every day for two or three sets, gradually increasing the duration of the hold.

OBLIQUES

Using weights while doing oblique exercises is a great way to lose some inches from the stomach and waist.

DIRECTIONS

Lie down on the floor or a mat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.Tuck your feet under a heavy object or have a workout partner hold them down. Lift your upper body off the ground so that your torso and thighs for a V-shape.

While holding a 5-pound weight in front of your abdominals with your arms bent, move back and forth from left to right, and do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

LOWER ABDOMINALS

Lower abs exercises can get your whole core working more efficiently and serve to reduce inches.

DIRECTIONS

Lie facing up with both of your legs forming a 90-degree angle to the floor. While keeping your abs tight, lower your legs without allowing your feet to touch the floor. Hold this position briefly for about 5 seconds and rise again. Do 4 sets of 10 repetitions.

KNEES TO THE CHEST

This is a great exercise to start working those tummy muscles.

DIRECTIONS

Start in a plank position (supporting yourself over the forearms and on the tips of your toes). Bring your left knee in towards the right side of your chest, making sure you squeeze your abs and then return to the initial position. Repeat this movement with the other leg and alternate as many times as possible.

WHEEL EXERCISES

Wheel exercises are perfect for working out the abdominal muscles.

DIRECTIONS

Support yourself on the knees and tightly grab both sides of the wheel. Push your torso up into a plank position and hold for 30 seconds making sure to engage your core. Pull yourself back to the initial position with a slow movement. Repeat this 20 times.

TWIST CRUNCHES

Crunches are very effective in burning belly fat.

DIRECTIONS

Lie on the floor with your hands behind your head. With your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, lift your upper torso (just your right shoulder towards the left) while keeping the left side of your torso on the ground. Repeat this movement for the other side and do this 10 times.

If you really want to lose that extra weight around your midsection, it is necessary to make some lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just try a few sit-ups and call it a day. It requires considerable effort on your part by maintaining a healthy diet and ramping up your workouts.

But sticking with a fitness and lifestyle plan that works for you will yield results and give you that sculpted stomach you’ve always wanted!

We all know the person who’s always positive. They bounce into the office with big smiles on their face, they’re always talking about how excited they are for life, and to them, no matter what comes, the glass is always half-full. It seems like a wonderful way to live – but is it?

What kind of effect does being optimistic actually have on your life? And more importantly, if there is a positive effect, how can you use this knowledge to change your own life?

What is optimism?

Optimism is a person’s ability to find the silver lining. In an uncertain situation, an optimistic person will assume that everything will turn out for the best. When bad things happen, an optimist doesn’t blame themselves or others, and they assume that things will turn around.

Conversely, when something bad happens, a pessimist will blame themselves or others, regardless of whether it was their fault or not, and they will assume that the situation is permanent.

While some people may be predisposed to optimism, virtually everyone can cultivate it if they’re willing to put in the effort. But just what kind of health impact will cultivating optimism have on your life?

The health benefits of optimism

In some studies, optimism has been associated with a reduced risk of stroke and a reduced risk of cancer, though it’s unclear at this point how strong the correlation may be. Optimistic people are also at a reduced risk of developing hypertension, which is a major risk for cardiovascular diseases.

This could be because optimistic people tend to choose healthier lifestyles – they’re more likely to exercise and eat better than non-optimists.

Of course, there’s more to health than the physical components, and optimism may play a critical role in your mental health. In a Harvard study, it is suggested that those who actively cultivate optimism are better at coping with the disease and tend to have a quicker recovery after surgical procedures.

An optimistic outlook early in life is also linked to better health and a lower rate of death in the following 15 to 40 years.

Cultivating optimism

If you’re an optimist, the results are looking pretty good for you – but you already knew that! For the rest of us, cultivating optimism could be part of a mentally and physically healthy lifestyle. So what steps do you need to take to become more optimistic?

It all starts with gratitude. Optimists have the innate ability to appreciate and be grateful for the things that life gives them – even the challenges. They’re naturals at spinning a negative into a positive. If you’re not naturally an optimist, this may be difficult, but it is possible.

Perhaps you start by keeping a gratitude journal and listing everything you’re grateful for each day. It can be as simple as being grateful for a sunny day and having family who loves you.

Optimism is healthy

If you want a better life, it’s time to start seeing the glass as half full, to make lemonade when life gives you lemons, and to stop making mountains out of molehills. Work to become more optimistic, and your health will thank you!

Within your body you have no less than a dozen endocrine and exocrine glands. All of these glands produce hormones, and hormones regulate the majority of your body’s regulatory functions.

Above all else, the main organ that controls ALL of your endocrine and exocrine glands is the pituitary, a tiny, pea-sized gland at the base of your brain and located approximately between your eyes and behind the frontal cortex of your brain.

If any one of these glands or hormones is “off,” it can create a lot of problems. Here are some more reasons why you should have your hormones checked regularly and often, especially after age 40.

Drops in Testosterone and Estrogen

These two hormones, which are frequently associated with the development of secondary sex characteristics, libido and reproduction, begin dropping off after you hit 35 to 40, and dip further after 45 to 50.

While these hormones are not missed with regards to reproduction, they can cause other hormones in the body to become imbalanced. Sometimes these imbalances are expected, as is the case with diabetes and old age, but if you are developing diabetes before age 60, it could be a sign of something else wrong.

Add to that changes in skin and muscle tone, loss of hair, loss of libido and inability to perform sexually or discomfort during sex, and you may feel like your heatlh is going downhill. You can actually reverse these issues, or, at the very least, slow them down.

Your doctor can test your estrogen levels (if you are female) and your testosterone levels (if you are male) to determine the declining levels and prescribe hormone replacement therapies.

Sometimes, serious health issues such as heart disease and high cholesterol can be reversed with HRT, as evidenced by tests performed on men and women who were experiencing mid-life changes and suddenly found themselves very unhealthy.

Elevated insulin or drops in blood sugar

The pancreas is another endocrine/exocrine gland. It produces insulin, which your body uses to metabolize sugar. People who do not metabolize sugar well are often diagnosed with diabetes.

The lack of insulin is treated with insulin taken from pig pancreases, although more recent efforts have been made to create biologically identical hormones to those your body already uses, including insulin.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and takes place when a joint’s cartilage, breaks down and cartilage is needed because it protects the joints. Non-alcohol fatty liver disease is when the amount of fat in the liver cells goes up which, in turn, may cause inflammation and scarring of the tissue.

In the worst of cases, an excess of scarred tissues may bring on cirrhosis, a very bad condition that may result in liver failure or liver cancer. Sleep apnea is also caused by obesity.

Tests for this hormone are as simple as a pin-prick and a diabetes meter. You can either do it outside of a doctor’s office with over-the-counter meters and products you can buy, or in your doctor’s office with a meter your doctor can temporarily code for you.

Fasting blood sugar in the morning should not be less than 60 mg/dl, and after you eat breakfast, it should not be above 160 mg/dl. There can be some mild variations in this, but you should either A) eat if your blood sugar in the morning is a tad low, or B) take your blood sugar again a half hour after getting a reading that looks high.

Not knowing or keeping track of your blood sugar and insulin levels can lead to shock, injuries from fainting and hitting your head or other body parts, and coma. If you are not discovered for hours after passing out, death is also possible.

A lot of research studies have proven that if a person has a bad immunity system, then the chances of them getting any number of infections increases greatly. One cause of a bad immune system is a diet that consists mostly of fat and sugar. The reason for the higher chances of infections is that this type of diet will more than likely raise your blood sugar levels or cause oxidative damage.

Oxidative damage is an overproduction of reactive oxygen species compared to the body’s ability to detoxify cells. When this type of damage happens, the chance of you getting an infection increases. If you do not have enough protein in your diet, that can do damage to your body as well.

If a person does not take in enough protein, they are at risk of getting protein-energy malnutrition, and it will do a lot of damage to their immune system. Some people believe that malnutrition is caused by not having a proper diet.  For this reason, deficiencies can very well happen for any person with a bad diet, no matter how much they weigh. There are many physical problems that obesity and one of them is diabetes.

Being overweight and not exercising much can be a contributing factor to type two diabetes. Both of them make a person’s system insulin-resistant. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Being resistant to insulin results in high blood sugar levels. Obesity can also be a determining factor in heart disease.

People that are obese are more likely to get heart disease because the arteries that supply the heart with blood become narrow because there is an accumulation of fatty deposits. The result is less blood flowing to the heart, and this can cause heart disease, heart attacks, and the forming of blood clots that may cause a stroke. Obesity can also cause infertility for obese women in comparison to women that are of normal weight or are overweight. Joint pain and arthritis are also caused by obesity.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and takes place when a joint’s cartilage breaks down. Cartilage is needed because it protects the joints. Non-alcohol fatty liver disease is when the amount of fat in the liver cells goes up, which, in turn, may cause inflammation and scarring of the tissue.

In the worst of cases, an excess of scarred tissues may bring on cirrhosis, a very bad condition that may result in liver failure or liver cancer. Sleep apnea is also caused by obesity. When obstructive sleep apnea happens, the muscles in the throat relax, which narrows the airway and restricts airflow, which causes a person to stop breathing for small amounts of time, and it wakes them up.

The inability to get a good night’s sleep for a long period of time can result in being tired during the day, depression, high blood pressure, and weight gain. The reason that obesity can result in obstructive sleep apnea because the extra weight on the neck can place pressure on the throat muscles, which causes obstructed airways and snoring.

Along with the physical reasons, having no problems with obesity can result in people feeling better about themselves. This can lead to good emotional health which can affect your physical health as well. Therefore, not being obvious not only has an effect on our overall physical health but our overall emotional health as well.