How naturopathic helps with obesity.
Maintaining an optimal weight is paramount good health. Obesity is on the rise in America and considered an epidemic. It’s difficult to ignore that while more people are becoming overweight, more chronic disease is showing its face as well.
If weight gain has been a struggle for you, consider getting an appropriate medical evaluation to assess for some conditions that leave people frustrated with the constant battle of weight management. Some medical conditions that impact our metabolism and weight maintenance include thyroid function, hormone, blood sugar, and cortisol imbalances.
If one of these areas of your body’s function is out of balance, there are many treatment options to correct the imbalance, to help you feel better, and achieve your weight loss goals. We find that when these conditions go undiagnosed, a person may struggle with yo-yo dieting for the rest of their life. Dr. Mercer has great success with helping her patients’ achieve their weight loss goals by conducting a proper evaluation and developing a personalized weight loss plan.
Tips to maintain a healthy weight.
•Lab assessments – Consider getting a lab assessment to determine if there is a biological reason why you gain weight easily and find it difficult to lose weight.
•Detoxify – If you are dedicated to losing weight, consider planning for a cleanse to jump start the process. Often times, by detoxifying the liver and digestive system, it enables your body to process and metabolize food more efficiently. Dr. Mercer develops individualized detox programs specific for her patients’ needs.
•Increase protein, decrease carbohydrates, and choose healthy fats – Your body digests and processes protein, fats and carbs differently. Think of a campfire. Carbs act similarly to the kindling – it burns fast and hot, often times leaving a person hungry just a couple of hours after eating. High quality protein and healthy fats act similarly to the big logs that burn for hours – they stabilize a person’s blood sugar and provide long-lasting satiety.
•Don’t skip meals – When a person skips meals regularly with the intension of losing weight, they usually end up frustrated to see that they not only don’t lose weight but often times gain weight! Skipping meals tells your body that you are in starvation mode and that you need to hold onto fat stores in the event that you are headed into a period of famine. This process often times disrupts thyroid function, making it even more difficult to lose weight. We recommend that you eat regular, small, healthy, nutrient-packed meals. Also, you won’t find yourself binging from being overly hungry.
•Movement – Moving your body is an essential part of any successful weight loss program. It is most helpful to combine stretching/strengthening exercises with exercises that raise your heart rate. We find that it is crucial to find activities that you truly enjoy! Activities can range from going on walks or hikes with some friends to participating in a fitness class at a local gym. Find what you LOVE to do and you’ll find you actually look forward to exercising!
•Stay hydrated – Often times, people think they are hungry when in reality they are simply dehydrated. We recommend that you drink 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water every day! For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking about 75 ounces of water a day, which equates to about 4 and a half pint-sized glasses of water.
•Stress Management – It is almost impossible to avoid stressors these days; however, if a person experiences a great deal of stress that isn’t managed, it can wreak havoc on their hormone levels, thus making it more difficult to lose weight.