Holistic Weight Loss

By now you have probably tried many diets. Some have worked and some may not have. The difference with this program is that it is holistic. Holistic in this sense means: body, mind and spirit. Holistic also means that you take the primary responsibility for your weight loss and that we concern ourselves with your overall long-term health and not just in some crash diet fad. The program we work out together will be an individual program you can live with and not just a short-term weight loss scheme.

For many of you, losing weight means simply getting rid of that extra five pounds in order to fit into the latest fashions. But for others, it is more a matter of heath and good nutrition. Still for others, you may have 40-50 or more pounds you need to loose.

For everyone, the question arises: Which diet is best for me? Perhaps you have already tried vegetarianism, macrobiotics, the all-liquid protein diet, low carb diet, or an all fruit fast. And perhaps you have wondered why your best friend is able to lose weight eating pastries and pasta, while you have only to "look" at sweets to gain an extra five pounds.

Or have you noticed that not everyone craves the same foods? Have you considered the possibility that you have food allergies? Or have you wondered why weight loss has not miraculously occurred by diligently sticking to a low caloric or low carbohydrate diet? The reality is that not all people lose weight on the same diet.

In other words, everyone needs a diet based on their own individual physiological and biological strengths and weaknesses, and on their brain chemistry imbalances and metabolic strengths and weaknesses.

Scientists have discovered that different people have specific weaknesses in different glands in their body. These biological differences are partly inherited and partly created through lifestyle and eating habits. And these differences account for two important factors in weight loss.

First, individual biological weaknesses are the cause for what foods we each individually crave. And second, these differences also account for what part of our body tends to accumulate extra pounds.

Doctors have shown that people with a weak pituitary gland, for example, tend to crave dairy products rather than sweets, and that they will more often than not accumulate "baby fat" all over their body. In contrast, people with a weak thyroid will crave sugar, caffeine and carbohydrates and gain weight mostly in the stomach, upper arms and thighs. People with weak adrenal glands crave salt, meat, potatoes and butter and tend to be stocky with big bones and a pot belly. These types of people are usually very yang. The type of person with an imbalance in their ovaries may crave fats and spicy foods and gain most of their weight around the hips and thighs. To reverse these cravings and the accompanying weight gains, we must reverse the genetic imbalances and weaknesses.

In the Orient, medical science has also identified these biological individualities and has a long history of effectively treating people in accordance with these differences. According to the Oriental theory of health, when our body energy, or Chi, becomes blocked or depleted, we experience ill health or dis-ease.

Herbs and acupuncture work to unblock the stagnant chi to allow for the return of free-flowing chi, and thereby allowing the body to achieve a healthy equilibrium.

The specific effect acupuncture has on weight loss is twofold: First, it acts to relax the nervous system and lessen the anxiety and compulsiveness associated with overeating. This is accomplished by stimulation of specific acupuncture points in the ears and on the body, which cause the release of endorphins. Endorphins are the bodies own naturally occurring opiates, or "relaxers".

Second, acupuncture acts to stimulate those organs and glands, which are the weak ones; this works to actually decrease the food cravings, which are so hard to control. In terms of the Five Element Theory of Oriental Medicine , long-term obesity or weight problems are usually a sign of weakness in the earth element or fire element.

The nine (9) aspects that go to make up an effective weight loss program are as follows:

1 - Food Journal: time, day, food, reason, feelings, after effects both physically and emotionally;

2 - Identify Problem Foods (allergies, addictions, cravings, aversions);
Identify Problem Situations (restaurants, social situations, etc.);
Identity Problems in terms of time of day (biological clock);

3 - Develop strategies to cope with #2 above;

4 - Assess your weak glands and organs - correct through use of nutritional supplements, acupuncture and homeopathy;

5 - Utilize specific weight loss herbal formulas to help metabolism, strengthen the weak glands and organs in the body, work on the weak meridians and elements and to balance the nervous system and digestive organs of assimilation;

6 - Typical Acupuncture Treatment Schedule :
2X/week for the first 4 weeks, followed by;
1X/week for the next 4 weeks, followed by;
2X/month for the next 2 months, followed by;
1X/month for the remaining time you are on the program, followed by;
Periodic maintenance, usually 1X per month.

7 - Exercise: Some type of aerobic exercise to be determined with you doctor. This is important to increase the heartbeat and burn up calories and should be done 3X per week. The other days of the week you will need to walk and do some simple stretching or yoga-type exercises.

8 – Take a urine/saliva test to determine which brain neurotransmitters are weak or too strong and take the appropriate supplements to correct this problem. This will almost immediately help with emotional or binge eating.

9 – Take the appropriate homeopathic remedy for your imbalances and cravings.

If all nine of the above are hard for you, then just pick which you are most comfortable with, and we can personally design the program that is right for you!

But there is much more to the effective loss of weight that still needs to be considered: For people serious about a holistic approach to weight loss, a thorough examination of one's reasons for over-eating and motivation for wanting to lose weight is essential. Often, over or under eating is an old protection and defense mechanism that is being restimulated by current stress and emotional hurts or environmental or situational triggers.

In our culture, there tends to be an over-emphasis on the virtues of slenderness. Anorexia nervosa (self imposed starvation) and bulimia (the binge-purge syndrome) are both occurring in alarming proportions. In fact, many people are actually healthier - emotionally and physically - at a weight that is five to ten pounds greater than what our popular media presents as the ideal.

On the other hand, some people are honestly confused and do not know what their optimum weight really is. For many, short-term psychological counseling may work well in conjunction with a weight loss program. Therapy helps to help clarify weight loss goals and to provide emotional support for changes in eating and exercising habits. Therapy also helps to adjust to what can be a personally and socially threatening change of self-image.

For others, the program of Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and the Curves Program have proven very effective in providing support and helping people adjust to the physical, psychological and social aspects that weight loss inevitably confronts.

Weight loss is possible even for those who have experienced past failures. Identifying the causes of past failures, either spiritual, psychological or physiological, is the first step toward insuring greater success in the future.

It is important for an effective weight loss program to include recognition of biological individuality and the use of natural means to strengthen and rebuild those weak organs and glands in the body. Treatment can include acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling, homeopathy, psychological counseling, and exercise.

With an honest, gut level desire to change old behavior, weight loss can be achieved and the road to optimum health can be yours!