Ok, I’ll admit, the title of this article is a bit click-baity.
My apologies.
However, the one thing that just about every patient I’ve seen over the years wishes they could do is lose weight.
It’s a topic nearly everyone is interested in.
Here’s the secret: there is no secret.
I know, that’s not what most people want to hear. We all wish there was some magic silver bullet that would have us shedding pounds instantly and looking like Denise Austin and David Hasselhoff circa the 1990’s.
The truth is, there is no silver bullet.
There is no magic quick fix.
With all the hype that new drugs like Ozempic get, they are not a great long-term solution. They may help temporarily (often by decreasing muscle mass – NOT good), but like fad diets and extremely restrictive diets, they will not produce a long-term and sustainable healthy weight, and more importantly, they will generally not help produce a HEALTHIER body.
I often ask patients WHY they wish so badly to lose weight?
Will it produce more contentment in their life?
Will it make them happier?
Perhaps temporarily, but ultimately less weight absolutely does NOT always equate to better health and/or happiness.
That being said, there obviously are folks who would benefit from weight loss. However, I don’t like to look through the lens of weight loss. I would rather focus my attention on consistently building habits that help a person achieve HEALTH.
When you do that, your body will naturally find its healthy weight. Whether that means the weight is going up or down totally depends on the person.
I guess you could say THAT is the secret to weight loss (or achieving a healthy weight).
There are no short cuts to achieving and maintaining long-term health (or getting to an optimal weight).
The secret is being disciplined enough to build consistent habits of moving regularly, eating a nutrient-dense diet, and focusing on your mental/emotional health and well-being.
When I graduated high school many moons ago, I weighed 175 pounds.
Today that number is up to 215 pounds.
40 pounds heavier than my high school weight!
Do I feel the need or desire to lose 40 pounds and get back to my high school weight?
Absolutely not!
Why? Because I am a healthier person at 210ish pounds today than I was at 175 in high school (I can confirm this by looking at my blood biometrics and fitness levels).
That is because I have consistently focused on building healthy habits over the last 15-20 years and my weight naturally went up (mainly from adding muscle).
And I am completely content with that.
I have also seen patients lose 10-20 pounds over the course of a few months doing nearly the identical things that I’ve been doing for years.
So why did their weight go down and mine went up doing the same things?
There are several dynamics to that, but ultimately their body got to a healthier state and weight loss was part of that state. From a body composition standpoint, they likely lost excess fat and water weight and built muscle with a net loss to weight.
The point is, for those of you who are concerned about your weight, try to focus first on building good health habits. From there, see where your weight (and your mental wellbeing) go.
There are no alternatives and there are no shortcuts, but the effort for better long-term health is always worth it.
The whole point of these articles I send out is to help educate people on what those health habits are to help motivate them to make changes.
Let’s get it done!
Complete Chiropractic 