Metabolic Weight Loss – Know Your Metabolic Type
Before you read a bit farther, understand that knowing what type of metabolism you have, be it fast or slow, carbohydrate or protein, will make all the difference in your weight loss success. Please study all the Metabolic Typing information before proceeding. Also, take our FREE Metabolic Type Test and see which foods and supplements you need in your diet program.
There is such a confusing array of weight loss programs and books available on the market, how is a person to sort through them and determine what is best? We have the Dr. Phil’s Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, diet pills and the list goes on. In this article and other articles referenced, we will give you the general principles of weight management so you can determine the most effective program for you. An important concept you will learn about is the relationship of the adrenal gland hormones cortisol and DHEA to obesity.
Researchers Discover Obesity to be Worse than Smoking, Drinking or Poverty
Researchers at the RAND Corp. recently examined the comparative effects of obesity, smoking, heavy drinking, and poverty on chronic health conditions and health expenditures*. Their astounding finding was that obesity is the most serious problem! Obesity is linked to a big increase in chronic health conditions and the spiraling rise in health expenditures. Their surprising conclusion was that obesity affects more people than smoking, heavy drinking, or poverty. The study reveals that obesity is linked to very high rates of chronic illnesses, higher than living in poverty, and much higher than smoking or drinking. Seventeen chronic health conditions including diabetes , high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease and cancer were investigated and related to the incidence of obesity.
The findings concluded that obese individuals spend more money on both medical health care services and medications than do daily smokers and heavy drinkers. For example, obese individuals spend approximately 36% more than the general population on health services compared to a 21% increase for smokers and a 14% increase for heavy drinkers. Obese individuals spend a staggering 77% more on medications. Only aging has a greater effect and only on expenditures for medications. In other words, the obese person is old before his/her time.
Not only does obesity have more negative health consequences than smoking, drinking, or poverty, it also affects more people. Approximately 23 percent of Americans are obese. An additional 36 percent are overweight. By contrast, only 6% are heavy drinkers, 19 percent are daily smokers, and 14 percent live in poverty.
Americans are looking for a weight loss program that is reliable, medically based, and minimizes the potential for a return of the weight once the goal is reached.
*Sturm R, Wells KB. Does Obesity Contribute As Much to Morbidity As Poverty or Smoking? Public Health. 2001;115:229-295.
The 10 Top Reasons to Lose Weight
1. You’ll look better and feel good about yourself. Nothing brings a smile quicker than the loss of weight.
2. You’ll live longer and slow the aging process.
3. With healthy body composition, the disability associated with aging is compressed into fewer years at the end of your life. ( New England Journal of Medicine, 1998) . You will enjoy more years of healthful living. This becomes especially important as you want to experience good health during retirement years.
4. You will decrease your risk of debilitating diseases including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type II diabetes, heart disease, gall bladder disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and certain cancers. (See the graphs below from the Center for Disease Control NHANES study, 1999)
5. You will improve your body composition, fat to lean muscle ratio.
6. Your performance and stamina will increase.
7. You will find yourself able to cope with stress more easily and effectively.
8. Your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar will improve.
9. Protocols that are scientifically and clinically tested and proven are now available.
10. Nutritionists are trained in scientific weight loss. Find one and get to work.
Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
The obesity guideline from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health proposes that practitioners use body mass index (BMI) to assess patients because the index is simple, correlates to fatness, and applies to both men and women. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute proposes the following classifications of health using body mass index:
| Body Mass Index Classification | |
|---|---|
| Less than 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5 to 24.9 | Normal |
| 25.0 to 29.9 | Overweight |
| 30.0 to 34.9 | Obese class I |
| 35.0 to 39.9 | Obese class II |
| 40.0 or greater | Extremely obese |
To Measure Your BMI Using the Chart Below:
1. Move down the left column until you locate your height in inches.
2. Move across the chart to the right until you find your current weight in pounds.
3. Move up the weight column until you find your BMI.
4. To find your target weight, refer to the health BMI range of this chart.
If your weight is outside the healthy range, begin losing weight today.
The Morbid Consequences of Obesity
My friend, obesity is no laughing matter. As reported above, it is now considered even more serious than smoking. For the overweight person, it is time to face the facts….obesity is a serious health problem. The truth of the matter, which we have a strong tendency to repress, is that though there are no serious health consequences to obesity happening right now, it is just a matter of time. It’s like hitting your thumb a very light tap with a hammer. It doesn’t hurt today, and it won’t hurt if you tap it again tomorrow. But if you tap it every day for years, the time will come when it is irreversibly pathologically damaged. The devastating consequences of obesity are just as subtle. What you are sowing today, you will reap tomorrow. You really don’t want to experience those consequences. Not now, not in the future.
The obese person who has neglected his/her health can one day expect painful problems such as knees that hurt with every step, chronic back aches, chronic fatigue, taking cholesterol medication for life, having a heart bypass, unnecessary surgeries, not sleeping well, or sticking oneself every day with an insulin needle for diabetes . The list goes on. How does the thought of premature disability and spending the retirement years on the front porch instead of out enjoying life appeal to you? We work too hard too many years to see it all ruined by poor health brought on by obesity. If these thoughts don’t fit the plan for your life, now is the time to change your life style and dietary habits . This may sound overly dramatic. But it isn’t. As we said, obesity is now considered a greater threat to your health and longevity than smoking, drinking and poverty! And, the probability of it perpetrating its bleak hardships on your life is very high. There is good news. It is never too late to make changes now for a better life from here on.
If you want to look good, feel good and have your friends comment on your loose fitting clothes, act now. To be successful, you need training….training to do it properly and scientifically. You must do it differently than all the times you’ve tried and failed in the past.
We recommend the Comprehensive Health Assessment available online. It is an inexpensive, easy online assessment of your health from the perspective of alternative medicine. It addresses a number of health issues that are commonly found yet often overlooked in people who are overweight. We encourage you to do your own health assessment as a starting point in your weight loss program.
What Being Overweight is Actually Costing You*
The Cash Rewards for Losing Weight
Being overweight costs a whole lot more money than most people think. You can convert the pounds on your hips to money in the bank for years to come by slimming down now. Long term, you will save enough money at the grocery store to take vacations, make some house payments or even buy a new car. The thousands of dollars you will save over the course of your lifetime simply by losing weight and keeping it off is really quite astounding. Consult the charts below to determine the cash savings available to you as one of the many rewards for losing weight. These charts are based upon USDA statistics which report that on the average, one calorie of food costs $.004 (four-tenths of one cent). Consequently, if you reduce your daily caloric consumption by 1000 calories, you will save $4 per day at the grocery store.
| The Long Term Cost of Obesity: Money Saved by Losing Weight | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Current Weight | Grocery Costs At Current Weight / Mo. | Assumed Ideal Weight | Grocery Costs At Ideal Wt. Per Mo. | Monthly Savings At Ideal Wt. | Annual Savings At Ideal Wt. | 10 Year Savings At Ideal Wt. |
| Female 170 | 224.40 | 140 | 184.80 | 39.60 | 475.20 | 4,572 |
| Female 200 | 264.00 | 140 | 184.80 | 79.20 | 950.40 | 9,504 |
| Female 250 | 330.00 | 140 | 184.80 | 145.20 | 1742.40 | 17,424 |
| Female 300 | 396.00 | 140 | 184.80 | 211.20 | 2534.40 | 25,344 |
| Male 200 | 264.00 | 180 | 237.60 | 26.40 | 316.80 | 3,168 |
| Male 250 | 330.00 | 180 | 237.60 | 92.40 | 1108.80 | 11,088 |
| Male 300 | 396.00 | 180 | 237.60 | 158.40 | 1900.80 | 19,008 |
| Male 350 | 462.00 | 180 | 237.60 | 224.40 | 2592.80 | 25,928 |
| The Money Saved While Actively Losing Weight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Current Weight | Grocery Costs at Your Current Weight Per Month | Grocery Costs While Dieting, 900 Cal . Female, 1200 Cal. Male | Your Savings While Losing Weight, Per Month | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Female 170 | 224.40 | 108.00 | 116.40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Female 200 | 264.00 | 108.00 | 156.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Female 250 | 330.00 | 108.00 | 222.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Female 300 | 396.00 | 108.00 | 288.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male 200 | 264.00 | 144.00 | 120.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male 250 | 330.00 | 144.00 | 186.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male 300 | 396.00 | 144.00 | 252.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male 350 | 462.00 | 144.00 | 318.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Cost for Active Weight Loss* Example: A Female Starting at 200 lbs. and Losing 50 lbs. in 6 Months |
Month # | Expenses (Insert Your Own) | minus Grocery Savings (From Chart Above) | equals Net Cost | 1 | $156 | 2 | 156 | 3 | 156 | 4 | 156 | 5 | 156 | 6 | 156 | Total net cost for 6 months | ||||||||||||||||||
For a small investment over the next 6 months you can look good, gain your health back and save thousands of dollars in the future! It sure beats the stock market!
Reallocating Funds from Unhealthy to Healthy Habits and Weight Loss
Consult the charts above to determine the net cost of your Clinical Weight Loss program. Don’t forget that you will enjoy a lifetime of savings totaling thousands of dollars, as indicated on the charts, as long as you maintain your new weight. To approximate your monthly cost, locate your weight on the “Money Saved During Active Weight Loss” chart and subtract the number in the “Savings While Losing Weight” column from the approximate amount you expect to spend on your weight loss program. This will give you an idea of the monthly net cost which, of course, you will recover many times over for years after reaching your goal. How? Because, you will never spend this much money on food again. Slim your hips and fatten your bank account by starting to lose weight now!
Choosing your Weight Loss Program
If you have a life long weight problem, you have probably tried many weight loss programs. Losing weight is very difficult and you need to make it work. The one program that makes the most sense from a scientific and physiologic view point is the zone diet or 40-30-30 method. You will find this method in the book 40-30-30 Fat Burning Nutrition available online or at your local book store. We suggest you get the book and then find a good clinical nutritionist who is expert in using the program. We also recommend a program called First Line Therapy offered to nutritionists by the Metagenics company. If you combine these two programs with the guidance of a good nutritionist, you should be successful. providing, of course, that you follow their instructions.
The Adrenal Gland Cortisol Stress Connection
Cortisol is one of the hormones produced by the adrenal gland. Cortisol was once referred to as “adrenalin”, the hormone which in a crisis enables us to do supernatural feats of strength. Cortisol is elevated any time we are under stress. The problem becomes that of long term stress causing elevated cortisol which, in turn, promotes obesity. If you are under chronic stress of any type, be it emotional or physical, work related, financial or marital, or whatever, you need to discuss it with your alternative medicine physician. It could well be the cortisol problem that has made it impossible for you to lose weight. See the information at the end of this article for details on adrenal gland stress and other related conditions.
The Gastrointestinal Connection
Obesity very commonly is associated with a poorly functioning gastrointestinal tract, intestinal dysbiosis, malabsorption, chronic intestinal yeast infection or candidiasis, and a myriad of other digestion related problems. Your digestion may be a major factor in your inability to lose weight. Please see the links listed at the end of this page of our web site for detailed information. It is imperative that you identify GI related problems if you are to be successful in your weight loss program.
What it Takes to Succeed
Experts tell us it takes 40 days to change old habits and develop new ones. There are certain habits you MUST develop if you want to lose weight and keep it off forever. You develop new habits by religiously disciplining yourself to do the following, every day, for 40 days:
1. Keep a food diary and calculate the total calories you consume daily.
2. Learn to arrange your meals so the 40-30-30 ratio of calories from carbohydrates, protein and fat is accomplished each meal. You can print a food and calorie list from www.ntwrks.com/~mikev/chart1.html .
3. Monitor your progress using a body composition analysis instrument. Your nutritionist should have this valuable instrument.
4. Exercise.
5. You must change your life style, FOR LIFE. Start now by developing the right habits.
What About Fat Burning Supplements and Drugs?
There are many such products on the market. They do work, they will help you lose weight. But, we don’t recommend their use. Why? Because they are a crutch. They don’t encourage you to change your diet and life style. Consequently, after you reach your goal, you will either be encouraged to continue on the supplements for the rest of your life, which you probably won’t, or, you will gain the weight back plus a few pounds. Another problem with these products is that they cause you to lose lean body mass along with the fat. This is bad and your body will want to gain it back. Body composition monitoring by your nutritionist will help you make sure this doesn’t happen.
Many fat burning supplements contain Ephedra, a substance derived from the herb Ma Huang. There is a certain risk here and it should not be used by persons on medication for heart or cardiovascular disease. Another substance in many products is the herb guarana root which is essentially a dose of caffeine. The supplements and drugs which prohibit the absorption of fat into the blood stream are particularly bad. The problem is they stop absorption of good healthy fats as well as unhealthy fats. Your body needs healthy fat just as much as it needs carbohydrates and protein. Avoid them.
The Atkins Diet
The Atkins craze was short-lived for one very important reason; not every person has a protein-based metabolism. This is a critical piece of information for the person who has tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. All the details to understand this phonomenon are in the FREE Metabolic Type Test. There are potential problems with the Atkins diet:
1. Fiber is neglected. We need 25 grams of fiber a day and the average American gets about 1/2 that. Fiber is in fruits and vegetables which are minimized in the Atkins diet. Low fiber diet has been implicated as a cause of colon cancer as well as cardiovascular disease.
2. Phytonutrients are neglected. These are essential nutritional chemicals found primarily in fruits and vegetables. Everyone should be eating 5 servings of each every day.
3. Glandular function may be depleted. Long-term overconsumption of protein and fat has the potential to deplete optimal function of the glands and organs responsible for their digestion. Included are the pancreas, liver and kidneys. It is established medically that high protein diets, long-term, may damage the kidneys and the connection to pancreatic damage and cancer is being investigated.
4. It is not natural to eat large amounts of protein and fat at the expense of the other nutrients. It is devoid of many essential vitamin and mineral nutrients. Successful weight loss dictates that you plan to change your eating habits for the rest of your life. You should not plan to go a lifetime without fruits and vegetables. All nutrition authorities agree that the consumption of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day is required for optimal health.
Weight Loss Related Articles on RxAlternativeMedicine
Adrenal Axis-Stress and Cortisol Imbalance
Alternative Medicine Diabetes
Benefits of Exercising
Food Allergy
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Hypothyroidism Treatment
Wilson’s Syndrome
