Making the Change: Indulging in a Healthy Relationship with Food
Obesity or excess weight is not a disease but rather a symptom of an underlying cause. Weight loss and acquiring a healthy weight are important to reaching optimal health; however, it is not the answer alone. Weight loss, I would assume, is the number one New Year’s resolution. However, over time, because of yo-yo dieting, people begin to lose hope that they ever will lose weight permanently. The question is, why are people yo-yo dieting? The answer is, because most individuals are not looking deeper into the issue of the causes of the weight gain. These causes can be physical, hormonal, social, environmental and especially emotional. Believe it or not, even our emotions can actually change our hormonal expression. Did you know that there are hormones that control your appetite?
Once upon a time, food was scarce and we went through periods of famine and periods of feast. So, when food was plentiful our bodies wanted to make sure our appetite was hefty so we could eat and store plenty of fat for when the famine set in. Therefore, we actually have hormones that increase our appetite when food is plentiful. Because food is always plentiful now for the majority of us, these hormones are always raging but mostly when we overindulge. Sounds counterproductive, right? But, it wasn’t for our Paleolithic ancestors. It was actually a survival mechanism. Lucky for us, our ancestors survived the famines due to what is often referred to as the “thrifty gene.” But now, we suffer! These hormones are induced mainly when we over-eat sugars and simple carbohydrates, even fruit and fruit juice.
Think about the last time you ate an 8 ounce filet mignon; it probably filled you up or at least didn’t leave you starving for more. An 8 ounce filet has about 400–500 calories. Now think about the last time you had a muffin from Starbucks, which has about the same calorie content. Did you feel as full or did it leave you wanting more? Or how many times have you baked sweets and kept going back into the kitchen for more? This is partly due to your hormones which can cause us to lose self-control, especially when we are unaware of what is really happening. How do we remedy this? Inducing famines again doesn’t sound so enticing, but educating ourselves about this phenomenon and learning to control it is definitely manageable. I’ve witnessed many people learn to successfully control these hormones, and you can too!
This is one reason why I like the HCG program we offer here at the Riordan Clinic; it helps reset these “hunger hormones.” We treat each patient individually and not only focus on the diet but also spend time educating the participants on what is happening in their bodies and how to control it. Because it is overseen by a doctor, often times other health problems may be discovered along the journey and can be addressed outside the program. Again, we always want to address the causes of the weight gain as we focus on losing weight. This is the only way to permanent weight loss and overall increase in quality of life. You often hear not to focus on “weight loss” but rather “lifestyle change,” but most people do not know what that means or how to make that change. Through education and close guidance, the Riordan Clinic HCG Rx+ program can help you achieve and maintain that lifestyle change you are looking for!
