How to lose weight and look and feel great for the rest of your life
Courtesy Longevity Centres of America, East Denver LIVING WELL Magazine
Nobody sees the doctor first. When we’re sick (presuming, of course, that we decide against “toughing it out”) we’ll surf the web to diagnose ourselves and find a treatment. Especially when the problem is weight, we give doctors the dubious honor of being our last resort. It’s a matter of investments, really – if I can get a weight loss company to ship their product to my door, why invest the time sitting in (aptly-named) waiting rooms, the money in fees and the energy in remembering the names and functions of drugs with far too many “Xs” and consonants?
So, like most people, I first looked into the popular weight loss programs. But as I hopped from one program to the next, I found that however diligently I kept the myriad regiments, I kept gaining weight. After dieting and exercising in more styles than I care to remember, not only was I not losing weight – I was still gaining! Over the months, I’d counted so many points, carbs and meals that I earned a CPA. Weirder still, I’m the type that already ate well and exercised when I started putting on the pounds; how could an improved diet and more rigorous exercise not instantly solve the problem?
These questions eventually brought me into the care of the physicians at Longevity Centres of America. There I was surprised to learn that obesity is a disease, not a lack of will power. It is a chronic medical problem, one that warrants treatment. As we age, hormone levels subtly become unbalanced. That decreases our metabolism. So, even if I maintained the kind of diet and exercise that had kept me in shape until now, I’d still gain weight because diet and exercise targets fat, not hormones. For as long as hormones are unbalanced, the fat you work off just comes back. Thinking that improved diet and exercise will permanently trim the waistline, it turns out, is like thinking that a bigger lawn mower will permanently keep the grass line down. The fallacy – whether you’re trimming your yard or your waistline, the root of the problem lies below the surface.
I learned that the human body functions much like a symphony. In a symphony, each section must play its part well in order for the symphony to sound well. Furthermore, each of the section’s instruments must play the written notes exactly as written; on time and in tune. Similarly, the human body’s weight control center works best when the sections of hormonal balance (human growth hormone, testosterone, estrogen, thyroid, progesterone, adrenals), food allergies/sensitivities, environmental detoxification, well-balanced diet and exercise routine are addressed together.
As women and men age {starting as early as our mid to late 30s}, our hormone levels decline affecting metabolism, stamina, ability to exercise, insulin resistance, body fat, lean body mass, waist-to-hip ratio, red blood cell count, cholesterol and emotional well-being. It turns out that the key to losing and maintaining weight for the rest of our lives lies in restoring hormone balance back to youthful levels.
What really shocked me was how closely weight gain is related to the increasingly toxic environment we live in. It is no secret that ever since the industrial revolution our planet has become increasingly polluted year after year. The pollutants range from chemicals such as BPA in plastics and DDT in pesticides to heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Once these pollutants are ingested through foods or the environment they can become stored within our adipose tissue (fat cells). Once stored, these pollutants may be slowly released and cause our metabolic and hormonal pathways to become disrupted and behave erratically. Chronic fatigue, decreased sense of well-being, unhealthy weight gain or the inability to lose weight are all but a few of the symptoms of environmental toxicity. When we begin to lose weight, stored toxins are released from the fat cells and go directly into the bloodstream. This can make you feel sluggish, sick and tired. Ultimately you may stop exercising, become sedentary and eat even more, creating a vicious cycle of continuous weight gain. This is why detoxification while dieting is crucial.
There are a myriad and often contradicting diet plans for both weight loss and weight maintenance. It takes a medical doctor who specializes in weight loss, toxins and hormones to interpret and explain the pros and cons of the various diet options available. Fortunately, the physicians of the Longevity Centres of America, who have 48 years of combined medical experience, are more than happy to help guide us through the weight loss process and provide us with a definitive plan for healthy living.
Marina M. Pearsall, M.D., Ph.D. and Gurney F. Pearsall, Jr., M.D. are the founders of the Longevity Centres of America with facilities in Denver and Houston. Besides being the proud parents of three and the grandparents of four, Drs. Pearsall are medical content contributors to the nationally syndicated website FoxNews.com and YourCity.MD and have been featured on NBC, CBS and Fox News. You may reach the Longevity Centres of America in Denver at 303-639-5600, in Houston at 713-522-4037 or via LongevityCentres.com.
