Australian Healthy Weight Week is soon to be upon us (Feb 16th-22nd), and the following 'weight-loss' story is a perfect fit:
Dr Orly was speaking to a friend who mentioned that his daughter (shall we call her, Bee) lost a whopping 20kg. Of course her first response was “how?”…… Well very simply, Bee changed her lifestyle with the most unobvious change possible… She stopped shopping at big chain supermarkets and chose to only visit her local grocer and butcher instead. What a simple and brilliant idea. Without trying this means that you can avoid the temptation of the confectionary isle, the sweet and savoury biscuit isle, mass produced and heavily processed breads, chips, soft drinks, crackers and meats. No doubt this meant that she was naturally reducing her sugar intake and was eating smaller and less stodgy meals. When it comes to improving your health and or losing weight, keeping it simple and maintaining a diet that is close to nature will give you lasting results and a healthier you.
When choosing to lose weight, at all costs, avoid fad diets and gimmicks such as ‘replacement meals/ shakes’, lemon diets, cabbage soup diets, fat free diets, paleo fads and so on. Rather use common sense and make your own smoothies, eat plenty of salads, nuts, meats and minimal grains or heavily processed starches/ carbohydrates such as pasta.
Don’t skip meals, being sure to eat at least 3 meals a day as starving your body of vital nutrients will in fact confuse your metabolism and in the end cause you to put on weight.
For AHWW, here is an article that Dr Orly has written for the Chiropractor's Association Victoria:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Australia and obesity has become an epidemic of the 21st century. Unfortunately, talking about managing weight, losing weight and or making lifestyle changes has become somewhat of a taboo topic. People are happy to comment on being slim; “wow you are looking good, you’ve lost weight”, conversely it is unacceptable to comment on weight gain. Never-the-less, when encouraging patients to implement changes to their lifestyle, it is essential to communicate honestly and openly, with love, care and sensitivity.
As a primary health care provider it is frustrating to find people are in general quite reluctant and resistant to change. As a Chiropractic doctor who only wants the best for their patients, family and loved ones, how can we communicate effectively to impact change in our community?
We live in a world that is motivated by a ’fix it when it’s broken’ paradigm and due to lack of education, “lay-people” are not fully aware just how devastating the side effects of diabetes and obesity are. Shows such as The Biggest Loser don’t interest me, though I do frequently refer to them when discussing weight-loss and lifestyle with my patients. The positive of these shows is that they show us that it is possible to lose weight when you are 100kg overweight. Each individual just has to make the decision that their weight is actually a problem and that they are ready for the challenge to achieve their goal. It isn’t a walk in the park… It takes great commitment, psychological support, regular and intense exercise and a diet overhaul.
In attempting to effectively communicate so that we inspire our patients to make change, we have to lead by example (but gently). Patients often ask me about my diet and lifestyle… And my response is always that balance is the key, and that if I want to have a custard tart, I will. This custard tart however is often coupled with exercise and having awareness of this food choice. We have to avoid preaching a diet that is difficult to comply with or any new fad. Any changes that seem difficult to implement or maintain will lead to failure to commit long-term and poor compliance short-term. Whatever we recommend, it has to be as well as appear attainable to anyone...
In saying this, weight issues are more often than not implicated with deep psychological stress, anxiety and pain, so encouraging ‘baby-steps’ is the best way to start (however some people do respond well to a ‘cold-turkey’ approach). A basic start might look like this:
Step 1. Complete a food/ dietary enquiry (for a 1 week). Encourage them to be honest so that we can pinpoint trouble areas.
Step 2. Complete a lifestyle enquiry, so that we have a picture of how much they move, what their job life is like, how healthy their posture is and what their areas of interest are.
Step 3. Make one dietary change. This might be: reducing meal size, eliminating treats, eliminating sugar, cutting out bread, switching from margarine to butter/ avocado, cutting out hydrogenated fats, choosing unrefined flours, eating fruits and vegetables and drinking water.
Step 4. Start moving. Begin with simple stretches, swimming or cycling, walk after dinner, join a pilates/ yoga class, join a bush walking or sporting club. Anything that interests each individual!
Step 5. Seek support. With the assistance of a counsellor or psychologist , work through any unhealthy patterns that may impede success.
Step 6. Commit and enjoy the new you, a healthy you, a vibrant you and a slim you.
