Losing weight and keeping it off can feel like an uphill battle. Hundreds of fad diets, weight-loss programs, and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss, but the best approach involves making lasting lifestyle changes. We offer a simple, more sensible way to lose weight without strenuous activity or an overly restrictive lifestyle, because safe and effective weight loss should be accessible to everyone.
Understanding the Complexities of Weight Loss
Weight loss isn’t always a straightforward process. Some experts believe that successfully managing your weight comes down to a simple equation: If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. Sounds easy, right? However, weight loss isn’t a linear event over time. When you cut calories, you may drop weight for the first few weeks, for example, and then something changes. You eat the same number of calories but you lose less weight or no weight at all. That’s because when you lose weight you’re losing water and lean tissue as well as fat, your metabolism slows, and your body changes in other ways. A calorie isn’t always a calorie. Eating 100 calories of high fructose corn syrup, for example, can have a different effect on your body than eating 100 calories of broccoli.
Many people are unaware that there are many things beyond your control that prevent you from losing weight. These include a sluggish metabolism, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and even resistance to insulin. They've simply felt the effects when they struggle to slim down. Medical weight loss helps you take back control by correcting the ailments that force your body to hang onto unwanted fat.
Medical Weight Loss: A Personalized Approach
Medical weight loss offers a supervised and personalized approach to shedding unwanted pounds. Under direct physician supervision, you’ll receive the right medications to drive your body to break down and release its own fat cells. These can include powerful appetite suppressants like phentermine as well as injection treatments like hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). You do not need to have a medical condition to benefit from medical weight loss. In fact, several of our own physicians and nurses have gone through our programs with results that have lasted to this day.
In addition to comprehensive medication options, A Better Weigh formulates our own exclusive injection compounds. Patients often come in seeking our popular Lipo-IgniteⓇ injection, a potent lipotropic developed by our medical team to let you safely drop up to 3.5 pounds of body fat per week.
Read also: Weight Loss: Walking vs. Swimming Comparison
Thanks to proven effective programs, giving yourself the gift of a fit, healthy body no longer needs to be challenging or uncomfortable. Our friendly staff will guide you to the right resources to help you make the best decision for you. Our caring medical team is eager to help anyone looking to better their life.
The Role of Insulin and Carbohydrates
A different way of viewing weight loss identifies the problem as not one of consuming too many calories, but rather the way the body accumulates fat after consuming carbohydrates-in particular the role of the hormone insulin. When you eat a meal, carbohydrates from the food enter your bloodstream as glucose. If you eat a carbohydrate-rich meal (lots of pasta, rice, bread, or French fries, for example), your body releases insulin to help with the influx of all this glucose into your blood.
As well as regulating blood sugar levels, insulin does two things: It prevents your fat cells from releasing fat for the body to burn as fuel (because its priority is to burn off the glucose) and it creates more fat cells for storing everything that your body can’t burn off. The result is that you gain weight and your body now requires more fuel to burn, so you eat more. Since insulin only burns carbohydrates, you crave carbs and so begins a vicious cycle of consuming carbs and gaining weight. Most low-carb diets advocate replacing carbs with protein and fat, which could have some negative long-term effects on your health.
The Truth About Fats
It’s a mainstay of many diets: if you don’t want to get fat, don’t eat fat. Walk down any grocery store aisle and you’ll be bombarded with reduced-fat snacks, dairy, and packaged meals. But while our low-fat options have exploded, so have obesity rates. Not all fat is bad. Healthy or “good” fats can actually help to control your weight, as well as manage your moods and fight fatigue. We often make the wrong trade-offs. Many of us make the mistake of swapping fat for the empty calories of sugar and refined carbohydrates. Instead of eating whole-fat yogurt, for example, we eat low- or no-fat versions that are packed with sugar to make up for the loss of taste.
Sustainable Lifestyle Changes
Long-term weight loss takes time and effort. So be sure that you're ready to eat healthy foods and become more active. Talk with your healthcare professional if you need help taking charge of stress. No one else can make you lose weight. You need to make diet and physical activity changes to help yourself. Make a list of reasons why weight loss is important to you. The list can help you stay inspired and focused. Maybe you want to boost your health or get in shape for a vacation. Think of your goals on days when you don't feel like eating healthy foods or moving more. Find other ways to stay on track too.
Read also: Comprehensive Look at Saxenda and Ozempic
It's up to you to make the changes that lead to long-term weight loss. But it helps to have support from others. Pick people who will inspire you. If you prefer to keep your weight-loss efforts private, take some steps to stay on course. Track your diet and exercise in a journal or an app. Also track your weight. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week over the long term. Losing 5% of your current weight may be a good goal to start with. If you weigh 180 pounds (82 kilograms), that's 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Even this amount of weight loss can lower your risk of some long-term health conditions.
It can help to set two types of goals. The first type is called an action goal. You can list a healthy action that you'll use to lose weight. For instance, "Walk every day for 30 minutes" is an action goal. The second type is called an outcome goal. You can list a healthy outcome that you aim to have. "Lose 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)" is an example of an outcome goal. An outcome goal is what you want to achieve. But it doesn't tell you how to get there. An action goal does.
Dietary Adjustments
To lose weight, you need to lower the total calories you take in from food and drinks. One way that you can take in fewer calories is to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are known as plant-based foods. They're low in calories and high in fiber. Fiber helps you feel full. Eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits a day. Have whole grains, such as brown rice, barley, and whole-wheat bread and pasta. Use healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and nut oils. Limit foods and drinks that have added sugar. These include desserts, jellies and sodas. Focus on eating fresh foods. They have more nutrition than processed foods. Processed foods often come in a box or a can.
It's a good idea to be mindful while you eat. Focus on each bite of food. This helps you enjoy the taste. It also makes you more aware of when you feel full. Try to not to watch TV or stare at your phone during meals.
The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating good fats and good carbs along with large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish, and olive oil-and only modest amounts of meat and cheese. The Mediterranean diet is more than just about food, though.
Read also: BetterMe Keto Diet
The Importance of Physical Activity
You can lose weight without exercise, but it's harder to do. Exercise has many other benefits. It can lift your mood, lower blood pressure and help you sleep better. Exercise helps you keep off the weight that you lose too. How many calories you burn depends on how often, how long and how hard you exercise. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking. Work up to at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week. Also aim to do strength training exercises at least twice a week. Any extra movement helps you burn calories. So think about ways to move more during the day.
Overcoming Challenges and Setbacks
It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for just a few weeks or months. To keep off extra weight, you should make these healthy changes a way of life. Think about negative habits or other challenges that have kept you from losing weight in the past. You'll likely have some setbacks on your weight-loss journey. But don't give up after a setback. Simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle.
Emotional Eating
All too often, we turn to food when we’re stressed or anxious, which can wreck any diet and pack on the pounds. Do you eat when you’re worried, bored, or lonely? Do you snack in front of the TV at the end of a stressful day? Recognizing your emotional eating triggers can make all the difference in your weight-loss efforts.
- Stressed: Find healthier ways to calm yourself and become more mindful. Try yoga, meditation, or soaking in a hot bath to ease stress.
- Low on energy: Find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or taking a short nap. It can also help to evaluate what you ate at your last meal. Your meals should be balanced, containing lean protein, complex carbohydrates, non-starchy vegetables, and some healthy fat.
- Lonely or bored: Reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, or go to the library, mall, or park-anywhere there’s people. Taking up a new hobby can also alleviate boredom.
Avoid distractions while eating. Try not to eat while working, watching TV, or driving. Pay attention. Eat slowly, savoring the smells and textures of your food. Mix things up to focus on the experience of eating. Stop eating before you are full. It takes time for the signal to reach your brain that you’ve had enough.
Setting Goals and Tracking Progress
As you begin your healthy living journey, keep in mind why you’re looking to lose weight. Ask yourself how weight loss fits into the overall wellness vision you have for your life. Why is it important to you? You may want to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sake. Writing down your reasons and keep them handy so you can continue to remind yourself of your healthy living goals.
Set behavior goals. Outcome goals like wanting to lose 15 pounds usually don’t work because you only have limited control over them. Rather, create behavior goals that align with the vision you have for your life. A behavior goaI could be to walk, exercise, or go to the gym on specific days of the week in order to feel more confident and energetic. It can also help to tie behavior goals into habits that you already have.
Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Seek out support-whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group-to get the encouragement you need. You may also want to consider working with a health coach or registered dietitian.
Slow and steady wins the race. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes.
Use tools to track your progress. Smartphone apps, fitness trackers, or simply keeping a journal can help you keep track of the food you eat, the calories you burn, and the weight you lose.
The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)
Since it was established in 1994, The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) in the United States, has tracked over 10,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time. The study has found that participants who’ve been successful in maintaining their weight loss share some common strategies.
- Stay physically active.
- Keep a food log.
- Eat breakfast every day. Include quality protein, such as eggs, nuts, seeds, or Greek yogurt. Unprocessed carbohydrates from sprouted grain bread, fruits, and veggies are best.
- Regularly check the scale.
- Watch less television.
Common Misconceptions and Clichés
Pick up any diet book and it will claim to hold all the answers to successfully losing all the weight you want-and keeping it off. Some claim the key is to eat less and exercise more, others that low fat is the only way to go, while others prescribe cutting out carbs. The truth is there is no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss. What works for one person may not work for you, since our bodies respond differently to different foods, depending on genetics and other health factors. While some people respond well to counting calories or similar restrictive methods, others respond better to having more freedom in planning their weight-loss programs. Being free to simply avoid fried foods or cut back on refined carbs can set them up for success. So, don’t get too discouraged if a diet that worked for somebody else doesn’t work for you. And don’t beat yourself up if a diet proves too restrictive for you to stick with.
The Myth of the 95% Regain Rate
You may have heard the widely quoted statistic that 95% of people who lose weight on a diet will regain it within a few years-or even months. While there isn’t much hard evidence to support that claim, it is true that many weight-loss plans fail in the long term. Often that’s simply because diets that are too restrictive are very hard to maintain over time. However, that doesn’t mean your weight loss attempts are doomed to failure.
Refining Carbohydrate Intake
Whether or not you’re specifically aiming to cut carbs, most of us consume unhealthy amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, white flour, white rice, and sweetened breakfast cereals. Replacing refined carbs with their whole-grain counterparts and eliminating candy and desserts is only part of the solution, though. Sugar is hidden in foods as diverse as canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, and many reduced fat foods. Calories obtained from fructose (found in sugary beverages such as soda and processed foods like doughnuts, muffins, and candy) are more likely to add to fat around your belly. Pay attention to your intake of added sugars by reading the nutrition facts labels. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than six teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) of added sugar per day, and men no more than nine teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) per day. consume an average of 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day.
Practical Tips for Sustainable Weight Loss
- Even if you’re cutting calories, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat less food. It’s generally okay to eat as many non-starchy vegetables as you want-you’ll feel full before you’ve overdone it on the calories.
- Add fruit to low sugar cereal-blueberries, strawberries, sliced bananas.
- Add more veggies to your favorite main courses to make your dish more substantial.
- Cook your own meals at home. This allows you to control both portion size and what goes into the food.
- Serve yourself smaller portions. Use small plates, bowls, and cups to make your portions appear larger.
- Eat early. Studies suggest that consuming more of your daily calories at earlier meals and fewer at dinner may help you drop more pounds.
- Fast for 14 hours a day. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then fast until breakfast the next morning.
- Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. You can create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or containers.
- Drink more water.
- Limit the amount of tempting foods you have at home.
The Benefits of Exercise Beyond Calorie Burning
The degree to which exercise aids weight loss is open to debate, but the benefits go way beyond burning calories. Exercise can increase your metabolism and improve your outlook-and it’s something you can benefit from right now. Lack time for a long workout? Three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day can be just as good as one 30-minute workout. For added support for your metabolism, look at ways to incorporate strength and resistance training. Remember: anything is better than nothing. Start off slowly with small amounts of physical activity each day. Find exercise you enjoy.
A Better Weigh: Personalized Weight Loss Programs
We believe that safe and effective weight loss should be accessible to everyone. That's why our personalized programs are easy to start and surprisingly affordable. Find the right fit for your weight loss goals. We've taken all of our greatest weight loss advice and rolled it up into one comprehensive guide that anyone can follow. Getting started is easy! Take the first step by getting your consultation scheduled. Come into one of our three Chicago locations (more coming soon!).
Our personalized program includes:
- Consultation with our experienced Doctor
- Personalized session with our Registered Dietician
- Phentermine medication - the most popular and effective prescription weight loss medication available today!
A Better Way Health Center is rated 4.85/5 from 300+ reviews and has served over 20,000 Minnesotans! Our patients consistently rate us among the top weight loss clinics in Minnesota. We take pride in our personalized approach and proven results.