As a practitioner of Chinese medicine, I see a fair number of patients who are concerned about their weight. Some want to know if a few carefully placed needles will take care of their extra 15 pounds, others mention in passing how nice it would be if acupuncture could also help their crazy, out-of-control cravings for sweets.
As in most health-related issues, we want a magic bullet. The bad news is that there is rarely only one factor that is contributing to your migraines, anxiety, or extra weight; it’s a mash-up of many factors incubating over time.
The good news is that once you understand that there is no single reason you are tipping the scale to new heights, it becomes easier to take steps that, compounded over time, will yield results. Here then, are seven factors that affect your weight:
1. It’s All About Calories, Right?
Well, not necessarily. It turns out that the stated caloric value on food labels is merely an estimate. How you cook a particular food, how much fiber it contains, how nutritionally dense it is, and what your body does to digest it has an impact on how much energy you’ll get from it. So while counting calories seems to be cut and dried, it’s anything but. Zero calories of diet soft drink are not better than 200 calories of nutrient-dense whole vegetable and fruit smoothie!
2. How Well You Break Food Down
How well you break down the food you eat and convert it into energy and nutrients has an impact on your weight.
If you’re not metabolizing food and fluids well, your body will get boggy and damp, creating pockets of moisture, which is the definition of fat tissue. You can tell if your digestion needs some help if you have digestive symptoms–gas, bloating, stomachaches, heartburn, nausea, constipation, or loose stools. In addition, strong cravings for sweets and carbs is also a digestive red flag.
3. Antibiotics
Antibiotic use may also be a factor impacting your digestion. In the news recently, scientists have found that a great deal of antibiotic use, or the use of these medications at a very young age, may negatively alter the good bacteria in your gut, affecting not only your digestion, but your overall health. They have even suggested that obesity and diabetes may be a result of antibiotic use.
4. Stress and Strong Emotions
When you are upset or stressed out, the balance of your stress hormones also becomes upset.
Cortisol, adrenaline, and insulin, ramp up (or down) in a way that enables you to sustain the fight-or-flight response. One body system that is ramped down when you’re stressed is your digestion, because you don’t need it for either fight or flight–at least not in the moment.
The bottom line is that chronic stress or emotional upheavals only serve to alter your digestive process in a way that causes you to gain weight, and thanks to elevated cortisol, it accumulates around your middle.
5. Exercise
You’ve always heard that exercise is a good way to lose weight because it burns calories. While this is true, in Chinese medicine exercise, or movement, is good for another reason. Good health is all about having adequate reserves of the vital substances, such as qi and blood.
But the second part of the equation is that those substances need to flow smoothly for optimal vitality. Excess weight is considered to be a kind of blockage or stagnation–stuff that’s just sitting there and not moving. So, through exercise the adage “movement creates movement” comes into play. By moving your body you are creating flow and helping to move some of that accumulation of damp tissue sitting on your hips.
6. Age Matters
As you get older you will notice that it becomes more difficult to drop a couple of pounds than it was 10 years ago. Your metabolism is slowing a bit and it becomes a little more difficult to build calorie-burning muscle mass given the same amount of effort you put in 10 years ago. And ladies, throw in menopause, a hormonal game-changer, that only makes weight control a little tougher.
7. You’re Unique
While we’d like to have a silver bullet or a one-size-fits-all diet plan, the reality is that we’re all unique. In Chinese medicine, it would be impossible to come up with a plan that would suit everybody, simply because what you need for nutritional health and balance is entirely different from what your boss, kid, partner, neighbor, or anybody else needs for their optimal health. Each of us needs something different based on a variety of factors.
How can I help YOU overcome these obstacles to the best of your ability? Call me now for a no-cost consultation.
Kathy E Thomas
Lake Premier Wellness Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
2430 South Bay Street, Eustis, FL 32726
352-323-0795
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