It's a new year and at this time many people are setting goals related to health and wellness. If you're goal is to lose weight in Overland Park, True Health wanted to put out this blog to help all of our patients and readers.

We will cover goal setting, nutrition, exercise and mindset and then some things we do at the office that will be helpful to some of you.

Start with WHY.

Any time you have a lofty goal, it's some important to start with WHY. Life is hectic, demanding and we all have old, engrained patterns that are hard to break. Weight loss is a big, deep pattern for many people and there are entire industries that are well funded and highly skilled, whose goal is to get you to eat more, non nutritious, fattening food. On top of this, if you've been eating poorly for a while, it is likely your social circle has similar patterns to the ones you are trying to break that will have an effect on you, that will want to pull you back down to you old patterns of being. So please get crystal clear in your head and on paper as to why you are trying to make a change. Do you want to get healthier to feel better to have more energy so you can be the best parent and spouse? Do you want to make positive lifestyle changes to lower your chances of some of the most common diseases that cost people lots and lots of money? Do you want to improve your energy, clarity of thought and focus, so you can perform better at work and move toward your work and financial goals more quickly? How about so you can move better and with less pain, so you can enjoy vacations and your weekends? These are big WHY's that have a good chance of carrying you through the trials of making life changes. Any big goal you are shooting for, you should start with your why and revisit it at least once daily. Do not begin unless you have done this, have written it down and have it in a place you can review daily. You may feel motivated now, but it will take more than motivation to overcome old patterns. It will take discipline and a deeper desire. Connecting with your why on a daily basis is crucial. This may take a bit of deeper thinking and reflection. Take the time and do it.

We will cover:

1. Why people have trouble losing weight .
2. Things you can do to help yourself.
3. A few things True health has to offer that may be of help to some of you out there.

WHY:

Calories:

There are so many ideas out there about nutrition, metabolism, diets, etc. but weight gain and weight loss does come down to calories in vs. calories out. To lose weight, you must burn more than you are taking in. There are ways to impact both ends of that equation, but we must start here. You don't need to track calories forever, but please begin here. If you are trying to lose 20 or more pounds, that means your caloric intake has been out of whack long enough, that you need to track your intake. This can be cumbersome and difficult at first, but so what. Learning new things is like that. Weigh your food if need be. Look the calories up on line. The info is out there and is easy enough to find for you to track things. Write it down and measure your progress. If you're not losing weight, you're eating too much. You don't need a massive deficit either. If you are under your daily caloric intake by 200-500 calories, over time that will add up and move you in the right direction. Don't try to get so complicated with your diet, your macros, your meal timing, etc. that you forget this basic principle.

Blood sugar:

Yes you do have to eat less than you're expending, but if your blood sugar is too low, you have almost no chance of avoiding foods you shouldn't eat. That's the tricky thing about calories in vs. calories out, you must eat in a way that helps control your desire to consume more. So please start your day with a protein rich meal that has some healthy fats in it. If you're busy, try a protein shake with coconut oil. Eggs are great as well. Find something you like that fits the bill and stick with it. Eat breakfast. Don't skip it. Stabilize your blood sugar throughout the day to avoid the urge to overeat a lunch and dinner. Get protein at lunch and dinner as well to keep this effect going throughout the day. This goes without saying, but avoid processed carbs. Yes you can still be in a caloric deficit and eat these things, but over time the ensuing blood sugar fluctuations makes it harder to avoid overeating, so why make it harder on yourself? If you are not hungry in the morning and trying to lose weight, I still recommend eating breakfast.

Pain:

Another less appreciated hindrance to weight loss is chronic pain. So many people I talk to have weight loss and getting fit as their top priority, but they are also in chronic pain, making it hard to move or exercise properly and consistently. If this is you, please think long term. Get the structure of your body as optimal as you can. At True Health we are spine care specialists and see the impact of a poor spine and bad posture on a daily basis. If you have pathobiomchenics (misalignments/improper motion) in your spine, you won't move optimally, have a higher chance of pain and will wear out your spine and body much more quickly. Keeping your weight at a healthy level is tied to not only proper food intake, but proper activity level. Proper activity level is tied to efficient, healthy motion. You can't have efficient healthy motion if your spine, muscles, ligaments and posture are holding you back. Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle is a holistic lifestyle approach that is dependent upon food intake, your social network, healthy movement ,correct information and education. Please don't overlook the long term repercussion of a healthy spine. A healthy spine will make exercise much more fun and efficient in the long run.

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Overland Park Chiropractor Provides actionable steps you can take that will maximize your chance of success

Training:

We know you must burn more than you consume to lose weight. The type of training we recommend is the most efficient way to improve caloric expenditure. We recommend higher intensity interval training and full body weight training. This type of training takes less time, trains multiple energy systems, burns calories and helps build or at least preserve muscle. Two to three times a week do interval training that consists of intense activity followed by rest. I like 30 seconds of hard work and 60-90 seconds of rest, for eight rounds. This can be done on a bike, elliptical, the road or with anything else that allows high intensity work. My neighbors often see me sprinting up and down the street pulling a tire with weight in it. Yes it's odd, but they have grown to enjoy the spectacle (at least I think they have.) No one reading this will begin pulling a tire or sled, but you can do other activities. This is harder work than going for a walk but I feel it's better for time management. If you out of shape, ease into this slowly, you don't want to get sick. I don't want to go on about the physiological benefits of this type of activity, but if you're able to do this type of thing, I recommend it. On top of this, add two to three days of full body weight training in and you'll be doing great. Weight training will preserve muscle mass that could otherwise be lost while losing weight. When dieting the key is to lose fat, not just body weight. Weight training helps improve the ratio of fat to muscle loss. Almost no one will get "bulky" from weigh training, especially when losing weight. Weigh training tones muscle, improve appearance, improves metabolism, blood sugar metabolism and longevity. The list is just too long to ignore. Please add in some resistance training to your routine. There a million routines out there on line you can look up to find that works with the equipment you have access to. If you are not comfortable with this, hire a trainer. It could be a great investment. A caveat to all of this, is do something you will actually do. A workout on paper is no good if it's not done consistently. My wife loves to Samba dance. It doesn't fit the above recommendations but she loves it and it's not a chore for her. So if motivation is a problem or you don't like these ideas, find something you do like to do. My wife took me to a Samba class once and it wasn't pretty. Or at least I wasn't. I lasted maybe one minute. Point being, there isn't one plan for everyone, find an activity that you will do, long term.

Food:

We've talked about calories in vs calories out multiple times. That's a nice thought and idea, but if we are hungry and there's no food in the fridge, we're eating out. And this means a higher food bill and more calories. Not the best if we want to take control of our weight. No matter if you are a vegan, eating keto, on whole30, etc. you must shop for your food, prepare it and eat it before it goes bad. Find healthy recipes on line and make them in bulk, put them in Tupperware and take them to work and heat them up for dinner. If you don't do this, I'm not sure how it's possible to be in control of your calorie intake. Yes this is hard at first. Yes you will screw up your recipes. You will cook things you don't like. You most likely not prepare the exact right amount of food the first or second time you do this. So what, learning new things is like that… Keep going, keep learning and get better. Too many people try this for a few weeks, hit road blocks and think it's just not for them. Revisit your WHY statement and keep cooking healthy food. I'm not Jacques Pepin in the kitchen but I have my go to foods I know how to cook. You don't need to eat 6 times a day. I used to be the weirdest guy in the world and would eat 8 times a day. Not sure what was wrong with me back then, but 3 meals a day is fine. Drink a lot of water throughout the day. Don't shop on an empty stomach. We could go on forever about food rules, but get these down and other things will be easier.

Social Network/Mindset:

This is a massively overlooked piece to the puzzle. We covered your WHY statement, and that is a great starting point. Now you need to try and surround yourself and fill your mind with supportive people and ideas. I love the idea of a training partner. This is someone you meet up with and exercise with to support and push each other. Maybe you can't get every work in together, but even a couple sessions a week is great. The knowledge that your training partner isn't missing workouts after a hard work day ,is getting up early to get their conditioning in, can push you to hit the gym when you don't want to. If you can find someone to work out with, do it. If you can't find someone and you need that support, a personal trainer can be essential. If weight loss is a big goal, and you've struggled with it in the past, chances are it will be a difficult road ahead. Why not hire a knowledgeable, supportive professional to increase your likelihood of success? I have done personal training in the past for years and know it can be an invaluable thing for people's health and wellness in Overland Park. Matt Terry at body solutions is a friend and local trainer that does great, great work. He is a smart, nice guy that I trust sending my patients to. If you're looking for a personal trainer, please look him up. http://bodysolutionskc.com On a daily basis, poor positive information that pertains to your goal into your head. If weight loss is your goal, read daily on exercise and nutrition. Just filling your mind with this information will keep you sharp and focused. Find good blogs, websites, facebook pages and visit them daily for a dose of information and motivation. Clear your head. This may seem odd but if you clear your mind, you are more likely to take the high road, avoid caving in to desires, make better choices and stay positive. Meditation is the best thing I know of or have done, to keep the mind clear and balanced. Take 20 minutes a day, sit with your eyes closed and focus on your breath. I know…you won't be good at this at first and you won't attain supreme cosmic enlightenment on your first try. In fact, you may be frustrated by the lack of control over your mind and thoughts. So what, learning new things is like that. (Have I said that before?) If you become a proficient meditator, you become better at letting negative thoughts, emotions and cravings disappear before they take hold. There was a time in my life when I was meditating an hour every morning and some at night. During those times I would sometimes forget to eat for an entire day. Looking back, I'm not sure how that's possible, but it's true and goes to show that cravings can disappear if your mind is quiet. There is enough info out there about weight loss that no one could read it all, however I find not much attention is paid to the mindset, which is where this is won or lost in the long run. If you want to optimize your mind, reduce cravings and even experience more positivity, consider meditation.

I want to take a short time and discuss some unique things we do here that may assist you in weight loss and weight management.

Hormone, digestion and toxicity.

If your digestive system is not healthy, you gain fat more easily and have more cravings. If you're hormones are off, you gain fat more easily and have more cravings. If you have certain organic pollutants in your system, weight loss is harder. Yes it still comes down to having to burn more than you eat, but if you're not burning fat efficiently and having terrible food cravings, this formula does you no good. A couple points to consider if weight loss has been traditionally very difficult for you.

Obese people harbor different bacteria in their gut than thin people. This bacteria makes fat loss harder. In fact, in laboratory animals, scientist have been able to alter their body fat, simply by altering the gut bacteria in these animals. Our gut bacteria impacts not only how we digest and burn or store our calories but it those little bugs also impact hormone signaling that tell us when we are full and when we are hungry.

On top of this the EPA has analyzed human fat samples and finds that toxins accumulate in fat cells. These toxins do several things. They bind to genes which signal white adipose tissue and induce new fat cells to form while simultaneously increasing inflammation and damage metabolic functions within in the fat cell as well as the thyroid. A person with higher toxicity exposure can make more fat cells as a protective mechanism. On top of this during weight loss, these stored pollutants re-enter the blood stream and can increase their blood levels by 20-50%. If you have impaired detox pathways you may feel sick or your body just may fight you in your efforts to burn fat.

For patient that really struggle with weight loss, low energy, chronic digestive issues, immune system problems, foggy thinking and sugar cravings, very often the best place to start is a nutrition program, doctor supervised, that is designed to tackle these digestive, hormonal and toxicity issues. We use certain strategies such as food allergy testing, infrared sauna session, fasting protocols, herbal protocols to help patients like this overcome the health barriers to weight loss. Very often for patients like this, an intense exercise program in involving weight training and intervals is the last thing they need. Once a patient is further along on the health and wellness spectrum, the more tradition avenues of exercise and diet can be explored more effectively. So if the above description sounds like you, please let us know and we can determine if what we do is the right approach to help you achieve your goals.

Laser Lipo Procedures:

At True health we have laser lipo technology called "The Strawberry Laser." This is an FDA approved laser, designed for spot reduction fat loss. When the FDA oversaw a study on this laser, the average patient lost 3.6 inches around their belly button in 8 sessions over a 4 week span. This did not involve any dietary changes. That is remarkable and can be highly useful for people with "trouble spots." This procedure is easy, painless and requires no down time. You can Google it and see a demo by a plastic surgeon on the Rachel Ray show. At True Health we have invested in the best of this technology and actually offer it at a price far below national average. We tell everyone, diet and exercise, mental and structural health are the keys to long term success, but if you want to add the laser treatment on top of those things for added success and inch loss, this laser is the real thing and will help you lose fat in those hard to lose areas, much more quickly than without the laser. If you want to give this technology a try, our first treatment is done at an even further reduced priced, let us know and we'll get it set up.

Structural care:

At True Health in Overland Park we practice Spinal-Biomechanical-Engineering. This is the result of years of working on patients, x ray and MRI analysis and study in both chiropractic and medical academia. We now understand what an optimal spinal configuration is, how to measure it and how to track our progress towards an optimal spine. Now is not the time to go into the details of this approach, but we want people to understand that if your spine has lost its proper alignment, has lost its proper curvature, has begun to degenerate, specific care is very very helpful to improve spinal health so you can move and function better. Long term weight loss is dependent on consistent healthy movement. If weight loss is your goal and you have spinal pain, headaches or general body aches, a full spinal analysis is one of the most important things you can do. Please let us know if this is you and would like us to see if we could help.

OK, thank you for reading. We hope everyone out there has a fantastic new year that is filled with health, happiness and abundance. Please share this blog with anyone you know that could use the info.

Blessings,

Dr. David and the whole True Health staff.