Losing weight is a struggle for millions of Americans. As we get older, keeping off the pounds becomes progressively harder. Often, an exercise routine and cutting out a few fatty foods isn’t enough to produce the results we need. To shed those extra pounds and keep them off permanently, medical weight loss provides the most comprehensive and effective method. Synergy Wellness in Bakersfield, CA uses proven techniques to shed the pounds permanently.
What Is Medical Weight Loss?
Medical weight loss is provided through a medical weight reduction clinic. Health care professionals assist clients in losing weight through multiple methods, including nutritional counseling, nutritional supplements, exercise plans that are geared toward weight loss, medications and even surgery.
Most clients need a specific method of weight loss based on the reason they put on weight and struggle to lose it. People gain weight for different reasons, and medical weight loss bases treatment on the specific factors that cause your weight gain.
The Advantages of Medical Weight Loss
Physician Oversight
A big advantage of medical weight reduction comes from the safe environment provided by the doctors and weight loss coaches who have experience in safe weight loss. Unfortunately, many people try to lose weight and suffer ill effects as a result. A fad diet may make them fatigued and cause muscular degeneration. It may also compromise their immune systems, resulting in illness. Medical weight loss relies on diets that keep the body healthy and energized while maintaining important immunities.
No Unwanted Side Effects
Many overweight people also turn to over-the-counter diet medications. Many of these “cures” are not FDA approved and have little or no scientific backing. Others may cause unwanted side effects, including jitters, sleeplessness, anxiety and difficulty concentrating. Other side effects can be dangerous for certain people. For example, some over-the-counter weight-loss pills raise blood pressure. Many overweight people suffer from high blood pressure, so these pills could set them up for dangerous hypertension.
Healthy Exercise
Exercise is healthy, and most physicians recommend it be part of everyone’s life. Yet when people need to lose weight, they sometimes grow frustrated with slow progress and are tempted to exercise too vigorously or too frequently. In addition, they may engage in activities that leave them prone to injuries. Once sidelined by an injury, the weight-loss effects of exercise are lost, resulting in the likely return of any pounds shed through hours of sweat.
Medical weight loss avoids all of these pitfalls. Doctors determine the cause of the weight gain, assign sustainable, healthful diets that promote weight loss over time and prescribe medications when indicated. They also recommend sensible exercise routines that avoid injury, enhance health and result in steady cellulite elimination.
How Does It Work?
Medical weight loss begins with a consultation and tests. These tests determine your body composition. Body composition includes how much fat is in your body, where it is stored and what constitutes fat itself. Doctors also analyze how fat breaks down in your body and how many calories and how much fat is burned on a daily basis. Based on this information, doctors determine a weight loss goal over a realistic time period. These scientific results are what make medical weight loss so successful.
What Are the Benefits?
Losing weight through medical approaches offers safety, higher rates of success and a more comfortable experience. It also offers a supportive environment where encouragement is ample and a team of professionals helps clients adjust to new lifestyle patterns that help shed the pounds and improve their health.
For most people, weight loss is a long-term process requiring commitment and resolve. Having a supportive environment helps them stay the course, whether losing 20 pounds or 200. Getting the weight off can be intimidating at first, but with a medical program, most clients gain confidence quickly.
What Are Some of the Specific Treatments Involved?
While treatments vary by the person, common programs include weight loss through the following methods:
- HCG diet
- Lipotropic injections
- Suppression of appetite
- Pills
- Exercise routines
- Diet modification
- Restrictions on certain food types
What Is the HCG Diet?
Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a hormone present in both men and women, though higher levels are typically detected in early pregnancy. High levels of HCG are also a sign of placental, ovarian or testicular cancer. In 1954, a British doctor named Albert Simeons found that HCG can also help with weight loss. His method consisted of a very low-calorie diet of about 500 calories per day plus HCG hormone injections. Due to the success of this procedure, it is still in use today.
Why Is the HCG Diet Effective?
The HCG diet works by boosting metabolism, which helps you lose fat without feeling hungry. In a sense, it’s a bit like being a skinny kid again. We’ve all seen how young people can seem to eat junk food constantly but never seem to gain an ounce of weight. They are blessed with high metabolisms, which allows them to burn fat without ever dieting. As we get older, metabolism slows. The HCG diet restores that fast metabolism, turning back the clock (though junk food is not included in the diet!)
HCG diets also rely on very low-calorie diets. Some studies indicate the HCG injections alone may not be enough for drastic weight loss. The injections must be combined with a low-fat diet and exercise. Exercise, especially weightlifting, is important for maintaining muscle mass while on a low-calorie diet. When calories are severely restricted, the body often goes into starvation mode, which causes it to slow its metabolism to conserve calories. This may cause a loss of muscle mass. Exercising muscles and eating protein-rich (though low calorie) food prevents muscle wasting.
An occasional break from a low-calorie diet can also boost metabolism, making the diet more effective when you return to it. Many dieters allow themselves one day a week to “cheat” on their diet. Though this approach can be healthy, it’s important to remember not to indulge in junk foods. Make good nutrition choices on your days off of your diet.
How the Diet Is Prescribed
HCG diets are divided into three distinct phases. The loading phase comes first. Most people like this phase. You start taking HCG while also eating loads of high-fat, high-calorie foods for two days. Phase two, the weight-loss phase, is far less popular. It involves three to six weeks of eating just 500 calories per day of low-fat foods while continuing to take HCG. The final phase, maintenance, requires increasing food intake but avoiding sugar and starch for three weeks. HCG injections are stopped in the final phase.
Those needing to lose high amounts of weight may need to repeat this cycle several times. During the weight loss phase, HCG dieters only eat two meals per day, usually lunch and dinner. HCG protocol suggests that meals must contain one portion of lean protein, a vegetable and one piece of either bread of fruit.
Fatty foods and sugar must be avoided. Dieters should stay hydrated with plenty of water (no calories). Tea and coffee are okay, but alcohol (one of the biggest calorie offenders) must be avoided.
Lipotropic Injections
Lipotropic injections help weight loss through the introduction of productive vitamins, nutrients and other ingredients. Lipotropic injections commonly include the following:
- Vitamin B-12
- Vitamin B-6
- Vitamin B complex
- Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)
- L-carnitine
- Phentermine
- MIC (a combination of methionine, inositol, and choline)
Health care professionals often administer the injections into the arm or other areas containing subcutaneous fat, including the thigh, abdomen or buttocks. Medical weight loss clinics prescribe lipotropic injections for certain cases, along with diet and exercise plans. Shots are usually administered weekly, and single shots of Vitamin B-12 may be administered twice weekly to boost energy and metabolism. Single shots of vitamin B-12 are also indicated for people with vitamin deficiencies. Dosages depend on the makeup of the injections.
Restriction of Certain Food Types
Often, weight loss clients need counseling to choose which food types to eliminate or reduce in their diet. Carbohydrates, especially from bread products, frequently metabolize slowly in some people. Reducing bread products, pastas and cereals can help some achieve weight loss without extremely low-calorie diets. For this reason, many dieters have success with the Paleo diet.
In addition, too much dairy can also contribute to weight gain. Many dieters also find the reduction or elimination of sugars can lead to substantial weight loss. Limiting alcohol can also be highly effective. Alcohol contains more calories than fat.
Exercise Routines
Losing weight from dieting alone can be a difficult process replete with frustrations. It takes time, and most people miss their favorite foods and crave a return to their old lifestyle. Exercise is a perfect way to vent these frustrations and eliminate cravings. Rather than think about food, it’s better to hit the gym, bike trail or go for a hike. Exercise increases metabolism, which only helps the weight loss process along. Options are nearly limitless, from elliptical or rowing machines to running to soccer to basketball.
Of course, exercise routines need to be started carefully. Weight-bearing exercises can cause injury when you are not accustomed to them, especially if you are overweight. Be sure to stretch and start with light and short bursts of activity. It can take several weeks for fitness training to take effect, so be patient. In addition, exercise does more than cut the extra pounds. It lowers blood pressure, increases bone density, builds muscle and helps mental attitude.
The Bottom Line
Forget fad diets and trips to the gym. While reducing calories and exercise are both key components of weight loss, fad diets don’t work because they are only designed for short-term results. The body, once deprived of nutrition, ultimately craves replenishment, and most people put the weight back on. While the gym is a great way to increase cardiovascular fitness, reduce blood pressure, get stress relief and keep muscles and bones healthy, most people actually gain weight after joining a gym. They build muscle, which is healthy, but that does not achieve weight loss goals.
Effective weight loss is a gradual process. A combination of improved diet, exercise and other treatments, such as injections or effective pills, slowly reduces weight. Once the extra pounds are gone, a healthy weight can be maintained through a healthful diet and consistent physical activity. Synergy Wellness Center believes weight loss can be effective for everyone, whether they must lose 20 or 200 pounds. The key is in identifying the source of weight gain and prescribing the right plan for the individual.
Get Started
To understand more about how to lose weight medically without crash dieting or other harsh and ineffective techniques, inquire with Synergy Wellness Center in Fresno and Bakersfield, CA today. Our health care professionals are happy to answer any questions and schedule a weight loss consultation.
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