2023 Outlook and Healthy Weight Loss Habits For Your New Year Resolution
At the beginning of each new year, various companies reach out to the public to gain interest by promising false results/hope to their advantage for their consumers on losing weight. Many patients are prone to sign up for wasteful and expensive programs based on false promises and miracle results for immediate weight loss.
No matter what, weight loss can be a complicated issue and can be led by various current lifestyle practices. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), weight loss has shown effective results in assisting patients with losing weight. However, it is important to know what weight loss techniques are beneficial, having proper guidance, and efficient information out there that are useful and healthy for well-being.
Weight-Loss Diets Are Fraudulent
Believe it or not, obesity is one of the major health issues in the United States. In today’s society, social media has well-rounded the perfect norm of targeting individuals on tricks and easy ways to melt away fat based on the variety of food combinations, hidden ingredients, and more.
Have You Heard Of These False Promises?
To lose weight, all you have to do is take this pill daily
You can lose 30 pounds in 30 days
You do not have to watch what you eat to lose weight
You can lose weight without exercising or dieting
Millions and billions of dollars are used in marketing across different platforms to aim at people to make us feel bad about ourselves because of how we look. In TCM, we honor and appreciate each individual for who they are and emphasize that each body is completely different from others. Not only do we want to help you lose weight but help lose weight for your overall health in a healthy more sustainable way.
Common Mistakes
Often we eating with our minds, which leads to overeating and not trusting our body signals. What does trusting our bodies have to do with food choices?
The majority of people live entirely in their heads and choose foods that are comforting, attractive, and based on habits shaped by the perception of other characteristics. Yet again, people continue to throw themselves into different diets and weight programs, which they do not know that they are basically setting themselves up for failure.
Drinking Smoothies & Fruit Juices
Drinking smoothies is amazing, trust me we love them but honestly, these types of drinks contain a horrifying amount of sugars. Large amounts of sugars can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Many drinks consumed contain processed and refined sugars because it increases our overall energy, which eventually leads our bodies towards an unhealthy diet path and can become addictive.
Rewarding Ourselves
We all know that we have been consistent with our weight loss journey but, let’s take a ride and treat ourselves with a fat juicy burger with some french fries, I deserve it! Biggest NO of all times!
Food should be seen as intended purposes such as for nourishment and health but often food is viewed as a coping mechanism. Examples of food coping mechanisms are when people eat to deal with stress, eat “‘socially”, eat when celebrating, and/or eat to pass time because of being bored. Think about it this way, having cravings or self-rewards are normal and the reason your body reacts towards certain foods, is because of the emotional attraction, which your body is telling you to regain again from the lost foods through losing weight and dieting.
Eating Salads
You cannot go wrong with a good salad but eating raw vegetables can definitely slow down your digestive system. In general, eating raw vegetables makes it harder for our digestive to break down foods. Salads are usually the “go-to” for people because they are convenient, fast, and pre-packaged in local supermarkets, gas stations, and more.
The best way to eat vegetables is cooked. The reason to eat cooked vegetables rather than raw is because the nutrients from the vegetables such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants can be more easily absorbed by the body and easier for our digestive system to break down.
Healthy Habits For The New Year
Make a Healthy Weight Loss Guide For Yourself
Make a reasonable, realistic weight lost goal
Keep in mind to have a behavior change plan towards staying on track with your goals
Any small changes of weight loss is a good sign and can lead to big health benefits
Stick and stay with good weight loss habits
Sleep
Heading to bed at the right time is the #1 step towards weight loss and optimizing your health. Sleeping between the hours of 10 pm to 2 am are the greatest times to be asleep because our bodies align with our internal clocks/circadian rhythms. Between 10 pm to 2 am, our bodies metabolic energy increases by restoring and making us feel refreshed when we wake up. Getting consistent sleep is the best way to recover and will not only boost the body’s immune system but prevent our bodies from persistent health issues.
Nutrition
Ways to help with digestion and your weight loss journey, is to start changing the way we eat and when we eat.
Eat cooked leafy and dark green vegetables
Eat more proteins such as lean meat, fish, & nuts
Drink warm liquids, tea, coffee, & bone broth
Cut out all white flour foods
Cut out all bad carbs that aren’t good for you
Eat as little sugar as possible
Avoid restaurant and processed foods
Limit dairy intake
Limit alcohol intake
Best times for meals are according to the sun. Eat more earlier, and less later!
Breakfast (When the sun rises in the morning): 7am - 9 am
Lunch (When the sun is at its highest): 11:30 - 1pm
Dinner (When the sun is settling down): 5pm to 6 pm
Changing the pattern of eating is very important because taking our time to enjoy our food will allow your body to digest normally and you will eat less before you realize you are full. This is where the body and mind play together, it is important to pay attention and trust body physical signals when having digestive sensations, such as being fully, hungry, uncomfortableness, etc., because understanding our body messages will lead you towards a healthy sustainable habit towards losing weight.
Good Digestion/Bowel Movements
Avoid eating raw vegetables but cooked vegetables. Eating raw vegetables, salads, or cold foods are not good for gut because the digestive system will slow down and can cause various issues. Start to notice your physical body signals when eating certain foods!
Start to tune into your body and understand your physical signals, such as bloating, gas, reflux, energy, and fullness from different foods. Depending on your body signals, what you will discover will help you determine when eating certain foods, either makes you feel full or slowly wreaks your system.
Drink warm liquids to help prevent illnesses and viruses to build up the immune and aiding the digestive systems. Recommended warm liquids include bone broth, oolong tea, black tea because it helps prevent constipation, stomach cramps, stops water retention, decreases inflammation and stimulates beneficial bowel movements. There has been evidence shown that tea or drinking coffee improves our metabolism of fat during physical activities.
Stop Emotional Eating
Avoid overeating and eating when stressed out. Acupuncture helps with daily life stressors and increasing serotonin production to alter moods to help reduce cravings and emotional eating. Emotional eating can be difficult to stop because food is accessible and its our recuse from painful emotions, fears, and numbs our bodies because it solves problems. But excessive eating can lead to an addiction.
In TCM, acupuncturists determine how we are in the real world of our physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Acupuncture helps by easing our minds and relaxing the body into a sense of centeredness, and calmness. The best way to break the cycle of emotional eating is being able to make self-nurturing and conscious decisions by being control of you and not letting the emotional headspace take over. Practice deep breathing exercises, which encourages relaxation, decreased stress levels, and releases muscle tension.
Do Not Over Exercise, You’re Doing The Most!
Why can’t I exercise everyday…no pain, no gain, right? Because no, it’s not healthy!
You do not need to have a membership or join a gym to do some sort of physical activities. It’s all about finding the best exercise to boost your metabolism, ease digestion, and assist with any emotional issues that might lead to comfort eating such as a coping mechanism. The goal of exercising is to do something you like doing, break a light sweat and be slightly out of breath.
Do light activities 3/4x per week such as doing range of motion activities, stretching, and/or cardio.
References
Kihn, E. D. (2023). Acupuncture Today Digital issue. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.acupuncturetoday.com/digital/index.php?i=779&a_id=34292&pn=15&r=t&Page=15
Rumiati, R. I., & Foroni, F. (2016). We are what we eat: How food is represented in our mind/brain - psychonomic bulletin & review. SpringerLink. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-015-0908-2
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Exercise and fitness. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/phy_act.htm
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Healthy Eating, Food Exchange lists. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/eat/fd_exch.htm
USDA. (2022). Interested in losing weight? Interested in Losing Weight? | Nutrition.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.nutrition.gov/topics/healthy-living-and-weight/strategies-success/interested-losing-weight
World Health Organization. (2015). Reducing sugar consumption to prevent and control noncommunicable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.emro.who.int/noncommunicable-diseases/publications/questions-and-answers-on-reducing-sugar-consumption-to-prevent-and-control-noncommunicable-diseases.html#:~:text=Reducing%20sugar%20intake%20lowers%20specifically,in%20sugar%20intake%20is%20strong.