The Skinny With Fat Doc and Malibu Macie

When you decide to lose weight, have made your plan, initiate the project, and stay focused, the weight comes off nicely.   As you see the scale number improving, you feel more motivated and focused.  You become even more intent on seeing this project through.  You are excited and have a strong commitment level.  This continues and you envision the day you will be at your ideal body weight.  

Lately there has been a lot of talk and programs and TV Commercials that talk about Insulin Resistance.  So, What is it and how does that affect my weight and ability to lose weight?.  When you've finished reading this, you'll understand it.   The hormone and metabolic functions of our body are very complex and certainly not totally understood at this time.  

 You ate a healthy diet and lower calories and carbs throughout the day.  You had a very reasonable dinner.  Later in the evening you settled down on the couch, turned on a favorite TV show and during a commercial break went to the kitchen and grabbed the cookies or chips.  You didn't mean to load up on high carbohydrate calories, but before you could come to your senses, the deed was done.  

 If there was an enemy that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans each year and was the number one reason for a bad outcome like ICU admission or death from COVID 19, wouldn't we do everything possible to stop it, beat it, and go to War with it until we were victorious?   Of course we would.  But we're not.  

 We are all born with a brain that is a clean slate.  Newborns only act on instinct.  As humans, it doesn't take long for the neurons to start to connect and for patterns and memory to develop.  Unless one has a brain disorder or neurological defect, we all have enough brain cells and brain power to learn, remember, and develop complex thinking abilities as we age.  

How do we keep excited about losing weight?  When a new patient comes to our Clinical Weight Loss practice, they are both excited and nervous.  They have attempted many diet plans in the past with some success and many failed attempts.  They are leary of a new "program".  Is it possible to maintain this early excitement throughout the entire weight loss journey?  The answer is Yes, but it's not easy.  We must change our thinking and our perspective to keep the enthusiasm going.  So How?  

 It's part of our human DNA to put things into a system to accomplish tasks more efficiently and more abundantly.  We all use systems and don't even know it.  When we get up in the morning, most people have a system about how they get started for the day.  We like order and continuity.  Our work operates with systems in place.  School and education has systems in place.  

The best diet in the world is the one you can stay on.  All calorie restricted dietary regimens will cause weight loss, but not many can be turned into a lifetime eating plan.  It's common for people to blame a dietary plan for failure to lose weight, but upon looking deeper it's almost always the fact that the plan was not adhered to.  It's not that people don't want to stick to the eating plan, it's that they are up against very powerful internal forces that don't want us to reduce calories.  

       We have known about insulin resistance for a long time now.  It has started to become a trendy marketing term to promote some supplements and eating plans.  I'll discuss what it is, what it does, and how to reduce it or eliminate it.  Insulin Resistance is not a disease, but a hormone abnormality that occurs due to genetics, diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and body fat percentage.  

You can get CBD (Cannabidiol) nearly everywhere. It's available in CBD stores, gas station convenience stores, big box stores, pharmacies, Dr's Offices, online, and from your friend the CBD distributor. This big trend begs a quick review of this plant-based supplement. What is it and what is it used for?

 Do we need to take supplements?  Do we need vitamins and other plant based supplements in order to be healthy?   I get these questions every day in my practice.  I could answer with a yes or no, but the answer is much more complex than a simple answer. 

Lately, Have you felt that there is a lot of negativity going on?  If you watch any news report, read any newspaper, engage on twitter, or have discussions with friends or family you'll feel the negative vibe.  Maybe it's the year long COVID event, maybe it's politics, or maybe we live in a time where we are getting less tolerant of anything we don't like or anyone who isn't like us.  Whatever the cause, we must work to fight this feeling.  

 Have you ever listened to yourself and heard excuses for not accomplishing something coming out?  Of course, although some people do this all the time and never actually hear excuses they are making.  I was taught a long time ago that when someone says they will try, they are planning on not and typically never do.  I'll try to make it to your party...Not showing up.  I'll try to read that article...never read it.  I'll try to get the project done on time...always gonna be late.

Everyone has problems.  Sometimes our problems are large and sometimes they are small.  Sometimes we can fix them and sometimes they are out of our control.  Sometimes we have more than one problem facing us at a time.  Then, there are short periods of time where all seems to be well.  Beware, when all is going well, a problem is just around the corner.  

The word Hero is tossed around a great deal lately.  I pulled into my family medical practice recently and someone had erected a sign at our front entrance that said, "Heroes Work Here!"   It seemed nice and special to be recognized, but I didn't feel like a Hero as my staff and I had been going to work, seeing sick patients throughout the pandemic and for years of our careers because it was the job we chose to do.  

 First of all, there is a misperception that success happens quickly or all at once.  That is false.  We just notice the fruits of someone's success all at once.  Success is achieved slowly and over a lengthy period of time.  No one notices the person working with their head down, or staying up late at night, or working on the weekend.  In fact, most people who do notice them think they are strange and different.  

We are all looking for motivation.  You know, that thing that gets us out of bed each day to go to work, to school, or to get something we feel is important done. Where does motivation come from?  Many people think that motivation comes from someone else.  That we have to BE motivated.  That is not correct.  We can be inspired by someone else, we can be excited by someone else, but true motivation comes from within us.  

 Have you ever been on a dietary regimen and started losing weight, then after a few weeks the weight reduction slowed way down?  Of course you have.  Why does this happen?  Treating overweight and obese patients for years have given my insight into this frustrating issue. 

We are now tired of being overweight and have made the decision to lose excess body fat and get to a leaner place.  Our clothes don't fit and we struggle to go up stairs.  We avoid getting our photo taken and we spend way too much time thinking about our weight and why we aren't doing anything to get thinner.

 We make weight loss and getting fit too complicated.  Yes, I know I've said that this is a complex medical disorder having to do with our genetics, biochemical, metabolic, hormonal, and psychological functions, but the tasks that must be done to fight these underlying dysfunctions are simple.  The trouble we run into is that our lives are also complicated and complex.  

When we make the personal decision to start losing weight and get healthy, it's typically done in a quiet conversation inside our head.  We don't trumpet this decision to the world.  When starting out on the journey we don't tell anyone, as we don't want people to say something if we are unable to accomplish our goal.  Our silent journey toward a difficult goal begins...alone.  

 We want to lose weight now and lots of it.  We are disappointed if we only lose 8 pounds in a month.  We go for any program that promises big and fast weight loss.  We will fall for a diet that eliminates a macronutrient if we can eat all we want of another.  We are lured and enticed by big things, big changes, and big results.

We all want to be at our best weight.  We want to look good, feel good, and be full of energy.  We all know that carrying less body fat and overall body weight will help us achieve these goals.  We all know that eating smaller portions and less calorie dense foods can help us drop the unwanted pounds.

Many of my patients and people in general get fixated on the scales.  I think the scales are important and tracking our body weight is a great measure of getting leaner.  It however, is not the only measure.  Tracking fitness and health can be done by looking at any of a myriad of markers and measurements.      

Everybody knows that being significantly overweight can cause negative effects on our body.  We all understand that rarely does an obese individual live into their 80's or 90's and if they do, they are typically disabled.  If we understand that this is occurring to our body, why would we not work harder to lean out our body and reduce the potential negative effects?

Everyone loses weight differently and not at the same speed.  You've probably been on a diet with your spouse or a friend and they start losing a lot of weight while you're struggling to knock off a few pounds.  There are a myriad of reasons, but one new reason we are uncovering is that the microscopic organisms in our digestive tract play a major role in processing and helping us digest our food.  If these are out of balance, then weight loss may be a problem and weight gain may be easy.  

I'm a weight loss Dr.  I treat people with the disease of Obesity and Overweight Syndrome.  I treat the manageable factors associated with these disorders.  We can't treat the underlying genetics of Obesity, but we can modify five key factors that can influence the expression of our genetics.