Having the right attitude about weight loss can go a long way in being successful. Being overweight contributes to poor health, sleep problems, increased risk for disease/s, and back pain. Weight problems can result from:

• Eating the wrong food/s
• Limited or no regular physical activity/exercise
• Stress eating
• Age
• Genetics

These can all be overcome by setting sensible goals and realistic expectations. The first step is to discuss weight loss and general health with your healthcare provider. A doctor, health coach, or fitness chiropractor can help develop a fully customized weight loss treatment plan along with exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes/adjustments. Weight loss plans can include:

• Dietary
• Exercise
• Behavioral
• Medication
• Surgical modification of the digestive system if necessary

A realistic properly developed and safe weight loss plan has a greater rate of success. If your doctor isn’t quite sure which is the best approach, they could reference a health coach, weight loss, or metabolic specialist. Assessing one’s body weight is now a more involved process than just stepping on a scale. The assessment usually involves measuring the Body Mass Index or BMI, waist circumference, and medical history. This information is analyzed to determine if there are any risks due to excess weight like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Nutrition Feeding The Body

A weight-loss treatment program does require a reduction in calories. An optimal treatment plan means changing/adjusting lifestyle bad habits and turning them into good/positive habits. This can include nutritional education, relearning to eat, manage stress, and adapting.

It is important to feed the body the proper nutrients it needs to maintain optimum health. No one food has all these essential nutrients. Therefore, it takes a combination of a variety of foods to help meet the body’s needs. If an individual has been overweight or obese for an extended amount of time, the body could be starving for these vital nutrients.

Nutrients	Sources	Functions
Proteins	Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Dairy, Legumes, Nuts	Formation of muscles, bone, blood, enzymes, specific hormones, cell membranes, tissue repair, regulates water/acid-base balance
Carbohydrates	Grains, Fruits, Vegetables	Supplies energy to brain cells, nervous system, blood, and muscles during physical activity and exercise
Fats	Meat, Fish, Poultry, Supplements	Supplies energy, insulates/cushions organs, helps in vitamin absorption
Vitamins	Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Meat, Dairy	Promotes chemical reactions in the body’s cells
Minerals	Contained in most food groups	Regulates body functions, assists with growth, a catalyst for energy release
Water	Water, Liquids, Fruits, Vegetables	Medium for transporting chemicals, assists in chemical reactions, regulates temperature, removes waste, accounts for 50-70% of body weight

Types of Fats

Fats are essential in absorbing the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

• Saturated Fat is known to increase blood cholesterol levels. This type of fat is found primarily in meat and dairy products. For example butter.
• Polyunsaturated Fat has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels. It is found in plant sources like cottonseed, corn, safflower, sunflower, and soybean.
• Monounsaturated Fat has been shown to lower the low-density cholesterol or LDL, which is unhealthy cholesterol. It can be found in avocados, olive, canola, and peanut oil.

A healthy diet should not exceed 30% of fat per day. An easy way to cut back is to:

• Go for lean cuts of meat
• Trim the visible fat
• Remove the skin from poultry
• Select water-packed tuna
• Choose dairy products made from skim or low-fat milk

Eating and Losing Weight Recommendations

These recommendations could be redundant, but it is a start.

• Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. This does not include tea, coffee or other beverages
• Eat only when hungry
• Stop when full
• Eat and chew slowly – It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain the body is full
• Select foods that take a lot of chewing, which will satisfy the body with less food
• Drinking a warm beverage with a meal helps promote the feeling of fullness and satisfaction
• Serve food on a smaller plate – This fools the eyes, fooling the brain into believing that the meal is the same amount
• Have a piece of fruit or a small fruit smoothie in between meals to keep hunger in check
• Keep the kitchen stocked with healthy ready to eat snacks
• It’s the small thorough steps that add up to achieve goals

Physical Activity Benefits

Healthy food combined with healthy eating habits and regular physical activity can help weight loss goals be met. Building and preserving muscle mass helps the body burn calories. Plus it decreases the risk of:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Colon cancer
• Breast cancer
• Osteoporosis
• Arthritis
• Reduces body fat
• Lowers cholesterol
• Relaxes muscular tension
• Reduces anxiety and depression
• Increases energy, concentration, self-esteem, self-confidence

 Doctor of Chiropractic Weight Loss

Dr. Alex Jimenez’s Blog Post Disclaimer

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, and sensitive health issues and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate and support directly or indirectly our clinical scope of practice.*

Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation as to how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. The provider(s) Licensed in Texas& New Mexico*