As you can see from this list, weight loss
resistance is a complex issue resulting from a variety
of factors. This is why there are individuals who "eat
right and exercise right" who still find it extremely
difficult to lose weight and keep it off. To be more specific,
although the term "weight loss" is commonly
used, the key is to lose body fat and increase lean muscle
mass. If an individual simply focuses on weight loss without
regard to what is happening with body composition, he/she
can actually cause more metabolic damage. In order to
lose fat and maintain or increase lean body mass, you
need to have a healthy metabolism. This becomes a process
of healing so that you can get healthy and lose weight.
The more damaged your metabolism is, the longer it can
take to heal it before you see significant weight loss.
The reality is that you must be healthy to lose fat. For
this reason, body composition testing should be a part
of any weight loss program. The MRP is not a "quick
fix" program, and it is designed for individuals
who are committed to making the necessary therapeutic
lifestyle changes that promote optimal health. When indicated,
we support our program with prescription weight loss medications.
Comprehensive
Metabolic Profile
For some patients, this program begins with
a specialized test called the Designs for Health/Metametrix
Comprehensive Metabolic Profile. This test pinpoints
imbalances and deficiencies in the body using more than
75 elements that include organic acid, lipid peroxide
and IgG food antibody testing. Armed with the results
of this test, a program is tailored to each patient's
specific needs. To view a video clip on the CMP, click
here. To read a document describing the CMP, click
here. The table below provides a listing of the elements
of the Proactive Wellness Center's Metabolic Rejuvenation
Program. Following the table is a detailed description
of the key program components.
|
Proactive
Wellness Center's 90 Day Metabolic Rejuvenation
Program
|
| Program
Element |
Program
Details |
|
Detailed initial treatment plan
|
Development of initial functional
medicine treatment plan. This treatment plan will
address imbalances and factors that contribute to
weight loss resistance including depressed metabolism,
hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, high cortisol
levels, food allergies and sensitivities, toxic
burden, chronic sleep deprivation, neurotransmitter
imbalances and hormone imbalances
|
| Followup office visits |
6 office visits total for the 3 month period.
|
| Email support |
Email support including secure email directly with
physician
|
| Phone support |
Phone support with physician and other
supporting providers |
| Laboratory testing |
Preparation of lab test orders and
monitoring and explanation of test results. This includes
repeating the CMP at the end of 6 months plus other
serum based testing as required or indicated |
| Reassessment/Adjustment of treatment
plan |
Reassessment and adjustment of hormones,
nutritional supplements, medical foods and other prescriptions
as needed based on feedback from patient and results
of lab tests |
| Patient binder |
Patient binder will be provided to
organize all content provided during program |
| Educational materials |
Relevant educational materials to support
the metabolic rejuvenation program will be provided
continually throughout the program |
| Meal plans |
Meal plan guidance, sample meal plans
and review of daily food diary for the first 30 days |
| Exercise recommendations |
Appropriate exercise recommendations
will be provided based on each patient's specific
physiology and overall health |
| Body composition testing |
Body composition testing will be done
and recorded on every visit as an indicator of progress |
| Suggested
program components not included above |
| X-iser |
Low impact exercise machine for home
use available at www.proactivwellnesscenters.com/products.asp
|
| Consumer body composition monitor |
We recommend the Tanita BC533 consumer
body composition monitor also available at www.proactivwellnesscenters.com/products.asp |
| Portable blender |
For medical foods, patients have found
that adding fruit to medical foods enhances the taste.
We recommend the Magic Bullet or comparable - available
at www.walgreens.com. |
Correcting Imbalances
- A "Functional" Approach
The cornerstone of the MRP is the "functional"
approach that we use to help patients achieve optimal
health. Using the latest developments in functional medicine
and state-of-the-art laboratory testing, we employ a strategy
that looks at each patient's unique needs and seeks to
find the root cause of symptoms that have manifested.
This is in stark contrast to "traditional" medicine
that typically focuses on just treating symptoms. When
a person complains of pain, discomfort or recurring health
complaints, it is the body's unique way of communicating
and getting a persons attention. Rather than prescribing
pain medication, functional medicine seeks to identify
the root cause of the prolem. For example, consider headaches
or backaches. Tylenol or aspirin may temporarily resolve
the symptoms but the real questions is why are we experiencing
the pain? Another example is depression where certainly
an anti-depressant may help; however, it may be that the
person has a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) imbalance,
food sensitivities or toxic chemicals that have accumulated.
By paying close attention to small problems, often times
larger health problems can be prevented. The goal of functional
medicine is to focus on prevention and to improve overall
health throughout life and especially during the "golden
years". To read more about functional medicine,
click here. To read about other components of the
MRP,keep reading...
Eating
Plans
The MRP provides each patient with sample
eating plans that are tailored to his/her physiology and
lifestyle. All of our programs consist of having the patient
eat whole foods that are balanced with the proper ratios
of proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. We do not
use an approach of severe calorie restriction in our programs
and neither do we take the approach of many of the popular
"diet" programs that eliminate carbohydrates
or fats entirely. Many diet programs recommend that people
consume fewer calories than their Basal Metabolic Rate
(BMR). The BMR is the level of calories that are needed
to run basic bodily functions. To calculate the BMR, it
is 10X the individual's weight in pounds for the average
person. The proper caloric intake is your BMR plus the
intake required to support your daily activities. This
level varies by individual; however, 2,150 - 2,350 calories
per day is a good rule of thumb for a person weighing
150 pounds. When a person restricts their daily caloric
intake below their BMR, this sets of a chain of chemical
reactions that typically makes them gain weight in the
long run.
Education
Education is a cornerstone of all of the treatment plans
that we offer. The MRP uses education as a key tool to
promote optimal weight and health. We provide our patients
with pertinent educational materials that are related
to their specific condition. Also, we have recommended
book lists that we provide our patients. It is imperative
that each patient understands why they are being encouraged
to make certain lifestyle changes. Through the MRP, each
patient learns to interpret their laboratory results,
and to understand "optimal" ranges versus the
laboratory "reference ranges". A good analogy
is to look at a staircase. At the top of the staircase
is health, and at the bottom is disease. If an individual's
health is ¾ of the way down the staircase, the
disease has not toally manifested; however, there is certainly
room to optimize their health and get back to the top
of the staircase. We believe that it is critical that
we become partners with our patients, and the only way
to have a successful partnership is for both parties to
be armed with scientifically-validated knowledge.
Total
Metabolism Testing
Through the MRP, we evaluate patients in
a variety of different ways in order to provide a more
comprehensive picture of body morphology and metabolism.
There are certain relationships that can be uncovered
that can tell us if a patient is at a higher risk for
heart disease, sleep apnea, osteoporosis or metabolic
syndrome (Syndrome X). We use Bio Impedance Testing (BIA)
using the medical grade Tanita scale. This technology
gives provides a lot of insight into the patient's metabolism.
It certainly provides the overall weight but it goes much
further by providing the composiition of the weight. It
does this by distinguishing between Fat Mass (FM) and
Fat Free Mass (FFM) which is everything but fat. It accomplishes
this technically by testing the body's resistance or impedance
to a mild electrical wave sent up one leg to mid torso
and then down the other leg. Fat provides more resistance
than water which is a better conductor, so from this it
can determine the Total Body Water (TBW) and then predict
the Body Fat % (BF%).
Men have 3-5% essential fat and their ideal
range is 8-18% BF with clinical obesity starting at 22%.
At 29% BF most men will have metabolic syndrome(insulin
resistance). Women have 10-15% essential fat and their
ideal range is 18-25% BF with clinical obesity starting
at 32%. At 37% most women will have metabolic syndrome.
Waist and Hip measurements can provide very useful information.
There has been considerable scientific evidence that the
amount of fat accumulation around the waist is more dangerous
(metabolically) than fat elsewhere in the body. Women
who have a waist circumference of 35 inches or more and
men who have a waist circumference of 40 inches or more
are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. These
are just some of the ways that we evaluate the patient's
risk for disease as well as their overall progress with
their MRP.
Nutritional Support and
Medical Foods
Nutritional supplements (vitamins and minerals)
play a vital role in providing nutrients that we do not
get from our diets. After decades of maintaining an anti-vitamin
stance, the American Medical Association (AMA) has completely
reversed its position and now encourages all adults to
supplement daily with a multiple vitamin. In two reports
published in the June 19, 2002 edition of the Journal
of the American Medicine Association (JAMA), the authors
concluded that the current North American diet, "while
sufficient to prevent vitamin deficiency diseases, is
inadequate to support optimal health". They went
on to say that "insufficient vitamin intake is
apparently a cause of chronic diseases……".
The Comprehensive Metabolic Profile (CMP)
that is part of the comprehensive initial assessment portion
of the MRP provides key information with regard to nutrient
deficiencies so that the nutritional supplement recommendations
can be extremely targeted. Every person is biochemically
unique, and one person's nutritional needs may differ
from another. With regard to weight loss, there are several
key nutrients that assist the body in using fat for fuel.
A few of the nutrients that we have found to be very helpful
with weight loss are L- Carnitine, Conjugated Linoleic
Acid and D-Ribose. There are also medical foods that we
have found to be very effective in helping our patients
achieve optimal health. Insulin resistance is a very common
condition that we diagnose. We have used medical foods
such as UltraGlycemX by Metagenics that have been very
helping in helping patients to become more sensitive to
their own insulin. See our products
page for a listing of the product lines that we recommend.
Exercise
Exercise is a substantial component of achieving
overall health and certainly weight loss. It can be therapeutic
depending upon the type, frequency and duration; however,
it can be just as damaging to over exercise as it is to
under exercise. Our MRP incorporates resistance training,
aerobic exercise and flexibility/core work.
Resistance training enhances insulin receptor
sensitivity and aids in glucose tolerance. This type of
exercise is effective in long term weight management because
it increases lean body mass (LBM) which increases basal
metabolic rate and aid in the body's ability to utilize
fat for fuel. It also helps maintain or increase bone
mineral density and elevates growth hormone.
Aerobic exercise has a multitude of cardiovascular
benefits, aids in glucose tolerance and can improve insulin
sensitivity. It also improves fatty acid utilization.
We recommend burst training, which is 30 - 60 seconds
of intense exercise to create an oxygen debt which in
effect raises the BMR. The X-Iser is a piece of exercise
equipment that we have found to be very effective in providing
patients with a great workout in only 12 minutes per week.
Click the video links below for more information about
this piece of equipment.
Flexibility/Core Work helps to maintain strength acquired
through resistance exercise, helps maintain functional
range of motion of joints, balance and stability. It also
lowers cortisol and adrenaline (stress hormones) levels.
Want to see the Xiser in action? Click either of these
links for a short video. Video
1 Video
2
Need more information or ready to purchase,
click anywhere on the picture below.
