I have always been in pretty good health, so I was surprised one day when my doctor told me my blood pressure was a bit high. She told me to begin watching my salt intake, start exercising, and to try to relax. Well, I intended to follow her advice when I left her office, but the next day I was back to my same habits. I kept using the salt shaker and didn't begin an exercise routine like I had planned. When I went for my next check-up, she told me that my blood pressure was even higher and approaching a dangerous level. I had to begin a blood pressure medication to manage it. I wanted to create a blog to share my story and remind people to listen to their doctors' advice. If a few lifestyle changes can improve your health, then you should make them.
With an integrative medicine program for weight loss, you and your health care team will focus on mental and emotional strategies in addition to practicing healthy eating habits and doing a reasonable amount of exercise. This comprehensive process helps you feel full while eating less, avoid emotional eating and binge eating, end cravings, boost your metabolism and develop a healthier attitude about food.
If this sounds difficult to believe, understand that integrative medicine programs seek to combine the best of both holistic and standardized medical care. They are typically managed by medical doctors with a great deal of experience in conventional western medicine.
Mental Strategies in Integrative Medicine for Weight Loss
Sessions With a Life Coach
A life coach can help you with several aspects of your journey. Some of these include:
Hypnotherapy
You might think of hypnotherapy as a counseling session for your subconscious. Through hypnosis, you and your therapist address your subconscious directly, which can help you identify long-forgotten reasons that you created an unhealthy relationship with eating.
In addition, the therapist gives you instructions that your subconscious will follow. Now, you don't turn to high-calorie comfort food when you feel down, and you don't ever feel like stuffing yourself with food.
One intriguing technique involves hypnotic gastric bypass. You don't actually have the surgery, but something like a simulated version of the operation. Afterward, your subconscious mind thinks your stomach actually is smaller. That means your appetite is significantly reduced.
Mindfulness
You will probably receive training in mindfulness strategies, such as meditation and yoga. You learn to observe your thoughts and feelings as though from a distance, without judging them. These techniques boost your mental clarity and can help you make better decisions. They also should help you feel calmer in general, which is important if you tend to overeat when you feel anxious.
Healthy Eating
An integrative medicine approach doesn't ignore the aspect of healthy eating. You'll be encouraged to avoid processed, refined and sugary foods -- or at least to dramatically restrict your intake. Instead, you'll eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, legumes and lean meat. Consuming a certain amount of whole grains is good as well.
After you eat this way for a while, you'll be surprised when processed and high-fat foods no longer appeal to you as much as they used to. In fact, when you do decide to indulge, you'll probably be startled to discover they just don't taste all that great anymore.
Healthy eating also will boost your energy levels and increase your mental clarity. These effects help with weight loss because you feel better in general and are less inclined to engage in emotional eating. You'll have more energy for exercise, and you'll be thinking clearly whenever you're faced with tempting high-calorie foods.
Physical Activity
Exercise burns calories not only during the activity, but boosts your metabolism so you continue burning more calories than usual for a few hours afterward.
You can participate in any physical activity you enjoy, but your health care team will encourage you to include some weight lifting and other resistance training in your exercise regimen. That's because the lean muscle you build helps you achieve a higher metabolism rate.
The facility may offer sessions in resistance training or aerobic activity. This can be helpful if you are motivated by peer groups and expert instruction.
The Comprehensive Approach
With this integrated approach that combines alternative and more traditional weight loss strategies, you have the opportunity to reach your weight loss goals in a way that's more rewarding than focusing on calorie restriction. Begin looking for integrative medical weight loss programs and choose the one that's the best fit for you.
Share18 February 2015
