Acupuncture is an addition to other weight loss treatments; it is not an overnight or ?wonder cure' for obesity.  When added to diet, exercise and stress reduction methods, it can be a very effective tool in weight loss

Acupuncture is known as an effective stress reduction tool, therefore, can be effective in teaching a patient to deal with stress, frustration and the anxiety that may cause binge eating and overeating.

Acupuncture helps in the production of endorphins which affect digestive and hormonal systems, which may rebalance the organs which may be running too slow.  It may also aide in the increase of will power, which seems to be a major problem with dieting.

The first step in acupuncture for weight loss is to have a consultation with the acupuncturist; this is how they will choose the correct points for your treatment.  You will be asked to discuss your pattern of overeating, and to make the practitioner aware of any digestive problems.  Your pulse will be checked so they can decide on your general energy, and to measure your stomach energy, your tongue will be examined for cracks, peeling or swelling on the stomach area.  They will also look for a yellow or white coating on the tongue that may indicate a problem with heat or cold in your stomach, this could provide clues as to your unexplained weight gain.

Your treatment will be devised from this information, a combination of body and ear points will be used.  There are many points from the ear that are relative to weight loss:

• Mouth, for the smoker, who is an impulse eater and talks a lot
• Stomach, for those who eat even after they are full and constantly nibble
• Hungry, for appetite control
• Lung, food addicts, those who love chocolates and sweets
• Endocrine, for water retention
• Adrenal and ovary, if the gain is from menopause or P.M.S.
• Spleen, for sugar and hormonal imbalances
• Kidney, for water retention, nervous system and hormonal imbalances
• Thyroid, to work with a slow metabolism
• Shenmen, a calming point, deals with anxiety, anger, frustration and insecurity

Treatment will include diet, exercise and a general lifestyle change that the patient must be willing to follow in order for acupuncture to be effective.

The old saying ?misery loves company' is as true with dieting as it is with any other addiction in life.  Regardless of how important it is for you to stick to your diet, there will be at least one person in your life, who will not want you to succeed, subconsciously that person may even be you.

If you are from a large family, and still living at home, be prepared to smell all of your favorite foods being prepared.  This is not necessarily a conscious thought process from the saboteur, as a matter of fact it is usually unconscious and not meant in a mean or vindictive manner.  They just don't want to loose you, and may be fearful that if you loose your excess weight, you will no longer want to be around them.

Reasons you may subconsciously sabotage your own diet:

ü      Fear of loosing your friends and acquaintances

ü      Loss of your favorite foods (dieting is also a process in which we need to allow ourselves to grieve)

ü      Issues from childhood may come back up that you are unaware of (these issues may be part of the reasons you became overweight)

Regardless of who is doing the sabotaging, being aware of it is half the battle in the war of your successful weight loss.

In some instances it may be solved by simply telling those in your life how important it is to you, and even to them for you to loose weight.  Make them aware of your health issues, if this is the reason you are dieting.  It may help to get them involved in your weight loss, asking them for support to succeed.

If it a subconscious sabotage on your part, you may want to speak to a counselor about it.  It is important that you are aware of any issues that may be a stumbling block for you.

Whatever your decisions, pay attention to what is happening around you.  In the end, the whole process of weight loss lies with you, regardless of who sabotages your efforts.

When you are overweight the added weight puts undue stress on your heart, joints, muscles every part of your body is at risk when you are overweight.  Losing weight helps you stay healthy, and losing only 10% (or 10 pounds for each 100 pounds of weight) reduces your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Talk to your doctor about how much you should weight, each person is different, your height and age, among other things, will determine your ideal weight.

In conjunction with a healthy diet, exercise can speed up weight loss, and when you have lost the desired amount of weight, it helps you maintain your weight.  It helps increase HDL, or good cholesterol while reducing LDL or bad cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes.  Exercise aids in making your heart stronger, by pumping more blood with each beat.  Regular exercise increases your metabolism, which helps burn calories faster, even when you aren't exercising.

There are many kinds of exercise; swimming, jogging, running, bicycling and aerobics are a few of the exercises that are good for your heart.  They increase your heart beat and cause you to breathe more deeply, causing your heart to work harder and burning more calories.

If you have lived a very inactive lifestyle, begin exercising slowly and build up, aim for 30 minutes 4 to 6 times a week.  Based on your health your doctor may advise differently.  A good means of tracking how hard you are working is to try to carry on a conversation, even with yourself, while you exercise.  If you aren't capable of talking to someone you are probably overworking yourself.  Alternate exercise days with relaxation days allowing your body to rest in between, this helps prevent injuries caused by over exercise.

If you are very busy, there are a number of ways to add exercise to your schedule:

¯     Walk to work

¯     Park at the other end of the parking lot

¯     Take the stairs

¯     Walk faster

¯     Move more quickly when doing housework

¯     Rake leaves, or use a push lawn mower, do other yard work

There are many items claiming to be herbs that are associated with weight loss.  Most of them are to be taken in conjunction with a nutritious diet and exercise program.

Some of the benefits of balanced nutrition and exercise are:

Ø      More energy

Ø      A more beautiful body

Ø      Increased self confidence

Ø      Reduced risk of heart disease and other health problems

o       Cancer

o       High blood pressure

o       Diabetes

o       Osteoporosis

o       Stroke

Nutrients contained in the food you eat are also important factors in a healthy diet, if you are missing any of these nutrients, herbs may be the way to replace them in your diet.

You can get these herbs in many forms:

Ø      Patches

Ø      Pills

Ø      Liquids

Ø      Gel tabs

Ø      Powders

Some of these items are:

Ø      Thermogenic fat burners with ingredients from white willow bark, ma huang extract, ginger root, caffeine, citrius aurantium and vitamin B5, these sometime create too much energy if you do not include plenty of activity to counteract this energy.  The way to deal with this is to cut the dosage. Tests have shown this also enhances concentration, increases energy and suppresses the appetite.

Ø      all natural energy boosters, these create sleeplessness, and a lower dosage is recommended

Ø      herbal phentermine, (100% safe?) containing biotin, L-Carnitine green tea, polyphenols, catechins, alpha lipoic acid, bioperine, R-alpha lipoic, one additional benefit to this is the difference between herbal Phentermine vs., prescription Phentermine.

Ø      hoodia gordonii, used by the Bushmen of the Kalihari, with Magnesium, Garcina Cambogia, Green Tea Extract, plant-based digestive enzyme, hoodia may shut down your thirst mechanism, so be sure to maintain your water intake.  This product also creates a full feeling faster and this feeling lasts longer.

Ø      green tea extract containing camellia Sinens, maltodextrin, citric acid

An old saying goes ?look at the parent and you will see the child in 40 years.'  This is truer than many believe and is becoming more evident in recent years as children become obese, just as their parents did.

Many believe this is hereditary, that weight gain is inherited or transmissible from the parent to the child.  Studies point at many other things as well as inherited genes being the issue.  This could be true in several areas of life, not only transmission through genes, the building blocks of the body, but through habit and culture as well.

Children who have parents that are obese, learn the eating habits of the parent, if these are bad or unhealthy eating habits, the child in turn also become obese.  Some cultures eat foods that are high in fat and carbohydrates, which cause the families of this culture to be larger, more overweight than those who have a diet of low fat, low sugar and high carbs.  Junk food is another means of passing excess weight on to our children, if we eat nothing but junk food; our children learn the same eating habits.

If there is a medical condition that is prevalent in our family, for instance thyroid issues, then it is genetically possible that our children will have the same problems and therefore be obese due to genetic issues.

Many of us have families that sit down to a dinner every day that consists of fried foods, mashed potatoes (high starch content) and gravy, and a heavy dessert to follow?  These may be from family tradition of eating large family meals, which has been practiced in our family for generations, and in this way we have families that are obese for the same generations.

A balanced diet is necessary for healthy weight control; we need to eat several meals a day, especially breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day.

There are many different types of low-carb diets the standard for the number of carbs consumed daily should be 5 to 10% of your consumption.  The strict reduction of carbohydrates is the main thing all of the low-carb diets have in common.  In a low-carb diet, the carbs are replaced by fats and proteins.  In most cases a low-carb diet is the same as a high-fat, moderate protein diet.  The daily intake of fat for a person on a low-carb diet should be 60 to 70% of their daily consumption.

The low carb diet is the only diet that deals with the true causes of obesity, high cholesterol, hypoglycemia, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.  For those dealing with these illnesses, low-calorie and low-fat diets don't do the job needed to restore their health, in fact for diabetics; these diets can actually do harm.

The instances of adult-onset diabetes have increased, research has shown that the so called ?low-fat, high-carb (balanced) we have been taught to eat for years, has caused Americans to be the fattest people on Earth, and we just keep getting fatter!  Research has shown that carbs are the enemy, not fat, and we need to be aware of the results of these studies.

With a low carb diet, as long as you steer clear of the foods that you are not allowed, you can eat all the food you want, you can actually eat until you are full, and this is not allowed on other diets.  You can eat all you want of these items:

û       Meats, including roast beef, bacon, pork chops, steak, hamburger, prime rib, pot roast, tenderloin, the only meat you can't eat is liver, when considering prepared meats, check the label for carbohydrate content.

û       Fish, shellfish, even though oysters contain some carbs

û       Poultry, chicken, turkey, eggs, game hens, duck

û       Dairy products, milk, butter, cream and cheese, cheese is high in protein, there are some restrictions, read the label

û       And a limited amount of green vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, mustard greens, salad veggies, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts and celery

Many books are available giving you a count of how many carbs are in each of the foods you eat, they are a sound investment if you are considering a low carb diet.

Nobody really has to go seriously hungry even on a low calorie diet today. The food industry finally snapped to and is providing low calorie options for many foods that we all know and love. In years gone by, a low calorie diet consisted of lettuce, boiled eggs and black coffee. There weren't any low calorie foods available on grocery shelves.

On the cereal aisle of most grocery stores today, you will find a variety of low calorie/low fat/ low carb breakfast bars that are loaded with nutrients but not the bad stuff. You can find low calorie frozen breakfast entrees in the frozen food section. You can find egg substitutes and turkey bacon in the dairy cases as well as low calorie oleo. There is 40 calorie-a-slice bread in almost any variety (white, whole grain, wheat, etc) on the shelves. With even just a tiny bit of effort, you can find satisfactory breakfast makings that will total no more than 250 to 300 calories.

Low calorie/fat/carb lunch choices are even easier. You can find diet lunch entrees in the frozen food section that only need to be nuked a few minutes and are delicious. In the dairy section, you can find sliced lunch meats that contain just a few calories like turkey or low fat ham and make a sandwich using the low calorie or low fat salad dressings and the 40 calorie-a-slice bread. There are even low calorie chips and don't forget about the no calorie diet drinks.

Dinner choices aren't hard either. You can find low calorie dinner entrees in the frozen food section. You can also find low calorie salad dressings and all canned vegetables come with calorie and nutritional information printed on the labels.

Don't forget dessert! You can find low calorie ice cream and frozen yogurt, low calorie cakes and pies, cookies and puddings.

We have choices today that weren't available even a few years ago. It is just up to us to make the choices that allow us to keep the food and lose the calories. 

One of the biggest reasons people have a hard time dieting is because of a lack of awareness as to their particular eating habits.  Food triggers can be both the conscious and subconscious, and can be anything from the time of day it is to someone hurt your feeling or made you mad.  We are seldom aware of what causes us to eat more than we need to sustain ourselves.

We eat for many reasons; this is not a complete list:

Ø      Hunger, this should be the only reason to eat

Ø      Stress, at work, home, because of the family etc.

Ø      Comfort, hurt feelings etc.

Ø      Anger or frustration

Ø      Habit, at a particular time of day or event

Ø      Parties or to help someone celebrate something

One of the best ways to become aware of what, when and why you eat is to keep a food journal for a couple of weeks.  Make certain that you enter everything you eat, down to the last potato chip, this is important in establishing the pattern or habit to your eating.

The things you should journal are:

Ø      Food eaten

Ø      Quantity eaten

Ø      Time of day

Ø      Your mood

Ø      Events around that time

Ø      Stress factors that apply

Ø      Celebrations

By tracking these things for a number of weeks, you will begin to see patterns emerge that you were previously unaware of.  This will allow you to begin to change those patterns, and make yourself aware of the reason you are eating whenever you do eat something.

Ask yourself these questions:

Ø      Am I hungry

Ø      Do I really want/need this item

Ø      Am I stressed, frustrated or upset

Ø      What is my mood

Ø      Am I eating for comfort

Remember that you are the one who ultimately needs to control your food intake, and therefore your diet.  Becoming aware of the reasons you eat is a great step in the right direction.

Knowing I needed to loose 100 pounds didn't help me achieve my goal, I felt like it was too much and totally impossible.  I had made resolutions for years, and was never able to follow through, this affected my confidence and self esteem.  I lived on my couch watching television and eating, bored and depressed with no energy or desire to do anything else.  After being told by my doctor that I had high cholesterol and was a prime target for heart attack and that I should start a diet and begin walking each day, my life became even more depressing.

One day I drove by a top name fitness center, I thought about my weight loss needs and decided to go in.  I asked the receptionist if it was for women only and was told no, it was for everyone, men women even children were involved with this program.  That day was a turning point in my life, I got the start I needed in that center, and my life has turned completely around.  Following the program I started losing weight immediately, a complete shock to me.  I started swimming again, and even joined a swim club after only 6 weeks on my weight loss program.

 My confidence has returned, and I have made a whole new set of friends that have the same interests as I have.  My energy has increased along with my passion for life and now I am going to start running again.  I couldn't have done this without help from those in your program, having a support system was extremely important to me.  I was guided through my weight loss program from the very start by my weight loss consultant.  I received the support and inspiration from others in the same place I was, wanting and needing to lose weight.

Since 1954, hundreds of thousands of patients have had Gastrointestinal Bypass surgery for the purpose of weight loss. While there have been many justifications for this surgery, there are also numerous, and extremely dangerous reasons against having it.

A study completed in 2001 and 2002 showed that 22% of gastric bypass patients had complications while still in the hospital, this increased in the first 6 months after surgery to 40% of patients.

Weight loss researchers, specializing in weight loss surgery, seldom take into consideration the less invasive treatments to combat the comorbity (diseases linked to being overweight) factors that weight loss surgery has claimed to effectively deal with such as: 

Ø      Sleep apnea

Ø      Diabetes

Ø      Joint pain

Ø      High blood pressure

Ø      Improvement in the quality of life

There are more than 60 documented problems linked directly to gastrointestinal surgery, here are a few of those:

Ø      Peritonitis, due to leaks in the digestive track - is an inflammation of the peritoneum or lining of the abdominal cavity. It may be localized or generalized, and generally represents a surgical emergency.

Ø      Pulmonary embolism - an artery in the lungs is blocked by fat, air a blood clot or tumor cells that are clumped.

Ø      Liver disease - is found in some degree in 90% of bariatric patients, chronic inflammation of the liver is common, and in some cases cirrhosis of the liver.  Cirrhosis may lead to liver failure and require a liver transplant.

Ø      Cancer is found in many locations including but not limited to:

o       Stomach

o       Esophagus

o       Pancreas

o       Bowel

Ø      Vascular thrombosis - a clot or thrombus forms inside a blood vessel; this restricts or blocks the blood flow to the circulatory system.

Ø      Hernia - a weakness develops in the abdominal wall, which allows tissue to protrude through the wall, this requires surgery to correct.

Ø      Persistent vomiting - One of the difficulties associated with gastric bypass surgery is the task of learning to eat much smaller portions of food.  Persistent vomiting is usually caused by eating too large a portion during a meal.

Any surgery should be discussed with your doctor, and researched as much as possible before a final decision is made.