Losing Weight vs. Gaining Health

Many are taken aback from a "lose the left leg" response to their request for a "weight loss plan" or "diet"; or, hearing "you don't have a weight problem," even when the need to shed some pounds is obvious.  Maybe I joke too often but I do it with the hope that it sparks some interest in the bigger picture...the idea that maybe weight loss shouldn't be the ultimate goal.   People ask me DAILY,  "How do I lose weight?", and although I typically end the conversation with some sound scientific recommendations, I try to make it very clear that weight loss and what I teach are two completely different concepts.

Losing Weight vs. Gaining Health

Your mindset and the QUALITY of your goals determine your success.  Want to lose weight?  What if you were told that a good surgeon and giving up a limb is your best bet for quick and easy weight loss? That may sound drastic and ridiculous (and of course I'm not serious), but it is exactly what many opt to do with lap-band surgery or liposuction.  In a fundamental way, these surgical procedures are really no different than taking diet pills and other junk supplements, or deprivation dieting. They are short-term, quick fixes with devastating, long-term results. 

Focusing more on changing the diet (and lifestyle) in an attempt to pursue health as opposed to simply losing weight would eliminate the so called "obesity" epidemic that we hear about on the news every other week.  The obesity epidemic is a delusion.   What we really have is a poor health epidemic. Many people are overfed and undernourished and ultimately consume far too many calories and overall mass of food, while taking in far too little whole-food-based nutrients (vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, etc).

Junk Food Manufacturers argue their products can be a healthy part of a balanced diet as long as calories are limited.  Although too many calories,and obesity in and of itself can be a burden on the body via nerve damage, structural stress, and increased demand on the heart to pump blood through accumulated fat mass, they completely refuse to acknowledge sugar and processed oils (and other junk in the products) as anti nutrients.

Foods deficient in vitamins and minerals destroy the body.  Trying to utilize energy from food is no different than trying to burn wood.   The wood contains plenty of energy; all it needs is a little oxygen and a spark to get it started.   Trying to metabolize fuel such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates without vitamins and minerals is like trying to light a fire without the initial starter or spark.  After a while you essentially have a big pile of firewood with nothing to light it with. Refined foods, because they have been stripped of their nutrition, do not replace the sparks the body needs to get fuel burning.   Consequently, nutrition is depleted from the body and can lead to nutrient deficiencies.  Many processed foods are "fortified" meaning vitamins and minerals are added back in; however, these vitamins and minerals are often cheap analogues that are significantly less bioavailable (usable) in the body and arguably cause more damage than good.

Do you want to lose weight or do you want to gain health?  Keep the following in mind:

• Calories are important, but hormones and quality nutrition determine your fuel utilization, metabolic rate, and overall body composition.
• "Health" and "disease" are not static, stand-still positions in time; they are processes and part of a never ending battle to adapt to the environment and maintain homeostasis.  We need a variety of unprocessed, nutrient-rich whole foods to win that battle.
• Obesity is a symptom of an unhealthy lifestyle.  Get healthy and the body will adjust all by itself. 

Let health be your ultimate goal!