A Quick Fix
We’re inundated with trends all the time, especially related to weight loss. We’re promised a quick fix, a magic pill, or even a cabbage soup to cure all our weight woes. While we’re being bombarded with all of these ideas, we may lose sight of one important truth: losing weight and keeping it off requires us to understand and address the underlying causes of weight gain. There are a myriad of reasons people gain weight. Understanding and managing those causes will help effect sustainable weight loss.
What is Functional Medicine?
The primary principle of functional medicine is that everything – genetics, lifestyle, the environment, stressors, and emotional and spiritual well-being – are all interconnected and they all affect our health. We can’t simply treat weight gain or only prescribe weight loss until we understand the crux of what’s causing weight gain to begin with.
Functional medicine practitioners view weight as the symptom of a larger imbalance or imbalances. As they’re corrected, managing your weight becomes much more attainable.
A Functional Medicine Approach to Weight Loss
Functional medicine practitioners look at so much more than just a number on a scale or your BMI classification when assessing your overall weight and health. Functional medicine considers:
- Your individual history
- Root causes of weight gain or an inability to lose weight
- Hormonal imbalances
- Gut health
- Inflammation
- The mind-body connection
All of these factors impact weight.
Your History and Hormones
HEBE Aesthetics and Vitality will help you find the root causes of your weight challenges. We’ll begin by doing a thorough assessment in which we’ll talk about:
- Your family history and genetics
- Your own personal health history
- Environmental factors influencing weight
- Lifestyle
- Your specific symptoms
If you don’t already have labs we’ll likely order laboratory testing to determine whether you have hormonal issues including:
- Thyroid imbalance
- Insulin resistance
- Cortisol imparity
- An imbalance in sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone)
We’ll work with you to ensure that your hormones are optimized for weight loss and overall good health.
Additional Factors
There are a myriad of other factors that impact weight, too. New and ongoing research points to the role gut health plays in weight management. Weight and gut health also play a significant role in the body’s inflammatory response. Inflammation, a primary cause of disease in the body, is caused by obesity, but it also makes it very difficult to lose weight.
Aside from gut health and inflammation, one of the most overlooked yet critical aspects to achieving and sustaining a healthy weight is the mind-body connection. Functional medicine recognizes the powerful influence of stress, emotional eating, past traumas, and even self-limiting beliefs about weight have on one’s ability to optimize their weight.
We suggest incorporating self-care practices including:
- Mindfulness in eating
- Meditation
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Stress reduction techniques
as ways to positively impact your overall health and weight.
HEBE Aesthetics and Vitality
If you’re in the Atlanta, GA area, HEBE Aesthetics and Vitality provides a personalized, multi-pronged approach to helping you manage your weight. We look for metabolic and other causes to help heal them so you can achieve your best health and a healthy weight. Contact us today so we can help you.
Disclaimer: The information contained here was not written by a medical doctor and is intended for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for medical advice.
