Weight Loss

The solution to “successful” permanent weight loss lies in the origin of the dieter’s weight gain in the first place. Change the “weight gain” mentality that started the ball rolling and you have a vital clue to solving the weight loss puzzle that so often eludes the general public, not to mention the medical community as a whole.

A serious look at any commercial industry will quickly reveal one very obvious common denominator which of course, the quest for profit- Pay the bills, satisfy the stockholders- In short, keeping the company’s holdings in “the black”. For most food industry giants, the momentum to maintain company profits is often the opposite of medically sound nutritional advice. Being “conditioned” adult consumers of these products and having gained too much weight and cholesterol by the consumption thereof an altruistic Surgeon General admonishes us to "lose excess fat, or we risk contracting a “diet related disease". Advice is plentiful but truth on preventing that situation in the first place is in short supply.

Attending elementary school in the United States is our first exposure to “nutritional directives” via the famous “Four Food Group Pyramid”. All the charts and diagrams we were taught by, are courtesy of the various food lobby groups, promoting the consumption of their respective products (be it meat, dairy, bread, etc.) Food is the most direct route of exposure for humans to toxic synthetic chemicals, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides.

In our innocence, we blindly followed the food group charts with their respective food portioning regimens, not knowing that by age 50 approximately 15 pounds of chemical toxins would be buried deep within our organs.

Regarding the “antidote” to excessive weight gain, it is a curious fact that many of the franchise employees of the famous diet plans have little or no experience with respect to health, nutrition or dieting. What they are well versed in however, may be classified as “sales technique” in the effort to promote and maximize revenue. They usually only convey corporate ideological “hocus pocus”. The end result is that the major corporate diet companies prevail over tried and true conservative approach. They sustain a media driven 50 billion dollar a year industry known for promoting pills, powders and potions along with gadgets and videos by famous movie and television personalities.

Some celebrated studies prove that the weight gain often has a medically based origin. As such, many doctors prescribe various prescriptions and some experience a small degree of success treating over weight patients. Most physicians today have little or no concern with preventive protocols and only address the medical treatments which are often required in the aftermath of significant weight gain. Common health maladies would be hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, cerebrovascular diseases, and various types of cancer. Unfortunately, drastic surgical procedures are rapidly becoming the norm for the severely obese.

I believe that weight gain with the ensuing need for weight loss, often has its origins in health and nutritional misconceptions perpetuated by the society a person is exposed to. In countries where the media is not as influential on the masses, as it is here in the United States, and where the American (40% fat) diet is not consumed, weight loss is clearly not a concern, medically or otherwise.

Alternatives, applying nutritional and behavioral counseling, are often found to be a satisfactory introduction to the treatment of the overweight. Diet related diseases, that manifest themselves from this societal problem, often merit medical intervention it is true. However, it is also agreed in some patients, obesity is hereditary and could be considered chronic. It is not well known that in 40% of the cases the first sign of heart disease is sudden death?

Unlike the conventional diet programs we are familiar with, permanent weight loss must affect an intrinsic change in our understanding of sound nutritional concepts even when they contradict the information that the individual receives via the media, school, etc. However, the good news is it is indeed attainable and can be well within your grasp.