I thought December was an appropriate time for me to discuss this subject, as we all know at this time of the year we do seem to eat a little more than usual and some of us are perhaps even drinking a little more than we normally would!

How many people make a New Year resolution to lose weight?

Almost every day in my clinic I am asked, “Do you have a magic pill that will make me lose weight?” My reply is of course, no! Instead of putting the emphasis on losing weight, why don’t we together try to work on gaining wellness.

As we hear daily, obesity is a massive issue in our society. The results of this are many; such as diabetes, heart disease and liver problems to name a few.

It should be noted that there can be a difference between obesity and weight gain. Some people work really hard, eat pretty well and work out in the gym, and all struggle to lose weight. We need to remember that muscle weighs more than fat. This is only one of the reasons I talk about gaining wellness rather than losing weight.

I’m sure everyone knows that there are hundreds of diets, most of them not based on valid reasoning, a few of them quite sensible. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that they are mostly extremely difficult to follow and very negative (this causes people to become disillusioned and give up). I have seen many patients over the years saying that they’re following this diet or that diet. They lose a few kilos over a couple of weeks, then they don’t maintain the weight loss, and in many cases increase weight and feel no better for it. It is better to lose weight in a slow methodical manner as this tends to result in a weight loss (health gain) that is able to be maintained.

Generally speaking, for a person to lose weight, energy intake must be less than energy expenditure. This may be done by decreasing calorie intake (dieting), or by increasing calorie burning (exercising). To lose 1 lb (about 450 grams) we would need to take in 3,500 fewer calories (about 14,600 kilo-joules).

Losing 1 lb per week can be achieved by reducing calorie intake by 500 calories per day or by burning up an extra 500 calories per day (achieving this requires 45 minutes jogging a day or very quick walking for 1 hour and 15 minutes a day as examples). This is why I prefer to talk about gaining wellness.

As I have written in previous articles, each person I see is an individual. Everyone has different genes, a different metabolism, different bodily makeup, different psychological issues and different lifestyles. All of these are important. To gain wellness there is no “one cap fits all”. It can be as simple as getting a person to realize that they don’t eat well and don’t burn up energy well. Moderate lifestyle changes can resolve that. There can be issues with metabolism, breaking down of proteins and fats etc., thyroid imbalances, underlying psychological problems, fluid retention, liver function. The list goes on.

Yes, there are herbs, nutritional and dietary advice that can assist with resolving the issues, but no magic pill.

I am unable to be more specific about the treatment of weight loss in this article, but there are certainly things that a Naturopath can do to help a person “gain wellness”.