The How of Weight Loss

“This year I’m going to lose the weight!”

This is a sentence many of us have uttered at least once at the beginning of the new year.

People Magazine does a yearly special at this time of year called “Half Their Size”, in which they feature everyday individuals who lost at least half of their body weight or more. They print before and after shots of these amazing people and a short description of how they did it. You can see a few tidbits and some pics here.

I always buy this issue. It is truly uplifting to see the transformations, but inevitably patients also end up in our office asking about the diets, supplements and programs mentioned in the issue.

To my delight, two of the six people in the issue credited working with a naturopathic doctor as part of their success.  

I love this exposure for our profession, but I also love what it means for those two people and the many, many others who struggled to find a healthier body through naturopathic medicine–the discovery that the how of weight loss is never earth-shattering.

Working with a naturopathic doctor means that there is likely no drugs, surgery or new diet supplement involved. No miracle pills, or magic chocolate or mysterious machines that create abs from ice cream.

Instead, the “exciting new discovery that shaves away the pounds overnight” that these people learned from their naturopath probably involved sensible eating and moderate exercise. It likely meant slow, but sustainable change.

It meant looking at their whole life and asking, “Where can we create more health?” because optimal health and optimal weight go hand in hand.