When it comes to weight management, I take a sustained approach to supporting my patients on their journey to optimal health. I’m mindful of everyone’s unique struggles and take them into consideration when developing a plan that makes sense for them. Following the completion of the Comprehensive Health Assessment, we use your individualized treatment plan to incorporate aspects of certain diets and lifestyle changes to help you reach your optimal weight. Fad diets don’t work. Instead, we take the knowledge of dietary concepts – paired with physiology – to educate and empower you to balance mindful eating with the occasional indulgence.
Understanding the why
Did you know that 20.2% of Canadians aged 18 and older, or roughly 5.3 million adults, report height and weight that classified them as obese?* That’s an astonishing figure that puts everything into perspective—1/5 of Canadians consider themselves obese.
However, you don’t have to be classified as obese to know that you no longer feel comfortable in your body. Together we’ll develop strategies to make improvements with regards to your body composition.
The idea of weight loss goes hand in hand with the idea of weight gain; before we can even tackle weight loss, I take a look at how and why you gained weight in the first place. In particular, we need to figure out what factors contributed to your weight gain, such as diet, hormones, blood sugar, lifestyle and environment. I may suggest we do blood work such as a thyroid panel and tests to determine if there is insulin resistance.
Weight management is a complex, multifactorial issue. Asking the right questions is the key to finding the apropriate solution for you. Did you recently give birth? Are you peri or postmenopausal? Was there a stressful event? In order to put in place a proper plan of action, I also take a detailed look at your eating and lifestyle, including any diets that you were on previously and how successful they were for you.
Moving forward
As you go through life, it’s natural for your weight to fluctuate. Everyone’s body has a particular weight it tries to maintain. Depending on genetics, sleep, biology, food choices, stress and exercise, your weight can easily go up and down. After our discussion about the why, we can move forward with the when and how—when can you get back to feeling comfortable in your own skin, and how are you going to get there. I want to get you looking and feeling your best and having a healthy body image.
My approach for weight management is one that’s realistic. Although you might want to look like your 20-year old self at age 40, it isn’t a realistic goal. As we get older, our body composition changes, and although our ability to lose weight becomes harder, healthy weight management is a very attainable goal. As we move forward together, your comfort level is key. I don’t use scales as a way to manage weight loss; I go by how your clothes fit and how you feel.
