The Nightingale Center

A Holistic Approach to Weight Loss

By Dr. Lois Nightingale

Have you or a loved one become discouraged or frustrated with traditional dieting programs? Have fad diets and making your body a "chemistry experiment" left you drained and fatigued? Are you sick of the "Yo-Yo" effect?

Many people are please to find loosing weight with a Holistic approach is not an event but an energizing, enlivening process. Holistic weight loss includes, exercise, fresh air, nutrition, stress management, and mind/body/spirit balances that lead to a lifetime of health, high energy and physical well-being.

Acupuncture can assist weight loss in several ways. Research has shown that Acupuncture can be used to curb the appetite, depress cravings, rid excess water, stimulate the pituitary gland to burn off extra calories, and correct the internal body imbalance which causes so many people to be overweight. In France alone, 5 million people use acupuncture for weight control.

An Acupuncturist places tiny painless needles in specific points on the ears that affect the sympathetic-adrenal system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system. Acupuncturists may also use tiny balls or seeds taped to specific points on the ears that patients can squeeze and stimulate on their own to address hunger and tension from dieting and increase endocrine functioning.

Initial visits last about 45 min. and follow up treatments are biweekly down to every other week, depending on how much weight loss is desired. Acupuncturists may also recommend Chinese herbs to assist in weight loss, appetite suppression, relief form anxiety and metabolic increase. Some may also be trained in the use of herbal aromatherapy to help decrease cravings.

Many holistic approaches to weight loss focus on learning stress management and how to relax. Recent research by Dr. Pamela Peeks (NIH) substantiates that stress and anxiety create fat deposits in specific dangerous places in the body. Cortisol (Chemicals released by the body when under stress) can actually cause a person to be fat! Alternative therapies including; Biofeedback, Interactive Guided ImagerySM, Psychotherapy and Therapeutic Massage all provide ways to reduce anxiety and help with becoming stress resilient.

Biofeedback is, essentially, the first scientific alternative therapy. Based on laboratory findings, on measurable variables and change, it helps people learn how create relaxation with technology that is visible or audible. Many people are overweight because they eat when stressed, nervous or anxious. Biofeedback specifically addresses these emotional/physical states. It is a very effective, scientifically based therapy that helps people learn to relax and regain peace and tranquility in their lives.

Biofeedback has also been proven to be effective in relieving headaches that sometimes accompany dieting and life-style changes. It has also been labeled "Yuppie Yoga" and "Mechanical Meditation" because it is a technology-based relaxation technique.

Guided Imagery has also shown through controlled studies to be effective in assisting with weight loss. One study found a group that listened to a Guided Imagery tape lost twice as much weight as another group listening only to music. Another study is focusing on using Guided Imagery to help dieters at 25 weeks get past a "stalled" point of weight loss.

Interactive Guided Imagery^SM has the added benefit of having the patient become an active participant in the imagery created. This can also give people coping skills to use when they feel tired, stressed, anxious, lonely, or angry, which are many reasons for overeating. Interactive Guided Imagery^SM can also assist in dealing with a person's unconscious fear about weight loss. Excess weight often serves an unconscious protection to perceived threats. Interactive Guided Imagery^SM can help people resolve unconscious fears that have prevented them from loosing weight easily.

Psychotherapy can assist in finding the emotional causes that lead to overeating such as using food for comfort or escape from uncomfortable feelings. With behavior modification and new ways of thinking about life, eating patterns can change and lead to a new self-perception and the breaking of life-long even multi-generational food patterns. One study by Smith, Marcus and Kaye (1992) found that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is a time-limited therapy, focused on a patient's behavior and thought patterns, led to an 81% reduction in binge eating over 16 weeks of therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy places a strong emphasis on education, monitoring food intake and identifying false beliefs and replacing them with rational ones.

Massage therapy is effective in helping the toxins being released during weight loss, move through the body to keep optimum health throughout a weight loss program. Massage can also help rid the body of painful lactic acid in the muscles after starting an exercise program. Muscle tension, agitation, headaches and low energy, which may accompany dieting, can also be addressed with massage. One patient lost 40 pounds in 3 months with frequent massages, which helped lift her depression and alleviated her unhealthy eating patterns used to deal with her emotions.

Nutritional Counseling can help a person design a food plan that matches his/her life-style and taste preferences and with foods that are low/non-processed, organic and healthy. Other nutritional aspects include increasing water intake and different juice therapies. These decrease the toxins that can create imbalance in the body. Chewing food thoroughly is also emphasized for complete nutritional absorption of nutrients, this may lead to feeling hungry less often and decrease the amount of food a person needs to feel satisfied. Learning to eat the right foods for your body can make a life-long weight control program enjoyable and easy.

Many herbs and natural supplements are also used to support weight loss. Some popular ones, used in combinations are: Garcinia Cambogia, Peppermint, Brewer's Yeast, Cinnamon Ramulus, Lemon Verabanae, Chamomile Flower, Ginger Root, Chinese Licorice Root, Sweet Citrus Peel, Chicory. However, some other popular supplements can be dangerous if misused such as ephedrine (Ma Huang). Ma Huang increases blood pressure and heart rate. Many Ma Huang based products add ingredients, such as caffeine, that serve to multiply the effect of the ephedrine. In addition, other herbs with catalyst properties are often combined with the caffeine. These catalyst act to double or triple the effect ephedrine has on the body, which seriously raise the potential for harmful side effects. (Aspirin is also a strong catalyst for ephedrine). It is highly advisable to have professional consultation before using herbs and supplements in a weight loss program.

There are many safe and supportive methods to assist in weight loss. Many people have enjoyed the freedom and increased energy that obtaining a healthy weight brings them. If you or a loved one is interested in living a healthy energetic life, create the team you need to attain your dream.

The Nightingale Center has caring, highly trained professionals to assist you in attaining your weight loss goals. For more information call us for a free information packet at 714-993-5343.