Weight Management

Your body is the only vessel you will ever live in.
Can you afford not to keep it in the best possible health?

What is Weight Management?

Weight management is not the same as weight loss, although weight loss is a component of weight management. It’s about controlling your body’s metabolism (the cellular chemistry involved from the consumption of nutrients, and their internal electrochemical reactions that create and use energy) so that you have peak body efficiency for short term energy requirements, and managing your nutrition and calorie intake to balance your body’s energy storage.

What is the Purpose of Weight Management?

It’s important to understand that weight management alone is NOT about improving your health, but is more about keeping you out of the “Danger Zone” of obesity and metabolic disease. Having weight management as a component of a more comprehensive total body improvement and management lifestyle is the best approach for great health!

Been there, done that.

90 pounds of weight loss…permanently!

3LIFE’s owner Greg has also struggled at times in his life with weight and health. But by admitting that a lifestyle change was necessary and by putting persistent effort into the cause, Greg was able to lose 52 lbs in two months, and 90 lbs in nine months, and (more or less) kept the weight off. “Was it easy? No. Could I fall back into old habits and allow weight regain at any time? Yes”, says Greg. Which is why his emphasis is on permanent lifestyle change rather than relying on unsustainable pursuits like restrictive dieting or anti-obesity medications.

Being Overweight or Obese

Okay, let’s get the bad stuff over with first. Obesity is a chronic body weight condition where a person carries excessive body fat (adiposity) due to the overconsumption of energy-dense foods relative to the concurrent underexpenditure of energy, as measured by a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Obesity creates chronic inflammation due to the overgrowth and stress of adipocyte (fat) cells, and eventually damages or kills these cells from hypoxia due to lack of supporting oxygen. The condition is a component of “Metabolic Syndrome”, which increases risk for the development of diseases including type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, autoimmune disorders, breast and colon cancer, and degenerative osteoarthritis. It will likely decrease a person’s quality of life, functional capacity, and increases morbidities and mortality, lowering life expectancy. And for many, being obese also carries with it a stigma associated with external appearance, especially feelings of personal shame and guilt, and the self-doubt that makes them believe there’s nothing they can do about it, often manifesting in a person rationalizing their condition with a positive spin called ‘Body Positivity’ as a defense mechanism.

The good news, however, is that obesity is completely self-reversable and controllable. To get started, you should first never feel shame or regret about how you look right now. And second, you should also understand that not every person’s genetic body composition is the same.
Then with some learning, guidance, coaching, and cheerleading, you can make positive lifestyle changes that result in permanent weight loss and improved health. Of course, there are potential metabolic speedbumps like genetics or hormonal issues that may impede the process, but even those can be overcome with determination and persistence!

Making The Change

With that said, weight management is tricky and challenging.
And although the premise of weight loss is simple…

-Burn off more calories than you consume-

… simple does not mean it’s easy.

So what do we mean by that? Calories are simply a measurable unit of energy. And our bodies are energy machines. In order to stay alive, we must create and use energy (a process called ‘Metabolism’). The fuel for that energy is in our foods, which have macronutrients that have energy potential, which are measured in “Calories” (and in reality are kilocalories, or “k-cals”), or in metric, kilojoules (KJ’s). Once consumed, energy-dense glucose (blood sugar) is extracted from carbohydrates as your body’s primary pathway for energy production and usage. However, if not used right away, glucose molecules are connecting into large chains called “glycogen” and are stored in the liver and muscles, or if glycogen stores are full, glucose is converted into triglycerides in fat cells (adipose tissue) for long-term storage, which can be used later if energy demand (activity) is not met by current carbohydrate energy supply (glucose). If you consume more calories than you burn off, you have a calorie surplus, and gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, you have a calorie deficit, and you lose weight.

Again, simple right? Well, not so fast. Even though calories in & out (CICO) are technically the same unit of measurement, which foods they come from and the processes to extract and use those calories during digestion varies significantly, and also because of “metabolic adaptations” to our body’s homeostatic “set points”, which has an effect on energy expenditure, and therefore fat storage. But that discussion is for another day, because it gets complicated.

Social Media can be both inspirational and detrimental to your health journey.

Be Ready for What is Coming

Your weight management journey will take perseverance, trust, and determination, but it can be done if you embrace the challenges! Remember, things that seem simple enough can be deceivingly complicated. As an analogy, throwing a football is a relatively simple thing to do. Throwing a football like Tom Brady however takes a lot of awareness, understanding, technique, and years of repetitive practice under hostile conditions.

In order for you to just get off the starting blocks and begin your weight management journey, you’ll first need to be aware of, understand, and accept the following challenges -

Understanding that Weight Management is a lifestyle, not a temporary fix to an unwanted condition.
That your brain is hardwired naturally to store fat, because many years ago us humans had to deal with the existential threat of food scarcity, as opposed to today’s abundance.
Habits are very difficult to change, but you WILL need to change some.
You must learn how to control your appetite and to consume more foods that will aid in your satiety signaling.
Your body may resist efforts at weight loss by making metabolic adaptations that lower your metabolism rate.
That adding a health journey as a new lifestyle takes demands of your time and requires persistent effort.
You will have to forego the instant gratification of short-term thinking so that you may receive greater health benefits as you age.
You will need to make an informed and dedicated decision to change, because just “giving it a try” is a setup for future disappointments.

At 3LIFE Wellness, we have the experience and knowledge, and an exclusive program with unique tools to to help guide you and keep you on a path toward a successful outcome. Contact us for a COMPLEMENTARY 20 minute “Convergence Consultation”, to discuss how we can help guide you toward your goals and help you sustain a healthy lifestyle!

Promises, Promises, Promises.

Be aware of fitness, nutrition & medical traps!

Quick fixes that you see on social media or TV, like Fad diets and meal replacements, supplements, fitness gizmos, controversial or “expert” coaching or training programs, or even some medical advice, costly drugs or homeopathics (e.g. GLP-1 agonist antidiabetics and weight loss drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy at over $1,000/mo., or the plant extract Berberine), or invasive procedures (like bariatric surgery at ~ $15,000), are all designed to do one thing - to get you to believe that willpower and lifestyle change alone doesn’t work without their faster and easier ways to lose weight, even though results (if any) are often temporary.

The Six Biggest Barriers to Weight Loss

Impatience

We live in a society of soundbites and quick fixes. Our digital media world and even the healthcare industry preys upon our desires to seek quick and easy answers. In weight loss though, patience is key. Long-term weight loss goals can be achieved with shorter bite-sized incremental results.
Present Bias

Our minds tend to accept the immediate gratification of a minor reward now over an even greater reward projected out in the future. This is because we are hardwired to prioritize our daily survival while discounting future rewards, which makes planning and living today for future rewards a difficult task.
Self Doubt

The two most dangerous words in our vocabulary are “I can’t”. No doubt, it’s challenging to lose weight and keep it off. And because it’s easier to pack on the pounds than it is to to lose them, frustration and fear of failure often leads to self-doubt. That’s why it takes trust, faith, and perseverance to keep going.
Inconsistency

When trying to make big changes to our habits, the one habit-change killer that can stop us in our tracks or even reverse our progress is being inconsistent with our efforts. Because cleaning up our diets and exercising is challenging and takes time, adhering to a planned schedule and being persistent is what will lead to success.
Prioritization

Arguably the biggest of all barriers is when your health is not always your top priority in your life. Yes, a busy lifestyle and other priorities like family and career are important, but if your health is not on top, then it will continue to fall lower down the priority list, and you’ll soon be back where you started.
Appetite

Know the difference between real hunger and appetite. Those “hunger” signals are merely your brain telling you it’s time to eat - mostly because it WANTS you to store fat! But it’s up to you to take a stand and push back on your appetite gremlin. Remember, you don’t have to eat until you feel satiated. And you won’t starve - we promise!