new back tips – Lose weight the right way – Ignacio’s Journey – Week 1

People who move better feel better, and enjoy life better. For the more than 70% of Americans, who are overweight, losing weight improves mobility. And that is just the beginning of the health benefits that come with losing excessive body weight.

Losing weight can improve type two diabetes… primarily due to the resultant anti-inflammatory benefit on insulin function.

Losing weight reduces the unnecessary and damaging pressure on your arteries and reduces harmful stress on your heart.

Losing weight reduces the risk of many cancers, including pancreatic, liver, kidney, breast and endometrial.

Sleep and energy levels improve with losing excessive body weight.

When weight loss is done the right way, that is. with a non-drug, low glycemic, anti-inflammatory, non-hormonal, doctor supervised approach, your equilibrium body weight can be reset and your weight loss can extend into life long benefits.

It has taken our team member Ignacio until age 45 before choosing the path of health-driven weight loss. We all need a big enough “why” and a healthy enough “how” before we make that once and for always decision to manage our body weight.

Let’s follow Ignacio on his healthy weight loss journey.

Ignacio started at 240 pounds on his own weight loss plan that involved cleaning up his diet and increasing exercise. He made his way down to 230 pounds over a few months… but there he was stuck, and at 5 feet 4 inches, he was not near his goal of high school body weight, 190 pounds.

Less than 1 week ago, July 6, 2023, he began his new healthy weight loss plan under my supervision.

Starting at 229.8 pounds, he entered Phase 1 of the plan… Two loading days to introduce his body to a proprietary blend of amino acids in sublingual drop form that handles three critical functions: 1. It steadies the blood sugar to keep him satisfied throughout the day; 2. It programs the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals, and thyroid to keep the furnace burning… that is, to maintain a strong BMR (basal metabolic rate); and 3. It provides an anti-inflammatory benefit, that not only reduces the body’s insulin resistance, but can provide a measure of pain relief.

The two days of Phase 1 are called loading days because there is a surplus of calories ingested. It’s not unreasonable to be up 4 pounds at the end of these two days. Ignacio was up just a little over 1 pound to 231.0.

Ignacio’s measurements before starting the plan included a 49.5 inch waist.

Phase 2 begins the healthy, low glycemic, anti-inflammatory, sublingual drop supported, portion limited, 40-day period of weight loss. With a BMI (body mass index) of 30+, women can’t expect to lose between 20–25 pounds, and men can expect to lose between 25–30 pounds over the course of these 40 days.

After day one of Phase 2, Ignacio was down to 225.0 pounds. With a personal goal for Ignacio of consuming over a gallon of water each day, not all of the 6 pound weight loss was water.

On day two of Phase 2, Ignacio was pleasantly surprised to find himself not only without hunger, but with increased energy and substantial decrease in chronic knee pain. His body weight after day two of Phase 2 was 224.6.

On day three of phase 2, Ignacio recognized how much better healthy food tastes, and how much slower he was inclined to eat. He just found eating healthy “a more enjoyable experience“. After day three of Phase 2, Ignacio was down to 223.2 pounds. 

Day four of Phase 2 was the first day Ignacio felt even a mild sense of hunger before his mid day meal. While the mild sense of hunger was easily controlled with “free food“, including sliced vegetables (mostly cucumber with lemon and salt), it did initiate some detective work to determine the reason for the mild hunger pangs. 

Apparently, Ignacio has been working to maintain 12,000 to 15,000 steps per day. While walking is generally a good idea, exercise is not recommended during Phase 2. However, the anti-inflammatory nature of this healthy eating program combined with walking have made his knees feel so good, he would prefer a little hunger pang over stopping completely. We will modify to 10,000 steps and see how he does.

Still on day four of Phase 2, Ignacio remarked at 7 PM before leaving work that he was recognizing a desire to eat, but not from hunger… he said he was, “kind of dealing with some emotional stuff that turned on the switch to either eat or forget this program“. Recognizing it for what it was (emotional) and drinking some water and eating some sliced cucumbers helped him push through.

He went on that evening to play softball, his favorite pastime, with full energy, and no hunger pangs. After day four of Phase 2, Ignacio weighed in at 221.2 pounds. Down another 2 pounds.

Day five was a smooth day with good energy and minimal hunger pangs. His mind and speech were sharp, and his work productive. Ignacio awakened after day five of Phase 2 weighing in at 220.6 pounds.

Day six was similar… High energy, feeling satisfied throughout the day, and a sense of greater mental acuity. Ignacio did remark of an additional learning… he had plans for the evening and decided to eat his snack “free food“ vegetables with his dinner. He was surprised to find how “overly full” he felt. After day six of phase 2, Ignacio was happy to have broken through a major barrier weighing in under 220 at 219.4 pounds. Just for fun he checked in on his waist measurement… down 3-1/2 inches from 49.5 to 46 inches.

On day seven of Phase 2, referring to portion control and behavioral modification, Ignacio wrote in his journal, “Don’t let your head convince you that it’s not enough. It’s all a retraining of the brain. Remember that your stomach is shrinking and when you’re done eating, you are plenty full. Coffee is your friend…” Without suffering hunger pangs, feeling sharpness of mind, and the lowest level of knee pain in memory, Ignacio awakened after day seven of Phase 2 weighing in at 218.0 pounds. Down 11.8 pounds from day one of Phase 1. As an additional measure of his progress, Ignacio took follow up photos to mark his first week in the portion control Phase 2 of his healthy weight loss program.

Ignacio finished his first week of the portion control phase 2 of his healthy weight loss program extremely optimistic given his results, without feeling deprived or suffering hunger pangs, looking forward to a weekend of family fun activities, appreciative of the doctor supervision and encouragement, and wiser regarding life enhancing, portion control and healthy eating. Both he and I are looking forward to week two of Phase 2… we’ll keep you in the loop, so share this with your friends.

Remember, when your alignment is less than perfect and/or you have suffered recent injury, joints get stuck, soft tissues have memory for what doesn’t work, and we can help. 

Contact us at New Back Chiropractic today. We can help you move better to feel better for life.