Want to lose weight? Just burn more calories than you consume. It sounds like a straightforward equation, right? The problem is, as anyone who’s tried to lose weight can tell you, it’s not nearly as simple as it sounds.
Losing weight depends a lot on your metabolism — the process your body uses to convert food (or calories) into usable energy. If your metabolism is slow (or you don’t do much to boost it), it’s a lot harder to lose weight and a lot harder to keep it off, too. But metabolism is just one factor that influences weight loss (or weight gain).
The team at Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness understands the complex mechanics involved in achieving a healthy weight goal. Even more, they understand how difficult it can be to reach that goal.
At our practices in Wayne, and Jersey City, New Jersey, we help patients lose weight and keep it off with weight management plans focused on optimizing each patient’s metabolism. Here’s how we can help you.
How metabolism works
Metabolism takes the food and beverages you consume and combines them with oxygen to release the energy needed for all sorts of functions. While you might think of metabolism as strictly related to physical activities, like exercise, you also burn calories by breathing, circulating blood, repairing and growing cells. These “hidden” calorie-burners constitute your called basal metabolism or basal metabolic rate (BMR).
The total amount of calories your body “burns off” is a combination of calories burned during physical activity and calories burned by your basal metabolism. While there’s not much you can do to dramatically increase your basal metabolic rate (BMR), you can increase your overall metabolism by increasing your physical activity and managing your diet.
That’s why that simple diet advice — eat less and be more active — makes sense at its core. But achieving that dual goal is actually a lot more complicated, in part because metabolism is so very complex and individualized.
Factors that affect metabolism
Metabolism happens “automatically,” but that doesn’t mean it’s simple. What’s more, your metabolism and metabolic rate can change dramatically over your lifetime. Your own metabolism (and your weight-loss journey specifically) can be affected by lots of personal factors, like:
- The type of food you eat
- The number of calories you consume
- How active you are
- How old you are
- How much lean muscle do you have
- How much you weigh now
- How much you’ve weighed in the past
- Your gender
- Your medical history
- Menopause
Even things like sleep patterns and sleep quality can have a direct bearing on your ability to lose pounds and keep them off. In fact, metabolism is so complex and involves so many factors, it’s no wonder losing weight is such a struggle for so many people. The good news: A custom medical weight-loss plan can help.
Optimizing your weight-loss plan
DIY and commercial diet plans are popular, but the sad fact is, they’re not very effective at providing long-term, sustainable results. That’s because these diets are based on broad principles of weight loss instead of focusing on your personal weight-loss journey and the obstacles in your path.
Medical weight loss at Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness begins with a complete physical evaluation to identify your weight-loss obstacles and eating triggers. Then, your eating and weight-management pan are customized for your unique goals. During the process, our team will be with you to provide support and guidance every step of the way.
You can shed those pounds — and keep them off
The first step in reaching your own weight-loss goals is making sure your journey is optimized for your unique needs. Our team can help. To schedule a medical weight-loss consultation, call or book an appointment online and get started on your weight-loss journey.
