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Lose Weight
930 Logan Street #101 & 102 Denver, Co 80203 720.284.1374
Licensed Acupuncturist and Practitioner of Chinese Medicine
John S. Aguilar Jr., L.Ac.
Home : Acupuncture For... : Weight loss
The secret to weight loss is good health. This is a simple fact. No matter the personal effort, desire, diet, exercise, or supplements ingested, a healthy weight can only be attained - and maintained - by good health. This sounds simple, and in many ways it. There are a thousand paths and techniques currently on the market to lose weight. Promises of medical advances and proven techniques abound. Perhaps some of these will result in the loss of weight. However, where they are not based on returning the body to a state of health, the loss will either be temporary or will turn out to be a trade off of happiness and peace for a slimmer waistline. It could be said there is only one way to lose weight and be happy with it, through and through, body, mind and spirit. That way is to return to a state of real health. The side effects of this path are many - increased energy, a more even, resilient mood, great joy found in the things you do, less pain and discomfort, increased motivation and inspiration, gradual reduction in other nagging physical complaints, and true peace. Sound good? That's the simple and easy part. The tougher part is found in the details. How does one get healthy? Especially with the unique issue of being over weight, true health can seem a distant goal; it may not even seem real, tangible. Luckily, this single, albeit grand, goal - finding true health - is the greatest strength of Classical Chinese Medical Healing. It is, literally, what we do. Over generations of practitioners treating patients, learning and passing on their knowledge, Chinese medicine has accumulated an unfathomably rich collection of practical wisdom on how to be a healthy human being. Here, I will pull from this treasure trove of knowledge information that will help you find real health. To begin with, and for you this may be a fundamental piece for finding peace, it is important to realize that being over weight, as odd as it may sound, is the body's attempt at health. There are deep mechanisms actively trying to get the body (and mind and soul) what it sorely needs. The accumulation of excess weight is not, fundamentally, 'wrong'. The body isn't being self-destructive or trying to go down an unhealthy path. You are not broken or 'stuck in a rut of poor choices' (as I've heard it put). This is important. Being overweight is not the result of being bad or wrong. It's genuinely good intentions (by design) missing the intended target. So how has this come to be? How has the body's best intentions gone off path? Well, as with so many illnesses, the body's deep, innate wisdom on how to be healthy is not quite making it to the surface of conscious thought. The body knows what to do and how to do it. By design, we have powerful 'righting' mechanisms. In the Western sciences they use the term 'homeostasis'. The body constantly seeks balance, and it knows how to. Somewhere along the line this bodily intelligence is being overridden. Conflicting instructions are entering the system and, somehow, acting as if they are of greater authority than innate knowhow. We start believing in, and then following, these false instructions and, over time, the body finds itself in a place it should not be. It is constantly craving sweet things, or it is eating even when it is not hungry. Paradoxes of action start appearing all over. Contradictory choices and lifestyles surface. We know something is bad, and yet we can't help but 'cave in'. This is not natural. It is not healthy. Ultimately, what has to be done is to dig deep and uncover the false 'instructions', the false beliefs we've taken on as if the word of God. Beginning with the intent of doing this, the body's real knowledge gains strength; it starts speaking more loudly to us. It gains in strength and power. We gain in strength and power. We slowly uncover these beliefs and they just feel wrong. They are compared against what may feel to be a tenuous, whisper of internal truth, but that truth is undeniable. The more we hear it - even if we don't, at first, believe in it - the more clear it becomes. This is the path to good health. This process is what it takes, ultimately. But what do we do day-to-day? What do we eat? What do we not eat? Assuming brilliant clarity and insight of absolute truth of righteous health doesn't strike us by Wednesday, What do we do to lose weight? Well, here we go. Eat cottage cheese. Nothing but cottage cheese. Just kidding. Diet is important but, perhaps, not in the way you are thinking. Again, this is all about being in good health. Health is primary, not losing weight. If losing weight were the only, sole goal we could get surgery, quit eating, and run twenty miles a day. We want health, and as a nice benefit we achieve a happy, healthy weight. The focus of diet, then, is to have one that maximizes the body's innate drive towards good health. Again, the body isn't a random collection of parts that may result in growth and development. Its basic design is for health. It is made to bring you perfect well-being. We just have to treat it the way it was made to be treated. Simple, huh? And as it is what we are designed for, it feels good; it's rewarding. We are our bodies. We are, by design, meant to be healthy. If we could only listen to ourselves, that innate wisdom spoken of above... As we work on that greater insight and self-awareness, we can look to what others have learned over thousands of years of searching, learning, recording, and passing on. I highly recommend checking out the section under 'Foundations of Health', titled Diet. This covers the very basics of eating healthy. For human beings, these things listed are important. For those wishing to lose weight, they are much closer to mandatory. Beyond these basics, there are some other important points. According to classical Chinese medical theory, which keep in mind is the collective experience of a hundred generations of physicians and billions of patient interactions, naturally occurring flavors have affinities for certain organs. Theory reveals five basic flavors: sweet, pungent (spicy), salty, sour, and bitter. Each of these effects certain systems of the body, and systems, here, refers to not only physical organs, but mental/emotional and spiritual aspects of the being. It makes sense, then, that cravings for specific flavors indicate a weakness, and hence need, of certain systems. I'll give you one guess as to which flavor corresponds to the digestive system (which, in the holistic medical picture, is the system dealing with all aspects of giving/receiving/needing/avoiding nourishment). If you guessed bitter, you're close; it's actually sweet. The sweet flavor strengthens the body, which is to say it nourishes and supplements it. Unfortunately, in modern times, we create 'sweet' things that are excessively sweet. They take a good thing and make it evil. Cookies don't strengthen you (though a really good one certainly does a convincing job of it!). In general, a little bit of the flavor does what it is supposed to, and too much does the exact opposite. Too much sweet 'supplements' you to the point of simply being too much, i.e. over weight. Then, when we feel bad, and need a boost, or lack energy and need a 'pick me up', we naturally, instinctively go for sweet. At this point of already being in excess (overweight), supplementing may not be the best thing. The picture has gotten complicated. Now we have the burden of 'too much' which lowers our available energy thus limiting our ability to digest what we need for proper health. We can't fully process the sweet we take in, which makes us take even more in, which becomes to much, further burdening our system. (This sounds, on the surface, to be referring to physical, but it is speaking to not only the material, but the mental and emotional as well - think relationships where one person is excessively 'needy', pulling on the other's resources, or where someone simply won't allow others to help, nourish, them. We may want someone who is caring and 'sweet', but too much is just that, and it is unhealthy. Yet, we still sometimes pursue it or have difficulties letting go of it.) Where do you even start when in such a vicious cycle? Right here. One, identify your sources of 'excess sweet', unnaturally sweet foods and beverages. Great examples would be all types of soda (aka pop) (Yes, even the diet ones. Diet pop is just as bad, if not worse, than regular), all candies, cookies, pastries, cakes, doughnuts, and so on. No guilt, here. Keep in mind that the craving is natural and good. It is your body reporting a need and spontaneously acting to fulfill it. We want this. We need this. The problem arises when we take that message and act on it in improper ways, and even that makes total sense, so no guilt there, either. Once you've identified the excess sweets in your life pay close attention to your craving for them. In contrast to what I've heard suggested other places, I believe that it is vitally important to increase focus and awareness of what you eat and why you eat it. When you crave something, and any time you get hungry, pay close attention to the craving. Fully explore it; let it wash over you completely. Get to know this hunger, this craving, this need. This is deeper aspects of yourself speaking to the surface consciousness. Listen. Once you know what it is you want or need, get it. I do not suggest simply cutting out the 'bad' foods in your life. Ultimately, this gets you no where. Instead, pay attention, listen, and allow yourself to act accordingly. As you do act, again, pay close attention. When you're eating that cookie, get lost in the moment, the joy it brings you. Do it with full intention. When you're done eating one cookie, check in with yourself. How do you feel? Happy, energized, content, nervous, guilty, hungry? Listen. Overtime, when practiced in concert with other healthy lifestyle habits, you will slowly move towards a truly healthy state, including proper weight. Unfortunately, even naturally occurring sweets, when strong, may be inappropriate. Fresh fruit, as glorious as it is, may not be healthy in the context of being over weight. Treat it as a treat, not as a staple in your diet. Vegetables are excellent foods, but do place a certain digestive burden on the system. It is highly recommended all veggies be exposed to heat, in some way, prior to eating. I steam the vast majority of my veggies. Stir frying and sautéing are also great ideas. Salads should be avoided. They are, arguably, better than fried chicken, but they are not 'healthy' in the way most speak of them. If you truly enjoy them, use them as a treat. Incorporate more legumes and well-cooked grains in your diet. Many of these actively help you lose weight. Rice is, often, an excellent staple for weight loss diets. Limit your intake of dairy. Green tea is an excellent beverage. Green tea with puffed rice, called 'Gen Mai Cha', is great for a healthy digestive system. Look closely at your life for other unhealthy sources of 'nourishment'. Often times, we get into relationships, be they friendships or romantic, that appear to nourish, much like a cookie, but are ultimately unhealthy, much like the box of cookies. Truth be told, we know these things are unhealthy, but we do them anyway. Just as with pastries and sweets, try to get a real feel for the effect these relationships have on you. Is your care and nurturing of them genuine and spontaneous, or under the surface is it contrived and actually a distorted attempt at fulfilling our own needs? Do you heed the call to help others with true joy to be of service, or is it a burden on a system that is already deficient? Do you seek to fulfill personal needs by pulling on others to the point that they are forced to say 'no' to you or disappear from your life? Is what you do get from others truly, deeply nourishing, or does it merely satisfy superficially, with the same, or greater, need surfacing in a week or two? Shed light on these things and the innate drive for health and healing will kick in and guide you further. Next, exercise. You knew this was coming. But, again, perhaps the need for exercise isn't quite what you've always been told it is. I have discussed the basics of exercise, as a prerequisite for health, under the section titled Exercise. As with diet, exercise is important for everybody. However, it is of utmost importance when trying to lose weight. Enough said. The above are the fundamentals to healthy weight lose. Depending on the severity of the underlying root of weight gain, and the actual amount of pounds that need be lost, the length of time needed, initially, to get results will vary. I stress, again, to lose weight and keep it off, the system must be healthy. Health, is the active process of keeping that healthy weight. Following the above guidelines, along with close attention to the other Foundations of Health, should do you well on your path. Top of Page
All contents Copyright John Aguilar, Jr. 2008