Written By Dr Steven Gunn (MBChB. BSc. CVIT)

Millions of women, men and children worldwide face a daily battle to lose excess weight which they may have gained for a number of reasons, for example, genetic inheritance from parent, pregnancy, stress, medication (e.g. cortisone, certain antidepressants), poor diet (fast food/junk food), lack of exercise, medical disorders (e.g. diabetes, underactive thyroid), or psycho-emotional reasons, etcetera.

No matter what the reason, there are a few myths to be busted and some key absolutes which can aid with weight loss, once and for all!

Myth #1: You can exercise excess weight or fat away.

Fact: Increasing movement or exercise does increase the amount of kilojoules or calories burnt and can burn fat and reduce weight but, IT IS NOT ENOUGH for most weight watchers.

Myth #2: If you just eat less carbs, or fat, you will lose all your excess weight.

Fact: It will definitely help to eat less carbs, especially refined carbs (e.g. sugar, syrup, jams, sweets, chocolate, white rice, chips, potatoes, cheese, ice-cream, fizzy cool drinks, wheat pasta, breads, cakes, biscuits and koeksisters).  However, just reducing the calorie intake alone is not the answer to guaranteed weight loss or permanent normal weight maintenance.

Myth #3: It does not matter what I do, I will never lose weight because my doctor says I have a “hormone problem”.

Fact: Hormone problems are very real and serious problems and should obviously be diagnosed by a medical doctor and treated appropriately.  However, even if you do have a hormonal problem eating correctly, exercising correctly, not drinking too much alcohol, getting enough sleep (7-8 hours per day), managing your stress and reducing or changing your pharmaceutical medication can still have a significant impact in helping one lose the extra weight.

WEIGHT LOSS SOLUTIONS

No. 1: Go for a proper medical check-up with your doctor.  Choose an Integrative Medicine Physician or a doctor who sub-specializes in obesity and weight loss.  Make sure that they do a comprehensive examination and blood tests covering your pancreas, kidneys, liver, gut, nutrition, thyroid, adrenal glands etc. and hormones as well.  Included in the examination should be psycho-emotional assessment and counselling if necessary, as well as a review of one’s pharmaceutical drugs.

No. 2: Get proper dietary and exercise advice.  There is more than only one way to eat and therefore the correct diet for you must be found.  Most people benefit from reduced carbs, moderate fats (include some organic olive oil, salmon oil, macadamia oil and butter or lecithin spread, but NO FOOD FRIED IN SUNFLOWER OIL as well as moderate to high quality protein intake.  Exercise should involve cardiovascular exercise (e.g. brisk walking, running, sit-ups, skipping, cycling, rowing, dancing, spinning, swimming and sports) as well as resistance training, such as, weights training (dumbbells, bench press, leg extension machines, push-ups and chin-ups using your own body weight etc.)  This does not mean exercising in the gym for hours every week.  It is better to do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) where you go flat out with cardio exercises and resistance exercises, for example, 60 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds and then repeat 3-5 times with the same exercise or weights, or increasing the weights until maximum capacity.  This should take NO MORE THAN 10-15 minutes before breakfast and dinner.  Everyone has the time to do this, so no excuses.  Do not use too heavy weights and do not over exercise and injure yourself.  PAIN means STOP.  Exercise at least 5 times per week for only 10-15 minutes.

No. 3: Choose the right FOOD SUPPLEMENT.  It is senseless to just buy any “Weight Loss” or “Slimming” Supplement and hope that it is going to work.  There are many ‘Horse for Courses’ diet supplements on the market.  Some will work, some will not.  Some will make you feel sick and are dangerous (e.g. increase heart rate and blood pressure or cause dehydration) and others will make your feel great.  Good effective weight loss supplements should achieve the following:

• Help control or balance blood sugar levels
• Help control or balance insulin levels
• Help control or balance leptin levels
• Leptin is a very important hormone in the body which controls the amount of fat stored in the body’s fat cells
• Help improve digestion, reduce inflammation, and prevent constipation
• Help support the pancreas, liver, kidneys, thyroid and preferably also the lymphatic system
• Help detoxify the body, neutralize free radicals, give nutritional support and balance hormones
• A bonus is a product which has a mild appetite suppressing effect without accelerating the heart rate, causing dehydration or causing any mental or psychological side effects
• Help to promote fat burning for energy without side effects, increasing energy levels and a sense of well-being

XTREME HEALTH.CO.ZA have formulated a weight loss food supplement product which covers most of the above requirements for effective weight loss with added, positive, benefits.  It is called 3X MAXI WEIGHT LOSS capsules (120) and is highly recommended for adults and teenagers.  The product contains natural nutritional and plant extracts to help control sugar, insulin and leptin levels in the body, as well as potent antioxidants, detoxifying agents, ingredients which protect the cells, liver, brain and nerves, reduce inflammation, promote healthy blood circulation and increase the function of the mitochondria for energy.  All this and the promotion of weight loss without side effects.

References:  Scientific references and clinical studies available from LIFEXMED or XTREME HEALTH upon request.

For more information, or to order the 3X MAXI WEIGHT LOSS supplement capsules, go to www.xtremehealth.co.za