Like many Americans, you may have decided that this year was the year you would lose weight and get in shape. If your New Year’s resolution sounded something like that, the physicians at Medco ER in Plano, TX, are here to help you achieve your weight loss goals in a safe and lasting way.
“The fields of diet, nutrition, fitness and even bariatric surgery have evolved rapidly in the past ten years,” said Medco ER’s Medical Director, Dr. Nasir Khan. “While there are, arguably, more ways we can impede our own health with poor eating, drinking and lifestyle choices, weight loss and fitness goals are more attainable today than ever before in the past. But still, many people are attracted to fast, glamorous diets that do more harm than good.”
Tips for Safely Losing Weight
To help you on your weight loss journey, we’ve put together these weight loss tips that put safety first.
- Get your head in the right space. Paid programs are readily available that work on cognitive behavioral therapy to help you retrain your brain to critically examine what you eat. There may also be free help available. If you are already a member of a fitness center, check there for weight loss help that is already included in your membership. Additionally, expect to be in it for the long haul. Gradual and safe weight loss should be your goal.
- Make your app work for you. You can choose a calorie-counting app, a healthy eating app or a workout app to help keep you on track.
- Get a health coach. Tap into the recent onslaught of scientific advancements by hiring a health coach to help you understand nutrition and weight loss.
- Focus on nutrition. Make it a weekly goal to shift from empty calories, processed foods and high carbs to dense nutrients and filling whole foods. Preparing a plan before you go shopping will help. If you don’t buy it, you won’t be tempted to eat it. Small changes add up over time and can make a big impact on your overall health.
- Fruit and veggies come first. Start subbing out how much cereal, pasta and starches you are consuming by adding more fruits and vegetables to the bowl. Make veggies the largest portion on your dinner plate. Reach for fruits for a filling, tasty snack.1
- Be patient. If you’re making a major lifestyle change, such as switching from soda to carbonated flavored water, give yourself plenty of time to adjust. It may take a couple weeks, but eventually you won’t miss the refined sugars and will feel good when you drink the healthy beverage. Keep up the positive outlook and know you are doing something great for your body.
- Add activity. Increase your activity level steadily throughout the year. Start small with something attainable, like walking 3 times a week. Keep increasing your activity until you are doing something physical every day.
Before You Start
“Before you begin any weight loss program you should first consult with your physician,” said Dr. Khan. “Your doctor will have ideas that can help you. Also, it is good to have that physician oversight. Fad diets can be especially harmful to your health, so we are here to help prevent problems before they start.”
Dangerous Diets
Fad diets that promise rapid and radical results can be dangerous to your health. Crash diets often lower the metabolic rate which then doesn’t return to normal after weight increases.2
Here are some other ways fast diets can be dangerous and harmful to your health:
- Sacrifice a healthy balance of foods for fast results
- Loss of muscle instead of fat because of low protein intake
- Promote an unhealthy view of food, possibly even encouraging eating disorders
- Promote an unrealistic view of different body types
- Suppress immune system with poor nutrition
- Cause heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat
- Cause abdominal distress from a concentration of one kind of food
- Cause fatigue, weakness and dizziness
- Cause depression
- Trigger gallstones
- Reduce metabolism
Medco ER is available 24/7
Ready to get started on your weight loss and fitness goals? Try a telehealth visit with one of our board-certified physicians before you begin. To get a full medical workup before starting any new weight loss plan, stop by one of our two convenient locations.
If your diet has caused physical problems, or if you are experiencing unexpected weight loss or weight gain, come in right away for an assessment.
- Plano: 3960 Legacy Drive, Plano, TX 75023 (on the corner of Legacy and Coit Road)
Call us @ 469-392-4000
- Carrollton: 2745 E Belt Line Road, Carrollton, TX 75006
1 https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/fruits_vegetables.html
2 https://lindnercenterofhope.org/blog/why-dieting-can-be-harmful/