Overweight/Obesity

In modern, Westernized countries like the United States, there is a crisis of obesity. The ”obesogenic” food and activity environment, including relatively inexpensive, highly palatable processed food relentlessly marketed to consumers, as well as all kinds of labor saving devices and little incentive to exercise, is putting us at great risk for overweight and obesity. Dr. Brad Saks provides state-of-the art treatment to help change your relationship with food and exercise so you are able to lose pounds, and maintain a healthier weight.

Characteristics

According to the National Institutes of Health, people who are more than 20% over their ideal body weight (or have a body mass index — BMI — of greater than 29.9) should seek treatment for obesity. Recent studies indicate that in the United States, obesity affects approximately 4 in 10 people. Risks of obesity include high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis, and high cholesterol. At higher levels of obesity, life expectancy is shortened.

We do not completely understand all the causes of obesity; however, research suggests genetics, the environment, the forces of evolution, eating and activity habits, food marketing, and psychology all play a role. Overweight and obesity have been increasing rapidly since about 1980, so environmental factors seem to be playing a particularly important part in creating the current crisis. Putting the numbers above another way, about 70% of the US population is now overweight and/or obese.

Treatment

For people who have anywhere from 5 to 100+ pounds to lose, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has repeatedly been shown to be a powerful treatment tool. Notably, CBT is typically more effective than both medication that curbs appetite and various popular dietary treatments. At its core, CBT consists of learning to monitor and change key eating and exercise behaviors, as well as how you cope in an environment designed to make you gain weight. As such, keeping food and exercise records often forms the basis of treatment. Records may be used to:

Help change the way you eat; for example, learning to eat in fewer places and eating more slowly
Change to a heart-healthy diet by decreasing the amount of processed carbohydrates and increasing fiber
Increase activity levels

Other skills you will learn to successfully lose weight may include:

Sitting with cravings and emotional discomfort without turning to food
De-emphasizing the role food plays in your life
Continually motivating yourself to make healthy eating and exercise a priority
Quickly rebounding from mistakes

Losing weight and keeping it off is hard work and, unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. However, as you learn to accept the reality of changing key behaviors and attitudes, and continue to practice throughout your lifetime, you CAN lose weight and KEEP IT OFF! Using CBT, you can expect a weight loss of anywhere between .5 and 2 lbs per week, with an initial goal of decreasing your presenting body weight by 10%.