Disclaimer: This is sponsored content. All opinions and views are of Dr. Kells' Weight Loss and does not reflect the same of KOAA.
In this Your Healthy Family, as spring is finally here and swimsuit season is right around the corner, if you’re looking to drop a few pounds, we’re taking a closer look at some of the current popular diet trends and if they work or not.
Dr. Kristen Kells, D.C., B.S.c. owns Dr. Kells' Weight Loss in Colorado Springs where they specialize in helping people who are in their 40s and 50s and beyond lose weight, where they have failed in the past.
Dr. Kells is traveling her own weight loss journey and knows firsthand the struggles that come with trial and error, with whatever the latest popular weight loss trend is.
One very popular trend on social media right now, is called carb cycling. Dr. Kells says, “Carb cycling is eating what is called a very low-calorie diet or very low carbohydrate diet, or VLCD. It restricts carbs and we do know that in the long term doesn’t work well. You do it maybe three days a week, eating lower carbs, and lower calories, and then you cycle that with days of higher carbohydrates. We typically see this type of eating pattern in the athlete population, so if you're an endurance athlete or bodybuilder or you’re a wrestler, or you have high-activity days you need those carbohydrates. But what most of the sedentary population does not need on any day is a ton of carbohydrates.”
Another popular trend is intermittent fasting. Dr. Kells explains, “Intermittent fasting is withholding food for certain periods of time. There are many different ways to do it. You can do what we call 16/8, which is eating all of your food in 8 hours of the day and fast 16 hours. Another is 10/14. You can do it one day a week. There are so many different ways to intermittent fast. The challenge with intermittent fasting is that it does try to hack our metabolism, and it can. It can also work very effectively in some people, but it's typically not safe in the population we specialize in working with here at Dr. Kells’ Weight Loss, which is 40-year-olds plus, and if you’re prediabetic or diabetic you can’t be fasting on your own without clinical supervision.”
While people can generally find success on any trend diet they can stick with, Dr. Kells says all of them lack a key element needed for long-term success for most people. “There are great ways that we can hack our metabolism, and we do all of those things here (at Dr. Kells’ Weight Loss), working with the latest science to give your body what it needs in the food plan and in the supplements. But, trends and fads only address physiology. I have found If you really want long-term life change to have a vibrant, amazing healthy body you have to look at not only the physiology but also the physical and behavioral aspects of a person’s life.”
Dr. Kells says finally If you’re lucky - you’re one of the few who don’t need support to see success when it comes to losing weight. “If you can do it on your own, then I'm so proud of you because I couldn't, I'm not one of those people. I'm one of the 95% that could not do it on my own, and so I researched and spent a quarter of a century learning this stuff. Learning that you have to treat the whole person. You have to help them learn what it looks like to be well and get well. Admitting to yourself that you need help is the hardest thing. It's the 3,000-pound phone call regardless of what you Do. It's hard to admit that you need help and it's oftentimes heartbreaking. People come in here with stories of heartbreak and vulnerability and failures, you have to look at someone’s mindset. Our program offers friendly and supportive accountability. It’s the support and the tools and the learning along with the resources our plan offers. Who doesn’t want to be able to eat out and stay fit, to be able to travel and stay fit? There's an art to that and there is a learning process to help people be fully empowered in their life, and that to me - is what weight loss and lifestyle change is really about.”
Once you discover your why, that can give you something to focus on when challenges arise and changing our bad habits becomes hard, because we do know change can be hard.
If you have any questions or are looking for suggestions for sticking with your weight loss goals feel free to contact Dr. Kells’ staff at Dr. Kells' Weight Loss.
Dr. Kells’ Weight Loss is a proud sponsor of Your Healthy Family
