Restricting calories and exercising are both important to weight loss—but so are other lesser known factors. For example, it’s also important to eat at regular intervals so your body has a steady stream of energy.
Other factors critical to weight loss are drinking water and eating foods that are low in sugar, including carbohydrates.
Tune into SMG Radio to hear Dr. Cynthia Paige debunk some myths about weight loss and give tips that will help you shed those extra pounds.
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The Best Strategies for Weight Loss
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Learn more about Dr. Cynthia Paige
Cynthia Paige, MD
Dr. Cynthia Paige is a family-medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness.Learn more about Dr. Cynthia Paige
Transcription:
The Best Strategies for Weight Loss
Melanie Cole (Host): According to the National Weight Control Registry, only one in five dieters are successful at losing and keeping off up to 10% of their body weight. We’ve all heard a million times in order to lose weight, you just burn more calories than you consume. It’s simple math, right? Well it’s not always the case. My guest today is Dr. Cynthia Paige. She’s a family medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness. Welcome to the show, Dr. Paige. Boy, there are a lot of diets out there. There’s Midnight Media, pills and things. When you tell somebody and they ask you, “What is the single best thing that I can do to get this weight off”, what do you tell them?
Dr. Cynthia Paige (Guest): Thank you for having me. The most important thing for getting your weight off and keeping it off – and we know keeping it off is harder than getting it off-- is really persistence and determination as well as just that commitment to excellence in your life. That’s really a mindset. Exercise or any type of behavioral change always begins with a change in mindset. After that, then we look at what are the details with regards to what are we taking into our body and how we are burning off the calories and the carbohydrates that we are taking into our body.
Melanie: Let’s get started with somebody who they want to lose 10, 20 or 50 pounds. They really want to get their weight off or if they’re a diabetic and they really need to get their weight off. What is the first thing that they start to do? Do you advise them to go see a nutritionist, a dietician, somebody – or can they start right on their own day one doing something?
Dr. Paige: It’s always good to understand the physiology of weight and weight loss. The physiology does look at what your food components are. What is a carbohydrate? What is a protein? What is a fat? What is a calorie and how do all of these things affect our bodies? Does it matter what time of day you eat? And then, secondarily, we have to look at exercise and exercise physiology and how that plays a role in weight loss. I typically begin with patients by talking about the food that they eat and when they eat and how they eat it. I’m a big believer in a low carbohydrate diet, especially as we age. The Atkins Diet taught us a lot as far as how foods, such as carbohydrates, affect our weight. Fortunately, or, unfortunately, most of the data that we have as far as diets really they can’t really pinpoint that there is one diet that will help you lose weight over any other diet. So, you have to know your body and you must know how your different foods affect your body. I am a huge proponent of low carbohydrate diets because I have seen them work and they work well, especially as we get older.
Melanie: Where do journaling – keeping track of the food – and where does the scale fit in to weight loss programs?
Dr. Paige: Much of the data looks at how we weigh ourselves. If you look at the data as far as people who lose the weight and get the weight off, there are several components. Number one, you must eat breakfast and we can come back to talk about how breakfast cannot look the way breakfast traditionally has looked. Number two, the patients get five hours of exercise per week. Number three, the patients do daily weights. There is some controversy with regards to weighing yourself. Some people will weight themselves once a week. I think if you go more than once a week, you’re actually not really going to be keeping track of your weight as closely as you should be keeping track of it because it is easy to gain several pounds in one week. I am a proponent of daily weights where patients just, in the morning, get up, take your clothes off, go to the bathroom, get on the scale and see what your baseline weight is for that day.
Melanie: Women – we tend to fluctuate so much in a day and it can freak people out.
Dr. Paige: Absolutely.
Melanie: You can gain four pounds in one day and have it off the next day. What do you tell people when women say to you and specifically women, “Oh, geez, I was four pounds up yesterday and I didn’t even eat that badly the day before.”
Dr. Paige: That’s how metabolism plays a role in all of this and, again, that’s why you weigh yourself no more than once a day. In our twenties, our metabolism is really kicking and we can eat anything and not gain as much weight, typically, unless you’re eating a lot of processed foods, and the same thing for the thirties. But, as most adults get into their forties and fifties, the need for calories drops tremendously. In other words, our metabolism slows down. Once women go through menopause, your need for calories may drop by up to 300 calories per day meaning that if you do exactly the same thing that you did in your thirties, you are going to gain weight just doing the same thing. You must actually increase your physical activity in order to lose weight because that’s the only way you’re going to get your metabolism up. For exercise, it doesn’t have to be going to the gym. It doesn’t have to be running a marathon but if you can do those things, that’s fine. But you must look at it as physical activity. I love some of the newer tracking devices because they are able to actually quantify your physical activity, whether it is a Fit Bit or a pedometer. I put a pedometer on just about every day so I know exactly how many steps I get in at work and then how many I have to get in for exercise in order to reach my fitness goals or my activity goal.
Melanie: That’s such important information. If somebody is going to try and to start losing that weight and they get exercising and they start eating more protein and less carbohydrates, how fast should they see results? When should they get frustrated?
Dr. Paige: Ideal weight loss is one to two pounds per week. I can tell you, as someone who is beyond their 30’s and 40’s, that it’s not easy to do that once we get older. I do also--as a bariatric medicine certified physician--I do also use medications for weight loss for my patients. Typically, if they have been trying - and usually I give them a challenge to change their behavior with regards to diet and physical activity – make some changes; see some changes on the scale. If that’s not working to the extent that we would like to see it work, there are numerous medications on the market today to assist with weight loss as well. But, again, the challenge for keeping that weight off is you must continue to monitor your diet. I will drop people back in their carbs to maybe about a third of what the average American will eat as far as carbohydrates. They must begin to monitor their physical activity in order to keep the weight off because medication by itself is not the answer. Medication is an aid in losing weight.
Melanie: What about counseling? Some people think or say that they are a sugar addict or there is Over Eaters Anonymous. There are all these groups, Dr. Paige. What do you tell people about whether they need to look into these groups? It can be a little dizzying. There are so many of them.
Dr. Paige: Sugar may be another of those white powdery addictive substances. We know that the brain will act – we’ve done different studies with rats and looking at their brain on sugar versus their brain on cocaine. The brain acts in a very similar way with sugar and other addictive substances. It is very important to understand that you are battling a physiological process as well where you may crave different sweets or different foods that are what we call “comfort foods”. They are comfort foods because they do adjust the chemicals in our brain. The challenge is to understand that your cravings are coming from a portion of your brain called the “amygdala” whereas the portion of your brain is saying, “Look, you should not be eating this. Don’t eat that donut at twelve o’clock at night.” Well, the craving is actually going to overtake your frontal cortex or that part of your brain that tells you what you should eat and should not eat. You’ll find yourself walking to the kitchen and as you’re walking you’re saying, “I shouldn’t do it. I shouldn’t do it” but you continue to walk. The key is to understand that there are certain things that you should not have in your environment. If you know that you like sweets in the middle of the night, don’t bring sweets into the house because I’m pretty sure you’re not going to get in your car and go drive for sweets. But, if they’re in the kitchen then they’re very accessible and your cravings will outpower your will power at that point.
Melanie: Wow. What great information. So beautifully put. In just the last few minutes here, give your best advice for weight loss and why people considering this should come to Summit Medical Group for their care.
Dr. Paige: The best advice is to really look at weight loss holistically. If you are disciplined in other aspects of your life and you want to gain some more discipline over your diet and over your physical activity, you must begin to look at this holistically. Get support. Don’t try to do something so challenging as losing 50 pounds by yourself. So, whether it’s a trainer, whether it’s your physician, whether it’s any of the other nutritionists that we have at Summit Medical Group, the key is to get support in a battle that is going to be a lifelong battle and one that you just want to help to hold yourself accountable to achieving that goal.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You’re listening to SMG Radio and for more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
The Best Strategies for Weight Loss
Melanie Cole (Host): According to the National Weight Control Registry, only one in five dieters are successful at losing and keeping off up to 10% of their body weight. We’ve all heard a million times in order to lose weight, you just burn more calories than you consume. It’s simple math, right? Well it’s not always the case. My guest today is Dr. Cynthia Paige. She’s a family medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness. Welcome to the show, Dr. Paige. Boy, there are a lot of diets out there. There’s Midnight Media, pills and things. When you tell somebody and they ask you, “What is the single best thing that I can do to get this weight off”, what do you tell them?
Dr. Cynthia Paige (Guest): Thank you for having me. The most important thing for getting your weight off and keeping it off – and we know keeping it off is harder than getting it off-- is really persistence and determination as well as just that commitment to excellence in your life. That’s really a mindset. Exercise or any type of behavioral change always begins with a change in mindset. After that, then we look at what are the details with regards to what are we taking into our body and how we are burning off the calories and the carbohydrates that we are taking into our body.
Melanie: Let’s get started with somebody who they want to lose 10, 20 or 50 pounds. They really want to get their weight off or if they’re a diabetic and they really need to get their weight off. What is the first thing that they start to do? Do you advise them to go see a nutritionist, a dietician, somebody – or can they start right on their own day one doing something?
Dr. Paige: It’s always good to understand the physiology of weight and weight loss. The physiology does look at what your food components are. What is a carbohydrate? What is a protein? What is a fat? What is a calorie and how do all of these things affect our bodies? Does it matter what time of day you eat? And then, secondarily, we have to look at exercise and exercise physiology and how that plays a role in weight loss. I typically begin with patients by talking about the food that they eat and when they eat and how they eat it. I’m a big believer in a low carbohydrate diet, especially as we age. The Atkins Diet taught us a lot as far as how foods, such as carbohydrates, affect our weight. Fortunately, or, unfortunately, most of the data that we have as far as diets really they can’t really pinpoint that there is one diet that will help you lose weight over any other diet. So, you have to know your body and you must know how your different foods affect your body. I am a huge proponent of low carbohydrate diets because I have seen them work and they work well, especially as we get older.
Melanie: Where do journaling – keeping track of the food – and where does the scale fit in to weight loss programs?
Dr. Paige: Much of the data looks at how we weigh ourselves. If you look at the data as far as people who lose the weight and get the weight off, there are several components. Number one, you must eat breakfast and we can come back to talk about how breakfast cannot look the way breakfast traditionally has looked. Number two, the patients get five hours of exercise per week. Number three, the patients do daily weights. There is some controversy with regards to weighing yourself. Some people will weight themselves once a week. I think if you go more than once a week, you’re actually not really going to be keeping track of your weight as closely as you should be keeping track of it because it is easy to gain several pounds in one week. I am a proponent of daily weights where patients just, in the morning, get up, take your clothes off, go to the bathroom, get on the scale and see what your baseline weight is for that day.
Melanie: Women – we tend to fluctuate so much in a day and it can freak people out.
Dr. Paige: Absolutely.
Melanie: You can gain four pounds in one day and have it off the next day. What do you tell people when women say to you and specifically women, “Oh, geez, I was four pounds up yesterday and I didn’t even eat that badly the day before.”
Dr. Paige: That’s how metabolism plays a role in all of this and, again, that’s why you weigh yourself no more than once a day. In our twenties, our metabolism is really kicking and we can eat anything and not gain as much weight, typically, unless you’re eating a lot of processed foods, and the same thing for the thirties. But, as most adults get into their forties and fifties, the need for calories drops tremendously. In other words, our metabolism slows down. Once women go through menopause, your need for calories may drop by up to 300 calories per day meaning that if you do exactly the same thing that you did in your thirties, you are going to gain weight just doing the same thing. You must actually increase your physical activity in order to lose weight because that’s the only way you’re going to get your metabolism up. For exercise, it doesn’t have to be going to the gym. It doesn’t have to be running a marathon but if you can do those things, that’s fine. But you must look at it as physical activity. I love some of the newer tracking devices because they are able to actually quantify your physical activity, whether it is a Fit Bit or a pedometer. I put a pedometer on just about every day so I know exactly how many steps I get in at work and then how many I have to get in for exercise in order to reach my fitness goals or my activity goal.
Melanie: That’s such important information. If somebody is going to try and to start losing that weight and they get exercising and they start eating more protein and less carbohydrates, how fast should they see results? When should they get frustrated?
Dr. Paige: Ideal weight loss is one to two pounds per week. I can tell you, as someone who is beyond their 30’s and 40’s, that it’s not easy to do that once we get older. I do also--as a bariatric medicine certified physician--I do also use medications for weight loss for my patients. Typically, if they have been trying - and usually I give them a challenge to change their behavior with regards to diet and physical activity – make some changes; see some changes on the scale. If that’s not working to the extent that we would like to see it work, there are numerous medications on the market today to assist with weight loss as well. But, again, the challenge for keeping that weight off is you must continue to monitor your diet. I will drop people back in their carbs to maybe about a third of what the average American will eat as far as carbohydrates. They must begin to monitor their physical activity in order to keep the weight off because medication by itself is not the answer. Medication is an aid in losing weight.
Melanie: What about counseling? Some people think or say that they are a sugar addict or there is Over Eaters Anonymous. There are all these groups, Dr. Paige. What do you tell people about whether they need to look into these groups? It can be a little dizzying. There are so many of them.
Dr. Paige: Sugar may be another of those white powdery addictive substances. We know that the brain will act – we’ve done different studies with rats and looking at their brain on sugar versus their brain on cocaine. The brain acts in a very similar way with sugar and other addictive substances. It is very important to understand that you are battling a physiological process as well where you may crave different sweets or different foods that are what we call “comfort foods”. They are comfort foods because they do adjust the chemicals in our brain. The challenge is to understand that your cravings are coming from a portion of your brain called the “amygdala” whereas the portion of your brain is saying, “Look, you should not be eating this. Don’t eat that donut at twelve o’clock at night.” Well, the craving is actually going to overtake your frontal cortex or that part of your brain that tells you what you should eat and should not eat. You’ll find yourself walking to the kitchen and as you’re walking you’re saying, “I shouldn’t do it. I shouldn’t do it” but you continue to walk. The key is to understand that there are certain things that you should not have in your environment. If you know that you like sweets in the middle of the night, don’t bring sweets into the house because I’m pretty sure you’re not going to get in your car and go drive for sweets. But, if they’re in the kitchen then they’re very accessible and your cravings will outpower your will power at that point.
Melanie: Wow. What great information. So beautifully put. In just the last few minutes here, give your best advice for weight loss and why people considering this should come to Summit Medical Group for their care.
Dr. Paige: The best advice is to really look at weight loss holistically. If you are disciplined in other aspects of your life and you want to gain some more discipline over your diet and over your physical activity, you must begin to look at this holistically. Get support. Don’t try to do something so challenging as losing 50 pounds by yourself. So, whether it’s a trainer, whether it’s your physician, whether it’s any of the other nutritionists that we have at Summit Medical Group, the key is to get support in a battle that is going to be a lifelong battle and one that you just want to help to hold yourself accountable to achieving that goal.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You’re listening to SMG Radio and for more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.