Dieting can be a catch 22. While a diet can help us lose those unwanted pounds, it can also create a yo-yo effect that causes our weight to swing from high to low and back again. The swing in weight is because maintaining a particular diet may not be easy nor realistic for us. A diet is also vastly different than a lifestyle, too. The word diet implies something with a beginning and an end, whereas a lifestyle denotes a way of living. Something ongoing versus finite. So beware of the diet if losing weight is your goal, because if you are going to go through all the effort you may as well be able to sustain it, right?

A recent article in The Cincinnati Enquirer (1/10/16) shed light on the inherent problem with dieting as a solution to weight loss. The article featured a notable magician, Penn Jillette, who lost more than 100 pounds in roughly 3 months. This in itself is almost unheard of, to lose that much weight in such little time. But it’s incredibly tempting to believe that it can also happen for us as well. And while it just might, the question we need to ask ourselves is this, “Can we sustain the diet that we use to lose the weight once we reach our target?” This could mean for the rest of your life. If the answer is no, then it’s time to look at weight loss a little differently.

Losing weight takes time, just as it took time to add it. It also requires a different mindset, too. The new mindset involves looking at how you live your life, or your lifestyle. With a diet, you may or may not change your lifestyle for the rest of your life. You might just see this as a temporary solution to your weight loss. Temporary is not a solution. Temporary can mean that things may go back to how they were before. A change in lifestyle implies a more permanent solution to a situation. It means changing habits, changing activities, changing routines. It revolves around change. Only when we change ourselves do we see results truly happen. Results that last a lifetime.

Each and every year as we approach January 1st we think of resolutions. The most popular, by far, is the resolution to lose weight, especially after all those indulgences over the Holidays. However, when January 1st arrives, many of us find that we don’t know where to begin when it comes to improving our health or losing weight. In fact, we may not have seen the inside of a gym in years. We may have aches and pains that have prevented us from even considering enjoying a gym membership. We may be afraid of making that financial investment because of the pain and discomfort. Both may prevent us from enjoying those workout classes or exercise equipment. The good news is that there is a way to eliminate this roadblock to your New Year’s fitness resolutions. It involves specifically addressing the cause of your pain and discomfort, then correcting it once and for all.

At Damron Chiropractic & Wellness (DCW), we help individuals get back on track with their fitness goals so they can have success with their fitness resolutions. One of our four elements of care at DCW is rehabilitation, or physical therapy. By identifying and addressing problem areas with strength training and stretching we can provide countless benefits such as:

pain relief
increased energy
improved sleep
more strength
better balance
greater mobility
plus the option to join that gym
Removing the obstacles that prevent us from achieving our fitness goals for the new year is key to living a life of wellness. Let us help you remove the barriers that might lay in your path. We can equip you with the solid foundation from which to enhance your life with better health.

Any path to self-improvement is better when we have someone on the journey with us. Not only does it tell us that we are not alone, but it also benefits us in other ways as well. We have someone who has a better understanding of what we are going through, we have someone who can speak to our personal experience because they are right there with us, we also have someone who will hold us accountable to our journey. We have an accountability partner, who will ensure we stay on track and not let obstacles prevent us from succeeding. And sometimes that obstacle is our own self.

Many times our journey towards better overall health requires more than ourselves in order to be successful. And that’s okay. We are social beings. Taking that first step in the right direction can require a lot of effort. Why? Well, the fear of failure can be a very powerful thing. We may have tried once before and failed. We may be unsure of even where to begin. We may get frustrated and decide to settle with what we have. If we have an accountability partner, we have that external motivation to keep us moving forward. We have someone telling us not to settle, to expect and demand more for ourselves.

Damron Chiropractic & Wellness (DCW) can be that accountability partner you are looking for. We understand where you are and where you want to be, plus can address the needs of the “whole” you. Surrounding yourself with the right resources to help you along your journey can mean the difference between success and failure. And success with weight loss is what you want, right? Addressing the needs of all of you means going deeper than simply losing weight. It means strength training, it means better nutrition with supplements if needed, it means a structure that is in alignment, it also means addressing any muscle issues as well with massage.

DCW is rooting for you! Your success is our success. Who’s holding you accountable?

With the new year upon us, there is a flurry of activity in the resolution department. A vast majority of these resolutions center around a single theme – better health. Better health could mean a resolution of losing weight, joining a gym, working out more, eating out less,  or tossing out all the processed food at home. Either way, it all comes back to the same theme, better health. But there is something more to this resolution that could determine whether or not a person is successful. That is, is there a solid foundation from which to build from?

On the surface, dieting programs seem to work. We purchase the special ingredients, eat what the diet tells us we can, and watch the pounds drop off. But there’s a problem eventually. What happens when the diet is over? Studies indicate that resolutions to lose weight fail an average of 6 times. Six times! It’s no wonder people get frustrated and give up, resigning themselves to being overweight and, by default, unhealthy. The problem is that a diet is a temporary fix. It does not address the lifestyle a person is living nor the physical activity a person is engaging in. It also does not address the foundation, or core, of a person. For example, pain in a person’s knee or back can thwart their efforts to keep any weight off they may have lost with a diet. Why? If this is to be a lifestyle of health and wellness, pain in any place of a person’s body will inhibit their physical activity. If it hurts, one cannot do much of anything. Weight can be lost with a diet, but toning and strengthening the body cannot happen.

At Damron Chiropractic & Wellness we begin with the foundation of a person. We uncover why the foundation may not be solid. Why there is pain. We address the problem head on with stretching and strengthening exercises. At DCW, we call that rehabilitation, or physical therapy. By rebuilding a solid foundation for an individual, we open the door to obtaining successful weight loss goals. It is not a temporary solution, but a lifelong solution.

There are no quick fixes in life. There are ways to remedy a situation to improve it, but it always requires the investment of time and work. Are you ready to get well? If the answer is yes, we’d love to hear from you!