With the exception of sumo wrestlers, nobody wants to be fat. You don’t choose to carry the extra weight that limits your activities and puts you at risk for serious health conditions. Yet, no matter what you do to shed the pounds, you seem to be fighting a losing battle. While some people may gain and lose weight as a direct result of calories in versus calories burned, others struggle with a much more complex relationship with body fat.
That’s why Dr. Latisa Carson at Uniquely Fit Weight Loss & Wellness Center in Eastlake, Chula Vista, CA approaches weight loss differently. She and our team of weight loss mentors understand that there are many factors involved in your unique body composition, and that you may be suffering from a disease called chronic obesity.
Like all diseases, chronic obesity needs to be treated in partnership with an experienced and highly trained professional team that can guide you expertly on your journey toward your healthy weight. Here’s what you need to understand about chronic obesity.
Obesity factoids
Although overeating can lead to weight gain, it’s not always that simple. Environmental and genetic factors play a big role in chronic obesity, making losing weight difficult or impossible regardless of your willpower and self-control. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery:
- Globally, more people die from being overweight than underweight
- Worldwide, one billion adults and 48 million children are overweight (500 million people are obese)
- Obesity in America is continually rising and becoming more severe
- Obesity is a progressive disease: being overweight tends to facilitate being overweight
Clearly, obesity is an epidemic. And if you’re struggling to maintain a healthy weight, you’re not alone — but that’s not a club you want to be a member of.
What causes chronic obesity?
In addition to overeating, there are many factors contributing to your weight gain. Although consuming more calories than you burn is the primary culprit, here are some other factors that might be leading to your obesity:
- Hormonal imbalance
- Sleep deprivation
- Foods that alter your metabolism (processed meats, high fructose corn syrup, fat)
- Chronic stress
- Environmental pollution
- Certain medications and drugs
- Genetic predisposition
These can affect your body’s ability to metabolize nutrients, which leads to an accumulation of fat. And as anyone who is overweight or obese knows, when you’re carrying extra pounds, exercise becomes difficult, so you tend to avoid it.
Progressive chronic obesity
When a disease is progressive, it keeps getting worse and worse. In many cases, that’s how it is with obesity. When you gain weight, it causes your hormones (the chemical messengers that instruct your bodily functions) to fluctuate and leads to other biological changes as well, including:
- Increases conversion of carbohydrates to fat
- Decreases your ability to burn fat for energy
- Increases your capacity to store fat
- Alters your appetite and hunger regulators
- May cause emotional distress, which may trigger overeating
- Contributes to poor sleep quality and duration
These are just a few of the ways that weight gain leads to more weight gain in an ongoing circle of cause and effect.
Breaking the cycle of chronic obesity
Addressing chronic obesity requires a comprehensive evaluation of your overall health and your individual weight goals. Dr. Carson is a board-certified obesity expert who comes alongside you during your treatment. This is not a weight-loss program designed to sell products, it’s a medical weight-loss treatment meant to clinically address your unique condition with a professionally supervised plan that includes:
- Diagnostic tests
- Life coaching
- Nutritional expertise
- Medication
- Supplements
- Meal plans
- Custom exercises
- B-12 injections
- Appetite suppressants
No two people are alike, and no two weight-loss journeys are identical either. We approach your needs and goals one step at a time and make sure that everything is tailored to you. From diet and exercise to supplements and mentoring, you get one-of-a-kind support that goes at your pace and optimizes every aspect of your health along the way.
When you’re ready to do weight loss differently, contact us at (619) 552-2050 or use our online booking tool to set up a consultation that will change your life forever.