What is Going on Here?

At this point, shouldn’t all diet books be suspect if they don’t have a successful maintenance plan? After about 40 diets and exercise programs, I found myself heavier than ever before.

The good news is that I believe I’ve found a way to lasting weight loss, and it will be sustainable this time. But I didn’t want to write about it until I’d reached my goals and had a track record to confirm it.

The reason I’m writing today is because I have been appalled repeatedly this week by the things I’ve learned. Now folks in the U.S. are 80% overweight or obese. 80%. And I wouldn’t blame people for feeling a little helpless, if they’ve struggled any where nearly as much as I have.

But then I learned that in 2007, Japan’s obesity rate went from 3 to 4%, and what did they do? They passed laws that children’s schools would no longer provide highly processed schools, that each school would have a nutritionist and prepare fresh food daily. They also passed laws that large corporations were to assist their employees with resources to help them with their weight. In France, preschools do not permit highly processed foods. They teach the children nutrition and how to enjoy their food, and they eat wonderful 4-course meals.

In 1980, 10% of Americans had chronic diseases. Now it’s 60%. When I was in medical school, I was told that 1 out of 10 women would develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Now it’s 1 in 8.What is going on?  What are we doing?

I’m afraid that the food industry and big pharma appear to be running our country more than anyone else. Isn’t it appalling that the American Diabetes Association has accepted money from Coca-Cola?  What about the American Academy of Pediatrics accepting money from companies that make ultra-palatable, highly processed foods? The list of conflicts of interest go on and on. The lobbying efforts of these companies on Congress, their funding of research, is pervasive and alarming.

We should all be in an uproar. Surely we’re not so addicted to sodas, Doritos, potato chips, etc., that we will just take all this lying down.

I can see why weight loss medications such as Ozempic would be seen as a godsend. And they could be, for some people, with the right lifestyle changes.  I’m afraid many people aren’t getting that information and long-term, it could be devastating.

We need a grassroots movement to care for our best interests, and those of our children, too.

Please tell me where to sign up or join if you know of an organization doing just that.

By the way, the path to health doesn’t have to be complicated or dauntingly hard. I started one step at a time. I know that the main causes of obesity are hyperpalatable foods and a sedentary lifestyle.

And I know that each time you diet, you tend to lose muscle—sometimes 25%, 30%, even 50%. But building muscle is the fountain of youth. It raises our metabolism, it sends endorphins throughout our system to make us happy, and it makes numerous age-reversing health-enhancing changes in our bodies.

Yes, it takes some effort, but you don’t have to beat yourself up to get great results. In fact, working our too much is detrimental. I lift weights, hard, two times a week, and I feel great after a workout. Sal di Stefano, a trainer and educator for 2 plus decades, has many videos on practical ways to get started (He has YouTube videos, a podcast, and website).

Then, I started adding protein to my diet. My goal is a modest 30-40 grams of protein 3 times daily, and it’s both satisfying and a little challenging to accomplish. I eat it first at each meal. It keeps my blood sugar even, and crowds out unhealthy foods.

The third step for me was to start modified alternate day fasting, or ADF. It’s something that you approach gradually, so it turned out not too difficult to do. And let me tell you, when you have a lot of weight to lose, dieting every day is physically and psychologically draining. Doing it every other day gives me and my body a break, and my progress is better than when I dieted daily.  For some great information on how to do this, I highly recommend the YouTube videos by Dr. Frank O’Neil on this lifestyle. He also has a very reasonably priced, more detailed course available on Udemy. Besides being a great teacher, he’s a great example. After about as many diets as me, he lost 165 pounds, he has more muscle than when he started. The ADF can be gradually phased down in the maintenance phase. And maintaining muscle takes about a fifth of the effort to build it, so it’s not a tough lifestyle.

There are additional lifestyle changes, like getting adequate sleep, but these three things are the main components. And they’re so doable. I hope that you won’t get distracted by the plethora of programs and supplements out there—many of them major in the minors, if you know what I mean.

Please consider how to better care for yourself and your family, and if the opportunity comes to voice your concerns, shout them out loud with me.

Take care—

Teresa de Roulet, M.D.

a.k.a, Dr. Terry