Sign up today for Dr. Amy Bader’s Weight Loss Event where she will explain our weight loss program that naturally suppresses your appetite, targets fat, and builds muscle so you feel good while you trim down!
Thrive’s weight loss program provides a combination of our high-quality biological protein food supplements, B-vitamin/natural lipotropic (fat burning) amino acid injections, and supplements to regulate your appetite while supplying you with enough energy to accelerate at your daily routine.
This free event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. and is a $75 value. RSVP today by calling 503-241-3579.
Shedding excess pounds shouldn’t be about vanity, but about health. According to the National Institutes of Health, having a BMI in the overweight or obese category is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic disease, gallstones and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Here are six ways to get started on the path to healthy weight loss management.
Control Your Portions Serving sizes are smaller than we think they need to be. A serving of chicken, for example, is the size of a deck of playing cards. At home, use a smaller plate or a smaller bowl for meals. Half of all meals should be vegetables or fruit, one-quarter protein, and one-quarter whole grain. When eating at restaurants ask for a to-go container at the start of the meal and take half of your entrée home for tomorrow’s lunch.
Avoid Food that Isn’t Really Food Cut out the hydrogenated this, high-fructose that, artificial colors and flavors and preservatives and sweeteners. If you can’t pronounce it or determine where it came from, don’t eat it. Shop from the perimeter of the store and the baking aisle, where fresh, whole, identifiable, natural foods can be found.
Eat More Vegetables and High Quality Protein It is important to be selective about the protein and meat sources that you consume. We recommend eating grass fed meats, organic eggs, low-fat dairy, and beans to get your daily protein intake. Pairing quality protein with rice, grains, and vegetables will provide plenty of protein while being lower in calories and higher in other nutrients.
Don’t Skip Meals, Especially Breakfast It may seem counter intuitive, but restricting one’s intake can actually put the body into starvation mode, where every calorie and fat cell is stored, because the body thinks there is a famine going on. Three small meals high in protein, fresh vegetables, and whole grains, and two small high-protein snacks should be the goal. Determine your caloric needs with your health care provider, and take care to not slip below the minimum recommended amount, as that can be counterproductive to weight loss progress.
Exercise A combination of aerobic and weight-bearing exercise has the doubly positive effect of burning calories during the workout and increasing metabolism to more efficiently use calories later on. While we may think of exercise as dull go-to-the-gym-and-kill-ourselves-in-spin-class torture, it doesn’t have to be that way. Yoga, Pilates, swimming, belly dancing, trampolining, trapeze class, hula hooping, ballroom dance, even biking those few miles to and from the office all get our bodies moving and our heart rates pumping. Have fun with it!
Ditch the Soda One can of regular soda has approximately 150 calories. And drinking the “0 calorie” diet soda doesn’t mean your body isn’t storing that artificial sweetener as fat. If you need the caffeine boost, try black tea sweetened with agave nectar or honey. Cutting carbonated drinks also helps bone health – carbonation has been linked to calcium leaching from bones, which puts soda drinkers at increased risk of osteoporosis.
If you need more guidance on your weight loss path, the team at Thrive is here to help. Call today to schedule your initial consultation with our weight loss experts. A healthier, more beautiful you is waiting.
According to the New York Times, 80% of people will eventually break their New Year’s resolutions, and more than 30% of people will break them by the end of January. Many of those people will make plans to lose weight, exercise more, or eat better. If you’re among them, follow these six tips to avoid falling into the make-it-and-break-it cycle so many of us have experienced in the past.
Keep it Simple
Don’t try to take on every possible life-improvement project at once. You’ll get overwhelmed, won’t think you have the time, and won’t be truly committed to your goals if your resolution list is 2,012 items long.
Keep it Specific
“More” and “better” are vague generalities. How much weight do you want to lose? Is it a reasonable amount? What does your doctor think of that amount? Set specific goals like “one additional workout per week,” “eat two more meals at home per week,” or “lose ten pounds by the end of March.”
Chances are, your friends, family, and coworkers are setting resolutions similar to yours. If your office mate wants to exercise more, take part of your lunch hour to do a brisk walk around the block together. If your partner wants to eat healthier, take turns packing lunches for each other to bring to the office. If your best friend wants to lose weight, join an exercise class together (after clearing any potential workout routine with your respective doctors).
Try belly dancing or hula hooping or aquajogging. Join a running group for people with dogs. Take trapeze lessons or gymnastics for adults. Exercise doesn’t have to mean hours on the elliptical if you don’t enjoy that. We are much more likely to stick to routines when we enjoy them.
Reward yourself
They don’t have to be big rewards, but think about the fun little things you love, and use them as concrete, tangible rewards for meeting milestones along your goal. Put a gold star on the calendar for every 30-minute workout; 20 stars in a month and take yourself out to a movie. A funky pair of earrings from Crafty Wonderland for five pounds lost, a new skirt for ten, new shoes for meeting your final goal. Whatever you choose as a reward, make it something you love.
Be Your own Best Friend
You wouldn’t berate your best friend if she skipped a workout or gained two pounds since her last weigh-in. Don’t do that to yourself, either. There are going to be days when you’re too tired, too busy, or too sick to stick to your goals. There are going to be cupcakes and unhealthy meals and missed workouts in the coming year, just as there have been in past years. The trick is to treat every day as a fresh start, a clean slate. So you had an extra cupcake yesterday. Today? Today you don’t. Today you go to the yoga class you missed yesterday. Today you treat yourself the way you’d treat your best friend.
In addition to these six tips, the team at Thrive has developed an effective weight loss program. Call 503-241-3579 to set up your initial $75 appointment and let us be part of your support team. The new year is coming, a new you is coming, and it’s beautiful.
The holidays are just around the corner, which means a lot of great things: family, friends, and delicious food. Unfortunately, it also means cold weather and with it the temptation to stay inside and indulge in calorie-loaded foods more than usual.
This can lead to a slippery slope in unhealthy behaviors for many of us. Amidst all of the fun and excitement surrounding the season, we often find ourselves feeling sluggish and 15 pounds heavier by the time spring rolls around.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are 8 ways you can break the pattern and keep your weight at a healthy level this winter:
1. Take a walk right after work. The simple act of taking a walk right when you get home, or better yet, before you get home just might be the ticket that moves you to action. As simple as it sounds, if you plop down on the couch and procrastinate, the lower your chances of getting outside will be – especially with the shorter days. Make it a discipline to bundle up and do a few laps at the end of your work day.
2. Re-frame “Savory Dishes”. While you should of course cut back on unhealthy foods, this doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the delicious goodies offered during the winter and holidays. Satisfy your cravings with fresh vegetable soups, brown rice, and lean meat dishes such as chicken breast or fresh-cut salmon.
3. Exercise at home. It’s more difficult to get to the gym with shorter days. Invest in inexpensive gear that will allow you to workout from home such as free weights, a stationary bike, and workout DVD’s. This doesn’t need to put a strain on your finances – use free tools like YouTube, Vimeo, or your local library to get the motivation you’re looking for.
4. Control those portions! We’ve all fallen victim to the bag of chips or peanut M&M’s that are “just sitting around” during the holidays. Make a conscious effort to limit your portions to just one or two of each savory item. Commit to having just one glass of eggnog, one cocktail, or one scoop of gravy on your mashed potatoes. This might seem like a grind, but slow and steady wins the weight loss race.
5. Stay hydrated. It’s a lot easier to remember to drink plenty of water and fluids during the warm summer months, but we often need to give ourselves extra reminders when it’s cold and we’re sweating less. Make a simple checklist that you can track daily to ensure you’re getting your recommended 8 glasses of water each day.
6. Buddy up! Staying in shape is a common goal for many but we seldom remember exercise together. Doing so provides extra motivation and accountability. There are several running and walking clubs in the Portland area that often complete their workouts at indoor locations ideal for winter, such as shopping malls and local gyms. As a bonus, this is a great excuse to go shopping!
7. Go play in the snow. You might not break a sweat while out in the cold, but recreational activities like skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, and even snowmobiling are great ways to keep active and be social at the same time. Get a few dates on the calendar that you can have fun outside while keeping your weight loss goals in mind.
8. Start the season right and contact us to schedule a $75 introductory consultation with Dr. Amy Bader. Thrive’s medical weight loss program has proven to get great results for people with busy lifestyles. Following our all-natural process will re-educate your pancreas to release insulin at a healthy rate and teach behavioral habits that will ensure you feel good while you trim down this winter.
What other tips or questions do you have regarding weight loss during Oregon’s cold winter months? We would love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you have on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter. For more information, please visit our website at www.thriveportland.com or give us a call at 503-241-3579.
Another option is to stay motivated with a good friend or group of friends. If you know they are waiting for you at the gym or at the park for a run, you are much more likely to stick to your workout instead of heading straight home. If you don’t know anyone that is available to meet for workouts, find a friend you can exchange phone calls or e-mails with as an accountability partner. Discuss your eating and workout routines, your wins and setbacks, and your overall goals.
Let’s be honest, it is hard work to lose weight and can be even harder to maintain the weight loss. When you cut back on calories and increase exercise, your hunger and cravings may increase as well. When you follow a stricter eating and exercise plan, two things happen, your metabolism increases and you burn more calories throughout the day after you exercise. This can lead to increased hunger, cravings, and often times a late morning or afternoon slump when you cut back on all of the fat and sugar in your diet.
Many of us rely on sugars including coffee, sodas, candy, processed foods, or energy drinks to get us through the last few hours of the day. Cutting out these processed sugars is essential to achieving and maintaining your weight loss. Replace those afternoon sugary snacks with healthy sources of protein for breakfast and for an afternoon snack. People have many different ways of consuming protein whether you are a meat eater, vegetarian, or vegan, so see below for some of the best protein sources for your lifestyle. Keep in mind to look for spreads, dips, and yogurts with the lowest amount of sugar.
Breakfast:
Meat-eaters: Low-fat turkey bacon and two poached eggs.
Vegetarians: Low-fat greek yogurt with berries and/or a banana. Try a greek yogurt without sugar and use the berries or a dollop of honey for sweetness. Or try 2 slices of whole wheat toast with almond butter.
Vegans: 1 cup oatmeal with soymilk or 2 slices whole wheat toast with almond butter.
Afternoon Snack:
Meat-eaters: A few slices of low-fat lunch meat or a hard-boiled egg.
Vegetarians: A banana with almond butter or a whole wheat pita with hummus.
Vegans: Plain soy yogurt with fresh berries or baby carrots with hummus.
Here are a few other things to consider when trying to find the protein that works best for you,
At Thrive, we specialize in natural weight loss that leads our clients to lasting results. Dr. Amy Bader has years of experience working one-on-one with clients to develop an exercise and eating plan that will help you achieve and maintain the best results. Call us today at 503-241-3579 to book your consultation at our NW Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Center.
What new exercise challenge are you up for?
Every week, it seems like there is a new exercise trend offering a variety of different benefits. Thrive’s philosophy is that the body needs continual muscle confusion to increase and maintain one’s fitness levels. This means regularly changing your workout routine so not only do you avoid boredom, so does your body.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit and 40% humidity. The purpose of practicing in such a hot and humid room is both to warm up the body and allow it to become more flexible. This ultimately makes your body easier to reshape and rebuild.
Basic yoga poses like the triangle, bow and cobra are made more difficult by the hot temperature. A hot yoga session starts with standing poses, backbend poses, forward bends and twists.
Bikram Yoga is a good workout that blasts calories and flushes away the waste products and toxins of your body. Bikram Yoga also employs heat to further the cleaning process. When you sweat, impurities are flushed out of the body through the skin. It is challenging both physically and mentally, but the results are a clearer mind and healthier body.
The Portland area boasts many fitness clubs and yoga studios that offer regular Bikram Yoga classes. A few include: Bikram Yoga PDX, Core Power Yoga, and Hot Yoga for Life.
CrossFit
On the other end of the cardio spectrum is CrossFit. This workout serves as the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies, military special operations units and hundreds of professional athletes. However, don’t let that intimidate you. Even if you are not a professional athlete or training for the military, the CrossFit program is designed to be scalable, making it a great exercise for anyone who is committed to their fitness, regardless of experience.
CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout that combines weightlifting, sprinting, gymnastics, powerlifting, kettlebell training, plyometrics, rowing and medicine ball training. The CrossFit approach is that a healthy, fit person requires proficiency in each of ten general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory, endurance, stamina, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.
Are you looking for a REALLY challenging workout? CrossFit may be the exercise program for you. Visit Cross Fit Portland for more information.
Dance Inspired Exercises
Zumba is a popular, new style of dance fitness that combines Latin rhythms, hip-hop inspired moves and traditional resistance training. The result is a calorie-blasting and fun workout. Studios like Diva Den Studio offer a variety of dance classes including Zumba, aerial yoga and more.
For those interested in slower more confined movements, try Barre3 which combines ballet, yoga and Pilates. The classes are designed to transform the body to one of equal balance, strength and flexibility. Visit Barre3 for local studio locations and schedules.
HIT Training
The principles of High Intensity Training (HIT) are that exercises should be brief, infrequent and intense. Exercises are performed with heavier weights and rapid movements to increase strength and size. The goal is to achieve muscle failure with heavy weights and fewer repetitions versus methods that stress lighter weights with more repetitions. HIT enthusiasts say that the benefits to this training are that it takes less time in the gym to do full-body workouts and to achieve results. Another major benefit to HIT training is the increased after burn, or calories and fat burned after your workout. For more info about Portland area classes, visit Get Fit Training.
Whether you are just getting started on a fitness routine, looking to add variety to your current routine or interested in a new challenge, there is an exercise program for you. Remember, you need to continually change up your routine to achieve muscle confusion and greater results. You and your body are always capable of more than you can imagine so challenge yourself!
It seems too good to be true, but Thrive’s weight loss program not only promotes healthy, quick and sustainable weight loss, but also turns back the clock on aging and prevents disease. It sounds magical, but it really boils down to enabling your body chemistry to work with you instead of against you.
The key to the preventive and anti-aging effects of Thrive’s weight loss program is a focus on reducing and controlling the influence of several hormones that our bodies naturally produce. One of the most important is Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas after consuming carbohydrates, which are mostly found in grains, starchy vegetables, fruits, sugars, and legumes. Insulin is needed to ensure we have proper levels of glucose (sugar) in our blood so our body has fuel for crucial functions. However, when insulin levels increase dramatically, it shifts the body into a “storage mode” and promotes the deposition of fat into fat cells. Insulin is quickly being shown in studies to be a major player in all types of diseases.
Think about this… In the early 1900’s, the average American ate a few pounds of sugar a year. Now, the average American eats well over a hundred pounds of sugar a year. This dramatic increase is undoubtedly connected to a surge in the United States of many diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Insulin also has a negative effect on the aging process, increasing the production of free radicals which damages our cells and leads to premature aging and wrinkles.
Insulin also increases cholesterol production, and makes the kidneys retain fluid, causing water retention and potentially contributing to high blood pressure. Insulin turns down the little engines in our cells called mitochondria. These are the energy centers which make our cells metabolically active and produce energy. Insulin also promotes the formation of PRO-inflammatory chemicals… and, simply put, these are chemicals that break down our bodies. Insulin also causes our blood to be sticky and not flow as well as it should, thus decreasing the body’s ability to optimally deliver oxygen to our cells.
Lastly, eating sugar and producing a large surge of insulin often causes a reactive surge in a hormone called Cortisol, which slows your metabolism and breaks down both muscle and bone. Cortisol is our stress hormone and an increased cortisol level accelerates the aging process.
In order to maintain balance in the body, a few other hormones counteract insulin. Promoting higher levels of these can have very beneficial effects. Glucagon is a hormone also produced by the pancreas, and is the yin to the yang of insulin. Glucagon raises low blood sugar and shifts the body’s metabolism into a fat burning mode, converting fat to glucose and stimulating the release of fat from our fat stores to use as fuel. It helps decrease cholesterol levels and shed excess water weight. It promotes anti- inflammatory chemicals, increases cellular metabolism, increases endurance, improves blood flow, preserves muscle mass, decreases pain, and helps regulate the immune system. Another hormone called Growth Hormone increases at night when insulin decreases and plays a large part in maintaining muscle mass and healing the body. Its ability to repair cells can enhance anti-aging properties in the body.
In summary, at Thrive we don’t just put people on a “diet,” we strive to compose a food plan with adequate protein, healthy fats, and minimal carbohydrates in order to reduce insulin, normalize cortisol, and enhance the production of your glucagon and growth hormones. The result: effective weight loss while looking and feeling great!
Call us today at 503-241-3579 to ask us about our weight loss program. We are happy to answer your questions or help schedule your first consultation.
Getting rid of stubborn fat can be frustrating and put a damper on self-esteem. It’s no wonder liposuction is the number one sought after cosmetic surgery in the country. But what if you could remove fat and improve your body’s contour without undergoing a surgical procedure?
The newest in lipotherapy offers a safe and non-invasive way to help you look slimmed and revitalized without the need for heavy anesthesia or recovery time. Lipotherapy is a non-surgical fat reduction treatment that uses an injection to dissolve fat deposits that are not affected by diet and exercise. LipoDissolve® is one such revolutionary treatment used at Thrive that has received much media attention and interest from our patients.
LipoDissolve® consists of phosphatidlycholine (PPC) and deoxycholate, both of which are naturally occurring substances within the body. PPC facilitates fat transport through the cell membrane and is most commonly derived from soybeans.
How Does it Work?
A series of microinjections are delivered to the treatable area and the two compounds work together to break up fat cells causing the fat to liquefy in the body. An inflammatory response allows debris clean up and tissue retraction. This fat and cellular debris is then picked up naturally by the body and eliminated through the normal metabolic pathways. New collagen is then deposited in the area, causing denser, firmer skin.
What Areas Can be Treated?
Ideal treatment areas include lower eye pads, chin, jowls, cheeks, abdomen, upper/lower back, upper arms, hips, thighs, knees, buttocks, and love handles. The frequency of treatment depends on the body area and how much fat needs to be dissolved. Typically, patients will return every 2-4 weeks for 4-6 treatments.
Thrive Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Center is Oregon’s leading authority on LipoDissolve, as well as other non-surgical fat removal procedures such as Mesotherapy and Med Sculpt. Since 2004, our center has performed hundreds of treatments to help our clients look and feel their best.
For more information on lipotherapy or any of our other anti-aging treatments, please visit our website at http://www.thriveportland.com. We are always happy to answer your questions through our blog, Facebook, or Twitter or in person at our beautiful NW location.
There is a saying, “Show me the size of your belly, and I will show you the size of your stress.” Study after study indicates the relationship between increased stress and increased weight as well as other health problems. When we take a look at the biochemical changes that happen when a body is under stress, we can begin to understand why stress reduction is so crucial to weight loss and long term weight maintenance.
Let’s take a look at some of the physical changes in the body when it is perceiving stress. First we must remember our friend the thyroid gland. This gland is responsible for secreting hormones (T4 and T3) which stimulate our cells to work better and faster. The result is a higher metabolic rate in the body. As you can imagine, when these hormones are working well, it is easier to maintain a healthy weight.
Now let’s introduce you to the adrenals—our stress glands. They sit atop the kidneys and secrete many different hormones, one of which is cortisol. Cortisol has many functions, but what is interesting in terms of weight and metabolism is its relationship with thyroid hormones. Cortisol interferes with the thyroid hormones’ abilities to work correctly when it is either too high or too low. So stress increases cortisol (or decreases it after many years) and this inhibits the metabolic rate in our body.
Where does stress come from?
Stress can result from emotional sources like relationship challenges, financial burdens, anxiety. It can also be the result of physical stressors like eating inflammatory foods (such as sugar, saturated fats, gluten, dairy), having the wrong mix of bacteria in the gut, or getting inadequate sleep.
What can we do?
It can be difficult to change the emotional stressors in your life, but you can shift your reaction to them. Letting go of things you cannot change can be easier said than done, but we can try our best. Decreasing physical stress can be easier. Shifting to whole foods low in sugar, gluten, and bad fats can profoundly impact the body in a positive way. Exercise is an effective way to alleviate stress and shift our hormones for the better. Laughter and deep breathing seem simple, but have profound effects if done routinely. In addition, there are many different natural medicines which can correct these imbalances. At Thrive, we are committed to helping each patient correct underlying issues which are all too often roadblocks to success.
–Dr. Amy Bader
Learn more about Thrive’s holistic and effective approach to weight loss while getting the support and tools you need to achieve and maintain your weight loss goals at Dr. Bader’s May 18th weight loss event. Space is limited to ensure personalized attention, so register today!