By Dr. Amy Zacharias
As we are approaching the winter months and holiday season, many of you are likely worried about the dreaded weight gain that often accompanies this time of year. I know that I always was. Some of you may already be thinking ahead about what diet you plan to start once the New Year begins. Did you know that about half of Americans wanted to start 2021 by getting in shape? In fact, losing weight was the year’s resolution for 48 percent of Americans according to national statistics.1
Despite all the popular diets, the overweight and obesity epidemic continues to worsen. According to the CDC, the US obesity prevalence was 42.4% in 2017-2018.2 With this rise in obesity, we also have seen a rise in obesity-related conditions that include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and certain types of cancer. These are often preventable conditions that lead to decreased quality of life and premature death.
As a primary care physician over the years, concern about weight was one of the leading concerns voiced by many of my patients. Many patients just did not like the way they looked or felt, but my main concern as their physician was the multitude of medical conditions that could be avoided or better managed if I could successfully help my patients achieve a healthy weight. Unfortunately, I was not specifically taught in medical school how best to help patients maintain a healthy lifestyle. I did learn that a healthy diet and exercise were important to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, but what exactly did that mean? Was it really just about fewer calories in and more calories out? My lack of training on nutrition and my strong desire to really help my patients prevent or reverse chronic diseases was one of the primary reasons I turned to lifestyle medicine.
As one of the first class of physicians to become board-certified as a Lifestyle Medicine physician, I learned that a whole-food, plant-based diet combined with being physically active was the best way to achieve maximum health. Fad diets may successfully help achieve weight loss in the short term, but they do not successfully help patients keep weight off or prevent and treat medical conditions. Not to mention, there is a multitude of side effects that accompany many fad diets.
Why wait for the New Year to start the journey toward your best health. Take the first step today. You may be wondering how best to begin a plant-based diet. Some people do best with the all-in approach by completely transforming their diet overnight. The biggest advantage to this method is that you may quickly begin to see the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet such as weight loss or feeling lighter on your feet, clearer skin, better sleep, less fatigue, and more energy. Other people do best starting slowly with one step at a time. Start by eating one plant-based meal a day and gradually convert all meals to whole food, plant-based meals. This can be easier for some, but it will take longer to see bigger results. No matter how you begin, it will transform your life.
I am so thankful that I learned about the field of lifestyle medicine. Now, I feel very confident in knowing just how to best treat my patients' chronic lifestyle-related health conditions and achieve an optimal weight. As a Plant Based TeleHealth physician, I am honored to help patients across the country transition to a whole-food, plant-based diet. I am also fortunate to be an assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria where I have the opportunity to teach aspiring physicians about the benefits of lifestyle medicine as well. I am hopeful that our next generation of physicians will be able to reverse the obesity epidemic and its detrimental effects.
1 https://www.statista.com/statistics/378105/new-years-resolution/
2 https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html