4 Strange Mental Tricks for Weight Loss

Weight loss is such a difficult endeavor for most people because the roadblocks are mostly mental. Because the brain is a powerful thing, overcoming them is no easy task. If you aren't getting the results you're looking for, there are actions you can take that, though small, can have a major impact on your routine. Consider the following mental tips to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

1. Use a smaller plate. This simple adjustment can go a long why in helping you with portion control. This is purely a psychological trick. At home, people tend to use large dinner plates when they serve a meal. Instead, try using something smaller like a salad plate. This will trick your eyes into making you think you're eating more by making the portion look larger. You'll find yourself getting fuller quicker, and eating less. 
2. Count your bites. You've likely heard that it takes twenty minutes for your brain to give the signal that you're full. That's why eating more slowly will cause you to eat less. Still, it's difficult to slow yourself down, especially if you're hungry. Try counting your bites. Keeping track of bites has been proven to cause people to slow down, and feel fuller quicker. It's a great trick for healthy eating.
3. Get good sleep. Poor sleeping habits have a negative effect on just about every aspect of your body. It will also contribute toward weight gain. When you're tired, you will be naturally drawn toward high-fat/high sugar food because they will give you a burst of energy. Also, pyschologically, you'll have a more difficult time stopping yourself from engaging in tempting, unhealthy behavior with a tired brain. 
4. Limit exercise. Here's an interesting one. We should all get at least a half an hour of exercise everyday, yet studies have shown that those who stick to a half an hour of strenuous work,VS those who do an hour, loss more weight. People who work out longer tend to have a higher desire to reward themselves with big portions of, or less healthy, food. Sticking to you recommended amount of exercise may keep you on your regiment more easily. 

At Dr. Feiz and Associates, we understand the challenge of weight loss. We also understand the importance of losing weight and the serious health risks associated with obesity. That's why we provide other options if diet and exercise don't give the results you need. Surgical weight loss is a proven and effective tool at your disposal that you should also investigate. To find out if it's right for you, contact us today for a consultation.

Eat For Health, Not For Weight

Although Dr. Feiz & Associates are known for skillfully performing weight loss surgery in Los Angeles, we want patients and others to learn how to eat for health, not for weight. Do not worry about eating foods that are low carb or low fat. An optimal diet is low in unhealthful carbs (both sugar and other refined carbohydrates) and low in fat (especially saturated fats and trans fats) as well as in red meat and processed foods.

WHAT you eat is as important as what you exclude — your diet needs to be high in healthy  carbs like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products in natural, unrefined forms and some fish, like salmon. There are hundreds of thousands of health-enhancing substances in these foods. And what’s good for you is good for the planet.

Calories do count — fat is much denser in calories, so when you eat less fat, you consume fewer calories, without consuming less food. Also, it’s easy to eat too many calories from sugar and other refined carbs because they are so low in fiber that you can consume large amounts without getting full. Sugar is absorbed so quickly that you get repeated insulin surges, which promote Type 2 diabetes and accelerate the conversion of calories into body fat.

This way of living helps you lose weight and keep it off while enhancing rather than harming your health.

5 Quick and Easy Exercise Routines to Stay Healthy

Staying fit can be a challenging endeavor that involves a healthy, nutritious diet, and regular exercise - at least half an hour a day as advised by the Food and Drug Administration. Though healthy eating can truly be a test of one's will power, getting regular exercise also proves difficult for people trying to lose weight. This isn't just a matter of laziness, as you may be tempted to believe. A lot of people feel they simply don't have the time to commit to it. Dr. Michael Feiz understands it can be difficult to set aside time when you live a busy lifestyle. With that in mind, here are five quick and easy exercises you can do, that add up throughout the day, to hit the half hour sweet spot.

1. Try a session five or ten minute session of jumping jacks. They aren't too rigorous, but they'll get your pulse up, and you can burn up to ninety calories or more in a single ten minutes session.
2. After dinner go play active games with your kids, friends, or family. Get a game of tag going, or shoot some hoops.
3. Do a few sets up push ups, crunches, or situps before bed.
4. The next time you're cooking  a meal in the kitchen, if you're waiting for the pot to boil or food to cook, do standing push-ups while you wait. Stand an arm's length from the counter and push in and out to tone your arms and shoulders.
5. Work out while watching your favorite TV programs. During commercial breaks run in place, do armchair dips or squat thrusts.

Finding time to exercise can be tricky, but multitasking, or breaking workouts into small chunks, makes it much much easier. Keep at it, and contact Dr. Feiz & Associates for weight loss treatments!

Beyoncé's Lemonade Diet - Does It Work?

The reason many of our clients see us for weight loss surgery in Los Angeles is because most diets do not work. But we wanted to check out this Lemonade Diet/Master Cleanse because celebrities including Beyoncé have used it.

The diet is a liquid-only diet consisting of three things: a lemonade-like beverage, salt-water drink, and herbal laxative tea. The claim is simple: Give it 10 days (or more) and you’ll drop pounds, "detox" your digestive system, and feel energetic, vital, happy, and healthy. You’ll also curb cravings for unhealthy food.

It all started with Stanley Burroughs’s book, The Master Cleanser. There are many variations, and Peter Glickman continues Burroughs’s legacy with his own book, Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days, and web site.

Does It Work?

Because you're getting so few calories, you'll probably lose weight.  You’ll also be losing muscle, bone, and water.  And you're likely to gain the weight right back. It’s far from the principles of  healthy eating, and the results aren't likely to last.

There's no proof that detoxifying leads to long-term weight loss. Plus, you don't need to detox your body -- your liver takes care of that. For lasting change, you're better off eating a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean proteins like fish, skinless chicken or turkey, and healthy fats like olive oil.

If eating healthier still doesn't help you lose weight, give Dr. Feiz & Associates a call at 310-855-8058 and we'll discuss what methods, including weight loss surgery, will work best for you.

It's a Family Affair

More than once, we've performed obesity surgery on multiple family members...spouses, parents and children, and so on. However, whether or not more than one member of family or relationship are actually having a procedure, in a sense we're always treating more than one person.

As the saying goes, none of us is an island and the risk of health problems like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease don't simply impact the patient, they impact everyone to whom the patient is important. If you've had a loved one whose obesity resulted, sooner or later in life, in a life-threatening heart attack, a stroke, or kidney failure, you know that it's impossible for your own life not to be seriously impacted.

Whenever we take on a  weight loss surgery in Los Angeles or at any of our Southern California locations, we make a point of taking into account a patient's family and/or relationships. We try to make sure that spouses/significant others, children, parents, and other close relations understand the procedure and the likely results. Weight loss is a journey and a bariatric procedure is a new beginning, not an ending. Patients are going to need the help of the people who will be on that journey with them.

If you're ready to learn more about what weight loss surgery can really do, please call Dr. Feiz and Associates at 800-868-5946.