You know, I see a lot of patient’s in my office that come in with a variety of complaints. A few aren’t willing to make the necessary lifestyle changes to restore health, but most are willing since nothing else has worked. Those that are committed to restoring their health are able to do so with diligence, perseverance and dedication. It’s the patients that just jump in with both feet and leave the excuses at the door that get the greatest results.
One tremendous example is a young man that I first saw a few weeks ago. His primary complaint was the inability to lose weight despite changing his diet, aggressive exercise programs, and doing all he knew to do. He was having headaches, poor energy and digestive complaints…for years! As with all of our clinical nutrition patients we started to evaluate his metabolism and biochemistry. Our extensive history, physical examination, and lab testing revealed a number of things:
- faulty methylation
- poor detoxification function with elevated liver enzymes
- insulin resistance
- inflammation
- exhausted adrenal reserves
- food sensitivities
So a tailored program was designed to address these issues and Jared started his Wellness Week. In one week he noticed some significant improvements.
We changed Jared’s plan slightly and kept him with an aggressive supplement schedule, healthy exercise, and instruction in the Magnificent Seven Lifestyle. Just yesterday we had him back in the office for his recheck to find that he is now down 41 pounds!
Not only was he down 41 pounds on the scale, but he noticed some other great improvements:
- The headaches he had been struggling with for years are now GONE!
- The digestive complaints, uneasy stomach and irritable bowel that he had suffered with for years now GONE!
- The energy that he lost and hasn’t had since the 6th grade now RESTORED!
So what was my role in all of this? I simply had to identify the things that needed to be removed from his life and the things that needed to be added back into his life. He did all the work. He made the commitments. He faithfully took his medical foods, handful of supplements, increased his exercise and improved his diet. He consistently chose to eat only those foods allowed on his modified elimination diet plan. When his body received the proper stimulus it was able to restore health and the weight which he struggled with for years (even struggling to lose one pound), now is dropping off quite dramatically.
I think Jared teaches us some important lessons.
- He stuck to it even when it was hard. In the first video, he says he didn’t like the taste of the medical food. What did he do? Weighed out the pros and cons and did it anyway.
- He had a steep learning curve that he just jumped right into.
- His attitude has always been compliant and trusting. Not once have I heard him make excuses, look for short cuts, or talk about giving up. As a matter of fact, he told me just yesterday of some healthy changes he is starting on his own…without me even recommending them. Why? The healthier you get…the more motivate you become.
