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Many people come to the Stengler Center for a more comprehensive approach to losing weight. Patients of all ages come for our expertise in weight loss and management. Dr. Stengler will pinpoint the cause(s) of weight gain and through exercise, targeted nutrition, and balancing hormones their patients are usually able to lose significant weight and keep it off.
The number of overweight Americans continues to rise. Current statistics show that two-thirds of American adults are overweight and one-third are obese. Obesity means one has excess weight and body fat. More specifically obesity is diagnosed by one’s body mass index (BMI). This is a ratio of body weight to height. The BMI is an indicator of body fatness. An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. Anyone more than 100 pounds overweight or with a BMI greater than 40 is considered morbidly obese.
Obesity puts one at increased risk of many serious diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and certain cancers.
There are several risk factors for overweight and obesity. This includes genetics which can affect the amount of body fat stored, location of fat, and the rate of metabolism-how your cells convert food into energy. One has an increased chance of being obese if one or both parents are obese. This can be due to genetics or due to similar lifestyle habits. As people get older their risk increases too. People often become less active and their metabolism slows down. Lastly, women are more likely to be obese than men since they have less muscle mass and thus burn fewer calories.
There are many causes of obesity. Consuming too many calories is a very common problem in America. Many calories are consumed from simple carbohydrates such as soft drinks, desserts, white breads and pastas. Too many calories combined with inactivity are a recipe for weight gain. One must burn enough calories through activity. Exercise also increases one’s metabolic rate. In addition, many people gain weight when they quit smoking which can slow one’s metabolism. Some women have difficulty losing weight after their pregnancy. Be aware that prescription medications such as corticosteroids (prednisone) or antidepressants may cause weight gain.
Lastly, hormone imbalances such as low thyroid (hypothyroidism) or insulin resistance (high glucose and insulin levels) contribute to weight gain. Since 40% of the American adult population has pre-diabetes, insulin resistance is quite common.
To deal with this problem Dr. Stengler has developed programs that allow each person to be treated individually by identifying factors which are limiting weight loss. Testing that helps the patient identify barriers to weight loss includes:
There are a number of different diet and lifestyle programs that can be used depending on the patient’s situation. This often involves the use of nutritional supplements and sometimes bioidentical hormones.
