Happy New Year 2019

The first thing that comes to mind with Happy New Year is resolutions.  Remember, that this year you are going to eat healthy and shed those extra pounds. Let us help you fulfill your health resolution this year.

Everyone has a weight where you feel good, you are active, and you are generally healthy.  So, what is the problem with excess weight? 

First, I would like to discuss how and why we gain weight. This goes back to the caveman/woman days.   In the cave-dwelling days, folks did not have access to food storage equipment, refrigerators or even the corner grocery store.   We had to find our food daily, consume it and hope that we would find more the next day.   Of course, we did not find food every day so those who could eat a lot of food and convert the excess to fat would survive longer than those who could not convert food into fat.  

This process naturally selected for those who could eat a lot and convert to fat for times of famine. Fortunately, we do not have famines in this country and there is plenty of food every day.   This puts us into a surplus storage situation and folks store excess fat to their detriment.  Surplus food and fat storage with no famine to balance the surplus is not healthy.   

When we put on excess fat, there are health consequences.  Our bodies are not designed to carry excessive amounts of fat for extended periods of time.  Many health issues develop with prolonged and excessive fat storage; joints wear out prematurely, our hearts wear out and we are prone to develop diabetes and other illnesses including an increased risk for multiple cancers.  As you can see there are no positive health benefits to carrying around an excessive amount of fat, unless of course there is a severe famine.    

So, what can we do about the excess fat storage?  

First, we need to recognize what is happening.  Then we need to help our bodies do what it does best, convert fat to energy without damaging other organs or muscles. Our medically supervised weight loss program will help you do this.  We provide the tools, coaching and most of the meals to help you convert the excess fat stores to energy and thus lose the extra fat.  It is medically supervised, easy, and safe. No time spent worrying about what to eat, we take care of this.  No fancy, time-consuming meal prep, just healthy easy to prepare meals that help you burn the extra fat.  No grueling exercise programs.  We provide the support with weekly coaching visits.  You just provide the desire to improve your health and we help you with the rest.   There are more details to the program, but the big picture is to simply to help you reverse what Mother Nature has done.  

You did not put the weight on overnight and it will not go away overnight, but we can help you with consistent and easy weight loss that is healthy and safe.  Time to really consider that resolution for better health and do something about it. What are you weighting for?   

Author

Elizebeth Harmon, MD, MBA FACOG About Dr. Harmon Gynecologist and Founder of Salem Women's Clinic, Inc. Education & Training: BA, Linfield College MD, Oregon Health Sciences University Residency: OB/GYN, Geisinger Medical Center Board Certified, American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ABOG) since 1990 Instructor for OHSU Physician Assistant Program Personal Interests: When Dr. Harmon is not busy at Salem Women's Clinic, she can be found making doll clothes and providing dolls for children in foster care, making pies, mentoring future physicians, quilting, knitting, sewing, rollerblading, and reading. Family Dr. Harmon has been married to her husband, Jeff, for over 30 years. They have four sons.