Key West Wellness Center

Tag: acupuncture for weight loss

  • 4 Ways to Beat Emotional Eating with Acupuncture

    4 Ways to Beat Emotional Eating with Acupuncture

    emotional eating

    Emotional eating is a problem facing many Americans struggling with weight gain. The causes are many — unawareness, boredom, addiction and, chief among causes, stress.

    Each of these issues poses a particular challenge. Likewise, each of them has a solution found through acupuncture therapy.

    Emotional Eating Caused By…

    Unawareness

    One of the things our brains are programmed to do is act without thinking. Repetition leads to habits that allow us to live without having to think about every little thing. But this is also a vulnerability. If we’re not thinking then we’re not paying attention to important details like what we’re eating, how much or for how long.

    Boredom

    This is different from being unaware because we’re not on autopilot here. We’re making an intentional decision to eat because we want to be entertained. Our brains are bored and are putting our bodies on the hook for it.

    Addiction

    The complete opposite of unaware eating is addictive eating. We’ve discussed this before, but it fits here because addiction manipulates our minds into serving a small part of the brain and not our whole selves. We don’t simply go on autopilot here. With addiction, we’re actively pursuing food however, whenever we need a fix.

    Stress

    According to the American Psychological Association, 27% of Americans report eating to manage stress. This is just one figure among many that have been surveyed which show that eating and overeating are common responses to stress. Food may be a pleasant distraction, but it’s not an answer to our lives’ problems.

    How Does Acupuncture Help Beat Emotional Eating?

    Restores Focus

    Modern Reflexology has a brilliant article outlining various acupressure points which we also use in acupuncture to help improve focus and concentration. This is a valuable treatment for anyone who finds that eating without purpose is a regular habit. Reclaim your focus and you’ll find that food becomes less interesting. Instead of reaching for a bag of chips, you just might start reaching for your goals.

    Stimulates Muscles

    Boredom is a reaction against inactivity. But rather than going to food to activate your inner body, we should be activating our outer body to raise our energy levels, improve our mood and clarify our motivation. Because acupuncture helps unlock stores of energy that are sometimes lying dormant in our own bodies, we actually have access to a lot of potential we never knew we had!

    Inhibits Addiction

    While acupuncture can stimulate our bodies, it can also restrain them. Acupuncture at the appropriate points in the body can block signals that drive us to addictive behaviors. The National Institutes for Health have already explained how acupuncture can relieve withdrawal symptoms of opiate abuse. It’s the same way with food addiction — an acupuncture practitioner accesses the points of the body that control hunger in order to inhibit addictive eating.

    Relieves Stressbeat emotional eating

    Finally, the big one — acupuncture relieves stress. This article in the Huffington Post is just one example of how scientists have come to realize the effect of acupuncture on stress. Acupuncture stimulates glands to release hormones that help both our minds and bodies feel good, putting us in a relaxed state that helps us better manage stress.

    Is emotional eating a persistent problem in your life? Call 305-296-5358 and book an appointment with Dr. Ashley Hoyt. Your free consultation can set you on the path to weight loss.

  • Acupuncture for Weight Loss

    Acupuncture for Weight Loss

    How Acupuncture Can Help You Lose Weight Now and For Good

    With Fall upon us it’s a great time to plan ahead for health and wellness, so that’s why the Key West Wellness Center is spending the month of September showing you ways that acupuncture for weight loss really works.

    acupuncture_for_weight_lossWeight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Many of us spend the Autumn and Winter months ignoring our diets and exercise. When the calendar flips over to January we have this monolithic task in front of us — how to lose all that holiday weight.

    Of course there are the usual ways, and don’t get us wrong, they work! Taking control of your diet is one of the best ways to bring weight under control. But for lots of people there are other factors that make efficient weight loss a big challenge.

    Weight gain caused by hormonal imbalances

    Hormonal imbalances are a sneaky culprit in weight gain. When our diets change our hormone levels can change dramatically. Some examples of diet change eating more than usual, eating foods our bodies aren’t normally adjusted for, and eating at unusual times of day. Sugar, caffeine, alcohol and dozens of other chemicals that build up in our systems throughout the holidays can have a profound impact on our metabolism through the system that regulates our hormones, the Endocrine system.

    Weight gain caused by mental and emotional factors

    Another issue is a seasonal change in mindset. While experts have differing opinions about the clinical truth behind SAD (seasonal affective disorder), there can be little doubt that many of our behaviors change from October to January. This often includes less physical exercise. Exercise has much less of an impact on weight loss than previously thought, but it has a tremendous influence on our brain chemistry. When we exercise we stay motivated, purpose driven, active and happier.

    Genetic weight gain

    There are also genetic barriers to weight loss. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) states on their website that “Genes can directly cause obesity in specific disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome.” It explains that some people’s diets trigger metabolic changes that make weight gain rapid and long lasting. Causes can be something as simple as increasing how much alcohol we drink.

    There are a range of factors from lifestyle to environmental to genetic to emotional that contribute to weight gain. Applying acupuncture to weight loss provides a way out for people suffering from this chronic health issue.

    Any of these sound familiar? Click here to schedule your consultation and begin your weight loss plan.

    Does acupuncture for weight loss work?acupuncture_helps_weight_loss

    Is acupuncture for weight loss helpful? For thousands of years acupuncture has been used to treat hundreds of health-related issues. In the last decade, many clients have discovered that when it comes to weight loss acupuncture results in some of the best outcomes for them. We’ve seen it ourselves. Ashley Hoyt has been treating patients with acupuncture for weight loss for decades.

    What does acupuncture for weight loss do? How does acupuncture for weight loss work? Here are just a few of the benefits.

    Regulate brain chemistry.

    Acupuncture treatments for weight loss stimulate specific locations in the body where chemicals, energy and blood get blocked up. Imagine your body is a high performance race car. It requires a lot more than just a standard checkup and oil change to stay in great shape. If there’s even a tiny leak in the fuel lines or in the oil pressure systems or the brakes, your performance can change dramatically down the line. Eventually all of that makes its way to your brain, the very engine of your body’s operations.

    Acupuncture increases your endorphins (important chemicals like dopamine and serotonin) to keep your mind fighting fit. This helps you maintain higher activity levels that keep weight off. Acupuncture also affects genetic weight gain by unlocking the flow of chemicals and energy in areas of the body that are normally blocked off preventing normal weight loss. These safe and controlled treatments create subtle shifts in brain chemistry that have a big impact on overcoming genetic weight gain.

    Decrease cravings.

    Seasonal lulls can result in lots of additional eating. We eat because we’re bored. We eat because there are tons of leftovers from holiday feasts. We eat because our minds are stressed from seasonal changes and holiday work projects and too many guests in the house and — the list goes on.

    To fix all that, we often eat. But acupuncture decreases cravings by going right to the locations where those chemical signals kick off. It’s like temporarily rewiring your body to help you manage the emotional challenges and mental habits that normally cause weight gain.

    Boost energy.acupuncture_for_weight_loss

    Energy levels are the name of the game. If you have high energy then you’ll stay motivated and engaged in activities instead of eating. Let’s say that again

    – it’s not exercise and activity itself that necessarily causes weight loss. Staying active is part of a mental shift that alters our lifestyles so help us manage weight loss.

    Again, acupuncture boosts energy levels by unlocking hidden stores of energy and stimulating chemical reactions in the body that help reduce weight gain.

    Neutralize pain.

    A common cause of weight gain is a sedentary lifestyle. But many people who would like to be active can’t because of prior injuries and current pain. Acupuncture helps neutralize pain on or near the site of those complications so that we can increase mobility and decrease pain output. Car crash victims have found that acupuncture eliminates pain that prevented them from living a full, active life.

    Over the next several weeks we’ll be talking more specifically about the benefits of acupuncture, Chinese herbs, supplements and other related treatments to helping you lose weight.

    It’s never too early to start planning your preventative weight loss plan. Complete our contact form or call 305-296-5358 to schedule your weight loss consultation with Dr. Hoyt and the Key West Wellness Center.