Changing Habits

Yesterday, one of our patients came in for her second follow-up visit after starting the program and she had lost 11 pounds in the first ten days... not bad, eh? When I asked her how she was doing with the diet portion, she couldn't wait to show me a picture of her shopping cart on her last visit to the grocery store. She said that she was so proud that she actually made a couple rounds through the store just to show off her healthy shopping cart. Needless to say, I was very proud of her!

The standard American diet (S.A.D.) consists of 95% processed food (from a box, bag or can) and so the next time you are grocery shopping, stop and take a mental picture of your cart. Does it look like the picture above? Attempt to make what you consume 75% fresh fruits and vegetables (organic, whenever possible) and limit the processed and refined foods. A good rule-of-thumb is to shop in the 'perimeter' of the grocery store and avoid all the inner aisles.

Losing weight and getting healthy is all about changing habits! Good luck and we at AK TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS are here to help!

Candida Albicans - Barrier to Health & Weight Loss

Candida Albicans has become a household word for many health conscious Americans. Candida is a yeast that lives in the human digestive system. It has the ability to change from yeast to a fungus. As a fungus it operates in a similar fashion as any other fungus such as athlete’s foot fungus, etc. Candida is kept at low levels by the friendly bacteria that also reside in the digestive tract. The friendly bacteria feed on the Candida, and thus a balance in the body is maintained. Antibiotics, birth control pills, cortisone and chemotherapy can kill this friendly bacteria.
Once this friendly bacteria has been destroyed, the yeast begins to overgrow and take over the digestive system. Left untreated, it becomes a fungus and grows into a plant-like structure complete with roots. These roots can break through the intestinal walls, allowing the yeast to travel to other areas of the body such as the sinuses, throat, reproductive organs, the lungs and skin – just to name a few.
Candida is capable of producing over 100 symptoms. This makes it extremely frustrating for anyone with this condition to find out exactly what is wrong with them. Billions of dollars are spent each year on antibiotics, creams, nasal sprays, unnecessary hospital visits, operations, antidepressants, etc. due to misdiagnosis of the disease.
Look over the list of all the possible symptoms Candida can cause, and you will see why symptoms alone can mislead a doctor into treating a “major symptom” and miss the true culprit.

SYMPTOMS OF CANDIDA
1. Intolerance of perfumes, odors, fumes, fabric shop odors, and tobacco smoke
2. Complaints that worsen in damp, muggy or moldy places
3. Athletes’ foot, jock itch, fungal infections on the skin or nail
4. Craving for sugar, bread or alcohol
5. Prostatitis or vaginitis
6. Diarrhea
7. Constipation
8. Indigestion
9. Gas or flatulence
10. Rectal itching or rash
11. Colic
12. Joint pain or swelling
13. Acne
14. Hives
15. Rashes
16. Itching skin
17. Eczema
18. Psoriasis
19. Loss of sex drive
20. Impotence
21. Fatigue
22. Feeling drained
23. Memory loss
24. Feeling spaced out
25. Belching
26. Muscle aches
27. Erratic vision
28. Drowsiness
29. Irritability or jitteriness
30. Mood swings
31. Depression
32. Suicidal feelings
33. Headaches
34. Hypoglycemia
35. Feeling of swelling & tingling in the head
36. Heartburn
37. Abdominal distention, boating or pain
38. Intestinal gas
39. Mucous in the stool
40. Diaper rash
41. Numbness, burning or tingling
42. Endometriosis (irregular or painful menstruation)
43. Kidney, bladder infections
44. Cystitis (inflammation of the bladder with possible infection)
45. Sores or blisters in the mouth
46. Wheezing or shortness of breath
47. Food allergies or food reactions
48. Cramps or menstrual irregularities
49. Pain or tightness in the chest
50. Vaginal itch, burning, or persistent infection
51. Muscle pain
52. Flu-like symptoms
53. Sinus infection
54. Bad breath
55. Cough
56. Hair loss
57. P.M.S.
58. Spots in front of eyes
59. Asthmatic symptoms
60. Burning on urination
61. Burning or itching eyes
62. Ear pain
63. Ear discharges
64. Ear aches
65. Hemorrhoids
66. Dry mouth
67. Nasal congestion
68. Post nasal drip
69. Sore or dry mouth
70. Nasal itching
71. Nasal discharge
72. Sore or dry throat
73. Thrush
74. General allergies
75. Hay fever
76. Painful intercourse

As you can see, the symptoms are numerous and varied. The average Candida sufferer has 20 or more of these (while others have less and some have more). Many times they have given up on ever finding out what was wrong with them because these symptoms seem so unrelated.
Symptoms can vary according to one’s diet. Sugar, alcohol, starches, fermented foods, sweets (even fruits) will increase symptoms by feeding the yeast organisms. This will cause them to grow and release more toxins which will produce symptoms.

If you would like to learn more about our Candida diet/treatment please give us a call at (907)522-1410 or go to www.AKTotalWeightLoss.com

Best kept secret to EXERCISE... have FUN!!!

This is the time of year that the gym is so packed full of people that it is hard to find a piece of equipment to use. Now if we give it just a couple more weeks the crowds will slowly start to lessen and by March the gym will be back to normal. Why does this seem to be the case year after year?

People want to be healthier... they know that they need to exercise... but why doesn't it last? Well, I think there are a lot of factors involved but one of the problems I see is that it's too boring. People like the way they feel after exercising (usually) but it is very hard to give up an hour or two of your life three or more times per week when you don't enjoy what you're doing.

So what can we do to make it more enjoyable? Well, that is going to be different for each person. My wife and I went out snowshoeing last Friday for a couple hours and had a blast! We got one heck of a work-out, all the while thinking "this is so much better than running on a treadmill while watching re-runs of Dr.Phill". There are so many options available to us here in Alaska, when it comes to the great-outdoors. The nice thing is, we are surrounded by parks, trails, mountains, etc., all of which provide a great opportunity to exercise. If it is too cold out there for you then how about joining a volleyball league or perhaps go swimming. The point is: do something you enjoy!!! If you make exercise a "chore", the likelihood of sticking with it goes way down. So just have fun!

At AK TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS we emphasize the importance of exercise as it relates to optimizing your fat burning hormones. We do one-on-one training sessions with our patients to teach them how to exercise for their body type and how to maximize our often limited free time. Many of our patients have tried the gym option, but still didn't see the results. Often times there is more underlying weight gain than simply not exercising enough and we try to uncover the cause of their weight problem. We offer unique, individualized programs that get to the heart of the problem.

You can contact us at (907)522-1410 or go to www.BurnFatAlaska.com to learn more about what we can offer you!

THE PROGRAM by Jolene

Here is one of our patient's experiences during her first week on "the program" here at AK TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS. This was a post on her facebook page that we got permission to share with the world:

A couple weeks ago I saw an ad on TV... a free seminar on how hormones affect weight loss, or the difficulty in losing weight. I decided... why not.. it's free.. so I got the tickets. Last Tuesday, January 5.. I attended the seminar. The presentation was interesting and engaging. All participants were given a certificate worth $100 towards a consultation if you scheduled it that night. I scheduled mine for the next day... cost to me $25. The consultation consisted of more education on hormones and toxicity. A weigh in with one of those scales that measures your body fat and tells you how much you should weigh and approx. how many calories you should be consuming.Then came the presentation of 'the program'. I decided I was worth the $$ to give it a try. Signed up for the 12 week program, took home the materials to read thru, and started on Friday, January 8. The first two days are eating real food.. lots of fresh fruits and veggies and lean protein. The next three days were a detox cleanse. I was very apprehensive to begin, thinking I would be very hungry. I started on Sunday, which meant two days at work not eating and that concerned me a bit too.The three days passed quickly, I surprisingly did not feel hungry. Well, of course I got hungry, but not to the point where I felt the lemonade mixture was not enough to satisfy the hunger. And it didn't taste bad either! That brings me to Wednesday where I started eating real food again. I was again a little apprehensive to reintroduce food to my system. I knew once I ate something, I would feel hungry. And that's been my issue.. I avoid eating breakfast cause I know in a couple hours I will be hungry. But if I skip breakfast, I can go most of the day without ever feeling hungry. Wednesday after work I had my second appointment for a weigh in and exercise, sauna, body wrap... almost spa like... They had me weigh in first... and yahoo! -8.5# yippee!! And then the exercise... for a little bit, then sauna for 30 min... nice, hot, relaxing... read my book, drank lots of water... then on to the body wrap.. Very interesting... smells good and I got some more quality time with my book. Once that was done, I was on my way home. Until next week.... weigh in again on Wednesday... in the mean time.. I will be eating breakfast (strawberry or frozen mixed fruit shake) eating lots of veggies and fruit. I will be attempting to go swimming at least once a week (right Ellen? Tuesday?.. let me know if you go before that.. Sat or Sun?) Spending some time with the Wii Fit... it's not really much, but considering I've been pretty inactive since winter set in.. it's better than nothing. and water... lots and lots of water... I drink lots of water anyway, but I've also cut out coffee, and pop, and really, I don't miss them.Bread is going to be the hard thing.. and chips, but so far so good. I sat in a meeting yesterday where two people brought microwave popcorn and I didn't feel like I needed any. Sipped my water and ate an apple and I was all good...
Oh.. and let me not forget all the supplements.... cause I have forgotten them twice already in these 7 days... and for more information you can try www.burnfatalaska.com or I think www.aktotalweightloss.com

One of many SUCCESS stories to come!!!

Sandra is one of our newer patients at AK TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS. She has been doing the program for only two weeks now and has already noticed several improvements in her health, not to mention losing 7 pounds. We are very proud of her and want to share her success story with everyone in cyber-world. It never fails to amaze me how well the body can heal and turn things around in a very short period of time if it is getting what it needs nutritionally. Judge for yourself...

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Break Through Weight Loss Program

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