Welcome to 2016, the Year of the Fire Monkey! According to the Chinese lunar calendar, this year will be big on health innovations and wellness breakthroughs. Unfortunately, you might have weight issues to deal with as the holiday feasting has left you with excess fat that does not seem to go away. Losing weight and maintaining a healthy figure is not achieved overnight.
According to the Cohen’s Lifestyle Centre, a wellness center in Makati that offers a personalized eating plan for safe and medically-supervised weight loss, every individual’s weight and body fat are shaped by multiple factors, including nutrition, genetics, psychology, and environment. While your food consumption and physical activity significantly affect your weight loss or weight gain, you are most likely to achieve and maintain a fit body if you follow a healthy lifestyle throughout the years.
Josemaria Claro, a Cohen’s Lifestyle Program graduate, shared that the secret to losing weight is an individualized diet plan combined with self-discipline. Ten years after trying out different workout and fad diet programs without long-term success, the 32-year-old technical assistant became desperate. He decided to give Cohen a try after reading about it from a newspaper. And voila! After 6 months in the program, he weighed down from 113.5kg to 72kg, perfect to fit into the latest men’s fashion trend.
Josemaria shares the following tips for people who are struggling to lose weight:
Eat right, not less. Eating a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins provides you with an adequate amount of calories to meet your nutritional needs, maintains your healthy metabolic rate, helps you stay energized, and keeps you feeling full longer.
“Cohen gives me a specific list of food to eat with their exact measurements based on the unique biochemical profile of my blood. Although the program restricted my diet, I found it reasonable. I still feel full after eating and I can choose from a variety of carbohydrates, proteins and fruits. Other diet programs would just tell me to eat the normal food in moderation, which I think is a very poor advice especially since Filipino food is very ‘unhealthy,’” says Josemaria.
Eat three main meals a day, at the same schedule to manage your appetite and cut down excessive food cravings. However, do not starve yourself. Aside from depriving your body of necessary nutrients, not eating enough can also lead to various health problems, including hypoglycemia, insomnia and infertility. Under-eating combined with over-exercising in a desperate attempt to lose weight can also cause hormonal changes, which might ironically result in stalled weight loss and body fat retention.
Rehydrate and refuel regularly. Stay hydrated by drinking water often even when you think you are not thirsty. Aside from regulating your body’s temperature and cleansing your body of toxic wastes, water also keeps your metabolism burning.
Get your daily dose of beauty sleep. You need around 6 to 8 hours of sleep everyday to be healthy. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces less insulin, which is a hormone that converts sugar and other food into energy. Consequently, you may feel tired and lazy to do a lot of physical activities throughout the day.
Be active. Physical activities help you burn calories, boost your immune system and lower your stress hormone level. However, do not break your body with intensive workouts, especially if you’re a beginner or if you have health issues, including metabolic disorder. Half an hour of walking a day can be sufficient.
Follow the Cohen’s Lifestyle Program. If you need professional intervention to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, go for a safe and effective weight loss and wellness program, like the Cohen’s Lifestyle Program. Based on international medical research by Dr. Rami Cohen, the Cohen’s Lifestyle Program is a highly personalized program which recommends a diet plan based on your unique biochemical profile. The specialized food plan corrects hormonal imbalances that cause weight gain and revitalizes the body’s natural ability to burn fat rapidly and safely.
As Josemaria puts it, “Losing weight and maintaining a fit body is always a work in progress. The best way to lose weight is to engage in a significant yet reasonable investment, like the Cohen’s Lifestyle Program. You may feel restricted with what you want to eat at first, but in the end you get to experience an effective and professional service combined with a very supportive environment.”
Now at the top of his game, Josemaria has become more active and confident. “I am more energetic and I play badminton better. I also don’t feel the symptoms of acid reflux and occasional chest pains. But the most important changes are psychological. I feel more in-control of myself not just in terms of what I eat but in life goals that require discipline. My self-esteem has also improved knowing that people no longer judged me poorly or make fun of me just because I’m overweight.”
Start your weight loss and wellness journey this 2016.
Learn more about the Cohen’s Lifestyle Program at www.CohenLifestyle.com.ph or visit http://www.facebook.com/CohenLifestylePhil on Facebook and http://instagram.com/cohenlifestyleph on Instagram.
Karina is not your ordinary supermom. She juggles her time bonding with her three amazing kids while being in the loop on the latest happenings in the tech and lifestyle scene. Follow me on Instagram (@digitalfilipina) regularly visit www.digitalfilipina.com for daily dose of updates not just for moms but for everyone!
