What Is a Holistic Approach to Weight Loss?

A delightful part of my job as coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit Community Weight-Loss Challenge is interviewing experts who share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Dr. Kay Judge, a board-certified internal medicine specialist who brings her interest in traditional and holistic medicine practices to her patients. (See her full biography below.)

I asked Dr. Judge, “What is a holistic approach to weight loss?” Her answer follows:

“We all know that ‘calories in versus calories out’ is the key to weight loss. But the human body can be more complex than a mathematical equation. If one is having a problem losing weight, then a holistic approach to weight loss may be beneficial. Holistic medicine recognizes that the mind, body and spirit all play a role in creating good health. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I eating to fulfill a need other than hunger?

2. Are there certain people or environments that cause me to overeat or underexercise?

3. Do I derive comfort or pleasure from eating? Does eating reduce my stress?

4. Am I eating foods that nourish my body?

5. Do I participate in activities that are good for my body?

6. What is missing from my life that food is replacing?

Answers to these questions will point you in a direction that can create a lasting solution to bringing your body in balance holistically.”

These questions can trigger self-insight and can be reviewed again and again, especially when overeating threatens to derail our fitness goals. The questions also address the underlying motivations and rewards that keep us from realizing our fitness goals. Thanks, Dr. Judge, for sharing your insight.

Biography of Kandeel “Kay” Judge, MD

Dr. Kay Judge received her medical training at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. Kay is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Secrets of Longevity (November 2009). She currently practices internal and holistic medicine at the Sutter Downtown Integrative Medicine Program in Sacramento, California.

Kay spent five years in India, where she discovered a passion for alternative treatment including meditation, yoga and ayurvedic medicine. Kay helps her patients find the balance between mind, body, emotions and spirit so that they can attain their fullest potential. She gives health recommendations based on a combination of conventional (Western) medicine, health and lifestyle modifications and alternative treatment options.

"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole universe--the trees, the clouds, everthing."                        Thich Nhat Hanh        

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