Every day patients come into my practice and ask me why they cannot lose weight. You would not believe the multitude of excuses I have heard from people who just can’t seem to lose the extra pounds; everything from being born with a slow metabolism to thyroid problems and my personal favorite, “I am fat because I enjoy being fat.”
As I teach people the principles of maintaining a healthy weight, I am constantly amazed at how often I hear, “I am already doing all that stuff. There is something about me that is different. Isn’t there some drug you can give me to take the weight off?”
The fact is, there are only a few metabolic diseases and hormonal imbalances that can make losing weight more difficult. In addition, there are only a few medicines that can be prescribed to help reduce appetite and take off the pounds.
The reality for the overwhelming majority of people comes down to relearning how to eat and exercise better. We, as a society, have been duped into believing things about good health that are simply not true. Unfortunately most of this information comes from corporate marketing strategies that are trying to sell you their products.
In the 80s, we were taught the reason we were all gaining weight was because we were eating high fat foods. Hundreds of food companies rushed to create foods that were “low fat.” The shelves of our supermarkets were inundated with these low fat foods.
Interestingly however, the fat was replaced by something much worse…….SUGAR. I am in the process of writing a book called It’s The Sugar, Stupid that explains that Americans aren’t fat from eating fat, but from consuming pounds and pounds of sugar. This sugar can be disguised in many ways, but ultimately, it’s still sugar.
They recently took all the soda out of the machines at my children’s school. The Administration did this because they said the children of America are getting fat from drinking sodas (which are full of sugar). I thought that was a noble idea but was amazed to find out they replaced the sodas not with healthy alternatives but with Gatorade, PowerAde and vitamin water.
While the promoters of these drinks love to tout them as being healthy, the fact is that their sugar content is equivalent to that of a soda. There is no difference. So one sugar-laden drink was replaced with another, but the schools are happy because they are promoting “healthy” alternatives to soda. It’s truly insane when you think about it.
By simply paying attention to your sugar intake, you can dramatically affect your total calories and the quality of those calories — for the better. Read food labels carefully, checking for sugar content listed under carbohydrates. A good rule of thumb is if it has over 10 grams of sugar per serving, don’t eat it — no matter what! I actually use 5 grams as a cutoff, but 10 is a good place to start.
An even healthier alternative is to put the processed food down and pick up natural whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. We are constantly bombarded by advertising that tries to convince us of what’s good for us and what’s not. We need to train ourselves to see past what the advertisers want us to see and actually read the nutritional labels. If there are more than 10 grams of sugar per serving, make a healthier choice.
Dr. Tim Reynolds is the managing parter for HealthCare Express. He is also the president and CEO of Dr. Tim, International, a company he founded in 2009 to allow him to share his passion for Living Every Minute with others. He dedicates countless hours each week to helping other people change their lives through mentoring, life building, giving inspirational talks and writing for his motivational newsletter, Adventures with Dr. Tim.
Dr. Tim was the first member of his family to graduate high school. He joined the military shortly after graduation. Dr Tim was a graduate of the Special Forces Q-course in July of 1982. He served as a Green Beret medic on an A-Team, as the Battalion medic and eventually as a Special Forces Battalion Surgeon for the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He served both enlisted and as an officer for 17 years.
After getting out of the military, Dr. Tim was the first in his family to graduate college with honors. His passion for helping people inspired him to become a medical doctor, and in 1993 he graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MD degree from the University of Utah. He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Texas A&M Scott and White in 1996 and is board certified in emergency medicine. Dr. Tim is the managing partner for HealthCARE Express, a group of urgent care clinics rapidly expanding across the United States.
Prior to starting HealthCARE Express in 2006, Dr. Tim held numerous positions across the medical field, including: medical director of the Wadley Regional Medical Center Emergency Department and level II trauma center; director, Texas College of Emergency Physicians Board of Directors; president of E-Med Services, LLP and of E-Med Billing Solutions, LLP; associate clinical professor for the Area Health Education Center at the University of Arkansas; founding member of the Greater People’s Clinic of Texarkana Board of Directors.
Dr. Tim speaks fluent Spanish, having lived in Guatemala and traveled throughout Central America.
In addition to his medical experience, Dr. Tim is also an entrepreneur and successful businessman. He is currently the chief executive officer of TL Reynolds Properties, LLP, a real estate investment company; and he is a managing partner of JJET Developments Ltd., a real estate development company.
Dr. Tim has served on numerous other committees and boards throughout both the medical and business communities and is published in various journals and publications. He is sought after as a presenter at many national conferences.
In his leisure time, Dr. Tim enjoys spending time on his Ranch in Atlanta, Texas, where he lives with his beautiful wife, Pam, and their five amazing children. He holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, is a SCUBA rescue diver, and a pilot. He also enjoys body building, golf, and hiking.
Dr. Tim is a world traveler, having visited six of the seven continents. He is a firm believer in living every minute of life and teaching others to do the same. His online website www.livingeveryminute.com allows him to reach thousands of people around the world as they subscribe to his weekly self-help and life improvement adventure newsletters.