How Chiropractic Can Help
Doctors of Chiropractic are the only professionals trained and educated in the diagnosis and correction of the vertebral subluxation complex (misaligned or kinked bones). Too often, medicine treats the symptoms of illness rather than the causes. The chiropractic approach is based on finding and correcting interferences to your body’s natural state of good health. By removing vertebral subluxations from your body, your nervous system can function as it should, leaving you better able to cope with stress, both physical and mental.
Your chiropractor’s primary tool in treating the vertebral subluxation complex is the use of manipulation or spinal adjustment. By applying precisely directed force to a spinal joint that is out of position or not moving properly, the doctor gradually restores the joint to a more normal position and function. Depending on your individual problem, the doctor’s hands or a special instrument may be used to deliver quick, therapeutic thrust to the affected joint.
Your Doctor of Chiropractic can also counsel you regarding lifestyle changes and relaxation techniques to help you better deal with stress.
NUTRITION & EXERCISE
- Write down what you eat for one week, and you will lose weight
Studies found that people who keep food diaries wind up eating about 15 percent less food than those who don’t. Watch out for weekends: A University of North Carolina study found people tend to consume an extra 115 calories per weekend day, primarily from alcohol and fat. - After breakfast, stick to water
At breakfast, go ahead and drink orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water instead of juice or soda. The average American consumes an extra 245 calories a day from soft drinks. That’s nearly 90,000 calories a year—or 25 pounds! - Eat three fewer bites of your meal
…or one less treat a day, or one less glass of orange juice. Doing any of these can save you about 100 calories a day, and that alone is enough to prevent you from gaining the two pounds most people mindlessly pack on each year. - Spend 10 minutes a day walking up and downstairs
Walking of any kind is one of the best ways to lose weight, but stairs in particular work wonders for weight loss. The Centers for Disease Control says that 10 minutes walking on stairs is all it takes to help you shed as much as 10 pounds a year. - You’ll lose weight and fat if you walk 45 minutes a day, not 30
The reason we’re suggesting 45 minutes instead of the typical 30 as one of the ways to lose weight is that a Duke University study found that while 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most relatively sedentary people, exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat loss. Burning an additional 300 calories a day with three miles of brisk walking (45 minutes should do it) could help you lose 30 pounds in a year without even changing how much you’re eating. - Put your fork or spoon down between every bite
At the table, sip water frequently. Intersperse your eating with stories for your dining partner of the amusing things that happened during your day. Your brain lags your stomach by about 20 minutes when it comes to satiety (fullness) signals. If you eat slowly enough, your brain will catch up to tell you that you are no longer in need of food. - Throw out your “fat” clothes for good
Once you’ve started losing weight, throw out or give away every piece of clothing that doesn’t fit, and fill your closet with dresses that show off your favorite body part. The idea of having to buy a whole new wardrobe if you gain the weight back will serve as a strong incentive to stay fit. - Close the kitchen for 12 hours
After dinner, wash all the dishes, wipe down the counters, turn out the light, and, if necessary, tape closed the cabinets and refrigerator. Late-evening eating significantly increases the overall number of calories you eat, a University of Texas study found. Learning how to stop late-night snacking can save 300 or more calories a day, or 31 pounds a year. - Hook on a step tracker, and aim for an extra 1,000 steps a day
Are you showing signs you need to move more? On average, sedentary people take only 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day. Adding 2,000 steps will help you maintain your current weight and stop gaining weight; adding more than that is one of the ways to lose weight. - Order the smallest portion of everything
If you’re out and ordering a sub, get the six-inch sandwich. Buy a small popcorn, a small salad, a small hamburger. Again, studies find we tend to eat what’s in front of us, even though we’d feel just as full on less. - Avoid white foods
There is some scientific legitimacy to today’s lower-carb diets: Large amounts of simple carbohydrates from white flour and added sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and lead to weight gain. While avoiding sugar, white rice, and white flour, however, you should eat plenty of whole-grain breads and brown rice. One Harvard study of 74,000 women found that those who ate more than two daily servings of whole grains were 49 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate the white stuff. - Switch to ordinary coffee
Fancy coffee drinks from trendy coffee joints often pack several hundred calories, thanks to whole milk, whipped cream, sugar, and sugary syrups. A cup of regular coffee with skim milk has just a small fraction of those calories. And when brewed with good beans, it tastes just as great. You can also try nonfat powdered milk in coffee. You’ll get the nutritional benefits of skim milk, which is high in calcium and low in calories. - Snack on a small handful of nuts
Studies have found that overweight people who ate a moderate-fat diet containing almonds lost more weight than a control group that didn’t eat nuts. Snacking once or twice a day is one of the ways to lose weight that helps stave off hunger and keeps your metabolism stoked. - Brush your teeth after every meal, especially dinner
That clean, minty freshness will serve as a cue to your body and brain that mealtime is over.