Más allá de la dieta y el ejercicio: comprensión holística de la gestión del peso

What is holistic treatment?

We’ve all heard the familiar advice on how to lose weight - eat less, exercise more, and so on. But managing your weight is far more complex than making a few simple lifestyle changes.

Holistic treatment is an approach that focusses on the entirety of a person's health - not just a specific symptom or disease. This includes your mind, body and social factors. It considers how these areas are interconnected and how external influences, such as lifestyle and environment - can affect your overall wellbeing.

Overweight and obesity are complex health conditions that impact people in different ways - both physically and emotionally. This is where a holistic approach to weight loss can make a meaningful difference.

What is holistic weight loss?

Holistic weight loss considers all the factors that can influence your weight and identifies changes that may support both your overall health and long-term weight management.

Dr Stephanie de Giorgio, GP, weight loss specialist, Chief Clinical Officer, Genwell Health, UK (and Betty)

Dr Stephanie de Giorgio, GP, weight loss specialist, co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer, Genwell Health, UK says that the development of overweight and obesity is influenced by many factors - far beyond just eating habits.

"In order to manage our weight holistically, we need to look at all of these factors and assess what changes we can make to better understand our body weight and lose weight," says de Giorgio.

"There are some factors we cannot change - for example, genetics. But by looking at influences such as our family history of overweight and obesity, or understanding how sleep deprivation affects us, we can learn to be more compassionate with ourselves and recognise that gaining weight does not mean we have failed.”

De Giorgio emphasises that having overweight or obesity is not a lifestyle choice. They are long-term health conditions, influenced by a wide range of factors, as outlined above.

She says: "Without looking at the whole of our lives - what makes us who we are and how we interact with the world and others - we won’t be making healthy decisions for ourselves or treating ourselves with kindness."

Practical tips for holistic weight loss

As we’ve discussed, many factors contribute to overweight and obesity. By examining these influences from both a holistic and physical perspective, we can identify changes that go beyond just diet and exercise.

Focus on healthy sleep habits

According to de Giorgio, sleep deprivation and disturbed sleep are linked to overweight and obesity - in both children and adults.

She explains that this includes people who work night shifts, whose body rhythms are often disrupted.

"Sleep difficulties can stem from many factors," she says. "This includes your living environment, caring responsibilities, work patterns, stress, alongside other causes of insomnia. Taking time to review your sleep hygiene, and making changes - where possible - to improve it, can be beneficial to your health.

"This is not just with regards to your body weight, but also your overall emotional and physical health."

Address your stress

Reducing stress and supporting emotional wellbeing can positively influence your weight - especially if you tend to eat for comfort. De Giorgio explains that even small steps to lower anxiety and stress can make a meaningful difference to your body weight.

"Sometimes this may require professional help," she says. "People living with overweight and obesity often have a 'negative inner weight bias' - an internal voice that tells them they are unworthy of love, or fills them with guilt for having a higher body weight, leaving them feeling as though they have failed.”

De Giorgio emphasises that recognising you are worthy of love and care is essential to your overall wellbeing.

Practice mindful eating

De Giorgio explains that your body receives signals from your gut and other organs, which are sent to your brain to indicate whether you are hungry or full.

"This is how weight loss medicines work - through one or two of the hormones, Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)," she says. "We can use the way we eat to help us influence these hormones."

Consider intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting can be effective for weight loss in some people, but others may find it difficult or unsustainable.

"Eating less food through intermittent fasting can help control your appetite," says De Giorgio. "However, in some cases, it can stimulate your hunger and make you feel unwell."

She explains that no single way of eating works for everyone when it comes to weight loss, so it’s important to listen to your body and choose an approach you can achieve, afford, and sustain.

Mueve tu cuerpo

De Giorgio advises that while exercise is great for both physical and emotional health, it isn’t particularly effective for weight loss.

"It is, however, good for maintaining weight loss," she explains. "Ideally, we should engage in exercise that increases our heart rate and leaves us feeling out of breath - such as cardiovascular exercise - as well as muscle-strengthening exercises.

"It can feel intimidating and difficult to exercise with a higher body weight, so it's essential to choose activities you enjoy, in places you find comfortable."

Is a holistic weight loss approach right for everyone?

When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution for everyone. The same applies to weight loss treatments, including medicines and surgery.

De Giorgio advises that if you have medical conditions that affect your mobility, or make certain ways of eating difficult - for example, coeliac disease or type 1 diabetes - it is important to discuss any huge changes with a healthcare professional.

"If you take specific medicines - such as medicines for depression or antipsychotic medicines - these can make you gain weight," she adds. "No one should stop any medicines, or use them differently to lose weight, without discussing that with whoever prescribes your treatment."

How negative self-image and weight bias affect weight loss

As mentioned above, many people with overweight or obesity experience negative inner weight bias.

De Giorgio describes this as a reaction to the societal stigma that exists towards those of higher body weight.

"These people are often unfairly judged as being lazy, greedy, or less capable of succeeding at work or school," she says. "Fat jokes are still made casually, and characters with obesity in TV, films and books are frequently portrayed as unintelligent, lonely and badly behaved."

De Giorgio adds that people with obesity are often paid less for doing the same jobs as those with 'normal' body weight.

"Unfortunately, many healthcare settings and professionals are like the rest of society," she concludes. "It is so important for this negative inner weight bias to be addressed and understood when people are helping those with obesity. It can be overwhelming and lead to emotional difficulties."

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