Energy balance means that your energy IN equals your energy OUT. To maintain a healthy weight, your energy IN and OUT do not have to balance exactly every day. It’s the balance over time that helps you maintain a healthy weight. If your hormones are not optimized, your body is deficient in nutrients, you have toxins in your gut (from food allergies. medications, metals, plastics, etc) and you are not eating correctly, you WILL always gain your weight back and then some!! Let us optimize your body and make getting to your optimal weight safe and easy (The prescription diet pills that are the rave, cause serious blood and heart conditions while affecting your nervous system).

  • The same amount of energy IN and energy OUT over time = weight stays the same
  • More IN than OUT over time = weight gain
  • More OUT than IN over time = weight loss

Overweight and obesity happen over time when you take in more calories than you use.

Physical Inactivity

People who are inactive are more likely to gain weight because they do not burn up the calories that they take in from food and drinks. An inactive lifestyle also raises your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer, and other health problems.

Environment

Our environment does not always help with healthy lifestyle habits; in fact, it encourages obesity. Some reasons include:

  • Lack of neighborhood sidewalks and safe places for recreation. Not having area parks, trails, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically active.
  • Work schedules. People often say that they do not have time to be physically active given the long hours at work and the time spent commuting back and forth to work.
  • Oversized food portions. Americans are surrounded by huge food portions in restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, movie theaters, supermarkets, and even at home. Some of these meals and snacks can feed two or more people. Eating large portions means too much energy IN. Over time, this will cause weight gain if it isn’t balanced with physical activity.
    Lack of access to healthy foods. Some people do not live in neighborhoods that have supermarkets that sell healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Or if they do, these items are often too costly.
  • Food advertising. Americans are surrounded by ads from food companies. Often children are the targets of advertising for high-calorie, high-fat snacks and sugary drinks. The goal of these ads is to sway people to buy these high-calorie foods, and often they do.

Genes and Family History

Studies of identical twins who have been raised apart show that genes have a strong influence on one’s weight. Overweight and obesity tend to run in families. Your chances of being overweight are greater if one or both of your parents are overweight or obese. Your genes also may affect the amount of fat you store in your body and where on your body you carry the extra fat.

Health Conditions

Sometimes hormone problems cause overweight and obesity. These problems include:

  • Under active thyroid (also called hypothyroidism). This is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone. Lack of thyroid hormone will slow down your metabolism and cause weight gain. You’ll also feel tired and weak.
  • Cushing’s syndrome. This is a condition in which the body’s adrenal glands make too much of the hormone cortisol. Cushing’s syndrome also can happen when people take high levels of medicines such as prednisone for long periods of time. People with Cushing’s syndrome gain weight, have upper-body obesity, a rounded face, fat around the neck, and thin arms and legs.
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). This is a condition that affects about 5 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age. Women with PCOS often are obese, have excess hair growth, and have reproductive and other health problems due to high levels of hormones called androgens.

Medicines

Certain medicines such as corticosteroids (for example, prednisone), antidepressants (for example, Elavil®), and medicines for seizures (for example, Neurontin®) may cause you to gain weight. These medicines can slow the rate at which your body burns calories, increase your appetite, or cause your body to hold on to extra water—all of which can lead to weight gain.

Age

As you get older, you tend to lose muscle, especially if you’re less active. Muscle loss can slow down the rate at which your body burns calories. If you do not reduce your calorie intake as you get older, you may gain weight. Midlife weight gain in women is mainly due to aging and lifestyle, but menopause also plays a role. Many women gain around 5 pounds during menopause and have more fat around the waist than they did before. Ask CFAA about are hormone replacement therapy for both men and women.

Nutrition and weight loss done....the right way!

The Center for Anti-Aging Body Metamorphosis Program is a distinct, separate program essential to your ongoing success, designed for your specific metabolism. It will let you eat sensibly and normally for the rest of your life - without worrying about exceeding your original goal weight. At CFAA we test for all of the following listed below. In addition, we have teamed up with some of the best chefs in town, and to eliminate the guesswork, we offer custom designed gourmet meals to our clients. These meals are customized by our nutritionist tailored to your specific needs and goals. Say goodbye to wondering what you are going to eat next, measuring/weighing out proportions, these foods are all natural/organic and very appetizing.

For more information please contact CFAA: (813) 341-2600.

The 9 tenets that CFAA highly recommends in order to maintain ideal health and weight stabilization:

  • Hormone and/or HGH balance and/or restoration
  • Testing for food allergies
  • Testing for nutritional deficiencies
  • Proper exercise
  • Correct the inflammations in the gut
  • Nutritional sound food
  • Detoxification
  • Quality supplementation
  • Sleep
  • Education and/or positive attitude

Maintenance is really what losing weight is all about. It is a lifestyle change, not a diet or diet mentality. In fact, CFAA stresses that the Body Metamorphosis Program is also a continuing educational process. Rebound weight will not happen when you lose weight properly and we intend to show you how easy it is. "When you first come to our center, you already know how to eat too much. During the dieting period, you learn how to eat properly; and now with maintenance, we will show you how to eat just enough." Obviously, this process works: over 85% of our patients keep their new slim weight. This is an astounding statistic compared to the 5% success rate of other diet programs worldwide. And it is an easier process than you might think.

What is different about our program?

Eating correct food and exercise are the key factors to weight management 70% of the time. However, nutritional deficiencies, hormone issues, food allergies, sleep, and toxin build-up can also play a major role in weight-loss and metabolism. We look at all these aspects, do the correct testing and create a premium customized plan to achieve your ideal goals/body weight. Without a comprehensive plan you are basically trying a number of different things while waiting to see if it finally works. We get right to the root of the issues, correct them and and educate you on how to maintain your new lifestyle.

The 9 tenets to maintaining ideal health and weight stabilization:

Hormone, HGH Balance and/or Restoration

  • Hormones have to be sound, female, male, thyroid function, etc.
    Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland does not produce enough “energy-generating” thyroid hormones (t3, t4, TSH). Weight gain is a classic symptom of this dysfunction.
  • One of the functions of cortisol is to trigger a glucocorticoid effect—helping the body produce blood sugar from proteins. Excess glucose is then used for lipogenesis (fat production). Research has linked over-secretion of cortisol with obesity and increased fat storage in the body.
  • Having high levels of insulin can be a good indicator of insulin resistance, which is common in obese individuals. Maintaining stable blood sugar levels is one of the many ways to help stabilize your insulin levels. Having high levels of insulin is a major factor in weight gain.
  • Illness and aging can lead to development of a testosterone deficiency in the adult male. The first signs are a decline in mental and physical performance as well as psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating).
  • Symptoms for human growth hormone (HGH) deficiency include fatigue, lack of energy, poor sleep, decreased exercise capacity and psychological problems. Signs include decreased lean body mass, increased visceral fat, decreased muscle strength and bone density, and increased lipids.
  • DHEA (dehydroepianandrosterone) which is produced by the adrenal gland and drops after 30 years of age, fights cortisol and helps with obesity.
Testing and Food Allergies
  • If you have a food allergy or intolerance, this will slow down the ability to metabolize fats due to blockage and congestion.
  • An allergic reaction to food may cause the body to retain as much as 4 percent of its body weight in edema fluid (water fluid).
  • Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is another clinical symptom linked with food allergy, and usually occurs 2-6 hours after ingesting the offending food allergen.
Testing for Nutrition Deficiencies
  • Certain medications such as beta-blockers, statins, antibiotics, benzos, anti-depressants deplete vital vitamins and nutrients from the body that are necessary components for efficient carbohydrate metabolism. This can eventually lead to weight gain.
  • Having high levels of free radicals within the body destroys the mitochondria, which is the housing for energy production. Free radicals destroying the mitochondria slow down carbohydrate metabolism.
  • Having your essential micronutrients tested can help correct any imbalances that can lead to unwanted weight gain.

Proper Exercise

  • The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn at rest.
  • Regular exercise makes the body more sensitive to insulin
  • Exercise boosts the “feel good hormone” dopamine
  • Exercise, diet, and cardio are the best trio for weight loss given you are hormonally sound.
  • Being in shape boosts confidence, physical appeal, mental acuity, and overall protects you from future complications.

Nutritional Sound Food
  • Get all protein sources from complete proteins e.g. chicken, beef, fish.
  • Cow milk is high in casein, low in whey. Mother’s milk is high in whey, low in casein. Goat milk is closest to mother’s milk, which is optimal in avoiding bloat, cramps, gas, etc.
  • Eat breakfast; if you do not, you’ll gain weight. Insulin is highest in the morning, waiting to soak up those vital nutrients from the foods to help make you more productive during the day. Skipping breakfast leads to sluggishness and loss of motivation early in the day. You increase your rate of weight gain by 45% if you skip breakfast!
  • Increase fiber intake, gives one satiety (fullness). A decrease in caloric intake by 10% can occur by adding 14 grams of fiber a day.
  • Eating too low of calories boosts cortisol, body will start storing fat due to a fight or flight response, in return you will gain adipose tissue.
  • Avoid fast food, hidden sugars especially in the new diet menus.
  • Do not eat carbohydrates alone.
Detox
  • Detoxification is highly recommended prior to a weight loss program to get rid of toxins and residue from refined/processed foods.
  • Toxic cleansing includes colon cleansing, parasite cleansing, kidney cleansing, and liver cleansing, providing a solid foundation.
  • Detox can save your body from requiring drastic solutions such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. By following a body cleansing and detoxification plan and using natural cures whenever possible, will help you live a longer and healthier life.
Quality Supplementation
  • Herbal and green tea are great sources of antioxidants.
  • Fish oil is great for warding off inflammation (obesity is a type of inflammatory response.
  • Digestive enzymes help break down foods.
  • CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) helps insulin work better. Breaks plateaus if you stopped losing weight.
  • Carnitine has the same effects as CLA, burns fat and helps with plateaus.
Sleep
  • Sleep is required for recovery and rejuvenation. The body releases its largest pulse of Growth Hormone between the first 1-2hrs of sleep.
  • Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
  • Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way of our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
  • Safety: sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
  • Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
  • Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
  • Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
Education and Positive Attitude
  • Counseling patients about the advantages of weight loss.
  • Unhealthy weight can lead to serious health implications.
  • Maintaining healthy weight is a life style change.
  • Setting realistic and individualized goals for weight loss.
  • Behavior therapy: Assessing the patient’s motivation and readiness to implement the weight loss therapy, providing continual encouragement.
  • Combined therapy: Incorporating a regimen that combines well-balanced diets, increased physical activity and behavior therapy.
  • Reinforcing the importance of maintaining a healthy weight.
  • Once initial weight loss is achieved, patients are counseled to continue their diet and exercise regiments to maintain their new healthy weight.
  • Setting up long term goals and mentoring in maintenance phase.


Here are 10 key facts about our Total Body Metamorphosis Program:

FACT #1 When you have reached your goal, you can stay there for life. We will arm you with the knowledge and techniques to be able to keep the excess weight off permanently. You will not experience rebound weight gain (medical term: recidivism).

FACT #2 Expect to live an extra 10 years or so. Maintaining your goal weight is critical in preventing stroke, heart attacks, certain forms of cancer, hypertension, lowered pulse rate, cleaner arteries and veins, and improving cholesterol levels and blood sugar (thus reducing or eliminating fatigue and food cravings).

FACT #3 Cravings are gone Cravings are created by an unbalanced diet and unstable blood sugar levels. By learning how to eat sensibly - cravings and abnormal hunger are a non-issue.

FACT #4 Eat what you like and stop worrying about dieting all the time. Maintenance signifies that moderation prevails - your really strict dieting days are over. They have been replaced with a plentiful and delicious menu of healthy and wholesome foods.

FACT #5 You will look younger. So many of patients who have lost 25 to 40 pounds and more routinely hear they look 10 years younger. You can look forward to years of nice skin tone that is notably healthy and retains its elasticity.

FACT #6 Finally - be the object of someone else's fantasies. You may find some very pleasant side effects of maintaining your weight, particularly regarding romance, sexuality and emotional involvement. Medically speaking, these side effects include cleaner veins and arteries and improved blood supply that help many patients with improved sexual function and general well-being well into old age.

FACT #7 That slim fitting item in the store has your name on it. Really. Those troublesome inches around the thighs, buttocks and waist will stay off. And as you continue your new way of caring for your body, you will find it allows you to consider fashions that you did not think were possible.

FACT #8 You will have energy to do things you never thought possible maintenance takes into account a full and exciting life that requires lots of energy and places no limits on sporting and physical activity. Your ongoing food intake contains all the protein and nutrients that you will ever need.

FACT #9 Your career prospects look as good as you do It has been said that the decision to hire a new employee is made in the first sixty seconds of a job interview. A trim personal appearance may very well determine your future. The answer of course, is being in the best physical shape possible and maintaining it throughout your career.

FACT #10 We will always be here for you. We are aware that there are numerous reasons why, over time, it is possible to put some weight back on: demanding careers, stressful lifestyles and convenient fast foods. We would much rather help you take off 5 or 15 pounds now (and that irritating inch or two off your waistline) than 20 or 40 pounds later on. So we have developed The Mini-Metamorphosis Program. We want you to feel comfortable about coming in - all you really need is a minor 'tune-up'. You are not on your own and we will take care of it in a matter of weeks.

Our Nutritionist will create a carefully designed food plan that will allow you to reach your goal weight. For the first week or two, additional adjustments of food may be necessary. In time, we find what particular foods cause you to gain weight. It does not mean you can not ever eat that food. But you will have to change your portions and preparation methods. Everybody's calorie requirements will be different. The process involves reintroducing foods to find out how many calories you can actually burn - and not gain weight.

Remember: People metabolize different foods differently. Too many carbohydrates may be the cause of your weight gain. Other people may not be able to metabolize dairy fats efficiently. We determine which foods work for you and which ones trigger weight gain. Of course, you are probably anxious to try some foods not previously allowed on other diets. You can now have more variety in carefully measured portions.
Medical Weight-loss 

The Total Body Metamorphosis medical weight-loss is comprised of specialists who have training and expertise in the field of weight-loss. Whether your goal is to lose weight for cosmetic reasons or you are suffering from poor health due to obesity, you will find the doctors/nutritionists at CFAA dedicated to helping you lose weight, live longer and be healthier.

The specialist involved in our medical weight-loss program use the latest techniques available in the field. With high quality nutritional products available only to medical facilities and the latest FDA-approved weight-loss prescription medications, the physicians at CFAA have an advantage over every commercial weight-loss clinic or program when it comes to helping
patients lose weight quickly and effectively.

Each patient who visits CFAA is treated as a unique individual and receives a customized weight-loss program with personal counseling and careful monitoring to best achieve short and long term goals. Although our primary goal is to help you reach your target weight quickly and easily, the focus of care is to allow you to maintain your weight-loss permanently so that you will not put the weight back on after you complete your weight-loss program.

If you are serious about losing weight, you will find the weight-loss doctors at CFAA to be experts in the subjects of obesity, nutrition, fitness, prescription medication, exercise, behavioral motivation, weight-loss counseling and weight related illness.


Medical Weight-loss Programs

CFAA offers a distinct and comprehensive medical weight-loss program with options that are customized depending on your needs and goals. All weight-loss programs are medically supervised by highly qualified physicians and nutritionists that focus on both the physical and behavioral aspects of the weight-loss process. Each patient is treated as a unique individual and receives a customized weight-loss program allowing the physician to treat the 'whole' person. Although the primary objective is to help you reach your goal quickly and safely, the focus of care is to maintain your weight-loss permanently.

Here's how easy it is go get started:
  • Call CFAA at 813-341-2600 and ask questions. The doctor and staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the medical weight-loss programs.
  • Make an appointment for a consultation.
  • Come in and meet the staff. The doctor and professional staff at CFAA will get to know you and help you determine the best weight-loss program for your individual needs.
  • Begin your personalized weight-loss program and start seeing results! Not only will you be healthier, but you will feel better about yourself.