Why Lasting Weight Loss is Such a Struggle

On this premier episode of my podcast I’m going to bust through a whole bunch of dieting myths and get you set on the right foot, so you can lose the weight and more importantly, keep it off! I'll share my struggle with foods that I loved, as well as some key issues others have shared. We'll discuss how the typical "diets" don't work - and may be making things worse, and how obesity needs to be treated in a new, scientific way.

3:00 My Story … I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s
5:11 It all began to make sense … So imagine how I felt when I discovered obesity medicine about 15
7:21 Client stories … Maybe you’re like my client Linda, who’s tried EVERYTHING else.
13:18 Just imagine … Now if you’re in a place where it’s safe for you - don’t do this if you’re driving - but if it’s safe, just close your eyes for a moment and imagine yourself one year from today.
17:05 The real problem with dieting? .. the real problem is with the diets and the crazy exercise plans and the whole approach we’re taking? Is it possible that these crazy weight loss plans could actually be making the problem WORSE?
19:02 The light bulb moment … Listen carefully, because this will be a light bulb moment for you. It was a huge light bulb moment for the people in my membership and they’ve been talking about this a lot.
23:56 Most health care professionals are not trained in obesity management! 

Full Transcription Below

You are listening to the Keep the Weight Off Podcast with Dr Angela, episode #1

Well hello everyone, and thank you for tuning in to Episode 1 of the Keep the Weight off Podcast. I’m super excited to be talking to you today.  

So I want you to know, that If you’ve struggled with your weight, you’re in the right place.  On this podcast I’m going to bust through a whole bunch of dieting myths and get you set on the right foot, so you can lose the weight and more importantly, keep it off!

Now, if you don’t know me, I’m a medical doctor, and I specialize in a largely unknown field of medicine called Obesity medicine. 

As of the time of recording this podcast, I’ve been at this for over 13 years, and I’ve worked with thousands of patients and clients both in my medical practice and in my online programs.  Weight loss is the only thing I do. 

Now you might be wondering, have I ever struggled with food?  Really, Absolutely. In the self-help world, they always say that your pain is your gift to the world, in other words, your “mess” is your “message” and my eating was definitely a big mess.  I struggled so much with food and food obsession and dieting. 

I grew up in the 60s and 70s and my mother’s favorite store was the Hostess Bakery outlet.  I mean, who doesn’t love that place right?  Our house was filled with that stuff. We were always eating ding dongs, and hohos and twinkies and hostess cupcakes.  

My mom also kept chocolate everywhere. And there was always lots of ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

I learned to bake and decorate cakes when I was about 12.  

I absolutely LOVE sweet things.  

As I got older I gave up all the hostess stuff but I’d still find myself face down in a bowl of ice cream every night or if I was really feeling down, I’d find myself eating most of a tube of raw chocolate chip cookie dough for dinner.  Yes, you heard that right …  raw cookie dough.  

I also found myself - after a party - getting into the trash can and digging mostly uneaten pieces of cake out and snarfing them down quickly before anyone could see me. They called to me to be eaten… and it was if I just couldn’t help myself. 

I was into rigid exercise plans to try to keep this under control.  It was like in my brain, I could have this pleasurable food if I paid the price with exercise.  One year I even went so far as to enter a figure contest in an effort to reign things in. I gotta tell you, if that isn’t the most unhealthy way to lose weight I don’t know what is!  My periods actually stopped for over a year. I literally starved myself to the point where I was no longer fertile. 

I suffered from severe depression and I could not figure out what was going on ….. Well it never occurred to me that my depression might be due to my poor eating habits. 

I constantly felt tired and bloated and had no energy to do my work. Really guys, I was a mess. 

So imagine how I felt when I discovered obesity medicine about 15 years ago. I finally had an explanation for this misery. Everything that was happening to me made perfect sense. I began to understand my struggles with food in a new way, and began to teach my patients a new way to think about weight loss. And what’s happened has been nothing short of amazing. 


So.. in this podcast, I’m going to show you how to make the ultimate shift in how you think about and approach weight loss …so you can feel good about your body again, feel comfortable in your clothes, get excited about being able to keep up with your kids or grandkids…. and ultimately take back control of your life again. 


So I’m glad you’re here, listening to me, because I have a lot to say.  Maybe you’re like my client  Linda, who’s tried EVERYTHING else. Before she met me, she’d been in and out of weight watchers for years, never being able to lose no matter how closely she stuck to the diet. She resigned herself to being overweight tired and achy.  If you’ve been on all the diets, found that they worked for a bit but you gained the weight back and then some, you’re in the right place and you’re going to learn a LOT.  So many people are totally frustrated with the lose-gain-lose-gain cycle and they’re really ready to end that craziness.  BTW this is common

I have another client, Lisa who says she felt like Food ruled her life – If this is you, I want you to know you’re definitely NOT alone!  These constant thoughts about food - how much you should eat, how much you did eat - how much exercise do you need to do to make up for it -- this is really common too! Thoughts about food and weight can take up a LOT of our brain space.  That’s what was happening for me, and I was not present for my family because I was so obsessed with thoughts of food and exercise. 

Or maybe you’re like my client Shelly, who identifies herself as an emotional eater.  She said that she was stuck in a vicious cycle. Her eating habits were ruled by her emotions. She said “I could go months of eating “good” and “strict” and have that all crumble away in just days, switching back to old “bad” eating patterns and habits.” Well you and I both know that the crumbling doesn’t happen in days, it happens in minutes, right?  It’s like a switch gets flipped in our brains and suddenly we just can’t get enough. 

And let’s face it. I’m recording this podcast in early 2021, and I have to say, 2020 did a number on our emotional lives. So many people have been struggling with weight gain since CoVid hit… staying home all day, right near the fridge and the pantry, trying to manage online work and online school for the kiddos, missing social times with extended family and friends… the constant worry about being exposed to covid…. There is just this huge weight on all our shoulders. So I want you to know that if you’ve been struggling with food during this difficult time, you are not alone!  Over the last months we have seen so many in the office who have been struggling! They’ve been coming into the office with their tail between their legs, really ashamed.. So don’t be ashamed, this is really common and you’re definitely not alone!

And here’s another thought… perhaps you’re beginning to recognize that maybe on some level -  that you might need to dig a little deeper - that keeping the weight off might just require more than a new food plan… You might sense that there’s more to it than what actually goes in your mouth…. and you might feel like maybe you’re ready to think about this whole process differently. 

BTW, this is NOT so common.  Most people want a quick weight loss solution… and they’re not willing to dig any deeper.  So if you’re here listening to this podcast, I congratulate you, because that is saying a lot about you. 

The truth of the matter is, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you’re going to have to do more than just finding a new food plan.  You’re going to have to work at changing the way you think, the things that are going on in your head.  And that’s what we’re going to focus on in this podcast. 

So I want you to know that I fully support you!!  I want you to know I’m on your team here, and I’m rooting for your success.  But I also want you to know… losing weight and keeping it off may be one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do.  It isn’t easy… especially not in this country. I had a patient come in a few months ago and she’d grown up in Chile, and she said she was just shocked at how much crap there is in our food. If it were easy, every diet would work and everyone would be skinny.  


Now if you’re in a place where it’s safe for you - don’t do this if you’re driving - but if it’s safe, just close your eyes for a moment and imagine yourself one year from today. 

Imagine that you’re living in a body that is SERVING you, not HINDERING you.   

Imagine that you can move freely… you’re not feeling confined and bogged down by the extra weight.  

You can bend over and tie your shoes… or paint your toenails, and you’re not relegated to slip on shoes. 

You are waking up each morning without joint pain…

You can climb a flight of stairs and NOT feel embarassed because you’re out of breath…

Imagine that you can go to your closet and know everything fits…comfortably! 

Imagine that you are no longer living to feed cravings… you’re just nourishing your body three times a day with good food and you feel light and energetic and amazing. 

Imagine that you have good energy and stamina and your brain can focus on the task at hand without getting distracted all the time. 

Imagine that you aren’t hiding from the camera any more

Imagine that you can get on a flight without worrying about how you’ll fit into the seat. 

Imagine that you actually enjoy exercise ,that it feels good, and when someone suggests that they want to take a hike that you are all in to go with them. 

This is what’s available to you if you listen to this podcast regularly, and begin to shift how you think about this weight loss journey. 

What actually happens, if you do this right, is you learn to shift the way you think, not just about food, but about everything. The weight loss journey, when done well, is actually a deep journey into our souls.  

I want you to know that you deserve everything you can imagine when it comes to the health of your body. 

As a matter of fact, I always say “You DESERVE to be thriving in a healthy, vibrant body that you’re PROUD OF.  

This isn’t something that’s optional. It’s actually 3wyour birthright. 


Guys, I”m going to be frank here.  When we’re struggling with our weight, it’s not because we haven’t already tried EVERYTHING to try to fix it.  We spend thousands, TENS of thousands of dollars- some even more than that --  trying to lose weight. 

And I don’t have to tell you the statistics about weight gain in the US alone… just look around you, and you will see it - 70% of people in the US are struggling with their weight. That’s the vast majority. And this despite all the money spent on diets, gym memberships, special foods, weight loss supplements…. The problem is getting worse, not better.


So I have a question: Is it possible that there’s not something wrong with US, those of us who want to lose weight and get healthy… the real problem is with the diets and the crazy exercise plans and the whole approach we’re taking?  Is it possible that these crazy weight loss plans could actually be making the problem WORSE? 

The answer to this is yes. Absolutely. 

This idea of starving ourselves thin and beating ourselves up with crazy calorie burning exercise regimens - this idea that is popularized in all the women’s magazines and all the diet programs out there… it’s all flawed. It’s dangerous. And it’s making us actually GAIN weight in the long run. 

So I’d like to suggest that we begin to think about weight loss in a new way. A more accurate way. A scientific way.  I’m a doctor, after all. A highly trained specialist.   A Scientist at heart.  I love science and there is science behind what I’m about to teach you.  

Diets don’t work because you don’t have a problem with your willpower.  

*Weight gain is not the result of a willpower defect or a character flaw of some sort. People who struggle with their weight actually have MORE willpower than people who don’t struggle with their weight. 

People who struggle with their weight are  not lazy or unmotivated. None of that is going on.  People who struggle with their weight have even MORE motivation than people who don’t. 

So what’s actually going on?  

Listen carefully, because this will be a light bulb moment for you.  It was a huge light bulb moment for the people in my membership and they’ve been talking about this a lot.

Weight gain is a manifestation of a DISEASE.  Yes, it’s a disease. A disease with far-reaching complications. This is what we have now come to understand from the science of it. Obesity is a DISEASE.  

The disease causes you to feel hungry even when your body doesn’t need food. The disease results in all kinds of crazy cravings. The disease causes a depletion of energy. As a matter of fact, obesity causes your brain to think it’s starving. 

It turns out that Obesity is a really complicated disease. But it’s a Disease that you can learn how to manage. 

But you do not manage this disease with quick fix, crazy dieting and exercise regimens. That actually makes it worse.  When you starve the body, you tell it to slow down. Your body wants to survive. Your body EVOLVED to survive famines.  If you drop your calorie intake too low, you are going to put your body in a famine state, it’s energy output will stall, and then it will hang onto fat like crazy later.  So you don’t want to do that. You want to learn how to manage this disease for the long haul. That’s how I want you want to start thinking. 

So what I’m going to do in this podcast, is to teach you how to manage this disease, and as you learn how to manage the disease, you lose weight.That’s an awesome side effect.  

But a lot of other things happen too -- joint pain diminishes or resolves,  Sleep apnea gets better  - If you are using a CPAP machine, can you imagine life without it? I see it often. High blood pressure comes down. Diabetes comes under better control  Many of my diabetic patients who were taking insulin have been able to get OFF insulin.  So there’s a lot more going on here than just losing weight. That’s because obesity is much more than weight gain. It’s actually a complicated disease, but one that can be managed. 

Can you see how this changes everything?

No more crazy diets!

No worries about having some fundamental willpower flaw!

You just learn how to manage the disease…

And you lose weight in the process.


Once you begin to think about obesity as a disease, the question becomes, how do I manage the disease? Sort of like, if you’ve been diagnosed with asthma, you learn how to manage your asthma.  You don’t smoke.  You may take some medications. Or if you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you avoid salt and you take your blood pressure medicines and you exercise regularly.  Obesity is the same thing.  It’s a disease you learn how to manage. You stop all these crazy diets and you learn what to eat and how to manage your life so you can keep the disease under control. 

So how do you manage this disease? Well we’re going to talk about that in this podcast. There’s a lot to understand. 

But one thing I want you to think about is how you manage other diseases. Let’s take asthma for example. If you have asthma, you need the help of a skilled medical professional to help you keep it under control.  If you have an asthma flare up and start wheezing, you have a protocol for what to do, right?  You start with your inhaler. Usually that does the trick, but what if it doesn’t?  You make an appointment with your doctor, or if it’s really bad and you can’t breathe, you go to the ER. 

Now that you understand that obesity is a disease and not a character flaw, I want you to think the same way about obesity as you do about asthma.  You need to have a medical doctor that specializes in obesity helping you out.  You can go to www.abom.org to find an obesity medicine specialist near you. I’ll put this link in the show notes.  You definitely want a specialist on your team because most health care professionals are not trained in obesity medicine and they are still telling their patients to eat less and exercise more… Many of my patients have been traumatized by medical professionals who just say cruel things to them to try to motivate them to lose weight.  I’ve heard some really awful stories. This is why I recommend you see an obesity medicine specialist. 

The other thing i want you to understand is that if you are having a flare up of the disease of obesity, what’s going to be your indicator?  FOr asthma flares, the indicator is wheezing. If you start wheezing and you can’t manage it on your own, you have to get medical help. You don’t stay home in shame trying to stop the wheezing on yoru own. You get help. The same is true for obesity  If you have a flare, your indicator is going to be weight gain.  This is NOT the time to stay home in shame, this is the time to make sure you are getting the help you need to get this back under control.  I want you to fight like hell for yourself here, stop feeling guilty about it and just get your rear end back into your specialists’ office ASAP. Obesity flares are very hard to control and they can get out of hand quickly and you need help.  

OK so I’ve just given you a LOT to think about on this first podcast. 

I really want you to imagine life in a healthy vibrant body that is serving you, and I want you to know that you DESERVE this, and you are WORTHY of doing whatever it takes to get this under control. 

I helped you to understand that this is not some sort of willpower flaw or character defect but this is a disease. Obesity is a serious disease with far reaching complications and it kills people every day.  It’s hard to keep under control when you live in the western food environment and you should have a specialist on your team to help you get it under control and keep it under control. Don’t feel guilty if you are struggling. Just do whatever it takes to get it back under control as quickly as possible. 

If you want to learn more about this just head over to my website at journey beyond weight loss.com and I’ve got a free course there for you to download so you can get on the way to getting this under control for good!

All right that’s all for today! I’ll see you next time!

Dr. Angela

This episode was produced and marketing by the Get Known Podcast Service