Weight Loss: A Total Commitment to Health

Julian Whitaker, MD

In 1998, 39-year-old Mark Bellinger tipped the scales at 340 pounds. Of course, he was concerned about his weight, but what really worried him were increasingly frequent bouts of severe angina. When the pain became too much to bear, he came to my clinic, the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, CA.

Inspiration in the Waiting Room

While Mark was sitting in the waiting room, he picked up a copy of my book, Dr. Whitaker’s Guide to Natural Healing, and began reading about weight loss. He read about Oprah Winfrey’s attempts to lose weight, her crazy fad diets (such as the 400-calorie liquid protein diet), and the temporary successes she’d experienced over the years. She’d lose a little weight, only to regain it—and usually a bit more—once she stopped dieting.

What finally changed Oprah’s way of thinking was the realization that she had to “make a total commitment to achieving health rather than losing weight.” She had to change the way she thought about all aspects of her health and revamp her lifestyle for good. A light bulb went on in Mark’s head: In order to get rid of those unwanted pounds, he had to look at the whole picture of his health.

A Program, Not a Diet

Mark went home, pored through years of Health & Healing, and noted the changes he needed to make in order to regain his health. First was figuring out which supplements would help with weight loss. He started on a potent daily multivitamin and mineral supplement to lay the proper nutritional foundation, then added green tea and L-carnitine.

Next, he took a long, hard look at his diet. Mark severely limited his carbohydrate intake by cutting out breads and sweets and focused instead on lean protein such as fish and chicken with lots of vegetables. He started his mornings off with protein shakes and a fistful of nutritional supplements. To his surprise, his cravings for sugar and other unhealthy foods disappeared. And once he realized what that big old piece of greasy bacon was doing to him, he just didn’t want to put it into his body anymore.

He also began exercising. In the beginning, when he weighed nearly 350 pounds, 10 toe touches left him “huffing and puffing like crazy.” After just three weeks he was up to 1,000 toe touches a day. He also added jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, and other calisthenics to his daily routine, which he split up and did morning, noon, and night, often stepping into the men’s room at lunch to knock off 200 toe touches. As his tolerance built up and he increased his repetitions, the pounds just started melting off.

A Shadow of His Former Self

Today, at age 47, Mark is literally a shadow of his former self. The self-proclaimed “big balloon” now enjoys life at a healthy weight (between 180 and 200 pounds), which he has maintained for more than seven years. He has never felt better. His chest pain resolved with his weight loss (plus the use of coenzyme Q10). And, as an added bonus, the combination of exercise, eating right, and taking supplements has chased off his “cloudy days,” made his thoughts clearer, and sent his energy levels through the roof.

Eight years ago, Mark Bellinger made a decision that would change his life forever: He chose to take total control of his health. I hope his story inspires you to do the same.

Recommendation

• To learn more about the Whitaker Wellness Institute Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Program, call (866) 944-8253 or click here.

Modified from Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.