Don't stop dieting during the holiday season

Dec 3 2009

As Americans gear up for the holiday season this month, Dr. Sasson Moulavi, a Board Certified Bariatric Physician, cautions that overweight and obese patients not give in to temptation and forget their dieting. Rather, Dr. Sass, founder of the Smart for Life(R) Cookie Diet, recommends alternative behavior for a positive outcome when it is time to ring in the New Year.

"I was asked by an overweight patient if she could stop her Smart for Life(R) Cookie Diet over the holidays. I explained that many people do not realize that being overweight or obese is a serious medical issue with serious consequences," Dr. Sass explains.

According to Moulavi, 40 pounds of extra fat on your body does not just sit there. It releases toxins and creates inflammation. It also covers your heart and blocks blood vessels that supply your brain and heart.

"My worry is that if we don't begin treating Obesity as a serious disease, it will become out of control and a leading killer. An example to my point: If someone had a cancerous tumor that could eventually kill her, would she stop chemotherapy for the holidays? Doctors most likely would advise otherwise. If someone stopped cancer treatment for Thanksgiving, we physicians would consider them mentally unstable and hospitalize them. Yet so many people stop their dieting or hold off on their current program like the Smart for Life(R) Cookie Diet over the holidays in order to 'participate' in the festivities -- which is unfortunate."

In a country where almost 50% of the population is obese or overweight, Moulavi notices more and more Americans stopping therapy for this killer disease that causes so much suffering. Instead, he prescribes that those affected and those with family in these categories, begin a new tradition by taking the Obesity disease more seriously. Dr. Sass suggests thinking of fat cells as a slow-growing cancer that must be treated until it is controlled.

This holiday season, Dr. Moulavi recommends that if plans focus around overeating or overindulging, the result may become gorging the fat cells which in turn will increase the size of the "tumor." Ultimately, the answer is to continue on the plan. Especially do not stop your Smart for Life(R) Cookie Diet. Continue to treat the illness so many more holidays are enjoyed for years to come.