As You Read
If you're reading this now, you're probably not just casually browsing, but rather reading with a heavy heart after finishing a meal, feeling like you might regret it later.
"I really want to do it properly this time, but what if it's too expensive?" It's natural to have these concerns from the start.
You might have tried dieting before, but ended up giving up after just a few attempts. That's completely understandable. The body doesn't respond as quickly as we'd like, and it's frustrating when results don't come as expected.
What's your situation?
After starting work, have you gained 10-20kg within 1-2 years due to irregular sleep and eating habits?
While trying to manage stress through smoking and drinking, you might have noticed that your belly fat is more stubborn than others'.
It's not about willpower. When our body's homeostasis is disrupted, it can lead to problems in the appetite regulation system.
In this guide, we'll explore why dieting costs vary so much between individuals, and where you should invest your hard-earned money to be most effective.
Which Groups Are Searching for This?
If you listen to the stories of people struggling at the weight loss clinic, they often say they want to lose weight quickly and easily.
Type 1: Stressed Office Workers in Their 30s
This is the most common case. When work stress peaks, they feel cornered in their daily lives.
After work, they feel compelled to eat for emotional security, leading to weight gain.
However, they soon realize that their savings are dwindling and their self-esteem is plummeting, so they desperately search for "a surefire method to lose weight, even if it's expensive."
Type 2: Women in Their 30s After Childbirth
"I have no time to take care of myself, and even though I eat less, I keep gaining weight" - this is a typical case.
Especially when experiencing hormonal changes like edema (fluid retention), they need to control their weight carefully before it becomes a chronic issue.
They often compare various Korean medicine diet programs and carefully consider their cost-effectiveness.
Type 3: Young Adults in Their 20s with Repeated Failures
They've tried various diets but keep failing, ending up with a severely damaged basal metabolic rate.
Now, rather than worrying about their appearance, they want to find a fundamental solution, so they search for alternatives like albit or monthly membership programs.
Why Such Things Happen — Key Points in Korean Medicine
In Korean medicine, weight gain is explained as an imbalance between Energy Intake (In-take) and Energy Expenditure (Output).
It's not just about eating too much; it's more about the hormonal regulation in our body's hypothalamus that's gone awry.
- Appetite Suppressants: Primarily block neurotransmitters like norepinephrine or serotonin to suppress appetite.
- Latest Trends: Recently, GLP-1 receptor agonists (such as Saxenda) are used to maintain satiety through appetite suppression.
- Corporate Adjustments: Some use complex formulas like Capsimax or plant extracts that block fat absorption.
However, when stopping these medications, there's often a phenomenon where appetite rebounds explosively.
Side effects like insomnia, stomach discomfort, and headaches are also common, requiring careful consideration of the central nervous system.
While it's good to study the ingredients that have proven effects before trying them, the side effects and discomfort can really lower your quality of life.
Why Do I Gain Weight Even When I Eat the Same? — A Korean Medicine Perspective
In Korean medicine, weight gain is not simply viewed as a matter of excess fat, but rather as a dampness condition where the body's qi and blood circulation become stagnant, leading to the accumulation of waste fluids.
If you find yourself gaining weight even when eating the same as others, you likely fall into one of the following three categories:
Spleen Deficiency (脾虛) and Phlegm-Dampness (痰飮)
When spleen qi (脾氣), which is responsible for digestion and transformation, becomes weak, the body cannot properly process food into energy.
Instead, our bodies produce phlegm-dampness (痰飮), a pathological fluid that directly contributes to weight gain.
Liver Qi Stagnation (肝氣鬱結)
When stress causes liver qi to become stagnant, the smooth flow of qi is disrupted.
This creates what's known as 'false hunger,' where you might feel constantly hungry even when your stomach is full, leading to continuous snacking.
Body Signals by Constitution
- Qi Deficiency Type (氣虛型): Easily fatigued, often feels cold, and has a soft, plump body type.
- Stomach Heat Type (胃熱型): Good digestive power but always feels hungry, with a tendency to overeat.
- Blood Stasis Type (瘀血型): Poor circulation leads to stubborn fat accumulation and often experiences menstrual issues.
Rather than simply reducing food intake, it's important to understand that overeating is often a symptom of underlying qi and blood (氣血) imbalance in Korean medicine.
How to Start Effectively
Before searching for diet medications, we often end up taking a long detour instead of the usual path.
- Extreme fasting: Eating only one meal a day or trying an extreme diet might seem like you'll lose weight quickly at first. However, if you drastically reduce your food intake, you'll end up with a 'body that doesn't lose weight even if you don't eat'.
- Mid-diet adjustments: On social media, we often see famous celebrities or various diet products and low-calorie foods. However, products that don't consider individual body types can cause digestive issues or liver damage when taken long-term.
- High-intensity exercise: If you suddenly go to the gym when your body is in a weakened state, you might end up with joint problems. Also, you can't ignore the side effect of eating more as a reward after exercise.
I remember a time when I thought I could lose weight just by exercising, but I only gained muscle mass without losing weight.
If you don't address the fundamental spleen deficiency (脾虛) condition and only focus on visible numbers, you'll end up wasting both money and time.
Approach to Baekrokdam
At Baekrokdam's Korean medicine clinic, we don't just focus on simple dieting, but rather concentrate on normalizing the body's metabolic system.
The Standard of Treatment (Tongzhi Fang)
Rather than the vague expression of 'dieting,' we follow the standard treatment that has been verified through numerous clinical trials.
As the main treatments, we carefully combine and use herbs such as Bangpungtongseongsan (防風通聖散) which promotes diuresis, and Mahuang (麻黃) which increases metabolic rate.
The Essence of Constitution, Baekrok Gambi-jung
Do you often feel bloated after meals due to unique constitution or taste? That's why we developed Baekrok Gambi-jung, which is a high-concentration pill (丸) type.
The effect of reducing bloating is maintained for a long time, and through stabilizing the spleen and stomach, it can help maintain the value of Korean medicine diet/weight management better than anything else.
Step-by-Step Management
- Adaptation period: This is the initial stage to help the body adapt without feeling dizzy from sudden dietary changes.
- Concentration period: Maximize the weight loss elements and intensively reduce dampness (痰飮).
- Maintenance period: This is an essential process to maintain the reduced weight by making the body recognize it as its own.
We also provide lifestyle management guidance, which is not just dependent on medication, but helps develop the ability to manage weight continuously.
Points to Check and Be Cautious About
Before deciding on treatment, first check the signals your body is sending.
- When you wake up in the morning, your hands or face are often swollen.
- After meals, you feel so full that you can't even drink water.
- When stressed, you want to eat something even if you're not hungry.
- Even if you're just lying down, your stomach feels bloated or you have gas.
- You've gained more than 5kg in the past year.
If you experience 3 or more of the above symptoms, it may indicate that your metabolic function is already impaired.
Please note that it's absolutely forbidden to eat leftover food from others, no matter how good it looks.
Even if it's a good medicine, if it doesn't match your current qi and blood condition, it may only cause side effects like stomach pain or indigestion.
Mamuri — A Small Beginning
The cost of diet/weight management is not just a few hundred thousand won per month.
But if you think that expense is merely 'to lose weight' rather than an 'investment' to find the long-lost rhythm of your body, how would that be?
If it's difficult to make a big decision right now, start with a small beginning today by drinking enough water regularly.
Just that alone can be a great help in excreting dampness (edema).
If you need more specific expenses or a prescription that suits your body condition, it's also a good idea to visit a clinic and get a consultation.
Your health will thank you in the future.