Q. Why is it so hard to lose weight even when I only eat the burger patty or increase my vegetable intake for my diet?

Many people try restrictive diets—like eating only salads and chicken breast—only to find themselves feeling lethargic, heavy, and lightheaded. This happens because the body's metabolic balance is disrupted. Physiologically, refined sugars in burger buns or sauces cause blood glucose levels to spike, triggering an insulin surge that rapidly stores energy as fat. Even if you eat only the patty, the additives in processed meats can often hinder your overall metabolism. In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), this state is often diagnosed as Spleen Deficiency (Bi-heo 脾虛), where the Spleen's function of digestion and transformation is impaired. When this occurs, even healthy foods aren't converted into energy; instead, they leave behind metabolic byproducts known as Phlegm-Fluid (Dam-eum 痰飮). This 'internal waste' slows down your metabolism, turning your body into a constitution that resists weight loss despite low caloric intake. Furthermore, if this is coupled with Blood Stasis (Eo-hyeol 瘀血)—where blood flow is impeded due to stress or irregular eating habits—the efficiency of fat burning drops even further. Therefore, rather than simple dietary restriction, the key is to 'flip the metabolic switch' by addressing the underlying dysfunction of your internal organs.