People often turn to quick fix solutions or unsustainable diet fads in hopes of getting instant results while losing weight, but in reality, it takes time and effort to achieve those goals. Lifestyle changes including healthier eating and exercise can help in your weight loss journey.
Now that the weather is starting to warm up, you’ll find Rachelle Corbin enjoying the weather with a walk outside.
“I go on walks outside, trails, I love to walk,” said Corbin.
But just a few years ago, Rachelle struggled to move her body due to a diagnosis of a chronic illness.
“In 2023 I got diagnosed with POTS syndrome which is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I was pretty sick at the time, I couldn’t stand or move and I gained a lot of weight, I weighed about 214 pounds at my heaviest and I was basically bed bound,” said Corbin.
First Steps to Reaching Weight Loss Goals
She turned to Avera’s functional and integrative medicine team.
“With a functional medicine approach, it’s usually a team approach and so working with a health coach and optimizing lifestyle factors. Oftentimes POTS patients really struggle with exercise, so finding that sweet spot where she could do enough movement during the day to get health benefits with that but not exasperating her POTS,” said Avera integrative and functional medicine physician, Dawn Flickema, MD.
Becoming more active was once of her goals, but Rachelle had to start slow.
“I started out going to the Y and I would do the recumbent bike. It was about two months before I could up my time to 10 minutes, but slowly, very slowly, I was able to up my exercise,” said Corbin.
In addition to adding exercise, taking a closer look at her diet not only helped her lose weight, but she also started feeling better.
“At first we started with a calorie deficit, so I started counting my carbs and calories and what I was eating. I was eating more whole foods and then we started doing an elimination diet, and in the elimination diet I realized I had a ton of food allergies,” said Corbin.
“Oftentimes when people do that it really does help them clear ultra-processed foods out of their food plan and added sugars and things like that. We often see as a side effect of that, weight loss, because just overall you’re eating cleaner, less inflammatory foods and more whole foods,” said Flickema.
Setting More Goals
Rachelle has lost 95 pounds since starting this journey, with a goal of losing 10 more pounds. To achieve that, she will continue to focus on these lifestyle changes.
“I prioritize whole foods, I watch everything I’m consuming, I walk every day, I exercise every day,” said Rachelle.
It’s been no easy task to get here. Rachelle knew it would take time and effort and encourages others not to give up even if you feel discouraged.
“It’s been about three years of me doing this. It took a very long time for me to start losing weight, but it’s been steady and it’s been getting easier. I feel like I’ve changed my whole lifestyle a lot so that just feels normal for me now, it’s not hard anymore, but it was extremely hard,” said Corbin.
“Really we approach it as more of helping people have a healthy lifestyle because it’s not all about weight loss, it’s really all of those things. Moving every day, sleeping well, optimizing your nutrition and managing stress are going to keep you healthy in the long run, with less chronic illness and aging healthy. Those are the goals we are looking for,” said Flickema.
Rachelle’s weight loss has also helped her manage her chronic conditions.
Learn more about integrative and functional medicine.
