May 15, 2012
As many of you know, I am a huge proponent of the healthy lifestyle. And while I believe wholeheartedly in Plastic Surgery, I recognize that it alone is only one piece of the puzzle. To achieve optimal results requires more than a scalpel, syringe, or fancy creams and lotions. It requires dedication and a commitment to embracing all aspects of your health on a whole body level.
To demonstrate my commitment to this lifestyle, at the end of 2011 I co-launched a women’s health/beauty/wellness site dedicated to the premise that there is more than one way to achieve wellness and that life itself is a complex journey through which we best understand our strengths and our weaknesses when assessed from multiple viewpoints. From this belief, “be” was born.
The notion of holistic healing has taken on a life of its own and has been attributed to a number of potentially positive as well as negative connotations. As such, I prefer to talk about “wholistic” healing since all individual parts are connected to the rest and an imbalance at any level can lead to disharmony with the whole.
For example, in working with those of you interested in body contouring the conventional approach has been to emphasize the latest and greatest technologies and surgical procedures. But to offer these alone, I would be selling you short and giving you an imbalanced and partial view of what you could truly achieve. Instead, I discuss with you not only where you want to be (in terms of your appearance) but also how you potentially got to where you are today as a result of your diet and your exercise habits. The better foods you eat, the better you feel, and potentially the better you look in the long run. A revealing study released a few years ago from the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas, Southwestern identified that long-term success following body contouring procedures came as a result of three things. The first variable was the surgeon him/herself and was dependent upon their expertise, their experience, and their ability to deliver a positive outcome. And while that may seem obvious, that was not only the variable. Equally rated were the next two variables: both of which had nothing whatsoever to do with the surgeon. These variables were completely dependent upon the patient’s lifestyle choices following surgery and were as follows. The first was the quality of diet consumed. And the next was the amount of exercise that the patients maintained. And, as this study identified, these two areas were found to be extremely important in determining long-term success of the results associated with the original procedure.
This last statement cannot be overemphasized. As a physician, I have had the opportunity to work with a group of highly educated individuals who are now, more than ever, becoming an active participant in the delivery of their own healthcare. You, the consumer, are researching health issues, are identifying how to treat them, and are choosing providers based upon a number of variables including expertise, experience, and the ability to communicate. As I stated in a recent Huffington Post article, times they are a changing and so are you, the healthcare consumer. And with that change comes responsibility on the part of myself, the physician, to communicate and educate you, the consumer, as to not only options available but also alternatives and means with which to support your long-term results. It is imperative that I provide to you a solid base of information from which you can make an educated decision. And you, the consumer, are responsible for holding fast to a path that will enable you to achieve these results. Recommendations ultimately will only go as far as compliance will take them.
And so in the coming months, I encourage you to stay tuned to both this blog as well as “be” for more updates on how to live the life well lived. I look forward to guiding you down this path. It is up to you to continue it.
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