Acupuncture for Weight Loss
Source: Shape Magazine
http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/i-tried-it-acupuncture-weight-loss
After the birth of her second son, Allison, 25, found herself in the same situation as many other new moms with a few pounds left to lose and no idea how to do it. While she tried cleaning up her diet and she was a regular at the gym, the weight wasn’t budging, so this mom turned to something a little less conventional: acupuncture. “I went into the chiropractor for my first time to get adjusted and have acupuncture done for my back problems,” she says. “I was asking about all the things acupuncture can help with and she mentioned weight loss. My eyes lit up and I said ‘sign me up, when can I start?'”
“At first it was easy,” Allison says. “I just had to lay there while I got pricked all over my body (which actually felt kind of good) and then lay still for another 30 minutes after the last needle was inserted. It was a dark room with relaxing music. It was a nice break!” But things took a strange turn when the acupuncturist “hooked the needles on my stomach up to a battery that pulsed electricity into them. Now that was a weird feeling. My abs were sore the next day!”
In addition to the weekly hour-long acupuncture sessions, the acupuncturist taped a small magnet to her ear that she was supposed to squeeze every time she felt hungry—a practice said to use the magnet’s south polarity “to restore areas of weakness or deficiency in your system that can cause food cravings.” Allison laughs, “Yeah, I got some weird looks with that.”
But what about results? Did she get her pre-baby abs back? After 12 weeks of weekly appointments, she reports, “I feel that overall, it worked. It wasn’t quick by any means. I lost about 1-2 lbs a week. The magnet worked as well. It actually took my appetite away the majority of the time, but I learned it doesn’t help when you eat out of boredom.” She adds, “I would do it again. The only reason I stopped was because it became a conflict with my schedule.”
However, for people looking for a quick fix, Allison cautions, “This isn’t magic. You still need to eat right and exercise regularly. It just helps give you an extra boost along the way.”
