Go Ahead, Blame it on Your Metabolism-Local Doctor Publishes Book
on His Proven Program for Weight Loss

By Amy J. Barry, January 2006
Living Editor, © Shore Publishing Newspapers

Despite the plethora of books and programs on dieting and Americans' obsession with thinness, we just keep getting heavier. We are now in the throes of an obesity epidemic, estimated to affect more than 40 million people in this country, creating an increase in such serious illnesses as diabetes and heart disease.

Reza Yavari, M.D., of Madison has some surprising news for all those people who blame their inability to lose weight on their "slow" metabolisms. His newly published book, It Must Be My Metabolism!, confirms that metabolism (more specifically metabolic syndrome-a malfunction in the way the body breaks down food) is the reason why so many Americans are overweight and obese.

The good news, Yavari asserts, is, "By understanding the difference between a healthy and lean metabolism as opposed to that of a yo-yo dieter's, you will be able to lose fat the right way and keep it off forever."

For five years, Yavari, an endocrinologist and Yale University School of Medicine faculty member, has been implementing his program for shedding pounds and becoming healthy, which he calls Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC), with patients at Beyond Care, his lifestyle-management center in Branford. He also recently co-founded and became national medical director of MDiet, a dietary program based on the program he developed in Branford, launched by MDVIP, Inc., one of the fastest growing healthcare companies in the country.

A national TV health news show that aired a clip on metabolic syndrome, in which Yavari was featured, garnered emails from all over the country and resulted in a proposal being enthusiastically accepted by McCraw Hill to publish his book, It Must Be My Matabolism! A Doctor's Proven Program for Losing Weight by Reversing Metabolic Syndrome. The book features a meal plan with low-calorie recipes provided by fellow Madison resident and world-renowned chef Jacques Pepin, a good friend of Yavari's.

"I didn't even plan to write a book," Yavari says. "It fell into my lap.

"As an endocrinologist, I've been aware of the huge diabetes epidemic that we face," he continues. "And over the last five years, we have now understood how excess abdominal fat is the main culprit, predisposing people to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Since I have a program based on endocrinology and metabolism, I was able to customize it to address metabolic syndrome."

Subhead: Not a Diet Book

Yavari can't stress enough that this is not a diet book.

"It really describes in detail a clinical program called Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) and addresses the medical consequences of excess body fat and how to reverse it," he says.

He points out that although "everybody has a book on weight loss, including Dr. Phil," no other book he is aware of addresses metabolic syndrome and provides medical data and clinical advice that people can apply to their day-to-day lives to reduce excess body fat.

A chapter of the book is devoted to each of the three elements to his program: stress reduction-not only how it causes excess body fat but techniques to reduce it; exercise-guidelines for building a specific exercise regimen based one one's body composition including breathwork, stretching, yoga, and traditional exercise training; and healthy eating-how to develop an individualized eating plan with healthy, delicious recipes, and guidelines for choosing food wisely.

Yavari acknowledges that one of the biggest problems with obesity is weight maintenance.

"Weight loss may be hard, but keeping the weight off is even harder," he says, "which is the reason why dieting can give initial results. But dieting alone can actually slow down your metabolism, so you tend to gain the weight back once you stop dieting. For every 20 pounds you lose, your resting metabolic rate goes down 200 calories, so the only way you can break through this so-called plateau effect and avoid relapse is by changing your body's metabolism."

Yavari explains how this can be achieved in the book with specific exercise regimens and food plans for both small- and large-framed men and women.

His program, he says, is unique because, "It's truly about lifestyle change, addressing issues that are commonly seen as part of metabolic syndrome, such as not only appropriate meal planning but also resolving stress eating. There's a lot of emphasis on cognitive and behavioral therapy or modification."

Who Should Read this Book?

"Anyone with a slight increased risk of diabetes and heart disease should read this book," Yavari says, "because the connection between diabetes, heart disease, and weight gain is what metabolic syndrome is."

He says it's critical that people understand that you don't have to be considered obese to have metabolic syndrome-it's based on one's body mass index (weight corrected for height).

A screen for both men and women to determine whether they're at risk for metabolic syndrome is included in the book and is also on the Beyond Care website, www.Beyondcare.net.

"All women between the ages of 40 and 50 should read this book," Yavari notes, "because peri-menopause increases the risk of metabolic syndrome dramatically by changing a woman's body composition."

Eat Delicious Food and Lose Weight

Yavari says the recipes in the book are gourmet recipes that have been nutritionally evaluated and chosen because they're simple and flexible-they can be used as meals, snacks, leftovers, or side dishes.

He gives a dramatic example of the fact that losing weight doesn't mean giving up the joys of dining.

"We [recently] went to Jacques Pepin's 70th birthday party in Napa and on one day we ate for nine hours total, including lunch and dinner. And I came home having lost one pound. The following weekend I went skiing with my kids. We skied for six hours and I came back having gained three pounds.

"So when it comes to food and weight gain, the devil is in the details," Yavari says. "During Jacques' birthday party, the food was high protein, low calorie, and in small portions. During my ski trip, due to a lack of a better choice, we ate high-carb, high-fat, calorie-dense foods. So the net result was, even though we burned calories, we gained weight."

The conclusion?

"You can eat like Jacques Pepin and other chefs and enjoy gourmet foods and not gain weight," Yavari says.

It Must Be My Metabolism! includes a day-by-day guide to undoing metabolic syndrome in six months, offering tools and advice to keep people motivated and on target.

"Everyone knows that obesity causes health problems, but it is easy to push that awareness aside as we go about our lives-too busy to plan and prepare healthy meals, too tired to exercise, too stressed not to soothe ourselves with chips, cookies, ice cream, or a few cold beers," Yavari writes in his book. "But the truth is that it's not difficult to change your life and become healthy. It's simple, straightforward, and utterly predictable."

(recipe-- in body of story)

Chicken in Red Wine Sauce
By Jacques Pepin
(yield: four servings)

This is a simple but elegant way to prepare chicken with a minimum amount of calories and a maximum amount of flavor. As part of your meal plan, this recipe can be used as lunch or dinner. Any leftovers (the serving size is quite generous) can be used cold in a salad or added to an egg omelet the next day.

1 ½ tablespoons good olive oil
12 small pearl onions, peeled
½ teaspoon sugar
8 medium mushrooms, quartered
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups robust, fruity red wine
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon potato starch dissolved in two tablespoons water

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a skillet, and add pearl onions, sugar, mushrooms, and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, cover, and boil for three to four minutes. Remove the cover and keep cooking over high heat until the water has evaporated. Continue cooking until onions and mushrooms take on a dark brown color. Remove mushrooms and onions from skillet, and set aside in a bowl.

Add chopped onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and wine to skillet. Place chicken breasts in wine mixture in skillet so they don't overlap, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer very gently for seven to eight minutes.

Add soy sauce, pepper, and dissolved potato starch, and mix well. Return mushrooms and onions to stew in skillet, heat gently for one minute, and serve.

Nutrition Facts (per serving size of 414 grams): calories, 430; fat, 10 grams; cholesterol, 135 milligrams; carbohydrates, 12 grams; protein, 56 grams.