Teresa Syed, owner of OneLife, a wellness and weight loss clinic, says it all starts on the inside—that the excess weight we carry primarily has to do with things like selfesteem and the visceral human need for comfort. Syed, who once was 70 pounds heavier, talks about childhood and how the seeds are sown then. “We always want to reproduce those cozy warm feelings we had—being breastfed as babies, feeling safe and happy over family meals when we were children.”
The more chaotic our lives are, the more stress we have, Syed says, and the more likely we are to seek comfort and self-medicate with food. “Walk through any mall in this country and you see the emotional baggage so many people are carrying,” she says.
Syed says OneLife has a solution and offers more than the usual weight loss program. “First and foremost, we help people understand why they are the way they are,” she says. “What am I hungry for? How did I get here?” If we don’t fully understand our complex relationship with food, she stresses, any fix will be temporary.
“We start addressing the problem by simply getting the weight down and helping people feel more hopeful,” Syed says, explaining that every pound lost releases 10 pounds of pressure on the body. “Lose five pounds and you’ll feel 50 pounds better!” she says, adding that when diets move too slowly, it’s too much work and people tend to give up. OneLife’s second phase is less restricting food-wise, and by the final phase nearly all foods are allowed. If the plan is followed correctly, Syed says the average weight loss within a 40-day period is 20 to 30 pounds for women and 30 to 40 pounds for men. “We provide the tools, support, encouragement and awareness necessary to keep the weight off,” she says. “It’s powerful.” In total, the program takes about 12 weeks and can be implemented with another diet of choice.
Syed calls OneLife a ‘no-judgment zone,’ a safe place of accountability, where people can understand that they brought themselves here and they have the power to change. “I try to get people to think about the things that might be holding them back. It isn’t a blame game,” she says.
Syed says materialism also may play a part in the stress many Americans feel. “We want a certain lifestyle, so we have to work all the time to maintain our spending power,” she explains. “If we didn’t need more of everything, we’d live more peacefully and wouldn’t have to medicate, or do anything to excess.”
Pictured: OneLife’s Advisory Board includes several successful program participants.
Photo: Bill Barrett
OneLife, located at 12291 Olive Blvd. in Creve Coeur, offers a comprehensive approach to wellness that goes beyond weight loss, incorporating stress management, exercise and proper nutrition. For more information, call 314.434.8446 or visit onelifestlouis.com. Pictured on the cover: Owner Teresa Syed with Angie H., a client who lost 53 pounds on the program.
Cover design by Jon Fogel | Cover photo by Bill Barrett