Mr T's Story: Weight Loss

Names have been changed for patient anonymity.

A set of questions that I get often is “can Agape acupuncture and Agape herbal medicine help me lose weight? Can I keep the weight off and lose it consistently? How does it work?”

Weight loss is a very important topic both to patients and doctors alike, and around ten years ago, a legendary traditional Chinese medical healer doctor designed a treatment plan and program for weight loss and weight management that has been successful many times over.

Before we get into a case study around weight loss, let’s first take a look at the relationship of weight on one’s health. The purpose of losing weight should not be about shedding the pounds, but rather to change your lifestyle, improve your overall immunity and health, prevent disease, delay aging, and uplift your day to day quality of life! Therefore, this treatment plan is suitable for everyone, not necessarily just those looking to shed a few pounds. Let’s understand it more as a lifelong lifestyle adjustment, especially in this modern era where our food culture and eating habits have often been harmed by misinformed diet and nutritional education, a stressful pace of life, and overly convenient fast food culture. Our physical health, particularly in the United States, has been on a decline, and three measures of overdue stress on the body (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia) have been rising in physical examinations. It almost takes a miracle to maintain a healthy lifestyle and relationship to food. 

In our family, dinner is a time for gathering and fellowship, and in recent years we've started experimenting with intermittent fasting, which usually results in one-meal-a-day. After a full day’s fast, our daily meal together serves not only as a time to nourish our bodies, but also as a time to trade stories about work and anecdotes from that day, but is also a time to reflect on longer term learnings and conversational threads that have been ongoing for years. I’m grateful for this time and praise God for the time and abundance he provides! My eldest daughter and I have, since childhood, often discussed theological topics over the dinner table and recently she brought up a podcast she was listening to featuring a priest reflecting on the various translations of biblical passages through different languages. This particular passage was about Jesus Christ teaching repentance. The Gospels, which largely narrate the life and times of Jesus, have a central theme around the message of repentance—however, as she was explaining, the English translation of the Gospels perhaps over indexes on this idea of repentance being about regret and confession. In the original Hebrews text, the real essence of the word “repentance” is better translated something more along the lines of “transformation” or a complete change of direction. In Chinese translations, the theme of repentance shows up as something that includes confession, but emphasizes change and the potential for newness rather than regret. In my years as a pastor, this is the takeaway I've often sought to highlight, whether in church sermons or in private conversations. As the old saying goes, the words that come out of the mouth of your own child rings truer and deliver more of a powerful impact. Agape healing is about changing ourselves, radically letting go and relearning our beliefs, ways of thinking, and ways of living towards health! With that context around weight loss as a lifestyle change, let’s continue our case story.

Mr. T is 50-years-old—and I would consider him a young man. He was introduced by a friend to Agape Health to try acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine to treat his allergies. When making his appointment by phone for the first time, he asked if acupuncture and Chinese medicine could cure his allergy symptoms, how long the treatment would take, and what it would entail. Timothy is allergic to animal hair, dander, and seasonal pollen and it was detrimental to his life. 

My answer to his question was that it is possible to cure allergy symptoms and change his allergic reactions, by treating this as a general chronic illness. Unlike Western medicine, the approach is not to isolate and target treating the allergy symptoms, but rather, transform the body to be able to handle allergens in a different way. This takes time and new lifestyle habits to create new conditions in the body. Typically, I recommend a treatment course of 14 weeks where we meet once a week for 2 hours each time. Those sessions are typically broken down into 15 minutes of check in and weekly diagnostics, 45 minutes for acupuncture, 60 minutes for meridian and acupoint massage, and daily diet therapy. During the sessions, I breakdown and explain what the treatments are doing for your body as I’m doing them, and we discuss the kinds of lifestyle habits and changes you can make towards better health. After 14 weeks, you can decide whether to continue the treatments at a weekly cadence, or switch over to once a month, bi-weekly, or whatever works for you. My patients should not be sick and see me forever—the idea is that our initial sessions are meant for you to learn how to be your own doctor, and come see me whenever you need some extra guidance and bodywork, much like a personal trainer. 

During Mr. T’s initial physical examination, we found that he had slightly high blood pressure and was carrying more weight than was comfortable for his height and frame. Mr. T agreed to try out the 14 week treatment plan and 14 weeks later, his allergies had disappeared, he had lost 25kg, and his blood pressure was at a stable 120/75. At the same time, he reported that his physical strength has increased significantly, and he found himself in a consistently good mood. He also recommended drinking Chinese herbal tea to parents! After this initial treatment course, he still comes by for a session once every three weeks, continues to drink the Agape longevity herbal tea, anti-aging beauty capsule, and follows the balanced diet created together. As a bonus effect, his hair is visibly thicker these days. 

Mr. T works for a city union and does a lot of outdoor work, but despite the nature of their work, many of his colleagues also have the trouble of being overweight. Most have tried to change their weight and might successfully lose a little bit, but often gain it back. They asked about Mr. T's experience, and told them about his treatment course at Agape. The combined effect of acupuncture, meridian acupoint massage (tuina), Chinese medicine, diet changes, and spiritual healing all contributed to his overall health. We believe in treating the whole person, combining different methods of a balanced diet, regulating effects of acupuncture, moxibustion and Chinese medicine on the internal organs and meridians, and a complete change in one's lifestyle. This leads to a person's body, emotions, and spirits changing—your health is so much more than just physical!

为保护患者隐私，文中姓名均已作化名处理。

我经常被问到这样一系列问题：“Agape 针灸和草药疗法能帮我减肥吗？我能成功减重并长期保持不反弹吗？它的原理究竟是什么？”

对于患者和医生而言，减肥都是一个至关重要的话题。大约十年前，一位传奇的中医大师设计了一套针对减肥与体重管理的治疗方案和疗程，并已在无数案例中被证实行之有效。

在深入探讨具体的减肥案例之前，让我们先来审视一下体重与健康之间的关系。减肥的初衷不应仅仅是为了减轻体重数字，而更应是为了改变生活方式、提升整体免疫力与健康水平、预防疾病、延缓衰老，并全面提升日常生活的品质！因此，这套治疗方案适用于所有人，而不仅仅局限于那些单纯想要减掉几斤赘肉的人群。我们不妨将其视为一种终身受益的生活方式调整——尤其是在当今这个时代，错误的饮食与营养观念、紧张忙碌的生活节奏，以及过度便捷的快餐文化，往往对我们的饮食文化与生活习惯造成了极大的损害。我们的身体健康状况——特别是在美国——正呈现出每况愈下的趋势；在体检数据中，反映身体长期处于超负荷状态的三项指标（高血压、高血脂、高血糖）正呈现出普遍上升的态势。在这样的环境下，想要维持健康的生活方式以及与食物之间良性的关系，简直堪称一种奇迹。

在我们家中，晚餐是一家人团聚与交流的温馨时光。近年来，我们开始尝试“间歇性断食法”，这通常意味着我们每天只享用一顿正餐。在经历了一整天的断食之后，这顿全家共进的晚餐不仅是滋养身体的时刻，更是大家分享工作见闻与生活趣事的良机；此外，它也是我们共同反思长期心得体会、延续那些已持续探讨多年的深度话题的宝贵时光。我由衷地珍视这段时光，并要赞美上帝，感谢他赐予我们这美好的时光与丰盛的恩典！自我长女幼年起，我们便常在餐桌上探讨各种神学话题。最近，她向我提到了一档她正在收听的播客节目，其中一位神父深入探讨了《圣经》经文在不同语言版本中的各种译法与深意。而当时所探讨的那段经文，正是关于耶稣基督教导人们“悔改”的内容。 《福音书》主要记述了耶稣的生平与时代背景，其核心主题围绕着“悔改”这一信息——然而，正如她所阐释的那样，《福音书》的英文译本或许过分侧重于将“悔改”这一概念解读为单纯的懊悔与认罪。在希伯来语原文中，“悔改”一词的真正精髓若译作“转化”或“彻底转变方向”，或许更为贴切。而在中文译本中，“悔改”这一主题虽包含认罪之意，但其侧重点更多在于“改变”以及由此带来的“更新”潜能，而非仅仅停留在懊悔层面。在我担任牧师的那些年里，无论是在教会讲坛上布道，还是在私下交谈中，这正是我常致力于强调的核心要义。正如那句老话所言：出自自家孩子口中的话语，往往听来更为真切，也更具直击人心的力量。Agape 疗愈（Agape Healing）的真谛，恰恰在于自我改变——即彻底地放下旧习，重新审视并调整我们的信念、思维模式以及生活方式，从而迈向身心健康的境界！基于这一将“减重”视为一种“生活方式转变”的背景认知，让我们继续讲述接下来的案例故事。

蒂先生（Mr. T）今年五十岁——但在我眼中，他仍是一位充满活力的“年轻人”。经朋友引荐，他来到了 Agape 健康中心，希望通过针灸与传统中医药疗法来治疗困扰他多年的过敏症。在初次致电预约时，他接连抛出了几个问题：针灸与中药是否真能根治过敏症状？整个疗程需要持续多久？具体的治疗流程又包含哪些环节？蒂先生对动物毛发、皮屑以及季节性花粉均存在过敏反应，这些过敏症状已严重干扰了他的日常生活。

针对他的疑问，我的回答是：只要将过敏症视为一种广义上的慢性疾病来加以调理，我们完全有可能消除过敏症状，并彻底改变身体对过敏原的反应模式。与西医的治疗理念不同，我们的疗法并非仅仅孤立地针对过敏症状本身进行“点对点”的压制或消除；相反，我们致力于通过整体调理来重塑身体机能，使之能够以一种全新的、更具耐受性的方式去应对过敏原的侵袭。这一疗愈过程既需要时间的沉淀，也离不开患者在日常生活中积极培养健康的生活习惯，唯有如此，方能在体内逐步营造出一种全新的、有利于康复的生理环境。通常情况下，我会建议患者接受一个为期 14 周的疗程，每周复诊一次，每次治疗时长约为两小时。在每次的治疗时段中，我们会将时间细分为几个环节：首先是 15 分钟的“签到”与每周例行诊断；随后是 45 分钟的针灸治疗；紧接着是 60 分钟的经络与穴位推拿按摩；此外，患者还需配合进行日常的饮食调理。在疗程期间，我会一边进行治疗，一边为您详细拆解并解释这些疗法对您身体的作用；同时，我们也会探讨您可以采取哪些生活习惯上的调整与改变，以促进身体健康。14周疗程结束后，您可以决定是否继续接受治疗。