Was your New Year resolution about weight loss? A recent list of the Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions had three of them as: “lose weight”, “exercise more” and “improve my diet”. And you’d think they were related, right? After all, we are always told the key to losing weight is simply “eat less and move more”.

Unfortunately, what everyone knows about losing weight is completely wrong. Dr Helena Morris has opened a new medical weight management clinic, Renovo Health, to dispel those myths.

Weight management is actually the result of a far more complex system of bodily pathways over which you actually have little to no control. So much of our body runs without our input, think of your heart rate, hair growth, cell repair or the act of sweating. None of these you consciously make happen, your body does it by itself. Your weight is the same. It is the number at the end of a long chain of complex interactions in bodily systems that we are only just beginning to understand.

While we can’t control these systems directly, Dr Morris says we can influence them to produce the body weight and health results we are after.

“The best way to achieve lasting weight loss is to set our body up in the right way to produce it for us. That requires a personalised treatment plan for each patient based on their unique condition and circumstances.”

Renovo Health focuses on understanding their patients’ complete health picture and using the latest scientific research to determine treatment plans for each patient in an atmosphere of empathy and understanding.

“Body weight is the result of bodily systems being out of balance, not a lack of willpower or laziness on the part of the individual,” Dr Morris says. “Cancer comes from the malfunction of the cell division process, and no one would ever blame a cancer patient for lacking the willpower to divide their cells properly, would they?”

The average Australian waits over nine years to ask for medical help after first becoming concerned about their weight. The fear of being judged is a major factor in that delay. Dr Morris hopes that promoting the understanding of how weight works will lead to a reduction in the stigmatisation of weight issues, and more people seeking qualified help instead of relying on influencers and rumour for advice.

Renovo Health offers a wide range of treatment options that Dr Morris tailors to each client, providing treatment with understanding and ongoing support. Renovo Health is located at 2/3 Sydney Avenue, Barton. Appointments are available Tuesday to Friday. For more information or to make a booking visit www.renovohealth.au