- Regular exercise is almost certainly a requirement for long-term weight loss. Researchers in Colorado and Pennsylvania studied thousands of people who lost more than 30 lbs. and kept it off for at least 2 years. The most common factor was that 91% of them were regular exercisers. Only about 30% of American adults are regular exercisers.
- Walk! If you don’t have an exercise habit, walking is a low-impact exercise that requires no special or expensive equipment, and you can do it just about anywhere.
- Balance your exercise. Aerobic burns calories better, but strength training (weights, sit-ups, push-ups) makes you feel good and gives other muscles a break. Try alternating aerobic and strength training 6 days a week, and rest completely one day a week.
- Start slowly and build up. Doing too much too fast can cause injury or burn-out. Start with 10-15 minutes daily, and add 5 minutes every two weeks. In just two months you’ll be up to 30 minutes a day.
- Exercise physiologists tell us that to maintain our weight, we need 30 minutes of daily exercise 5 times a week. But in order to lose weight, we need 60 minutes of daily exercise 5 times a week.
- Make exercise a priority! If you exercise after you’ve done everything on your “To Do List”, you’ll never get to it. Make exercise one of your top 2 or 3 things to do each day.
Diet Information
There are dozens of diets available, and the information can be confusing. Here are some general guidelines to follow.
- Low-carb diets work, but they provide little fiber. The average American only eats 11 grams of fiber a day, and we’re supposed to eat 25-30 grams. The low-carb dieter probably eats much less than 11 grams. Not very healthy in our opinion.
- Low-fat works, and is healthy. In general, if you follow USDA food pyramid guidelines, you’ll be eating the right proportions. Fat has about 9 calories per gram, while carbohydrates and protein have only 4 calories each. Also, low-fat dieters retain muscle mass better than low-carb dieters.
- Though protein seems good, be careful how you eat it: meat and dairy have lots of protein, but are usually high in fat. Some are low-fat. Learn to read labels, and don’t buy products that have more than 2 or 3 grams of fat per serving. Legumes (beans and peas) are high in protein and fiber. Just be sure they weren’t prepared “southern-style” – with a hunk of fat in the cooking pot. Glory foods brand of canned beans and peas have excellent flavor, yet they have practically no fat in them.
- If you eat low-fat or very-low-fat, you probably don’t need to count calories. But if you’d like calorie guidelines, most people lose weight rapidly while eating 1000-1200 calories a day (don’t eat less than this). If you work out for 30-60 minutes, add another 300 calories to your daily intake.
- Portion control is also important. Besides looking carefully at the kind of food you eat, make certain you don’t get too much of a good thing. Most brand-name healthy frozen meals have about 240 to 350 calories in them. If you wash the plastic containers they come in and save them, they can give you a good idea about how much of your home-made healthy foods you should dish out for your meals: just fill the container with your own food, and don’t eat more than what fits into it.
Who Qualifies?
We will treat adults 18-64 years of age with appetite suppressants. If your Body Mass Index (BMI) is 30 or greater, you qualify. If your BMI is 24.5 to 29.5, you qualify if you have a family history of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, or obesity. Anyone who does not qualify will receive a refund of his or her office visit fee.
Teenagers from 16-17 years old may also qualify, but they must have a parent with them to sign the consent form on the first visit and have a BMI of 27 or greater. Patients 65 years old or more will not be prescribed appetite suppressants, but may be treated with Xenical.
We can treat diabetics. We also treat patients with hypertension, but your blood pressure must be under good control with your medication. We do not treat patients with previous history of heart attack (myocardial infarction), congestive heart failure, or angina.
Follow-up Visits (usually 20-30 minutes)
Follow-up visits are once every 4 weeks, and are generally much quicker than your first visit. They follow the same steps as your first visit, except there is no paperwork for you to fill out.
Your First Visit (usually 30-60 minutes)
You will fill out a health history, and you will be given a handout with information about the medications we use. If you haven’t had labs done in the past year, we suggest that you have them done at our clinic or with your primary care physician as soon as possible. However, most of our patients are getting labs with their own physicians, and we do not require that you do it at our clinic.
A medical assistant will check your blood pressure, pulse, height, and weight, and then you will go to an exam room. The doctor or nurse practitioner will see you and discuss diet, exercise and medications. A brief heart and lung exam is performed, and then you’ll receive your prescription. You may fill your prescription at our clinic, or you can take it to your pharmacy. Your visit will be private, unless you wish otherwise – some of our patients come with a friend, family member, or coworker, and they sometimes want to be seen together.
Weight Loss Information
We only see walk-ins – no appointment necessary. Just be sure to be here at least 30 minutes before our lunch break or at least 30 minutes before our closing time. We are always willing to take as much time as necessary to answer your questions.
We treat patients from 16 to 64 years; those under 18 must have a parent with them on their first visit. Those over 64 can be treated with Xenical, but not appetite suppressants.
Our general guide for treating weight excess is BMI (Body Mass Index). We will calculate your BMI for you: it is based on height and weight ratios. A normal BMI is 19 to 24, and the statistically healthiest people are those with a BMI of 21 or 22. To qualify for appetite suppressants, your BMI must be 24.5 or higher.
By state law, we can only prescribe 30 days of medication at a time, and we must recheck you in the office before continuing therapy.
If you need more information about diet, exercise, or behavior modification, please ask – we’ll be glad to help!
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