Weight Loss Programs

America is home to the most obese people in the world. According to the CDC, approximately 33% of adults are overweight and obesity related deaths have climbed to 300,000 per year. Obesity rates are soaring in our children as well. We believe that healthy weight loss, i.e. loss of fat while conserving muscle, is essential to Anti-Aging and Longevity Therapies.

Excess weight has a tendency to creep up on us. It’s important to remember that obesity is much more than a cosmetic issue. If you’re carrying extra pounds, you’re walking a dangerous tightrope towards heart disease, diabetes, and myriad other health concerns.

While most any diet can take off a few pounds over the short term, the weight invariably comes back as we return to our “normal” lifestyles—90 percent of those who lose weight regain it within five years. As a result, they may end up in a cycle of chronic or “yo-yo” dieting, which slows down metabolism and makes weight control all the more difficult.

Weight gain is almost always a consequence of poor eating habits and too little exercise, and we acknowledge the role of therapeutic lifestyle changes in weight management. However, we want to stress the importance of weight loss as a medical therapy that can:

• Lower blood pressure
• Control blood sugar
• Relieve pain in arthritic join,
• Improve the course of scores of medical conditions

After all, it’s easier to pull out the prescription pad than to take the time to guide patients through the necessary lifestyle changes.

Underlying medical conditions may contribute to weight gain and make it difficult to lose the pounds.

Our Integrative Approach

Obesity is a significant factor in dozens of diseases. Therefore, weight loss is a primary therapy at the Center for Natural & Integrative Medicine, and we treat it very seriously.

We begin by testing for undiscovered health problems that may have made it difficult for you to lose weight in the past. Your complete blood workup will include a full hormone panel. If your thyroid hormone levels are in the low normal range but you still have symptoms of hypothyroidism such as weight gain, we’ll give you a therapeutic trial of natural (not synthetic) thyroid. Thyroid supplementation can jumpstart metabolism and dramatically improve chances of success.

Sleep apnea is another overlooked cause of weight gain .Once sleep apnea is treated, energy rebounds and health—and weight control—often return.

Our program centers on:

• Assessment – Understand and define health concerns, the first key step to customizing your unique strategy and plan for success. This phase will include documenting your baseline weight, waist /hip ratio and goals. We also perform a Bioimpedance Analysis. This non invasive test is extensive and analyzes your specific body to reveal your body’s muscle and fat mass, hydration level, extracellular and intracellular water levels, caloric requirement, cellular health, function and membrane integrity. We also offer an option to choose a complete medical assessment to compliment your program. This exam would include a physical, complete blood work, identification of metabolic problems, Glucose Tolerance Testing, Lipid Profile, electrocardiogram (EKG), and bone density to assess any weight related conditions and co-morbidities. Such information can serve to solidify the important role of weight management in disease prevention, lifelong health and serve as additional motivation.
• Education – Learn what types of food works best to achieve your weight loss goals and why. We will also address nutrition and exercise.
• Relevant lifestyle changes – Develop habits that will sustain long term results. With individual support you can make progressive reasonable steps to secure habits that will insure lasting results. Understanding and making these behavioral changes are a key element of permanent weight loss.
• Thought processes – Learn how to change your thinking about food. Understand how to identify and address your sabotaging thoughts about nutrition and lifestyle. Your mind is one of your most powerful tools and is an integral part of reaching and maintaining your goals. If you do not change how you think about food you run the risk of lapsing back to old patterns. This key element is missing in most conventional plans.
• Practical application – Understand how to consistently incorporate these foods into your life, no matter how busy or stressful it may be.
• Maintenance – Work with your coach to define your acceptable weight range and create a follow up plan to insure your results are sustained.

Unique Therapies for Weight Loss

Your physician may also refer you to our TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) Program. We recognize that implementing and, above all, sticking with a diet and exercise program is extremely difficult. TLC is designed to dramatically improve your chances of success.

You will meet with your TLC Educator, who will help pinpoint past problems you’ve had with weight control. You will also be given an individualized diet and exercise program, along with workbooks, recipes, meal plans, tracking charts, and other tools for staying on track. You’ll find that the one-on-one counseling and encouragement you’ll receive from your TLC Educator during follow-up sessions will make all the difference in the world.  We can help you lose weight and also reverse disease and improve virtually every aspect of health.

Personalized Lifestyle Program for Weight Loss

The most important therapy for permanent weight loss is, of course, therapeutic lifestyle changes. We teach you about carbohydrates, fats, and protein and how they affect appetite and weight. You’ll be taught which foods help burn fat and reduce cravings, and which ones you need to avoid. Instruction includes group lectures and nutritional discussions as well as individual consultations.
Exercise  is also emphasized as a therapy for burning calories and building lean muscle, which is important for long-term weight control because it increases overall metabolic rate. We give you specific instructions in how to exercise safely and when to exercise for maximum fat-burning benefit. We will also help you stay on track by tailoring a strengthening and aerobic exercise program to fit your lifestyle.

Although achieving and maintaining weight loss without regular exercise and attention to diet is next to impossible, your physicians at the Center for Natural & Integrative Medicine will also prescribe targeted nutritional supplements and medical foods that help control appetite and boost the effects of a lifestyle regimen.

Our Extensive Staff of Medical Professionals

• Since there is no magic pill for health and well-being, the road to total wellness requires a diverse, collaborative team of integrative health care professionals with a full spectrum of skills who are dedicated to addressing the needs of your whole being- mind, body and spirit. From physicians and medical staff trained at the country’s most prestigious medical centers and institutions, to our full spectrum of licensed and certified health care practitioners, our multidisciplinary team of specialists is at the forefront of integrative medicine and holistic health care.

Our State of the Art Testing

• Many patients have a difficult time losing weight due to a combination of thyroid, neurotransmitter, adrenal, nutritional and other hormonal issues. What makes our program unique is that our facility is equipped to provide detailed blood and urine testing. Testing can include a complete hormonal panel, metabolic profile, and glucose tolerance to identify root causes and help focus the plan of action to get you results that have been so difficult in the past.
• Most weight loss programs do not offer such testing as they are not administered by a medical practice. As a result participants are unsuccessful in achieving their goals because of underlying health issues. If you have been on diets, such as Weight Watchers and other programs but they have not worked for you, please do not give up hope.
• The good news is that once the testing is done and our physicians have addressed the underlying health issues, our team will work with you to develop your customized weight loss program which will encompass not only what food to eat to achieve a healthy weight, but what behaviors and thought processes will make your results lifelong. You owe yourself the gift of health and vitality!

Our Program Addresses Lifestyle Changes

• In accordance with our philosophy of treating your total body and mind, we view weight loss as a key tool is insuring that you live a vibrant, active life sustained by good health, high energy, mental clarity, full function, and absence of disease well into old age. If that’s what you want, our Health care team can help you.

We use the patented First Line Therapy (FLT)

The Firstline Therapy Program

We use the FLT program  because it works! FLT is a supervised Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) program that is managed by our nutritionists with the support of our full staff of medical doctors. The FLT program not only helps you reach a healthy weight permanently, but also teaches you to evolve into a lifestyle that arms you with a first line treatment to prevent common, chronic health problems. FLT is about making choices every day that will enable you to lose weight, and achieve a long, full, and healthy life.

By controlling your weight you can not only prevent chronic disease in the future but also improve your health and the quality of life now.

Why We Use the FirstLine Therapy® Program First

Leading health organizations now recommend lifestyle changes as the “first line of therapy” for the treatment and prevention of chronic disease and other serious health threats. Here are just a few of the health conditions that FirstLine Therapy can effectively address:

Think about the life you want to live. You still have a choice and a chance to be the person you’ve always wanted to be.

Many of these common health concerns can be reversed or even treated by making some simple, but important lifestyle changes. Where do you start? Who will be there to help you stay on track?

How FirstLine Therapy Works

One of the reasons diets and exercise programs fail is they are one-dimensional—that is, they focus on weight loss one. FirstLine Therapy isn’t just about weight loss; it’s about achieving a lifetime of good health. Instead of counting calories, you’ll learn:

• Simple steps to help you take control of your specific health situation
• Easy ways to track your progress, tips for success, reminders, and other support that will help you achieve your goals and maintain your health improvement.

FirstLine Therapy will help you:

• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight, once and for all
• Address the underlying cause of common health problems
• Take control of your health by providing you with the necessary tools
• Live your life in a way that improves your health
• Feel good now, and maintain good health for years to come

More specifically there are four key reasons that make FirstLine Therapy (FLT) different than conventional lifestyle programs:

1. FLT is about more than just weight loss

• FLT can help you lose unhealthy fat while retaining healthy, lean muscle.
• FLT integrates body composition testing (fat & lean tissue ratios)-because being thin doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy.
• An imbalance in body composition (gaining too much fat or losing too much muscle) can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, altered cholesterol levels, etc.
• Loss of muscle results in loss of ability to burn calories, which makes it much more difficult to maintain weight loss over time.
• FLT focuses on lifestyle factors that are the underlying cause of many health problems.

2. The FLT eating plan is different

• Most diets focus on NOT eating-not eating fat, not eating carbs, or just plain not eating much of anything. With most diets, success is based primarily on will power.
• The FLT eating plan emphasizes the need to eat, and to eat frequently.
• The focus is on eating THE RIGHT KIND OF FOODS-the right kind of fat, the right kind of carbohydrates, and the right kind of protein-all in the right portion size.
• FLT incorporates a low-glycemic-index eating plan based on the latest scientific research that will help you maintain stable blood sugar and energy levels.
• According to recent studies, low-glycemic diets are more effective than low fat diets in treating obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
• People report less hunger and more energy, making it much easier to stick with the program.

3. FLT incorporates medical foods and dietary supplements.

• Using appropriate medical foods and dietary supplements as part of this program can improve the effectiveness of the program for you and help you achieve your health goals.
• Dietary supplements provide targeted nutritional support for specific functions, such as healthy blood cholesterol or blood sugar levels, joint function and mobility, or healthy hormone metabolism.

4. FLT has been demonstrated to be effective in controlled clinical trials. Most other diets have not.

The Center for Natural & Integrative Medicine focuses on your thoughts and behaviors around eating and teaches you how to think about food.

Eating is not automatic – the beating of your heart is automatic. Before you eat something you always have a thought, even if you are not aware of it. If you do not recognize your thoughts or learn how to respond to them, they will lead you astray from your program. Our program will teach you how to talk back to your sabotaging thoughts so you will be prepared for challenges along the way. Most weight loss diets focus only on what you should eat or not eat. They do not include teaching you what you need to know for a lifetime of weight-loss success. Our program gives you those skills. It not only helps you identify nutritious, satisfying foods for an enjoyable diet, but it also teaches you how to stick to your program and stay motivated day after day, no matter what the situation.

It’s not just the calories; it’s the habits! Making psychological changes is a key step ignored by most programs; which focus only on food. Changing your mindset and habits allows you to feel satisfied with your food choices, your weight and most importantly, yourself. With our support, this time will be different; you will lose weight permanently. You will be taught to change your mind set about healthy eating and stop the cycle of losing and regaining; you will learn the techniques that will enable you to follow your nutritious eating plan in any situation. Once and for all you will gain control of your eating, weight and your life. Finally, past feelings of disappointment and demoralization will be replaced by confidence and self esteem! More specifically it teaches you how to address real life obstacles to consistent, healthy eating.
You will learn what to do when you are challenged by:

• Stress
• Time
• Cravings
• Hunger
• Emotions
• Boredom
• Food Pushers
• Fatigue

You will learn how to stay on track when you are:

• Traveling
• Dining out
• Vacationing
• Celebrating
• Attending a special function
• Feeling that dieting is just too difficult

You will learn:

1. How to be satisfied with realistic/moderate portions
2. What to do if you are tempted to have an unplanned snack between meals
3. How to consistently use good eating habits-eating slowly, while sitting , enjoying every bite
4. How to plan in advance and monitor yourself as you go along
5. How to stay motivated and give yourself credit
6. How to make healthy eating a priority
7. How to get back on track when you make a mistake
8. How to reduce and deal with hunger and cravings
9. How to include your favorite foods
10. How to build your confidence in your ability to follow a healthy lifestyle and eating plan
11. How to handle plateaus
12. How to maintain your results

The program skills can be applied to other aspects of your life and help you:

• Stop avoiding your “to-do” list. As you learn to better organize your life to accommodate your new healthy lifestyle, you will learn to better organize other aspects of your life.
• Become more assertive. As you become more comfortable with taking better care of yourself and addressing your health needs you will be able to become more assertive in other areas of your life.
• Free up time and energy. As you achieve success via your weight loss results from the program, you will feel more in control of your life and no longer obsess about food, your body, or feel guilty or embarrassed; you will have more time and energy. You will feel proud and optimistic about the future and yourself.

Equipped with a customized, medically based, detailed program addressing food choices, behaviors, mindset as well as the support of our nutritionist, you will have the tools you need for permanent success. We will teach you the skills you need for successful, permanent weight loss, crucial lifestyle changes, and how you think about food and healthy eating. Not only will we teach you theses skills, but also how to practice them every day no matter how stressed, tired, busy or unmotivated you are.

Get help now! Call the Center at 407 355 9246 or request an appointment online to schedule your consultation to become a leaner, cleaner you!