Chided by your family doctor because you are losing weight on our program?

Every day, patients come into the office with a story about how their doctor, family member or friend ridiculed them on their weight loss efforts for various reasons. Is the doctor misinformed, family member worried about your health, or friend just behaving jealously? Below are three stories we commonly hear. You decide. The Dangerous Diet You have started a weight loss and lifestyle change program which includes a combination of vitamins, minerals, protein supplements, and a prescription appetite suppressant. A few months later, you visit your primary care physician and on the annual medical sheet, you write down your new regime of daily supplements you are taking, including your appetite suppressant. In addition, you boldly note your 30+ pound weight loss, your now normal blood pressure readings, and your reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and your increased HDL (good) cholesterol levels from the blood tests done with The Center for Weight Management. During your appointment, your doctor congratulates you on your weight loss and asks about the weight loss program. You proudly share your success with the doctor while he quietly sits and listens and reviews your lab results. After, he says, Well, I am happy you have lost weight, and your lab results are good, and your diabetes and blood pressure are under control, but I am very concerned about the dangerous diet you are on. Just cutting back your calories as I have previously suggested would have probably produced the same results without putting yourself at risk, not to mention the expense. I recommend you stop. Disappointed, confused, and scared, you leave the office, call The Center for Weight Management from your cell phone, and inform them that you will no longer be coming back because your doctor said the diet was dangerous to your health. Besides, you already lost over 30 pounds, and your health has improved A few months later, you have regained your 30+ pound weight loss, are back on blood pressure and diabetic medication, and have made another appointment with The Center for Weight Management. Double Dipping A call from your sister comes in that your mother had a stroke and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Scared, you quickly get to the hospital and find your mom with various tubes and instruments surrounding her body. The doctor comes in, informs you your mother suffered a hemorrhagic stroke but is now stable and he is encouraged with her rapid improvement in spite of the severity of the stroke. A few days later, mom is transferred to a facility that will help her regain some of her neurological functions she lost and within a week or so, the doctor says she should be able to return back home. The doctor tells you that overall, she is remarkably and amazingly well for a woman her age. She obviously has taken care of herself over the years and her health is excellent. You tell him that she eats very well, watches her weight, takes supplements, and exercises often. During the hospital stay, your mom asks you to bring her the supplements she takes every day, her multi-vitamin, omega-3s, CLA, CoQ10, probiotics, etc. You bring them in and show the doctor her daily regime of supplements and ask for his approval for her to continue some of her supplements while in the hospital. He looks at the various bottles and says She doesnt need these things! A multi-vitamin is all anyone should take everything else is just double dipping. You are shocked! Didnt the doctor just tell us that moms recovery is going so well because of the healthy lifestyle she leads? You give the news to mom and tell her that most doctors are not experts in nutrition and she can continue her regime when she goes home in a few days. But you wonder, is he right? Are we both wasting time and money taking supplements? Wrinkle Worry Youve decided to embark on a weight loss program because you dont want to begin your next birthday overweight again and call The Center for Weight Management that your friend told you about. Three months later, you are doing great, losing weight, exercising and feeling wonderful. People are noticing. Your family is supportive and encouraging, your friends and co-workers are complementing you, and people are asking you about your program. You share. Some people think it sounds great and want to get started, too. Others are not so excited and tell you so. Oh. I heard that losing weight through a medical program is bad for you you will probably regain it once you stop. Arent you concerned about looking old? Now that you are older, isnt it better to weigh more? You ignore these comments and press on. Six months later and you are now 10 pounds away from your ideal body weight. You feel terrific, until an overweight friend you are having lunch with says to you, I didnt want to say anything, butyou are looking really old and your wrinkles are really showing. I think youve lost too much weight and you should stop that program you are on. You are stunned! You look at her lunch of burger and fries, and down at your chicken salad, and then notice her face. She is the same age as you, looks older than you do, and is unhealthy and overweight. Nevertheless, you are hurt. You are getting older and wrinkles are inevitable but now you are looking in the mirror doubting yourself and your weight loss efforts. Is your friend right? Maybe you did look better when you were heavier and the wrinkles were not so noticeable. Maybe you are expecting too much. Maybe it is better if you are overweight as you age. Isnt that better than looking old and wrinkled? How many of you have encountered similar situations while you were trying to make positive changes in your life? Youd be amazed at how many stories we hear from patients who stopped the program because of negative comments, regained weight, came back and restarted with us. They restarted because they realized they did feel and look better before they stopped, and should not have listened to negative outside forces. They realized being overweight and unhealthy was not going to stop the age wrinkles from forming and in fact, many patients found that being overweight and unhealthy promoted premature aging, illness and disease from personal experience. They realized being overweight certainly wouldnt allow them to enjoy life as freely as when healthy and leaner, especially with hypertension or diabetes. Remember the woman who listened to her doctors advice about stopping the dangerous diet? She regained her weight and went back on blood pressure and diabetic medications. Isnt she living a dangerous lifestyle now? And the story about the mother who had a stroke? She is fully recovered and living at home again, unassisted, and back to her normal routine. What if she didnt take care of her body as well as she did all those years? She could very well be spending the rest of her days in an assisted living home. Or living with you. And what about those wrinkles? Maybe your friend was jealous and unable to face her own weight loss demons. Wrinkles are inevitable - they are a fact of aging but being overweight and unhealthy shouldnt be. You chose to participate in our weight loss program, our medically sound, safe and supervised program for a good reason. You entrusted uswith your health, your goals, your life. Dr. Hendricks and the entire medical staff are dedicated to providing you with the highest quality medical care available today. It is their goal to help you succeed in living a long and healthy life as free as possible from disease and illness. And if you do get sick, chances are that being healthy and fit will minimize the illness and recovery will be speedy. The diet we prescribe is rich with high quality protein and full of antioxidant rich foods to protect and promote strong muscles, bones, and a healthy immune system. We also recommend vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements to improve your chances at weight loss, reverse some of the damages being overweight may have caused to your body, and to promote long-term health. However, diet alone will not help you achieve optimum health and fitness. You also need to incorporate exercise into your daily regime a goal to work towards. The younger you start, the better - this means your children should be eating, supplementing, and exercising, too. Next time you hear negative comments about your weight loss efforts, discuss your concerns with us before you make a decision. We, the medical nutrition experts, are here to help you sort through the flood of misinformation you will receive, solicited or not, and provide sound medical advice that is right for you. In the meantime, congratulate yourself for the effort you are taking to make positive changes in your life. Take care of your body, and it will take care of you.