Our Weight Loss Program has the following elements:

Careful History and Physical Examination to assess the degree of the problem, patient expectations, patient lifestyle including diet and exercise patterns, prior attempts to lose weight, comorbid conditions and risk factors, contraindications to exercise or medication therapy. Based on our clinical judgment we may order additional tests. At the time of the initial consultation we will offer a vitamin B12 shot which helps to increase your metabolism and decrease your homocystein level which is a major risk factor for cardiac disease and stroke.

Diet Recommendations tailored to your individual goals, lifestyle and culture. Generally, we favor very-low-carbohydrate diets allowing for sufficient consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits to ensure adequate vitamin, mineral, microelement and antioxidant intake. Additional supplements are usually recommended at this time based on your individual needs. These supplements are selected with the goal of boosting your metabolism, increasing your overall antioxidant level, increasing your sensitivity to insulin and stimulating the endogenous production of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. Handouts featuring examples of very-low-carbohydrate diet are available.

Exercise Prescription based on a modification of the Pace Project . Our initial patient history form contains a focused exercise assessment questionnaire that will help us identify your physical activity status, your cardiovascular risk, your potential necessity for pre-exercise testing and your performance goals. Based on this assessment and on our physical examination we will provide you with an  individualized exercise prescription specifying the type, intensity, duration and frequency of recommended exercise in detail. Medications approved by FDA for the treatment of obesity will be prescribed based on our clinical judgment as necessary. We may also use other medications to address other concurrent problems such as diabetes, hypertension or depression. We use appetite suppressants such as Phentermine, Bontril, Tenuate, Meridia and others as well as lipase inhibitors such as Xenical. The role of these medications is to facilitate your efforts to lose weight by suppressing your appetite or blocking excessive fat absorption. This usually helps tremendously at the beginning of the program by giving you encouragement and faith that losing weight is possible. The effect of the medications, however, usually subsides in 3-6 months if you rely solely on them to lose weight.

Maintenance. It is very important to utilize the initial period of 3-6 months during which we will prescribe weight loss facilitating medications as a window of opportunity for developing gradual healthy lifestyle changes with regard to your eating and exercise habits. We expect you to “learn” this new behavior because keeping your weight off in the future will depend on how well you “remember” or retain your new healthy lifestyle. Regularly scheduled office visits to discuss progress or problems during that period are extremely important in order to stabilize your success and to secure against future drawbacks.

Human Growth Hormone therapy can be considered in selected individuals based on their health status, age, type of obesity, personal goals and laboratory assessment. The benefits of HGH therapy are quite impressive, however, costs for the medication run between $350 and $1000 a month.