12-Week Comprehensive Weight Management Program
Gaining fat (especially around the middle) is the #1 complaint that we hear in our office in midlife. It happens to almost every woman as a result of a complex combination of hormonal and lifestyle changes, but the good news is it CAN be reversed.
So what can we do about this situation, which often leaves us feeling scared, frustrated and out of control? When we keep trying things that used to work and see no results, we can feel defeated and often give up. Our friends, family and even our doctors may tell us “this is just the way it is,” but the truth is that YOU CAN lose the weight and be healthy, self-confident, strong, and improve your longevity and quality of life.
It seems that our hormones are fighting against us to keep us fat, and in fact they are, but this can all be addressed with modern science to help you to succeed in your goals.
This is much more complex than simply calories in/calories out. If it were that simple, we would all be successful already! We succeed together by using a combination of healthy nutrition (yes, you can eat, we will not make you starve, and you can eat grocery store foods), manageable exercise, hormone optimization, as well as the latest FDA-approved medications which help to lower insulin, decrease appetite and shrink fat cells.
Most Important Women's Weight Loss Topics
Nutrition
Did you know you can prevent or fight most chronic conditions WITH food? Perhaps you want to learn more about supplements or are overwhelmed by the ever-changing nutrition advice? You can improve your health or weight loss journey with an individualized plan that works for you.
Here’s what you can expect during a consultation:
- Health Assessment: Review nutritional status, hormone status & medical history to understand your specific needs and challenges.
- Dietary Analysis: Typical intake, including foods & liquids, portion sizes; meal times and places.
- Goal Setting: Realistic and achievable; may include weight management, improving energy levels, preventing hair loss, managing chronic conditions, increasing health span and much more.
- Nutrient Requirements: Based on factors such as age, sex, activity level, and health goals.
- Personalized Meal Planning: Aligns with your dietary preferences, cultural considerations, and lifestyle, while meeting nutritional needs.
- Education: Nutrition principles, food choices, and the impact of different nutrients on health. This empowers.
- Lifestyle Integration: Integrate nutrition recommendations into your overall lifestyle, considering factors like physical activity, sleep, and stress management for a holistic approach to health.
- Behavioral Strategies: Limiting beliefs, emotional eating, mindful eating, and strategies for making sustainable changes to your diet.
- Support: Ongoing support and guidance to address challenges, answer questions, and provide motivation.
- Monitoring and Adjustments: Track progress and make necessary adjustments.
Movement
Notice that I didn’t use the word “exercise” which generates fear and anxiety for many people. We all know that movement burns calories and builds muscle and is a vital part of your journey.
Are you willing to commit to a minimum of 30-minutes of movement five-days a week? (More if you can!) I often hear “I don’t have time” …but we want to challenge you on that. Do you spend 30-minutes a day on social media, the internet, or watching TV? We make time for things that are important. If one of your loved ones got cancer, you would make time to go to those appointments. We must make our own health that important!
A good reminder is to tell yourself “I am choosing to exercise/move” (which adds personal responsibility) instead of “I have to exercise/move” (which takes the control outside yourself).
A great way to structure your commitment to movement is three-days a week of cardiovascular exercise – something that gets your heart rate up so that you are comfortably out of breath, also known as a “conversational pace.” We often say you should be able to “talk but not sing.” Find something you enjoy, like speed-walking with your dog, walking uphill on a treadmill listening to a good podcast or audiobook, Zumba, or tennis.
And we also need to add two to three days of strength training to improve, or at least maintain, muscle mass. Adding 30-minutes of strength training twice a week is ideal. Since Covid, thousands of great online options for strength training classes have been created – pick one that sounds fun to you!
Consider exercising in the fasting state in the morning to maximize your fat loss. I know it goes against what we were taught, but weight loss science now supports exercising moderately in the fasting state in order to push ourselves into using fat for fuel.
All of this may sound overwhelming, but we’re painting the big picture. We’ll start small and build on it!
Hormones
Multiple hormone changes occur in midlife that can cause us to gain weight.
Insulin resistance (a common change that happens with aging) elevates our insulin, which is a fat-storing hormone. Cortisol, another fat-storing hormone, also becomes elevated due to stress, sleep deprivation and other factors. Our thyroid gland, which controls our metabolism, often begins to slow in function. Decreasing testosterone lowers energy and muscle mass which in turn causes us to burn fewer calories. Losing energy from all these changes leaves us feeling tired, not wanting to work out, and often craving sugar, alcohol and other “derailers.” And if we have insomnia from lack of estrogen and progesterone, we are too exhausted to exercise, crave sugar and have higher levels of fat-storing cortisol.
We will check all of your hormones, including screening for diabetes, insulin resistance, a full lipid panel and screening for critical vitamins, as well as kidney and liver function before your first visit. Optimizing your hormones is a critical part of your weight-loss journey.
If hormone pellets are recommended, we will delay the start of your 12-week program for two-weeks after the pellet placement, so that we are not introducing too many new things at once. Since some medications have potential side effects, we need to identify any immediately should they occur.
Mindset
Our mindset can make or break any commitment, and nowhere is this truer than with weight loss. Perhaps you have tried and “failed” multiple times and truly don’t believe that you can succeed.
When you notice those negative thoughts, the first step is to pay attention, but recognize that these are limiting beliefs that are not true. Limiting beliefs about all the things that you can’t do are old mental habits that we use to protect ourselves from harm, but are ultimately no longer useful. If you are noticing that negative voices are derailing you from your commitment, consider journaling all the things that they are telling you. When you read the list, create an “opposite story.” What’s an alternative to the limiting beliefs? For example, if you are telling yourself “I can never decrease sugar, it’s never worked before and I will just feel horrible” an opposite story is “I am choosing to decrease sugar and I know I will be successful because I am making a commitment to myself, I am going to feel great, and I have plenty of support.”
What is your vision of yourself a year from now? Journal about it in detail. How do you look? How do you feel? What are you wearing? How are others perceiving you?
What can you do now that you couldn’t before? How are your relationships affected? Keep this vision handy and refer to it whenever you feel yourself getting derailed.
Listen to a positive podcast every day in the car, or when going to sleep. Surround yourself with positive words, books and people. If you need more help, one-on-one mindset coaching may be helpful, which we can arrange for you.
Medication
We offer Semaglutide or Tirzepatide (weekly injections) which are scientifically proven to assist with weight loss, along with oral medications. We also recommend some safe and natural supplements to reduce gut inflammation, which has been proven to be associated with difficulty losing fat.
12 week weight loss journey
Step 1: Pre-visit lab draw (may be run through your insurance) to assess hormones and general wellness, including diabetes and lipid screening.
Step 2: Initial one-hour consultation to evaluate your goals and nutrition plan. Based on your personal needs, we will recommend the latest and safest hormonal support, weight-loss medications and supplements to help you to succeed and will design a nutrition and movement plan that will work with your lifestyle.
Step 3: Monthly appointments to review your nutrition, movement, medications and supplements.
Learn about semaglutide:
Semaglutide is a weekly FDA approved injection (also known by other names including Ozempic or Wegovy) which has been studied and proven to dramatically help with weight loss. While initially developed to treat diabetes, it was shown to also help non-diabetic patients lose weight. Semaglutide is in the class of “GLP-1 agonists.” GLP- 1 (glucagon-like peptide) is a hormone produced by the small intestine after eating. It has several effects, including delaying gastric (stomach) emptying, which suppresses appetite, makes us feel full earlier, and reduces food cravings. It also increases insulin release from the pancreas and lowers liver glucose output, as well as reducing neuropeptide-Y, a brain neurotransmitter that is related to appetite and cravings. In short, it is a powerful appetite suppressant that helps us to stick to our plan. Patients start on a low dose and increase as needed. The most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and reflux (heartburn), but with slowly increasing doses these symptoms can be minimized. Also, refraining from high-sugar and high-fat fat foods helps to minimize side effects.
Learn about tirzepatide:
Tirzepatide is a weekly FDA approved injection (also known by the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound). It is a a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist that has shown significantly improved glycemic control and significant weight reduction. The dual agonism by Tirzepatide leads to greater efficacy than other GLP-1 medications with often fewer reported side effects, however, is significantly more expensive than Semaglutide due to its cost to manufacture. Due to its potent weight loss properties, Tirzepatide is a great choice for patients who have 30lbs or more to lose. We offer Tirzepatide as one of our weight optimization packages. Patients start on a low dose and increase the dose as needed. Common side effects include: nausea, diarrhea, and/or constipation. Nausea is usually worse when eating sugary or fatty foods. Symptoms can be minimized by slowly increasing doses and refraining from high sugar and high-fat foods.
Accountability
This is a 12-week program, and making that commitment upfront dramatically improves your chances of success.
Twelve-weeks is going to roll around fast, one way or the other. In three-months from now, where are you going to be? Will you be where you are now? Or will you be closer to your vision of your healthier future self? During the program, we will be meeting once a month to discuss the first five pillars, making you accountable for your choices.
We will be here to celebrate your successes and help you through times that didn’t go perfectly. Trust me, it won’t go perfectly! But we are your partners in success.