The Process This program consists of four parts: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Final Lifestyle programs. All are based on a cardiac lifestyle: low fat, high fiber, low protein, high complex carbohydrates. Each is balanced among 6 food groups: Proteins, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk/Dairy, Grains and Fats . . . and all food is the normal, regular, everyday food you buy in the supermarket. I don’t sell anything! I take into account your gender, age, height, weight, medical issues or pregnancy to personalize a program. I control your portions and number of servings in each of those food groups, as well as the amount of water you drink. Everything else that you put into your mouth counts. Despite what you may have heard or like to think, NOTHING is free; there’s no such as thing as “free” food. The amount of food you eat (the number of daily servings in each food group) will stay the same throughout the four Lifestyle programs. What changes is the selection of food as I move you from one program to the next. I will do that every time you lose 25% of the total amount of weight you need to lose — when your fat cells are shrinking and your metabolism becomes faster — adding items that are easier to burn or just adding things as you work towards earning them back. By the time you get to the Final Lifestyle, almost everything is back in your life except junk food. Additionally, with every Lifestyle program, I will also provide a suggested menu which is laid out for an entire week and includes all meals and snacks. You can follow some of it, all of it, or none of it. It’s just a guideline, and I am happy to help you plan a day or two every time I see you. Once you get to the goal weight I set, you will begin the 6 weeks FREE Stabilization Program. Each week, one food group at a time, I increase your servings over and above the amount of food you ate during the weight loss process, to figure out how much more food you can eat to stay within 3-5 lbs. of your goal. I also slowly start adding back the foods that weren’t on your program paperwork during the weight loss process. During Stabilization, you will come in at least once a week; more, if you choose. Stabilization is followed by 12 weeks of FREE Maintenance service. This is when I work with you to reinforce your new eating habits — everything you learned during the weight loss and stabilization programs — and assist you in staying within 3-5 lbs. of your goal weight. I encourage you to come in at least once a week during this process. CLIENT MEETINGS Client meetings are by appointment on Mondays (9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Wednesdays (12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), and Thursdays (9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.). (I’m physically in the office on Mondays and Thursdays; Wednesday appointments are in “distance mode” only.) I encourage twice-weekly appointments, whether in the office, by phone, or a combination of the two. Some clients prefer only one scheduled appointment a week and, in those cases, I will request a second email weigh-in from home each week. (If a client comes into the office once a week and emails me a weight from home once a week, I keep two separate records to measure weekly/monthly progress in the office and from home.) The more I see and engage with clients, the more I can help them to stay focused. Or, putting it another way: The more a client has contact with me, the more disciplined they are when they don’t have contact with me because they know they’re soon going to have contact with me! Additionally, the more engagement I have with a client, the more value they get for their money. Each visit begins with a weigh-in, after which I check and help plan daily food diaries, provide cooking tips and recipes, talk about any upcoming potential challenges, and offer encouragement, motivation and inspiration to stay focused. CLIENT MEETINGS IN THE “DISTANCE” MODE Time, distance, and other circumstances sometimes do not allow people to travel to in-office appointments. It doesn’t matter where you live. If you want to lose weight, if you want to make a change, you need a partner. You need someone to push from behind and pull from the front. You need to know that you’re accountable to someone who will teach you how to GET slim doing the same thing they do to STAY slim year after year. No matter the modality, it is far, far better to receive the discipline, guidance, structure and accountability in the distance-connected manner than to have none at all! Just as I do with in-office visits, I encourage twice-weekly appointments with distance clients. (Some distance clients prefer only one phone appointment per week plus one other reporting in via email with their morning weight.) On days that appointments are scheduled I expect to receive a morning email from the client with their pre-breakfast morning weight in the Subject line, along with a copy of their menu plan for that day (clients do this by taking a picture of that day’s plan with their smart phone and then “share” it with me via email). ⭐ Whether in-office or distance mode, clients can speak freely, in confidence, about issues at home or at school or on the job — anything they want to share with me. I get to know my clients very well because I genuinely care about them. I understand that food is an emotional response for many, so the more I understand the circumstances or factors that affect clients’ environments, triggers and responses, the better I am able to help them. Additionally, all clients have access to me at any time, even outside my office hours..
