12-30-2008, 03:01 PM
I would like to second dmann's post. That, in a nutshell, is what works.
My wife has battled weight loss a good portion of her life, two months ago she started a medical weight loss program that her doctor insisted she do. It looks similar to the South Beach diet, in that the first 8 weeks are 800-1000 calories per day, and one must only eat program products. Then the caloric input goes up to 1200-1500. She has to journal every piece of food that enters her mouth, once a week has a meeting with a doctor and they have a group AA-style meetings at the same session. They discuss exercise, meal planning, the reasons for weight gain, the psychology of weight management and so on.
She had back surgery a week after starting the program, so she could not exercise at all, and currently she has lost over 67 pounds by doing this program. She is getting ready to enter phase two, which is the "fit for life" portion, where she will learn how to manage what she eats. She's excited because now her back is healed well enough that she can start exercising, she's already started on the treadmill and will start swimming in January.
Just remember that her program is medically supervised! It grew out of the pre-bariatic surgery procedures.
What dmann said in her post is exactly what my wife was counseled at her meetings. Also, realize that this is a lifestyle change, one has to look at any change as permanent. My wife has told me that she needs to treat this as alcoholism, she will constantly have to fight her tendencies toward food abuse.
I'll have to print off Pam's post so that we have a guide when we go to the Y. It sounds like an excellent plan.
My wife has battled weight loss a good portion of her life, two months ago she started a medical weight loss program that her doctor insisted she do. It looks similar to the South Beach diet, in that the first 8 weeks are 800-1000 calories per day, and one must only eat program products. Then the caloric input goes up to 1200-1500. She has to journal every piece of food that enters her mouth, once a week has a meeting with a doctor and they have a group AA-style meetings at the same session. They discuss exercise, meal planning, the reasons for weight gain, the psychology of weight management and so on.
She had back surgery a week after starting the program, so she could not exercise at all, and currently she has lost over 67 pounds by doing this program. She is getting ready to enter phase two, which is the "fit for life" portion, where she will learn how to manage what she eats. She's excited because now her back is healed well enough that she can start exercising, she's already started on the treadmill and will start swimming in January.
Just remember that her program is medically supervised! It grew out of the pre-bariatic surgery procedures.
What dmann said in her post is exactly what my wife was counseled at her meetings. Also, realize that this is a lifestyle change, one has to look at any change as permanent. My wife has told me that she needs to treat this as alcoholism, she will constantly have to fight her tendencies toward food abuse.
I'll have to print off Pam's post so that we have a guide when we go to the Y. It sounds like an excellent plan.