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Meal Planning Tips and Menu Ideas

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Dawn Olson

Now, more than ever, it’s important to plan your meals and snacks. If you’re working from home, the kitchen & pantry are just too close for comfort! Really, the last thing you want to get out of your time in quarantine is a larger waistline.

Take the time you’re saving by not commuting and plan your next week or 2 of meals and snacks. It’s easier than you may think. Use this handy template or create your own on a whiteboard – whatever works for you! CFWLS Weekly Meal Planner

Where to start?

Consider how much protein you need for your day. What is your carbohydrate cap? These are the first 2 things you need to think about.
Make a list of all of the proteins and vegetables in your freezer, refrigerator & pantry. These are things you won’t need to add to your grocery list and a good start for your menu plan.
Find recipes that use the primary ingredients that you have on hand. A great place to start is our Blog page or our Pinterest page. Pick out 4 or 5 to try this week. Most of them are quick & easy and use ingredients that you have on hand or are easy to find. The nutritional information is included but you may need to adjust for serving size if you’re eating less than indicated.
You will want to use the perishables first so look at the proteins & veggies you found in the frig. They will be the key additions to your meals and snacks the early part of your week. I find it easiest to start with dinner (or the main meal of the day) and work from there. Pencil in those meals and you’ve begun!
Fill in the remaining main meals with recipes that contain the items that you found in your freezer and add any missing ingredients to your shopping list.
Breakfasts don’t have to be complicated. Protein shakes, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and the like can be quick and satisfying options. Stay away from any starchy items in your pantry as they tend to lead you toward a slippery slope when it comes to carbs later in the day. Pencil in your week with healthy options that you have and add any missing things to your list.
I leave lunches until last because it’s a great place to use the leftovers from any previous meals. Figure out what you will have left over and slip it into your lunches for the week. Keep in mind that the end of the week dinners may slip into next week’s plan.
Snacks will be used to make up the rest of your protein target. Keep in mind that many of these sources will also have carbohydrates so choose wisely. Here’s our handy ‘Sack Lunch and Snack Ideas Trifold‘ handout for reference.
Now, before you forget, order those missing items from your local grocery store. Online shopping has made it easy but keep in mind that the wait time right now is longer than normal. You may need to plan on picking up your items (or having them delivered) will be 2 or 3 days out and some items may be out of stock. (plan for allowances) You can refer to our Low Carb Shopping List for more ideas to keep on hand for next week.

Additional resources:
Low Carb Substitutions for Cooking & Baking
Tips on Cooking and Low-Carb Eating
Baritastic Tips – A Great Tracking Tool!
CFWLS Monthly Menu Planner – for long range planning
Kids lunch and snack handout
Menu planner – 3 weeks – these are done for you but you can switch it up a bit!

Enjoy! This can truly be a fun and rewarding experience and is a great teaching tool for family members. Get the kids involved – they catch on quickly.

Reach out to me with any questions! Dawn@CFWLS.com

Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

Posted on December 02, 2019 by CFWLS

You don’t want to be standing on the scale after the holidays and wondering what happened. We want to avoid that problem. Holiday weight gain: everyone thinks about and everyone fears it. Is it inevitable? What can you do to avoid it? How do YOU make the best choices?

Here are a few statistics. It’s often stated that the average person gains 3-5 pounds during the holidays. But, this is not true. The average American does gain about 1.1 lbs. during an entire year. So, it doesn’t take that many years to start getting into some problems. About 10% of the population gains greater than 5 pounds in a year. This is typically the population that I see. One of the problems is that it’s not just the entire year. About 80% of the weight occurs during the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. A significant proportion of people (my patient population) will gain a significant amount of weight during a year. And, most of this occurs over the holidays.

There are a lot of factors that lead to overeating during the holidays. There are a lot of social gatherings. We get together for social functions over the holidays with friends and family and it usually revolves around food. The holidays tend to bring about more stress (family, gift buying, decorating). The stress can lead to exhaustion and we make poor food choices. There’s a lot more emotional eating during the holidays. We can be sad, depressed, or stressed. Cold weather causes us to desire comfort food. One of the issues is the food around the holidays tastes good! It’s very palatable and it’s everywhere! Cookies everywhere! Plenty of temptation. Often there are treats that only come out during the holidays.

How do you avoid that holiday weight gain? I like to look at what I call the 3 basic pillars of weight management. The three pillars are: eating (home and at parties), exercise, and behavior modification. We’re going to look at these three things and how we can use them to help us.

Eating is the biggest one. Don’t skip breakfast. A couple of good studies have shown when people don’t eat breakfast they tend to eat more by the end of the day then what they normally would. The exception is if your breakfast is going to be a high carbohydrate meal. You’re better off skipping breakfast. If you start off with a carbohydrate breakfast, you’re going to end up eating more during the day. If you have a good protein start to your day you’ll actually eat less during the day. Recruit family and friends to help you. Let them know you’re trying to lose weight and you need their support. Typically they will be supportive if they know about it. Hopefully they want try and sabotage you. You might need to avoid them for a period of time. At home you might need to have an “off limits” area for yourself. If you have treats in the house for other family members that could tempt you, place them in an “off limits” area. Make it a rule that you won’t go into that off limits area. If you don’t make that rule, it makes it harder to avoid temptation. Don’t purchase or make the things that tempt you the most. If you need to make holiday cookies for your child to take to school, make ones you don’t typically like. Use the “catch and release” program. If someone brings you cookies, try one, and they immediately give it away. Get it out of the house.

A different scenario is eating at parties/functions. They’re occurring all the time during that 6 week period over the holidays. Here are some things to do to help protect you. Don’t go hungry. The last thing you want to do is show up at a holiday party starving because then you’re going to eat everything. Eat something healthy before you go. Bring a healthy choice with you so you know you’re going to have something you can eat. Increase the water. Water loading makes us feel full. It doesn’t last very long but it can prevent over eating. Use small plates and small utensils. If you use smaller plates and smaller utensils you will eat less. This has been shown in multiple studies for multiple years. Watch the alcohol for numerous reasons. It has a lot of calories in it. Also watch the high calorie drinks like egg nog. We tend to get that “drinking amnesia” where we forget that we had drinks and don’t consider all the calories involved. Alcohol releases inhibitions and we tend to eat more. Do the “walkabout” first. Look around at all the food and figure out what you’re going to have. Choose the good protein sources and colorful veggies. Choose your poison carefully. You can choose some things you don’t get to eat often. Complete deprivation doesn’t work well. I’m not a big fan of deprivation diets. If you tell yourself you can never eat something, you’re going to fall off the wagon at some point and go crazy. Have the mindset that you can be happy with just a small portion of the food. Don’t stay in the room that has the food in it. Get your food and leave the room. Eat in another room. Keep your hands full (not food related). You’re less likely to eat if your hands are full. Hold your drink in your dominant hand. Most people don’t eat very well with their non-dominant hand. These little tricks can be very helpful in avoiding the dietary disasters of the holidays.

Exercise to avoid weight gain. In encourage people to schedule their workouts. This is the time to go more intense. You’ll boost your metabolism somewhat. You might get a little more leeway with your eating. Make sure you’re doing the weight training. After you’re done eating go for a brisk walk. Get out of the chair and move as opposed to just moving to the couch to watch TV. You could buy yourself an early Christmas present and purchase some personal training sessions. It will keep you accountable. It can help you into the New Year getting your exercise on track.

There are behavior aspects to avoid weight gain over the holidays. Plan! It’s especially important if you’re going to travel and visit family. Once we get out of our usual environment and have less control, it’s important to plan ahead. A lot of these social things revolve around eating. It’s good to revise your recipes. Nowadays this is relatively easy to find online. You can find many recipes with lower carbohydrates. Remember why you are celebrating the holiday and what the main focus is. Focus on the socializing with friends and family. Keep healthy snacks close at hand. If you know you’re going to struggle, have the better choices readily available. Keep unhealthy things out of sight. Handling stress effectively is easier said than done. You can take a brisk walk, practice deep breathing, warm bath, or whatever positive thing you can do to keep that stress under control. Finally, get your rest. If you get quality rest, you’re going to handle these situations better. If you do overindulge, get back on track immediately. Don’t let a few bad choices turn into days or weeks. You don’t want to lose the momentum. You have to be very careful. 98% of our patients are sensitive to carbohydrates. If they drift, they struggle. It doesn’t take a whole lot of drift to have a big struggle. It’s like a drug. If you have a little bit, you’re going to want more.

Holiday weight gain is NOT inevitable! You need to plan, socialize with family and friends, watch the alcohol, and bump up your exercise. When you indulge, get right back on track. Yes, it is that important.

If you need help, let us know! Check out our non-surgical options or Back on Track After Weight Loss Surgery.

What You Need to Know About a Gastric Bypass

Posted on November 11, 2019 by CFWLS

Let’s start with a few facts about the gastric bypass. It’s been around the longest period of time. If you know anyone who’s had gastric bypass, they lose weight fairly quickly. People are often very concerned about the speed of the weight loss. Speed of weight loss doesn’t matter. It’s all tied to body composition.. If you’re losing weight quickly and it’s all fatty tissue, than the faster the better. On the other hand, if you’re losing weight quickly but it’s lean body mass, that’s not so great. You’re going to get more and more tired and weaker and weaker. You’re slowing your metabolism down which will make it much harder to lose weight and easier to gain weight. No matter what, if you have gastric bypass, you’re going to lose weight fast. We refer to gastric bypass as being restrictive and malabsorptive. Restrictive means we’re making your stomach smaller. If we make you a smaller stomach, you can’t eat very much. You’re going to lose weight. The concept is simple. We make your stomach about the size of an egg. People often wonder if their stomach is going to stretch out. The answer is yes. We know it’s going to stretch out and we want it too. We don’t want your stomach the size of an egg. What we’re shooting for long term with all these operations is meal size, that being a small plate. That’s where we want to go. But, we’re working with stretchy material just like your skin is stretchy. If we make your stomach meal size small plate it would stretch way out. A normal size stomach can hold about 2-3 liters. We have to make your stomach tiny to begin with knowing that it’s going to stretch out.

The second part is the malabsorptive part. That’s where the bypass comes in. We’re going to bypass the part of the stomach called the excluded portion. We go to the very beginning of the small intestine and divide it and pull it up and hook it into that tiny stomach so that we bypass the rest of the stomach. Whenever we bypass any portion of the intestinal tract, you’re not going to absorb things perfectly. You don’t absorb all the calories that you eat. But, you also don’t absorb some of the vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients quite as well either, which can be problematic. The surgery itself doesn’t take that long. It’s about 1 hour and 40 minutes. It can be done laparoscopically now. What we do is use long instruments and cameras and make little incisions on you. Recovery is pretty quick. Hospital stay is pretty quick. Recovery can take a while because this is a big operation. Whenever we start rearranging your anatomy, that’s a big operation. Recovery can take a good 4-6 weeks. Sometimes it can take up to 8 weeks to feel back to normal.

There are risks with every operation in the world. This is a bigger operation so the risks are bigger. When I talk about risk, I divide it into two time-frames. This is not something I made up. This is a medical standard which is basically right around surgery (peri-operative). By medical definition this means the first 30 days. The second time-frame is long-term which, by medical definition, means longer than 30 days. What’s the worst thing that could happen in that first 30 days? Could you die? The answer is yes it could happen. The risk of death is real when we start dividing your intestinal tract. It wouldn’t matter if I was talking about taking your appendix out or taking your colon out. When you look at national statistics, the risk is about 1: 200. What we see is about 1:500. Bottom line is that it may be rare, but not impossible. The things we worry about the most are infections. Some things are easy to treat such as urinary tract infections. Other infections aren’t so easy to treat such as pneumonia. They occur about 2% of the time after any surgery where you have to go to sleep for. You have to go to sleep for all these surgeries. It’s somewhat related to how long did the surgery take? The biggest fear as far as infections go is a leak on the inside. What if the pieces we took apart during surgery and put back together leaked? There are literally trillions of bacteria that live in the intestinal tract. When we start dividing the intestinal tract some of those bacteria could potentially get out. If they set up a rip-roaring infection, potentially you’d have to have another surgery to fix that. Wound infection means on the skin. They’re more of a nuisance than dangerous. They have to be treated with antibiotics. DVT is a deep venous thrombosis. PE is a pulmonary embolism. These are blood clots. You can get a blood clot without having surgery. You can get it from being dehydrated. One of the most common ways to get a blood clot is traveling on a long plane ride. You can also get it from having a general anesthetic. Again, it’s somewhat related to how long the surgery takes. The longer the surgery takes, the higher the risk is. We do all kinds of things to prevent that during surgery. The blood clot risk is 1-2%. If you got a blood clot you have to be on a blood thinner to dissolve that blood clot. The first thing that happens to that tiny stomach is the tissue swells up. Just like if you sprained your ankle. Your ankle would swell up. Stuff just trickles through the stomach initially. If you’re not able to stay hydrated you have to come back to the hospital to get IV fluids. You have to rest for a few days.

Long-term means 30 days until forever. The most common long term physical problem is peptic ulcer. You can get an ulcer without having gastric bypass. But when you have the anatomy of gastric bypass, the risk of getting an ulcer goes up. The people who tend to get ulcers are smokers and people who take anti-inflammatory meds. Ulcers just need to be treated. Something that could require another surgery is a bowel obstruction. Adhesion means scar tissue. If you’ve had any surgery on your abdomen you’re going to have scar tissue, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. That scar tissue can potentially kink the intestine. Just like a kind in a hose, nothing is going through there. You then have to go back to the operating room. Hernias are another risk. You can get them without having surgery. Any place we make an incision there is potentially a weaker spot. Stenosis means narrowing. What we’re talking about is right where we take the stomach and hook the small intestine to it. A scar could potentially form and cause a narrowing. If this happened, stuff wouldn’t go through very well. We would send you to a gastroenterologist. They would take a look down there and can stretch it out. Typically it doesn’t need any surgery but it does need to be evaluated and treated. Vitamin and nutrient malnutrition is relatively common. You won’t be able to absorb things perfectly. You’re going to have to take some things long term in addition to taking a battery of tests every 6-12 months to make sure those things are staying where they should. That’s a forever thing. That doesn’t go away.

We see great results with gastric bypass. You’ll lose about 70% of what you were overweight. If you were 100 pounds overweight you’ll lose 70 pounds. If you’re 200 pounds overweight, you’ll lose about 140 pounds. That’s the average. Some people lose more, some people lose less. About 40% of people with gastric bypass regain most of their weight back. Overall the long term anatomical and nutritional problems, with relatively poor weight maintenance, make it difficult for me to recommend gastric bypass for most people.

What should you do? You need to decide what’s best for your unique situation. There is no right or wrong here. What I encourage you to do is give us a call and set up a 1:1 consultation to discuss the options. Let’s you and I sit down and go over your situation. Everybody’s situation is different. Give us a call at (757) 873-1880 or email us at success@cfwls.com.

I have some final thoughts for you. Weight loss is the most important step you can make to improve your health!! There are so many medical problems that are directly related to weight loss. If we can control weight, we can control medical problems. If we can control all these medical problems it gives you the best chance of living a long, healthy life.

Watch the online seminar and give us a call (757-873-1880) and set up your 1:1 appointment. If weight is contributing to your health problems let us help you. I hope to see you very shortly here in the office.

The Top 10 Dieting Mistakes

Posted on October 07, 2019 by CFWLS

We all make mistakes, especially when we’re trying new things like weight loss. With weight loss people have typically tried many things. These are going to be some of the more common mistakes. You need to see it as an opportunity to change, and hopefully for the better.

Mistake #1 is “kinda” working on weight loss. Kinda working on weight loss does not work! We often want that quick fix. We have to learn the skills over a period of time. If you’re just going to “kinda” work on it, it isn’t going to work. Skills have to be learned. Then, they have to be ingrained and become habit. They have to be practiced over and over and over again so they can become lifelong habits. Think about a serious athlete trying to make the Olympics. They can’t just “kinda” work on it. Commitment is absolutely essential. You can’t expect perfection. We’re going to make mistakes.

Mistake #2 is making weight loss too complicated. Yes, weight loss is hard, but you really need to stick to the basics. The basics are: dietary changes, behavior/habit modification, and increased activity and fitness. Those are the basic concepts. It sounds easy, but obviously it’s not so easy. I put together a webinar about a month ago that went over some really important concepts about controlling weight. It really boiled down to controlling insulin levels. It was about all the things you need to do to control insulin levels. Diet has to be the cornerstone of all that. Slowly work on all the basics and you will continue to make progress. With any type of change you need to ask yourself two questions: Can I do it? Is it worth it? If you can’t answer yes to those two questions you’re going to struggle and not make that long term change.

Mistake #3 is not exercising! Exercise does not make you lose weight faster. So many people come in and say they’d be losing weight faster if they were exercising. It’s probably not true, but it’s still very important. It’s absolutely essential to preserve lean body mass. The natural part of aging is losing lean body mass at a rate of 1% a year. LBM is what drives your overall metabolism. Simplistically speaking, a pound of muscle burns a lot more calories than a pound of fat. It’s actually a pound of well-trained muscle (think of the Olympic athlete) burns calories like crazy versus a pound of fat. You want to have a fuel-burning machine. Muscle does that. Our overall metabolism is dependent on how much lean body mass we have. The better trained the lean body mass, the higher the metabolism will be. You can increase your metabolism with better trained muscle. It burns a lot more calories than untrained muscle. So exercise is extremely important. It doesn’t make you lose weight faster. It makes you lose weight longer and makes it so much easier to keep that weight off.

Mistake #4 is avoiding the scale. I’ve said many times that the scale is the best monitor we have. Patients often say they don’t weight themselves routinely. They only weigh when they come into the office. Why would you think that’s a good idea??! I’ve said many times that you need to stand on the scale every day. The best time to weigh yourself is early in the morning. It’s the most accurate. If you forget to weigh yourself in the morning, just wait until the next day. Your weight will go up during the day. Make that part of your morning routine. The reason is to reflect on the previous 24 hours. What was different about that previous 24 hours? You’ll figure out the little things that matter. It may be as simple as you had to much salt or you didn’t have a bowel movement. Those little things that we typically eat really matter and will show up on the scale. Once a week doesn’t work. How many of us can look back on a week and figure out what we did differently during that week versus the previous week? Literally two days I can’t remember what I did differently. Looking back on 24 hours is relatively simple. What worked? What didn’t work? You’ll figure those little things out that affect day to day weight.

Mistake #5 is believing that genetics is responsible for your weight. Genetics does influence our weight. But if we are using genetics as a reason for our weight that’s just an excuse. When you really look closely at that thought process, weight is more likely contagious than it is inherited. We tend to do the things we surround ourselves with. If everyone in your family is overweight it is slightly genetics but it’s very likely what they’re eating and doing. It tends to be contagious. We do the things that the people we hang around do. That’s true in our family and social life. It’s going to be a very rare situation where genetics is truly the reason. Weight is more likely contagious rather than inherited.

Mistake #6 is giving in to saboteurs. Friends, family, and acquaintances will all try and sabotage you. They will say the following: “You deserve this.” “A little won’t hurt.” “It’s the holidays!” There will be saboteurs. Be prepared to say, “No thank you” in multiple different ways. Deflect the comments by changing the subject. Explain to them the importance of this and that you want to recruit them to help. Tell them you value their support. You want them to help you rather than hinder you. Sometimes they don’t realize they’re sabotaging your progress.

Mistake #7 is being inconsistent. It’s that mentality of, “I’ve been good all week. I’m going to take the weekend off.” “I deserve this vacation because I’ve been so good.” Consistency goes along with commitment. Ask yourself those questions: “Can I do it?” “Is it worth it?” A bad weekend can undo 2 weeks of hard work. You tell yourself that you can slide just a little bit. You’ll find that you’ll slide a lot. It’s really easy to gain weight. It’s incredibly easy to gain weight. Write down your motivations for weight loss and review them often. “Why am I doing this?” “Where do I want to go with this?” Hopefully you’ll realize being consistent is worth it.

Mistake #8 is not eating enough. The common thinking is less is better. The reality is starvation has never been a good weight loss plan. Starvation is cutting way back but history has shown that it isn’t successful for weight loss. Fifty to sixty years ago some semi-starvation experiments were done. Around WW II there were contentious objectors. These people refused to join the military so they were asked to help by being put on semi-starvation diets. They found that if you cut those calories in half of what someone normally would be eating, people didn’t actually lose weight. They lost weight for a while but their metabolism slowed way down to make up for the calorie deficit. Part of the problem with just decreasing calories, and to continue to decrease calories, is that it only tends to work for a short period of time. Your body adjusts fairly quickly and it will slow your metabolism way down. It can slow it down to almost 50%. That is your body’s survival mechanism which is good if there truly is a famine. However, most of us aren’t living in a famine. Part of the issue with the semi-starvation diets is they cut their protein way back. If you’re getting sufficient protein, typically your calories will be decent. Weight loss will become more difficult. It will also become really easy to regain weight.

I had written that mistake #9 was skipping meals. It’s actually not such a bad thing because intermittent fasting works really well. Intermittent fasting is just skipping meals. I do encourage people to eat breakfast for a couple of reasons. There are also reasons to skip breakfast. There isn’t a right and a wrong here. I’ve become convinced about that. Some of it depends on what you’re eating for breakfast. If you tend to eat a high carbohydrate breakfast, studies show you’re going to be eating 300-400 calories a day extra because you tend to be hungrier. If you’re going to eat a high protein breakfast you tend to stay full longer and you eat about 200 calories less a day. Most people don’t wake up starving. For certain individuals, skipping meals can actually work nicely. Skipping meals can actually be a good thing.

The NEW Mistake #9 is thinking that meal “timing” doesn’t matter. It DOES matter. The same meal late in the evening has a greater insulin response. If you eat that meal earlier it will have a different insulin response. This goes along with skipping meals. Some people do much better with eating 2 meals a day. We already talked about intermittent fasting. It works. There’s no doubt about it. Insulin is key to weight control. The longer time you can spend with lower insulin levels, the easier it is to lose weight. The concept of eating multiple small times throughout the day will never work well. If you’re sensitive to carbohydrates or somewhat insulin resistant, the small meals throughout the day will never work for you. The reason is that, no matter what, whatever we eat will raise insulin levels. Carbohydrate just does it the most. You want to spend as much time as possible with low insulin levels. Skipping meals will give you more time with lower insulin levels. Eating the same amount of calories but spreading it out throughout the day is asking your body to stimulate insulin levels multiple times throughout the day. That concept doesn’t have a whole lot to do with how many calories you’re eating. It’s just a pattern of eating. Timing matters. It’s a really rare person that controls their weight well by eating a little bit multiple times throughout the day. That’s just not my patient population. That’s not who I see. There are some individuals who aren’t that sensitive to carbohydrates. Those people will be fine eating small meals throughout the day.

Mistake #10 is having that “All or None” mentality. It’s feeling that you’re either doing everything great, but if you make a mistake you’re all done and throwing in the towel. This is a learning process. We’re human and we won’t be perfect every day. Accept the mistakes and move on. You didn’t gain the weight overnight. It didn’t happen with just one meal or one bad day. When you have that bad day, chalk it up to a learning experience. Figure out what you’re going to do differently when you’re in that same situation next time. Figure out those tools you can utilize to prevent you from falling off the deep end and get back on track for the next meal. Don’t beat yourself up.

In summary, to err is human but it does not define your destiny. Don’t let mistakes derail your weight loss plan. Dust yourself off and keep going. At CFWLS this is what we do. We’re here to help you. If you need some help just give us a yell. If you have any questions give us a yell here at CFWLS. Call, send an email, or walk in the door. You should be checking your body comp. Make sure you’re losing fat not lean body mass.

If you would like weekly weight loss tips and recipes and a chance to ask me questions, subscribe to Losing Weight USA! Remember it’s your life! Make it a healthy one! Have a good evening everyone. Take care!

Phentermine – Could it Help You Lose Weight?

Posted on February 21, 2019 by CFWLS

I’d like to talk to you about Phentermine. Phentermine is an appetite suppressant. It’s been around for a long time. Appetite suppressants are really carefully regulated by the FDA, so there are some hoops to jump through for those people utilizing them, but it’s very doable. Potentially it can be helpful from a weight perspective, but also from a hunger/craving perspective. It works very well for cravings.

A lot of appetite suppressants have come and gone. There have been a number of them over the last 20 years or so. They got approved by the FDA, were around for a few years, and then gone. One of the reasons is because the drugs were causing other problems. There are a couple of newer ones in the last few years. None of them really work any better than phentermine. The new ones can be really expensive. Phentermine has been around for about 60 years now. It can be very helpful. And it’s very safe. We’ll talk about the risks, which are something we do have to keep an eye on. It can help with any medical weight loss plan. You have to be doing the right things. Phentermine will not make up for a bad eating and exercise plan. It’s very closely monitored by the FDA. Part of that is because back in the 90’s they had phen-phen. It was a combination medication of phentermine and also phenfluramine. They put two medications together and it worked wonderfully. Unfortunately, the phenfluramine ended up causing heart problems. It was taken off the market. Because phentermine was associated with it, it’s very closely regulated. Overall, it’s a very safe medication. It has stood the test of time. It can actually be used long-term but it needs to be monitored. There can be some potential side effects. You do have to watch blood pressure. It’s rare but not impossible.

The clinical indications for using phentermine are a BMI over 30 or BMI over 28 with medicals problems. It’s similar to having weight loss surgery. Generally what they’re talking about mostly are sleep apnea and diabetes. Chemically, phentermine looks like amphetamine. Because amphetamine can cause all kinds of problems, and can be addicting, it was thought that phentermine was in the same class as amphetamine, and therefore just as dangerous. It was more regulated by the FDA. A lot of those theoretical problems really never panned out.

I’ve been utilizing phentermine in the patient population for about 15 years now. Just like surgery, it’s a good tool. It’s just another tool in the toolbox. There’s nothing magic about it. It can be a good additive tool along with the surgery. All it really does is takes the edge off hunger. It really takes the edge off cravings. It won’t prevent you from eating. It can also help with carbohydrate withdrawal. Most of our patients are very sensitive to carbohydrates. If they fall off the wagon and start eating too many carbs and then try to cut them back again they’ll go through withdrawal. Carbohydrates are like a drug. The phentermine can help with the carbohydrate withdrawal symptoms. We have found that phentermine can give you 8-12 pounds of extra weight loss. It’s the same with our surgical patients. If they feel like they’ve stalled out, the phentermine can give them some more weight loss.

If you are keeping your carbohydrates down while utilizing phentermine, you can lose a tremendous amount of weight. The weight loss from phentermine will vary from person-to-person depending on age, genetics, sex, and other health problems.

There are potential side effects. You absolutely need to have an EKG done prior to starting phentermine. You want to document that your heart is fine. It’s not going to cause a heart problem. But if you’ve already got a heart problem, it can worsen the problem. Almost everyone starting phentermine gets a dry mouth. Make sure you’re drinking a lot of water. It can make you feel slightly jittery. It’s kind of like having a few cups of coffee. They typically fade away in about 7-14 days. It’s a side effect. It’s not how the medication works. I tell people that if it makes you jittery and it bothers you, then quit taking it. The medication will be out of your system within 12 hours. One of the uncommon side effects of phentermine is insomnia. If you take it too late in the day you might have a hard time going to sleep. But that typically over time goes away. Other uncommon side effects are tremors, dizziness, and high blood pressure. It’s really rare for blood pressure to go up, but that’s one of the reasons why we have to monitor it. Theoretical potential problems (which are related back to the phen-phen) are heart problems and addiction/withdrawal. You can get used to the medication, but that’s not necessarily addiction. You can build up a tolerance to the medication where it stops working as well. But you can’t go through withdrawals. You don’t have to wean off the medication. You can just stop taking it.

There are some real reasons to avoid phentermine. If you have an allergic reaction to it, obviously you shouldn’t take it. If you have a history of heart problems (no matter what it is), I would discourage you from taking it. You shouldn’t take it if you have high blood pressure that’s poorly controlled. You can take it if your blood pressure is well controlled. Theoretically you should avoid phentermine if you’re taking antidepressants. Because of the chemical make up of phentermine, there was a thought that there would be a cross over, and some antidepressants would make this exacerbate heart problems. It would make antidepressants not work as well or the antidepressant would make it exacerbate heart problems. But it’s absolutely fine to take it with antidepressants. There is actually some antidepressant affect with phentermine.

Legally I have to have a discussion about the” art” of taking phentermine to a patient if they’re going to be taking it. I have to talk about the potential side effects as well as the” art” of using the medication. It tends to last for 10-12 hours. So, since most people don’t wake up starving, don’t take it first thing in the morning. There’s no sense in taking it then. Take it mid to late morning. Play with the timing. If you find you’re having a hard time getting to sleep, then take it earlier. If you have a lot of hunger and cravings right before bed then you need to take it later. It’s one of those medications that work if you take it. It doesn’t work if you don’t take it. You don’t have to build up to it or wean off of it. Therefore you can use it intermittently. It’s fine to use it certain days of the week. We typically write it as a daily dose but there’s no reason you need to take it every day. Take it as you need it. It can be used long term. It originally was written in the PDR to be used for only 8-10 weeks. They originally said that because the original studies were only done for 8-10 weeks. It was then approved by the FDA but never approved for long term use. It has been used for long term use for many years the PDR has never been changed. So most physicians only prescribe it for a few months. It’s kind of silly to think we can fix something in a couple months. I’ve had people on phentermine for 10-12 years. It just has to be monitored. We’re making sure there aren’t any blood pressure problems, ensuring it’s still helping, and make sure there are not side effects bothering you. If it’s not helping, you shouldn’t be taking it anymore. There is evidence that if a person is taking it long term that if they stop it every few months for 7-10 days, and then it tends to work better.

There are some cautions about phentermine. Sometimes it may work so well that you don’t eat. We’ve talked about intermittent fasting and how that works. The problem with skipping meals and intermittent fasting are two different things. If you’re just skipping means, then it was unintentional. Fasting is intentional. You don’t want to be skipping meals all the time. If you’re doing intermittent fasting for a day or two, you can take phentermine. It’s another tool in the tool box. Starvation has never been a good weight loss plan. Phentermine won’t stop you from eating. If you’re eating for many reasons (not hunger), then it’s not going to help you. You need to take a good look at the behavior side of things. Why are you actually eating? Work on solving those problems. Without a good nutritional and exercise plan, any weight loss with the phentermine will likely be temporary.

In summary, phentermine has been around for a long time. It has stood the test of time. It can be very safe. It can be very helpful, especially for cravings. But it still needs to be used with a good diet and exercise plan. It doesn’t work to fix a poor life plan. You need to have a normal EKG. We have to monitor your blood pressure as well as side effects.

Come in and get your body composition done. Make sure your losing body fat and not lean body mass. Remember it’s your life! Make it a healthy one! Take care everyone.

What If I Can’t Find a Qualified Bariatric Surgeon or Comprehensive Program in My Area?

Posted on July 16, 2018 by CFWLS

If you cannot find a qualified bariatric surgeon or comprehensive follow up program in your area, you will have to either compromise what you want/ need or continue your search until you find the surgeon/program that will meet and/or exceed your expectations.

A few experienced surgeons offer a travel program for surgery. At the Center for Weight Loss Success, we offer such a program for appropriate surgical candidates. Not only does the program include surgery with arguably the most experience bariatric surgeon in the United States who has performed over 5,000 weight loss procedures, but it also includes our comprehensive Weight Management University for Weight Loss Surgery™ program. In addition, it is one of the most affordable options available in the United States. You can learn more about it at www.cfwls.com

The bottom line is that you have to be comfortable with your choice. We are fortunate to have many excellent bariatric surgeons in the United States. Your long-term success is the most important thing under consideration here. I hope this book has helped to inspire you, answer your questions and better prepare you for an amazing journey. Only you know if this journey is something that is right for you. If we can be of further assistance in any way, please let us know at success@cfwls.com. If you desire additional information and would like to view helpful videos that address each of these questions, please visit our main website at www.cfwls.com or at www.myweightlosssurgerysuccess.com.

Rhonda’s Opinion: Travel to the surgeon/program of your choice – it’s all worth it!

What if my insurance doesn’t cover weight loss surgery?

Posted on April 09, 2018 by CFWLS

If your insurance doesn’t cover weight loss surgery, you are not alone. Unfortunately, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, less than 1 percent of those who meet the criteria for surgery actually have surgery⁵. A big reason for this is lack of insurance coverage.

If you find you do not have insurance coverage, there are self-pay surgery options available (some more affordable than others). The self-pay cost of weight loss surgery procedures varies by the type of procedure and geographical area in which it is offered (urban areas tend to have a higher fee). Generally speaking, the average cost for a gastric bypass ranges from $18,000 to $25,000, while the adjustable gastric banding surgery costs anywhere from $17,000 to $30,000. The sleeve gastrectomy procedure is newer and a price range is not as readily available. A ball Park Range is anywhere from $14,000 to $22,000. The price range is also influenced by the supportive program aspects that may or may not be included, the number of follow-up visits, and for the laparoscopic adjustable banding, whether or not any adjustments are included.

The self-pay cost of weight loss surgery generally includes the cost of anesthesia, the hospital facility fee and the surgeon’s fee. There may also be additional costs for diet and fitness plans, behavioral modification therapy and nutritional products before and/or after surgery. However, some fees include these services. For example, at the Center for Weight Loss Success, our comprehensive weight loss surgery pricing including the costs for anesthesia, the hospital and the surgeon is as follows:

Gastric Sleeve – $13,995.00
Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band – $16,995.00
Gastric Bypass – $18,995

However, in addition, an exclusive comprehensive 12 month program is included with these fees. It is called Weight Management University for Weight Loss Surgery™ and includes the following:

You may be surprised that all of these products/services are included, but it’s the right thing to do for optimal long term results and has resulted in a high degree of patient satisfaction and improved outcomes. For those that travel for surgery, some services are offered online instead of on-site. No matter who you choose as your bariatric surgeon, make sure that there is a comprehensive program available and ongoing support prior, during and after surgery.

Also, most experienced bariatric surgeons/centers have financing options available. You will want to verify this and explore your options. How much is adding 5-7 years of quality life worth to you?

Rhonda’s Opinion: You will find a way to pay for it…I did and I did not make very much money at the time at all. You are worth it and Dr. Clark’s program is one of the most comprehensive and affordable programs available anywhere.

Self-Pay Weight Loss Surgery is common – we offer the most comprehensive and affordable options on the East Coast! Learn more at: Self-Pay Surgery

Thanks to Dr. Clark...