A Success Story: An Individual Approach to Weight Loss

At the age of 41, Amelia is a retired executive who fights with her pills throughout her lifetime. Height 145 cm and weight 154 kg. Body mass index or BMI is 53 (body mass index is weight and height proportions; 27 or more BMI is considered overweight). After 40, she was confronted with more problems with Amelia pills, and the doctor said she had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Drug recommendations for each of these problems, but Amelia wanted another option.

Sound Weight Solutions, Bellevue, Washington, Frances Gough, M.D., and Teresa Girolami, M.D. Amelia was introduced into a comprehensive diet program on diet change, exercise and counseling. "According to our philosophy, life is filled with a series of decisions and choices, and making good decisions about diet and exercise can lead to success," says Dr. Gough, "Positive changes should be prioritized and studied every day."



Amelia's diet consisted largely of meat, cheese, and butter. He hated all kinds of vegetables and was just a little involved in his diet. Dr. Gough gave instructions to keep a diary about everything he ate in the week. "The diary actually helps us to understand what we ate," said Dr. Gough, "they are very surprised when they write - they do not notice tiny specks of cookies, cookies, and so on."

Amelia then met with a holistic nutritionist for a complete assessment of nutrient uptake. The nutritionist used a special computer program to design nutrition guidelines specifically for Amelia. It was recommended that the transition from the untreated diet to five servings of fruit and vegetable one day a weighted vegetarian diet and one or two weekly consumption of meat. We did not like cooked vegetables very much, but discovered that they enjoyed raw vegetables. Amelia was totally eager against the vegetarian approach and even took more rice and vegetable cooked rice to eat. To help Amelia make healthy choices in shopping, she visited the market with a nutritionist.

How do you encourage people to make better food choices? "You get your worst habit and you start to change it," Dr. Gough said. "Then it develops and develops in a few weeks, until you start eating more healthy things and feel better."

Amelia participated in weekly group therapy sessions to help address emotional problems surrounding weight problems and to reduce excess weight. The therapy program also focuses on changes in lifestyle (behavior, attitude and self-esteem) that will help to prevent weight loss. Topics to be discussed during a typical therapy session include: loneliness, depression and isolation and how they relate to food; sabotage by others - family members bringing home high-calorie foods, chocolates, cookies and other snacks; how to keep healthy eating plan while maintaining an intensive program. Support will greatly increase the likelihood of slimming, he says. Gough. "Some types of therapies are very useful, especially in the group, and help strengthen their motivations and feelings on the way they go," he adds.

Amelia also started an exercise program with a personal instructor working three times a week for one hour. The program began with a body composition assessment using bioelectrical impedance to measure the body fat level, passing a small electric current through the body. This measurement is more specific than just scaling, and shows how much fat one will burn and how much muscle will build up from exercise. Based on this analysis, the trainer later designed an exercise program for Amelia that included both cardiovascular exercise and weight training.

Nine months later at the end of this program lost about 27 kg. This means a 5% reduction in body fat and a 5% increase in lean body mass. Body mass index fell from 53 to 42. The blood pressure dropped from 160/110 to 130/80 and cholesterol, triglyceride and blood sugar levels were within normal range. More importantly, Amelia learned to incorporate these healthy changes into her life and continued to weaken. "You can say that the teaching we use is a reinforcement of education," Dr. Gough explained, "an education that helps people choose what they need to do to get rid of their situation. We helped them to make good choices in terms of nutrition, behavior and exercise. "