Obesity is a complex medical condition that has several detrimental health effects on the body it is also defined as a body mass index of 30 or greater body mass index or BMI is a comparison of your height to your weight to find out your BMI. go to our website and use the BMI calculator tool a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is overweight and a BMI of 30 or more is obese the rates of obesity in the United States have grown exponentially since 1990 and nobody is immune to this trend. we see it across both genders across all ethnic groups all age groups as well as economic levels there are many reasons why people are obese it may be due to genetics or biological factors illness medications sedentary lifestyle psychological status as well as their environment one of the main reasons for the obesity epidemic is the greater portion sizes of food or portion Distortion

for example 20 years ago our coffee was approximately 45 calories today when we stopped at the coffee shop and get a mocha latte we can get over 350 calories another example of portion distortion is a chicken Caesar salad 20 years ago the salad was one and a half cups and had 390 calories today in a restaurant a chicken Caesar salad can be three and a half cups and around 790 calories along with the increased portion sizes of food there are several other factors that contribute to obesity we have several labor-saving devices in our lives which actually equal less physical activity we also have very busy lifestyles which often force us to eat on the go or fast food we also live in a food filled environment we have access to food 24 hours a day seven days a week obesity causes a wide range of negative health effects on the body including all systems of the body obesity also has a negative psychological effect to help us lose weight

we are often in search of the Magic Bullet and often times that means turning to a fad diet fad diets may work while you're on them but they're certainly not the key to weight management fad diets often fail because they're unrealistic they often cut out food or food groups which is not sustainable for the rest of your life they often take extreme measures such as fasts or cleanses they have a one-size-fits-all mentality meaning they feel that you are overweight for all the same reasons they also may seem easy but they actually may not be there are several options for weight loss but what is going to lead to healthy long-term weight management

at the Philadelphia Weight Loss Bariatric Doctors there are several things that set us apart from other weight loss programs at Philadelphia Weight Loss Centers we recognize that obesity is a complex disease with many causes we also treat the behavioral as well as the medical aspects of obesity we also provide support from medical professionals to facilitate healthy lifestyles I think the fact that it was run by medical professionals was the the key for me it was something that as opposed to a group of people just getting together trying to work through something it was more a professional program put together by a team dietician psychologist medical doctors nurses and other professionals and that done all through a world-class facility like Philadelphia Weight Loss Centers just seemed like a really logical fit for me there are so many components to the Philadelphia Weight Loss Centers program there's you know it's not just one thing it's not going in and it's not it's not just a product it's not just a meeting it's it's all of those things and having the backup of the the doctors I think was really helpful because you you feel like you're responsible for for what you do but at the same time there's a whole group behind you when you sign up for our program at the Philadelphia Weight Loss Bariatric Doctors you first meet with a registered dietician during this visit we discuss and formulate your visions and goals and what you hope to achieve during the program

we also measure your resting metabolic rate which gives you an idea of how much weight you can expect to lose during the program we also determine an appropriate meal plan for you and we set expectations there are three meal plan options available to you the first is a full meal replacement plan using all Phila Diet Shakes products followed by a gradual transition back to food the second option is a partial meal replacement plan this option uses three op DFS products per day in addition to two healthy meals within an individualized calorie budget the third and final option does not include meal replacements this plan uses healthy foods of your choosing within an individualized calorie budget the second part of our enrollment is a doctor visit during this visit you have a history and physical comprehensive lipid profile and labs you address any medical concerns and throughout the program there is follow-up and monitoring but your thoughts on transition it's a pretty welcoming atmosphere everybody's pretty interested in what's going on everybody understands I think where people come from I never felt I wasn't nervous I wasn't ever really embarrassed or anything like that after your initial physician visit it is now time to start the active phase of the program during this phase you will have doctor visits registered dietitian visits and you will be attending our lifestyle education classes

the first phase it's there there's a lot going on which I guess makes it kind of exciting it's a it's a new thing what was it like it was exciting I mean it apprehensive I guess the first couple of days but then you see results and all the apprehensive this goes away I think getting off to a quick start it gives you the momentum you need to really keep going absolutely our program utilizes Phila Diet Shakes products as meal replacements the use of Phila Diet Shakes products limits your food choices which leads to a lower calorie intake and ultimately weight loss there are a variety of opti fest products available to you while on the program these include shakes soups and nutrition bars the first week they actually give you pretty much one of everything so that you can try it all and try and figure out what you like the best I guess I'm a little bit of a chocoholic mainly because I landed on chocolate everything but you have different soups tomato and chicken soup vanilla strawberry and chocolate shakes and bars both pre-made and powder and it's a pretty good variety of stuff actually you'd be surprised what you can do with it

and I've actually discovered that you can spice a lot of it up with just a little bit of Tabasco sauce or pepper or you can play around with some spices so that works really well for me typically what I'll do is take a number of the pre-made bricks on the road we like to call them bricks anyway as well as a bunch of the bars a couple different flavors of the chocolate bars those all together can fit in a nice little bag like this about four or five meals worth and that's your whole day worth of food and stays cold plus I can fit a diet soft drink or something like that in there and it's always with me up you know in the cockpit and the seat next to me you're right behind me and I'm never never without my food another main component of our program is our lifestyle education classes in these lifestyle education classes there are behavior topics such as stress management and goal-setting we also talk about nutrition such as meal planning and dining out we also talk about physical activity which is the key to long-term weight management I can make a lot of things that other people like that I don't care for and then be able to steer myself towards what I should be eating you just never really know what you're gonna get from group even if you only get something tiny that that tiny thing that you never thought about before could make all the difference everyone shared a common goal in weight loss and a lot of the same things that they've been through are things that I've been through there was a ton of commonality there so I really think it's invaluable to be able to sit down with him develop a little bit of a comfort zone and kind of mutually support each other and share your stories of success and the hard times you have and it makes it just that much easier to have something like that to look forward to each week o help incorporate physical activity into your life we recommend joining local health centers because the exercise component of the program has been really important for me

I started out with just the basic walking most of the time though I was still playing tennis occasionally and I've built that up now to where it's walking / jogging hiking up in the mountains occasionally bike riding and then quite a bit more tennis now that I feel more physically fit able to move around better I'm excited about exercising a lot more than I ever have been and more excited about exercise outside of the gym I always I want to be active now I want to go out I I got a bike I want to be outside I want to walk my dogs I want to run things like that I just I want to be moving I can do a lot more I can do things that I wanted to do I think that's that's some of the reason for losing a weight is the the goals as you get to a certain age you have your your bucket list things that you want to do one of the things I've always wanted to do was run the Broad Street Marathon so I've missed it one time in the last five years I've been able to complete it four times with that to me that was a big deal I'm not the fastest but I'm not the slowest either after the first phase you move on to the second phase which consists of weekly meetings for up to six months during these meetings we talk about lifelong weight management skills and this is the critical phase to success they're they're really important sometimes it can be sometimes you'll have a day where you don't read like to just go home and decompress but you know it's your day to go to group and it's nice to be around with other people who are going through what you're going through and maybe maybe deal with some of the things that you deal with in a different way in a way that you hadn't thought of that's going to help you get through it my daily routine is made up a lot of tips that I've received from from different different people independent program and the you know the instructors our partnership doesn't end after those first six months of phase two you can keep coming back to the Philadelphia Weight Loss Bariatric Doctors for as long as you need

when I first started I will say that I probably looked at it as a 21 21 week program that after those 21 weeks I would be done and everything would be fine and I wouldn't come back and I don't look at it that way anymore the fact that Philadelphia Weight Loss Centers is going to be there as long as I need them was not only I mean not only is that an exciting thing for me to think about going forward but it was also one of the main reasons I joined the program to begin with it lets you feel like you have a support system and a mechanism to continue to reach your goal and have success long after the program technically ends not everyone is a candidate for this program to be a candidate for our full meal replacement plan your BMI must be greater than 30 or between 25 to 29 point nine with any weight related medical issues there are medical conditions that exclude you from participation in the program some of those conditions include a recent heart attack history of stroke and pregnancy there are also medical conditions that are relative contraindications this means you'll have to get the approval from your primary care physician as well as our Philadelphia Weight Loss Bariatric Doctors physician for a complete list of these medical conditions.