There is no “one size fits all” diet. Our medical solutions for weight loss and wellness solutions are built for you, as an individual, by physicians and trained weight loss specialists, to get the best results possible.* We are committed to understanding your needs and goals, and to providing the support you need.
Achieving a healthy weight can improve your overall health, make you feel more energetic, and enhance your enjoyment of life. Our medically managed weight loss solutions program offers you much more than another diet. We teach you to make behavioral changes for life as you work toward your wellness goals.
We offer dietary plans built to meet your individual needs, whether it’s grocery-based solutions or medication and supplement-supported plans. We take you through a step-by-step process that includes evaluation by your primary care provider, health education, dietary planning, activity and exercise plans, and goal management.
Now that you’re seeking medical help for weight loss, it may be because diet and exercise alone have failed to make a significant difference. Or perhaps you’re facing a health condition that’s become more serious. Whatever your reasons for finding us, you’ll also find that the Main Line Health Comprehensive Weight and Wellness Program is exactly where you need to be, right now—a single point of entry to a full range of specialized treatments, education and support in a welcoming, supportive environment.
Maybe you’ve worked hard to lose weight, but never seem to achieve results. Or maybe you have lost weight, but always gain it back. Your determination isn’t the problem — it’s likely your weight loss support and plan.
We always start our process by listening to your story in order to learn about the habits and impulses that caused your weight gain. We also need to understand any medical issues, health concerns, or dietary restrictions.
Medical Solutions for Weight Loss Program
What You Can Expect
Each of our medical weight loss solutions begins with a medical exam by one of our physicians. This is a comprehensive exam to record and analyze your current health state. Our physician will ask you detailed, personal questions and review your health history, blood work, blood pressure and EKG.
A medically and individually designed low calorie diet plan is only a part of our weight loss solution. Our weekly consultations help you maintain your diet by providing personalized, confidential weight loss support.* We address your concerns on an individual level, discuss any challenges you may have faced, and give you the tools and ongoing emotional support to help you personally overcome these obstacles in the future.* We also track your progress, and join in your enthusiasm as you begin to take notice your overall progress towards good health.*
Why Medical Weight Loss Solutions Are Different From Other Weight Loss Plans
Our medical weight loss solutions programs are overseen by a bariatrician (obesity medicine doctor) who will begin your care with a comprehensive clinical assessment, which includes body composition and metabolic evaluation. Your bariatrician will also assess your nutritional habits, behavioral health, and fitness level while also gaining an understanding of your personal health history, experience with weight gain and/or weight loss, and your primary concerns around weight management.
With a holistic view of your health condition, your lifestyle and behaviors, personal health goals and even your budget, the doctor will determine whether a conservative or intensive weight loss program is recommended, and will work with you to decide what aspects of the program will potentially deliver the best results for you, based on your needs. Your medical weight loss options may include:
- Medical diets for weight loss: short-term, medically supervised low-calorie diet (LCD) or very low-calorie diet (VLCD)
- FDA-approved weight loss medications (when appropriate) that suppress appetite while stimulating metabolism
- Exercise physiologist-directed physical activity and exercise plans
- Educational classes and support groups
- Psychological/emotional wellness counseling
Program Goals
We want to help you achieve your best health. As you lose weight, your chances of developing other serious illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease decreases, and other conditions you already have may become easier to manage.
Your success depends on improving the quality of your life. Decreasing your risk of disease, having a healthy relationship with food, and staying physically active are ways to help you get there.
We’ll help you set program goals that are reasonable, healthy, and achievable. We do this by helping you set specific expectations and following up with you using clinical measures such as body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, bioelectrical impedance, body measurements, and waist circumference.
Our skilled and highly trained staff will coordinate your care among our experienced providers so you have the support and resources you need to be successful.
What is Medical Weight Loss?
Our Medical Weight Loss solutions is a unique and effective solution to weight loss. Our team is experienced in providing individualized care led by Nurse Practitioners who will monitor your medical conditions and work with your family doctor. We have Registered Dietitians who will provide nutrition education and work with you to make dietary changes as needed.
At Iowa Weight Loss Specialists we want to help you make life-long changes. We believe in a real food approach, teaching you to make healthy food choices for a lifetime, not just for a few weeks or months. While fad diets may lead to weight loss, it is often very difficult to maintain. Changing your lifestyle is the best way to lose weight and to keep it off and we believe that long-lasting results are achieved by making small changes over time.
Medications
Weight loss medications can help increase weight loss to 5-10% of a person’s total body weight and in some patients more. 5% may not seem like much but can have a big impact on a person’s overall health. Just 5% of weight loss can decrease the chances of a person developing diabetes by greater than 50%! At Iowa Weight Loss Specialists our current average is 10% at one year.
Weight loss medications are tools that can help by decreasing appetite, decreasing food cravings, increasing satiety (fullness), or decreasing absorption. Medications are often overlooked as helpful tools to help patients with obesity. Also, it’s important to point out that many patients have never been on weight loss medications.
Three Medical Weight Loss Solutions
Exercise Solutions
St. Dominic’s is a partner with The Club fitness centers in our community. If you would like to get moving, but don’t know where to start or what level of exercise you can initially handle, schedule time with one of The Club’s personal trainers to set your pace. Remember, doing something with small results to start is better than doing nothing at all.
Diet Solutions
St. Dominic’s Weight Loss Solutions program is a medically supervised diet program. This program not only teaches you how to lose weight successfully but how to make those simple lifestyle changes permanently. Plus, you will have all the support of the weight loss team, which includes a physician, nurses and dietitians to keep your stay positive and focused on your goals.
Surgical Solutions
St. Dominic’s offers bariatric and metabolic surgery for those who have attempted weight loss through diet and exercise but have not been successful.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
The most well known medical weight loss solution is gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass has been performed for over 50 years. This procedure divides the stomach into two pouches, with the small intestine connecting the two. The end result is a reduction in the stomach’s capacity, leading to dramatic weight loss.
Most gastric bypasses are laparoscopic, which leads to a shorter gastric bypass recovery time. After this type of surgery, you can expect to stay in the hospital for two to three days and return to normal activities in about a month.
Lap Band Surgery
Like the gastric bypass, the lap band system reduces your stomach size so you eat less and feel fuller for longer. In this outpatient procedure, the surgeon places the band around your stomach laparoscopically. Some lap band complications include constipation, difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting, and acid reflux.
Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Also known as Sleeve Gastrectomy, this procedure induces weight loss by reducing food intake. In this procedure, bariatric surgeons will remove 75% of the patient’s stomach, thus making the stomach into a much smaller ‘sleeve’ that holds less food.
This method is typically reserved for morbidly obese patients, so some gastric sleeve qualifications include having a BMI of 40 or higher:, being more than 100 pounds overweight: having healthy thyroid, glucose, kidney, and liver levels: and a physician’s recommendation that your weight isn’t related to an outstanding medical condition.
Tools for Success
SECA Scale
The high tech SECA Body Composition Scale offers a more detailed look into the type of weight an individual is carrying with the ability to differentiate between fat mass and fat-free mass. The scale provides information regarding hydration status, body fat percentage and total muscle mass.
Indirect Calorimeter
An indirect calorimeter is a tool used to measure how many calories your body burns at rest each day. It will help with your weight loss success. It is a simple 10-minute breath test performed in our office.
Meal Planning
A meal plan can help you learn how to plan and prepare meals ahead of time. At Iowa Weight Loss Specialists we can provide you with a meal plan specific to your needs.
SMART Goals
We will use SMART goals to guide you in your journey to lasting success. SMART goals are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Accountable, Realistic and Time-Based. Each visit you will leave with two to three short-term goals to work on for your next appointment.
