16 Weeks to a Healthier You: Diet and Exercise During Medically-Supervised Weight Loss

Have you lost count of the number of diets you’ve tried in your life?

From celebrity-endorsed fads to gross juice cleanses, yo-yo dieting like this very rarely helps you lose weight — and it definitely doesn’t give you a solid foundation in nutrition to help you keep your weight off for good.

If you’ve been frustrated by your inability to drop your excess weight, you may be going about it all wrong.

A medically-supervised weight-loss program isn’t another diet — it’s a lifestyle overhaul.

Here at Panhandle Weight Loss Center in Amarillo, we run a 16-week program with a team of weight-loss specialists including registered dietitians, personal trainers, and experienced medical staff.

During your program, you’ll learn how to feed and take care of your body so it stops packing on the pounds and starts shedding them instead.

Today, we’re going to discuss what happens during a medically-supervised weight-loss program that makes it different from everything else you’ve ever tried before.

You’ll see exactly why it works for so many people who never got the hang of dieting.

Why a Medically-Supervised Weight-Loss Program is Different From Dieting and Exercising on Your Own

A medically-supervised weight-loss program works. Period.

That’s because the three biggest hurdles keeping you from losing weight on your own are tackled from a professional’s angle:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Accountability

You’ll find zero gimmicks here — everything we do has been medically and clinically tested on patients hoping to lose weight and achieve awesome success.

While patients undergoing bariatric surgery can expect to lose over 50% of their excess weight within the first year of their procedure, those following a medically-supervised weight-loss program won’t lose quite as much.

During your 16 weeks on the program, you can expect to lose at least 10% of your excess weight.

Nadia B. Pietrzykowska, MD, FACP, tells Obesity Action Coalition that studies have shown losing just 5–10% of your excess weight improves many obesity-related medical conditions and greatly improves your quality of health.

For someone who weighs 250 pounds, that equates to losing about 12 to 25 pounds.

That’s a pretty modest weight-loss goal compared to the benefits you’ll reap if you meet it, such as:

• A 5% increase in HDL (or “good”) cholesterol
• A significant decrease in triglycerides
• Lower blood pressure (5 mmHg on average for both systolic and diastolic)
• Decreasing your A1C level by half a point
• Lower insulin levels
• Improved sleep apnea
• Lower inflammation

While every patient’s weight loss journey is different, here’s a general timeline of scale victories for those following a medically-supervised weight-loss program:

• Lose about 2–3 pounds every week
• Lose up to 10 pounds in the first month
• Lose up to 15–30 pounds completing the program

Getting results like these takes work.

And the more excess weight you have to lose, the faster you’ll notice the scale budging in your favor.

We’ll measure your weight, body fat percentage, and BMI when you first start the program and continue to monitor your progress every week to see how your body is responding.

Although reaching your target weight is definitely the goal, our program is mainly focused on teaching you how to establish healthy habits to take with you for the rest of your life.

Starting with your relationship with food…

Follow a Customized Diet Based Specifically on Your Body’s Needs, Not Cravings

How much do you really know about nutrition?

Sure, you know that processed junk food isn’t as healthy as broccoli or cauliflower, but do you know what a macronutrient is or how to calculate a net carb?

Most of us haven’t ever been taught this so it’s no wonder we don’t know how to feed our bodies properly.

That ends when you enroll in our medically-supervised weight-loss program.

Every month, you’ll meet with one of our registered dietitians and a physician assistant or nurse practitioner to discuss your Nutritional Blueprint — the master plan to trigger weight loss for your body.

This educational crash course in healthy eating will be based entirely on what your body needs to thrive. You’ll learn all about:

• Calorie tracking
• Net carbohydrates
• Healthy fats
• How much protein you need

One of our registered dietitians will design a meal plan totally customized for your body’s nutritional goals.

Plus, we’ll even give you a healthy shopping guide to help you make healthy choices when shopping for yourself or your entire family, stress free.

Having this education will help you make smarter choices about food, especially if you’re used to relying on unhealthy snacks as a way to deal with stress, loneliness, or boredom.

By breaking the cycle with a little advanced prep work, you’ll start feeling the power of whole, nutritious foods and your body will thank you.

You’ll no longer feel lethargic and lazy — you’ll have an abundance of energy.

And, you’ll need all that to conquer your workouts.

Start Exercising With Crossfit (Because it Works)

We like to start exercising our patients at CrossFit because it’s the most effective fitness regimen for weight loss.

Basically, these short workout sessions are designed to burn a maximum amount of calories using various high-intensity core movements (which are easy for your body to handle).

The harder you work, the more dramatic your muscle gains (and fat losses).

It’s not about spending hours at the gym — it’s about making your workout window of time really count.

CrossFit is the high-intensity workout that exercises all of your muscle groups lightning fast.

Plus, you need zero experience.

The moves are simple and only get harder in intensity as you get stronger.

It’s important to start your fitness journey with a program focused on measureable results because if you don’t see your hard work paying off immediately, you may be tempted to quit.

These fast workouts will give you the results (and energy!) to propel you forward and keep you going.

Our medically-supervised weight-loss program includes 6 exercise sessions at CrossFit 806 Gym (3901 Plains Blvd., Amarillo, TX; 806-686-0620).

Sessions are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 6–7 PM so they fit right into your after-work schedule.

You’re also eligible for a discounted CrossFit Gym Membership to continue your fitness even after our program’s complete.

If you need to lose a serious amount of weight fast, we also offer multiple sessions with a Certified Personal Trainer (at an additional cost) to speed up your progress.

Without Support and Accountability Your Goals Will Always Seem Unreachable

Dieting and exercising on your own can work, but it doesn’t give you the accountability and support of working with an experienced staff of professionals.

We’ll help you celebrate all your scale victories.

And we’ll be there to highlight your non-scale victories when the scale refuses to budge.

Instead of throwing in the towel like you may have before, we’ll be there to figure out what’s stalling your weight loss so you don’t give up.

Although we’ll hold you accountable for sticking to the program, you’ll always have support and understanding to stay strong and meet your weight-loss goal.

Our team of weight-loss experts won’t give up on you, so you can’t give up on yourself.

PS: If You’re Considering Bariatric Surgery, You’ll Usually Need to Complete a Medically-Supervised Weight-Loss Program First

Insurance companies typically only approve patients for bariatric surgeries — such as the gastric sleeve or duodenal switch — after they’ve completed a medically-supervised weight-loss program.

There’s two reasons for this:

1. Bariatric surgery is a permanent weight-loss option for when diet and exercise aren’t enough to trigger weight loss in overweight and obese patients.

Patients are encouraged to try a medically-supervised weight-loss program before surgery to make sure they’re at this point.

If patients lose enough weight steadily with the program, they may not require surgery after all.

1. If bariatric surgery is needed, the procedures are always safer to perform the less excess weight you have on your body.

A medically-supervised weight-loss program may not resolve obesity in 16 weeks, but it should help remove at least 5–10% of a patient’s excess body weight to make surgery safer.

Check with your provider about their rules if you’re using insurance to cover your bariatric surgery.

While your insurance company may cover parts of your medically-supervised weight-loss program, it won’t cover expenses like protein bars or meal replacements.

That’s why medically-supervised weight-loss patients receive 25% off all supplements and meal replacement products at the Panhandle Weight Loss Center Store.

It’s just one way we try to make the process easier for you.

Finally Ready to Start Losing Weight?

Take the first step to your healthier life by contacting Panhandle Weight Loss Center to discuss your goal to get slim for good.

After you complete a medically-supervised weight-loss program, you’ll not only lose weight and inches, you’ll find it easier to resist your cravings and suppress your appetite.

You’ll also stop yo-yo dieting and finally start eating healthy foods naturally.

Don’t be surprised if your energy levels shoot through the roof and you actually look forward to exercising.

So what are you waiting for?

Start redefining your life and who you want to be by finally getting yourself in shape once and for all — with our help.