With a case of extreme obesity slowly killing a man, Dr. Phil has called upon Bistro MD and Dr. Caroline Cederquist M.D., the developer of the diet with hopes that her expertise and her medical delivery diet can offer critical help to the situation.

On the show, which aired yesterday, January 29, Dr. Phil employs his popular team approach, and he’ll have input from his usual posse of medical experts for Kevin, who at age 44 has reached the stunning weight of 715 pounds. But faced with a weight problem that extreme, not just any doctor has the depth of experience to offer meaningful help.

So Dr. Phil called in Bistro MD and Dr. Cederquist, a board-certified family and bariatric physician who has at the core of her treatment a focus not on extreme diets or radical regimens, but on addressing the metabolic irregularities that develop in overweight people from a few pounds overweight to hundreds of pounds.

“Kevin is disabled and virtually homebound,” says Dr. Cederquist. “He has gained 300 pounds in the past five years. He suffers from diabetes and severe sleep and breathing difficulties. Problems with his joints and his sheer mass make it almost impossible for him to move around, and as a result, he scarcely leaves his bed, let alone his house. Getting him from home to the Dr. Phil studios was a major undertaking.”

Dr. Cederquist said Kevin had been rejected for weight-loss surgeries because the medical conditions related to his obesity makes him too high-risk as a candidate for surgery. He has sunk into a depression over his worsening situation, and resorts to eating for comfort, further worsening his conditions—and his despair.

“These are often people who have been successful at everything else in their lives, and they cannot understand why their efforts to lose even 20 pounds are so futile,” she says. “But for them, it’s just not as simple as eat less, burn more. Losing weight is not just about eating less of the wrong things; it is about eating more of the right things.”

Because Kevin’s high-risk status prevents him from pursuing bariatric surgery, Dr. Phil’s staff assessed a number of options for Kevin, and ultimately, Dr. Phil asked Dr. Cederquist to help with Kevin’s case. She had developed a home diet delivery program that specifically addresses both the practical and metabolic problems most people as well as Kevin must overcome. The home delivery diet, called BistroMD, is a home-delivered diet that Dr. Cederquist developed.

The gourmet foods in the BistroMD diet will help Kevin deal with both the practical and the medical challenges he faces. The meals are portion-controlled and designed to preserve lean muscle tissue as the dieter loses body fat. Because they are low in glycemic load, the foods also tend to reduce the sugar and carb cravings that lead so many to abandon their dieting attempts.

While Kevin is an extreme example, his metabolic abnormalities are common and are becoming more so. Currently 70.8% of men and 66.2% of women in the U.S. are overweight. The vast majority of overweight people develop metabolic abnormalities as they gain. But with the right nutritional program is the underlying principle of the Bistro MD diet. The macronutrients of the diet include adequate lean protein spread throughout the day, controlled portions of complex carbohydrates and the right amount of “good” fats.

This article borrowed from Bistro MD.

This week we have a guest blog from Israel at Fat Man Unleashed. He’s a self-proclaimed fat man who uses his blog to share his diet, weight loss and fitness experiences. It’s one of those true-life, weight loss reality checks from someone who’s been there and continues to work hard. His message this week makes me feel better about all the hours I log blogging! – bk

Did you know that blogging can help you with getting in shape? It can also help you with your accountability issues and peer support.

First, just to clarify, blogging itself will not help you lose weight since it is not a physical exercise. However, blogging does help you stay in shape and lose weight indirectly. It can provide you with the motivation you need to stick with your goal. If you start a weight loss blog, you will most likely stick to your diet and exercise. Why? Because you want to prove it to yourself (and others) that you can achieve your goals. Having readers makes it easier to stay in shape and blog about it. The community and support group feeling they provide is comparable to some paid membership sites. Would you want to let your friends down? I wouldn’t, hence motivation to stick to your goals. This helps to make you accountable for your actions.

Blogging can also help you with your self-esteem. When you blog you are writing down all that occurs during your journey. This includes the ups and the downs. As you write down the progress, you can look back at the positive changes you have made. This should motivate you and help you keep up with your newly found good habits. It’s like taking before and after photos. The hardest part is opening up and showing/telling someone. You can also blog about the negatives. These posts will remind you of the mistakes you should not repeat. You would be surprised with the level of support you receive when you post about a “relapse.”

More people should try blogging if they are trying to lose weight or get in shape. If you have not started a blog about your health goals, you should give it a try because it will benefit you in many ways.

Thank you, Israel. This is a great tip for anyone trying to lose weight. If you aren’t comfortable blogging for the world to see, but still want to keep track of your progress and relapses as Israel described- check out the free journal at FitDay.

I’m the best at keeping secrets. All my friends know this, and so I’m the first one that they come running to with some juicy gossip. But sometimes, I need to share. Not just for me, but for your benefit too.

The editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine, has a new book out that goes deep inside the very secretive world of restaurant food. You will be amazed and disgusted and hopefully, motivated to make some better choices.

The book, titled “Eat This, Not That“, does a terrific job of showing you the differences between two commonplace food options. I also love the review of 9 typically “healthy” choices. Buy the book, and check it out for yourself!

A secret that I have to share though, is that as a former restaurant owner, it was our mission to inject so much fat into our foods, that you would feel as satisfied as a well-fed baby, and return to our restaurant again and again. How do we do that? Well, for one, we would use butters and oils that have higher than average saturation levels, which allows them to cook for longer at higher temperatures without burning. Yep, you heard me right. A tablespoon of restaurant oil has even more fat than the oil you use at home. We also would use cream in places you have never even heard of. Oh, and that asian vinaigrette that sounds so low-cal? Um, sorry, but we used Mayonnaise as the first ingredient.

So yes, better food choices start with full disclosure, and you, dear dining out consumer, have every right to ask to see the recipe.

The workplace is a diet disaster waiting to happen every day. Even the most well-intentioned person can fall prey to temptations that lurk just around the cubicle. The New York Times has a nice little piece about people who struggle with their workplace diet. Each gives their story and how they handle the difficult situations, including one who lost 50 pounds doing the South Beach Diet in secret.

Here’s a fun exercise routine. If you’re an absolute beginner, or just getting back into a routine and you’re a little concerned about where to start, you don’t even have to leave your couch. Or, if you’re in the office all day, you can get started there. So, instead of playing solitaire or Tetris, exercise a little.

You can also use this free fitness journal at FitDay to keep track of your progress.