See more Empty Calories right here in the blog each week, or receive one each month when you subscribe to our free newsletter.
Read Full Post >

Deciding on a medically supervised weight loss program is an important decision. Many people find that a doctor-supervised plan to lose weight helps them stay accountable for their progress. At the same time it is less risky than weight loss surgery. The fact that part of the cost may be covered by insurance is also often a reason some people choose the option of losing weight at a medical facility.

However, the range of medical clinics that offer weight loss services can vary widely, from centers that offer some of the best weight loss advice available to storefront offices that tout downright dangerous practices. Before you sign up, there are several things you should consider.

“Definitely do your research,” says Shawna Biggars, who has lost over 100 pounds at a Medi-Weightloss clinic, which has locations throughout the U.S. “We talked to a family friend who was on the program. We talked to our personal physician about the program. We did research online. We tried to get as much information as possible, so that we were consumers making an informed choice.” Talking with your family physician is a particularly important piece of this process, as they may already have a weight loss program to recommend to you.

Read Full Post >

So you’ve lost the weight and you’ve achieved your goal – so now what? You’ve probably spent so much time thinking about your goal that you may not have thought too much about what to do after it was met. And although it’s easy to slip back into old eating habits, it’s also easy to gain back all that weight you worked so hard to lose in the first place. To keep that from happening, you need to have a plan – a maintenance plan. But how do you know what plan is right for you?

It’s Sustainable for the Long Haul. 

Any maintenance plan you decide to follow should be something you can do today, tomorrow, and every day after that. If it’s overly restrictive, requires you to eat weird foods or incorporate foods you don’t love, you probably won’t stick with it for very long. To avoid going back to a less nutritious way of eating, keep your maintenance plan balanced and realistic.

It Doesn’t Eliminate Major Food Groups. 

If you discover a maintenance plan that asks you to eliminate an entire food group from your eating plan, don’t walk, run away! Any type of diet or meal plan that restricts or eliminates whole food groups is often unbalanced and can result in nutritional deficiencies if you aren’t careful. Your body simply needs a wide variety of foods to function at its best. A decent maintenance plan should allow for all foods to be incorporated in some shape or form.

Read Full Post >

Anna Watson, University of Georgia cheerleader, doesn’t allow things like being the only girl in the weight room or putting on some muscle intimidate her. She welcomes the challenge. She even claims her faith in God and wears it boldly. Even when she was denied a lucrative fitness modeling contract because she didn’t want to take the legal steroid Anavar—to put on more muscle—she stood strong in her convictions. “It was definitely something I was tempted with more than one time,” she said. “[The agent] made it sound as good as he could.”

“I don’t serve a modeling agent. I serve the Lord,” Watson said. “I’m not going to compromise my morals and my beliefs just to take pictures. I believe that my body is a temple and a beautiful creation, so I don’t want to put anything into it that can harm it.”

Read Full Post >

More obese Americans may be given the opportunity to have their weight loss surgery covered by insurance if device manufacturers have their way. Allergan Inc., makers of the LapBand gastric banding device, has been the most vocal in their efforts to give obese patients access to this life-altering surgery. Being able to have this surgery covered by insurance will give patients the tools they need to fight a host of life-threatening illnesses brought on by their obesity. Allergan proposes that allowing more people access to insurance coverage will save billions of dollars in healthcare costs for both the government and employers.

The Dilemma

Critics argue that bariatric surgery has high rates of complications which can reach into the thousands and that the surgery doesn’t change the underlying behavior.

Read Full Post >