OBESITY AND YOUR HEALTH

People who are overweight or obese have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or other lipid disorders, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. These co-morbid conditions are merely symptoms of the real issue, obesity.

Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in our country, and pandemic proportions in the developed world. For these reasons, Dr. Matheson is committed to doing his part in making America leaner and healthier.

Too many Americans are prematurely cutting their lives short because of their unhealthy lifestyles that eventually rob them of years of life and prosperity.

Being in good shape helps us feel better about ourselves, increases our self esteem allows us to more confidently take on life and its challenges. And as a result, you will find that you will be successful in other aspects of your lives as well, just by achieving your weight loss goals.

The sense of accomplishment this will give you will serve as a catalyst in improving almost every challenge that presents itself.

In America, obesity and obesity related conditions cause approximately 300,000 deaths per year, while the costs for caring for this patient population continues to soar.

Several factors can contribute to being overweight, including familial predisposition, the growing portions of meals that we consume, and the tendency to overeat in social occasions. The most common way to determine if a person is overweight or obese is through calculating their Body Mass Index, or BMI. This is simply a ratio of a person’s weight in kilograms over their height in square meters. This equation helps normalize a patient’s weight by their body surface area.

Once your BMI is greater than 25 you are in the overweight category as defined by the National Institutes of Health. Once over 30, you would be classified as mildly obese. Once you go above 40 you would be classified as morbidly obese.

Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a reliable indicator of total body fat. The score is valid for both men and women but is does have the following limits:

• It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build
• It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass.

Use the BMI formula to estimate your total body fat.

Use the BMI calculator to estimate your total body fat.

Waist Circumference

Place a measuring tape snugly around your waist. This is a good indicator of your abdominal fat which is another predictor of the threat for developing risk factors of heart and other diseases.

The risk increases with a waist measurement over 40 inches for men and over 35 inches in women.

Our Program:

Each step of our program is tailored to the individual patient. The program is not a one size fits all approach, but a well thought out plan for each patient tailored to point out problem areas and attacking these.

We will assess what current health and co-morbid medical conditions exist, identify eating behaviors and patterns that may prevent you from losing weight, provide nutritional counseling, and suggest guidelines that are safe and tolerable at the beginning with a plan to increase activity as you lose weight and can tolerate it.

We will help you set realistic weight loss goals and expectations as you go through your journey to look and feel better. Remember, you did not put on your weight overnight, although it may seem that way, and you shouldn’t try to shed your excess weight overnight either.

There is a large amount of medical data on the fact that if you starve yourself, your body will lower its basal metabolic rate in order to conserve energy to keep you alive. The trick is to lose weight in a safe controlled manner to avoid this pitfall.

THE EVALUATION:

On your initial visit you will:

• Undergo a complete history and physical, which also addresses the patient’s eating and exercise habits.
• Undergo routine blood work.
• Have their BMI and fat content calculated
• Have an EKG performed.
• Receive first week’s weight loss medications (if medically clear to take these medications).

The initial weekly visits:

• Exercise advice
• Nutritional advice
• Weekly injection
• Weekly prescription medication
• Blood pressure will be taken
• Weight, BMI, and body fat content will be analyzed

The initial weekly visits will allow our staff to monitor critical physiologic parameters while on the prescription medications. Trouble areas with your diet, exercise, and sleep will be addressed as well as any other concerns you may have. We will also review your diet journal with you.

The weekly visits will allow us to monitor your progress and fix any problems to keep you on your weight loss track. It will also allow us to celebrate with you.

Monthly visits:

Once you have demonstrated that you are succeeding with your weight loss program, and that you are tolerating the prescribed medications well, Dr. Matheson will advance you to the monthly visit stage.

At this point you will be given monthly supplies of your medications, vitamins, and supplements. We again will monitor your progress at each monthly visit. The monthly visit includes:

• Exercise advice
• Nutritional advice
• Monthly injection
• 3 week supply of the prescription medications.
• Blood pressure
• Weight, BMI, and body fat content measurement