Is It Wise To Nudge Someone About Their Weight Loss Problems?

weight loss problemsDo you know of a friend or even a family member whose weight is heading in a physically dangerous direction that you felt it is your obligation to help and be brutally honest about it?  Well, it may not be so easy since weight, for the vast majority, is such a sensitive subject. Weight loss problems or issues about weight are often tied to self-esteem and by being too straightforward, it can have a negative impact and may just push the person to fuel feelings of self-hatred, causing for him or her not to break the cycle. So how do you start?

No Matter How Righteous Your Intentions Are, It May Still Be Hurtful

It sucks when friends, family and even strangers feel it is their responsibility to help an obese loved one lose weight, when the idea of it has not even being considered.  No matter how good our intentions are, reality is,  we may not really know what is good for somebody else, much less for ourselves. Putting a little extra care in the words we choose can go a long way. It is best to tell them that we care for them and are just worried about the effect. The caring part should come across much stronger than the potential judgement part. Offer to go with them to a doctor whenever they feel they are ready. Or go with them for a walk daily.

Fat Shaming Won’t Help

There is no point telling the person over and over that he or she is overweight. It is hard enough being fat already. They do not need to be reminded of it daily. Instead recognize their value, their feelings and make them realize the beauty they have inside that is worth respecting until they begin to believe it. What is important is that it does not come through as a rejection of any sort but genuine care.

Stop Nagging About It

Think about how the person would feel.  It can build up resentment even if your advice are undoubtedly for their best interest. Do not harp on it at every opportunity. Let them handle it at their pace in their own way. Nagging creates distance between you and the person you love, which is the last thing you want to do when you’re trying to become an ally and foster change.

Be Encouraging

Never act like you are a diet expert. Never criticize nor judge or tell them about their health issues. Instead be a friend with no annoying questions and just be the person who always believes.

Your family and friends can benefit from all the information and help. The earlier they can make changes to their diet and lifestyle, the better chance of success they will have. This is where MedShape can help you take a smarter, whole approach to living a healthy life. Speak with any of their medical weight loss team today!

Simeons HCG Diet Leads To Changes In Body Composition & Health – A Case Report

Given the recent popularity of the Simeons hCG diet, it is likely that thousands of individuals have experienced changes in body composition and health as a result of following the 500 calorie diet. Much of the attention surrounding the Simeons hCG diet has focused on reports of the significant weight loss experienced by users of the 500 calorie per day diet. However, details as to the nature of that weight loss along with health changes that dieters may have experienced as a result of using the 500-calorie diet have received less attention.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a woman who presented to one of Medshape’s clinic locations for a BodyComp 5000 reading. (The BodyComp 5000 is a state of the art, multiple frequency bio-impedance machine used by the Medshape staff to assess the percent body fat and lean mass levels of their patients before, during and after weight loss efforts.) The woman, Teri, had scheduled an appointment to have her body composition analyzed at Medshape because she felt that previous readings she had conducted at her gym and home scale were inaccurate.

When asked why she felt the body composition results given to her by her trainer at the gym and those from her bathroom scale were inaccurate, Teri reported that she had lost fifty pounds on her own but that both the results from the gym and home indicated that her body fat had increased and recommended additional body fat be lost.

Teri felt that if she lost the amount of body fat that was being recommended she would be at a dangerously low body weight and therefore the results must be inaccurate. Teri sought out the highly accurate results of the BodyComp 5000 offered by Medshape to help clear up this uncertainty.

Upon reviewing the results of the BodyComp 5000, not only did the results agree with those provided to Teri by her trainer and bathroom scale, they went further, much further. The BodyComp 5000 results indicated that 40% of Teri’s body weight currently consisted of body fat, an increase of 7% from the 33% body fat she had before she lost weight!

Teri didn’t accept the results easily, but having three different methods of evaluating body composition deliver the same message, (especially one as precise as the BodyComp 5000) made it hard for Teri to deny. After accepting that her percent body fat had increased despite her weight loss, Teri’s next question was how?

This began a discussion about what Teri had done to lose weight. Teri reported that she had utilized the Simeons hCG diet three separate times over the past two years. The Simeons hCG diet, is an ultra-low calorie diet developed in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s, that allows only 500 calories per day in a very regimented manner.

During our conversation Teri reported that during the three times she used the 500 calorie per day diet she had never administered hCG by subcutaneous injection. During her time on the Simeons hCG diet she took “hCG drops”, which she initially got from her friend who was a hairdresser and then from a local health food store.

Teri reported that she followed the Simeons diet “exactly and only used special shampoo, conditioner, lotion & cosmetics” that she got from her friend who was a hairdresser.

She stated that she lost the most weight the first time she used the 500-calorie Simeons hCG diet. Teri said she maintained her weight loss from the first attempt for about 4 months at which point her weight started to creep back up.

When she regained about half of the weight she had initially lost, Teri resumed the 500 calorie diet for a second time. Teri said that the weight loss was much slower the second and third times she attempted the Simeons diet and that it was harder to maintain the weight loss once she went off the 500 calorie per day diet.

In addition, Teri reported that she started to have trouble with fatigue and depressed mood along with brittle nails and thinning hair during her third time using the Simeons hCG diet.

When asked how long she was able to maintain the weight loss after her third time using the 500 Calorie HCG diet, Teri frowned and said “not long for most of it”. Teri said that immediately upon returning to a “normal” diet after her third time of using the Simeons hCG diet she began experiencing severe abdominal pain after eating. It was soon discovered that she had developed gallstones and a severe inflammation of the gallbladder known as cholecystitis. In fact, Teri said that she ended up having her gallbladder removed just 3 weeks ago.

Teri asked whether her weight loss had anything to do with the development of her cholecyctitis, and while that question can’t be answered with absolute certainty because many women who have never followed a diet develop gallstones, there are strong reasons to think that it might.

Increased rates of gallstone formation are known to occur in conditions where rapid weight loss that consists of a high percentage of lean mass (muscle, bone, skin thickness, etc) occurs. In fact, this relationship is so well known that it is standard practice for individuals undergoing gastric bypass surgery to have their gallbladders removed, due to the high incidence of stone formation associated with the post surgical weight loss.

When reviewing the body composition data from before her weight loss efforts and comparing it to the BodyComp 5000 results, it was clear that Teri had lost between 75-80% of her weight as lean mass. This was why that even though her body weight decreased the percentage of her body weight made of body fat increased.

It was explained that in order to reduce her body fat percentage, Teri must regain lean mass (muscle, bone, skin, etc) that she lost during her use of the Simeons hCG diet, then loose body fat, while retaining as much lean mass as possible. Teri’s response was, “ Great, so I basically have to undo everything I spent the past two years suffering to achieve, I wish I would have known this earlier & before I had surgery”.

Teri’s frustration is certainly understandable, there are many confusing messages about what is the best or fastest way to lose weight and in the end the truth of the matter is that weight loss is only part of the picture. How an individual loses weight is actually far more important, in most cases, than the amount of weight they lose or how fast they lose it.

Being armed with the information about where your body composition currently is and working with a team that can help you interpret the results and guide you on a path to help you reach your goals safely is essential for weight loss success. This is why Medshape has offered a complimentary BodyComp 5000 analysis for individuals who wish to learn more about losing weight and improving health.

Medshape Weight Loss Clinic – From an Employees Point of View

Weight Loss Programs

Kendra – Medshape client and now employee

Hello all! My name is Kendra and I am the newest employee at Medshape Weight Loss Clinic in the Peoria office. As a child I was overweight, went on my first diet at age 12-13 and struggled with my weight on and off since then. After lots of dieting, getting my Associate’s Degree in Applied Science for Medical Assisting, some college courses in Nutrition Science and learning from experience, I have finally started losing weight the healthy, slow and steady way. That is just a little bit of what brought me to look for a job in weight loss. It is a dream come true to become a part of the Medshape team. Not only do I get to help people, but I get to help them and understand exactly what they’re talking about when they talk about their struggles and victories in weight loss; I get to be there to help them through tough times with encouragement AND get super excited when they have lost inches or overcome some kind of temptation…it’s awesome!

So, if you couldn’t already tell, this is the greatest place I could have ever been offered a job. I hope MedShape Weight Loss Clinic to be the last place I ever work! To make things even better, along with getting to help people through something I have a lot of experience in, I also work with some of the best girls I have met since I moved here from Missouri (and I’ve been here for 3 years now!). Right off the bat you can tell each and every part of this team is kind, compassionate and very welcoming….they care about each person who walks through the door and it shows (whether they’re in front of a patient or not).  It doesn’t matter if you are someone who wants to lose 10 pounds, 200 pounds or even just come in for some injections and/or supplements as you eat according to your own eating plan…we are here to help. Period. No questions. No judgement. Medshape staff just wants to help.

I guess to sum it all up:

  • I have a past with quite a bit of teasing, feeling ugly, being the “fat” sister/friend and I finally did something about it in a very healthy way…I have an extremely true passion for my job even after just a few weeks because of that (and my love of helping people)

  • The people I work with are amazing and I can tell they have just as strong of a passion for helping people through a very huge part of their lives….they’re awesome.

  • ANYONE can be helped at Medshape. If you’re low on energy and just feel like you need a boost…we got you! If you feel like losing weight is just too hard and you’re the type of person who needs a structured plan for you to follow step by step with some weekly support along the way…we got you! If you want a little bit more than just a nutrition plan, we have Slim Now Therapy available to help boost your weight loss!  If you hate injections…we have supplements. We just help in so many ways, it’s great.

  • The environment in the clinic itself is amazing! Everything is positive, nobody is judgmental, everyone is there to help everyone…I love my job!!!

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