A familiar refrain at this time of year, a great time to undertake what it takes to make the changes required to achieve a healthy weight. My gym was packed today, a sure sign it is January.

Early-in-the-year resolutions are backed by lots of enthusiasm but the question is where will you be in a couple of weeks when the enthusiasm wanes?

What are your motivations? 

As a physician, I know it should be about your health, since so many of the conditions we treat are diseases of excess weight. Think diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, fatty liver, sleep apnea and many more, all of which are improved with weight loss.

What about beauty? We look better when we weigh less, when we can wear better looking clothes. When we weigh less, we feel more beautiful inside, we have more self-confidence and self-esteem.

What about respect from others? We are recognizing more and more that weight bias is common in our society amongst friends, co-workers and even health care professionals. It is known that thinner people make more money, get more promotions, and get into better programs than people with weight.

Check out Reasons I Want to Lose Weight and be honest with yourself.

But wait, are you really ready to change?

If you weigh 200 pounds, you are acting and eating like a 200 pound person.

To weigh 160, you must act and eat like a 160 pound person, which means a modification of your lifestyle and which means consuming less calories and exercising most days.

On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your motivation with regards to change? Experts say you need to be at least a 6 or 7. It helps if your confidence level is also at least a 6 or 7.

Have you decided how your diet will change? Are you able to stick with it? Research shows that all diets work equally well after 6 months, it is all about whether you are able to continue on your lower-calorie program. Find a diet that make sense and tastes good and that you will be able to maintain for the long haul.

Find a program

Most people need support when they make a big change in their lives. Lots of commercial programs are out there that offer a plan and encouragement. Weight Watchers works 100% of the time as long you stay with it, it will take a while to lose those 40 pounds, but you will lose it.

MNP offers structured programs for weight loss, especially for those with more weight to lose. Our programs are led by licensed, experienced providers.

I am Dr. Isaacson and I provide close medical supervision and keep an eye on your health every week while you are on the First Step program. As a board-certified internist, I work alongside your primary care physician as we are able to reduce and modify medications as appropriate.

Our licensed counsellors will meet with you weekly, supporting you and helping you deal with your thoughts and emotions as you change your life.

Our registered dietitian and certified fitness instructor helps you with a diet that fits you. You learn how to make wise choices at the grocery store and the restaurant and how to keep moving, based on your capabilities.

Resolved, I am confident and motivated to make the changes required to be thinner and I know MNP can help

A new year is upon us, and now is the time, more than ever to make that new years resolution to lose weight and keep it off.  Many of us in Los Gatos promise ourselves that we will lose weight, and even though are intentions may be good, studies prove that many of us who make that new years resolution never keep it.  In fact, instead of losing weight, individuals start to gain back even more.

Our Los Gatos weight loss program is here to help you lose weight and keep those pounds off.  We are a medical weight loss clinic that consists of licensed counselors and certified dietitians and doctors who have proven success by the many overweight individuals we have helped lose weight, shed those pounds, and keep the weight off.

How Our Los Gatos Weight Loss Program Identifies Eating Triggers

Why are we overweight? Most people, approximately 75% of us who are heavy, are eating for reasons other than hunger, typically for emotional reasons

Emotional eaters consume large quantities of food, often “comfort” or junk foods, in response to thoughts and feelings instead of hunger. Throughout our lives, many of us learn that food can bring us comfort and we then turn to food to soothe ourselves when we are upset.

Emotions such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, anger, boredom, stress, frustration, guilt, shame and jealously commonly lead to eating for the wrong reasons. Only by identifying these triggers to eating can we successfully break the destructive habit of eating when we are not hungry. Our Los Gatos weight loss program will not only help you identify the triggers that are causing you to eat excessively but also help you break the habit and lose weight fast and successfully. (more…)