Center for medical weight loss!!

Sana1116

So I've been reading alot about the CMWL (center for medical weight loss) and I was wondering if any of you fellow mfpers have tried it out or heard anything good or bad about these centers. I know they are located all over the country (U.S) and they basically have a nutritionist work with you on losing the weight the "healthy" way....aka, monitoring your caloric intake and body composition as you lose.

any help/advice would be GREATLY appreciated. thanks in advance! :-)

lizard053

Well, I suppose I'm qualified to answer this! Seeing as I go to a medical weight loss center, plus the doctor is my GP too...

I am working on my second time through the program with my doctor. I ran into a series of issues early on, the first time through. And once you go off the meal plan there, boy can you pack on the pounds! Went from 191 down to 146, then back up to 196, and now finally going back down, at 186. The diets are extremely difficult and stringent. You do have to really stay on the program or it just plain does not work. I'm on an ultra low calorie diet, 4 protein shakes and a 300-400 calorie dinner. I however have found a series of cheats for myself that still have me losing weight. I've promised myself I'd see it through this time.
Every week I have a weigh in and a check in with either a nurse or the doctor. I get bloodwork done every 3 months, and a body composition analysis every 3 months, including measurements. I spend a LOT of money there. Between $40 and $100 on an average week, however getting started totaled up to about $300. They even did an EKG before I started to make sure my heart was healthy enough for the program. Happy to say I have a VERY healthy heart! :bigsmile:
It's expensive, time consuming and definitely not for everyone. I'm lucky, she doesn't make me come to any group meetings. But I do still get the behavior modification modules (as in learning a better relationship with food) each week.
I hope this helps you make a more educated decision.

Sana1116

thaanks for sharing your experiwnce! I really apprecite it

wow 196 -146? thats great! how long has it taken you to lose the weight.

ya , it is quite expensive...its 300 for the first week's food and the enrollement fee. and then 159 every week there off! they measure you every week to see if you are losing muscle or body fat!

The nutritionist i talked to says , the very low calorie diet includes 5 meal replacements (shakes and bars) but i wonder if their shakes are just full of sugar like the slimfast and special k shakes are! or do you actually get all your nutritional needs from the shakes and bars.

she said that they dont let anyone leave without first helping them transition to regular food and making sure they dont gain the weight back.

eehh, I am still so nervous about it. I definitly dont mind spending money for the sake of my health....but I am just scared I'll be spending money and not getting what I wanted!
thanks for the advice again. :-)

grim1

JUST started today, so far so good! Plan to stick with it.

donnantx

Thanks so much for the info! I was going to call them tomorrow for an appt, but now I think I will pass...Good Luck to you all.

IvoryParchment

It can work, but are you willing to continue it the rest of your life? Any weight loss plan that is a "diet" instead of "this is the way I eat now" is doomed to fail when it ends.