For many people, losing weight has been the proverbial never-ending struggle. With diet fads and exercise trends constantly coming and going there never seems to be a real solution for those who are so eager to find one.

But now, Endocrinology Consultants, P.C., is introducing its new weight-management program that wants to teach people how to break the cycle once and for all by not only helping you lose the weight, but keep it off.

“We want to help people as much as possible and we want to do it in a way that is as holistic as possible, looking at the four pillars of good health,” said Dr. Joseph Schwartz, founder of Endocrinology Consultants. Those pillars are meal planning, exercise, stress reduction and weight management, and all four of them affect a person’s metabolism on a day-to-day basis.

Since you can’t simply focus on a good weight-management plan in isolation, the program offered by Endocrinology Consultants utilizes all four pillars, with the emphasis on weight management and how the other pillars affect it for a specific person.

“Anything that negatively affects metabolism, including stress and insufficient sleep, can raise hormone levels and cause weight gain,” said Dr. Schwartz. He said that stress is, indeed, a regular part of life. “You are not living unless you have stress. It’s the nature of being alive. Everyone has stressors but it’s how we react to the stress that is key.”

He said that learning how to better react to stress can sometimes improve metabolism function and even decrease the stress eating that can often be seen in people who struggle to lose weight. People who seem to be less stressed and get enough sleep tend to be happier people who have an easier time with weight management, he pointed out.

The fact is, in order to successfully lose weight and keep it off, a person has to make a lifestyle change, and the program at Endocrinology Consultants works with patients to achieve just that. Through a combination of comprehensive nutritional counseling, regular weigh-ins, monthly visits with a clinician and in some cases medication, patients can expect to reach their ideal weight within six months.

Any kind of intervention has to be a lifestyle change because if you don’t stay on an intervention then typically the weight is regained. “There has to be a lot of accountability, a lot of planning, a lot of education and some hand-holding because as you get used to doing something a certain way for a long enough period of time your appetite can start to shrink, your stomach gets smaller and it becomes easier and easier as time goes on,” explained Dr. Schwartz.

Guiding patients to achieve an overall healthy lifestyle, the Endocrinology Consultants weight-management program is geared towards patients 18 years and older (with some exceptions for people younger than 18), providing the perfect setting with the right amount of supervision for people who have a significant amount of weight to lose and are ready to take a completely different approach to solve this issue once and for all. Endocrinology Consultants also has a pediatric endocrinologist who deals exclusively with patients 18 years and younger. Some people who might be ideal for this program may be struggling with obesity, abnormal weight gain, hypothyroidism and Hashimotos, Cushing’s Syndrome, type 2 diabetes, perimenopause, PCOS and medication or insulin-related weight gain.

While using medication can be a great tool to help someone lose weight, it is not ideal for keeping it off. Once the medication is no longer necessary, the chances of regaining the weight can be minimized as long as all supervision, monitoring and coaching continue. You’ll hit your goal weight, but that’s when the real work starts, and that lifestyle change must be established long before and maintained during and after the program.

“What is different about our program is that patients are closely monitored by a physician and then closely monitored once they reach their ideal weight and come off medication to ensure they don’t regain the weight,” said Dr. Schwartz. Patients are regularly seen by a staff of highly trained clinicians and nutritionists, working hand in hand, who have been helping people like this for several years.

Dr. Schwartz said his goal for his patients is for them to be educated, to be held accountable, to have a cheerleader and to have someone who can guide them so that they can keep the weight off without medication long after they stop taking it. Coaching, encouragement, education and of course discipline are all essential components to make this program successful and keep a person motivated and moving in the right direction.

For more information on how to begin your journey to permanent weight loss, visit www.endocrinewellness.com  or call 201-567-8999 and ask to speak to the weight management coordinator.

By Jewish Link Staff