Our Approach
Diet for Weight Loss and Weight Management
We don’t want you to feel hungry, deprived, or restricted. We want you to eat what you like to eat, it’s just that we’ll teach you how to eat in control without the shame or guilt you’re used to. You’ll never hear us say “Bad Food” or “Good Food”. How come? Because if you eat a “bad” food then no doubt you’ll think of yourself as “bad”. You’ve been there before. It’s time to take a new approach. One you can feel good about.
To lose weight in our program we will teach you how to plan your meals and consume the number of calories necessary to lose weight. You’ll learn how to reduce your urges and craving for food, yet not feel hungry or deprived… and you won’t have to eliminate the foods you like.
The diet mentality. We want to help move you away from that. You’ve all been there. Repeating the same “diet” over and over and expecting a different outcome is, as they say, the definition of insanity. You wouldn’t be looking to join us if what you’ve done in the past worked for the long term. Instead, we’ll teach you how to sensibly plan your diet and “eat smart” to lose weight, increase your energy, improve your health, and keep your weight off. Eating strategies and balanced diets you can live with long term. We like to think that this time will be the end of dieting, very low-calorie diets (VLCD), weight cycling (yo-yo dieting), restricted food plans, and deprivation.
We won’t give you a food plan. Instead, we’re going to teach you how to plan your meals with our assistance. Everyone eats differently. We want you to learn how to eat for your lifestyle, consuming the foods you like to eat. Like the name of our program says, “FitsMe”. You are not required to purchase any food to complete our programs.
By the time you’re done with our weight loss program, you’ll control the food, the food won’t control you. Imagine that.
Behavior Change and Motivation for a Successful Weight Management Program
We use cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and weight loss coaching strategies to help you make the behavior changes you need for losing weight, and most importantly, maintaining lost weight.
CBT is the most effective psychological treatment for weight loss. We believe food and eating is an addiction for many people. Your loss of control over food, your emotional eating, your bingeing… it’s not your fault, it’s not a lack of willpower, it’s not a character flaw. There are powerful neurobiological processes at work in your brain that cause these things to happen. You didn’t wake up one day and voluntarily decide to have a problem with your weight. CBT works for addiction, and weight loss, by helping you examine your thoughts and feelings as a way to control the neurobiology of your brain and control your urges and cravings for food. When your brain lights up thinking about food, it’s not your imagination. It’s really lighting up. We’ll teach you how to dim the light.
Physical Activity for Weight Management and a Healthy Lifestyle
You don’t lose a lot of weight with exercise (you may already know that). That’s why we don’t overwhelm you with heart thumping, sweaty exercise when you start. Instead, we’ll help you lose weight by focusing on food behaviors first, and then later on, about 8-10 weeks into the program, we’ll start with physical activity planning, aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, building muscle, interval training, circuit training, strengthening your heart, improving your stamina and energy level, exercise for weight maintenance, exercise for prevention of chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and more. We’ll help you start with where you’re at physically, and you won’t have to join a gym!
Weight Loss Medication
We’re not opposed to weight loss medications. The newer ones are safer and more effective. It’s just that medications are not an intrinsic part of our lifestyle-change weight loss program, but we are happy to discuss them with you.
Weight Loss Surgery
Many hospital-based programs and weight loss clinics advertise as a weight loss program, but weight loss surgery or very low-calorie diets is the emphasis (or all they do). We’re not opposed to weight loss surgery and would be happy to discuss the options with you if you are interested, but like weight loss medication, it’s not an intrinsic part of our lifestyle-change weight loss program.