This website will provide you with the methods and insights I have learned after 18 years of practicing bariatric medicine. (It may be lengthy, but I believe everything is pertinent, so stick with it.)

Mission: To enable you to live a healthier and longer life, by reducing those health risks associated with being either over weight or obese. (i.e. high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and/or cancer.)

Method: Providing comprehensive weight loss education in a knowlegable, compassionate, uplifting office environment. (Where my staff and I are on 'your side'). Along with two medications that lower appetite and most importantly, cravings.

My Personal Thoughts:

1. The word diet is out! It implies that when you reach your goal, you can stop 'dieting' and return to poor eating habits. The correct term is healthy eating, which results in weight loss but will be continued in order to maintain the excellent results you have achieved.
2. I do not advocate counting calories. It drives you crazy. However, I do not say calories do not count. In fact, calories are the most significant factor in healty eating. You are not just obligated to count them. The vast majority of my patients are fully aware of what they should or should not be eating. Put into action what you already know and your calorie intake will plummet. Weight loss will follow.
3. I do not like the word will, as in I will lose 3 pounds every week. The appropriate word is TRY because if this was a will job, you would not be visiting this website. That is what is so frustrating. "Willpower" does not work. "Trypower" does work.
4. Losing weight should be accomplished in steps. Small victories provide immediate satisfaction rather than delaying satisfaction until you reach your goal. I tell each patient what steps are best for them.
5. "Cheating" is in! Once or twice a week will not be meaningful in the total spectrum of things. This allows you to feel you are not in "Dieters Prison." All you really want is the taste. The medicine will control the volume while you are "cheating."
6. You must differentiate between hunger and cravings. Cravings are the desire to eat unhealthy food when you are not hungry. It is similar to addiction and must be approached MEDICALLY in a different way. I prescribe a medicine that reduces these cravings, particularly in women who experience them the week prior to menstruation.
7. Exercise is the word most patients hate to hear. Remember that individuals who are disciplined with excercise are disciplined with eating. Excercise tells you if you are focused. In your teens and twenties, all you had to do was shut your mouth for a weekend and you lost 5 pounds. For most of us, those days are gone forever. Therefore, healthy eating alone may take too long. With the addition of increased physical activity, the process of weight loss moves along much quicker due to increased metabolism.
8. The F.D.A. approved medications that I prescribe have been used for over 30 years. There is nothing "new." But, realize the medicine does not cause weight loss. They cause a marked decrease in appetite which enables you to lessen the volume of food. The responsibility to eat healthy rests with you. Everyone responds to the medicine differently and my responsibility is to determine the correct medicine and dosage. The word to remember here is "play." You have got to "play" with the medicines for as what time is most effective. In that way, the program becomes tailored to your needs...not mine.