New Site!!!

THE BLOG HAS NOT DISAPPEARED!!!! IT IS NOW SOLELY ON THE WWW.SPDIET.COM WEBSITE....CHECK IT OUT!!! STILL BEING WRITTEN DAILY.....SEE YOU'ALL THERE!!!! ROBERT POSNER, M.D.

weight loss and diet pills

Every major news station was reporting yesterday about the FDA's evaluation of three new "diet pills" that may be approved soon. These will be prescription medications. The most notable one combines phentermine (which is used in our program) with an antiseizure drug , Topomax. The nickname for this antiseizure drug is called "Dopamax" because it causes many people, at certqain dosages to feel quite tired and dopey.

The others use antidepressant meds in combination with anroectics.

The talking heads on the news shows were doing a great job however of reminding people that weight loss is NEVER just using a pill. "Diet and exercise" were discussed as a necessary compnent of any long term weight loss effort.

We, at Serotonin-Plus will evaluate these medications carefully before deciding to include any of them in our protocol. Safety is first and foremost on our priority list and when a physician incorporates any new medications into a regimen he/she wants to be certain you are not posing any safety concerns. Stay tuned and we will provide you with as much updated information as possible. In the meantime, always remember that the permanent loss of weight is NEVER in a pill...it is in a lifestyle change.

weight loss and rewards

We have been rewarded with food from our earliest memories...how often did our parents "bribe"/reward us with food.."If you are good, you will get ice cream"..."if you finish your entire dinner, you get dessert.."

We have proceeded over the years to reward ourselves with food and alcohol...long day of hard work deserves a couple of glasses of wine...

Learning to reward ourselves and our children with things other than high caloric food or drink sources will go a long way in helping us and others with weight control. Other rewards may include a gift certificate for someone, a massage therapy session for ourselves, an item of clothing or jewelry that can be bought, etc...

Try to take food sources out of your reward system arsenal.

weight loss programs and pricing....

There was a comment yesterday posted asking about pricing issues, but I do not feel this is the correct venue to discuss pricing. Out number can be called: 703-866-4144 quite anonymously to discuss pricing.

We had a meeting with another physician from the Pennsylvania area who is currently doing a franchise medically supervised weight loss program but he is unhappy with it. The program involves the selling of a number of things...vitamins, supplements, food sources etc. He feels like he has to be a salesman to his patients.

The success of our program is rooted in the unique nature of serotonin supplementation, the use "real" food as opposed to prepackged foods and teaching behavior modification.

Costs, thru Care Credit this can done for as little as 125 dollars a month....

The cost of losing weight cab ne expensive but the costs of remaining overweight are much more.

weight loss and mood

When discussing weight control issues and mood, it is like the proverbial "chicken and the egg"..which comes first? When we are in a depressed mood, we often do not feel like exercising, being proactive in our health issues, etc. We often will resort to food sources as a treatment for our depression/anxiety. Conversely, when we are overweight, this frequently causes mood changes..we feel depressed about our appearance, our self-esteem suffers and the negative cycle continues...the added depression worsens the weight problem.

Breaking the cycle? Realizing at all times that losing weight and feeling better about our appearance can only help our mood. Intellectually, we know that food sources do not "treat" depressed moods, so thinking through these issues and not succumbing to the food sources is of paramount importance in not allowing the viscious cycle to continue.

Losing weight makes us happier...your efforts will be rewarded.

weight loss and summer

There are times of the year when weight loss efforts are obviously challenged...winter time when people are snowed in and there is less daylight/warmth to exercise outside, holiday season when there are many gatherings, etc.

We do not think of the summertime as presenting challenges but in fact, there are many opportunities to have your efforts derailed. Cookouts with the three "B's" ..burgers buns and beers, neighborhood gatherings where lots of high-caloric foods and alcohol are present, summer vacations at the beach where many food/drink sources appear.

If you are not at your goal weight, take a step back and see how you are managing your summertime eating/drinking patterns and ensure that there are not behavior patterns occurring that are derailing your efforts. Do not allow the summertime to sneak in unwanted behaviors.

Vigilance of your weight loss efforts require constant surveillance....do not let your guard down!

weight loss and immediate gratification

First, thanks to "Anonymous" for the very nice comment....sometimes as I am making all of these typos while writing this every morning I sometimes wonder how many people are reading this and whether it is making a difference for some...the feedback, either positive or negative, obviously alerts me that there are people reading this and the positive ones compel me to continue...

Today I wanted to throw out there the concept of humans being an "immediate gratification" specie. I really believe this is very much built into our genome. The primordial behavior to seek things that provide an immediate gratification....a food source, a fun activity, sex etc. This is often tempered however by another part of the brain that makes us think of the ramifications of the immediate gratification behavior and sometimes that part of our brain stops or delays the behavior.

As this relates to weight control, this does have a great impact because to a large extent the consumption of high-caloric food sources provides an immediate gratification then followed by self-flagellation for allowing ourselves to have given in to the primordial eating behavior. How many times have you made three trips to a buffet, including the last trip for a dessert and say to yourself: "I am so full, I wasnt even hungry..why did I do that?"

As best you can, try to allow the intellectual part of your brain to take over and control the primordial part that compels us to eat way past the point of satiation or make us eat food sources that derail our weight loss efforts. Instinctual behaviors can be quite strong but they can be overcome.

weight loss and negotiations

Do you ever find yourself "negotiating" concerning your food intake? "Well, if I allow myself to eat that high-caloric food source I will do Phase 1 tomorrow." Or something like 'I can have those 3 glasses of wine but I will exercise more tomorrow."

Keeping awareness of your food/drink intake and offsetting derailing behaviors with a response the next day/week is a necessary part of long-term weight loss. There will be many situations where you will be confronted with challenging food sources and if you do not think through these issues, weight is certain to go back on.

I do not think you need to do this on a day-day basis...but as I have mentioned ad nauseum, WRITE your weight down on a clipboard next to your scale once a week and if that weight has gone up, have a PLAN as to what you are going to do to get this down again. We get into the most trouble with weight control when we stop thinking about it. We find ourselves resorting to old behavior problems and this results in weight gain.

Always try to keep on the forefront of your mind why you are choosing to be healthier and happier and implement the necessary steps to make yourself successful.

weight loss and changing your life

First, I want to thank the people for the very nice comments yesterday....well appreciated!

I want to ask each of you this question: How would your life change if you lost all the weight you want/need to lose?

Would you be healthier and life longer with a higher quality of life? Would you look lots younger? Would you be able to move around easier? Would you rid yourself of medications? Would people treat you differently? Would you have a greater potential for professional advancement? If you are single would your social life improve? If you play sports such as tennis or golf would your game improve? Would you have more energy? Would you fit into some of those very fashionable clothes that are in your closet that you cannot put on?

As yourself these questions and more....and if your crystal ball tells you through these answers that the entire quality of your life will change for the positive, then embrace your efforts to lose weight, look at food sources that would derail your efforts as saboteurs and do what it takes to become happier and healthier. It is an excellent choice to lose weight.

weight loss...."starting and stopping"

It never seems to be a good time to "start a diet"...whether it be a birthday coming up...a vacation trip..business travel etc...it is difficult to find a good time to "start".

As mentioned frequently, losing weight and keeping that weight off is NOT a "diet"..it is a life style change...and it is never easy to find the time to change lifestyle. We build our lifestyle based on many factors...how we were raised, the things that make us comfortable and happy, how we enjoy our leisure time etc. Part of our lifestyle certainly includes how we appraoch our eating behaviors.

It is ALWAYS a great time to start living a lifestyle that will make you healthier AND happier. The day to "start" was yesterday and the day to stop is NEVER...once you lose that weight you will smile lots more. You will have tremendous amount of energy and you will look years younger. All great stuff!

weight loss and restaurants

I know I have covered this topic but my experience last nite emphasizes this issue: Choose restaurants wisely if you are on a mission to lose weight. I went to a place called the Melting Pot....lots of people raved about it...you cook your own food at your table, their desserts are heavenly etc.

Okay, the famous food critic, Posner, will give you his review: BAD

I always tell my patients if you are going to ingest food or drink sources off of your dietary plan,make sure it is worth it..meaning high quality food...a very ezquisite dessert...a fine wine....not a three musketeers bad, Boones Farm wine or other cheap sources of calories.

Back to this restaurant...cheese appetizer in a pot with bread to put into it....cheese was no better than velvetta.....main course marginal....and then they tout these chocolate molten desserts with marshmellows and other things you dip into the chocolate....once again, I thought it was NOT worth the calories....

Anyway, I know this is only my opinion but I ask all of you to evaluate your choices of restaurants and try to leave off the lost places which are known solely for their high-caloric dishes...choose places that provide high quality protein in a wonderful atmosphere.

weight loss and holidays

Once again a reminder....you have/are working very hard to lose weight and feel healthier and happier. This weekend will present lots of challenges...every event you will attend will challenge you with food and alcohol choices that will tempt you to stray off your path of winning the battle.

Learning how to celebrate holidays and events without partaking of extraordinary amounts of high caloric food sources is difficult. Being around lots of people drinking alcohol and consuming tremendous amounts of calories and not joining in is very challenging.

At all times, try to remember why it is so important for you to lose weight and stay steadfast in your approach to not allowing in the derailing food choices that place you in an unhealthy situation.

Weight Loss and motivation

"There is no food that will taste as good as your weight loss feels"

I would like to take credit for that line but I lifted off of someone else....but I do like what this points out....Food is an IMMEDIATE gratification that perhaps gives us some sort of instantaneous "high" but then we tend to self-loathe as we gain weight and realize that the instant gratification is not worth the long-term consequences.

When you lose weight, you become healthier, higher self-confidence and self-esteem, look younger, fit into your sexy clothes again and you feel more energy...all of these feel GREAT and in fact MUCH better than the immediate "rush" we get from a food source.

Before ingesting a food source that you know will derail your efforts, think about the line above and repeat to yourself that statement...that food source does not taste nearly as good as the weight loss will feel.

weight loss and safety

An overweight person's main motivation to lose weighjt is to become healthier. Many people in our program have been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, etc and they were told that weight loss will make these dangerous medical entities either resolve or be much better with weight loss.

It is unsafe to be overweight. Very unsafe. Aside from the diabetes/heart disease risk factors a number of cancers are more highly prevalent in overweight/obese people....breast, gastic, pancreatic and colon to name a few.

When I have new patients enter the program, much of the concern is about its' safety. Even more prominent are other physicians who, when they are approached by a patient about doing our program will tell them that "diet pills are unsafe and I dont know anything about that serotonin and it probbaly doesnt work."

I want to reassure everyone that after 8 years, 10,000-plus patient experience and being a board certified internal medicine doctor for 26 years, it is MUCH SAFER SHORT AND LONG TERM to be in a medically supervised program helping you lose weight than remaining overweight being administered multiple medications for the obesity co-morbidities. When people lose weight , their diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol improve dramatically. Looking at the risk/benefit ration of a weight loss effort under supervision even with prescription anorectic medications, it is not even close...losing weight under these circumstances is MUCH safrer than allowing to remain overweight with the co-morbidities.

So when a physician or self-professed knowledgable friend (lots of them now with the advent of the internet....makes everyone an expert, right?) tries to tell you that a weight loss program is "unsafe", think twice about the veracity of this.

weight loss and portion control

I was at a restaurant last evening and ordered a veal dish (okay, your doctor was not following his own advice and had a veal parmigiana with pasta). What came out was this huge hunk of veal which could have easily fed three people. I felt compelled to keep eating way past the point of satiation. I finally told myself "Posner, you tell your patients to ask yourself the question: am i still hungry? before eating the next bite. My answer was clearly NO.

Even though most of this was protein, the breading was not and of course, there was some bread brought to the table first and pasta accompanied the veal and I had to try some of that...

The food was great, bountiful and not too over priced....BUT...if I was in a weight losing mode, this would have been a very bad choice of a restaurant.

Choose restaurants that are NOT known for their massive portions. We tend to all like "deals" and places that provide an appetizer, a huge main course, dessert and a side dish for outrageously low prices are very tempting for our stomachs and wallets but not conducive to our weight loss efforts.

Make sure portion control is part of your strategy.

weight loss and nuts

One of the common misconceptions in "healthy" eating is that nuts are a required element.

When I inform patients that the ingestion of nuts derail weight loss efforts I frequently hear "But THEY say that nuts are GOOD for you." My question at that point is : Who are "THEY"? "They" are probably the same people who told you as a child not to go swimming after you eat because you will develop cramps, drown and die. Honestly, does anyone know a kid that ate , went swimming , developed stomach cramps and died?

The bottom line is that small, repetitive eating food sources such as nuts will derail weight loss efforts. Human nature is such that we do not tend to limit these small food sources such as popcorn, nuts etc and when we start eating these things we tend not to stop.

Eliminating nuts from your dietary intake will help, not hinder your weight loss efforts.

weight loss and the movies

One of the fun parts of going to the movie theater is going to that snack area and making decisions as to what to buy to eat while watching the movie. When you approach the counter the first smell that hits your senses is that popcorn. When you look at the available choices, foirst thing you notice is the incredible rip-off prices being charged for these drinks and snacks...but, we still buy them.especially the popcorn.....and now they have the self-dispensing butter topping.

The calorie count of the popcorn as well as the oversized candy boxes is tremendous. Moreover, we put ourselves in the realm of distracting eating....for hours munching on food sources while engrossed in the movie...a recipe for weight gain disaster.

Eat your meal before going to the movies and make a conscious effort to NOT go near that candy stand. You worked very hard the entire week and you do not want to wasted these efforts with a distracted eating at the movies mode!

weight loss and holidays

July 4th weekend coming up..for many it is exit stage left for a long weekend at the beach..for others it is neighorhood barbeques...

No matter what are the plans, inevitably they will include events with high-caloric food sources available including alcohol, desserts etc.

You have/are working very hard to get that weight down and become healthier and happier. It is amazingly how easy it is to take a 3 day weekend and really derail your efforts. Watching fireworks and enjoying the love of your friends and family does not necessitate ingesting lots of calories. Learning how to celebrate an occasion and have fun from the need to ingest high caloric food sources is a necessary component of long term weight loss success.

If you do notice after a weekend that the weight has increased, then have a definitive plan as to how you will work very hard the next weeks to get back on track.. Obviously if you need our help we are here for you.

weight loss and human nature

Last nite at a restaurant in south Florida they had a special before 7PM...$2.95 dollar appetizers if you bought a drink...these appetizers were incredible...little steak sandwhiches, shrimp cocktail, flatbread pizza....all for a minimal amount of money.

I found myself ordering a bunch of appetizers...i wasnt really that hungry but i couldnt resist the "deal"...

Ah..human nature....most of us cannot pass up a deal when it comes to many things including food. If your meal comes with a free dessert, how many of us refuse the dessert even if we are not hungry. If we can upsize a popcorn for a measly 25 cents more, who does not do this?

Companies selling us foods are expert in knowing how to play this part of human nature...we are manipulated all of the time by our human nature desire to get a "deal". When it comes to longterm weight control it is important that we take a step back and evaluate how much of our food intake is based on hunger and how much is based on other factors...including the human nature aspects of our behavioral patterns.

weight loss and maintenance

Yesterday I gave a lecture at a hospital in the Ft Lauderdale area about weight loss, and the speech was for hospital employees. The hospital was having a health education forum.

At the end of my talk many questions were asked about maintenance of weight loss. Actually, it is perceived that the maintenance phase of weight loss is actually more difficult than the weight loss itself. Why?

As much as we tell ourselves there is no "finish line" when it comes to our weight loss efforts, we do tend to perceive an "end" of a "diet". Two major points: for long term success there is no "diet" ..rather, it is a lifestyle change. Secondly, there is no "end"...for longterm success in weight loss there is no end to the planning and lifestyle change.

This should be viewed as reality, not discouragement. Weight loss will make you healthier and happier...sacrificing old lifestyle choices that made you less healthy and less happy should be embraced.