Partner with AMITA for long-term weight loss

When you watch the Olympics or the Oscars, you're seeing what people can achieve by overcoming a variety of obstacles - and that may be why these events can be so emotionally moving. If your goal is to be fit and healthy, like the contestants in the Daily Herald's Fittest Loser Challenge, the very first hurdle to surmount is a mental one.

"The first obstacle to overcome is to be willing to make that commitment to lifelong change," explained Dr. Anthony Auriemma, Medical Director, AMITA Health Weight Loss Solutions. "The second one is figuring out what works for you and that's where we can help. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach."

When choosing AMITA Health Weight Loss Solutions, patients come in weekly to meet, discuss and learn from dietitians, psychologists, physicians and other health care professionals who furnish the tools to make effective long term change achievable. Since patients have unique backgrounds, body types, lifestyles and learning curves, each path to health is different and individualized. "Advice given for the last 30 years - to just exercise more and eat less - does not work for the vast majority of people," the Medical Director explained. "It's much more complicated than that." He noted that studies looking at adding exercise to a dietary intervention don't show any additional weight loss after one year. "Exercise is very important for lots of reasons - like heart health and psychological well-being - and it helps with weight maintenance once you lose it, but it does not cause weight loss."

Dr. Auriemma says that if you've tried and failed to do it on your own, you're the rule, not the exception. "Ninety-eight percent of those who attempt self-directed weight loss regain all the weight back," he noted. "The reason is because most people take a short-term approach to losing weight and it involves a lot more, like one's medical history, body type, the medication we take, behavior psychology and disease processes. It's a complicated chronic disease. Other health issues, like diabetes, anxiety or hypertension, affects physiology, which makes it make it more difficult to lose weight. We can work on changing habits, activity levels, sleep and even alter meds to achieve weight loss."

There are now seven locations of AMITA Health Weight Loss Solutions partnering with more patients than any other weight-loss facility in the state. "It's a comprehensive medical option," Dr. Auriemma said, "with a team of professionals that address the behavioral, nutritional and medical changes necessary for long term weight loss. You can lose weight on any diet. The key is to keep it off."

AMITA Health Weight Loss Solutions has provided medical clearance for Fittest Loser contestants for the last five years, ensuring participants sail through the contest without any medical complications. The doctor has learned a lot from the process, too. "I realize that there are still a lot of questions about the best ways to lose weight and many people still struggle with it. Over the five years we've been involved with the Fittest Loser, the obesity epidemic has only gotten worse."

"Our program is a two-year commitment," he said, "then you follow it forever. We really need to shift how we think about extra weight and obesity - it's a chronic disease that needs long-term treatment just like hypertension and high cholesterol. But with our comprehensive, individualized approach, success is surely within your reach."

Look into how AMITA Health Weight Loss Solutions can help overcome your obstacles at www.amitahealth.org/medicalweightloss or call (855) MY-AMITA.