Kaiser Permanente's Medical Weight Management Program is a diet plan associated with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. The plan is said to focus on making healthy choices, increasing energy levels and learning to maintain weight. According to the Kaiser Permanente website, the program is intended for those who need to lose 40 or more pounds, and involves meal replacement with Optifast weight loss shakes. Talk to your doctor before embarking on this or any weight loss diet.
Phases
The program involves three distinct phases, according to the Kaiser Permanente website: active weight loss, transition and early maintenance, and long-term maintenance. The active weight loss phase involves total meal replacement with Optifast shakes and other supplemental items. During this phase, you will be closely monitored by doctors and provided extensive education about healthy eating. During the transition and early maintenance stage, you will begin to incorporate healthy foods back into your diet, guided by nutritional counseling and behavioral modification education. The final phase, long-term maintenance, involves support from counselors, weekly group meetings, and ongoing healthy diet.
Staff
The Kaiser Permanente website emphasizes that its weight loss plan is staffed by a variety of highly trained physicians and other health care providers. This medical support system will offer medical supervision, behavioral guidance and ongoing encouragement. The website notes that these nutritionists and other medical staff can work with your primary care doctor to ensure the healthiest plan for your needs. Once you've achieved your weight goal, your personal weight coach will offer motivation and guidance for keeping the weight off.
Food Diary
Another recommendation made by the Kaiser Permanente Weight Management Program is that you keep a food diary. According to a study conducted at Kaiser Permanente's Centre for Health Research and published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine," keeping a food diary may double weight loss results. The study, led by Jack Hollis and funded by the National Institutes of Health, evaluated nearly 1,700 study subjects, and found that those who kept daily food journals lost twice as much weight as their non-journaling counterparts.
Exercise
According to the Kaiser Permanente website, regular physical activity is an important aspect of weight loss and maintenance, both in terms of calorie-burning and stress reduction. However, the site does not specify the particulars of the exercise program followed as part of the diet. Because the early, meal replacement phase of the diet is considered very low-calorie at 960 calories per day, this phase may not include exercise. The website emphasizes that the meal replacement provides 100 percent of recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals.
Caution
The Kaiser Permanente website notes that due to its rigor and restrictiveness, the Kaiser Permanente Weight Management program might not be for everyone. In addition, some dieters on the program have reported temporary hair-thinning and light-headedness during the diet, particularly the early phases. Talk to your doctor about any health concerns you might have prior to starting this diet.
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