In our last blog (Part One) we discussed the fact that if you are interested in weight loss surgery, your physician will require you to lose some weight on your own prior to the surgery. With this in mind, we wanted to tackle the question of whether or not “chain weight loss centers” like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig can be effective in one’s weight loss journey. In Part One, we looked specifically at Weight Watchers which does seem to be effective in helping with weight loss.
Jenny Craig
Let’s look next at Jenny Craig. Research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that those on Jenny Craig fared even better than those on Weight Watchers and Weight Watchers IS effective. However, and this is a big however, Jenny Craig requires you to purchase their food which can be quite expensive. It will cost hundreds of dollars per month for just one person, so if you have a family to feed, you will be spending hundreds on yourself plus the amount you spend on groceries for your family which most likely is hundreds of dollars per month, as well. There is also no eating out at restaurants on Jenny Craig which is pretty unrealistic. If you can stick to their plan though, you should lose weight.
Nutrisystem
Next, we looked at Nutrisystem and found it to be extremely similar to Jenny Craig. Yes, you should experience weight loss, but again it is quite expensive (hundreds per month for one person) and no eating at restaurants. With receiving pre-packaged food, you need to take into consideration that you may not be learning how to truly feed yourself (making meals, etc.) in a healthy manner. Additionally, many pre-packaged foods require a great deal of processing. The less processed a food is, the better it is for you.
We are not going to recommend one program or diet that is the “best” because everyone is different, but we wanted to help you learn a little more about some of the most popular programs out there. Each is effective in helping you lose weight. You just have to choose the one that best fits your lifestyle and budget.
Customized Weight Loss Programs
If you have not yet met with your primary care physician about your weight loss program, then that is the first step. If your physician determines that you may be a candidate for weight loss surgery, then you should receive a referral to a weight loss surgeon, although there may be a few doctor visits to other specialists prior to that.
When it is time to choose your weight loss surgeon we hope you choose Dr. Diego Velarde at Advanced Surgical and Weight Loss Institute located in Merritt Island in Brevard County. He will let you know how much weight you need to lose prior to your weight loss surgery. We hope you have found these last two blogs helpful in making your decision for a weight loss program prior to your surgery. All are effective. You just have to choose which one seems right for you.
Dr. Velarde will help you decide which weight loss surgery is right for you. He specializes in the da Vinci robotic surgical method which helps your surgery to be less-invasive providing for a quicker and easier recovery. He performs a variety of surgeries including gastric bypass, lap band, and gastric sleeve. Dr. Velarde cares about his patients and truly wants to see each of them achieve optimal health. Please give our office a call today to see what Dr. Velarde can do for you!