Weight-loss program a national success

by Carrie Click

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Post Independent Staff

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS – Valley View Hospital is now offering a guided weight-loss program in which people can participate without leaving home.

Called HMR-at-Home, the program is part of the HMR weight loss and management programs offered at Valley View.

HMR-at-Home features weekly, 45-minute group conference telephone classes, delivery of diet foods and educational materials to clients at home.

According to Nicole Dacuma,

weight-loss: see next page

weight-loss: from previous page

Valley View’s HMR director, national weight loss data from the HMR-at-Home program shows an average client weight loss of nearly 24 pounds in 12 weeks.

The HMR-at-Home program has also demonstrated consistency in weight-loss results when compared to HMR’s traditional clinic program.

“What is amazing about these results is that people who never set foot in a classroom lose an average of 5-10 pounds in the first two weeks, and more than 16 in the first six weeks,” said Jill Garling, a registered nurse and coordinator and certified health educator for Valley View Hospital’s HMR-at-Home program.

Since January 2003, 48 people have participated in Valley View’s in-hospital HMR program. Currently, 11 clients in HMR’s weight management class have kept off a total of 307 pounds for about a year.

All of HMR’s weight-loss and -management programs focus on meal replacements. Dacuma said more than 50 studies demonstrate that meal replacements produce greater weight loss and weight maintenance than standard diets. She said the studies have concluded that people using meal replacements lose and maintain, on average, more than three times as much weight as those on traditional diets.

“In our program, we show patients how easy it is to use meal replacements,” Dacuma said. “They’re filling, great tasting, healthy and can be combined with any fruits and vegetables the patient desires. We stress the importance of developing new lifestyle skills around weight management because we truly understand how difficult it is to manage weight in today’s culture.”

Dacuma said Valley View offers a variety of weight-loss options besides the HMR-at-Home program, including weight loss under medical supervision, and moderately restricted calorie-controlled diets.

Contact 945-2324 for more information on Valley View Hospital’s weight-loss programs.

Contact Carrie Click: 945-8515, ext. 518

cclick@postindependent.com