General FAQs

  • How often will I be seen for follow up appointments?

    Reply: The initial followup appointment is about 7-10 days. This is to review initial labs and add to the plan based on these results. Visits thereafter on dependent on any issues determined to be a priority and any additional testing. The first 3 months, appointments are usually every 2-3 weeks apart.

  • What is “pre-diabetes” ?

    Reply: Pre-diabetes means you are in a stage where your body (pancreas) is struggling to process glucose (sugar). Excess body fat causes all hormones not to work as well and insulin (hormone from the pancreas) struggles to process glucose. People can be pre-diabetic for 5-10 years before an official diagnosis of diabetes.

  • Can weight loss reverse pre diabetes or diabetes?

    Reply: If you were recently diagnosed, then yes, there is a good chance. There are other factors, such as genetics.

  • Regarding the WTS, will I be prescribed T3 at the initial visit?

    Reply: The section on WTS is very detailed. T3 is not typically prescribed at the initial visit since it is the body responding to a stressor. It is important to determine the stressor is no longer a threat (hormone imbalance from pregnancy) or to find the current “fire”. Addressing what caused the imbalanced makes the T3 more successful.

  • For the WTS protocol, how many cycles will I need to complete?

    Reply: Each person is different. The first cycle is usually a test for how your body will react. Some people only need a couple cycles and there are some people who need more.

  • What testing is done to obtain the DNA?

    Reply: I use a private software to analyze raw DNA data. The raw DNA data can be obtained from 23/me, Ancestry, or GenomeInsight. The least expensive is Ancestry (and you can choose to not share any data on Ancestry). GenomeInsight is completely private, meaning it is only a service to get DNA, not research ancestry. I can supply the Ancestry and Genome kits, although if you have done 23/me or Ancestry in the past, I can help you retrieve the raw data.

  • Are protein drinks good for you?

    Reply: In an ideal situation, I would prefer to have food from an organic garden. The reality is that is not always possible. Protein shakes or meal replacement shakes are fine for a substitute when needed but many inexpensive brands could have heavy metals. See the blog on protein powders.

Weight Management FAQs

  • I exercise several days a week and my diet is not that bad, but I am not able to lose weight?

    Reply: Your metabolism (or weight) has several contributing factors. If you are engaging in intense exercise, and your body is already feeling stressed, then intense exercise may be working against you to lose weight. Intense exercise is great, but typically if someone is overweight, there might be areas to rebalance first.

  • Are weight loss medications considered?

    Reply: Obesity research has expanded medication options that focus on the physiological imbalances related to weight, in addition to medications that target genetic variants. There are rare instances that appetite suppressants, although not completely ruled out, are needed if the metabolic imbalanced is addressed.

  • What is the average weight loss?

    Reply: Weight loss is not the best predictor of success. The goal is to first understand the body composition. If there is very little muscle mass, then it may appear as though you are gaining weight as you gain some muscle, although you will be losing fat mass.

  • Will I need to count calories?

    Reply: Understanding how food affects your body and creating a positive relationship with food is more effective than counting calories. When you eat is also important is how your body utilizes food.

  • I lost about 20 lbs but now I am regaining the weight?

    Reply: If you restricted your calories too much, then your body may have held onto fat mass and used muscle mass for energy. Losing muscle mass reduced how many calories you burn per day and this results in weight regain.

  • What does “set point” mean?

    Reply: This theory refers to the body will try to maintain its weight within a certain range. Your body adapts to many circumstances. Fast weight loss generally causes people to revert to a previous weight, whereas slow weight loss does not shock the system