Sustaining Path - (maintenance program)

We are committed to your success and to your improved health, not only in the short run during your active weight loss, but long-term, through your maintenance. Our experience tells us that weight maintenance is a formidable endeavor that requires developing and reshaping the tools and skills necessary to keeping weight down. It also requires good coping skills to navigate stressful experiences without overeating.

We want to encourage you to stay connected to our Center for the long-term. Consider us as you do all of your health care providers - professionals who see you through the year(s) as your health warrants. For all chronic medical problems (including obesity) you need periodic tune-ups and check-ins to manage your condition. This is true for your weight as well.

Clinically we know that there are susceptible times for weight regain - these include:

• Between years 1-2 of maintenance;
• During periods of intense or chronic stress and life change;
• After injuries/illnesses that alter your ability to sustain your activity/exercise level;
• Whenever your routine changes significantly due to job change, retirement, or life transition.

These susceptible times can lead to vulnerability in what may have previously been a sustainable maintenance plan. Over time you can become fatigued by the diligence necessary to keep focused and become distracted by other factors in life. We are here to help you work through these challenging experiences. These do not represent your failure at weight maintenance, but rather part of the long-term issues inherent in keeping weight off.

Additionally, we know that not everyone loses the amount of weight they hope to lose and/or they experience periods where personal circumstances prevent further weight loss. This would be a time to consider switching to the Sustaining Path. Rather than losing weight in a linear manner, weight may be lost in more of a stair-stepped pattern - some weight loss followed by a period of weight stability in which patterns and habits are consolidated. Future weight loss can be initiated when personal circumstances shift or renewed motivation occurs. We encourage you to consider a formal maintenance plan that should extend for a minimum of the length of the time involved in your weight loss, but ideally for at least one year. For example, if your weight loss period was five months, then at a minimum, you should plan to work with us for an additional five months of maintenance. After your formal maintenance period, we will work with you to identify a useful sequence of extended maintenance - this will include periodic check-ins, personalized signals to identify at risk behaviors and attending special maintenance topics.

Our formal maintenance program - The Sustaining Path consists of the following interventions:

• Ongoing monthly coaching sessions with the provider of your choice (physician, dietitian, psychotherapist) to reinforce the tools and skills learned to help you face life's daily challenges.
• A group focused specifically on the issues of weight maintenance - typically one topic is presented one Saturday a month.
• Attendance in any of our ongoing groups - Stress Management, Nutrition/Behavioral, Psychological/Experiential. These groups all cover a wide variety of topics and teach you skills for managing eating and broader life management skills.

We have purposely kept the fee for the Sustaining Path low to show our commitment to your long-term success and to enable you to stay connected to the Center just as we hope you do with all of your health care providers.