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Weight Management Center
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For individuals who are significantly overweight, our Weight Management Center offers a comprehensive program that is uniquely tailored to individual needs. The Center is a physician-led program that specializes in bariatric medicine with the support of a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals, registered dietitians, behavioral specialists, exercise trainers and weight management consultants. Participants can be referred into the program on their own or by their attending physicians.
The mission of the Weight Management Center is to support and maintain the loss of weight through dietary, exercise and other lifestyle choices and, when necessary, utilize medical and surgical options in order to combat obesity and its associated medical problems. The Weight Management Center’s ultimate goal is to teach individuals and the community to learn adaptive techniques that integrate day-to-day decisions into real-world actions for lasting results. Because most diet and exercise efforts eventually fail, our customized programs are physician-supervised and involve dietary, behavior, medical and/or surgical interventions aimed at making wholesale lifestyle changes. These changes are geared toward not just losing weight, but also breaking the weight gain-weight loss cycle for good. Participants undergo a complete medical history review and physical including EKG, laboratory work, a food diary and anthropometric measurements. They will then be assigned to a customized low calorie diet (LCD) or very low calorie diet (VLCD) and a fitness trainer, who will develop a targeted exercise regimen. An in-depth behavioral assessment will identify personal roadblocks that have been sabotaging weight loss efforts and teach techniques to overcome them, giving individuals the skills they need to permanently maintain a healthy weight. Our Medical Director is certified in Clinical Hpnosis by the American Society of Clinicl Hypnosis. We have found hypnosis to be a valuable adjunct in uncovering roadblocks to losing weight as well as increasing motivation to become successful in one’s efforts. If necessary, medication to suppress appetite or to block fat may be prescribed. For some, meals may be temporarily replaced with meal supplements. For those who are morbidly obese, the possibility of referral for surgery to help with weight loss may be considered. Most importantly, participants receive progressive plans that are closely monitored and supported throughout the program. Our specialists maintain a consistent dialogue with individuals’ primary care physicians to help monitor, improve and maintain a person’s overall health as progress is made. For more information about the Weight Management Program and how to qualify, please call Lynn Geissele, Registered Dietitian, Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist at 828/326-2905.
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Dr. Clark is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Holistic Medicine. He has an M.P.H. in Public Health Nutrition and has served as a member of the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES). He is currently the Medical Director of the Catawba Valley Medical Center Weight Management Center. Memberships include the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis.