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The “skinny” tea that helped Dr. Jampolis drop 43 lbs The unusual move that helped Dr. Chase drop 113 lbs
health
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How doctors lose weight
36 First for women
8/29/11
I outsmarted stubborn stress fat!
Dr. Jampolis dropped 43 lbs!
“Everyone— even weight-loss doctors— struggles with stress eating when times are tough.”
Melina Jampolis, M.D., 41, San Francisco Height: 5'6"
THEN: 177 lbs NOW: 134 lbs
STILLS, FROM TOP: MEDIA BAKERY; C. GEIGER; ISTOCKPHOTO. TEXT: L. MA XBAUER
hey are the trained professionals charged with keeping us healthy, yet according to one medical doctor FIRST spoke with, somewhere in the range of two-thirds of American physicians are overweight. How can that be, when they have a world of information on how to maintain wellbeing at their fingertips? Chalk it up to the same reasons that the rest of us struggle with weight—stress, busyness, fatigue— then throw in the pressure of night shifts, constant exposure to cafeteria food and the sense of being in the spotlight, knowing people are looking to you for answers you aren’t sure you have. “When I was 285 pounds, I still talked about weight with patients, but I felt I lost a lot of credibility with them,” explains Bernadette Anderson, M.D., a family practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, who has lost 85 pounds. “They’re looking at me and seeing that I don’t believe in the changes I’m advocating because I’m not doing it myself.” Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., an internal medicine specialist in Anniston, Alabama, can relate. “You’d think after a medical-school education I wouldn’t be a yo-yo dieter, but I was.” Still, she clarifies, “It’s not about not knowing what to do, it’s about making the time. Female physicians are like any other busy woman—we don’t have time to spend hours in a gym.” So like many of the doctors FIRST consulted who overcame the obstacles to finally lose the weight, Dr. Dalton-Smith ditched the notion of a formal diet-and-exercise program and came up with her own plan. We’ve rounded up the best advice—straight from doctors who can truly relate because they’ve been there, too—so you can do what they did. Mix and match the slimming tips to create a healthy formula that best suits your lifestyle, and get set to slim!
MAIN PHOTO: Z. RUELAS. HAIR AND MAKEUP: S. BISEL. ST YLIST: M. CHERISSE.
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Three female M.D.s share the healthy secrets that helped them win their battle of the bulge
As a board certified physician nutrition specialist, Melina Jampolis, M.D., was up on all the latest thinking about diets—and practicing what she preached had kept her thin throughout her 30s. But when life threw her a curveball, Dr. Jampolis learned firsthand what so many of her patients already knew: “Everyone—even weight-loss doctors—struggles with stress eating when times are tough.” Shortly after her 40th birthday, Dr. Jampolis gave birth to her first child, a boy who was born two months premature and needed to stay in the hospital’s NICU for a month. Plagued by worry, Dr. Jampolis started gaining, piling extra pounds on top of baby weight. She admits, “I literally ate a Frisbee-size cookie every day my son was in the hospital just to try to make myself feel better.” Things didn’t get easier once Dr. Jampolis brought her newborn home. She was exhausted, and she knew what the research said: Sleep deprivation would further hinder her weightloss efforts. “It was challenging,” she shares. “I had no time for sleeping, for meal planning…no time for anything.” As the weeks ticked by, Dr. Jampolis began to feel a new pressure—that of a weight-loss expert who couldn’t lose weight. Unsure of how to move forward, she decided to view herself as a patient. She thought about the successful slimmers she had treated and identified the strategy that made the difference: Don’t make a million changes at once—start small, then get more strict as the pace of the weight loss slows down. Read on for the baby steps that helped this working mom (and author of The Busy Person’s Guide to Permanent Weight Loss) shed her stress belly for good.
Cut calories, not volume “I don’t feel satis-fied eating birdlike portions,” Dr. Jampolis shares. “So I was interested in studies at Penn State University showing that people eat about the same volume of food every day, regardless of calories. I’ve found that cutting calories while eating the same amount of food is one of the easiest ways to avoid feeling deprived.” Dr. Jampolis simply dilutes condiments—when using barbecue sauce, she mixes half sauce and half water; for salad dressing, she blends half balsamic and half vinegar; and she cuts cream sauces with skim milk.
at KaengRaeng.com). “I had shakes for two meals a day, which meant I didn’t have to plan. That’s great when you are super busy.”
Sip a skinny tea “I start the day with Numi Tea in Maté Lemon [$7 for 18 bags, at amazon.com]—a blend of maté and green tea, which may help improve fat oxidation,” Dr. Jampolis says. She also points to the benefit of freshbrewed over bottled: “Antioxidants in green tea, which help fight the inflammation associated with obesity, may degrade over time in water.”
Seal the deal with meal replacements
Make breakfast automatic
“To lose the last 5 pounds, I had to stick to about 1,200 calories a day,” Dr. Jampolis says. “That’s hard—you have to plan carefully and I didn’t have the energy.” So she turned to Kaeng Raeng detox shakes ($100 for a six-day detox,
“I make a big frittata every Sunday, then have a slice every day for a fast, easy breakfast,” says Dr. Jampolis. “The meal’s protein and fiber keep my blood sugar steady, so my energy stays up and my hunger is satisfied.”
Dr. Jampolis’s Super-Veggie Frittata 1 Tbs. olive oil or olive oil spray 1 cup sliced mushrooms 2 cups torn fresh spinach (or veggies of your choice) 12 eggs (use up to 3 yolks) 1 ⁄ 2 cup skim milk 1 ⁄ 3 cup grated Parmesan cheese In large skillet over medium heat, cook olive oil 30 sec., or until heated. Add mushrooms and spinach. Season with fresh herbs, salt and pepper, if desired. Cook
1 to 2 min., until spinach is wilted. In bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Pour into skillet over veggies. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 5 to 7 min., or until eggs are firm.
First forstrategies women 37 Turn for more8/29/11 fat-melting
health
weight-loss discovery
I lost 100 lbs
NOW: 170 lbs
Dr. Stein dropped 100 lbs!
“Obesity needs to be treated like a disease. You’d never tell someone to treat their lupus by getting on a treadmill.”
THEN: 270 lbs
38 First for women
8/29/11
“I can give you the best of my knowledge,” Sara Stein, M.D., told her new patient, as she had with so many others before. “But I probably don’t have the answer, as you can clearly see.” The reason for Dr. Stein’s candor: She weighed 270 pounds and had not been able to shed the fat that had weighed her down since childhood, despite numerous attempts. She says, “If you could list 1,000 diets, I’ve tried 1,001 over the years because I’ve repeated at least one.” Dr. Stein knew her weight was holding her back—in many dimensions of her life. “I’m sure there were opportunities I missed because of my appearance,” she acknowledges. “I became a workaholic to compensate for anyone calling me fat and lazy.” Eventually Dr. Stein was promoted to department chief, and that professional success fueled her to get her personal life under control. This is insane, she thought. Here’s this smart lady and she can’t figure out how to lose weight. As a psychiatrist who counsels patients considering weight-loss surgery, it seems logical that Dr. Stein would have plenty of support from colleagues, but that wasn’t the case. In a statement to the medical community on her website, Dr. Stein says, “If I go to any one of you, even the most esteemed physician or medical center, you will tell me, ‘Eat less, move more.’ Or you’ll send me to your behavioral health department because clearly there’s something wrong with me. There, I will receive medication for depression and six weeks of therapy about how I should love myself and not eat chocolate. Or you’ll throw up your hands and say I can have surgery, but I’m not sick enough to qualify yet…I should wait a few years.” Dr. Stein explained to FIRST, “That kind of treatment is absolutely wrong for obese people. Obesity is a medical condition—one that includes fat cells that are metabolically active; genes, brain chemistry and endocrine
without feeling deprived!
INSET: COURTESY OF DR. STEIN. STILLS, FROM LEFT: FOTOLIA; ISTOCKPHOTO; LIEBENSTEIN, J./STOCKFOOD MUNICH
Sara Stein, M.D., 56, Cleveland Height: 5'1"
MAIN PHOTO: R. GARZ A. HAIR AND MAKEUP: B.C. HAWKINS. ST YLIST: T. WARNER. BACKGROUND: M. L ANGRIDGE/GET T Y IMAGES
systems that are altered; bodies that have chronic inflammation. Obesity needs to be treated like a disease. You’d never tell someone to treat their lupus by getting on a treadmill.” That’s why Dr. Stein went another route. She identified the underlying causes of her weight troubles (which included food allergies and hormonal imbalances) and systemically addressed them. What worked for her:
As a bonus, her skin became smooth, firm and clear—the psoriasis, eczema, seborrheic keratosis and pigmentation changes that plagued her cleared up. Says Dr. Stein, “People often ask what I put on my skin. The answer is, I put omega-3 fish oil in my body. The skin is a reflection of overall health.”
Savor some dark chocolate medicine
Studies have shown that virtually 100 percent of overweight women have low levels of vitamin D, a nutrient proven to play a key role in weight management. So after having blood work done to gauge her needs, Dr. Stein began taking a 10,000 IU vitamin D3 supplement daily. She notes that in addition to activating the loss of belly fat, D delivers a range of benefits that can be life changging. “My mood improved after the first month, and my energy improved in the next two months. I knew I was making progress in the fifth month, when a four-syllable word popped into my conversation spontaneously—a word I previously would have had to search my mind for, if I found it at all. My brain was back and my head was clear! The best
“When people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered, ‘a chocolate-chip cookie,’” says Dr. Stein. “That’s how much I loved chocolate.” As an adult, she craved and binged ces” on “endless pieces” that had only 10 percent cocoa. Then she read some arch: intriguing research: “Multiple studies have demonstrated that eating 1.4 oz. of 70 percent dark chocolate will increase serotonin levels to treat depression, lower stress-hormone levels to facilitate weight loss, act as an antioxidant and provide cellular protection from stroke and heart attack,” Dr. Stein explains. “Now I view the food as medicine.” In fact, she reports that after she started to eat dark chocolate daily, “All my chocolate cravings disappeared, my mood was relaxed and generally happy and I never felt deprived. Plus, I lost weight.”
Outwit fast-food cravings with omegas A blood test revealed that Dr. Stein’s levels of omega-3 fatty acids, healthy fats that ward off cravings, were low. Once she started taking an omega-3 pill, her cravings for greasy foods vanished. “I stopped spending the day thinking about french fries!” she raves.
Take the vitamin that acts like a diet pill
part was in month six, when my vitamin D level stabilized and all the chronic pain I had suffered for years was gone.” Dr. Stein shares her experience with patients, who enjoy similar results. “I find with my patients that vitamin D is the single most effective antidepressant I have ever prescribed.” Dr. Stein says it’s important for women to get a blood test to determine their individual needs (which are generally in the range of 2,000 IU to 10,000 IU daily).
Don’t give up your comforts “Beyond the physical condition, obesity can be a psychosocial condition of depression and loneliness. It hurts to be fat,” says Dr. Stein, who wrote the book Obese From the Heart. She points out that overweight people suffer enough— enduring a deprivation diet is just too much. So she focused on things that didn’t cause pain. “My first change was to drink coffee instead of lattes. And if I really wanted a latte, I would have one.” Dr. Stein accepted that change would come slowly, but would be healthy and sustainable. “Easy, sequential changes add up over time, and give your body and your mind a chance to heal with each small adjustment.”
Doctors agree: Protein is the key! ey! There’s a trend in the medical community, says Haya Rubin, M.D., an internist who lost 48 pounds. “A lot of doctors are doing low-carb approaches.” Indeed, almost all the experts FIRST spoke with cited the power of protein. Some simply upped their intake, while others followed high-protein diets for fast results. “Low-carb/high-protein plans help control blood sugar and insulin levels,” explains Dr. Rubin. “That’s important because when
blood sugar drops and insulin surges, you get very hungry.” Protein is especially beneficial for women over 40, adds Stuart Jeanne Bramhall, M.D., a psychiatrist who lost 20 pounds. She explains that as we age, muscle is gradually replaced by fat, but protein helps preserve lean muscle mass—and keep metabolic rate high.
8/29/11 xx/xx/xx First forstrategies women 39 Turn for more fat-melting
health
weight-loss discovery
I may have
Dr. Stein dropped 100 lbs!
“Now that I’ve lost the weight, I am better able to take care of friends and family.”
Chere Chase, M.D., 44, Winston-Salem, NC Height: 5'5"
THEN: 276 lbs NOW: 163 lbs
40 First for women
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Eat all day Dr. Chase foolproofs her day by toting a lunch box packed with snacks and mini meals to work. “My schedule is so busy that I rarely have time to think about where to find healthy food,” she explains. “But if it is already prepared and packed for me, I have fewer excuses.” Some lunch-box staples: turkey pepperoni and low-fat cheese on crackers; peanut butter with bananas, carrot sticks or celery; and prepackaged 100-calorie snack packs. Then she grazes throughout the day, which wards off hunger and keeps metabolic rate high.
Go halfsies STILLS, FROM LEFT: NILSSON, P./STOCKFOOD MUNICH; ISTOCKPHOTO (2)
NOW: 170 lbs
methods that fail to offer an interdisciplinary approach to weight loss,” Dr. Chase says. “To be successful it’s necessary to focus on the medical, physical, social, psychological and economic changes that are required for weight loss. Each woman must understand what makes her uniquely at risk for weight gain and failure to manage her weight—for example, endocrine, social and emotional factors. Once I started to do that, I was able to succeed.” The strategies that helped Dr. Chase finally lose the weight—plus lower her cholesterol and blood pressure and increase her energy:
MAIN PHOTO: K. PEARCE. HAIR, MAKEUP AND WARDROBE: G. GARDNER
Dr. Chase dropped 113 lbs!
Sara Stein, M.D., 56, Cleveland, OH Height: 5'1"
“When everyone else gained the classic freshman 15 in college, I put on 70 pounds,” reveals Chere Chase, M.D., who soothed her homesickness by reaching for food. Her heartache only intensified when six family members passed on over a two-year period—all due to obesity-related illnesses like heart attack and stroke. Wanting to do whatever she could to spare other families the pain of losing loved ones to preventable diseases, Dr. Chase pursued a career in neurology with a focus on stroke and preventive medicine. But all the while, she continued down her own path to obesity. “The on-call schedule during my medical training made it difficult for me to establish a healthy eating and exercise routine,” Dr. Chase recalls. During a typical time-crunched day, she’d skip meals, then grab a few vending machine candy bars as she left the hospital. On the way home, she’d pick up fast food for dinner. Over the years Dr. Chase cycled through every single popular diet approach, including a hospital-based liquid program and prescription appetite suppressants (which she says are the most popular weight-loss method among female health-care providers because the pills give energy and allow women to work through the day without stopping to eat). Still, her excess pounds refused to budge. Then one day a patient said something that made Dr. Chase realize she needed to do better—for herself and those who looked up to her. “You know why I love you?” the patient asked. “Because you can understand me. We’re both overweight.” “I didn’t want my personal choices to be seen as endorsements,” Dr. Chase says of her yo-yo dieting ways. Humbled to become a better role model for her patients and her extended family, she vowed to adopt healthy, sustainable habits. “Most patients—myself included— fall short because they follow diet
saved my own life!
A few mental games help Dr. Chase keep her hand out of the cookie jar. For example, she’ll look at pictures of clothing she hopes to wear one day, or try on clothes one or two sizes smaller than her current size. But if she still feels like indulging, she doesn’t deny herself. “When all else fails, I find two or three other people to share a cupcake with me. That way I get to splurge without the guilt of falling off the wagon.”
Learn how to tread water On those occasions when more than half the cupcake is eaten, Dr. Chase gives herself a pass. “Allowing myself treats is important, as is acknowledging that minor—and major—setbacks are not the end of the world.” The analogy that helps her maintain that mind-set: “When people teach you how to swim, they also teach you how to tread water if you get tired,” she explains. “And when people teach you to ski, they also teach you how to fall safely. It’s important to remember that you can’t swim upstream constantly without taking breaks, and that sooner or later we all fall down.”
Merge cardio and toning “Doing weight training and cardio together keeps the routine from becoming boring,” says Dr. Chase, who makes her workout do double duty by using a kettlebell. Why that’s smart: Researchers at Alabama’s Auburn University found that a 20-minute kettlebell workout burns as many calories as an hour on the treadmill and 60 percent more calories than lifting traditional weights. For a great beginner move, try the classic “swing”: Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and your knees bent. Holding a kettlebell with both hands (or for a similar effect try a jug of milk), let your arms hang down, then raise the kettlebell over your head with both arms. Swing the weight back down and bend forward slightly so the weight goes between your legs. Continue swinging in a fluid motion for 10 repetitions.
More top tips from docs who’ve lost LOCK THE CABINETS “I put child safety locks on my kitchen cabinets. Opening them gave me a 30-second pause to think about the junk food I would be eating. I also found that when tempting food is locked away, I don’t think about it as much.” — Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D., a psychologist who lost 84 lbs TAKE A BREATHER “I hit a hard mental plateau during my weight-loss journey. It was like I was in the middle of a marathon, and frankly I got tired. So I stopped focusing on calories and instead told myself to try to maintain the 100 pounds I’d already lost. When the numbers on the scale started to move down effortlessly again, I recommitted to slimming.” — Birdie Varnedore, M.D., a neurologist who lost 143 lbs USE THIS ACRONYM “Any time I found myself reaching for junk, I asked myself, ‘FLAB?’ Was I eating because I was frustrated, lonely, anxious or bored? If I answered yes to any of those reasons, I put the food down and found an alternate activity. I even put Post-its around my kitchen that said FLAB.” —Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D. FOLLOW THE 500 RULE “With my schedule I ate a lot of fast food, so I made a spreadsheet of all the items I could order that were 500 calories or less. I’d eat a healthy breakfast and lunch, then for dinner I’d choose something off that list—like threepiece chicken strips with buffalo sauce, a medium fruit cup and a diet lemonade from Chick-fil-A. That’s just 470 calories.” — Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., an internist who lost 62 lbs 8/29/11 First for women
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