My program works exceptionally well for people with diabetes, high cholesterol and existing heart disease, not just those trying to prevent these ailments.  I have seen many cases where people can cut back or eliminate their medications altogether.  I believe the purpose of medicine is to prevent illness and aging.  The core of wellness comes from good nutrition.

I have designed Wellness Within based on hundreds of research articles and books, not just my personal observations or preferences.  If I was designing a diet based on personal preferences, it would be pasta for every meal with bread and dessert washed down with wine.  I tried this, it doesn't work!  In medical school we are taught that "calories in and calories out" are the only things that matter for weight loss.  Again, this doesn't work.

A healthy lifestyle and healthy weight are more about the type of calories you consume than the amount.  You may initially lose weight with a low calorie diet, but most people plateau at a certain point.  Imagine eating nothing but junk food but staying under 1000 calories a day.  Doing this may be ok for a while, but you would be causing a lot of damage to your body.  In the short-term, you would feel sluggish and have other vague health complaints due to the lack of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial calories in your food.  The long-term effects would be worse including diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and other diseases that not only shorten your life but decrease the quality.

The majority of our recipes and meal suggestions have a very Mediterranean bias.  The Mediterranean diet has been studied extensively and is very good, but not perfect.  I have taken the best from the Mediterranean diet and combined it with other well researched nutritional suggestions.  This is not a difficult program to stick with.  You will not feel hungry or deprived.  Believe it or not, most people who have started the program find it hard to even consume the amount of calories they are allotted.  This may be a very different way of eating for some of you.  I will be rotating recipes and ideas on the website regularly so that you have a variety of choices available.

Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week.  This program is designed to be slow and steady. You may get faster results with a fad diet but Wellness Within will give you lasting results and a lifestyle you will want to continue.

The program begins with a doctor visit, which will be billed through your insurance company.  At that visit, the program will be reviewed with you and all your questions will be answered.  A history and physical will be done along with an initlal weigh-in and measurements.  Laboratory studies will also be done.  We will use this time to set realistic goals.

The program continues with weekly meetings, a private weigh-in and review of your food journal.  We will have a brief talk on a wellness topic at each meeting.  You will have measurements done once per month.  Laboratory studies will be done every 6 months or as needed.

Program cost is $50.00 per month.

This website will contain helpful hints, recipes and the program guidelines. You will be given a login and password upon registration for the program.

Preventive medicine is my passion.  What better way to reverse the processes of aging and disease progression than through nutrition?  By eating right, you will not only feel good, but look good.  When researching and designing this program, I was reminded of the old cartoon with the carrots and celery dancing and singing, "you are what you eat, from your head down to your feet."  How true that is, and how sad that we have somehow neglected the very basics of nutrition.  This program will take you back to the basics.