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Weight center offers specialized programs Stop by Health 1st’s Wellness Wednesday table in the Children’s Hospital lobby between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. July 9 for information on weight management. by Joshua D. Brown, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, and Tonya Turner, registered dietitian The MUSC Weight Management Center offers a number of programs to serve the different needs of different people. However, all of the programs include a strong emphasis on helping people to make the long-term lifestyle changes that are so important for success in the long run. These changes are the ABCD’S of lifestyle change: Activity: Exercise is crucial to the long-term success of a weight loss program. No single exercise program is right for everyone, so it is important for you to create and work toward a program that is effective for you. Behavioral: Your habits and behaviors are important parts of your lifestyle and your weight. Many of your behaviors are automatic, occurring without you even thinking about them. Monitoring your behaviors is one of the most important tools for helping change your lifestyle and manage your weight. Regularly graphing your weight and keeping eating diaries are important new habits to develop. Cognitive (thinking): Your thought patterns are as important as your behavior patterns. Your associations to food and your thoughts about dieting affect your ability to successfully watch your weight. It is important to become more aware of and change the thought patterns that lead you to overeat or sabotage your own progress. Dietary: Successful long-term weight loss and overall health depend on a healthy diet. A registered dietitian can help you form an eating plan with which you can live. Support systems The process of losing weight and growing accustomed to new ways of dealing with food can be difficult. Friends, family and co-workers can be great sources of support; they can also be harmful when it comes to your attempts to make lifestyle changes.   Staff from the Weight Management Center will be available at the Wellness Wednesday booth on July 9. Participants will be able to have their BMI calculated and discuss programs that are offered. Also, visit http://www.MUSChealth.com/weight or call 792-2273 to get scheduled for a free consultation to learn which program is best for you. Discounts and payroll deduction options are offered to MUSC affiliated employees.   The center is staffed with registered dietitians, exercise physiologists, physicians, psychologists and nurses who specialize in helping people lose weight and keep it off. New weight loss program   The Weight Management Center will be offering a 10-week worksite weight loss program for the MUSC family. It offers weight loss assistance from the Weight Management Center professionals (registered dietitians, psychologists, exercise physiologists) in a worksite program  for $98. Learn how to adopt the best nutritional choices, eating patterns, and exercise habits to help you lose weight and keep it off.  Editor's note: The preceding column was brought to you on behalf of Health 1st. Striving to bring various topics and representing numerous employee wellness organizations and committees on campus, this weekly column seeks to provide MUSC, MUHA and UMA employees with current and helpful information concerning all aspects of health. Friday, July 4, 2008 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.