Frequently Asked Questions

Question:Why would I want to use a product like Advanced Health Systems and eat only small amounts of solid food? That sounds like some sort of weird fad diet!

Answer:Have you tried losing weight by carefully measuring your food portions and noticed that the scale still doesn't move? Many people find it difficult to accurately determine portion sizes and eat consistent amounts of food day after day. In fact, studies show that most people actually consume about 50% more calories than they actually think they do; and this is mostly because they are in denial about what they eat. They simply do not have the skills to accurately track what they are eating.

Clinical studies also show that when people are given very few food choices, it makes it easier to decrease the amount of food or calories they consume each day.  By taking away the selection and/or preparation of foods and reducing the array of available foods, people lose weight.  This is a concept called "stimuli narrowing".  By using a portion-controlled formula diet, such as Advanced Health Systems, all the nutrition needed each day is included.  The benefits of this type of diet are in the reduced calories, complete nutrition, and perhaps most importantly, in the ability to stick with the diet because little or no food choices are made.

Dr. Ashworth's weight management products offer:

     * high quality, high protein supplement shakes

     * pre-portioned and calorie-controlled servings

     * quick and simple preparation

Question:Are your supplement programs expensive?

Answer:Before starting any of these programs, take a few days to add up what you spend on food. While doing this make sure to include all money spent on eating out, snacks at gas stations, etc., as well as your monthly grocery bill. Most people find that they end up actually spending the same or LESS per month while participating in the program. It's important to remember that you will be receiving most of your daily food from the clinic; this is so Dr. Ashworth can control what you're eating, lower the calorie count, and provide rapid weight loss. It is difficult to put a price on your health. Preventing or curing diabetes and high blood pressure in most patients opinion is priceless.

Question:I've read that liquid diets are dangerous and people gain all of their weight back once they start eating regular food. Is this true?

Answer:The Advanced Health System programs have all the nutrients required for good health. This is something that nearly all fad diets do not have. In fact, the initial liquid diets that were used in the 1970's were much different - they used low quality protein with few other essential nutrients, and in the process burned lean muscle which dropped their metabolic rates. Today, shake supplements are manufactured to offer a balanced combination of macro- and micro-nutrients to ensure preservation of lean body mass and therefore the metabolic rate. Our programs use a combination of medically engineered shakes and a healthy variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean meat or seafoods. When was the last time you were on a diet and were being closely followed by a physician who was trained specifically to help you and to ensure the safety of your treatment?

As far as gaining back the weight - this could happen if a person just did the program and made no other changes (just like the latest fad diets).  Dr. Ashworth and his staff provide you education and support.  This is necessary to help individuals to successfully discover their own issues related to weight management and help change their habits.  Plus, our maintenance program provides the on-going support needed to help make long-term changes in your lifestyle.

Question:Will I be hungry if I'm on a very low calorie program?

Answer:The feeling of hunger and the impulsive desire to eat are real concerns. The causes of hunger, whether physicial or emotional, will be determined and dealt with to increase success in sticking with our programs. This control involves both preventing and managing hunger sensations. The program staff will suggest various techniques to accomplish this goal. Appetite suppressant medications are always an option and will be used if there are no health concerns. The good news is that, for most participants, hunger sensations fade within a few days to two weeks after starting the program, and generally no appetite suppressants are needed.

Question:What can I do if I'm invited out to eat while I'm on the program?

Answer:Dealing with social eating events is one of the topics that the staff at Ashworth Medical will help you work through. There are a number of options to consider and strategies that our patients have successfully used to help them enjoy these social events and still stick to the program. Being successful long-term involves improving your eating habits and choices, and including regular physical activity.

Question:What makes this program different from any other diet?

Answer:Our program is not merely a "diet." The word "diet" refers to the way we feed our bodies. But the word "diet" to many people means something like this: "DIE-et: a painful, unrewarding form of punishment involving reduced food intake." This is why we refer to the way we eat with our program as "lifestyle nutrition." Trivial semantics? Not really.

The Ashworth Medical staff has discovered that one of the biggest challenges people face when they attempt to lose unwanted body fat and improve their health is to allow themselves to believe they can and will succeed.  They just need to begin with an open and optimistic mind.  However, when they think they are starting a "diet," their minds begin to send negative, self-defeating messages such as, "diets don't work ... I'm going to be so hungry ... I'm going to miss out on the fun at parties, weddings, and celebrations ... other people can diet, but I just can't do it ... after all, diets don't work."  The result?  They create their own reality.  They fail because they decide unconsciously to fail. 

Our programs are based on scientific research, as well as what works and what doesn't work in the real world. Therefore, we have to accept the fact that people (including us) love food. We want to eat. We need to eat. The good news? Our program teaches you how to eat, while you eat on the program which helps you build the necessary skills for developing healthy eating habits.

Question:I'm an emotional eater. Is there a program for me?

Answer:Yes! Eating for comfort or anxiety is one of the biggest challenges facing America today. Many physicians and psychiatrist often refer to food as "America's most popular and widely abused anti-anxiety medication." When you think of it this way, you can understand more accurately the detrimental effects eating for the wrong reasons has on our bodies and lives.

Eating for emotional reasons may be a behavior learned at a very young age, even as an infant.  These patterns need to be changed before anyone can achieve the long-term success they are looking for with our programs.  One of the keys in changing behaviors is not to just focus on eliminating the "bad behaviors," but to incorporate new behaviors into our daily habits.

For example, people who often eat late at night, especially carbohydrates, need to commit themselves to changing this behavior.  We've found that one of the things that work for many participants (who, just like you, eat for comfort) is whenever they feel like heading to the kitchen, they stop and ask themselves if they're eating to fuel their body or to feed their emotions.  They  write the answer to that question down on a notepad kept next to the refrigerator.  If they find out what they were about to do was eat for comfort, they immediately go to another room and write.  They write about how they feel, what they're planning to achieve the next day, and they just keep writing (sometimes even cards to friends) until they feel they've released the negative energy that was trying to "come out" by eating.

Question:How do the supplements taste?

Answer:Most individuals find them pleasant and satisfying. Some may prefer one flavor over others. Advanced Health Systems offers vanilla and chocolate ready-to-drink shakes as well as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and mocha powdered shakes. They also offer chicken soup, which can be heated. Remember that these products are designed to replace a certain amount of food for a limited duration of time. This makes them much different than some commerically available nutritional formulas and products, both in taste and nutritional quality.