Losing Weight, Step by Step

Let’s face it—a lot of us just want to lose that last 5 to 10 pounds. But, for many more, managing our weight is a bigger deal than just fitting into our skinny jeans. Even normal daily activities like playing with your children, going up the stairs or walking around the mall can be a challenge when you struggle with significant weight issues.

And while family physicians often recommend exercise for better health, people who are overweight can also struggle with knee, back or joint pain, beginning a constant cycle of inactivity.

Losing weight can be a real challenge. But where others see a challenge, that’s where Linda Crews, a physical therapist with Memorial Rehab Services and Memorial’s Weight Loss & Wellness Center, sees opportunities.

Crews’ patients range from former athletes to varsity couch potatoes who admit to never, ever exercising and avoiding excess walking at all costs.

For many, however, just a few extra steps can make a huge difference.

“Think about it,” Crews said. “If you walk only 50 steps a day, walking 100 steps a day doubles your current exercise routine. That can make a real impact.”

Crews suggests buying a pedometer and tracking how many steps you take in an average day.

“If you can increase that by 100 or 200 steps, you’re increasing the amount of calories you burn each day,” she said. And increasing the calorie burn is ultimately what will begin the journey to successful weight loss.

This physical aspect of weight management and treatment is just one of several provided by the Memorial Weight Loss & Wellness Center, Memorial’s comprehensive, medically managed approach to providing patients the safest, highest quality of weight-loss and wellness care, and the only central Illinois-based, physician-led program of its kind.

“If it was easy to lose or maintain a healthy weight, millions of Americans wouldn’t be struggling with it today,” said Nicole Florence, MD, a physician with Memorial Physician Services –Koke Mill who also is part of the Weight Loss & Wellness Center’s medical team. “That’s why we look at all the components of a patient’s lifestyle to create a weight-loss plan based on that person’s individual needs. And many times, we find that our patients need to increase the amount of calories burned on a daily basis in order to shift the momentum to losing weight.”

And that’s why every step makes a difference.