New Year Brings New Group Schedule

I guess it's predictable. The holidays have passed, and it's time to get serious about fitness and weight management. The health clubs are full, with new members making good on their New Year's resolutions.

And for many people struggling with weight management, New Year's is the time to start - or start again.

To that end, our membership is up, and we now have instituted two Group Sessions per week. You may come to one or both. The curriculum content will be repeated. But with any group, the same content can change dramatically given the dynamics of the specific grorup.

Group times are as follows:

           Mondays 12 noon - l pm
           Wednesdays 5:15 pm - 6:15 pm

Groups are held in the Second Floor Conference Room at 200 W. Mercer, just upstairs from our office at Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss.

So welcome. If you haven't tried the Groups, give them a try. We know that weight loss is maximal in folks who attend Groups regularly.

We promise never to "call you out." You can particiate as vocally or as quietly as you wish.

Plus, you might learn even one small thing that makes a difference in your own Program, in your own life.

See you in Group!

We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD

Join Our Google Group!

We are happy to announce that we have started a Google Group for more intimate on-line support. Please contact Program Director Brian Grev for more information (brian@queenannemedicalweightloss.com).

Even though we have only recently started our program, our members have lost a total of over FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS!

Our members are working very hard, exploring tough issues such as stress management, personal responsibility, and time management. We are all learning....

"It's not just about the weight!"

Our members consistently report that they feel better and have more energy. They are able to do more physical activity than they were able to do before joining the Program. We're able to reduce medications for blood pressure control and diabetes. And they are getting wonderful validation by following their improving lab tests.

For our members, we are forecasting a brighter 2011.
Remember, we're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD

Holiday Strategies

Do you secretly dread the holidays? That season beginning with mega-bags of Halloween candy, and extending through a plentiful Thanksgiving meal, holiday banquets, and ending with New Year's appetizers and cocktails? The days when we:

• Eat too much
• Drink too much
• Overload our already-crowded schedules
• Exercise too little
• Spend high-pressure time with people we'd otherwise not even see?

This Wednesday's Group session: 5:15 - 6:15 on Wednesday, November 3rd will be devoted to examining this "festive" time of year. How can we strategize to continue and maintain our weight management?

Join our Wednesday Group this week as we plan to take control of our holidays and make them joyful and productive for us all.

We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD

Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss Graduates its First Group

Congratulations to our very first group of winners who began our program in June 2010!

We've seen remarkable weight loss achievements. We've embraced physical activity - with nearly everyone tackling exercise with a new zeal.

I've learned that you can go through a personal crisis without scones, muffins, or those giant hospital cookies! Who knew?

Our group participants have been very conscious: working hard at understanding their own patterns of weight challenge. Most of us have gained and lost before.

We raise the slightly scary and ever-present question: why should we be able to maintain our weight loss more effectively now?

In my opinion, it's because we truly are different: with new tools and a better understanding of our own underlying truths.

Plus, we have the opportunity to continue to meet as a group for that exceptional group support. 

So, congratulations to our Winners. Keep it up.

We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD

Join Linda in Rowing Through the Winter - even Vicariously!

Here's to announce a new, and very personal blog, www.RowingThroughTheWinter.blogspot.com.  It celebrates a great love of mine: rowing. Rowing is a great form of exercise, and a wonderful way to make and connect with friends.

Of course, any form of exercise will work in a weight management and fitness program.

The best exercise, after all, is the one a person will do!

Take time to find what you like to do...even if exercise was never a high point in your life before. Try something new as you accomplish your weight transformation.

Think of exercise as "recess" for adults!

Join me as I row through the winter, physically and metaphorically. Glad to have you along.
We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD

Thank you, Tim!

It is with sadness that we announce the resignation of our Director, Tim Franklin.

Brian Grev, Dr. Gromko's Medical Assistant who has been with the practice for years, has agreed to step up and take over Tim's responsibilities, at least on an interim basis. Brian has special interests in nutrition and in physical fitness. He will do an excellent job!

We welcome Brain in this new capacity, and thank Tim for his excellent service.

Linda Gromko, MD

"Why am I hungry?"

One of our members suggested a useful tool for getting in touch with emotional eating. When feeling hunger, she will stop, take a breath, and ask:

"Why am I hungry?"

Pretty basic? Not at all. For those of us with weight challenges, "Why am I hungry?" can be a critical question!

So often, the answer might be:

• "because I'm procrastinating..."
• "because I'm bored..."
• "because I'm tired..."
• "because I'm angry at my husband..."
• "because I'm frustrated at work..."
• "because I'm worried..."
• "because I'm facing a big decision..."

You name it....but so often, we notice our hunger cues come from something other than physical hunger!

Now if it's time to eat a meal/meal replacement, it may be actual physical hunger. But take the second to ask if there's something else going on!

Get in touch with the reasons for your own non-nutritional eating.
We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD