It’s more than Weight Loss. It’s Weight Management.

This program is ideally suited to individuals who’s health would benefit from >7% weight loss or more. Typically, these are individuals with a BMI >27 and usually one or more associated medical conditions, for instance, elevated cholesterol, blood pressure or blood sugar, sleep apnea, fatty liver, arthritis or depression.

Other reasons for engaging an intensive approach might be if you have uncontrolled weight gain, family history of obesity, certain life stages such as before or after pregnancy, menopause, or onset of weight gain due to medication.

If you are unsure whether a program like this is right for you, it is suggested you book an appointment with Dr. Oughtred or your GP for a weight related assessment.

You have the option participate in either group format or individual, one-on-one visit format.

Groups have inherent benefits that one-on-one visits lack, and they are more affordable. Groups have closed start and stop dates, no participants will be jumping in or out mid-program, and you get the opportunity build community with your fellow participants.

Individualized visits offer more flexibility and more opportunity for the approach to be tailored to your unique needs and meet you where you are at any given time.

The group program consists of 26 group visits that are 90 minutes in length. Frequency of sessions will be every week to begin with, tapering to once per month at year end.

For individual format, there are roughly 26 hour long visits, and program length can be shortened to 9 months if desired.

Short term, quick fixes don’t work - this program provides adequate time to refine skiils that asssist in the prevention of weight gain, as well as to agree on longer term management strategies.

Group visits will be administered via video conference, with the possibility for some hybrid in-person visits, depending on group interest and location availability.

Individual visits are largely done through video, with the exception of some one-on-one visits for assessment or patient preference for in-person visits.

How much weight you lose is determined largely by your own biology and current metabolism prior to starting. Thus, estimating weight loss is tricky business. You could lose 25% of your body weight, or you may only end up maintaining your existing weight, which can be a success for some.

In general, the more effective strategies you use, the more weight reduction you achieve - I can provide education and guidance on the use of ALL effective therapies, and you can decide which ones are right for you. You might choose to use medical meal replacements, medication and intensive behaviour therapy - 3 effective therapies that could potentially combine for more weight loss and improvements in health than if you chose intensive lifestyle alone. It’s partly up to you, but more so up to your biology.

The first set of visits involve more assessment, education, addressing weight loss expectations, planning and establishment of a change based relationship, Medical stuff, relationship building stuff, and collaborating on setting a path forward.

Once those earlier elements are established, the visits develop a more regular flow in which there is a consistent check in process that reviews current health behaviours and use of skills learned. Often there may have been experiential exercises such as the practising of psychological skills since last visit, which would be discussed. Opportunities to address weight bias, validate and understand your challenges , as well as recognize your hard work are taken.

At this point, an invitation is made regarding some possible routes forward - sometimes involving some education - and you choose which route makes sense to you, for instance, you might decide that the use of reinforcements might work for you. We might discuss some reading or homework on that same topic.

This is an important distinction with my approach - recognizing where you are at in the journey and introducing skills and strategies that meet you where you are at. So, it’s not Module 1, 2, 3, and so forth. It’s Module # YOU.

Before finishing, there is usually a return to summarizing current SMART goals, maybe your sticky note pad comes out, and off you go!

That’s a typical visit structure, but it might not be yours, lets build one together.

Keeping in mind that care is individualized to the unique needs of each patient, the following are elements often found in the approach to weight management:

Assessment:
- Weight and Health History
- Drivers of weight gain
- Assess comorbidities
- Patient Values & Goals
- Obesity/ Overweight Staging

Establishment of Change Based Relationship
- Patient centred collaboration
- Addressing expectations of weight loss
- Non-weight goal setting
- Validation of lived experience
- “I’m on your side” approach to Weight Bias

Shared Understanding of:
- Causes of weight gain
- Adaptation to weight loss
- Brain based model of disease
- Weight bias
- Therapeutic options & efficacy
- Nutrition and Exercise Basics

Key Behaviours
- Nutrition and Exercise Habits
- Mindfulness
- Self-Monitoring
- Stimulus Control

Psychological Skills
- Values Clarity
- Non-judgemental curiosity
- Assessing readiness
- Decisional Balancing
- Behavioural ABC’s
- SMART Goals
- Stimulus Control
- Behaviour Shaping
- Reinforcement
- CBT – Cognitive Restraint
- ACT – Cognitive Flexibility

Other
- Treatment for related concerns & Naturopathic Medicine
- Stress and Well Being
- Sleep
- Understanding Distress
- Interpersonal Drivers
- Eating out, travel, weekends
- Long term monitoring agreement
- Weight gain prevention plan
- Future attempts at weight loss

Medical Meal Replacements are an evidence based tool that may be used as part of a comprehensive, behavioural program. These products are specially formulated to be used for weight reduction, and are not available over the counter in Canada.

I offer Nestle’s Optifast product.

In short, I may utilize Naturopathic Medicine to generally promote health and well being in all of my patients, but there is no specific Naturopathic Doctor approach to weight loss or weight management.

Obesity is complex, with many possible drivers. Naturopathic doctors have an holistic education and approach, which is likely a strength in treating weight.

That said, the Naturopathic profession has no guidelines or recommendations for their members to follow. In my experience, Naturopathic Medicine for weight loss is variable and can often be based more on financial opportunism rather than scientific evidence.

I take my guidance from obesity science, randomized controlled trials, and from professional bodies like Obesity Canada that make it their business to make sense of the science in this fast changing, exciting field of study. Canada has been a world leader in the management of obesity.

Weight management treatments are individualized, and thus costs are also individualized.

A complete list of Weight Management Services & Naturopathic Doctor Visit fees can be found on the services page HERE.

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