Why Should I Choose Physician's Plan?
When it comes to weight loss, safety is the biggest concern. Decisions made regarding your care and progress are made with the expert knowledge of a medical professional. We are dedicated to your safety and long term success. Physician's Plan is not your typical weight loss center! You will soon come to realize there are many attributes that differentiate us from other weight loss programs. We don’t believe in a cookie-cutter approach.

We Care for Patients, not Customers.
Each patient is evaluated individually and personalized plans are tailored specifically for your lifestyle and dietary needs. You will also receive one-on-one time with a specialist extensively trained in obesity management to counsel and coach you to help you overcome any behavioral challenges with which you are struggling. Being able to provide such a personal level of care sets our program apart from other canned commercial based weight loss programs. Additionally, as a medical weight loss plan, we do ongoing evaluations of your health status so that you can decrease your medications for weight-related diseases as your health improves. We can also prescribe weight control medications, such as appetite suppressants and others, to assist with your weight loss efforts.
We approach each patient individually and do a careful initial assessment that determines your specific needs. This is something a book or program may not be able to do. Our weight loss process is not just "going on a diet”. You will be learning how to make meaningful lifestyle changes that aren't based on being told what to eat, but being taught the how and why of good nutrition so that you can apply those decision making skills no matter where you get your next meal.

Will I need prescription medication?
There is a wide range of appetite curbing medication designed to take the edge off your hunger. When medically indicated and as part of a carefully monitored program, the physician will select the right prescription for you. Dr. DiOrio uses appetite suppressants to decrease your desire for food and also boost your metabolism. We do everything we can to help you to lose weight without being hungry!

Is it Safe?
Absolutely! Our plan is not a fad diet or a cult-like program. There is no starving yourself, no exercising excessively, and no yo-yo effect. Dr. DiOrio's weight loss plan is not magic; it's nutritional science that really works, providing your body with healthy nutrients and a customized program that accommodates your activity level and medical history. A physician-supervised medical weight loss program may be the safest and wisest way to lose weight and maintain the loss. Overweight and obesity are frequently accompanied by other medical conditions which might go undetected and untreated in a non-medical weight loss program.

How much weight will I lose?
Most of our patients lose between 8-20 pounds each month. The first month you will see very quick results. The following months, we help you to maintain a steady weight loss, usually of 2-3 pounds per week. Each individual’s weight loss progress is different. Since every person’s needs and preferences are unique, plans are set up with the patient that best fits his/her lifestyle and dietary needs. There are a variety of dietary options; some patients will use grocery store foods, others use food supplements in combination with grocery store foods. In addition, taking appetite suppressants and Vitamin B Complex with Lipotropic Injections can speed up weight loss. Results and the number of pounds lost is variable.

Why is your success rate so high?
We spend a great deal of time getting to know each patient and the history of their weight loss struggles. The guidelines in nutrition and exercise that the patient receives bring more conscious thought to bear on good health and proper eating habits. As the program progresses, you will feel so much better in every way that you will have less inclination to relapse into your old eating habits.

Physiologically, no two human bodies are alike. What is proper diet and exercise for one person is not necessarily so for another. The Bariatric Weight Loss Program concentrates on the specific need for each individual patient. The Bariatric physician, unlike most other medical doctors, has received special training in nutrition as it relates to problems of the overweight. It is in these ways that the bariatric weight loss program differs from most weight control programs and insures our high success rate.

What are Vitamin B Complex with Lipotropic Injections?
These injections are comprised of Vitamins B5, B6 and B12 and are combined with lipotropic amino acids. Vitamin B is an essential vitamin used by the body to create energy. The lipotropics are a natural combination of three amino acids which are targeted towards the liver. The liver is involved in removing fat from the body. These injections help you to lose weight by boosting energy so that you will burn off more calories and increasing the removal of fat from the body. Patients may take up to three injections per week. Those that do see an average additional weight loss of 2.5% for women and 3.7% for men.

Do I have to go to meetings?
No. We provide private, one-on-one consultations at each visit. That individual attention is how we can best determine a course of action that is specific to your needs. We do offer periodic seminars as an extra service to our patients, but attendance is not mandatory.

Do I have to be extremely overweight to consider Physician's Plan? What if I only need to lose 10-20 pounds?
Our weight loss programs are not simply for people who are extremely overweight, but are for anyone who is unhappy or feels unhealthy due to their weight. We will tell you if you shouldn't, or don't need to lose weight, or if you are not the right candidate for one of our weight loss programs for any reason. Our goal is your overall health.

How long will I have to stay on this plan?
The length of time you may stay on the program depends on how much weight you wish to lose. As you know, weight loss is not about a "quick fix!"We will work with you to help you to achieve on-going success. You determine your participation in the program. Your target weight is your goal. . What we provide is the guidance and tools to meet your needs, a medically proven structure and means to achieve your goals.

What Does Bariatric Mean?
Bariatrics is a branch of medicine that deals specifically with problems of obesity, or being overweight. It is a very specialized field and only about 1% of the medical doctors in this country are qualified members of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. Since obesity is a disease, it makes sense to treat it as one. In 1985, the National Institutes of Health, at its Health Consensus Development Conference on the Health Implications of Obesity, stated that obesity is a specific disease entity that should be treated and monitored medically by a trained physician

Bariatric physicians, or bariatricians, are medical doctors who specialize in the treatment of overweight and obese patients and related medical conditions. These licensed physicians have received special training in Bariatric Medicine: the art and science of medical weight management. Bariatricians treat overweight and obese patients with a comprehensive program of diet and nutrition, exercise, behavioral therapy and, when necessary, the prescription of appetite suppressants and other appropriate medications. (The word bariatric stems from the Greek root “baro” meaning heavy or large.)

What is Computerized Body Composition Analysis?
A Body Composition Analysis is a test that determines the amount of water, lean body mass and fat in the human body. The method that we use to obtain this information is called electrical bioimpedence and is a non-invasive and accurate test.  The true definition of obesity is based on the percentage of body fat. Standard height and weight charts are inadequate in assessing a patient’s percent body fat. BCA can determine how much of your body weight is fat mass, and therefore what your percent body fat is. Our highly innovative scale figures this number using bioelectrical impedance, which measures the conductivity of different body compartments using very small electrical currents. Differences in water content within fat tissue compared to lean body tissue affects the how the current is conducted. Our goal is to help you have good quality weight loss, which means, loss of body fat mass only. Rapid weight loss can result is sacrificing too much lean body mass (which may ultimately slow down your metabolism making the weight loss harder to sustain long-term). We want to help you lose weight rapidly, but not at the expense of losing lean body mass. This is why we measure your body composition at each and every visit, so we can monitor the quality of your weight loss.
If you were trying to lose weight on your own and are just using a conventional scale, you may start to lose motivation if you aren’t seeing the scale move fast enough. Weight loss progress, as measured on a conventional scale, can sometimes be erratic and unpredictable due to water fluctuations (especially in women who still are menstruating). This phenomenon can be unsettling if it were unexpected and especially if you have been following a program religiously and don’t see the anticipated loss of pounds on the scale. The benefit of having your body composition analyzed at each visit is you will know when your scale isn’t moving simply due to water retention. In actuality, you may still be losing fat mass, which means you are still improving your body composition and making progress with your weight loss.

What about over the counter diet medications?
There are many diet scams out there that claim "quick and easy weight loss"... most of them don't work, and in addition can contain harmful chemicals and mixtures of substances that could put you at serious health risks. In addition to “ diet pills" mentioned above there are a variety of other pills which claims to have an weight loss effect : Solidax, Kava-Herbal diet pill, Fat Absorber TDSL, Diet Pill, Dietrine Carb Blocker, Thermolean. Don't be fooled by products claiming to be "All Natural" - Herbal formulas and medicines are not regulated by the FDA/Government and may not even contain what the labels say they do. They can also have too much of a vitamin, mineral or herb, or a dangerous combination of all three (that can be toxic to your system). More often they claim to "work miracles" that are just flat out not true!
There are no “magical” weight loss pills that will make you lose weight. Even if you lose weight initially you will gain it back, and even more because sustained weight loss requires complex approach and expert knowledge of obesity and weight loss.

Medications such as, Meridia, has been reported to cause increased blood pressure in some patients. Alli previously known as Xenical currently is available over the counter. They are used together with a reduced-calorie diet. Currently we don’t use Meridia or Xenical in our practice because we have better results with more effective appetite suppressants.

Is your Weight Loss Plan safe if I have diabetes, high blood pressure or other medical conditions?
Not only are our programs safe for people with diabetes, hypertension, and other medical problems - they are helpful in controlling any further complications that result from these diseases. More than this, our weight loss programs can help alleviate many of the other conditions that result from obesity, including arthritis, coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, and persistent lymphedema, lower extremity edema, hypertension, and high cholesterol.

Will my insurance cover the cost of your plan?
We recommend you check with your insurance plan about coverage for medical weight loss since all plans differ. We will be happy to supply you with all the paperwork you need to pursue reimbursement for your out-of-pocket expenses for our professional services should your plan offer that benefit.

What if I cannot exercise right now?
You can still lose nearly as much weight. In the rapid weight loss phase, the diet and medication are the most important factors. After you lose your weight and you are trying to maintain it, then some type of exercise is very important.

Will I gain the weight back once I stop taking medication?
No. We work hard to teach you how to make choices and develop lifestyle habits that will enable you to keep the weight off after you stop taking the medication and for life. The potential for gaining weight is always present, but you'll learn to control it. And our free lifetime maintenance plan means that we'll remain as your support system as long as you need us.

Am I under any long-term obligation?
The only obligation you have is to yourself to do the best you can to improve your health and well being. There is no contract to sign or commitment of any kind. We just ask for the opportunity to assist you for as long as you need us.