Clinical Weight Loss System
www.awlsystem.com
My posture is much better. I've had negative experiences in the past and I was jaded coming in. Living with daily pain is hard and it's hard to have a good attitude. All along it was just finding the right people who know enough to teach me properly. I was reluctant because of my disc problems. I was practically disabled when I came in, but I was also disabled mentally, from dealing with pain on a daily basis. Drugs were the only answer. Since the program, I've improved strength and cut my pain medication in half. It's nice to have a clear mind. The pain medication was making my thoughts hazy. What was most important to me was the weight loss - I've kept it all off for over a year.- Lynette
New Group Starting 9/1/2008
 Fall/ 2008
Announcing: New price of $590 per month for our multi-disciplinary 5-day a week program. Prices may vary based on your insurance company.

New group starting 9/1/2008

  • Only 6 patients allowed per group.
  • If you have been 25LB's overweight for over 1 year - you may qualify!
  • Call 312-943-1865 to RSVP for the 9/1/2008 group or download a patient application at www.awlsystem.com
 About the  Clinical Weight Loss System
 
The Clinical Weight Loss Program begins with a week of recognizance. You will speak independently with each a registered dietitian, a psychologist, a personal trainer and physical therapist to evaluate your wellness history. With them, you will set manageable goals by which to measure your success.

The dietitian and psychologist will help you identify possible barriers to healthy eating - be they behavioral or educational. Eating habits will become conscious choices, and food will be fun again.

Then the work begins.

You will participate in a twelve week program of group personal training, psychology and dietitian sessions.  After the initial twelve weeks, you  will begin to reform the way you think and act in relation to food and movement. "Before CWLS, I hated to exercise. I never thought it would happen but I actually crave movement."

In the first twelve weeks, you will personal train with the same group - five days a week. Sessions vary to include elements of strength training,  cardiovascular exercise and flexibility - but that is only where they begin.

At CWLS, it's about education. Throughout the program, patients are taught principles of biomechanics and physiology while meeting weekly with a dietitian and psychologist.

"Collectively we achieve more and have gone farther than any one of us may have done alone."
I would enjoy the opportunity to speak to you in more detail about how we can assist you in the very confusing quest to become as healthy as possible.

Sincerely,
 
Mike George 
Clinical Weight Loss System
312-943-1865
www.awlsystem.com
Enjoy this article from the Chicago Tribune:

Success Stories 

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune


By William Hageman
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 4, 2006

Getting up every weekday at 3:30 a.m. and traveling for two hours--just to work out--is difficult. But Phil Mimnaugh Jr. has a mission.

His goal: to lose weight. A considerable amount of weight. Smartly and safely.

So every Monday through Friday, he leaves his south suburban home long before the sun rises and travels to Mike George Fitness System in Chicago, where he's part of an emerging clinical weight-loss program. A long-term goal of the program is to give patients a way to lose weight quickly and safely before surgery. Someone facing knee, hip or back surgery, for example, has a better chance of making a full recovery if not burdened by excess weight.

In Mimnaugh's case, this is just for the weight loss, not for surgery. "When we started two weeks ago, a cab dropped me off, and I walked one block. I was huffing and puffing," he said one afternoon at the Mike George facility on West Ontario. "Today we walked 2 1/2 miles ... "

At that point, George, who was seated nearby, spoke up.

"It was 24 blocks," he said. "Three miles."

"I have never walked three miles at any point in my life!" Mimnaugh said. "But the biggest improvements I have made have been my attitude and the way I view food. I now view food as fuel. Food isn't good or bad, it's just fuel. Some fuel is better than others. I drink more water, eat more meals and pair my food groups better."

Weight-loss plans are a dime a dozen. But there are few programs that help a person lose weight before surgery or include a post-op recovery plan. That's what the eight-week Accelerated Weight Loss program aims to do through its four parts: a fitness component, cardiovascular exercise, nutrition guidance and mental health evaluation.

"We combine all the elements," George said. "There needs to be a connecting quadrant. . . . With just one [of the four parts] missing, the whole program falls apart. It's like a car with only three wheels."

There also is constant interaction between patients and instructors. Trainers monitor form and technique at the daily workouts and also report any comments of concern to the clinical psychologist, dietitian or physical therapist who are part of the team.

Patients had to be referred to the program by their doctors, then underwent blood screenings and stress tests and had to be able to achieve minimum fitness requirements, such as being able to climb a flight of stairs. Once they were in, dietitian Roberta Clarke Jenero, clinical psychologist Monika Sharma and George and his training staff took over.

Sharma met with each patient and found out what their interests are and what motivates their values.

"We connect what we do here with their lives," she said. She explained that people often seek weight loss as a final destination instead of an ongoing journey, and when they achieve their weight loss, they no longer continue doing what got them there. So they return to old behaviors and regain the weight.

"By helping our patients see their weight loss as having other associated benefits and connecting the weight loss with their greater personal values, patients are more likely to continue the journey," she said.

Jenero also has a role in that.

"What I'm trying to effect is a change in mind-set," she said. "You can't maintain the same mind-set or relationship you have with food and see changes [in your body or physiology].

"This is not a diet, it's a way of eating for life. A work in progress without an end . . . an evolution to a healthy relationship with food and healthier food choices."


The group works for an hour daily Monday through Friday.

"We alternate cardio and weight training every other day," Mimnaugh said. "We do full-body circuit training on the day we lift. Cardio is varied; we do everything from step aerobics, martial arts to actual road work. We really do cardio, stretching and abs every day."

Progress is tracked daily, whether it's a person's heart rate during a workout, their caloric intake or their food choices and mood evaluation via a midday assessment. (Should a patient have exceeded their carbohydrate and grain servings for a day, for example, they can get help planning an evening meal and snack from other food groups.)

Patients also have weekly group sessions where their progress or problems are discussed.

"It is a program that is going to be a great success for anyone suffering with weight loss," said patient Howard Brooks, who is recovering from a disc injury

So far, the program is working for Mimnaugh and Brooks.

In the first three weeks, Brooks lost 13 pounds of body fat and gained 3 pounds of muscle mass. And he isn't starving himself. "All that I have done was move my eating habits around, where my intake is inclusive to the energy level that I need to keep my body fueled at the peak hours of the day and to continue to burn calories while I'm resting as well," he said. "That's really about it. Nothing has been removed from what I've always been accustomed to eating."

Mimnaugh has not only dropped 20 pounds, but ran in the 3 1/2-mile JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge on May 25 in Chicago.

"I think I may have been last out of 19,000, but I finished," he reported. "It was about an hour and fifteen minutes. ... It was tough, but I made it."

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For more information of the program, contact Clinical Weight Loss System at 312-943-1865. www.awlsystem.com





Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune