If you’ve struggled with weight your whole life, there might be more at play than just diet and exercise habits. You may have an underlying medical reason for your inability to lose weight. That’s why Prowers Medical Center now offers a new weight loss program for women—and men—of all ages.

“People don’t understand that there are metabolic reasons for gaining weight, that it’s not all about needing to eat less and exercise more,” said Dr. Steven Foley, OB/GYN physician with Prowers Medical Center.

If you are a woman or a teenage girl who has always had weight issues, and you also have other symptoms including irregular menstrual periods, acne, and excess hair growth, you might have a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Approximately 10% of white women and 15% of Hispanic women have PCOS, according to Dr. Foley.

“With PCOS, your body is set up to gain weight, especially around your abdomen, basically due to insulin resistance. It can start at a young age—even age 10 or 11—so catching it early works best,” Dr. Foley said.

Besides PCOS, there are other medical reasons for weight gain, including an imbalance in   insulin levels, thyroid levels and hormones, plus other medical conditions. That’s why Dr. Foley does a thorough blood work up right from the start to kick off your individualized, medically-focused weight loss program. Once started, you will likely come in each month until your goal weight is achieved.

“We’ve developed a program so that if you are overweight, we should be able to help you,” he said. “We use low-risk medications to treat imbalances and we develop a dietary and exercise plan that works for you. We look at your whole picture and determine the best plan for you.”

While Dr. Foley is an OB/GYN and his primary focus is women, he is happy to help men as well. Patients are already seeing positive changes when they work the program. For example, a local mother/daughter team has lost nearly 80 pounds together.

“Patients are saying they feel much better, that they have more energy and are seeing weight loss,” said Dawn Watts, Clinic Manager.

Dr. Foley has provided weight loss care to patients for nearly 20 years. He uses effective, low-cost medications—including bio-identical hormones—to help support your body’s ability to shed pounds. He believes that weight loss is not usually a psychological problem, but a medical one. The key is finding out what’s blocking your ability to lose weight and using medication and lifestyle changes to combat it.

“Most people are told they are overweight because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. There are lots of hormones in your body that would say differently,” Foley exclaimed.

Dr. Foley has also developed a nutrition plan and determined ways to break your weight set point—when your body picks a weight and stays there. He has the support of Prowers Medical Center’s dietitian, John Ruibal, RDN, CSSD, for individual nutritional coaching.

“Having Dr. Foley on board has really changed our dynamics in our women’s health practice. We now focus on much more than obstetrics, including urinary incontinence, polycystic ovary syndrome, hormone replacement therapy and weight loss,” Watts said.

If you’ve struggled with your weight for years and you’ve tried everything, it’s likely time for you to try a medical solution for losing weight. Consider making an appointment with Dr. Foley at (719) 336-3179 or another medical provider at Prowers Medical Center Clinic at (719) 336-6767.