Category: Life Style

I have fond memories of my son’s high school football team’s after game rituals. Win or lose, they would crowd in together and call out attaboys to each other for great plays they observed each other performing during the game. It was always uplifting and a beautiful reminder of how people learn and grow best in an encouraging environment.

BJ Fogg’s confirms and expands on this concept of behavior change in his book, Tiny Habits. As a behavior scientist, he helps  people create change in their lives and dispels the myth that change is hard.

He talks about utilizing your existing habitual behaviors, neutral or healthy, as prompts to cue the next tiny behavior of the  new healthy habit you are working on. Design your life for small successes.

The key is celebration!

Celebrate any tiny success with a pat on the back or a thumbs up or a happy dance. It could be one of a number of things and he gives lots of suggestions. Shrink the change and then celebrate that you did it. Now why didn’t I think of that?

It’s not rocket science and it makes perfect sense. The author explains that when we celebrate the new behavior with an attagirl or boy, our brain releases dopamine which helps seal the new neuronal behavioral  pathway in our brain and that makes us more likely to do that behavior again. Anchor, Behavior, Celebrate. ABC. So easy and so rewarding. The book goes much more in depth than this, of course, and is extremely practical. It has become my new favorite.

Now to put knowledge into action.

I was in the healthy habit of walking on my treadmill in the morning and wanted to move my exercise outside.

But I just couldn’t seem to get motivated. I mean I was convinced of the WHY of it. I had recently reread all the benefits of being outside in the early morning at the break of day. The UV light from the sun’s rising penetrates the retina, stimulating the central retinal pathway, and sets the stage for the pineal gland to release hormones in a timely rhythm for the day.

The UV light stimulates the conversion of vitamin D in my skin and gives me energy. I can’t layer up though, I have to keep my arms and legs exposed. This would be hard for me because I don’t like feeling cold. But the cool air enhances mitochondrial machinery and helps the  body burn energy cleaner.

I believed the change was worth it. I had plenty of knowledge surrounding it. I wanted all the benefit. I just couldn’t seem to actually do it.

Then I learned about anchors and celebrations and about shrinking the change. What if wore more layers at first so I stayed warm and I just focused on getting outside in the morning? I don’t have to do everything all at once.

Mind blown! Shrink the change. How freeing!

Next step: find my behavior prompt. I always start the day with a cup of coffee blended with unsalted grass-fed butter. Yum! I take the last sip and put it on the counter.

After I set my coffee cup down on the kitchen counter, I pick up my car keys and say: “Atta Girl, Julie!”

I tried it for the first time a year ago at 6:30 am, just before day break.  I was not perfect at the outset and that was ok. I had to tweak the design several times and I did not beat myself up about that. I gave myself grace and time. And in time, I got myself outside, in the car, and down the road a mile to a safe walking path.

Maisie goes with me now and of course she loves it. The other day she got out her lane and so this happened:

Now that’s what I call skin in the game!

Our certified health coach, Rachelle Mathios, facilitates an online group class on lifestyle change. Find out more at oregonweightandwellness.com or give us a call at 971-273-7143.

I wouldn’t say I mind housework. I mean I actually get a rush of natural endorphins when I stand back and look at my clean house after dusting and mopping and sweeping and putting things back in their rightful place. It’s a habit drilled into me from childhood. This is the way we clean the house, clean the house, clean the house, this is the way we clean the house early Saturday morning.  I can remember singing that song as a kid. 

My enthusiasm for Saturday morning housework has waned over the last year, however. I got to thinking about it. What once brought joy had somehow become mundane, lifeless. Why? Something was missing, but what? I had not quite put my finger on it until I used the present my kids gave me this past Christmas.

For several weeks, the Roomba sat in its Christmas box, hanging on to the torn edges of red and green wrapping paper and looking conspicuously out of season. Admittedly, new gadgets intimidate me, especially artificially intelligent ones.

My son made me promise to try it before he trekked back to college in Montana. So early one Saturday morning, I took the first small step. I took it out of the box. To me this was a herculean feat and deserved celebration, something I learned about from reading Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg. Celebrating even the smallest of victories paves the way to continued success.  I did a happy dance.

The next small step was reading the quick start manual to learn how to use the new gadget. I had conjured up all kinds of technical gymnastic hoops I would have to jump through to get the dang thing working. But this was way easy: PLUG IT IN.  The robotic vacuum went right to work, sweeping the living room, then the hallway, then the kitchen. Room after room, it kept on doing its job.

For whatever reason, this gave me a boost and I went right to work. Side by side, Geoffrey (that is the robotic vacuum’s name) and I worked together cleaning the house. I worked as long and as tirelessly as Geoffrey did. I even got into the nooks and crannies.  

And then it dawned on me. That something missing from my Saturday chores was support. Specifically, support from people. As a kid, I worked shoulder to shoulder with my four siblings happily cleaning the house until it shined. We even whistled while we worked. (At least that’s how I remember it.) And then as a mom, my kids and I cleaned the house together, every Saturday morning.

With my youngest child now off to college these last two years, the lion’s share of Saturday chores falls to me. Alone. By myself. And consequently, I have had less spring in my step.

But now that Geoffrey is helping, my mojo is back. I know it sounds silly, but I feel supported. I can do it. I am not alone.

Whatever the task is, most of us do better with someone else by our side. We need support. And there is no shame in that. That is just the way we are wired.  You have heard it said, “No man (or woman) is an island.”

Perhaps, until we ask for help, we stay stranded on our own “I-land.”

At Oregon Weight and Wellness, we provide the support people need to make lifestyle changes, big or small, in the areas of nutrition, activity, sleep, and stress management. We can’t do the work for you, but we can come along side and go to work with you. No shame. No judgment. Just support. A thoughtful question. A gentle reminder.  A helpful suggestion. An appropriate celebration.  Never forced, always with permission.

We also offer groups which are facilitated by our certified health coach, Rachelle Mathios. Nothing gives Rachelle more joy than to help people create their own vision and see that vision come to fruition.

The groups are structured around books that stimulate change. They offer support, encouragement, accountability, and coaching. Not surprisingly, the people who have had the most success have participated in our groups.

Maybe you are feeling stuck and not sure how to take the next step in lifestyle change. There is a way off your island. You don’t have to go this road alone. Give us a call at Oregon Weight and Wellness and we’ll get to work with you.

I had been looking for a location for my new clinic for months; but everything the realtor showed me was either too big or too small or needed expensive tenant improvements. And there never seemed to be enough parking. So when I drove out of the alley which serves my CPA’s office one sunny afternoon in October of 2019, I was pleasantly surprised to see a For Rent sign in front of this small, neat as a pin, newly painted house. It was within a mile of my previous location. It had been repurposed as an office with newly updated floors and paint. And the price was right! The icing on the cake was the six glorious parking spaces to the side of the building. Six!  Providence, I concluded, had brought me here. This was the place I was to unleash my vision.

Those six parking spaces that I was so ecstatic about in the beginning have become the bane of my existence.

Parking spaces collect leaves and sticks and debris from wind-blown trees. They collect garbage from passersby and neighbors, like cigarette butts and empty soda cans and fast-food wrappers. And when you are running a wellness clinic, you hardly want cigarette butts and soda cans littering your parking lot. So you clean it up.

And then there are people who park in the parking spaces who don’t belong there. In the handicapped parking space, no less. I called the landlord. He retained a towing company and posted a bigger PARKING FOR CLIENTS ONLY sign.

I really want to be a good neighbor. I truly don’t mind folks parking after hours or on the weekends. But shooing people out of the parking lot day after day so my clients can park there gets old.  At first, I knocked on their door, introducing myself, and politely asked my neighbors  to move their cars.  Over the ensuing months I had many pleasant conversations regarding their parking habits, and their trash, always ending with them saying how sorry they were and agreeing to be more careful.

Of late, I just call the towing company.

Last Friday, I was aghast to find a big pile of dog poop at the end the fourth parking space. I sat in my car, staring at it, feeling shat on. I couldn’t prove it was my neighbor, but it felt better blaming them.

I left the dog poop there. Instead, I parked in the third stall, to hide it from view.

It’s bad enough I have to clean up my neighbor’s trash, now I have to clean up their dog poop? It’s bad enough having to pick up after my own dogs; I’ll be dog nabbed if I am going to pick up after someone else’s.   It sat there all day and stared back at me, scoffing, as I left that evening.

Saturday morning, Kenny and I ran errands. I wanted to drop by the office to pick up the mail. And when we pulled up there sat the pile. I had the brilliant idea of Kenny running over it with his wide truck tires. Spread it all out, I thought. Maybe it would rain hard enough to eventually make it go away.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, as I popped inside to gather the mail.

When I came out, the pile was gone.  My husband had grabbed a shovel from the bed, scooped the pile, and got rid of it altogether.

Some moments in life hit you like a ton of bricks.

Kenny’s humble gesture was a picture of redemption. Redemption from the wrong done to me. And If I could accept this gift, I could let it go.

That’s what I want to show the people I work with at Oregon Weight and Wellness who find themselves stuck. Stuck in destructive eating patterns, stuck in a sense of failure, stuck in shame and guilt. Because sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes the stuckness stems from the pain of wrongs done to us and we use food to cover that up. At OWW, we want to come along side with grace and time, and humbly recognize that. We know we can’t right wrongs, but maybe there is a way to let it go and figure out a way forward.

It didn’t take much coaxing to get my husband to jump in the car and drive over the pass to visit our kids. Even the eight inches of snow dumped on Bend that Friday morning didn’t deter him.

We hadn’t seen our grandchildren in over a month. And pictures and facetime just don’t cut the mustard like a good old-fashioned hug. So with dogs in tow, we headed over the river and through the woods. It took a little longer than usual, traffic, ice, snow. Other people had the same idea apparently.

Undaunted, we packed a lot of fun into a little time. An evening romp in the snow, a hamburger barbecue, updates on six-month-old Marin’s new tricks and six-year-old Uriah’s first days back to real live in person physical school. Yes, we had some catching up to do.

But when Uriah invited me to join him in their hot tub after dinner, I was hesitant. I had finally thawed out after the snow play and was just barely regaining sensation in my toes. It wasn’t the getting in that I was concerned about; it was the getting out. Why exactly would I want to get cold and wet again?

Uriah was relentless. “Come on, Gigi,” he pressed, “It will be fun!”    

Clearly, my idea of fun was different than my grandson’s.

But then again, how can you resist those big brown eyes staring you in the face with wonder and anticipation?

Uriah chattered away as we sat in the 102 degree tub, jetted water massaging our backs. I could get used to this, I thought. He told me all about his new toys, his new puppy, the booger that had built up in his mask the first day back to school. And he explained that this was the first time he had been in the hot tub with all this snow.

For whatever reason and before I could take it back, I found myself daring him to get out of the tub, run across the yard through the snow, lay on his back in the snow,  and then jump back in the tub.

He looked at me with surprise, almost shock that I would come up with such an idea.
“That’s a brand new challenge!” he exclaimed. I could seem him thinking. He had never done that before.

No fear. No hesitation. Only excitement and a sense of adventure. And he was so matter of fact, not worrying if he would do it perfectly. With unshakable confidence he simply was up for giving it a go.

His words and his attitude struck me like a ton of bricks. A brand new challenge. A brand new challenge. I kept repeating in my mind. Yes, any change, goal, resolution could be looked at as a brand new challenge. And like Uriah, the emphasis could be on the process rather than a picture perfect outcome.

What brand new challenges was I up for in 2021?   

Live streaming my own interviews? Creating wellness programs for local small business? Implementing a new tracking platform? Adding a fasting group?

My mind was swirling with ideas and questions and more thoughts when Uriah’s sweet voice brought me back to the present.

“Gigi, Gigi, Let’s do it together!”

2021. A brand new challenge. Let’s do it together!

I have encountered a school of thought in the weight loss world that says no food is off limits and we should not label food good or bad. The reasoning is that if you label a food good or bad then you might label yourself good or bad if you eat that particular food.  And that’s not productive when you are trying to make changes for weight loss.

Things that make you go hmmmm.  Or is it just me?

To me this begs the question “What is food?”

I checked the definition online, and this is what I found:

“Food is any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth.”

That seems like a good thing to me.

So tell me why I can’t I call food “good”?

Notice that there is no mention of food tasting good. I suppose individual tastes vary. However, I take exception to that not being part of the definition and offer my own: food is edible organic substance that has life giving nutrients and energy AND leaves me feeling full and satisfied (because it tastes good).

Maybe the distinction is not whether a food is good or bad but whether what it does to me, in me, for me is healthy or unhealthy.  For example, if I am allergic to peanuts and I eat a peanut and have an allergic reaction, that peanut is not healthy for me.

But isn’t healthy good and unhealthy bad? Hmmmm….

By the way, is soda food?  I really want your opinion on this.

Some things we include in the larger category of food don’t belong there and could actually be considered anti-nutritious.  Harmful even.

I can’t think of one nutritious or beneficial way soda supports life, can you?

And don’t get me wrong, I am not standing on any moral high ground looking down at people who drink soda. I was a soda drinker myself until my husband pointed out the harmful effects it was having on my health: headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, mood instability. At 72 ounces a day,  I was addicted. I loved everything about soda. The perspiring ice cold can, that crisp sound of the tab’s pop as I opened it, the first sickeningly sweet swig, the fizz tickling the back of my throat. Ahhhhhhh…….

I tried to go off soda many times. It was easy during my pregnancies. Because I was caring for another human being. But I went right back to it. And when my husband pointed it out to me and before I quit for good, I made many a secret rendezvous to the nearest vending machine under the guise of running a quick errand. Who was I kidding?

My kids knew exactly where I was.

I literally had to change the way I thought about soda to stop drinking it. For me, it was poison. Poison is bad for me. I would not drink arsenic, why would I drink any other poison?That worked for me. And I have not had a soda for seventeen years. Seventeen! And I have absolutely no desire for one. I am convinced soda is bad and bad for me.

But does that work for every body or for all unhealthy foods? Like cake or cookies or fill in the blank. Somehow we know that dessert foods are not healthy for us if we eat them all the time. And what is excess for one may not be excess for another.

The problem is that so much of our everyday breakfast, lunch and dinner foods have become unhealthy and can’t meet the criteria for food anymore. So can we just take the stuff that is disguised as food out of the food category and call it something different? Like food like substance? Or Frankenfood? Or ultra-processed food or junk food or unhealthy food?

Can we really call unhealthy food food? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Am I going in circles?

I suppose I am quick to label ultra-processed foods “bad “ because day in and day out I see the negative health effects that they have on myself and others.  I do not judge the people for buying and eating these food like substances, myself included. We come by this honestly.  For the past one hundred years our food supply has been hijacked and sometimes in the name of health. (Think margarine. Think cereal. Think food pyramid.) Since the end of the 18^th century, we have experienced an increase in sugars, processed grains, and processed oils. We have changed the way we farm plants. We have changed the way we farm animals.

With all the marketing, all the confusing messaging emanating from the USDA, ADA, AHA, etc, its no wonder people don’t know what real food is and think they are eating food. Food engineers get paid a lot of money to figure out just how much processed sugar, salt, and fat need to be put in their products to make them “hyperpalatable,” and “cravable.”  Ultra-processed food makes you keep coming back for more, never truly satisfying.

Real food does not do that. Real food provides the nutrients and energy you need, leaves you feeling full and satisfied and tastes good!

Let me suggest a different way of considering food without judging yourself, and ok, without labeling the food good or bad.

Is what you are choosing to eat helping or hindering you with your health and weight goals?

In today’s world, all foods may be permissible but not all foods are beneficial.

Happy New Year!

I wanted to introduce you to Rachelle Mathios, our health coach at Oregon Weight and Wellness and one of the ways we are WAY DIFFERENT from other programs. ( To find out what a health coach does, click here).

Rachelle has invited OWW clients to BUILD THEIR BEST YEAR EVER and I wanted to extend that invitation to you.

Here’s what Rachelle has to say:

“Today is the first day of 2021! Yes, we have finally left 2020 behind us. It’s done. Another one for the books as they say. There are a lot of ways one might describe last year. Some people use the word “unprecedented” while others are calling it a “dumpster fire.” Most of were left speechless. We couldn’t put words to our experience but just couldn’t wait for it to be over. It was certainly one of the strangest years I can remember.

But here’s the thing. With all the ups and downs, difficulties, sorrows, and losses, it was just another year after all. And today is just another day, like yesterday. You are most likely the same person you were yesterday. This life you are living, it did not change overnight just because the number on the calendar changed. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing magical that happens on January 1^st.

And yet, there is a feeling. We all seem to get that same feeling. Something new is coming. There’s a shift in the air, There is hope. All of humanity seems to breathe a collective sigh, wash its hands of what was, and look ahead to what can be. How beautiful!

I imagine all people across the globe feeling a new sense of energy and positivity for what te new year might hold and I feel connected to it. I’m game! I want in! I want to grab ahold of whatever it is every one else is grabbing onto and yell “Giddy up, let’s do this!”

Typically, this excitement and readiness for change translates into New Year’s resolutions. We all make promises to do better in many areas of our lives: nutrition, exercise, mental health, career, stress, family, relationships. We tell ourselves, “I will always do this and I will never do that” but this usually does not work out the way we intend. We set our sights and our goals BIG. We go BIG but the restrictive ultimatums and contracts feel suffocating, unsustainable, and not at all connected to who we are or what we actually want. And then, as expected, we crash and burn BIG.

According to research conducted by Strava using over 800 million user-logged activities in 2019, it was predicted that most people are likely to give up on their New Year’s resolution around January 19.

What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we stick to our resolutions and why is it so hard to get health?
I’d like to suggest that YOU are not the problem. There is nothing wrong with you and the sooner you stop beating yourself up, shaming yourself, and allowing those inner voices to keep you trapped in a negative thought pattern, the sooner you can take control of your today and begin to build tomorrow.

There’s a better way and that’s what this series is all about. Let’s approach 2021 together and let’s do it differently. If you want a different life in 2021, you have to make moves to make it happen and we can help!”

Check for tomorrow’s blog post for Rachelle’s 2020 Review.

To find out what a health coach is and how health coaching can help you in your journey click here.

I stepped out of the office into 5pm darkness and pouring down rain. Even though I had a great day full of productive and positive interactions, my mood sunk. Winter is here, I thought to myself. And I pulled my coat around my neck a little tighter, locked the office door, and dashed to the car for the dreary drive home.

Every year I fight to make it to December 21 when the days get longer again. If I can just make it until December21, I reason to myself, I will be ok.  And from Thanksgiving on, I fill my calendar with busyness, holiday parties, get togethers, church events, bazaars, bell ringing, etc. This strategy works for me. Time passes and I breathe a sigh of relief come December 21. It’s still dark and cold and wet, but in my head, I know the days are getting longer even if it’s just a few minutes longer. And for whatever reason, that keeps me going.

But not this year. Covid has seen to that.

Because of Covid, there probably won’t be the usual social gatherings. Already my family did not get together for Thanksgiving as planned. It’s not fair and I hate it.

The only useful consequence I foresee is that I won’t be tempted by all the goodies and overabundance of food at parties. But then again, will the isolation of being homebound drive me to old habits of consoling myself with comfort food?

How can I avoid overfeeding my December to not feel regret and reflexively starve my January?

Many of us struggle with SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. During the winter months, we don’t get as much sunlight which affects the pineal gland and the body’s clock, increasing melatonin production making us sleepy, and decreasing serotonin production making us sad.

A new strategy I am implementing this year is full spectrum bright light therapy. A growing body of research shows that 10000 lux, about 20 min a day, can be greatly beneficial for mood and energy.

I will take an additional 5000IU of Vitamin D3 and eat happy foods. What are happy foods? Berries, leafy greens, grass fed, free range or wild protein, especially wild caught salmon, avocados, and nuts and seeds. Whole, real food has the building blocks for serotonin and melatonin for optimal mood and energy.

I will challenge the inevitable negative self-talk replacing it with truth.  Yes, this winter is different, but different does not have to be bad. Maybe I can even improve my health and learn new things. Maybe I could finish out 2020 stronger.  I can try new recipes and tackle projects around the home. There is that quilt I want to finish and the books I want to organize and the blog I want to write more often. I can read uplifting books and listen to upbeat music rather than watch the news. I can be creative about how I connect with family and friends.

I can look to the creator of winters and seasons, the creator of lights in whom there is no turning. And if I can embrace this winter knowing it is but a season and spring always follows, this year will end weigh different.

I hate to admit it, but.. for the majority of my adult life…I did not eat a healthy diet. I ate what I now affectionately refer to as crap: Carbs Refined, Artificial and Processed.  And while I am confessing, I might as well add that I did not really eat. I wolfed. I gulped. I shoveled.  I guess I hardly even chewed because according to some, I was the fastest eater both sides of the Mississippi. While I no longer eat fast food, I still eat food fast.

My name is Julie Gilbert and I inhale food.

I had good reason.  In medical school and residency, if I did not eat fast, my beeper would go off and I would not be able to eat at all. I had no time to cook; so, yes, I grabbed quick, convenient, processed food. On my cardiology rotation, I would eat two of those Little Debbie Nutty Buddy chocolate wafer bars with peanut butter. All 330calories, 20g of fat 33 g of carb and 4 g of protein vanished in seconds as I rushed down the hall of the hospital to my next patient’s room leaving a trail of crumbs behind.

During a dermatology rotation, I recall stealing away to McDonald’s drive through on my 20min lunch break and grabbing a large chocolate milk shake every day. All 22 oz of the gummy corn syrup flavored skimmed milk disappeared in the few panicked minutes it took to get back to the office.

White rice and pace picante sauce were staples on my medical student budget. And I foraged free food from noon “lunch and learn” lectures sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.  Needless to say, they did not deliver health food fare. I could usually scrounge remnants of soggy subway sandwiches with processed meat and plastic cheese, maybe a wilted lettuce leaf and half slice of bland hot house tomato if I was lucky.  

Non-nutritious food eaten in the worst way possible.  I probably did not even taste it.

I came by this honestly as many of us do. Time is our constant constraint. And so we learn to eat fast in school, as working moms, as busy dads, rushing out the door, driving down the road.  Or we “skip” breakfast altogether. I hear patients say they prepare a meal for their family, but they don’t sit down to eat the meal with their family. Patients admit they are so busy at work they work right through lunch. Oregon requires employers to give a lunch break, at least 30min, but many times we don’t take it and we end up scarfing our lunch in front of a computer.

When did we start believing that we do not have time for our body’s essential requirement of eating? Or that sacrificing meal time is ok.  Our culture is not like other countries who have a two-hour break in the middle of the day (These countries have lower BMI’s than ours…hmmm).

But gulping food does not give our brains the pleasure of enjoying the food. Consequently, we are not satisfied and then we get hungry or crave more food in an hour or two. Eating while rushed promotes indigestion because our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system is in play and what we really need is the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system working in order to digest and absorb nutrients well.

So I am working on slowing down my eating. Telling myself the truth. I need time to eat. I have time to eat. I am not in residency anymore. The food is going to be there in five minutes. I am not going to starve. I won’t be paged away. My work will still be there. The world will not come to an end if I take the time necessary to eat a real meal. I am giving myself permission to take notice of the various colors and textures and smell and taste and savor every bite of food before I swallow.

Mindful eating instead of mindless eating.

And I don’t need to chew the bite of food 100 times like all dieters are trained to do.  I do need to chew thoroughly, yes, but what I am focusing on more is breathing.  Take a deep breath or two in between bites and just relax and enjoy. Allow my body to digest and absorb. Without the distraction of phones or TVs or computers. When you eat, just eat.

It takes twenty minutes for satiety hormones to be released from the small intestine to tell the brain the body had food. If I rush through my meal, I most likely will overeat and be fuller than I am comfortable feeling.

For the last few meals I have eaten, I set my timer in front of me to make sure I spend at least ten minutes eating. I timed myself without the breathing and I can scarf a meal down in three minutes flat. With the breathing, I have stretched it to ten. My goal for dinner is twenty minutes and maybe even thirty on the weekend.

Taking longer to eat on the weekend may decrease my tendency to roam about the kitchen all day in search of what my brain did not get at the meal: enjoyment, satisfaction, pleasure.

These are the different principles we talk about and put into practice at Oregon Weight and Wellness. Because it is not just about what you eat. It is about how you eat.

So join me, won’t you? And slow down to weigh different.

We recently held a virtual meeting with a local company pitching a wellness program we would love to create for their employees and their specific needs.  As I spoke, passion welled up inside me and overflowed, the passion that we at Oregon Weight and Wellness have for empowering people in their own health journeys.

At OWW our care for you is personal.

Obesity is a disease, and it carries with it much dis- ease.  We recognize the gamut of emotions that come with carrying excess weight and we meet our patients with compassion and empathy.  We individualize care to our patients’ needs in holistic and collaborative ways which includes the team members who will serve the patient best. We practice direct care bypassing the barriers of insurance and institutionalized medicine. We practice patient centered care with shared decision-making valuing your input, so you becomes your own health expert.

At OWW we value professional integrity.

We practice the lifestyle that we preach. For example, when we ask our patients to cut out sugary beverages, you can know that we don’t drink sugary beverages ourselves. We understand the struggle because we share the struggle.  We endeavor to eat, sleep, move, and manage stress to maintain the highest level of health so we can show up and be present with you. We maintain healthy boundaries with ourselves and others. We desire open communication. We respect you and your time and want that to be mutual.

At OWW we get results!

We keep up with cutting edge obesity medicine research, continually increasing our knowledge about the treatment of obesity. We incorporate evidenced based obesity medicine practices. We track our outcomes and adjust when needed. Though over 78% of our patients are enjoying at least 10% total body weight loss, we don’t only look at the scale. We look at many different measurements of health. We look at overall wellness.

Especially for such a time as this.

For such a time as this when the state of our well being is directly and inseparably tied to the state of our immune function and our ability to fight diseases including covid-19.

For such a time as this when our individual resilience carries the spirit of our shared humanity.

For such a time as this when “we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall hang separately.” (Ben Franklin said that.)

Yes, masks. Yes, distancing. Yes, wash hands. And for such a time as this, be more well!!!

Wherever you are on your health journey, Oregon Weight and Wellness is here to come along side and help you be more well.