June 29, 2022 – For the past four decades, Glenda Oliver has carefully planned meals for patients with special dietary needs as a diet assistant for Broward Health Nutritional Services. When it came to caring for herself, she was not as diligent.
Glenda Oliver
Oliver’s cholesterol was high, and her blood pressure soared. She was diagnosed pre-diabetic. With age came extra weight and then the pain of arthritis. One of her knees also started to give out, leading to knee replacement surgery.
“I knew better,” she said. “I knew the right thing to do, but food is my happiness.”
Dr. Mellissa Amas
As she embarked on her wellness journey, Oliver wondered why her knee was taking so long to heal. During a frank visit with Broward Health Physician Group’s Melissa Armas, D.O., Oliver’s mission was clear: she had to lose weight.
“My grandson stole my heart,” she said. “I wanted to live for him, so I had to make a difference.”
That day, after her visit with Dr. Armas, a family medicine physician, she vowed to care for herself with the same standards she uses to care for her patients at Broward Health.
Oliver followed Dr. Armas tips to drop weight quickly, including not eating after 7 p.m. She also limited herself to eating three meals a day and having a healthy snack such as fruits or vegetables. She cut out fried foods, bread, sugar and drank more water.
Dr. Armas was impressed by Oliver’s focus and determination.
“Glenda dove right in,” Dr. Armas said. “Most people don’t want to admit that change is something that has to come from inside. You can’t just try to do it differently for a month, say it doesn’t work and then quit. After all, you didn’t get to have a higher body mass index in one month.”
For weight loss success, Dr. Armas advises patients to be honest with their physicians and accept the fact they’re going to have to eat and behave differently for the rest of their lives.
If you want to follow in Oliver’s footsteps, Dr. Armas suggests these diet tips:
- Track everything you eat by using a diet and fitness app. Dr. Armas recommends “My Fitness Pal” because it offers more food items to track, which can be especially helpful at a restaurant, where choices may be more complex.
- Track your total calories per day and simply decrease that number by 200 to lose one pound a week. You can do this by using half as much sugar as you normally do or cut sugar out of your diet completely.
- DO exercise, but DON’T track your exercise as part of your daily calories, since tracking apps tend to distort the true value of your overall caloric intake.
- If you must have a sweet item that’s not good for you, make sure it’s a sugar-free version or has been made with a sugar alcohol like erythritol.
- Pay attention to your portion size. Portion sizes have increased in America and your body needs less food than you think.
To make an appointment with a Broward Health doctor, visit BrowardHealth.org/Wellness.
