The Lean You with Dr. Dan Giuglianotti - aka My Meeting with a Weight Loss Expert

I mentioned in my Weigh In Wednesday post this week that I had a phone call on Saturday with a "weight loss expert."  It was a perk of being part of the beta test for the Diet Bet 10.  We would get a free 30 minute introductory phone call with Dr. Dan Giuglianotti, a consulting doctor for the Diet Bet website and who has his own weight loss website called The Lean You.

Well, he called me on my cell phone yesterday morning and what was supposed to have been a 30 minute phone call turned into a 60 minute session!  So far, so good.  The initial part of the call was him explaining a bit of his history and then me going into my weight loss history and what my life is currently like.  He seemed quite intrigued by the challenges that my life presents and he seemed kind of excited to try and help me.

I think the fact that I've been at this for a while and have managed to keep a large amount of weight off successfully convinced him that I'm not just looking for a quick fix.  He really did seem to care and really seemed to want to help me get over this last hurdle and help me meet my ultimate weight loss goals.

He asked about where I saw myself in a few months, a year and multiple years down the road, and the best part is that he gave me homework to think about and we're going to have a follow up phone call at the end of this week.  I told him that this year on tour my biggest challenge is going to be the fact that sometimes I'm going to be forced to eat in restaurants as there won't be time or even opportunities to eat anywhere else.   He asked me to try and look at eating at restaurants differently and to come up with alternatives to my current perspective (I've always seen eating out as a treat and will choose food accordingly.)  He asked me to come up with 5-10 healthier options that I could look for on a restaurant menu, and one other thing that I can't think of off the top of my head (I don't have my list in front of me.)

Of course, the real point of these phone calls and introductory sessions are to try to eventually sell me a package to continue on working with him.  Some of them are quite pricey and I don't think I can afford them, but I am contemplating buying one of his lesser packages.  With the package I'm considering, I would get phone calls with him every other week plus his "kit" which includes a restaurant guide (I could really use!) and a ebooks and guides.   I like the idea of having an outside perspective.  He even said that he could log onto my profile on MyFitnessPal (my food tracking app) and so that he could get a real in depth look at what I'm actually eating and give me tips on things that I could change that could have a big impact.

When he asked me what I imagined for myself in a few years, I actually said something that surprised even me (even though it was coming out of my mouth.)  I told him that I'm looking forward to the day when I don't think about losing weight from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep.  I said that I look forward to living a "normal" life.  It's true.  I thought about it, and I've now been actively losing weight for 10% of my entire life.  I'm 32 1/2 years old, and I've been working on losing weight for the last 3+ years.  I think 10% of my life is long enough to focus on every single calorie that goes into my body and every single calorie burned.  And if Dr. Dan can get them to that point, I think the money might be worth it.

The thing is, if I do this, I think the next three months (how long the package is) might be some of the most intense since I started this journey.  Someone else will basically be monitoring everything I do.  I will be held accountable to someone else,and that's a bit scary!  But, on the other hand, it might just be the push I need to finally get to 200 pounds.

So, that's my findings of the "weight loss expert."  I liked him, he seemed like a nice, knowledgeable person and I can't lie, I like that he seemed excited about the challenges that I presented to him.  I like that I'm different than his normal patients and can keep him on his toes.  I'll let you know how my second phone call goes this Friday and if I decide to move forward with purchasing one of his weight loss packages.

Until Wednesday!