The ILWM Experience

At ILWM Residential, we recognize that providing you with a positive experience while on-site is not enough. It has to be more than just a good experience. It must be a ‘life-altering’ one. ‘Life-altering’ experiences can only occur when you are engaged on an emotional, physical, intellectual and sometimes even spiritual level. In other words, in order for experience to be ‘life-altering,’ it must be one that is inherently personal.

ILWM differs from other residential weight loss programs in the fact that our program is deeply personal. We believe that the level of satisfaction our residential participants have with our program directly correlates to the level of personalization they receive while at ILWM.

The ILWM Residential Weight Loss Program Provides a much Richer Experience than Other Residential Programs.

A Deeply Personal Experience

People typically attend residential weight loss programs to do one thing: to get results and get them quicker than if they were at home. For many, this means to lose as much weight as possible. For others, this means to find out as much about themselves so they can better control their binge eating, learn how to manage their diabetes, or learn how to be an effective emotional eater and so on. To achieve these types of rapid results, the participants must have access to a variety of health and wellness experts who work together to develop a comprehensive program and aftercare plan, then work daily with the participant to implement the program and integrate it into daily life.

Most residential weight loss programs, although certainly not all, claim to offer an integrated comprehensive approach to weight loss. However, this usually means that during a participant’s stay they are briefly exposed to health care providers (physicians, dietitians, psychologists, etc.) who slightly modify an “off-the-shelf” standard program. The typical program will give you just that—exposure to these caregivers and a standardized program. One-on-one “exposure” to the doctor, dietitian, or exercise physiologist may occur only one to two times a week at other residential centers.

At the end of the day, you could make a significant investment in a program that was supposed to be customized to meet your needs, only to find out that it was the exact opposite. Standardization and limited face time with providers is primarily a component of one thing—the high number of participants in the program. Some residential programs bring in 50 to 100, or even more, participants per month. These large numbers make personalization almost impossible.

ILWM Residential only allows 10 participants at one time. This guarantees that the participants receive the personalized attention and emotional support needed for success.

The Importance of Maximum Exposure

Exercise
In the “traditional” residential weight loss program, exposure to an exercise physiologist usually means that participants will meet with an exercise physiologist or personal trainer once a week or every other week. Participants looking for an aggressive fitness regimen are disappointed to find out that personal training is only offered for 1-2 hours a day and comes at an additional fee. ILWM provides several one-on-one and small group exercise sessions per day. This ensures that the participant is not only acclimated to exercise by the end of the month-long program, but has developed a routine that has real momentum. The exercise routine becomes internalized by the time they leave the program. Additionally, it takes the experience that comes with time for participants to get to know their bodies and how they as an individual respond to exercise. Proper form takes time and experience, all supervised by an expert, not a classroom lecture or a one-hour exercise overview. More time spent in the gym equates to better and faster results—there is no substitution for gym time, either in the context of a program or after the participant exits the program and returns home to begin the aftercare phase.

Medical and Psychological
Exposure to physicians and psychologists at other programs is often very limited and usually means only an intake evaluation and follow-up visit. One intake and follow-up visit with a psychologist cannot provide the staff or the participant with enough insight to develop an effective customized plan. ILWM considers the initial intake meeting with a psychologist and physician (and subsequent follow ups) to be a key driver of program customization and an element critical to the program’s success. For example, a diabetic who abhors exercise will need to have a program that takes into account the daily blood sugar levels, carbohydrate count, and food options to combat low blood sugar, coupled with an exercise program designed to introduce exercises that will provide the participant with an “endorphin rush” that will motivate him or her to view exercise in a positive manner. In addition, each trainer will need to document the participant’s mood before, during, and after the endorphin-stimulating exercises. By experiencing the positive psychological and physical effects of exercise, the participant will begin to change his or her attitude towards exercise, viewing it as something positive rather than as something to be dreaded. Later regular consultations with the physician and the psychologist serve as checkpoints to determine whether to further modify the program to address other issues or to build on successes experienced.

Nutrition
Proper nutrition is mission critical to long-term weight loss success. Even though most individuals are highly educated about how to eat well, they often find it very difficult to do so. More often than not, successful adherence to a nutritional plan is one’s attention to detail, such as how many calories in a day should I eat to lose weight or how do I know when is the most appropriate time of the day to eat. All of these details can make the world of difference in your nutritional success. Other weight loss centers offer visits with their dietitians on a weekly basis. ILWM feels differently about this. Daily nutritional consults are the only way to develop a truly customized meal plan and to educate the participant on how to make large-scale long-term eating changes. Emotional eaters often know what they are doing and even why they are doing it. The psychologist can work with the dietitian to introduce more healthy snacking alternatives that also provide the comfort that the emotional eater desires. Personal food preferences also play a part in developing a healthy meal plan. Simple handouts on healthy snacks will not do the job. This interactive, iterative process is what is required to develop customized food programs for each participant.

Create-Your-Own-Program

Just as you are a unique individual with a unique set of motivators, experiences, fears, and preferences, the program designed for you should reflect this individuality to be the most effective. The ILWM program allocates significant time and effort to ensure that the program we design for you is exactly what you need to be successful, and not an “everything for everyone” type of boilerplate program.

Our staff will work in depth with you to design, implement, and modify as necessary, a custom roadmap to long-term weight loss that is both personal and realistic. You will learn valuable self-knowledge as well as internalize a path to better health.

Your reasons for overeating and weight gain are as unique as your fingerprints. Your diet program should account for your individuality and needs in order to maximize your likelihood of long-term success.