Twenty years ago, Dr. Jerome Cooper opened the first Medical Weight Loss Clinic in southeast Michigan. Since then, the business has grown to 27 locations, including two in the Lansing area. The first opened 18 years ago in Lansing; the second, in Okemos, opened in May 2004. Gina Demott, manager of the Okemos location, said that their business doubled from 2005 to 2006, and that that the company’s success can be summed up in two words: it works.

Demott explained one of the main ways in which Medical Weight Loss Clinic (MWLC) is different from other weight loss programs. “We have a doctor that oversees every one of our clinics, and all of our doctors are Michigan board certified. We have doctors that come in every two weeks and see the patients. We have prescriptions that [the doctor] writes out for patients. We do EKGs, we do blood work … which is different from anybody else’s program. Having a doctor on staff makes people more comfortable.”

Every new patient that signs up with MWLC receives individual attention and care, as well as a custom weight loss program tailored to his or her situation. Demott said that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, especially when new patients come in all shapes and sizes. There is “no magic bullet,” she said. “Those never work.”

She explained that the key is altering eating and lifestyle habits built up over a lifetime, be it 12 or 75 years. Helping people to understand what foods they can/should be eating, and which ones they can’t/shouldn’t, is an early step in the  clinic’s healthy and proven approach to weight loss.

How proven? “It’s 100 percent guaranteed that you’ll lose your weight,” Demott answered. “There’s a lifetime maintenance program. We have a lot of people that come in once a month and weigh in and just make sure that their weight is stabilized. And if they start gaining back, then they’re back on program.”

Speaking of weigh-ins, whereas many weight loss programs require their members to weigh in only once every week or two weeks, MWLC requests that patients weigh-in three times a week. Why? “Some people on other programs will weigh in once a week. And after the weigh-in, they eat whatever they want, because they know when the next weigh-in is, so they do a crash thing, and they’re down on their next weigh-in. With ours, three times a week, we can keep [the weight loss] pretty consistent.”

MWLC doesn’t provide people on their plan with special menus, or insist that they stock a pantry and refrigerator with food that the company sells them. Nor does its method for weight loss vary. “It’s tried and true,” Demott said. “It’s regular grocery store food. It’s what you pick from the store. We do have products that help it go a little faster, but every program is based off of the grocery store, and then we just go from there.”

Demott said that the company’s most convenient and most rapid program is the “Jump-start prescription therapy” program. “You can lose up to 20 pounds per month on the program. It’s medically supervised, [and] because it is a rapid program, we have a doctor overseeing it all.” And she speaks from experience. She lost 45 pounds in two months on a MWLC diet before coming to work there and has kept it off for going on two years.

While MWLC doesn’t put patients on an exercise regimen, Demott was quick to acknowledge that “exercise is definitely a plus, because it tones and gets you to the size you want to be.” Another plus: There’s no hypnosis or other hocus-pocus. “The lifestyle change is the only behavior modification that we do,” she said. “So once you’re done there isn’t any other weight problem ever again. We want Medical Weight Loss to be the last [program] that you do.”

“It’s all individualized,” she continued. “It’s just what your goals are and how many pounds you need to lose.” A perfect case in point is Melinda Erskine. In her words: “I had just come from my doctor’s appointment and she told me that you do something or you won’t be here. I’ll give you a year and you won’t be here. Coming home, I went around a different direction and there was a commercial on the radio, and [I said] ‘hey, there’s [a Medical Weight Loss Clinic] right here.

“When I walked in the door, they were very friendly. They explained the many programs … and how they work …” And the results, 33 weeks later? “Right now, this weigh-in this morning, I’ve lost 105 pounds.”

With testimonials like Erskine’s, it’s easy to see why Demott and the two other employees of the Okemos clinic enjoy their work.

Author: Jack Schaberg

Photography: Terri Shaver