Weight Wellness™ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of the weight wellness program?
Wholist’s main mission is to help you curate your health future in the context of your life.
You know your life, your obstacles, your work, your family, your schedule.
We have curated the literature and science and information and tips, as well as your coaches, to empower you to make sustainable lifestyle and lifetime changes that work for specifically for you.
If your goal is to lose weight, you will lose weight. If your goal is to make healthier food choices (physically healthy, emotionally healthy), you will do it. If you want be less dependent (addicted) to food, you will do it. If you don’t know what you want or need, we will help you determine and meet your goals.
Our philosophy is that YOU are valuable, your life is the only one you have, your body is the only one you have, and that you deserve the most up to date, evidence based nutrition and lifestyle information to make your life and body the best they can be.
How long is the weight wellness program?
Your program will start on the Monday after you sign up, and will be ongoing for 12 weeks, with the option to continue if you desire.
How do I get the content of the weight wellness program?
You will get a text to your mobile device every morning with a link to the day’s weight science/mindset podcast as well as a document. At midday, you will get a support text and a quick daily assignment. In the evening, you will get a text with a success tip.
Additionally, you will have access to a client portal on the website that will have all of this information available for you, if and when you need it.
How do the coaching sessions work?
You can schedule your weekly appointments through this website or through a link your coach will send you.
You will join your coach on Wholist’s telehealth virtual clinic as a video visit, which is basically like a Facetime or Skype/Zoom call.
It is easy to do and can be done on your phone (through our app) or web browser, designed to be as flexible and easy for you as possible because we know your life is busy.
This clinic also allows your coach to take notes and share documents, as well as track your activity and your weight.
What is the difference between the standard weight wellness program and the premium weight wellness program?
With the premium program you get access to all of the standard weight wellness program benefits, with an additional coach focused ONLY on mindset work.
You still get all of the standard program, texts/podcasts/documents and your personal weight coach, but you also get to choose a coach that will work with you on LIFE’s issues that are getting in the way of making healthy choices toward food and work and family and more.
After you purchase, you will be able to choose a suite of sessions with a Brene Brown-trained physician life coach, a physician meditation guide, or a clinical hypnotherapist.
Dr Hammerstedt believes EVERYONE should have a support guide/therapist like this, especially around a life transformation as big as this. Why? Because this process brings up deep issues for most people that need to be worked through…. and we all know the weight isn’t just about food.
See the Our Team section for who our coaches are. In the standard stellar weight wellness program, you have one of the weight wellness coaches just for you; in the premium program, you will have a weight coach and an additional mindset coach.
Am I going to succeed losing weight?
That is up to you!
Our content has been crafted after over 300 hours of research and learning about weight science, nutrition, medical literature, and cognitive behavioral therapy/mindset work.
Our weight coaches are here for you for support, accountability and tips, and our premium mindset coaches are here for expertise around mindfulness, motivation and life’s big issues that affect your food choices.
But this is your work, and it does require work and commitment, not just consumption of ideas. When clients put in the work actively in an engaged fashion, they absolutely succeed- 8-10% body weight down at 12 weeks, sleeping better, more organized, satisfied with their food, and feeling confident.
Do you prescribe medicine?
No. While some of the coaches are physicians, they are not prescribing medicines or practicing medicine. They are functioning as coaches only.
What does a health coach do?
A health coach can be defined as helping patients gain the knowledge, skills, tools, and confidence to become active participants so that they can reach their self-identified health goals.
Health and wellness coaches help clients make positive and lasting changes to their health. The coach guides clients through the process of creating a vision for their health and well-being, developing a healthy mindset and healthy habits, and encouraging them every step of the way until they accomplish their goals.
Health coaches may provide advice and support for the choices and decisions you make but will not be giving you specific instructions beyond their scope.
What am I paying for?
The path to a life transformation.
The content of the weight wellness program was created by Dr Hammerstedt, an emergency medicine physician with expertise in lifestyle medicine and culinary medicine, a mom, an athlete, an educator and a scientist.
She pooled together over 300 hours of focused research on weight, nutrition and food with 20 years of experiences, education and personal/professional development to create this unique step-wise approach to your new thinner, organized, better-rested, more confident WholeYou.
Because of this work, you get to ignore the noise, trust the path, focus on you, work with personalized coaches, eat real food, and create yourself a new lifestyle.
How much time is this going to take me? I’m so busy I don’t know if I can do it.
The podcasts are about 10-20 minutes each, and you can listen to them on your phone, on the go, while you are doing the dishes, driving to work or chasing after kids.
The documents that support the podcasts can be read on your phone or accessed on your website client portal.
Your video coaching visits are 30 minutes per week. You should expect to spend about one hour per week planning and organizing around time management, food preparation, and meal planning.
I love to cook and love food, are you going to tell me I can’t eat?
LOL no! We love food as much as you do!
We are going to learn together how to love it even more, because it will still taste great and keep you satisfied – but you’ll know it is working for you and your goals, not against you.
What diet are you going to put me on?
We aren’t going on a diet! Diets don’t work, we all know that, but no one wants to admit it.
What we are going to do is eat real whole food, not products, that tastes good, at times that research supports the improvement of your metabolic digestion and weight loss.
Do you make meal plans for me?
Nope. Lifestyle medicine and psychology research clearly demonstrates that sustainable behavioral change only happens with active engagement, not by passive consumption.
If we just told you what to eat and when, of course you would lose weight, but what happens when the program is over? Same thing that happened every time you’ve tried to lose weight, it would come right back.
So we are taking the reality of your life and figuring out together how to make meaningful change even when it is hard.
That means how to plan, how to shop, what to buy, where to buy it, when to cook it, how to store it, what you don’t like, how to incorporate kids/spouse/work, how to talk yourself through the hard times, how to create patterns of choices, how to eat at restaurants, how to travel, how to bounce back after less than ideal choices, what to do when you forget, how to choose the best of bad options, etc etc etc.
What else would I need to buy?
We strongly recommend a fitbit Aria2 wireless scale, as this will integrate directly into your client chart in our virtual clinic. We also would recommend a fitbit activity tracker, if you are apt to wear it, as it will also integrate.
There will be a food journal app, the free version is just fine, but the premium one is better, but the cost is nominal. Otherwise, you will only be purchasing your own food.
I’m not ready to commit to this transformative weight wellness program – but I do want to make smaller steps to health. How can Wholist help?
Start with our Quick Start Guide. Additionally, check out the free 7 day Snacking Freedom challenge or the Curate Your Health podcast (anywhere you subscribe to podcasts) or the public facebook group Curate Your Health and follow us on social media at @wholisthealth.
What other programs is Wholist building?
Fitness, Mind Body, Women’s Health, Aesthetics, Sexual Health, and more are all coming soon. Each program is 12 weeks, with focused podcast information and education, text support, personal coaching and access to relevant practitioners in the Wholist network. Stay tuned!
Wholist recommends a skin care line, what is it, why do you recommend it and how do I buy it?
Wholist believes that what you put in you as food should be clean, real food.
We also think that what you put on your skin, which is your largest organ in your body, should be clean and real.
After doing a ton of research, we partnered with EVER.
Ever is a company that makes skin care products and makeup that are clean (meaning botanical, good-for-you ingredients that meet the stringent EU guidelines, and no weird chemicals or additives), effective (meaning Dr H’s skin has never looked this good!), luxurious (the smell and texture and feeling of it all is scrumptious), affordable (in line with most other products out there that are worth anything), and conscious (they care about their community, the earth, being good business stewards, ethics, and your skin).
Read about the results here and here, the story behind Ever here, read reviews here and here and here and here. SHOP HERE. Or go HERE to see Dr H’s favorite products already in a cart for you. And when you love it as much as we do, and want a flexible income and a great team, join HERE. Send us your questions here »
What is the integrative care coordination thing all about?
Basically, Wholist is breaking the mold of health care.
We know that you are accessing care with practitioners who aren’t doctors, like nurse practitioners, therapists, acupuncturists, massage, trainers, chiropractors, etc. We understand that everyone has their own expertise and there is a role to play for everyone.
We also fully understand that it is hard to know who to trust, what is evidence based, what it should cost, how often to go, if you should tell your doctor, how the different care techniques might be interacting with each other (or not), why you should be going, why you shouldn’t be going and much more.
Wholist believes that getting everyone on the same page on a team will AMPLIFY your results and get you to your goals faster. This means, we’ve pre-screened providers, doctors, and practitioners to ensure they are practicing how they should, for what they should be, and for the right cost.
No more worrying about whether something is snake oil or if it is the real deal.
You come to us, together we figure out your health goals and who should be on your team.
You meet your practitioners virtually or in-person (depending on the service). We coordinate meetings, sharing of information and documents between everyone on a secure telehealth platform to make sure we all know what is happening with who, how it is all progressing, and altering our approach to care based on this. And we communicate with your doctor!
As you progress, your needs will change and Wholist will be right there with you to flex and change who is on your team. See here for an infographic on how it looks.
Team based, proactive, comprehensive health and wellness. One stop shopping you can trust. All for a small subscription fee.
Coordinate your curated health future with us, and pop in and out of focused programs like the weight wellness program as needed.
We are launching the full model in Boise, Idaho but will be rolling out nationally soon! So check in and keep in touch!
I’m a physician or a practitioner and I want to know more about how to refer patients/clients to Wholist/I want to work with Wholist.
Awesome!
Find out more based on your interest:
- I want to join the Wholist Integrative Care provider network »
- I want to become a WholeYou coach »
- I want to refer my patients/clients to your programs »
Or set up a time to talk to Dr Hammerstedt at https://wholist.as.me/info or through our contact form »
Break the yo-yo dieting cycle and create a body and mind you feel confident in again.