Metagenics FirstLine Therapy Customized Eating Plan (Mediterranean Diet)
 

Through my doctor's office, the dietician is working with me on a "customized" eating plan. It looks like they start with different eating plans based on medical needs and customize the number of servings and distribution of them during the day of different categories of foods. As an example of the customization, the whole dairy category is crossed off my sheet due to inflammation indicators in my bloodwork. The perspective is that good foods will provide healing at the cellular level. I've done some internet research on this program, but not getting a lot of independent information. There are a couple of research studies, but they also involve "medical food" which I'm not participating in. (The medical food appears to be shakes and perhaps food bars by Metagenics) There are a lot of physicians in the US who are making the program available to their patients.

They start out with a Bioimpedance Analysis and of course your medical information and blood labwork. The foods and plan I'm on appear to be very close to the Mediterranean Diet (without the red wine :) ), but it seems very easy to follow as foods are broken up into very specific categories and I'm supposed to eat a given number of servings in each category daily, with unlimited vegetables (from a list). Also of course water and exercise. And logging of what I eat. For the first time ever (on a diet) I'm having a hard time eating everything I'm supposed to eat - and that's at about 1300 calories a day when I log it into FitDay.

During a 12 week period I will meet with the Dietician 4-5 times, have the Bioimpedance test done at the beginning, midpoint and end. And bloodwork again at the end. In my case, the objective is to improve the bloodwork and cellular health and not have to start taking medications. Some folks may be doing this to get off medications. There was at least a Gluten-free program also. Also, my insurance plan is covering this (except my co-pays) as it's to turnaround borderline medical conditions and keep me off medication (i.e., keep down their costs.)

Has anyone else heard of or participated in this plan? My doctor's office doesn't advertise that this is a Metagenics or FirstLine Therapy plan. But the name is on the sheet of foods is FirstLine Therapy.

BTW - it seems to be working. I'm losing weight. I'm not at midpoint yet, but a separate bloodtest I took showed some improvements already. I've slept through the night more times in 5 weeks than I usually do in a year. And it's easy.

Hi glad to have another convert. It does not surprise me that a doctor's office would recommend something like the Mediterranean style of eating.

We are very close to the same weight but you are much taller and I bet a lot younger, I'm over 60. I'm trying to stick to correct portions and then correct foods. I slip on both but have been able to keep going forward.

The supplements thing sounds a little to complicated to me-it's good you are under your doctor's supervision. Good luck to you and keep posting . Post menu or anything you feel like to get support. 3fc is great for support.

THis site has some recipes and general info for a Med/asian http://www.mediterrasian.com/index.htm

Welcome, WebRover! I like the sound of what your doctor is doing ... taking into consideration your needs and tailoring a diet for you. I'm wary of any supplements or products to buy, but I suppose any company needs to make money.

Hey WebRover! How is your program going? You've been on it a month. The reason I ask is that I have a meeting with a FirstLine Therapy doctor on Friday. Like you, I googled to see what I could find and haven't found much except for your reply. I would love to hear about your progress and experience with this type of program. If you've lost 25 pounds in 5 weeks that's fabulous and sign me up :-)

Somehow I missed this latest (not so recent now) posting. So to set the record straight, while I've lost 25 pounds overall, it went more like this.
Over a period of about a year or so, I lost 30 pounds on South Beach. Then my DH complained that he couldn't eat like this anymore. Over a couple of years 19 pounds crept back on. I'd try to be making healthy choices, but other choices crept in also.

I got up above my "magic weight". Below 188 my bloodwork and bloodpressure are good. Above 188 and everything starts heading the wrong way.

At this point, I've relost 15 of the regained pounds. Interestingly between session 2 and 3 with the nutritionist, I'd lost 4 pounds But I'd lost muscle and water and gained fat. I was encouraged to exercise. The next session, I'd lost fat and gained muscle. She's encouraged me not to worry about the number on the scale because that number alone doesn't tell me anything.

I've exercised more since that session. For a week and a half my weight has bounced around and not gone lower,until this morning when I went 1/2 pound below my lowest weight this time. But I lost another 1-3/4 inches on my waist making it a total of 3 inches lost there. I'm an apple so those inches are really really important. I'm thinking that now that my body is getting used to the exercise, I should be losing some more pounds soon. I'm looking forward to my next bioimpedence reading and next bloodwork.

I'm really interested in how your appointment went and how it's going for you. Please let me know.

Thanks for the encouragement 2Bees and Hyacinth.

I opted for not eating the "medical food" which I believe involves shakes and bars. I just don't believe we know enough to manufacture foods. And I'd rather lose while eating on a plan that's like maintenance will be. I like real food. That's just me. If it works for other folks, that's great and I'd be interested in hearing about how that goes for them.

I am taking Vitamins D and B12 because I've been specifically tested for these and was deficient.

I'm taking fish oil because of the inflammation and because it helps with one of the blood factors that's out of line.

However, while the doctor's office has these supplements for sale, I'm buying them elsewhere. The nutritionist has mentioned that they sell them, but is not pushing me to buy them there.

This office offers cooking classes, lectures by the doctor, yoga classes and some other classes for a monthly subscription. I haven't opted for any of that either. (High price, not enough offered at times I could participate.) She (the doctor) is definitely promoting health.

FirstLine Therapy
 

Hi I just started on First Line Therapy through my doctors. I went to have a consultation for LapBand and they require that everyone participate in this program for 6 months prior to surgery. My plan is to lose a lot of weight on this plan and not need the surgery. So far I am two days into the diet and am very pleased. The first day I felt better and didn't even feel hungry. I can tell that my stomach is like "what the heck is going on" but I'm not feeling awful like I would on a diet. I plan to live on this new eating change for my life and get to my goal and maintain it. I have been overweight since 1st grade and I am ready to feel good about myself. Right now is the most I've weighed before without being pregnant. I weighed in at the doctors at 262. I will see what my weight loss is on Tuesday after only 1 week on the plan. Hope to meet some great weight loss support on here.

It's nice to know others are using this diet plan. I started with a consult from a dietician through my physician in December, 2010. I did really well until I got really busy at work and stopped planning my menus and keeping a food journal. I went back in to the dietician yesterday and even with backsliding I lost a pound overall and 3 pounds of fat. Not much, but for me that was encouraging. I went off of dairy (cow's milk products) in September and showed a 20 point drop in my total cholesterol (first time in over 25 years) so that is a good sign too. My doctor and dietician had me use goat and sheep's milk products and although it's more expensive, I'm doing it; figured my health was worth it. Now that I've found this web site I hope to support and be supported in my journey. Here's to you Chillian480!

I'm glad to see others posting here.

I wanted to provide an update on my experience. I really stalled on this eating plan. But I realized that this plan called for me to eat a lot more of certain types of carbs than I'm used to. It added in healthy whole grains and beans. It had me add small portions of healthy but high calorie nuts. And it had me eating two servings of fruits a day. After reading "Why We get Fat and What to do about it", I decided to try the simpler plan he describes(protein, fats, leaves, vegetables). I'm losing weight again. I'm not losing it fast, but I am losing it. I go back for a checkup in about two months and I'll be interested in seeing what my bloodwork shows and hopefully they'll do a body composition check also.