Pre-Surgery Bootcamps: Good For Any Gala
By Alexander Watson, MD & Angela Barone, DNP
Do you have an upcoming life event—a knee replacement, wedding, or vacation—that demands you looking and feeling your best? Unsure whether your diet, sleep, exercise or “other” needs the most attention? Consider a holistic medical weight loss program for the fastest and most lasting results.
Pre-surgical “boot camp” programs (aka “prehabilitation”) use many strategies that are equally appropriate when preparing for a big event or wedding. Prehabilitation programs are broken into several pillars; at Admire Medical, these are: exercise/physical activity, lifestyle, and “neuro/psych” (anything dealing with the brain or nerves).
Why is this strategy helpful? First, you hit weight loss goals faster, plus other benefits like a better complexion and more confidence. Second, weddings are stressful! By optimizing exercise, nutrition, mental health, sleep, and a bit of pampering, anybody in the wedding can feel their best and dance the night away. Third, these programs typically focus on sustainability. The upcoming event is not “the end,” but a means of achieving an active lifestyle less burdened by pain, weakness, obesity, or other chronic diseases. Let’s dive into specifics.
What better time to prioritize exercise than before a honeymoon or reception filled with dancing?! With these goals in mind, it is important to include both aerobic and strength training. You are less likely to sweat through formalwear and require frequent breaks if aerobic conditioning is up to par. Honeymoons often involve sightseeing, which is more exciting when you are capable of hiking Hawaiian volcanoes or skiing in Aspen. Strength training ensures your first dance includes a graceful lift without an embarrassing mishap. Extra muscle comes in handy for filling out a tux or when wiping out on the slopes.
The indirect benefits are even more exciting and provide lasting advantages. With strength training, research shows you’ll achieve better quality sleep, and the combined training styles help keep your metabolism burning after significant weight loss while more effectively controlling diabetes. For parents of the happy couple, strength training helps to maintain muscle mass and bone density, which is useful when lifting grandkids or stowing overhead luggage when traveling.
The lifestyle pillar includes other aspects of weight loss, including medications and nutritional strategies. When paired with exercise, revamping one’s health is easier, those changes last longer, and may involve less overall sacrifice. Cutting out alcohol and tobacco removes anchors that stifle your progress. Plus, fine-tuning this pillar turbocharges neuro/psych optimization.
Pain is activity limiting, joy smothering, and sleep disrupting. As part of the neuro/psych pillar, we target pain through medications and therapies to keep other objectives on track. Restful and restorative sleep is a keystone of health, so we aggressively target nighttime pain, daytime stress, and late-night snacking, so your sleep is as refreshing as possible. With good sleep, your mood improves, appetite becomes controllable, and personal exercise “bests” become attainable. Plus, you’ll glow in those wedding photos.
Weddings are a great example, because they are life events where self-care becomes a priority. They require a clear timeline with a “finish line date” to keep you on track while pursuing health goals. However, anyone can use this approach, any time. After our patients complete a prehabilitation program and recover from a knee replacement, we restart the timeline with a different target date. Goal-setting is critically important; otherwise, busy lives put self-care in the backseat. We’ve only got one life to enjoy the company of family, see the world, and feel our best.
When tackled with a clear strategy, these programs require less time and attention. When guided by your wellness team, you spend more time enjoying better health, not preoccupied with inefficient DIY attempts. For more information please call 302-592-4953, email [email protected] or visit us online at www.admiremedical.com.
Bios
Dr. Watson is a distinguished physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) with a clinical focus on obesity-related conditions. During his residency, he explored the interaction between obesity and common “PM&R conditions” like back pain, arthritis, and neurologic disease. Angela Barone is a dedicated family nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health and HRT. Her glowing reviews speak to her compassion and attentiveness with her patients, as she crafts personalized treatment plans to address individual needs.
Testimonial
“I’ve been to plenty of doctors and I have never been treated with this level of care in my life…Angela was amazing. She answered every single question I had. She made me feel like I was a part of my own care team/plan instead of a visitor.” ~ A.A.
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