Optifast, the weight management program that helped television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey lose 67 pounds will be introduced in two free workshops Feb. 6 and 13 at LDS Hospital.
Both workshops will be held at 7 p.m. in the hospital's Education Center Auditorium, which has a private entrance a half block north of the main entrance at 8th Ave. and C St. Reservations can be made by calling 321-5000."Optifast is designed for people who are at least 50 pounds overweight," said Dr. Barry A. Benowitz, medical director of the program. "It aims at helping people whose weight threatens their health."
Says Benowitz, "The program involves a medically supervised protein-sparing modified fast that produces rapid initial weight loss - but focuses on long-term weight control. It addresses the physical, social and emotional elements of weight management, and treats obesity as a disease, not a weakness in character."
Optifast participants are treated on an outpatient basis at LDS Hospital and attended to by a staff that includes a dietitian, an exercise physiologist and a social worker.
The program has been used nationwide by more than 250,000 people over the past 12 years. Intermountain Health care hospitals are its major sponsors in the Intermountain area.