Georgetown’s Premiere Weight Loss Clinic

Yes. Dr. Alarcon has passed the board exam provided by the American Board of Bariatric Medicine (ABBM), with a distinction of having ranked 12th in the nation on the certification exam.

The Healthy Outcomes approach uses only medically approved weight loss treatments.  A  bariatric physician performs a complete evaluation prior to starting a program, monitors your progress and adjusts your plan accordingly. Each plan is individualized to your own profile, based on age, gender, metabolism, activity level, medical conditions, and medications you are using to make it not just effective, but safe.

In addition, a comprehensive assessment of your own individual metabolism is performed by blood laboratory tests. This will provide further assistance in selecting the right plan/approach for you.

All our recommendations are supported by extensive medical research. Dietary plans, meal replacements, nutritional supplements, and weight loss medications are used only if proven safe and effective and deemed appropriate for your own metabolic/medical profile.

We monitor you for as long as you need our help. It is important to work together for long-term results. It is not just the initial weight loss what matters, but the long-term weight maintenance too.

Our program is comprehensive. We offer many different strategies to help your effort, including:

• body composition analysis
• a progressive diet plan
• close monitoring and follow up
• exercise component with a physical therapy evaluation for safe exercise techniques
• membership to local gyms
• food diaries
• on-line tools to track food intake and calories
• personal and individualized behavioral counseling
• meal replacements and nutritional supplements (if needed)
• weight loss prescription medications (if indicated), etc.

Not every person has the same response to one program. Our approach is to determine the right program for you based on your own profile (age, gender, activity level, medical problems, medications, metabolism, etc). As a bariatric center, we offer a variety of different weight management plans.

Medication is used only if indicated and necessary. Medications for weight loss are considered an add-on to your plan, but nutrition is still the most important part of your program. Proper diet will provide lifelong benefits. Medications are only a temporary measure.

If weight loss medications are to be used, a detailed screening will be done to determine their safety in each particular case. We will follow the recommended standards of care for the use of these medications. These medications, like any other prescription drug, have potential side effects. Therefore, proper medical monitoring and supervision is required.

We do not offer bariatric surgery at our center. We use a non-surgical, medical approach. However, in some cases, surgery is an option. If this is the case, we will discuss with you the benefits, risks, and options. A referral to a certified bariatric surgeon can be offered. If surgery is to be done, we will monitor your nutrition before and after the procedure.

We will perform a complete medical evaluation before you start. Then, we will determine the best approach to provide safe weight loss. Keep in mind that in most people, the benefits of weight loss outweigh the risk of staying overweight/obese.

No. Meal replacements are an optional tool to help you succeed. As busy as we all are, sometimes it becomes very hard to comply with dietary changes. One common reason for frustration and failure during any dietary plan is the difficulty we have sticking to the meal plans. Meal replacements are sometimes the only way to stay on track during our busy days.

Our meal replacements are formulated with the proper nutrient composition to work with our weight loss plans. Not all meal replacements are the same –– some have more carbohydrates, some have not enough protein, others have different amounts of vitamins and minerals. These factors may have impact on your metabolism, rate of weight loss and how you respond to a particular weight loss plan.

We take our job, your health and your success very seriously. We have done extensive research on the different products and can offer what we believe is the best nutritional meal replacement for your plan. By using the products we know are right, we will avoid any confusing factors should we do not see expected progress.