I’ve been looking at my patient records from Chef Clinic over the last 10 years (yes, I’ve kept them all, in all their manila folder glory). Especially interesting are the men.
In a weight loss practice, most patients are women. Women have more societal pressure to achieve a healthy weight than men, often have tried many different diet programs, and want to work through why they’re overweight.
But few diet programs exist for men. Those that do seem to rely either on powerful physical programs (P90X, Insanity) where the food is not the focus; or hormone prescriptions (testosterone and growth hormone help men build muscle, especially supplemental hormones, but they can have nasty side effects if men are not truly deficient…i.e., 97% of men).
But what does appeal to men, at least in my practice, are simple, clear rules; specific planning and cooking skills; environmental control; hormonal enhancement with diet and food timing not drugs; and a minimum of discussion and process.
I think this sort of approach may also appeal to some women. In fact, I know it does. But for men who are ready to lose the gut, it rings true in a whole new way.
Last night told a female colleague I was working on this idea, and she said: “About time.” I hope so. It seems like it to me.
