Even if you forgot about your New Year’s resolution months ago, there’s never a bad time to try to get your body to a healthier weight. And, the Central Pasco Weight Loss Center, located minutes from New Tampa on S.R. 54 in Lutz, can help you do just that whenever you finally decide to make that positive change in your life. Conveniently located on S.R. 54 in the Cypress Creek Professional Park in Lutz, just west of Wesley Chapel Blvd., the Central Pasco Weight Loss Center is home to the practice of long-time Tampa Palms resident Dr. Barbara Pacholec.
Dr. Pacholec earned her B.S. degree in Chemistry & Nutrition from the Douglass College of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, and her M.D. degree from what was formerly known as the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway (but is today known as the Rutgers School of Biomedical & Health Sciences). Dr. Pacholec also completed a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ. She also is a Diplomate and Board-certified by the American Board of Bariatric Medicine and Fellow Board-certified by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Regenerative Medicine.
“The Central Pasco Weight Loss Center is a comprehensive weight loss center where we treat patients for obesity, but I try to tie in any (medical) issue a patient may have,” says Dr. Pacholec. “We’re trying to find out why our patients have their weight problem, not just say, ‘Eat this, exercise and you’ll be cured.’ We’re trying to figure out how to help them keep the weight off for the rest of their lives.”
Dr. Pacholec first opened her practice in 1999 in a nearby location that she shared with a local dermatologist, but moved to her current location in 2003, after her practice outgrew its initial space. She says that she chose to set up shop in Lutz because a few colleagues of hers said that someone that specializes in obesity and bariatric medicine was needed in the area.
Dr. Pacholec says that most of the patients that come into her practice have tried traditional diet and exercise extensively, usually with little or no permanent success. Although some patients honestly tell her that they have terrible eating habits and need help monitoring their diet, others come in with healthy eating habits and a regular gym regimen, but just can’t lose the weight.
“My job — and I love the challenge — is to try to help them figure out what’s going on with their bodies,” Dr. Pacholec explains. “Every decade of our lives, our bodies change, so different-aged patients often have different issues going on.”
Replacing What You Lose As You Age
In many cases, Dr. Pacholec says, age can play a major factor in weight issues.
“A lot of women, as they hit menopause, start losing some of their hormones and their bodies begin to store fat like crazy,” she explains. “Using bio-identical natural hormone replacement therapy, we can actually help balance their system so that they can lose weight much more effectively. It may sound corny, but we try to help those patients reach ‘hormonal symphony,’ so that all of their hormones are balanced.” She adds that she also offers hormone replacement therapy for men, who also can gain weight as they age — due (for many) to the loss of testosterone.
Because of her Board certification in anti-aging medicine, Dr. Pacholec says that she takes a little more holistic approach to understanding the human body and how everything connects, adding that it’s not just about seeing a problem and prescribing a pharmaceutical drug to correct it.
“We really try to find out what the cause of each issue is,” Dr. Pacholec explains. To do so, when a patient first visits Central Pasco Weight Loss, she conducts a thorough history and physical exam, including bloodwork and an electrocardiogram (EKG) to get a sense of what conditions are like inside a patient’s system. Once she has a chance to study each patient’s bloodwork and situation (pre-existing health conditions, lifestyle, family history, etc.), Dr. Pacholec can start to fine tune a plan that is unique and specialized for each individual patient.
In many cases, she may prescribe a medically supervised, prescription rapid weight-loss diet that can help curb hunger, or even prescription injections that are available at her office, including lipotropics (which help break down fat during metabolism), vitamin B12 and others that help curb hunger and supplement the body so it can resist its own cravings for unwanted calories.
The most common ailment that Dr. Pacholec says that she sees are imbalances within the “metabolic syndrome,” a group of risk factors that often occur together and can increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes). These factors include weight, blood sugar imbalance and cholesterol. She explains that these imbalances can often be treated with a lower carb diet combined with eating healthier fats that help the patient feel more full sooner.
Dr. Pacholec says that she takes pride in her work and even sees it as a source of fun, watching her patients improve their health — and their self-image.
“You can get people on these natural therapies so that they don’t have to go on so many drugs when they’re 50 years old,” Dr. Pacholec explains. “Some people think that anti-aging medicine is just getting Botox injections. I like to treat my patients from the inside out, improve their quality of life, their well-being and their energy levels.”
Dr. Pacholec says that the idea to open a weight-loss practice first came to her while she was doing her Internal Medicine residency in New Jersey. Patients at the hospital she was working at found out that she had a degree in nutrition and would ask for help with their weight.
“I took a chance and decided to call my practice a weight-loss center when I moved down here,” Dr. Pacholec explains. “Patients come in for that, but then I let them know about any other issues they might be having. It’s worked out well so far.”
Having a small practice, Dr. Pacholec says that she has the ability to see each patient during each visit and go over all of their blood work with them and help them every step of the way as they lose weight and add lean muscle mass. She says that many patients of her patients also have primary care doctors who really are trying to help them, but just don’t have as much time each visit to explain all of the little details that she is able to explain during a visit.
“Most people don’t want to gain weight,” Dr. Pacholec explains. “A lot of the time, there are a lot of internal forces driving their bodies to gain weight and it’s not entirely their fault. My patients really appreciate that I understand that.”
Dr. Pacholec says that most of her patients find her through word-of mouth and that she has many from as far away as Orlando, Lakeland and even Ft. Myers. The reason? She really can help.
“In January 2011, I began seeing Dr. Pacholec,” says Central Pasco Weight Loss patient Dyrenda. “I had tried other programs over the years and none were as successful as this program. I’ve since shrunk from a size 26 to a size 12 and am still shrinking. I am no longer on blood pressure medicine, I have energy and I now run up the steps I wouldn’t even walk up before. I feel younger and people tell me I look great! I would recommend Central Pasco Weight Loss Center to anyone who wants to lose weight. Dr. Pacholec and her staff are wonderful and very supportive. I thank Dr. Pacholec and her staff for making it all possible. They have saved my life.”
What’s the key to weight loss? Just ask Dr. Pacholec.
“That is the million dollar question,” she jokes. “The key is not expecting instantaneous results and trying to be consistent with the lifestyle changes that you make. Even if you only lose three or four pounds a month, don’t get discouraged. Some lose weight faster than others. But, if you can be consistent with those changes and make it fit in with your lifestyle, you can be the most successful person who lost their weight, versus someone who did a fast-and-furious diet but went right back to their old habits.”
For more information about the Central Pasco Weight Loss Center (24622 S.R. 54 in Lutz), please call 909-4430 or visit DrPacholec.com.
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