Lose for Life Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay My experience with health promotion began in the clinic in my hometown of Valemount, British Columbia. Valemount only has a population of about a thousand, so regardless of the health promotion aspect, the population group will be small. A doctor named Stefan Du Toit came to Valemount from South Africa to practice as a general practitioner. While practicing, he noticed the amount of overweight or obese adults in the city and thought something should be done to help this specific population. Dr. Du Toit took on the challenge of promoting a weight loss plan created by himself and other colleagues called Lose for Life. Lose for Life is a specific weight loss plan that teaches a healthier way of eating, and the weight loss journey itself involves weekly group meetings with other participants (Noakes, T., Frouws, J., & Du Toit, S .nd). To ensure the safety of those who wanted to participate in the program, they had to be assessed by Dr. Du Toit before starting the program. During the examination, participants' medical history and medications were reviewed, and additional laboratory tests were ordered if necessary (Noakes et al. n.d.). Once participants' health status was known, they were given a weight loss goal (Noakes et al. n.d.). Throughout the program participants are told to follow the meal plan guidelines. The meal plan is a low-carb, low-fat, sugar-free eating plan with a specific daily calorie count (Noakes et al. n.d.). Unlike other weight loss plans or diets, Lose for Life is considered more of a life change than a diet. Diets tend to fail, so if people think of this program as a life change they tend to be more loyal to the program (Noakes et al. n.d.). Another aspect that makes Lose for Life different from other weight loss plans is that it does not include exercise until the participant has reached their target weight. Lose for Life was started for obese or overweight people in Valemount who wanted to participate in making this life change to get their health back on track. A new lifestyle was promoted to increase health among those who wanted to lose weight. This program has been a very useful tool in the city and has taught participants how to eat properly and live a healthier lifestyle. Due to the success of the diet, Dr. Du Toit contacted doctors from across Canada in hopes of establishing the same program in their communities (Trick 2011). Personal Exposure At the time this new diet plan came out, my mother was working as a physician office assistant at the Valemount Clinic. As part of the staff she was asked to help in these weekly meetings with all the participants who started this weight loss plan. My mother thought that she should also participate in the program along with the other participants and was evaluated by Dr. Du Toit like all the other participants. He wanted to lose some weight, but more importantly he wanted to better understand how patients were feeling and what they were going through. He took the weight loss program home and started immediately. I was about twelve at the time, so I wasn't allowed to be as dedicated to the eating plan as she was. At the time both my mother and I were slightly overweight and needed to be educated on how to eat properly. We didn't have..