More than weight loss: How Trinity Health HMR Weight Management is transforming lives
Information provided by Trinity Health Michigan
The New Year often brings a renewed focus on health and fitness, and Trinity Health’s Health Management Resources (HMR) Weight Management program can help you make those resolutions a reality. Dr. Irina Burman, an internal medicine physician with Trinity Health IHA Medical Group and the medical director of the program, recently answered questions about the program and how participants can greatly benefit from it.
Q: What is the HMR Weight Management program?
Dr. Burman: Our program focuses on helping people improve their relationship with food, lose weight, and live a healthier overall lifestyle. This program was founded by clinical psychologists to help address weight as an emotional, psychological, and environmental problem. The goal is to transform people’s mindset as it pertains to food and help them make healthier choices, adopt regular exercise habits, and ultimately lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.
Q: Can you explain how the program works with each patient?
Dr. Burman: The program’s approach is centered around making life simpler for each patient, especially during the first three months. The first phase focuses on removing decision-making regarding food. The meals patients will eat, which are provided through the program, are balanced, nutritious, and portion controlled. This takes away the anxiety of meal planning, cooking, and grocery shopping. Patients will only eat foods provided by the program for the first 12-13 weeks, which will consist of protein shakes, protein bars, low-calorie entrees, fruits, vegetables, and more.
Q: What else can people expect if they join the program?
Dr. Burman: Each patient can also expect group management and health education. Group management is a core part of the HMR experience. We offer both in-person and virtual sessions every week, which are led by trained health educators, dieticians, and nurses. Each session begins with participants sharing their weight-loss progress over the past week, which creates an environment of accountability and support. The group also discusses challenges and strategies for overcoming those challenges. It’s a very collaborative space where people share their experiences, motivate each other, and set new goals.
Q: What role does exercise play in the program?
Dr. Burman: Exercise is an important tool for anybody trying to lose weight, but exercise is secondary to the dietary changes that our program focuses on. We encourage participants to aim for 2,000 calories burned per week through physical activity. This can be achieved through walking, running, or any other form of exercise they can comfortably do. The key is being consistent and tracking calories burned per workout. The more physical activity per week, the better the results, but dietary changes remain the primary focus for losing weight.
Q: Is the program only for people solely looking to lose weight or can it benefit others as well?
Dr. Burman: For many of our patients, the program isn’t solely about losing weight, but about improving health, controlling diseases, or even reversing conditions. We work with people who have diabetes and hypertension, need pre-operative management of joint replacement and improvement of kidney function, and suffer from chronic low-back pain and sleep apnea, for example.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Dr. Burman: HMR is not just about losing weight, but about making lasting changes to your lifestyle and overall health. It’s a program that helps prevent disease, reverse chronic conditions, and improve overall well-being. If you’re struggling with food, weight, or managing a health condition, HMR is a medically supervised, comprehensive, supportive and affordable solution that can make a lasting difference in your life.
For more information, please visit trinityhealthmichigan.org/hmr or call 734-712-5540.
Dr. Irina Burman is the medical director of the Health Management Resources (HMR) Weight Management program at Trinity Health Michigan. Image provided by Trinity Health
