The Cleveland Clinic has been working diligently to shift the national focus from providing sick care to promoting wellness, and as a part of this commitment the Cleveland Clinic has now launched Lifestyle 180. Lifestyle 180 is a new program which is designed to help reverse and decrease the effects of several common chronic diseases that are currently plaguing the healthcare system as well as costing participants their quality of life.

The Lifestyle 180 program is six-weeks in length, and includes 50 hours of hands-on guidance from a team of wellness experts, ranging from exercise physiologists to yoga instructors, stress management, and registered dietitians. The program offers disease specific therapies for each participant, who are advised through regular one-on-one sessions.

Each Lifestyle 180 group consists of 12 to 16 participants that meant for four hour classes twice a week at the Cleveland Clinic's new Wellness campus in Lyndhurst, Ohio. The program is currently open to participants with metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension, and participants with multiple sclerosis. In the spring, the program will expand to include more conditions.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, components of the Lifestyle 180 program include:

1. Nutrition/Cooking - After a trip to the grocery store to learn how to make healthy selections and read food labels, a Lifestyle 180 registered dietitian provides ongoing insight into what to eat, when to eat it, how to prepare it and what to watch out for, including tips and tricks for eating out. Also, participants cook their own meal at every class, under the instruction of a professional chef, who provides hands-on kitchen skills sessions and secrets to keeping the taste in while keeping unhealthy ingredients out.

2. Exercise - Cleveland Clinic exercise physiologists create group workout that can include cardio exercises, resistance training or other physical activities that can be modified for participants given their abilities. From the state-of-the-art Lifestyle 180 gym to exercises that can be easily continued at home with hand weights, exercise balls and stretch bands, participants learn how to incorporate this program into their daily lives and reap the benefits of physical activity.

3. Stress management - Many unhealthy lifestyle decisions are the result of stress, so dealing with stress in healthy ways is a major focus of Lifestyle 180. Participants learn stress management techniques like meditation and deep breathing from a behavioral medicine specialist and participate in rejuvenation yoga, led by a certified instructor who teaches simple postures and breathing exercises.

Patients also set goals and monitor their progress. Once they complete the program, patients are invited to attend five follow-up sessions over the course of the next year, and are also eligible for additional sessions in the years ahead.

Pilot classes of the Lifestyle 180 program showed that following the six week program, participants had reduced their body mass index by 4%, reduced their LDL cholesterol by 6%, and reduced their body weight by 4%. Three of the pilot program participants also no longer needed five of their prescription medications after the program. 1/3 were able to come off at least one drug within 10 weeks of beginning the program.

The next Lifestyle 180 session begins March 16. For more information about the program visit http://www.clevelandclinic.org/lifestyle180/

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