P01.03. It Takes HEART: A Multifaceted Weight-loss Program for People Living With HIV

Focus Areas: Integrative Approaches to Care, Supporting Behavioral Change HEART is a program designed to foster healthy habits in obese HIV-infected patients. HEART Healthy foods. Eating mindfully, eating smaller meals, eating slowly. Activity such as walking, aerobics, yoga. Relaxation with meditation, reading, music, journaling. Time spent together as a group supporting each other's progress. The 2012 program consisted of 8 intensive weekly sessions followed by monthly meetings. The instructors were Vani Gandhi, MD, Infectious Diseases and Integrative Medicine specialist, Nina Lawrence, RD, MBA, Tiffany Jung, NP, Infectious Diseases, trained in Exercise physiology, Rachel Griffin, Psychiatric NP, also Yoga Instructor, Lucia McBee, MSW, Stress Reduction Instructor and Danny O’Brien, Yoga Instructor. Patients learned about the Mediterranean/Volumetrics hybrid diet; dietary approaches to reduce inflammation, boost metabolism and immune function; herbs, spices and supplements; label reading; eating healthy on a budget; managing the food environment; healthful food shopping at markets/stores; cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, stretching, and interval training; how to structure an exercise session; Chair and Nidra yoga; pedometer usage; mindfulness and breathing practices; mental health; and weight management. Participants learned about and sampled healthy seasonal fruit and vegetable dishes each week. Instructors facilitated weight-loss progress with weekly group discussions of obstacles and successes. Participants walked 1 or 2 miles, and an exercise DVD by Leslie Sansone was played during several sessions. Participants were given food journals and encouraged to document daily food intake and exercise. Weights were recorded at each session; at the first and eighth session, height, blood pressure, and waist and hip circumference were obtained. Participants were encouraged to attend a weekly walking clinic in Central Park with the New York Walkers Club and to participate in a New York Road Runners club four mile race in Central Park at the end of the program.