Hospital Food Program Helps Woman Shed 55 Pounds

An Indianapolis woman, Tonya Scott Williams, was facing bariatric surgery not too long ago according to WishTV.

But now it seems she may be able to put off that surgery due to her resounding new diet, eating food from hospitals.

By eating certain foods from the Methodist Hospital cafeteria, Scott-Williams managed to shed 55 pounds over the course of a year.

"I have lost probably about, from that highest weight, probably about 55 pounds," Scott-Williams said.

In order to achieve her loss in weight, Scott-Williams simply followed the hospitals eating guidelines.

In the cafeteria, there is the "red" section, which offers high fat and high calorie foods, the "yellow" section, which offers healthier choices, and "green" section, which offers low fat and sodium foods.

By eating food from the "green" section, Scott-Williams was able to keep off the weight.

"It's wonderful because you get a balanced meal, it's cheap, plus a drink, under five dollars," Scott-Williams said. 

Indiana University Health is one of the programs responsible in helping to transform the way people pick out foods from cafeterias. Along with 16 other organizations, they partnered with the Healthier America Healthy Food Initiative, which represents 155 hospitals that are trying these new eating programs.

This particular program is called Stoplight, mainly because the sections are lit red, yellow or green. The green section is for strict diets.

"That means the total meal is under 600 calories, under 700 milligrams of sodium and there's less than ten percent saturated fat," clinical dietician Anna King said.

In addition to creating a guideline for people to follow, IU Health has also removed snacks from the cash register, will begin to bake food as opposed to frying it and is in the process of removing sodas as well.

All of IU Health's hospitals are open to the public points out WishTV.

Real Time Analytics