Dr. Catherine Krouse-

I am so excited to be a part of Empowered Weight Loss.  It truly encompasses everything I hoped I would find in a medical practice - the best science coupled with exercise, nourishing relationships, food as medicine, strengthening our bodies as well as our mind and spirit.  My journey into medicine has not always been filled with hope and enthusiasm. It quickly became apparent that the traditional western medical model falls short in many ways. As doctors, our tools are limited when in comes to treating conditions that stem from chronic stress, social isolation, a sedentary lifestyle, or lack of nourishment.   We basically get 7.8 minutes face to face with a patient and spend 63.4% of our time filling out paperwork to appease our corporate overlords, whoops, I mean “nonprofit” employers and insurance companies, then have just enough time to write a prescription that likely does not even scratch the surface of a solution.

I always knew there had to be a better way.  It started with my own personal experience towards health.  7 years ago I was chronically stressed, sleep deprived, stagnant, anxious, depressed and would literally come home and stress eat untoasted s’mores for dinner.  Slowly, I started to prioritize sleep, exercise, nourishing foods, and chose a career path of entrepreneurship that excited & energized me. I learned how to swing dance and started surfing.  I started to let go of unrealistic expectations of perfection and find peace in the fact that life is a work in progress.

There is no magic pill or one size fits all method for health, but there is value in having a medical doctor on your side as you take this journey.  My goal is to help first uncover any medical conditions that may be affecting your efforts and correct them, then monitor your progress and help to safely adjust any medication dosing, if necessary, and be available for any medical concerns that come up along the way.  Our weight ‘set point’ is influenced by multiple factors, many of which are poorly understood, and in some cases, medical intervention is necessary to ‘move the needle’, and this can also be explored in those circumstances.

Now for the formal piece - I grew up in the rolling farm hills of Lancaster County, had a great childhood playing in corn fields and exploring streams, rivers, caves, and swimming holes.  I moved to Philadelphia to study World Religion at Temple University as I also took my medical prerequisites, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 2006. Next I attended medical school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and graduated with a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) in 2011.  From there, I headed to Maine where I completed my family medicine residency at Central Maine Medical Center with a special interest in integrative medicine, in 2014. After graduation, I started a small direct primary care (DPC) practice named Lotus Family Practice in Falmouth, ME.