I was at the Diet and Fitness Center (DFC) for over 6 weeks. I had come to DFC with medical…read moreconcerns and had been very overweight. DFC helped me to lose a lot of weight. This was really important to me and therefore I think my stay was, overall, a success. DFC is a great program on paper (lots of quality people, good food, not a fad diet place at all), but having spent a pretty long time there, I now feel that the program itself has some serious issues which cannot be ignored. There shortcomings involved the staff, including the Director (Dr. Sha), facilities, and even fellow patients.
DFC patients plan all of their daily meals based on their recommended calorie intake. So, the meals served at DFC are key ingredients in your potential success. Imagine my surprise when I encountered the incompetence of the cafeteria staff who served us our calorie-controlled DFC meals! There were, routinely, foul-ups of the portions or the foods we had calculated following DFC protocols. Sometimes food offered on the menu was out-of-stock, sometimes the wrong quantities were given, sometimes the cafeteria servers did not know what to do. I pointed out these concerns to the staff but pretty much nothing got fixed. It was distressing.
The gym facilities include a variety of workout machines and a salt-water pool. The salt-water was a nice surprise, which I enjoyed. The gym machines (which are heavily used), however were not the most modern or up-to-date. I work out at a gym where I live in the midwest and I was surprised to see that several pieces of equipment are more modern than what DFC has. In addition, I had reported a hygiene problem concerning the presence of little black flies in the showers in the mens' locker room to staff, including to Dr. Sha, but even after several weeks, the flies were still there.
While many DFC patients are serious about losing weight and provide a supportive group atmosphere, others can become a little frustrated and try to undermine other patients' success. I, unfortunately, encountered this situation more than once. For instance, after I had started to lose significant amounts of weight, other program participants asked me to my face "why" I was at DFC and whether I belonged there. I replied that I had the same reason for being at DFC as they did, namely to develop healthy lifestyle patterns and improve my health.
Many of the staff at DFC are really good, and contribute to a strong program with excellent support for those trying to lose weight. The nutrition department staff, for instance, serve as solid resources for any questions about food and are highly motivated. There are, however, shortcomings at DFC about which people need to be aware.
Housing Tip: DFC does not provide housing, so one has to shop around for housing in Durham. Trinity Commons is right nearby DFC, but you over-pay for being able to walk to DFC. Other accommodations in Durham offer more things for the same, or lower, price, and also provide daily shuttles to DFC.