There are 4 essential pillars of comprehensive weight management

What is involved in a medical evaluation?

At your first appointment, we will talk about your health, changes in your weight, eating habits, activity level, sleep, and stress. We will use a body composition scale to measure your muscle, body fat, and metabolism. The medical provider may order lab tests, or tests like a sleep study, to check for other health issues. Once we have all this information, we will talk about your medical treatment plan, including whether medication might be a good choice for you.

Why is a medical evaluation important?

A medical evaluation helps us understand what might be causing weight gain and making it hard for you to lose weight. It also helps us find and take care of related health problems, and work to prevent issues like prediabetes from getting worse. This can lower the risk of heart disease, cancer,  and other serious health problems.

Why can’t medication be the only solution?  

1. Weight Management is complicated: Losing weight causes changes in hormones and metabolism which can make it difficult to keep the weight off long-term. Medications can help with some of this, like helping to control appetite, but medications don’t address everything else that affects weight and health.
2. Behavior and Habits Matter: Medication alone doesn’t change the habits or behaviors that lead to weight gain. Developing healthy behaviors with the support of our team can help you build habits that last a lifetime.
3. Long-Term Results: Some medications or surgeries might help you lose weight at first, but it’s hard to keep that weight off without changing your lifestyle. Staying healthy requires new habits and behaviors.
4. Possible Side Effects: Medications and surgeries can have side effects or risks that need to be carefully watched and managed. Our medical team can help you manage side effects and help determine the right treatment plan for you!
5. Everyone is Different: People respond to treatments in different ways. Things like your genes, metabolism, and health can affect how well a treatment works for you. Our team will help you find a treatment that works well for YOU! We don’t use a “cookie-cutter”approach to health and wellness.
6. Cost and Access: Some treatments, like surgery or medications, can be expensive and may not be available to everyone. Insurance coverage can also be different for each person. Our team will work to find a plan that fits your needs.‍
7. Health Conditions: Some people with certain health problems might not be able to use certain medical treatments, or they might not work as well for them. Our medical team specializes in helping find the right treatment for your individual health needs and goals.
   

While medication can be helpful in managing weight, it works best when combined with changes in behavior, eating, and a healthy lifestyle. A complete plan that includes medical management, healthy habits, and emotional support is the best way to manage weight and stay Healthy4Life!    

Nutrition

How does nutrition help with weight management?

Today, more Americans have obesity than ever before. In the US, 20% of youth and 40% of adults have obesity. One reason for this change is the increase in eating ultra-processed foods.

We canthink of foods in three groups:

1. Whole foods like meat, vegetables, and fruits. These look like the foods you might find on a farm.
2. Somewhat processed foods like cooked or mixed meals.
3. Ultra-processed foods like chips, candy, and soda. These are made with lots of sugar, chemicals, and preservatives, and don’t look anything like the original food.

Ultra-processed foods are often high in calories, sugar, and fat, but low in good fiber and nutrients. Foods like sugar and simple starches such as bread, cereal, and pasta            raise your blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating too many of these foods can lead to weight gain and make your body store more fat, in addition to causing other health problems.

Why is nutrition important?  

Changing what and how much you eat can make a big difference. Eating fewer calories, eating the right balance of protein, carbs, and fats, and eating fewer ultra-processed foods can help you improve your health and feel better.

Can nutrition alone solve weight problems?

Eating healthy is super important, but it’s not the only part of weight management or being healthy. There are other things that matter too:

1. Activity: To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. A Nutrition plan that helps you eat fewer calories while still providing you with all the nutrients you need is the most important part of this but moving your body (like walking, biking, or playing sports) can help as well.
2. Metabolism: Everyone’s body burns calories differently. Things like your age, genes, and how much muscle you have can affect this.
3. Getting the Right Nutrients: Even if you’re eating less, your body still needs vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. Eating a good mix of healthy foods gives your body what it needs.
4. Weight Loss Plateaus: Sometimes your body gets used to eating fewer calories and stops losing weight. Changing your activity and what you eat can help you keep going.
5. Keeping Weight Off: Very strict diets might help at first, but they’re hard to stick to. The best way to stay healthy is to build good habits you can keep for life.

Physical Activity

What is physical activity and why does it matter for weight and health?  

Physical activity is moving your body. This includes light movements like walking and more intense movements like playing sports. Physical fitness means being healthy and strong. You can build it by doing physical activity (moving your body), eating healthy foods, and getting enough rest. It's not just one thing—it's made up of many parts that help you do everyday tasks more easily.

Here are the main parts of physical fitness:

1. Heart and Lung Endurance: This shows how well your heart and lungs work when you move for a long time, like when you run, swim, or ride a bike.
2. Muscle Strength: This is how much force your muscles can use, like when you lift or carry something heavy.
3. Muscle Endurance: This is how long your muscles can keep working, like when you jog or do push-ups fora while.
4. Flexibility: This is how far your joints can move. Stretching and doing yoga can help with this.
5. Body Composition: This is how much of your body is made of fat, muscle, bone, and other parts.
6. Balance: This helps you stay steady when you move or stand still.
7. Agility: This is how fast you can change direction, like in sports.
8. Coordination: This means moving your body parts together smoothly.
9. Speed: This is how fast you can move in a short time.
10. Reaction Time: This is how quickly you respond to something, like catching a ball.

Why is physical activity important?

Being active is good for your whole body and mind. It helps your heart, muscles, and bones stay strong. It also helps prevent serious health problems like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and even cancer!

Physical activity is also important when trying to lose weight or keep weight off. When you move more, your body burns calories. This helps you lose fat and keep muscle. Muscles burn more calories than fat, even when you're resting. Physical activity, especially strengthening exercises, helps prevent muscle loss during weight loss.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is how many calories your body uses just to stay alive—like breathing and keeping your heart beating. For most adults, for example, this is between 1,200 and 2,000 calories a day. When you lose weight, your BMR goes down, because your body doesn’t need as many calories, and it becomes more efficient at using calories. If you eat the same amount as before, this can lead to gaining the weight back.

That’s why physical activity is important—not just to lose weight, but to keep it off and stay healthy and strong.

What have studies shown?

Many long-term studies show that being active helps with weight loss and keeping it off:

1. Look AHEAD Study: People with type 2 diabetes who exercised and ate fewer calories lost more weight than those who only ate less.
2. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP): People who were active and ate healthier lowered their chances of getting diabetes and kept the weight off for years.
3. Look AHEAD Extension Study: People who kept exercising had better heart health and were more likely to keep the weight off.
4. National Weight Control Registry: Many people who lost a lot of weight and kept it off say that regular exercise helped them stay on track.
5. PREDIMED Study: This study focused on the Mediterranean diet, but those who also exercised had better results with weight and health.
   

Why isn't physical activity alone enough?

Exercise is very helpful, but by itself it is typically not enough to lose a lot of weight. Here’s why:

1. Calories Matter: You need to burn more calories than you eat. Exercise burns calories, but not as many as people think—so what you eat really matters.
2. It’s Easy to Overeat: You can eat a lot of calories quickly, which can cancel out the exercise you did.
3. Some People Eat More After Exercise: Some may eat more or move less the rest of the day without realizing it.
4. The Body Gets Used to It: As your body gets stronger, it may burn fewer calories doing the same exercise.
5. Everyone’s Body Is Different: Your age, genes, and muscle mass affect how many calories you burn.
6. Unhealthy Foods: Eating too many high-calorie snacks or fast food can stop weight loss, even if you exercise.
7. Weight Plateaus: Sometimes, you stop losing weight even if you're exercising. That’s normal but can be frustrating.
8. Gaining Muscle: Exercise can build muscle, which may make it seem like you're not losing weight even if you're losing fat. This is why we look at whole body composition, including muscle mass, so we can celebrate this victory!
9. Time: Some people don’t have enough time to exercise a lot.
10. Health Problems: Some people have medical issues or take medicine that makes it harder to lose weight.

Physical activity is very important for staying healthy and managing your weight. But to lose weight and keep it off, you also need to eat well, sleep enough, and manage stress. The best plan is one that includes healthy food, regular exercise, and good habits.

Talking to our team can help make a plan that works for you.