Is weight management becoming your nightmare? Have you recently looked in the mirror and said, “Okay. It’s time to lose the extra weight.” Then you do a double-take and think, “Wait a second. Didn’t I already lose this weight? How did I end up here again?”
How often does this refrain chime in your mind? How many times has your weight gone up and down and around as fast and as crazy as a professional yo-yoer’s yo-yo? Have you started to wonder if your cycle of weight loss and weight gain could qualify you for the Guinness Book of World Records? Don’t despair! Before you send in your application, let’s talk about weight loss and weight management programs.
Stop! Before you turn away because you’ve already gone through one or more weight loss programs that didn’t sort it, take a few minutes to read this article.
You may be surprised by what you find here. In this article, we’re going to talk about weight loss programs, medical weight loss programs, and weight management programs. We’ll uncover what they are, and why they may or may not work.
Get some knowledge under your belt first!
Let’s start by defining some terms.
Understanding the difference between them is the key to understanding why you may have been able to lose weight but not keep it off.
Weight Loss
According to medicine.net: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (diet, exercise) or involuntary (illness) circumstances. Most instances of weight loss arise due to the loss of body fat, but in cases of extreme or severe weight loss, protein and other substances in the body can also be depleted.
Weight Management
This one is a little more complicated. Weight management is maintaining a healthy weight over the long term. A weight management plan usually includes proper nutrition, moderate exercise, and other lifestyle changes that you work into your daily life so that you don’t regain the weight you lost.
Diet
The Oxford English Dictionary defines diet in three ways:
- The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
- A special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
- Food or drink with reduced fat or sugar content (like diet soda).
But Consider This First
Before we dive into weight loss programs, medical weight programs, and weight management programs, let’s get a massive misconception out of the way. A diet is not going to solve your problems. Not the way that our culture defines diet.
Our culture leans towards the second and third definitions of diet more than the first one. We consider a diet as something that you “go on in order to lose weight” more often than as “what you eat on a daily basis.”
The problem with that way of defining diet is that it happens during a set amount of time. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Once you get done “dieting,” you go back to the same old habits, foods, and activities that caused your weight problems in the first place. Losing weight and keeping it off requires long-term changes and a new relationship to food.
Another reason that diet plans don’t work is that they’re only addressing your diet. Weight gain and stubborn fat have more causes than the ratio between caloric intake and caloric burn (what you put in your mouth and what you do to burn those calories).
The underlying causes of obesity and above-unhealthy weight can also include
- hormone imbalance weight gain,
- inactivity, genetics,
- medications,
- psychological issues, and
- diseases like diabetes, Cushing’s Syndrome, and hypothyroidism.
Diet alone cannot address these causes.
This is where weight loss and weight management programs come in.
Weight Loss vs. Medical Weight Loss Programs
Weight loss programs and medical weight loss programs serve the same purpose. They’re programs that support you in losing weight. They usually consist of nutrition counseling, physical activity, and behavior therapy.
The difference between the two is one word “medical.” Medical weight loss programs differ from standard weight loss programs because they’re medical programs prescribed and monitored by a medical professional who specializes in Medical Weight Loss.
Medical weight loss programs also take a custom, patient-centered approach that combines behavioral counseling, nutrition training, rehabilitative exercise, education, counseling, and medication if appropriate.
Why would you choose a medical weight loss program?
- You’re having trouble controlling cravings/eating habits.
- You are obese (have a BMI – Body Mass Index – greater than 30).
- Perhaps you have not responded to standardized programs.
- Maybe you prefer a more personal, customized approach.
- You want or need medical supervision.
Medical Weight Loss Programs vs. Medical Management Programs
Typically, the focus of a weight loss program is weight loss. Once you lose the weight, you’re on your own. As you may have already experienced, that doesn’t always go so well. Especially if you return to the behaviors that got you here in the first place or can’t maintain the new ones that worked so well during the weight loss program.
Actually, it goes deeper than that. You need different skill sets and behaviors for weight loss and weight maintenance. For example, in a weight loss program, you might limit the sugar in your diet, eat healthy snacks, and not skip meals – which will help you lose weight initially. However, these practices don’t have much to do with maintaining the loss.
On the other hand, one study showed that eating a diet high in low-fat proteins, exercising consistently, and rewarding yourself for following your plan were linked to maintaining weight but not losing weight.
Losing Weight and Keeping it Off: The Big Picture
For many people, losing weight is easy. Keeping it off isn’t. That’s because they’re not going through the whole process.
First, you lose the weight. Then you must transition to a maintenance plan. This transition allows you to make a permanent switch in your mindset. This may be the most challenging part. Once you make the transition, though, you have a better chance of getting to the third part of the phase, maintaining the weight loss.
Weight Management Programs
As you may have guessed, weight management programs are all about how you approach keeping the weight off for good. They help you to find a way to make the transition and sustain the habits and regimen required to keep you at a healthy weight. These programs may be part of a medical weight loss program or a separate program. Regardless, true healing will require you to make a long-term commitment to your health and wellbeing.
We’ve put it all together for you.
If you’ve been on the weight loss yo-yo plan, we know your story. We also know what it takes to lose the weight and keep it off.
We recognize that each individual is unique, so we take a personalized approach to weight management. This is not an “eat less, exercise more” program. We take a whole or holistic approach because the struggles that you’ve been having with weight gain and weight loss aren’t just about what foods you are eating. It’s about lifestyle.
Let’s see how it can happen for you.
A Strategy for Successful Weight Loss
The key to weight loss, weight management, and overall wellbeing is a healthy lifestyle. At Health Horizons, we believe the foundation of a healthy lifestyle includes
- a diet based on whole foods (mostly plant-based)
- gentle movement
- strategies for building resilience to stress
We also know firsthand that successful weight loss and weight management requires support. Trying to do it by yourself doesn’t work. That’s why we provide you with a coach who works with you and supports you along your weight loss, transition, and management journey. Our coaches want you to succeed.
These coaches are supervised by Dr. Komadina. Dr. Komadina is recognized around the world as an expert in weight who uses supplementation and healthy food choices as the basis for weight management and healthy nutrition. Research is continuing to support the fact that our Western diet is killing us.
How Does it Work?
1 Your personalized program starts with a consultation during which we run routine labs and tests and perform a comprehensive wellness evaluation.
2 During the consultation, we will thoroughly cover your medical history, family history, concerns, and goals.
3 We will also thoroughly evaluate your thyroid function. A high percentage of Americans suffer from thyroid dysfunction. Unfortunately, simple thyroid screens often aren’t enough to diagnose a poorly functioning gland. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to have optimal thyroid function.
4 Once we review your labs and get a clear picture of what’s going on, we will add additional treatments to support your weight loss journey. These treatments might include vitamin D, vitamin B-12, or thyroid hormone replacement.
Are you ready to receive one-on-one support to help you learn new habits and ways of being?
Are you ready to lose weight, feel better, boost your energy, and improve your overall health and wellbeing? If the answer is yes, contact us for a consultation. We’re here for you!
