What’s Involved in a Weight Management Program?

Carrying around excess weight is dangerous and leads to a wide range of health issues. People who are overweight or obese are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, joint issues, cancer, mental health issues, and more. At Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN, we help patients to identify the reasons why they’re struggling to achieve a healthy body shape. Our weight management program is comprehensive and safe.

What’s Involved in a Weight Management Program?

A good weight loss program is individualized and made up of several components. It doesn’t just focus on eating less or exercising a lot but encompasses the patient’s entire lifestyle and takes into consideration their medical history. At the clinic, we offer a free consultation to everyone interested in losing weight and improving their overall health. During the meeting, we get to know the patient and figure out how to help them best.

If they are overweight or obese due to their lifestyle, we might suggest working with a nutritionist or personal trainer. Often, other factors prevent people from achieving their goals. They might have nutrient deficiencies or hormonal issues that need to be addressed. Once the patient has lost weight, they can come back to the clinic and have cosmetic treatments that enhance their naturally beautiful appearance.

Nutritional Changes

At the core of any weight loss strategy is a good diet. The number of calories you consume determines to a great extent whether you put on weight, lose weight, or maintain your current body composition. Most patients who are struggling to achieve their goals are either eating too much or consuming the wrong foods. To begin, we ask people to write down the meals they eat as accurately as possible.

Then, we calculate how many calories they are consuming and determine what nutrients they’re missing. We might suggest small changes at first. Replacing fatty or sugary snacks with low-calorie ones, eliminating sugary drinks, and eliminating alcohol consumption can make a huge difference. Because monitoring calories and nutrients is important at this stage, patients need to reduce their meals or visit restaurants that offer low-calorie meals.

IV Therapy

Around 90% of Americans aren’t getting the nutrients they need from their diet. A lack of vitamins and minerals causes fatigue, low resistance to infection, memory loss, mental health issues, and premature aging. It also affects the way a patient loses weight. Some people aren’t able to shed their excess pounds, even though they eat a low-calorie diet and get enough exercise, because they have a severe nutrient deficiency.

If you’re not getting enough glutamine and zinc, your gut lining might not be in good condition. This means that you don’t have the optimal concentration of digestive enzymes, and your body can’t properly absorb the foods you eat. B vitamins are equally important because they stimulate your metabolism and provide long-lasting energy. We offer IV therapy to our weight loss patients if we believe that they need a vitamin or mineral boost.

A Healthy Exercise Routine

Although you might lose some weight if you change your diet, the process will be slow unless you also move your body. Exercise burns calories and strengthens your muscles, so it leads to quicker fat loss and prevents deterioration of your strength while you’re in a calorie deficit. If you’re not used to exercising, take it slow, and gradually build up to more strenuous sports.

Experiment with different kinds of movements. Many weight loss patients love going for walks. At first, they might only have the strength for a 10-30-minute stroll, but over time, they build up their muscles, so they can go further and faster. Others enjoy swimming, water aerobics, cycling, or using the cross trainer at the gym. Exercise classes can be motivating and add variety to a fitness routine.

Hormone Therapy

Hormones have a massive impact on weight management. Patients who are struggling to lose weight despite their healthy lifestyle might have a problem with their hormonal balance. They sometimes have too much of the hormone leptin, which comes from the body’s fat cells and stimulates appetite. They might also have a problem with insulin. If the body can no longer control blood glucose, it’s hard for the patient to lose weight safely.

Women who are going through menopause are particularly susceptible to hormonal issues. Their bodies no longer produce enough estrogen, so the fat distribution and the ability to lose weight changes. The same happens to men when they grow older. Fortunately, there is an easy solution. At the clinic, we offer bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to patients who are struggling with their hormonal balance.

Cosmetic Treatments

After losing a lot of weight, many patients expect to look and feel completely different. But this isn’t always the case. After shedding dozens of pounds, people often find that their skin sags and is more wrinkled than before. They might still struggle with stubborn pockets of fat in some areas of their bodies. To achieve their desired results, these people have to undergo cosmetic treatments.

There are many minimally invasive options that don’t damage the body or require a lengthy recovery process. We offer BOTOX and dermal fillers to people who are worried about sagging, wrinkling, and a loss of volume in their faces. For patients who prefer natural or noninvasive methods, laser treatment and platelet-rich fibrin are highly effective alternatives that produce long-lasting results. We can also recommend advanced skin care products.

Ongoing Monitoring and Accountability

You’re not done when you’ve lost your excess weight. The next step, finding a sustainable lifestyle that allows you to maintain your weight, is the most important because it determines whether you’re successful in the long run. Around 20% of people gain back their weight within a year, and 80% eventually become overweight or obese again.

If you want to maintain your excellent results, you need an accountability partner. This can be a friend or family member, but it can also be someone at the clinic. We’re happy to help you stay on track with regular check-ins and appointments.

Who Needs Help with Weight Loss?

Almost everyone who is overweight or obese needs help with weight loss. As mentioned, the long-term success rate is very low, and most people who attempt to lose weight on their own eventually fail. If you’ve ever tried to shed your extra pounds and found it difficult, come to the clinic, and ask us to monitor you.

Our weight loss strategies are helpful for everyone, but they are particularly beneficial for people who have a medical condition that prevents them from losing weight. This could be a hormonal imbalance, a nutrient deficiency, or something similar. At the clinic, we perform tests to figure out why our patients are struggling with weight loss; then, we suggest effective treatments.

How Long Does It Take to Lose Weight?

Most people can safely lose around one to two pounds per week. This means that an appropriate weight loss goal might be 50 pounds per year. It’s important to remember that the human body doesn’t work like a machine, so the process isn’t smooth and even.

In the beginning, patients might lose much more than two pounds, but later on, they might hit a plateau and fail to lose any weight for several weeks. This is completely normal. As long as the patient continues with their healthy habits, they will eventually reach their goals.

Is a Crash Diet Ever a Good Idea?

You might have heard about various crash diets that involve consuming less than 1,000 calories a day to speed up the weight loss process. Several studies have concluded that these diets are almost always unsafe. Although you might lose a lot of weight quickly, your body isn’t receiving the nutrients it needs, so there could be long-term health issues.

It’s also worth considering that crash diets often don’t involve doing a lot of exercise. When losing weight rapidly, the body absorbs some of its muscles, so the patient becomes weaker. This is counter-productive and doesn’t help the person to achieve their ideal body shape. A slow, sustainable weight loss strategy is always better.

Achieve Your Desired Shape

Losing a lot of weight is extremely challenging. Some patients fail because they find it hard to stick to healthy habits, while others struggle because they are overweight due to medical issues like hormonal imbalances. A good weight management program helps patients to lose weight safely and sustainably. Get in touch with us at Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN to find out more about our treatments.