Put Your Health First This Year: How a Customized Weight Loss Program Can Help

The new year has arrived, and that means it’s the time when most of us make at least a few resolutions aimed at improving our lives during the next 12 months. If you’re like most people, there’s a good chance at least one of those resolutions has to do with either improving your health or losing weight. And for many, those two resolutions go hand in hand.

Being overweight or obese has been linked with a lot of really serious health problems, including heart disease, heart attack, stroke, depression, sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, diabetes, joint disease, fatty liver disease, and even some types of cancer. Losing those excess pounds isn’t just about looking and feeling your best (although that’s certainly one big benefit); it’s also about taking vital steps to prevent these and other serious medical issues so you can lead a healthier life for years to come.

The problem with diets

Usually the first step in losing weight is going on a diet. But the problem is, most of the diet programs out there are designed to fail right from the start. And let’s face it, few things are as demotivating and demoralizing as failing at a diet, especially if we lose a few pounds only to gain them all back after all that hard work. The primary reason so many diet programs fail is because they’re not focused on the root causes of weight gain. Instead, they use a one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss that winds up being very ineffective on a person-by-person basis.

When we gain weight, we gain it for different reasons. Sure, it may seem like we’re gaining because we’re eating the wrong foods or too much food or because we’re not active enough. And for sure, eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise is very important for losing weight and keeping it off. But while diet and exercise can help you shed pounds, they don’t address what’s causing your bad habits in the first place. And to be really successful at maintaining weight loss, you need to make sure those problems are recognized and treated.

By their very nature, weight loss programs designed for the general public are far too “general” in the way they work. Instead of thinking as your weight gain as “just” a matter of stacking on the pounds, you need to start looking at your problem as an issue that’s individual to your lifestyle, your health, your dietary needs, and other individual factors that can play a big role in weight management. And that's where a customized weight loss program comes in.

Weight loss tailored to your needs

Few of us simply choose to eat because we can. For most of us, overeating or eating unhealthy snack foods happens because we’re overly tired, stressed, depressed, or have some other health- or life-related issue that’s spurring us on. For many people, food is used to mask boredom or instill feelings of calmness. For others, food cravings might be masking an underlying metabolic disorder, nutritional problem, or vitamin deficit. In any of these cases, unless we diagnose and manage the underlying issue first, our long-term weight-loss efforts are almost always doomed to fail, even if we wind up shedding some weight to begin with.

Custom weight loss programs begin with a thorough medical review and health history as well as a review of your lifestyle habits to understand what’s causing you to gain weight or preventing you from losing weight and keeping it off. At Nova Physician Wellness Center, Dr. Suri performs a comprehensive physical exam along with lab testing to get a complete picture of your health and your weight-loss needs and problems. Once he determines the underlying issues you’re dealing with, he’ll work with you to design a weight-loss plan and management strategy you can use in the real world, without gimmicks or gadgets, so you can feel confident in your weight loss and your overall health as well. And as you lose weight, Dr. Suri will continue to work with you, revising and tailoring your program to your evolving needs so you can maintain your results and enjoy optimal health for years to come.

Learn how a customized weight loss program can help you

Make 2019 the year you take control of your weight and your health. To find out how a custom weight loss program can help you be healthier and happier, book an appointment online today.