THE SKINNY ON NON-SURGICAL WEIGHT LOSS

If you have tried to lose a significant amount of weight before and failed, you might be wondering if surgery is the answer. Before you consider going under the knife, there are some things you should know about medically supervised non-surgical weight loss.

Not All Weight Loss Plans Are Equal: A recent study that compared the success rates of a medically supervised weight loss program at The Centers for Medical Weight Loss to other weight loss plans found that working with a doctor specifically trained in weight loss and following a comprehensive program that addresses diet, exercise, and behavior works. So if you have tried to lose weight on your own in the past and failed, that does not mean non-surgical weight loss can’t work for you.

You Can Lose Weight Just As Fast: One of the appeals of weight loss surgery is how quickly the weight can come off in the first few months. While losing that amount of weight on your own with a fad diet plan would be dangerous, when it is done as part of a medically supervised program it is possible to lose weight just as quickly as with surgery.

Surgery Isn’t Foolproof: Many people who have had weight loss surgery lose the weight initially, only to start regaining it after a year or more if they return to their old habits. Others may have serious complications either at the time of surgery or require multiple adjustments over time. It is important to remember that weight loss surgery is not a quick, easy, or permanent answer to weight loss. Losing the weight and keeping it off after weight loss surgery will still require the same commitment that a non-surgical weight loss approach does.

Doctors Have Other Tools Besides a Knife: Surgery isn’t the only option a doctor can offer for weight loss. Doctors trained in medically supervised weight loss can prescribe weight loss medications to help reduce appetite and make sticking to a plan easier. Doctors can tap into other tools available only to physicians to help you lose weight. However, not all doctors know how to use the tools. Despite the fact that obesity is a leading health threat, many medical students get little or no training in how to help their patients lose weight and keep it off.

Nonsurgical Weight Loss Is The Best First Option: In almost every case, people can lose excess weight without surgery after they commit to and follow a medically supervised weight loss program that gets to the root causes of their weight issue. Along the way they will not only learn how to lose weight but how to overcome the individual factors that led them to gain weight to begin with.