What can patients do to ensure weight loss success?
Losing weight isn't easy and it's not a quick process. The most important thing you can do when you embark upon a weight loss journey is start with the right mindset. Knowing that weight creeps on over time, it makes sense that we should lose weight in the same slow steady process.
In general, a gradual and sustainable approach to weight loss is considered more beneficial for long-term success and overall health. The rate of weight loss can vary, but a commonly recommended guideline is to aim for a weight loss of 0.5 to 1 kilogram (1 to 2 pounds) per week.
Losing weight at this moderate pace allows the body to adjust to the changes and minimizes the risk of negative health effects. It also helps ensure that weight loss predominantly comes from fat stores rather than muscle mass. Rapid weight loss, on the other hand, is often associated with a higher risk of muscle loss, nutrient deficiencies, gallstones, and other health complications.
Knowing that weight loss should be slow and steady patients can set themselves up for success by making small incremental changes each week. The most obvious thing to start with is diet, improve the quality of food choices and slowly reduce calorie intake. Calorie requirements vary from person to person, but aiming for a daily deficit of 500 calories would be a good starting point for most patients. Moving more helps to burn more calories, so incremental increases to exercise also has powerful results.
So in simple terms, diets do not mean starvation and exercise doesn’t mean killer gym sessions or marathons on the treadmill.
Losing weight is a habit, and its supported by the healthy habits of eating well and getting exercise. Making new habits stick is difficult, this is why we should try to change one thing at a time, adjust, review and reflect.
Many patients try to change too many things on day 1 of their weight loss journey and this creates a lack of control and makes them more likely to feel like they have failed and give up before they have even begun.
Weight loss medications are clinically proven to assist with lifestyle changes to aid weight loss, helping patients feel fuller for longer or control cravings and when coupled with diet and exercise we can see some incredible life changing results.