There are a lot of treatment options to fight obesity, but for them to be effective, they must be sustainable — meaning you can stick with them for the long run. Stanford suggests tackling one treatment at a time. "Trying to do all these things simultaneously on January 1, is probably a recipe for disaster," she said. "Diet and lifestyle modification are always going to be our first step," she said. A well-rounded, well-balanced diet is the best choice and easier to maintain than crash or fad diets that rely on deprivation. "We want to have lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables as predominant sources of caloric value," Stanford explained. Plans for physical activity must also be made with sustainability in mind. With a healthcare provider's help, you can begin an exercise routine that is both beneficial and doable. Being sleep deprived or being under stress are both risk factors for obesity. An HCP may help you reduce stress and improve sleep quality and duration to help make you healthier. While nutrition and exercise changes are enough for some people, others need to take additional steps. "Every person is different. For many, diet and exercise alone is ineffective to overcome their weight dysregulation. As such, we escalate therapy to the use of medication and surgery to help treat the severity of their disease," wrote Stanford in an email following our initial conversation. There are different medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of obesity, which work in different ways. Some may lower your appetite or help you feel full faster; others may control the way the body absorbs fat.Bariatric surgery is another treatment option. "[Surgery] is by far the most effective treatment that we have anywhere in the world to treat patients with severe obesity. Technically, it's for moderate to severe obesity," Stanford said. She added that after surgery, some people need medication to maintain their weight loss.