Where to begin?

Consult a doctor about your weight first. Health care practitioners may not discuss weight, diet, or exercise during routine office appointments. You may need to address these concerns. Bring your questions and rehearse discussing them before your clinic visit if you’re uncomfortable discussing weight. Cooperate with your doctor to improve your health.

Woman chatting to a female doctor. Talking to your doctor about weight is crucial.

Get ready to visit

Consider these questions before your doctor visit:

• How can I improve my diet and weight?
• What sort and amount of exercise do I need to be healthy and lose weight?
• Should I consult a nutritionist, weight-loss specialist, or join a program?

You can prepare for a doctor’s visit by

• Note all your questions beforehand.
• Keep track of your medications and supplements or bring them.
• List your former weight-loss diets and programs.
• Read and take notes on your questions with a pen and paper, smartphone, or other device.

Health care professionals may examine you.

• Check your medical conditions and medications to see if they’re affecting your weight or weight loss.
• ask about your diet, drinking, and exercise.
• determine your BMI to assess obesity or overweight.
  Overweight people have 25.0–29.9 BMI. BMIs of 30.0 or greater indicate obesity, and 40.0 indicates extreme obesity. Check your BMI using this online tool or chart.

If your doctor recommends weight loss, ask for a referral to a program, nutritionist, or expert. Before joining a weight-loss program on your own, talk to a doctor, especially if you have health issues.

If you don’t understand or need additional information from your doctor, ask.

Health care professional questions

Health care professionals may answer these questions:

• A healthy weight or BMI for me?
• Will decreasing weight improve my overall and specific health issues?
• Could my medical issues or drugs be causing weight gain or making weight loss harder?
• Do I need to avoid any physical exercise for my health?
• What diets should I try or avoid?

Weight-loss programs: what should I look for?

To maintain a healthy weight, you must address your complete health and lifestyle, not just your diet. Healthy habits that help you lose weight safely, daily, and permanently should be promoted in successful weight-loss programs.

Programs for safe and effective weight loss should include

• Lifestyle counseling can help you develop and maintain healthy eating and physical activity habits, including keeping food and activity records, managing stress, and understanding weight-loss medication benefits and drawbacks.
• continuous feedback, monitoring, and assistance in person, by phone, online, or a combination of these methods throughout the program.
• slowly losing 1–2 pounds per week (but weight reduction may be greater at the start of a program).
• goal planning, self-checks such food journals, and counseling help to maintain weight loss

Most successful weight-loss programs have 14 or more behavioral sessions over 6 months and are led by professional staff.2

Some commercial weight-loss programs contain all these elements for safety and success. Look for these qualities in any program you’re considering.

These diets may help some people lose 15 pounds in a month, but they may not help them maintain their weight loss. These diets may cause gallstones, the most prevalent.3

Experts advise overweight or obese people to lose 5–10% of their starting weight in 6 months.2 If you weigh 200 pounds, you would lose 10 pounds (5%) to 20 pounds (10%) in six months.

Changing your lifestyle is hard, but sticking to good behaviors for a few weeks or months may help you lose weight. Read about healthy behavior changes.

What if the program is online?

Many weight-loss regimens are now online or via mobile apps. Researchers are evaluating the long-term effectiveness of these programs alone or with in-person training. Experts advise these weight-loss regimens to offer:

• Weekly, online or audio lessons geared to your goals
  skilled staff support to achieve your aims
• Use cellphones, activity counters, and online journals to document your lifestyle changes, such as healthy diet and exercise. (App truck)
• A counselor will email, call, or text you about your objectives, progress, and results.
• community support via message boards, chat rooms, or online meetups

Before joining an online or in-person program, do your research.

Many weight-loss programs are available online and via mobile apps.

Weight-loss plans to avoid

Avoid weight-loss plans that promise:

• Lose weight without diet or exercise!
• Eat lots of your favorite foods and lose weight!
• Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!
• Target trouble areas to lose weight!

Look for any warning indicators like

• Small language, asterisks, and footnotes can obscure crucial information. Be wary of phony
• before-and-after photographs and personal testimonials.
• Report weight-loss program scams to the Federal Trade Commission. 

What weight-loss program questions should I ask?

Weight-loss program staff should address inquiries about features, safety, prices, and results. Check if the program you want is based on current healthy weight research.

First and foremost, ask commercial weight-loss programs, “Has your company published any reports in peer-reviewed, scientific journals about the safety and effectiveness of your program?”

If “yes,” ask for the report or how to receive it. If no, the program is harder to evaluate and may not be as good as others that have published such information. Discuss the findings with your doctor if you have questions.

Other questions to consider:

The program includes what?

Eating

• Must I follow a meal plan?
• Am I urged to record my daily meals?
• Must I buy specific meals or supplements? What are the daily or weekly costs?
• Will the program recommend a healthy diet I can follow?
• Can I adjust the program’s special dishes to suit my tastes and allergies?

Physical Activity

• Physical exercise plan in the program?
• Does the program help me exercise and stay motivated?

Counseling

• Does the programme offer individual or group counselling to assist me adopt better habits?
• Is there a certified coach or counselor to assist me overcome obstacles and stay on track?

Maintain Weight

• Has the program a plan to assist me maintain my weight loss?
• That program includes what? Will counselling continue?

Other Features

• How long is the weight-loss program?
• Long is the weight-loss maintenance program?
• Does the programme require medication?
• Can I consult a doctor or licensed health professional?
• Can I customize the program for my lifestyle, work schedule, and culture?
• Will the program help me manage stress, social eating, sleep, work schedule changes, motivation, injury, and illness?
• The program in person? Has the program an online component?
• Male and female exercisers
  Find out if the program encourages exercise.

What training do employees receive?

These questions are crucial if you’re considering a medically supervised program that promotes rapid weight loss (3 or more pounds a week for several weeks):

Does a doctor or other licensed health professional manage the program?
Does the program have nutrition, exercise, behavior modification, and weight reduction experts?
What credentials, education, experience, and training do staff have? How long have most staff worked with the program?

Do programs or products pose risks?

Is the program damaging to my health?
Do I receive continual safety monitoring while in the program?
Will the program’s doctor or staff consult with my doctor to address how the program may influence my medical condition?

The program costs how much?

How much does the program cost overall?
Any additional expenditures, such as membership or weekly visit fees, not included in the total?
goods like food, meal replacements, and supplements
medical exams
psychotherapy sessions
maintenance of my weight loss

What do program participants usually achieve?

How much weight does the average lose?
Who maintains weight loss for how long?
Have you documented these and other program results?
Are program findings published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal?

If I need extra weight loss help?

If a weight-loss program doesn’t work, ask your doctor about other options. Prescription drugs for overweight and obesity and healthy lifestyle adjustments may help some people lose weight. Bariatric surgery may help severely obese persons.