Weight Loss Clinic Tips

Just about everybody in America needs to lose at least some weight these days, making the weight loss industry one of the most profitable in the country. People literally spend billions of dollars every year on supplements, books, programs, and even surgery, all in the quest to lose weight and keep it off.

There are lots of ways to lose weight, but the question is, are there any that are more successful than others at actually helping you keep it off? Nutritional guides, books, supplements, and pre-prepared food programs all promise to do just that, and if your weight problem is particularly severe, you can even undergo surgery in an attempt to keep it off permanently.

The problem is, most of these solutions have their own complications, and some of them are actually dangerous. Supplements like ephedra, for example, have been taken off the market because they’ve been shown to damage health, and can even cause death. Is there a truly safe way to lose weight permanently? Maybe; a weight loss clinic usually offers strict programs that are often medically supervised, which can make weight loss safer – and often permanent.

Enrolling in a program at a weight loss clinic

The premise of these types of clinics is that they offer supervised programs that incorporate some kind of education in regard to nutrition, a structured exercise program, and behavioral modification focused on changing eating habits. Some programs use nutrition, exercise programs, and behavioral therapy along with other medically based weight loss methods, like prescribing certain drugs or undergoing bariatric surgery, as a complete approach to make weight loss easier.

Components of the weight loss clinic programs

Nutrition education

Some people know what good nutrition is and may ignore it more often than not to focus on unhealthy foods, while others may simply eat too many calories. Many people, however, are utterly ignorant when it comes to good nutrition, and the nutrition education offered at a weight loss clinic is meant to take care of that deficiency. The nutrition education focuses on developing healthy eating habits that include plenty of good, healthy foods, enough but not too many calories, and the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

Exercise

These clinics offer exercise programs that are specifically constructed for people that have been sedentary and are significantly overweight. Most of these programs teach people how to exercise gently at first, and then ramp things up as they lose weight and get into better shape. Pre-existing health conditions as a result of the excess weight, like diabetes, are also taken into careful consideration when exercise programs are constructed for clients.

Behavior modification

Because so many people who are overweight or obese use food as entertainment or comfort, and not simply as nutritional fuel, significant behavior modification may be necessary to change how they think about food. Behavior modification as offered by a weight loss clinic teaches them to enjoy modest amounts of food at every meal, for nutrition and fuel instead of as entertainment or for comfort.

Other things to think about

Although weight loss clinic programs are generally very successful in the short term, their results may only be temporary. Because they are so strictly supervised, this strength is also a weakness. Although the supervision can most certainly result in successful weight loss, once that supervision is gone, the weight can return very quickly. However, if dieters actually use the knowledge learned there to best effect, they can make successful – and permanent –weight loss happen, and these programs can be very successful indeed.

The new year is upon us, and with it comes one of the most common resolutions: it’s time to lose weight and get healthier. For many of us, we’ll start the new year off with perfectly good intentions, only to find ourselves drowning in chocolate cake and ice cream before the first week is out. For so many of us, diets are really only struggles in failure, not success. Even if we do lose the weight, most of us don’t keep it off. Is there a better way? There might be.

The weight loss clinic has been around for a long time, ever since the days of the first medically supervised weight loss programs. Today, many of them have come back in different incarnations with new names, but they all have one thing in common. They provide strictly controlled and supervised weight loss in a clinic or medical environment. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this type of weight loss program.

Advantages

* Supervised and controlled

The clinic has a huge advantage, and that is that it’s a supervised environment. Take a moment and be honest with yourself. Are you someone who fails to embrace a sensible eating plan despite your best intentions? Have you tried and failed with one fad diet after another, only to gain even more weight after your initial loss? Have you put your health in danger with dangerous supplements like ephedra, or with starvation diets? If you answer yes to any of these questions, joining a weight loss clinic may be just the thing you need.

In the clinic environment, what you eat will generally be carefully supervised. This won’t entirely eliminate your weight loss struggles forever, but it can give you a jumpstart on a good, healthy eating plan with proper food and the right balance of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Different plans focus on different things, but most of them have at least some focus on nutrition, exercise, lifestyle changes, and behavioral modification focused on helping you change how you eat. Some also include prescribed drugs to help control appetite or weight loss surgery.

* Careful modification

You may be one of those people who simply doesn’t know what good nutrition is. You’ll learn what it is in the weight loss clinic environment, and you’ll likely also learn behavioral changes that will help you avoid reaching for food as a stress reliever. Finally, you’ll also learn how to exercise, starting where you are so that you don’t injure yourself by doing too much too soon.

* Focus on safety

Because the environment is supervised, it’s also quite safe. While it may not be advisable to undertake a strenuous exercise program or take weight loss drugs on your own, it may be perfectly fine to do so as long as you’re supervised. Trying to drastically change what you eat or ramping up your physical activity could be dangerous unless it’s carefully controlled in the weight loss clinic environment.

Disadvantages

There are some disadvantages to a weight loss clinic program, too.

* It’s temporary

Inevitably, the structured environment of the clinic is going to give way to life on your own. Ideally, you’ve learned enough behavioral changes and knowledge about food to be able to manage on your own outside of that structure. If you haven’t, though, and you need that structure, you could relapse.

* It’s expensive

If you have success, a clinic program is time and money well spent. However, if you don’t, your time in the clinic could be an expensive failure. Weight loss clinics by their very nature are going to be more expensive than other types of weight loss programs, simply because they are so supervised and specialized. That said, if you learn from your time there so that you do make permanent and healthy changes, the weight loss clinic can be very beneficial.

Weight loss is one of the hottest industries in the country, with would-be dieters spending literally billions of dollars on various programs, books, supplements, and other treatments to try to lose those extra pounds.

There are many ways you can lose weight. There are plenty of do-it-yourself diets on the market, books, nutritional guides, and more. There are supplements that are marketed as beneficial to for weight loss; if you wish and you meet certain criteria, you can opt for weight loss surgery to help you lose those extra pounds.

Of course, all of these methods can have complications, some of them dangerous. Supplements like ephedra have been banned from the market because they have been shown to be so dangerous, even causing death. Is there truly a safe way to lose weight, then?

Is going to a weight loss clinic a safe way to lose weight?

These clinics are meant to help you control weight loss by putting you in a controlled healthcare setting, like a hospital or standalone clinic. Your treatment is carefully supervised by professionals at every step of the way, which can arguably make them safer than other weight-loss methods you do entirely on your own.

What is offered at a weight loss clinic?

Programs vary, but most offer some type of nutrition education, an exercise program, and a focus on changing eating behavior. Some programs combine nutrition, exercise programs, and behavioral therapy with weight loss surgery and/or drugs to help facilitate weight loss.

* Nutrition education

Although many overweight or obese people know what good nutrition means and simply can’t or won’t follow a healthy diet, many people are also woefully uninformed about