Program for Obesity Treatment

An important aim of obesity treatment is to achieve a healthier weight. An equally important aim is to maintain this healthy body weight. The good news is; measurable health improvements can be obtained by as little as a 5 to 10 percent weight loss. This means that the amount of weight you need to lose to improve your health may be much less than what you feel you need to lose.

If you weigh 100 kg and are obese by BMI standards, you would need to lose about 5 to 10 kg. Consider this your first aim, then you don't have to stop there, but it's a definitely good starting point. Afterwards, plan to achieve a slow but steady weight loss of 0.5 or 1 kg a week. This indeed is considered the safest way to lose weight and the best way to keep it off.

A program for achieving a healthy weight involves dietary changes, increasing activity & behavior modification. As part of this program, and if the desired weight loss was not achieved, drugs used to lose weight, or weight-loosing surgery might be suggested by your doctor with certain precautions.

Dietary changes:

Lowering your total calorie intake is a definite approach to promote weight loss. Reading and proper utilization of the nutritional facts on each item in your food; eating more plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains; and limiting your sugar, refined carbohydrates and some types of fat from your diet; are but some helpful recommendations that can be easily implemented. It might be encouraging to initiate these changes after consulting

with a dietitian for a reputable weight-loss program to follow.

Other approaches such as crash diets and fasting are not recommended as they might cause nutrient deficiencies leading to other health problems, such as vitamin deficiencies. 

In addition; very low calorie-liquid diets that provide about 800 calories per day, although sometimes prescribed as an intervention for seriously obese people; might cause a rebound weight gain when stopped.

Nowadays, people are bombarded with so many media commercials advertising for over-the-counter meal replacements. Unless you incorporate these replacements in a well-studied plan; where you replace one or two meals with these products, then eat snacks of vegetables and fruits and a healthy, balanced third meal that is low in fat and calories; they will not be as effective as they seem in the advertisements.

Increased physical activity:

Of equal importance to lowering your total calorie intake; engaging in daily moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes, or adding a 30- minute brisk walk four days a week; has proven to double your rate of weight loss.

Exercise offers tremendous amounts of health benefits; a major one is its direct involvement in weight loss by simply burning more calories. The frequency, duration and intensity of your activities will determine how many calories you burn.

If you have a busy daily schedule, and cannot dedicate fixed times for regularly planned aerobic exercise, the good news is that any extra movement introduced into your daily routine helps burn calories. Throughout the day, focus on

introducing ways to increase your physical activity. For example, instead of using the elevator, make several trips up- and down-stairs; even in an empty parking lot, intentionally park your car at the far end away from the building entrance; and when running several errands that are relatively close to each other, park your car in one place and use walking to move from one to the other.

If you're obese, particularly if you're unfit and have health problems, check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Behavior modification:

Dietary changes and adding more activity into your day usually will not be sufficient to lose weight and keep it off. You need to make other changes in your lifestyle. Changing your lifestyle must involve changing your approach to eating and activity, which means changing how you think, feel and act.

A psychologist, therapist or other trained professional can offer you a behavior modification program. This will help you make the required lifestyle changes. Behavior modification programs may include examining your current habits to find out what factors or situations may have contributed to your excess weight. This gives you a place to start when changing your behaviors.

Professional therapists have come up with the following tips in order to help you creating a new, healthier lifestyle:

Have a plan. For example, consider how often and how long you will exercise. Determine a realistic eating plan that takes into account your daily schedule. Write it down and choose a start date.

            Set realistic goals. Aim to lose weight at a safe rate of 0.5 or 1 kg a week. Losing weight more rapidly is usually followed by a rebound gain of weight.

            Avoid food triggers. Distract yourself from your desire to eat with something positive, such as calling a friend. Eat when you're actually hungry — not when it's time to eat.

Keep a food and activity record in your diary. This will help you to enforce good habits and discover any behaviors that you may need to improve. In this record, make sure to track some of the important health parameters such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels and overall fitness.

Prescription weight loss medication:

If the dietary changes, increased physical activity, and behavior modifications fail; or if your body mass index (BMI) is greater than 27 and you have medical complications of obesity, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea; or if your BMI is greater than 30, your doctor may consider you a candidate for prescription weight loss medication treatment.

Presently only one prescription drug; orlistat (Xenical) has been approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) for long-term weight loss. This drug prevents the absorption of fat in your intestines. Unabsorbed fat is eliminated in the stool. The use of xenical is associated with a modest average weight loss — about 2.7 Kg after one year. You might experience some of the side effects associated with this drug, including oily and frequent bowel movements. You might also need to be supplemented with vitamins, as some of them may be lost with the fat in your stools.

Weight loss surgery:

Weight loss surgery might be an option for weight reduction in your case if you have clinically severe obesity (a BMI ≥ 40, or a BMI ≥ 35 with obesity-associated diseases), and if other methods of treatment have failed. If this is the case, the doctor will discuss with you in details different types of operations, the evidences for their effectiveness, how they work, and what should be your expectations following the surgery. The doctor will also plan for an integrated program that provides guidance on diet, physical activity, and psychosocial concerns before and after surgery.