Hugo L
Are you trying to lose weight, but you just don’t know which medical weight-loss solution is the best?
We’re going to present and explain 5 basic solutions, hoping that you will be able to pick the right one for you!
What Exactly is Medical Weight Loss?
Before we go any further, let’s answer the question: What exactly do we mean by the term “medical weight loss”? Loosely speaking, we mean the treatment of obesity that is based on established science. But to be more specific, let’s consult our favorite oracle, Wikipedia.
Wikipedia calls it bariatrics, and it gives it the following definition:
Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity.
What Types of Medical Weight-Loss Solutions Are There?
Obesity can be treated in several different ways, in which exercise and dieting are the two most common medical weight-loss solutions. But there are three more: Pharmaceuticals, surgery and behavioral therapy. If we put the 5 of them in order of how popular they are, it looks like this:
- Dieting
- Exercise
- Pharmaceuticals
- Bariatric surgery
- Behavioral therapy
Let’s dig deeper into each one.
1. Dieting
There are literally thousands of diets, all claiming to do miracles. Don’t believe them! Instead, read up on the diet you are interested in and use your common sense and logical thinking. If it’s still an interesting option, try it! But don’t forget to evaluate the effects once every one or two weeks. You will learn a ton by studying, thinking, trying, and evaluating (in that order).
A medical weight-loss diet that I believe could be helpful is the Cohen diet. It’s an individually adapted diet, based on your levels of three weight-affecting hormones. The levels of these hormones are measured by analyzing your blood, and if they are out of balance, you are likely struggling with your weight. Through a proper Cohen diet, you can force the hormones back into balance and thereby get a much better chance of actually losing weight.
2. Exercise
Since the essence of losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume, exercise is important (along with the food you eat). A lot can be said on this subject as the number of theories on how to best work out is as many as there are sports and activities to choose from.
Our advice would be (as usual) to use your common sense, and also to pick an activity that you enjoy. It will be so much easier to motivate yourself to work out if you think it’s fun than if you hate it.
So, if you enjoy tennis, go play tennis! If you love swimming, go swimming! I think you get the point…
3. Pharmaceuticals
There are an endless number of drugs and pills that promise fast and effective results. You have probably received your fair share of promotional emails selling these things. But even though most of these products are trash, there are some that actually works.
A few of these products are becoming more and more popular. Things like lipotropic injections and body wraps are now selling more than ever. Other pharmaceuticals – like l-carnitine and metformin – are also starting to stir up some interest in the weight-loss community.
But in general, you should steer clear from these types of products. They are most often not the solution to your problems.
4. Bariatric Surgery
If neither dieting nor exercise seem to help (and not any magic pill for that matter), many obese people turn to bariatric surgery. It is often seen as a last resort, as morbid obesity is very unhealthy and dangerous (and definitely life-shortening). For extremely overweight individuals, bariatric surgery can be an effective method, and that’s why it is growing in popularity.
Modern medicine is constantly getting better and safer, but you should be aware that there are still risks involved with this type of surgery.
Another thing to keep in mind is that before and after undergoing this type of surgery, a medical weight-loss diet must always be followed.
Three of the most common surgical procedures are:
- Sleeve gastrectomy – The size of the stomach is permanently reduced to about 15% of its original size. Before and after undergoing a sleeve gastrectomy, a special diet must be followed.
- Gastric bypass – The stomach is bypassed by creating a small pouch and connecting it to the intestines. When doing a gastric bypass, you need to stick to this diet.
- Gastric banding – A silicone band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, which restricts the intake of food.
There are several more bariatric procedures apart from these three. You can read more about them here.
5. Behavioral Therapy
Another solution to our weight-loss problems is to change how we think and act when it comes to food and exercise.
Because habits play such an important role in our lives, breaking bad habits and replacing them with good and healthy habits can make a huge difference. In life in general, and in losing weight in particular.
But how do we do to change our habits? Willpower works for a while, but only so far. For the long run, you need something bigger than willpower. You need a change in mindset. And to change your mindset that will allow you to lose weight sustainably, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be of great service.
CBT is just one form of therapy. There are others. For example hypnosis. Yes, that’s right. Hypnosis can actually help you in changing the way you think of food and weight loss.
