If you’ve been trying to lose weight, you may have heard about medical weight loss and wonder what the difference is between medical weight loss and losing weight on your own. Is the process any different when you try to lose weight yourself versus when you do it with the assistance of a medical professional?
Whether you are trying to lose weight for health reasons or aesthetic purposes, medical weight loss could be just what you need. Here’s what you need to know about the difference between losing weight on your own and medical weight loss.
The Key Difference Between Medical Weight Loss And Losing Weight On Your Own
As you can guess from the name, the key difference between medical weight loss and losing weight on your own is that the first is done under the supervision of a medical professional and the second is done by yourself.
Generally, in order to qualify for a medical weight loss program, you need to be obese or overweight, while if you just want to shed a few extra pounds, that’s moreso something that you would do on your own. Bear in mind that this is a generalization and that many clinics that offer medical weight loss programs are here to help you reach your goal weight – as long as your goal weight is healthy.
Whenever it comes to weight loss, no matter whether it’s 5 pounds or 50, it’s always a good idea to consult with a medical professional in order to ensure that you don’t risk your health in the process. You want to ensure that your diet and exercise program is right for you, and no matter how much weight you want to lose, a medical professional can help you.
The Struggle Of Losing Weight On Your Own
While you certainly can lose weight on your own, there are some common struggles that people face when doing this. From constant trial and error to losing the weight only to gain it back to developing eating disorders, trying to lose weight with only yourself to help you can be incredibly difficult.
#1. You Have To Figure It Out For Yourself
When you take on trying to lose weight on your own, you’re faced with all sorts of different struggles. There are countless diets and workout plans to choose from, not to mention all of the ads about miracle products or detox programs. It can feel overwhelming trying to deduce what is right for you and your body. All the trial and error of figuring out what is right for you can be incredibly discouraging.
While you can certainly figure out what works for you, unless you really know yourself and your body, it can take quite some time to figure out what foods and workouts work best for your specific body and the demands of your lifestyle.
#2. Struggling To Keep The Weight Off
Have you heard of yo-yo dieting? This is when people will go on a diet, lose the weight they wanted to lose, and then end up gaining it back when they stop the diet. This often happens when you aren’t following a healthy diet or making a lifestyle change.
In order to not only lose weight but keep it off, you can’t just go on a diet every now and then. You need to make a lifestyle change and commit to your healthier lifestyle in order to maintain your weight. Because diets seldom work long-term, this can cause people to get incredibly discouraged because they keep gaining the weight that they lost back.
Unfortunately, fad diets are everywhere. Many are alarming in the unhealthy practices they promote. Steer clear of any weight loss plan that tells you you can lose 30 pounds in 30 days. Healthy, sustainable weight loss takes time, but gives you lasting results – without forcing you into disordered eating patterns.
#3. Risk Of Disordered Eating
It’s shocking how common disordered eating patterns are incorporated into many weight loss programs, such as those “juice cleanses” where you only drink juice for a week or so. There’s a stark difference between eating in a caloric deficit and not eating enough calories to sustain your body. There’s also a stark difference between avoiding a food because it doesn’t sit well with your body, such as lactose if you are lactose intolerant, and avoiding foods because they are “bad”.
Fear foods – aka, foods that you deem “bad” and that you are nervous to eat because they are “bad” – can lead you to develop an unhealthy, obsessive relationship with food. Rest assured, you can lose weight and still have pizza. Healthy eating just means that pizza is more of a once in a while food, rather than something that you have on the daily.
Since disordered eating patterns are commonly promoted with many weight loss programs, if you try to lose weight by yourself, you could inadvertently develop an unhealthy relationship with food.
The Top Benefits Of Medical Weight Loss
When you opt for medical weight loss, you are working with a medical professional who takes into account your specific needs in order to develop a weight loss plan specifically for you. They will ask about everything you’ve tried in the past, what your eating habits are like, what your lifestyle is like, and monitor you closely throughout the program in order to ensure that you are both seeing results and that you are staying healthy throughout the process.
#1. Focus On Health
When it comes to weight loss, it’s very easy to become obsessed with the number on the scale. However, if you don’t just want to lose the weight but you want to keep it off, this involves an overall lifestyle change.
This means that rather than focusing on the number on the scale, medical weight loss involves an overall lifestyle change. The focus is on health, so that you can both look and feel healthier. Since you work with a medical professional on being more active and eating right for your body, this makes it easier to sustain your weight loss than if you jumped on the latest diet.
#2. Informed Medical Advice Specific To You
You know how the biggest challenge with trying to lose weight on your own is figuring out what works? When you work with a medical professional, they take the time to truly get to know you and your specific concerns in order to customize a medical weight loss plan unique to you.
This takes the guesswork out of weight loss and allows you to focus on doing what works, rather than going through all of this trial and error. Bear in mind that your weight loss plan may need adjustments as you go, in order to alter anything that isn’t working.
With medical weight loss, we look at the underlying causes of your weight gain in order to better help you lose the weight. We also know that you can’t realistically follow a weight loss plan that isn’t customized to your lifestyle and schedule. There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to finding the right weight loss plan for you.
#3. Encouragement And Support
When you want to lose weight, it can be easy to beat yourself up about it, especially if it’s challenging for you. When you work with a medical professional, they will regularly check in with you and provide encouragement and support.
With the focus on health and the personalization of the weight loss plans, medical weight loss programs allow you to shed the pounds in a healthier, less stressful manner.
We Provide Medical Weight Loss Programs
Life Health Medical Center provides medical weight loss programs to help you reach a healthy weight in a sustainable manner. To learn more about our medical weight loss programs, please do not hesitate to contact us today!
