Many individuals struggle with weight management, facing challenges in losing weight and maintaining their progress. Far too many people struggle with their weight. They find it challenging to drop the pounds and keep them off over a long period of time. Obesity is a complex, chronic disease, and managing it alone can be challenging. Fortunately, numerous weight loss clinics across America offer support, encouragement, and advanced treatments to help individuals meet their weight loss goals. This article explores several reputable weight loss clinics, highlighting their approaches, services, and what makes them stand out.
Understanding the Landscape of Weight Loss Clinics
Weight loss clinics vary widely in their approaches, ranging from medically supervised programs to surgical interventions. A medical weight loss approach can assure long-term results for all individuals. Some clinics focus on lifestyle changes, while others incorporate medications or surgical procedures. It’s important to understand how much of a problem we are having with weight in the US. According to the National Weight Control Registry there are about 108 Million people on diets in the United States, and these dieters make about 4-5 attempts each year. There are about 220,000 people with morbid obesity, and the cost for bariatric surgery can range from $11,500 to $26,000. Obesity also brings increased risk for other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer or even stroke. Choosing the right clinic involves considering individual needs, health conditions, and weight loss goals.
Southcoast Health: Comprehensive Care and Recognition
Southcoast Health prides itself on its numerous accolades that reflect a dedication to providing exceptional healthcare. They have been recognized for excellence in patient care, earning awards that highlight their commitment to innovative practices and outstanding service. With a team of world-class providers, they ensure that every patient receives the highest standard of medical attention. Southcoast Health offers advanced treatment paired with ongoing support and encouragement to help individuals meet their weight loss goals.
UCLA Health: A Holistic Approach to Weight Management
UCLA Health offers comprehensive weight management services to meet individuals where they are in their weight loss journey. As part of the UCLA Health Center for Human Nutrition, their experts understand that weight management is about much more than calorie intake and exercise. That’s why they deliver customized plans that focus on overall physical and mental health.
Key Features of UCLA Health's Weight Management Program
- Expert Team: UCLA Health approaches weight loss from all angles, considering genetics, metabolism, psychology, and the environment. Their team includes experienced physician nutrition specialists, registered dietitians, clinical psychologists, therapists, and physical therapists who specialize in weight loss. They work with individuals to prevent diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other health issues based on individual needs.
- Extensive Experience: With over 45 years of experience, UCLA Health’s medical weight management program was among the first in the nation to offer very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) to successfully treat obesity.
- Educational Seminars: Translating basic and clinical research, UCLA Health provides ongoing weekly seminars to bring new discoveries in nutrition and clarify myths about diet and exercise.
- Pharmacotherapy: UCLA Health has been involved with clinical trials to study new medications that treat obesity. Their providers offer a wide range of medications to aid diet and exercise programs.
- Long-Term Support: Maintaining a healthy weight is critical. UCLA Health offers a comprehensive maintenance program to help keep the weight off, focusing on cognitive behavioral therapy to change thought patterns and behaviors as individuals adopt a healthy lifestyle.
- Program for Children and Adolescents: In collaboration with UCLA Health Mattel Children’s Hospital, UCLA Health offers the UCLA Fit for Health Program, focusing on children and teens who are obese or carry extra weight.
- Successful Bariatric Surgery: UCLA Health specializes in minimally invasive weight loss surgery techniques that involve less scarring and faster recovery time, with some of the best outcomes in the United States.
Weight Management Services Offered at UCLA Health
- Comprehensive Health Assessments: UCLA Health gathers details about overall health through blood tests, body composition analyses, and thorough reviews of weight history, medications, nutrition patterns, and eating habits to create the most effective program.
- Programs for Children and Teens: UCLA Health, in partnership with UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, prevents and manages obesity in children and adolescents with a multispecialty team including pediatricians, surgeons, dietitians, and psychologists.
- Weight Maintenance Program: UCLA Health offers a robust long-term maintenance program with monthly one-on-one meetings with a dietitian and access to group classes.
Weight Loss Treatments at UCLA Health
- Medical Weight Management: UCLA Health specializes in medically supervised weight management plans and nutrition therapy, with doctors overseeing weight loss, adjusting medications, and monitoring health. They create personalized dietary programs based on food preferences, body composition, metabolism, and medical history. These plans include regular visits with a dietitian and doctor, frequent checkups, and counseling.
- Pharmacotherapy for Weight Loss: UCLA Health offers medications that help people with obesity lose weight, such as drugs that reduce fat absorption, help individuals feel full longer, decrease appetite, or regulate hormones.
- Bariatric Surgery Procedures: At the UCLA Center for Obesity and METabolic (COMET) Health, specialists are nationwide leaders in bariatric surgery, specializing in innovative techniques, including minimally invasive, robot-assisted procedures. They offer Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, lap band procedures, and gastric sleeve surgery, as well as endoscopic weight loss procedures that don’t require an incision.
Additional Support at UCLA Health
- Weight Loss Classes, Education, Counseling, and Support: UCLA Health offers a wide range of helpful classes, webinars, and support groups, including cognitive behavioral therapy sessions. They also offer diabetes prevention and education programs, the Healthier Weight Program, presurgical classes, and the Program for Reducing Obesity (PRO).
Cleveland Clinic: Comprehensive and Personalized Care
Cleveland Clinic offers a comprehensive and personalized approach to medical weight management, recognizing that obesity is a complex, chronic disease that requires individualized care.
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Why Choose Cleveland Clinic for Medical Weight Management?
- Trusted Experts: Cleveland Clinic's providers have extensive training and experience in treating people who have obesity, using the newest medical therapies and FDA-approved weight loss medications.
- Comprehensive Treatment: Cleveland Clinic's medical weight management team includes highly skilled providers from many different specialties, all working together to give comprehensive, personalized care. The team may include obesity medicine physicians, dietitians, exercise physiologists, gastroenterologists (GI doctors), endocrinologists, psychologists, and advanced practice providers who specialize in obesity care.
- Caring Approach: Cleveland Clinic understands that many factors go into managing weight and provides compassionate support at every step, creating a weight management treatment plan that helps individuals achieve their goals and stay healthy.
- Personalized Care: Cleveland Clinic's care team tailors the medical weight management plan to meet specific needs and goals, which may include medications, lifestyle and nutrition therapies, endoscopic procedures, or weight loss surgery.
- National Recognition: Cleveland Clinic is a trusted healthcare leader, recognized nationally and throughout the world for expertise and care.
- Virtual Visits: Cleveland Clinic offers virtual visits for some appointments, providing convenient care from home.
Medical Weight Management at Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic treats various weight-related issues, including:
- Weight gain caused by medications for conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and some mental health disorders.
- Weight gain from conditions complicated by obesity, like fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), GERD, osteoarthritis, and more.
- Weight gain after cancer treatment, pregnancy, or menopause.
- Weight that’s come back after bariatric surgery.
They can also help individuals lose weight before surgeries, like knee or hip replacements, hernia repairs, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and organ transplants.
What to Expect at Your Evaluation
The first step at Cleveland Clinic involves a physical exam and questions about personal and family medical history. Next, they measure blood pressure and heart rate and do blood tests to check blood sugar and cholesterol levels and see how well your liver and thyroid are working. They also inquire about lifestyle, diet, eating habits, sleep, physical activity, and emotional stressors. Measurements include BMI and, for some, a waist circumference.
Medical Weight Management Treatment at Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic builds a medical weight management treatment plan based on the physical exam and test results, combined with how much weight individuals want to lose and any other health conditions they have. The plan may include one or more of these therapies:
- Lifestyle Therapy: Cleveland Clinic supports individuals in making lifestyle and habit changes, helping them cope with challenges that can affect weight and appetite, like addiction, anxiety and depression, eating disorders, smoking, stress, and trauma.
- Nutritional Therapy: A dietitian helps individuals tailor their diet to help them keep a weight that’s healthy for them, addressing emotional eating, unstructured eating habits, and mindful eating.
- Medical Therapy (Obesity Medications): Cleveland Clinic may suggest FDA-approved obesity medications to help manage weight, used in combination with lifestyle changes.
- Endoscopic Bariatric and Metabolic Therapies (EMBTs): These nonsurgical, minimally invasive procedures use an endoscope placed through the mouth and into the stomach and small bowel.
- Weight Loss Surgery: Cleveland Clinic may recommend weight loss surgery if individuals have moderate to severe obesity and weight-related complications.
Follow-Up Care at Cleveland Clinic
Once starting the medical weight management program, individuals check in with their providers every month, allowing for close monitoring and adjustments to the program.
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Ameri-Cal Weight Clinic: A Convenient Approach
Ameri-Cal Weight Clinic aims to help individuals lose weight while enjoying what they want to eat, offering low-calorie meal plans and FDA-approved appetite suppressants to help control hunger. The Ameri-Cal Weight Clinic program is perhaps the most convenient way to lose weight while enjoying what you want to eat. This program does not take your weight loss responsibilities away, but makes it easier for you to manage. They emphasize real people with real results, focusing on helping individuals discover the real you.
Advanced Medical Weight Loss Center: Personalized Plan Development
The critical element of our medical weight loss program at Advanced Medical Weight Loss Center is plan development. Advanced Medical Weight Loss Center focuses on plan development, striving to learn more about the reasons behind individuals' issues with weight and reviewing their medical history to determine the best weight loss plan for their long-term objectives. Based on initial planning work and testing, they make clear recommendations on the weight loss options available, educating patients about the various risks and benefits of using their weight loss techniques.
Rivas Medical Weight Loss: Physician-Led Care
At Rivas Medical Weight Loss, they empower individuals to reclaim their health and confidence through personalized, physician-led care. Patients begin their journey with an in-office appointment and weekly visits with a medical provider. Many patients report reduced appetite and fewer cravings around this time. As your program continues, you may begin to notice changes in how you feel or how your clothes fit.
UCSF Weight Management Program: Customized Plans and Experienced Doctors
The UCSF Weight Management Program offers customized plans to help adult patients achieve and maintain weight loss. The plans may include weight loss techniques, dietary changes, exercise programs and behavior modifications, as well as support groups and educational lectures. Established in 1985, their program is led by doctors who have more than 20 years of experience in managing weight loss, including for patients with complicated medical conditions. Their team includes a registered dietitian and clinical psychologist with special training in weight management. They offer three weight management plans: The Step-by-Step Program, the Meal Replacement Program and the Individual Consultation Program.
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