Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for overall well-being, reducing the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. It also eases stress on your joints, heart, and lungs. Indiana University (IU) Health offers a range of weight loss services and clinics designed to support individuals in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. This article provides a detailed overview of IU Health's weight loss programs, services, and resources.
Determining Your Weight Status
The first step in determining if you are overweight is to ask your doctor for your body mass index (BMI). You can also calculate this at home by taking your height in inches and squaring it, then dividing your weight in pounds by that number. Finally, multiply the number by 703 to determine your BMI. A healthy BMI is between 18 and 25. If your BMI is higher, the next step is to talk to your doctor about losing weight.
IU Health's Approach to Weight Management
At IU Health, a team approach is used to guide individuals toward safe and healthy weight loss. Physician-supervised programs are tailored to specific medical conditions and weight loss needs. Health professionals closely monitor your health as you progress on your weight loss journey.
Comprehensive Weight Loss Services
IU Health Primary Care physicians serve as your support team, understanding the difficulties of losing weight and assisting you in making a comprehensive plan for weight loss. They have access to expert resources on nutrition and exercise and will ensure you remain healthy throughout your weight loss journey through regular appointments and monitoring of existing conditions. By providing high-quality care and coordination of weight loss, IU Health helps you live a healthier, more active lifestyle.
Weight management services include resources, education, and referrals to specialists, such as registered dietitians or physical therapists.
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Individualized Care and Support
When you visit IU Health Bariatric & Medical Weight Loss - Lafayette or Frankfort, you'll receive care designed for your specific needs. These highly skilled teams believe in treating you as a whole person, not just a symptom. They focus on making your experience as seamless as possible, from your initial visit through follow-up appointments.
Components of IU Health Weight Loss Programs
IU Health emphasizes a long-term commitment to eating well, exercising, and living your life in ways that help you maintain your focus on losing weight and keeping it off.
Initial Assessment
Your initial visit includes a complete physical exam and medical history, as well as an analysis of your exercise and eating habits. You undergo blood tests and an electrocardiogram.
Exercise and Active Lifestyle
Exercise is a key part of IU Health's medical weight loss programs. You receive instruction in how to maintain an active lifestyle. As an IU Health patient, you also receive fitness discounts to nearby fitness centers.
For most adults, you should be getting at least 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity per week.
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Nutrition and Diet
Getting to and maintaining a healthy weight means eating a nutritious diet and adding physical activity. Ask your doctor about how many calories you should be eating each day. Calorie counts can depend on gender, age, and activity level. For most adults, the number of calories you should be eating falls between 1,600 and 2,400 per day.
A variety of nutrition options are available, including very low-calorie diets, meal replacements, or a combination of meal replacements and food. With this medically supervised weight loss option, you meet regularly with a nurse practitioner trained in acute care and mental health who monitors your weight loss and body composition. Certified personal trainers and registered dietitians design fitness programs and meal plans as part of your weight loss team.
Behavioral Strategies and Psychological Support
As your body and lifestyle changes, IU Health educates you about behavioral strategies you can use to maintain your progress. If the stress of making these changes is difficult to manage, psychological therapies can help. You may experience depression or anxiety as your body and your lifestyle rapidly transforms.
If you feel that emotions, stress, or personal challenges are affecting your relationship with food, body image, or your weight goals, SupportLinc, IU’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), provides no-cost, confidential access to licensed counselors 24/7 who can provide short-term counseling to employees and their household members. You can receive up to six (6) face-to-face counseling sessions per presenting issue per year (in-person or virtual).
Medication
Your physician may prescribe weight loss medicines to help you lose weight. If your body mass index (BMI) is 30 or above, these medicines can reduce your appetite.
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Support Groups and Workshops
IU Health provides free monthly support groups where guest speakers and educational workshops offer ideas you can use to meet fitness and nutrition goals. Quarterly workshops teach you to prepare delicious meals that everyone in the family can eat while also meeting your weight loss goals. You learn how to experiment with new cooking styles and flavorings.
Bariatric Surgery at IU Health
IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital offers customized surgical and medical weight loss treatment for obesity. Skilled bariatric surgeons have performed thousands of weight loss operations, including the Laparoscopic Gastric Banding (Lap-Band®) procedure, as well as gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgery.
All bariatric surgeries are performed laparoscopically or robotically (unless there is a medical reason not to do so). This means many small incisions are made instead of one large incision.
Bariatric surgery can be a tool used to help you achieve your weight loss goals, but pursuing surgical weight loss is not for everyone.
Multidisciplinary Team
IU Health's experienced, multidisciplinary team includes experts in medicine, nursing, nutrition, psychology, and surgery who work daily with weight loss patients and understand your needs. They are there to support you throughout your weight loss journey and help you establish a lifestyle that promotes continued health and wellness.
Many of IU Health's surgeons are recognized as leaders and educators in the field, published in numerous academic journals and textbooks.
Post-Surgery Support
IU Health helps you establish a lifestyle that promotes your health and wellness after your surgery. They offer support groups before and after surgery to help you establish healthy behaviors and maintain your weight loss.
Additional Resources at IU
IU provides several resources for employees and their families to support weight management and overall health.
Healthy IU Resources
If you have questions about food or nutrition, Healthy IU’s registered dietitian has the answers! You’ll get one-on-one sessions tailored to your goals, nutrition education and support on any topic of interest, including weight loss, heart-healthy eating, digestive health, and healthy eating on a budget. This service offers evidence-based, non-judgmental nutrition advice and is free for IU employees, their spouses on an IU-sponsored medical plan, and IU retirees by appointment. Availability is offered year-round, excluding June & July.
Marathon Health
Marathon Health offers one-on-one, goal-oriented coaching spanning lifestyle, stress, sleep, weight, and chronic disease prevention/management. If you use Marathon Health for your primary care and labs, your health coach, provider, and care team can collaborate directly, offering a whole-person approach to your physical, mental, and lifestyle health. This is free for IU faculty, staff, and family members enrolled in IU-sponsored health insurance. Virtual appointments are available across the country, and in-person appointments are available at select locations, including Bloomington and Indianapolis.
IU Medical Plan Coverage
IU’s medical plans include coverage for nutritional counseling, bariatric surgery, and weight loss medications. Coverage for these services may be subject to specific requirements, limitations, or exclusions as outlined in the plan document.
Digital Health Apps
MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter - This app tracks progress for nutrition, water, fitness, and weight loss goals, helping you learn about your habits, make smarter food choices, find motivation and support, and conquer your health goals. The app’s food database contains over 20 million foods and connects with 50+ apps and devices, such as fitness trackers and smartwatch apps.
Start Simple with MyPlate - This app helps you meet healthy eating goals one at a time. Use the Start Simple with MyPlate app to pick simple daily food goals, see real-time progress, and earn badges along the way. This easy-to-use app can help you make positive changes and can sync with your smartwatch.
Cronometer: Calorie Counter - This powerful health and fitness app makes it easy to track your diet and exercise habits. With an extensive database of over 1.2 million verified foods, you can easily log your meals and get a detailed breakdown of the calories, vitamins & minerals.
Factors Affecting Weight Loss
Some medical conditions make it hard for you to lose weight and keep it off. Diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and hypothyroidism can be obstacles for weight loss. Managing your weight is not easy; your doctor and nurses are a great resource for finding the best plan for you to get healthy in a safe way.
The Preventative Approach
Gilmore, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, is working to change the reactive approach to weight loss. "I’m hoping that we can focus on building a preventative approach, rather than a reactive one. At the clinic, patients who either don’t want bariatric surgery or don’t qualify for it work with physicians, a psychologist, and a dietician to achieve their goals. For some patients, weight loss is very emotional, while others really just need education about nutrition. And then some have a genetic predisposition toward obesity that can make weight loss very difficult."
Gilmore completed both her residency and fellowship in gastroenterology at IU School of Medicine and had the support to develop the clinic during her fellowship. “I had the support I needed to do whatever was necessary to understand obesity as a disease, as well as its treatment options,” she said. During her fellowship, she worked with Naga Chalasani, MD, who is currently serving as interim Chair of the Department of Medicine. “Dr. Gilmore is one of few gastroenterologists nationwide with deep expertise in both medical weight loss and endobariatrics,” Chalasani said. In addition to her unique expertise, Gilmore’s identity as Latina has given her valuable perspective. “Not only am I more sympathetic to their obstacles, but I also have a better understanding of what they perceive as important,” she said.
Locations
- IU Health Bariatric & Medical Weight Loss - Lafayette: 11725 N.
- IU Health Bariatric & Medical Weight Loss - Frankfort
Student Health Center
Don’t miss out on campus life because you’re feeling lousy. IU offers all the amenities of a full-service medical clinic, right here on campus. From wellness exams to gynecology to physical therapy to eye care, you’ll find what you need at the Student Health Center. The Student Health Center offers same-day, in-person and virtual visits with our medical providers. Use the online scheduler to easily choose the date and time that works for your busy schedule. You can also make an appointment by calling 812-855-7688.