Wellness is a journey, not a destination. It encompasses a healthful diet, regular physical activity, and consistent attention to overall well-being. Recognizing the importance of wellness, the University of California developed the "UC Living Well…Making Wellness a Priority" program. This initiative consolidates various wellness resources, tools, and services available to faculty and staff, making it easier for them to prioritize their health.
Getting Started on Your Wellness Journey
A great first step is to complete a Health Risk Assessment (HRA) offered by your medical plan. This short online questionnaire provides a personalized health profile that you can share with your doctor. Many medical plans even offer incentives for completing an HRA. The "UC Living Well" site is regularly updated with articles, tips, resources, and activities to support your commitment to wellness.
UCLA offers a variety of wellness activities to improve your health, fitness, weight management, smoking cessation, or stress management skills. Many services are free to faculty and staff and scheduled during the workday. Resources include BruinWalkers, Fit Squad, Yoga Classes, “Freedom from Smoking” Program, Stress-Management Screenings, and UCLA Recreation activities.
Participating in wellness programs enhances your health and well-being and fosters a positive approach to health within your family. "UC Living Well" simplifies accessing wellness-related resources that fit your lifestyle.
The UCLA Medical Weight Management Program: A Personalized Approach
The UCLA Medical Weight Management Program, formerly known as the Risk Factor Obesity Clinic (RFO), has been a leading weight loss clinic for over 45 years. This program was among the first to research very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) for obesity treatment, pioneering under the leadership of David Heber, MD, PhD, and Morton H. Maxwell, MD.
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The program features a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, clinical psychologists, and therapists passionate about weight management. They utilize a combination of dietary, physical activity, and behavioral lifestyle changes, tailored to each individual’s weight loss goals. The U.S. News and World Report has recognized the UCLA Medical Weight Management Program as "one of the most thorough weight management programs in the country."
What Sets the Program Apart?
Many weight loss programs focus on the simplistic "calories in and calories out" approach. The UCLA program understands that weight is influenced by genetic, metabolic, psychosocial, environmental, and behavioral factors. Therefore, they approach each patient as an individual, considering their unique medical, social, and environmental history when developing a comprehensive weight loss plan.
Recognizing the high rate of weight regain, the program emphasizes weight loss maintenance as equally important as the initial weight loss. They offer a long-term medical weight maintenance program to provide ongoing support to their patients.
Personalized Nutrition Therapy
The UCLA Medical Weight Management Program offers individualized nutrition therapy for weight loss. A key component of their dietary program is matching each patient’s protein intake to their body's specific needs. Scientific literature supports this approach for controlling hunger and maximizing weight loss without sacrificing muscle mass.
Comprehensive Assessment
At the initial visit, patients undergo a comprehensive assessment, including:
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- Initial measurements: Weight, vital signs, body composition (measuring lean muscle and body fat via bioimpedence analysis).
- Testing: Blood tests (comprehensive metabolic panel and lipid panel) and EKG.
- Physician (+/- dietitian) visit: Weight history, eating habits, medication review, detailed nutrition plan.
Dietary Programs
The dietary programs are personalized based on food preferences and body composition testing, falling into four broad categories:
- Very low-calorie diet (VLCD): Meal replacements plus vegetables.
- Modified very low-calorie diet (MVLCD): Meal replacements plus one meal per day.
- Low calorie diet (LCD): Some meal replacements with mostly whole food.
- Maintenance program: Some meal replacements with mostly whole foods.
Meal replacements (e.g., protein shakes, bars, soups) are frequently used to achieve low calorie intake with adequate protein. A variety of products are available for purchase.
Understanding the Science Behind Weight Management: UCLA's Metabolism Research Theme
Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are metabolic disorders related to food. Obesity is connected to excessive body fat accumulation, and high blood sugar is connected to diabetes. Researchers in UCLA’s Metabolism Research Theme are studying the roots of these disorders and designing novel treatments.
Inside cells, organelles manage specialized tasks. Mitochondria, a type of organelle, function as power plants to burn nutrients. They continually change shape depending on whether they are "eating" sugar or fat. When a person eats steadily, mitochondria change shape continually as they work. Problems with organelle repair can reduce the ability to eliminate defective or toxic parts. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), a toxic byproduct of cellular metabolism, can damage cellular proteins and membranes, potentially leading to various disorders.
Researchers are exploring whether it is possible to make tissue prefer one nutrient to another. Metabolic processes in the cell store excess nutrients as fat. In a low-calorie diet, cells become more efficient to survive nutrient loss.
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Studies have shown a higher risk of cancer mortality in obese individuals. The Mittelman Lab is working to understand why and develop strategies to reverse this effect, discovering that adipocytes protect ALL cells from chemotherapies, making leukemia harder to cure.
According to Dr. Shirihai, increasing metabolism requires decreasing metabolic efficiency by wasting the energy that nutrients provide. The goal is to convince mitochondria to burn nutrients for heat, utilizing a multisystem approach including neuroimaging, multiomics, and psychosocial tools.
Addressing the Root Causes of Obesity: Beyond Calories
While it's known that obesity results from consuming more calories than expended, solving the obesity crisis requires understanding why people overeat and how their brains make food choices. This involves studying how the brain responds to signals of hunger and fullness from the gut, gut-microbiome, inflammatory markers, and fat tissue.
Addressing the neurobiological mechanisms underlying eating behaviors is vital to combat stigma and social judgment surrounding obesity and eating disorders. This knowledge can create the basis for innovative and customized preventive solutions and treatments for people at risk or suffering from obesity, metabolic syndrome, and eating disorders.
Comprehensive Weight Management Services at UCLA Health
UCLA Health offers comprehensive weight management services, understanding that it's about more than just calorie intake and exercise. They deliver customized plans that focus on your overall physical and mental health.
Highlights of the Program:
- Expert Team: A multidisciplinary team addresses weight loss from all angles, considering genetics, metabolism, psychology, and the environment.
- Extensive Experience: Experts have been helping people lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle for over 45 years.
- Educational Seminars: Ongoing weekly seminars translate basic and clinical research to patients, clarifying myths about diet and exercise.
- Pharmacotherapy: Providers offer a wide range of medications to aid diet and exercise programs.
- Long-Term Support: A comprehensive maintenance program helps patients keep the weight off, focusing on cognitive behavioral therapy to change thought patterns and behaviors.
- Program for Children and Adolescents: The UCLA Fit for Health Program, in partnership with UCLA Health Mattel Children’s Hospital, focuses on children and teens who are obese or carry extra weight.
- Successful Bariatric Surgery: Specialists use minimally invasive weight loss surgery techniques with excellent outcomes.
Weight Management Services Offered:
- Comprehensive Health Assessments: Gathering details about your overall health to recommend an effective program. This includes blood tests, body composition analyses, and reviews of weight history, medications, nutrition patterns, and eating habits.
- Programs for Children and Teens: Preventing and managing obesity in children and adolescents through a multispecialty team.
- Weight Maintenance Program: A robust long-term maintenance program offering education, support, and accountability through monthly one-on-one meetings with a dietitian and access to group classes.
- Weight Loss Treatments: Customized treatments based on your overall health and goals, including medical weight loss, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery.
Surgical and Nonsurgical Treatments:
- Medical Weight Management: Medically supervised weight management plans and nutrition therapy, with a focus on personalized dietary programs based on individual protein needs.
- Pharmacotherapy for Weight Loss: Medications that reduce fat absorption, help you feel full longer, decrease appetite, or regulate hormones necessary for weight loss.
- Bariatric Surgery Procedures: Including Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, lap band, and gastric sleeve surgery, as well as endoscopic weight loss procedures.
Weight Loss Classes, Education, Counseling, and Support:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Group sessions to control cravings, improve your relationship with food, and change behaviors.
- Diabetes Prevention and Education: Coordinating with the UCLA Health Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and the UCLA Health Diabetes Education Program to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes.
- Healthier Weight Program: An interactive eight-week group program promoting lifestyle changes for long-term weight management.
- Presurgical Classes: Focusing on nutrition, physical activity, and what to eat before and after surgery for those undergoing bariatric surgery.
- Program for Reducing Obesity (PRO): An insurance-based medical weight loss program for patients with a BMI of 30 or more, including a personalized eating plan, physical activity recommendations, and potential FDA-approved weight loss medications.
Maintaining Overall Health and Well-being
In addition to weight management, UCLA Health emphasizes the importance of preventive care services and offers resources such as food, shelter, job training, and legal assistance. They also provide enhanced infertility benefits and no-cost adult immunizations and flu shots at Health Net pharmacies.