Help! I'm Struggling to Lose Weight

Anyone who’s spent much of their life trying one diet after another knows that losing weight is hard work. And what’s worse, even when you lose the pounds, they have a nagging tendency of reappearing the moment you look the other way. Part of the problem is the “fad” diets and “miracle” weight loss products. The other part is that it’s hard to significantly lose weight on your own.

At Arlington, Texas-based Primecare Family Practice, board-certified family practitioners Maryline Ongangi, APRN, FNP-C and Lewis Nyantika, APRN, FNP-C understand the struggle their overweight patients have with losing the pounds. That’s why they offer a medical weight loss program personalized for each individual’s needs. Here’s how the program can help you.

The weight of the problem

Americans are a weighty lot, and we’re headed in the wrong direction. According to the CDC, obesity incidence rose from 30.5% in 1999-2000 to 42.4% in 2017-2018; at the same time, severe obesity ballooned from 4.7% to 9.2%.

Obesity is more than just packing extra weight. It’s a major risk factor for some of the leading causes of premature but preventable death: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancer. It also strains both the economy and personal finances; obesity-related health conditions cost the US $147 billion annually, and $1,429 more per person per year than for those of “normal” weight

What is medical weight loss?

Medical weight loss is a partnership you and your physician undertake, with the goal of helping you shed the pounds. Primecare Family Practice provides all the supervision and the resources you need to succeed.

When we take your complete medical history, we look for any hidden variables that prevent your at-home dieting success. For example, you might have a hormonal imbalance that affects your metabolism; you might be deficient in an important micronutrient; or you might have an underlying medical problem that makes losing weight harder for you than for others.

After we identify the variables, we address any issues before they can undermine your efforts. Our staff is experienced with nutrition, supplements, and prescription medications that we employ to help your weight loss journey. And, of course, we include your thoughts about your body image and goals for weight loss in our treatment plan.

Why our weight loss program is successful

When you go on a diet by yourself, there’s a lot of trial-and-error in the process, and that can work against you. But our medical weight loss program gives you a number of solid reasons why you’ll see success.

We create an easy-to-follow plan

We tailor your diet plan to meet your individual needs, making it easy for you to understand and easy to stick to. No, you won’t have to give up all your favorite foods, but we’ll show you a better way to structure the calories you consume.

We focus on lifestyle changes

Any good diet plan not only addresses what you eat, but it also takes into account your food preparation abilities and ingrained, unhealthy habits. Most overweight people need to rethink their relationship with food, including how to make healthier choices and how to maintain good eating habits. We provide the structure that allows you to make good choices.

We can prescribe medications

Medication isn’t a first-line option, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but if you need a medicinal boost to stay the course, we can prescribe appetite suppressants and metabolism boosters to help.

We tailor your exercise plan with your physical abilities

Regular exercise in addition to dieting is absolutely essential to helping shed the pounds, but we need to know your limitations. For example, if you’ve got arthritic knees, you won’t do well with high-impact sports. Your complete medical history gives us intimate knowledge of your strengths and limitations, allowing us to make appropriate exercise recommendations that will help you drop the pounds without hurting you in the process.

We provide accountability and support

When you’re alone on a diet, it’s easy to slack off, because the only person you’re accountable to is you. A medical weight loss program, though, comes with a built-in support network, for accessing resources and for emotional encouragement.

Each time you come in, we check your weight and measure your progress toward your short- and long-term goals, providing the necessary oversight for the process as a whole. If you’ve hit a plateau, we can adjust the plan to keep you moving forward. And if you’re trying to self-sabotage (a very common occurrence), we can put you back on course.

If you’re struggling to lose the weight, you don’t need to struggle any longer. Primecare Family Practice has a medical weight loss program that will help.

To get started, call us at 817-873-3710, or book online with us today.