Weight management involves strategies to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. Both having obesity or being underweight can have profound effects on health and contribute to sometimes life-threatening complications over time. Treatment and prevention strategies emphasize balanced eating, portion control, regular physical activity, and behavior changes, sometimes involving specific eating plans. Medication and surgery are available for people with immediate or underlying health concerns due to obesity.
Common Questions & Answers
What are the key components of weight management?
Balanced diet, regular exercise, and behavior changes.
How does diet affect weight?
Calorie intake, portion sizes, and food choices impact weight. Choosing natural, fresh fare in its whole form over prepackaged foods and snacks and prioritizing healthy proteins, fruits, vegetables, and oils can help you manage weight more effectively.
What types of exercise aid weight loss?
Both aerobic and strength training are beneficial. Diet has a more significant effect on initial weight loss, but exercise is vital for keeping the weight off. A balanced approach to diet and exercise can support weight management.
Can lifestyle changes help with weight?
Sustainable weight management involves a lifestyle that provides adequate nutrition, regular exercise, stress management, and sufficient sleep. Reducing exposure to sugary snacks, fitting physical activity into your schedule, and maintaining social connections can also help.
Is weight management a long-term process?
Long-term changes are crucial for successful weight management, and these can take time to achieve. Slow, sustainable weight loss and long-term lifestyle adjustments take time to put in place, but they also give you long-term health benefits.
Everyday Health’s team of board-certified physicians and health professionals contribute to the creation and review of content, ensuring that the information is useful, up to date, and accurate.
Sean Hashmi, MD, is an experienced nephrologist and obesity medicine specialist based in Southern California. As the regional director for clinical nutrition and weight management at a prominent healthcare organization in Southern California, Dr. Hashmi oversees the development and implementation of cutting-edge nutritional programs and weight management strategies. With his innovative approach and unwavering commitment to providing evidence-based solutions, he is a highly sought-after speaker and a leader in his field.
Hashmi founded the nonprofit organization SelfPrinciple.org to provide accessible and accurate health, nutrition, and wellness information to the public. Through this platform, he shares the latest research findings, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their well-being. Self Principle also supports children's education by providing scholarships, books, and supplies, so that students have the resources necessary to succeed academically and build a brighter future.
Justin Laube, MD, is a board-certified integrative and internal medicine physician, a teacher, and a consultant with extensive expertise in integrative health, medical education, and trauma healing.
He graduated with a bachelor's in biology from the University of Wisconsin and a medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. During medical school, he completed a graduate certificate in integrative therapies and healing practices through the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. He completed his three-year residency training in internal medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles on the primary care track and a two-year fellowship in integrative East-West primary care at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine.
He is currently taking a multiyear personal and professional sabbatical to explore the relationship between childhood trauma, disease, and the processes of healing. He is developing a clinical practice for patients with complex trauma, as well as for others going through significant life transitions. He is working on a book distilling the insights from his sabbatical, teaching, and leading retreats on trauma, integrative health, mindfulness, and well-being for health professionals, students, and the community.
Previously, Dr. Laube was an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he provided primary care and integrative East-West medical consultations. As part of the faculty, he completed a medical education fellowship and received a certificate in innovation in curriculum design and evaluation. He was the fellowship director at the Center for East-West Medicine and led courses for physician fellows, residents, and medical students.
Kara Andrew, RDN, LDN, is the director of health promotion for Memorial Hospital in Carthage, Illinois. She is also licensed as an exercise physiologist and certified in lifestyle medicine by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her experience includes corporate wellness, teaching for the American College of Sports Medicine, sports nutrition, weight management, integrative medicine, oncology support, and dialysis.
She earned her master's in exercise and nutrition science at Lipscomb University.
Andrew has served as a president and board member of the Nashville Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She was recently elected a co-chair of the fitness and medicine group in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
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