Millions of Americans struggle with excessive weight, ranging from a little extra belly fat to morbid obesity. Excessive weight gain endangers health, and health professionals have linked it to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Medical weight loss provides a proven method for improving health. Daytona Beach, Florida-based Angelic Lift’s medical weight loss clinic provides medical weight loss programs that achieve long-term success.
Why Do Medical Weight Loss Clinics Achieve Long-Term Results?
Many dieters find themselves swinging back and forth between being overweight, getting skinnier and then regaining the weight. Much of the reason for this comes from fad diets, “miracle” diet pills and short-term exercise programs. Getting the weight off and keeping it off requires a consistent, long-term plan, and that’s what medical weight loss clinics provide.
Clinicians create a personalized plan that addresses the client’s lifestyle and goals. Sustainable diet and exercise plans reduce weight safely and consistently, and follow-up visits keep the plan on track and prevent a resurgence of weight gain.
What Is Medical Weight Loss?
Though diet and exercise serve as key components of any weight loss program, obtaining maximum weight loss results requires additional approaches. Medical weight loss programs provide personalized solutions that are designed to maximize weight loss and general health. Angelic Lift medical weight loss programs include regular visits and guidance.
Weight loss specialists guide our clients through each step of their weight loss plan. Clients participate in one-on-one visits, where professionals monitor weight loss progress and other important health factors. These visits help clients keep on track for the long term.
Angelic Life weight loss specialists help create a plan that includes specific weight-loss strategies, including tools to make dieting more successful and exercise more productive. These plans are specifically designed for each individual’s unique needs. The goal is to achieve maximum fat burning results. Our weight loss programs also emphasize vitamin supplementation.
The human body requires maintenance of the proper balance of vitamins and minerals. At no time is this more important than when dieting and exercising intensely. Vitamin supplementation provides support for overall well-being and healthy body functions. Angelic Lift includes these vital supplements in its weight loss plans. These supplements are formulated to increase energy, burn fat and suppress cravings. As a result, clients are able to perform at their best while losing weight.
Techniques for Avoiding Night Food Cravings
A big reason people put on weight comes from night food cravings. These cravings come on for many reasons, including poor daytime eating habits, hectic and stressful work or school schedules and self-medicating. As a result, the body’s metabolism processes these foods very slowly while you sleep, resulting in these calories being stored as fat. Breaking the habit of nighttime eating can be a very effective method for starting a weight loss program.
To break this cycle, make sure to exercise routinely. Regular physical activity boosts metabolism and promotes better sleep, decreasing instances of waking with food cravings. To build self-discipline, train yourself to say no to nighttime snacking.
One way to get into the habit of not eating after dinner is to brush your teeth immediately after your evening meal. This provides a psychological boundary where further eating is not acceptable. Also, include high-protein and whole-grain foods in the dinner meal. Protein fills the belly and will keep you from feeling hungry at night.
Tips for Achieving Long-Term Weight Loss
Getting the weight off and keeping it off takes time a commitment. Excess weight is never gained overnight, and losing it can’t be achieved overnight. However, with dedication, you can shed the pounds faster than you might think.
Developing healthy habits and sticking to them puts you on the path to sustained weight loss, with a consistent reduction in weight every week! Some permanent lifestyle changes may be necessary to achieve long-term results. Here are seven tips that will help you develop the right mindset and habits for sustainable weight loss:
Make the Commitment
Losing weight is a personal choice. No one can compel you to engage in a weight loss program, though Angelic Lift provides plenty of support along the way. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint, so a commitment to see a long-term weight loss plan through is one of the most decisive determining factors.
Programs for weight loss are a lot like any athletic training program. It takes mental and physical energy to change habits and follow through with the necessary activities on a daily basis.
Watch Out for Stress
Stress can be a big part of weight gain, and continued excessive stress is one factor that can derail weight loss programs. Before starting a weight loss plan, work on reducing or eliminating the stresses that contribute to weight gain and that may inhibit weight loss progress.
Common examples of negative stresses include financial difficulties and relationship conflicts. How can you rearrange finances so money concerns don’t plague you during the weight loss process? Can relationship conflicts be resolved, and is your partner willing to be supportive of your goals?
Cultivate Inner Motivation
Since only you can lose the weight, you need to develop a plan that works for your lifestyle, temperament and tastes. Diet and exercises plans are always a big part of weight loss, but there are many varieties of diets and exercises. Find a diet plan that you will enjoy. Seek out healthy dishes that you will enjoy and look forward to.
The same applies to exercise. Physical activity should never become drudgery. Fitness centers offer many options for healthy aerobic exercise and weight training. Pick activities that you enjoy. Are there outdoor activities that you like, such as hiking, backpacking, biking or running? Some people prefer team sports, such as basketball, touch football or ultimate frisbee, all of which burn plenty of calories.
Many weight loss plan participants find it helpful to set specific goals that help maintain motivation, for example, looking good for an upcoming beach vacation, running a 10K race or getting fit for a challenging nature hike. These goals help maintain motivation when the temptation to over-eat strikes. Some weight loss program participants even post their goals on the pantry door as a reminder not to cheat on their diets.
Be Realistic
It’s easy to think losing a lofty fifty or sixty pounds in a short period is possible, but losing this level of weight takes time. When weight loss occurs too rapidly, it can actually be harmful to health, leading to lethargy, lack of mental focus, weakened muscles and compromised immune systems. To reach high levels of weight loss, it’s important to set realistic shorter-term goals first. So, what is realistic?
An achievable long-term plan aims at losing one to two pounds per week. To make this happen, dieters need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than they consume each day. A regulated diet and consistent exercise allows weight loss participants to keep this level of weight loss going over the long term without ill effects.
Even a 5% loss in excess weight significantly reduces the risk of health problems, including heart disease and type II diabetes, so don’t think those short-term goals aren’t important. At one to two pounds weight loss per week, 50 pounds can melt away in 25 to 50 weeks!
Choose Healthier Foods
There is no avoiding the bottom line: Weight loss involves decreasing total caloric intake. However, decreasing intake need not require eating tasteless food that leaves you hungry. Many strategies exist to eat well on a lower calorie diet. One popular method these days involves choosing plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. A variety works best.
Consider the following advice:
- Consume four vegetable servings and three fruit servings daily
- Choose whole grains versus refined grains
- Eat modest quantities of healthy fats, including olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and oils
- Reduce sugar
- Choose low-fat dairy products
- Opt for lean meats and poultry in modest quantities
Get Active, Stay Active
Diet alone can result in weight loss, but remaining inactive limits the potential for lost poundage and neglects the health benefits of a regular physical fitness routine. Dieting often leaves people edgy and in a low mood. Exercise boosts mood, making it easier to maintain a disciplined restriction of calories.
It also strengthens the cardiovascular system and lowers blood pressure. High blood pressure often goes along with excessive weight, so helping lower it can only help. Studies also prove that people who maintain weight loss over the long-term tend to engage in regular physical activity.
Calorie burn depends on frequency, duration and intensity of exercise. Long, steady aerobic exercise provides one of the surest methods of weight loss. Brisk walking, jogging and exercise machines like the elliptical or rower are all great options for burning fat. It’s important to remember that any extra physical activity adds to the calorie burn. Taking the stairs versus the elevator, a brief walk after lunch and even household chores or yard work all help burn those calories.
Change Your Perspective
Maintaining weight loss over the years requires a lifestyle change rather than short-term fad diets and exercise programs. A few weeks or months usually results in only modest weight loss, and those pesky extra pounds can come back very fast. To lose all the excess weight and keep it off, dietary and exercise habits need to become a lifestyle.
Changing perspective often starts with assessing the difficulties of weight loss and developing a strategy to overcome them. A gradual change in habits generally works best. It’s important to avoid negative thinking and defeatist attitudes. Once you have a plan, it becomes easier to visualize success.
Occasional setbacks are a normal part of any weight loss program. A positive perspective helps you negotiate these temporary pitfalls and get back on track. We all suffer from issues like injuries, stressful periods and other difficulties that may, for a time, set back our progress. With a positive attitude, these temporary disappointments quickly fade into distant memories.
Is a Medical Weight Loss Clinic Right for You?
If weight loss has eluded you for years, medical weight loss may hold the key to lasting success. Also, if you have experienced recent weight gain and are struggling to create a plan to stop it, consider consulting with a weight loss professional.
All weight loss plans rely on changing dietary habits and boosting calorie burn through exercise. Short-term solutions provide disappointing results, and the weight usually returns. Medical weight loss clinics focus on long-term planning, changing habits to establish a lifestyle that keeps you trim for life.
Reach out to Angelic Lift of Daytona Beach, Florida, where our professionally staffed medical weight loss clinic gets real results. Our clinicians create personalized plans that meld with the lifestyles of our clients. Through this tailored approach, Angelic Lift has helped thousands of clients lose the weight and keep it off for good.