
The treatment for obesity is weight loss, and there are a number
of ways to achieve that, including:
- Diet and
lifestyle changes
- Prescription
medicines
- Weight-loss
surgery
For adults, particularly
those using diet and lifestyle modifications to lose weight, the following are
generally considered realistic goals:
- Aim to lose 5 to
10 percent of your body weight over six months.
- Lose weight
slowly, at a rate of no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week.
- Once you've lost
10 percent of your body weight, focus your efforts on keeping it off
before attempting further weight loss.
Obesity and Lifestyle Modifications
Overeating is a major
contributor to obesity, and some of the most common reasons for overeating
include:
- Fatigue
- Boredom
- Stress or anxiety
- Feeling happy or
wanting to celebrate
- Eating too fast
- Eating
mindlessly, or without paying attention to what you're eating
- Eating to please
someone else or to fit in with a social group
- Trying to follow
a too-strict diet
- Going too long
between meals and getting overly hungry
Lifestyle modifications
that can help to address these reasons and help with weight loss include:
- Getting enough
sleep
- Becoming aware of
the habits and/or emotions that lead you to overeat
- Being mindful of
how hungry or how full you are before, during, and after you eat
- Following a
healthy diet that provides enough calories and enough variety
- Choosing foods
that are high in water and/or fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, whole
grains, and legumes
- Engaging in
regular physical activity
- Joining an
in-person or online weight-loss support organization
Obesity Medications
Only a few prescription
drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the long-term
treatment of obesity.
These drugs include:
- Belviq (lorcaserin)
- Contrave (naltrexone/bupropion)
- Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate)
- Xenical (orlistat,
also available as a lower-dose, over-the-counter product called Alli)
Xenical is approved for
use in adolescents and adults; the other three drugs are approved for use in
adults only.
Each of these drugs works
differently and has different side effects. Choosing which to try is a decision
best made with input from your doctor.
In studies, use of Qsymia
results in more weight loss than any of the other three.
In all cases, weight-loss
medications are intended to be used along with a reduced-calorie diet and
increased physical activity, and their effects stop when the drug is stopped.
Some other weight-loss
drugs are approved for short-term use, but their usefulness is limited, because
most people regain the weight they lost when they stop using the drugs.
Obesity Surgery
Surgery for weight loss,
called bariatric surgery, can result in significantly more weight loss than
medications, but results vary from person to person.
There are several forms of
bariatric surgery, including the following:
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: This is the most common type of gastric bypass surgery.
In it, the size of the
stomach is reduced to about the size of a walnut, and the middle portion of the
intestine is attached directly to the stomach.
This limits the amount of
food you can eat and reduces the amount of nutrients absorbed into the body.
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding: This procedure involves positioning an inflatable band around
the stomach and effectively dividing the stomach into a small upper pouch and a
larger lower portion.
Sleeve gastrectomy: This is a newer type of surgery in which about 80 percent of the
stomach is removed.
This creates a tube-shaped
stomach, which limits how much food you can eat.