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.
FAQ
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 ...
Justin Laube, MD, is a dual board-certified integrative and internal medicine physician, retreat leader, and healing educator with over 15 years of experience caring for patients w...
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 ...
Adam Gilden, MD, MSCE, is an associate director of the Obesity Medicine Fellowship at University of Colorado School of Medicine and associate director of the Colorado University Me...
Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainabl...
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