What Should A Good Weight Management Program Include?
There’s lots of advice about weight loss, but losing weight and keeping it off is one of the hardest things to do.
In England, 25.9% of adults are obese, while 37.9% of adults are overweight. Despite these statistics, the British diet industry has never been more successful.
In 2020, the UK’s wellness industry was worth over £20 billion. With 43% of British citizens trying to lose weight, there are lots of potential customers for weight loss brands to market their goods towards.
Unfortunately, a large part of the diet and wellness industry promotes unsatisfactory information. This may be due to inadequate education regarding nutrition, false information about successful weight management, and combative marketing from food producers selling goods that lack nutrition.
Effective weight management programs exist, but they prioritise lifestyle intervention and realistic living changes to make long-term weight changes.
Whether you’re developing a weight management program yourself, or want to get the most out of a program you’re currently on, understanding what better weight management services look like can help you or your clients reach their body composition goals.
If you’re wondering what should a good weight management program include, you’ll find more about weight management services and the importance of lifestyle intervention below.
What Is A Weight Management Service?
A weight management service is a specialist program catered to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. This is generally done through a blend of personalised lifestyle interventions, guidance, and external support.
Weight management services are usually delivered by wellness centres, fitness facilities, healthcare professionals, or aesthetic clinics. Weight management services aim to help people take on realistic lifestyle changes that encourage weight loss and improve overall health.
What Does An Effective Weight Management Program Include?
The global weight loss market is growing fast, expected to reach $826.53 by 2033. With new diet and exercise programs cropping up every day, which one do you choose?
Research shows that better weight management programs involve lifestyle changes through lifestyle intervention.
Lifestyle interventions aim to improve a person’s health by modifying their living habits. This generally involves positive changes to activity levels, alcohol consumption, diet, sleep, stress levels, and smoking habits.
Lifestyle interventions are used to prevent obesity and encourage weight management, but they are also used to prevent chronic diseases, like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Lifestyle Intervention In Good Weight Management Programs
Here are the key lifestyle intervention components you’ll find in an effective weight management program.
1. Tailoring To The Individual
Many well-being programs stress making healthy lifestyle changes, but better weight management programs tailor lifestyle interventions to each unique individual. This includes taking age, gender, ethnicity, fitness level, and overall well-being into account.
For instance, a person who is 60 years old with no history of exercise may find it harder to increase their activity levels compared to a 30-year-old former school athlete.
2. Knowledge and Awareness
A good weight management service will educate on healthy lifestyle intervention changes. This involves looking at healthy nutrition, activity levels, lowering stress levels, and good sleep habits.
Similarly, the program should look at the consequences of unhealthy habits that lead to weight gain, including excessive drinking, nutrient-deficient food, lack of sleep, and increased stress levels.
3. Changing Habits
Better weight management programs will help individuals identify personal unhealthy triggers and patterns.
This can involve cognitive behavioural tactics, like keeping a diary to track negative thoughts or practising mindfulness to become aware of eating patterns.
After identifying unhealthy habits, individuals can set goals to adopt new lifestyle intervention changes. Examples include increasing sleep hours, eating less energy-dense food, and setting time aside to plan meals.
4. Taking Medication
Depending on the person’s circumstances, they may be eligible for weight management medication, like GLP-1 drugs.
As the GLP-1 market is set to grow to USD 133.5 billion in 2030, it’s clear that weight loss medication will only grow in popularity. It’s a good idea to learn more about these drugs, particularly if you’re considering taking weight loss medication yourself.
An effective weight management program should discuss what weight management medication is available, what circumstances they would be prescribed, and the results they may deliver.
Better weight management courses will also clarify the potential side effects of weight loss medication and how to track an individual’s medication treatment plan.
At You Can Clinic, our weight management program covers new weight loss medication, centred around GLP-1 drugs. You’ll learn about the circumstances in which these drugs are prescribed and the potential outcomes they may deliver.
If you have any questions about our courses, please get in touch with a member of our team at courses@youcanclinic.com or +442921678747.
5. Social Encouragement
Research shows that having family or friends who support weight management goals can help drive long-term weight loss.
A better weight management program may prioritise being around peers with similar goals, or sharing your plan with trustworthy family members to create a positive culture around weight management.
Social encouragement can create a community feel and help an individual adopt other lifestyle intervention changes easily.
6. Frequent Assessments
Better weight management services should have regular assessments to track a person’s progress. Whether they use tracking apps or a pencil or paper, tracking can help people get into the habit of setting weight management goals and achieving them later on.
Tracking weight, measurements, food, and exercise can help people note their behaviours around these subjects, then make lifestyle intervention changes wherever necessary.
Whether they use tracking apps or a pencil or paper, tracking can help people get into the habit of setting weight management goals and achieving them later.
7. Maintenance Techniques
Weight loss studies have shown that many people who lose weight initially gain some weight back afterwards. An effective weight management program should give individuals strategies to maintain healthy lifestyle intervention changes in the long term.
Examples include coping skills for dealing with setbacks and adopting flexibility around indulgent food. This can make it more likely that lifestyle interventions remain effective and that any issues with maintaining weight loss are promptly dealt with.
We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of lifestyle intervention and what an effective weight management program should include.
How We Can Help
At You Can Clinic, our weight management program covers new weight loss medication, focused around GLP-1 drugs.
The program is covered by Dr Anish Kotecha, who, having worked as a GP for eight years, brings his clinical and medical knowledge to the course. You’ll learn more about when GLP-1 drugs are prescribed and the potential weight management results they can assist with.
You can find out more about Dr. Kotecha’s work through Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, or more about our aesthetic training courses through our Instagram.
If you have any questions about our courses, please get in touch with a member of our team at courses@youcanclinic.com or +442921678747.
You Can Clinic is one of the UK's leading providers of aesthetic training courses and pharmaceutical supplies. Our programmes deliver extensive coverage of weight management methods and other aesthetic procedures.
Do you see yourself in the aesthetics industry? Check out our Botulinum Toxin and Dermaplaning Training Courses.
Written by Rosh for You Can Clinic.
