If you are a smoker, quitting will only positively impact your life and your health. During our classes, we can provide more information about the benefits of avoiding and quitting smoking altogether and how doing so can help you reach your weight loss goals that much sooner.

Another important strategy in weight management is finding someone to whom you can be accountable. Scheduling a class is the first step towards changing your life and improving your health. When you schedule your weight management class, our experts can be the point person in this journey.

Surrounding yourself with people who will support you and tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear, can make all the difference in helping you reach your goals and improve your lifestyle. If you want to lose weight and transform every area of your lifestyle, you are a good candidate for one of our weight management classes.

Our experts are ready to help you reach your body goals, overhaul your diet, and transform your lifestyle. Once you begin to create new habits and eliminate bad ones, expect some radical changes.

Not only will you lose weight, but you will experience increased energy levels, better skin, improved mood, and will have a better outlook on life.

An initial consultation will help us learn more about your goals and explain more about these classes. The goal of these classes is to help transform your outlook on your health, your body goals, and your weight loss journey.

We want to give you the resources you need so that you can experience total health rejuvenation. We will answer questions, give you more details about the classes, and help you kick start your journey.

You can begin today, and it starts with a consultation here at our office. Contact us today at Southside Medical Center in Atlanta, GA , to schedule your consultation, learn more about these classes, and take control of your health.

After p. please call For All Emergencies Call Make A Payment. What Are the Main Strategies Used in Weight Management? Eating a Balanced Diet One of the most important factors in the weight-loss equation is diet. Your Food Choices Can Make or Break Your Diet Plan The foods that you consume each day will affect your weight loss goals.

Weight at baseline and 12 months was calculated as the mean of all measures taken over day periods at baseline and at 12 months. Weight management strategy items were adapted from items used in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [ 20 ].

That is, whether an individual accepts their weight, regardless of whether they are an acceptable weight, underweight, or overweight [ 21 , 22 ]. Data on use of weight management strategies were obtained using a self-report survey at each of the eight time points during the 12 months Timepoints: 1: mid-December; 2: mid-January; 3: mid-March; 4: mid-April; 5: mid-June; 6: mid-August; 7: mid-October; 8: mid-December [the following year].

Participants were advised on the differences between restricting i. Quality of life was measured using the WHO Quality of Life assessment item version WHOQOL-BREF at each of the eight timepoints [ 23 ].

WHOQOL-BREF is a self-report questionnaire with domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment. The WHOQOL-BREF has good discriminant validity, content validity and test-retest reliability and internal consistency [ 23 , 24 ].

Symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were assessed using the item short-form Depression Anxiety Stress Scale DASS [ 25 ].

The DASS has good convergent and discriminant validity, adequate construct validity, and high reliability [ 25 , 26 , 27 ].

Baseline demographic characteristics and use of weight management strategies were reported using means and standard deviations for continuous data or counts and percentages for categorical data. The relationship between weight management strategies and change in weight over the month period was assessed using linear mixed-effect models with random intercept for household i.

Univariate multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between the use of weight management strategies and psycho-sociodemographic characteristics. Missing data analysis was performed to assess the extent and nature of missingness in the dataset.

Since the dataset was largely complete and the amount of missing data was low, imputation methods were not utilized, and the analyses were conducted using the available data.

A graph of the proportion of total participants using each weight management strategy expressed as a proportion of the sample size at each timepoint was created using Microsoft Excel. Holm-Bonferroni adjustments for multiple testing were performed.

This analysis involved conducting a secondary analysis of existing data, therefore, formal sample size calculations were not performed. All analyses were conducted using SPSS, version 25 IBM, NY, USA. A total of participants were recruited into the study, of whom 7 formally withdrew during the month study period 1.

Their baseline characteristics are shown in Table 1. Just over half the participants were female and half were aged 39 years or less. Participants were predominantly born in Australia and married or living in a relationship.

At baseline, mean body weight was Weight data at 12 months was available for participants. An overview of the use of weight control strategies is shown in Table 2.

Change in the use of each weight management strategy over eight timepoints as a proportion of the sample size at each timepoint is shown in Fig. Graph of changes in the use of each weight management strategy over the 8 timepoints, expressed as a proportion of the sample size at each time point Timepoints: 1: mid-December; 2: mid-January; 3: mid-March; 4: mid-April; 5: mid-June; 6: mid-August; 7: mid-October; 8: mid-December [the following year].

Change in the use of each weight management strategy over eight timepoints as a proportion of the sample size at each timepoint. The relationships between the use of each weight management strategy and changes in weight are shown in Table 3.

Almost none of the weight management strategies were significantly associated with weight change, with the exception of exercising or being physically active.

Being physically active or exercising was associated with a greater reduction in body weight than not being physically active between group difference: Association between the use of each weight change strategy and psycho-sociodemographic characteristics are shown in Tables S1 - S Use of special products e.

The aims of this study were to describe the weight management strategies used by a sample of Australian adults and assess whether the use of weight management strategies over a month period was associated with weight loss and psycho-sociodemographic characteristics.

This observation might be due to ongoing public health effects promoting the benefits of physical activity for health [ 29 ], and a growing interest in fasting practices, such as intermittent fasting [ 30 ], in more recent times.

All of the weight management strategies appeared to fall at a similar rate, with perhaps the exception of calorie-counting, which appeared to decline at a greater rate.

There is evidence to suggest that people who are able to lose weight and keep it off for at least 3 months are more likely to be successful in the long term [ 31 ]. However, many individuals do not sustain weight control behaviour long term i.

A previous prospective cohort study which evaluated use of weight management strategies over 4 years among US adults found that the median duration of use for most strategies was 10 months for decreasing fat intake, and 7 months for increased physical activity, over the 4 years [ 32 ].

An alternative explanation may be measurement bias - participants in our study were asked to complete the survey at eight times points across the month period. It is possible that measurement fatigue is behind the gradual reduction in reporting over weight management strategies across the study period.

Further, the findings indicated that those who were physically active or exercised, reduced their bodyweight by Whilst weight maintenance is a recognised benefit of physical activity, most research comparing the relative benefits of diet versus exercise for weight loss identify diet as the more potent strategy [ 33 , 34 ].

Therefore, it was somewhat surprising that physical activity was associated with weight loss in this study, while dietary strategies were not. The popularity of physical activity for weight management reported in this study, and that the use of physical activity appeared to be a more effective weight management strategy, may suggest that physical activity may be a particularly achievable and acceptable weight management strategy particularly given that physical activity is associated with immediate psychological and cognitive benefits, such as improved mood and vitality [ 37 ].

These findings are consistent with previous work that has shown that adults who perceive themselves as overweight being more likely to attempt to lose weight [ 38 ], and more likely to report using exercise as a weight control strategy than those who do not perceive themselves as overweight [ 39 ].

In addition, findings from a recent systematic review showed strong evidence for an association between perceived overweight and weight loss attempts; individuals who perceived themselves as overweight had a higher likelihood of intending or attempting to lose weight than those who perceived themselves as normal weight [ 40 ].

Furthermore, individuals who identify as overweight experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction [ 41 ] and may therefore have a greater desire to lose weight than individuals who do not identify as overweight.

However, longitudinal studies of adolescents and adults have shown that perceiving oneself as overweight is associated with greater long-term weight gain in individuals with both measured normal weight and measured overweight i.

Consistent with previous findings [ 44 ], our present findings showed that males were less likely to restricted calories, compared with females. In a previous study by Harring et al. Harring et al. With the exception of restricting calories, our findings showed no sex differences for the use of counting calories, exercising or being physically active, diet pills, use of special products such as powdered supplements , fasting and self-vomiting.

Previous findings suggest that being a parent can influence attitudes and practices in weight management strategies. For example, a study found that parents of minor children had poorer weight loss outcomes and behavioural adherence, than participants without children, in a rural community-based weight loss intervention [ 45 ].

Therefore, the differences in our study compared with Harring et al. In addition, there was some evidence to suggest that fasting, and the use of special powders or supplements to manage weight , were associated with worse depression and QOL.

It is possible that people who try fasting and using supplements to lose weight may have failed previously to lose weight and are looking for alternative methods to achieve weight loss [ 46 ].

Prior work has indicated that repeated failed attempts to manage weight are associated with reductions in psychological well-being [ 47 ]. While others have reported that worse psychological well-being is associated with weight gain [ 48 ].

Therefore, future research is required to understand the interrelationships between use of weight management strategies, weight changes and wellbeing. Strengths of this study were that the sample was reasonably reflective of middle-aged Australian adults in terms of sex, household structure, income, weight status , weight was objectively measured, and retention and data completeness were high.

Limitations of this work was that participants were from one Australian city, were all parents, the sample size was modest, and the use of a non-validated questionnaire to assess weight acceptance.

Sample size calculations were conducted for the primary analysis [ 14 ]. Our analysis involved conducting a secondary analysis of existing data, and as such, formal sample size calculations were not performed. Therefore, the study may have limited power to detect relationships particularly if they are small in magnitude and the generalisability of findings to other geographical regions and demographic groups are unclear.

An additional limitation is the observational study design which limits the ability to infer causality. Given the high, and increasing, rates of overweight and obesity in Australia and many other countries around the world, effective weight management strategies are needed.

Our present findings identified physical activity and exercise as the most popular weight management strategy, and the single weight management strategy associated with weight loss at 12 months.

This finding supports current national and international weight management guidelines which recommend exercise and healthy eating patterns [ 49 ].

It is encouraging, given that physical activity confers many other health benefits in addition to its benefits for weight control [ 50 ]. Overall, the use of weight management strategies was common in this sample of Australian adults.

The most popular weight management strategies included exercising or being physically active, restricting calories, and fasting. Public health weight management approaches should include weight management strategies that are associated with effective weight management, with our findings indicating that physical activity and exercise is a popular weight management strategy and is also associated with weight loss at 12 months.

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The result is an increased likelihood of finding a weight-friendly way of eating that works for you without making you feel deprived.

Regularly we hear about foods, ranging from avocados and apple cider vinegar to grapefruit and green tea, that purportedly have special powers to melt away pounds.

Like demonized foods, fat-burning foods appeal to our desire for simple solutions. INSTEAD: Focus on incorporating general categories of foods into your diet, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds, nuts, and fish, rather than specific items.

Choose foods within these groups based on what you like—not what you think you must eat. Foods low in energy density—meaning they contain fewer calories per bite—may be especially helpful. Examples include salads, broth soups, beans, plain yogurt, and most fruits and veggies.

Such foods, which are relatively high in water, give you more bang for your calorie buck, allowing you to fill up on fewer calories. A number of studies show that a low energy-density diet is effective for controlling weight. Weight-loss supplements often contain a hodgepodge of ingredients such as caffeine, green tea extract, and raspberry ketone.

Some products have been found to contain banned substances such as ephedra. The same goes for safety. Even if an ingredient has few or no side effects when used alone, it may interact with other ingredients to cause harm. In short, taking a supplement for weight loss is a leap in the dark. However, the drugs come with potential side effects and can be expensive.

Another effective option for people in this category is weight-loss or bariatric surgery. In addition, it can produce dramatic improvements in health, including reversing diabetes and lowering the odds of developing it.

Surgery is also associated with reduced risks of cancer and premature death, and improves high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, sleep apnea, and other conditions.

Though the safety of bariatric surgery has improved greatly in recent years, it nevertheless does have risks and possible side effects. Working with a health professional such as a therapist, nurse practitioner, or registered dietitian, people receive guidance and support for issues like devising eating and exercise plans, setting goals, self-monitoring, identifying challenges, and developing strategies to deal with them.

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