Nearly half of Americans struggle to lose weight in any given year, yet two out of three Americans are still considered to be overweight or tip the scales into obesity. This lack of success in losing weight is largely attributable to ineffective diets and products that are long on promises, but short on results.

At Saravit Wellness, board-certified family physician Siatta B. Dunbar, DO, and our team are passionate about helping our clients lose weight, and keep it off. Using a lifestyle-based and integrative approach to weight loss, we can help you attain and maintain your ideal weight. Here’s how.

The most important point to remember about weight loss is that your optimal weight is unique to you and your circumstances. 

There are many rules of thumb when it comes to ideal weight, starting with the body mass index (BMI) calculator. This basic tool takes your weight and height and calculates your percentage of body fat. This calculation then falls into one of the following categories:

Less than 18.5: Underweight 18.5-24.9: Normal weight 25-29.9: Overweight Over 30: Obese

While the BMI is a great jumping off point in determining your optimal weight, it doesn’t take into consideration your gender, your age, or your medical or lifestyle circumstances.

When you first sit down with us, we review all of the factors that may play a role in your weight. For example, if you’re on medications that slow your metabolism or you have a family history of carrying extra pounds, we plug these factors into your tailored weight loss program.

We also take the time to listen to your goals. Do you want to lose weight for your appearance, your health, or a combination of the two?

Once we get a better idea of your objectives, we can formulate a series of achievable targets to get you to your optimal weight.

One of the first things we want to underscore about losing weight is that there are no shortcuts to losing weight, despite what many gimmick and fad diets may promise.

For example, diets or products that promise results within days are rarely effective. Sure, you may see the needle on your scale go down after starving and flushing yourself, but this is largely superficial weight.

If you want to tackle excess fat, the goal is simple: Burn more calories than you take in. While this statement may seem simple enough, it requires patience and significant lifestyle changes, including:

Nutritional counseling Exercise Assessing your relationship with food Reevaluating your habits

By tackling your weight loss from every angle, we set you up for your best chances of success, and we’re with you every step of the way to ensure you stay on track.

At the core of any successful weight loss program is nutritional counseling. Unfortunately, the American diet is full of processed foods that are chock-full of calories, but light on nutrients. Our goal is to help you choose foods that pack a nutritional punch, while satisfying you at the same time.

Here’s an easy way to look at it: When you enter most grocery stores, the aisles to the far left and far right are where you find lean meats, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Most every aisle in between is full of processed foods. 

To lose weight, we’re going to ask you to avoid those middle aisles and keep to the edges, where you can find healthier foods.

While weight loss never occurs overnight, it is possible to lose weight quickly, especially at first. To achieve this, you need to make abrupt changes to your lifestyle and diet and stick with them. If you prefer this cold-turkey approach, we can help you do it in a way that’s sustainable and protects your overall health.

If you’d prefer to ease into a healthier lifestyle, we can set you up with a weight loss program in which you incrementally lose weight, giving you time to adjust along the way.

Whichever approach you choose, we give you the tools you need for success.

To get started on your weight-loss journey, contact our office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to set up a consultation.

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