Weight Management

Excess body weight causes more health problems than almost anything else. If you need help losing weight, visit E. Leon Thompson, DO, at Thompson Medical Group in Peoria, Arizona. Dr. Thompson offers personalized medical weight management programs, including  Semaglutide injections, that ensure you lose weight safely and keep it off. To learn more about the benefits of weight management, call Thompson Medical Group or book an in-person or telehealth appointment online today.

What is weight management?

Weight management uses proven methods to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. It’s vital to good health because people with excess body weight have a high risk of developing many serious, often life-threatening disorders, including:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• High cholesterol
• Gallstones
• Fatty liver disease
• Some cancers
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Depression and anxiety
• Osteoarthritis
• Kidney disease
• Obstructive sleep apnea

Excess body weight stresses your vital organs and joints and makes your blood vessels narrower, so it’s harder to breathe. You might have difficulty doing anything active, which makes your weight problem and your mental health worse.

Weight problems often lead to skin conditions like intertrigo, a painful red rash in the skin folds. You’re also more likely to suffer from urinary tract infections (UTIs), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and lung infections like pneumonia.

Why should I see my doctor for weight management?

You might think it’s up to you to find a way to lose weight — after all, plenty of diets, weight loss programs, and products are available that promise to ensure you succeed.

However, this approach has several problems. First, you have to choose a diet or weight loss program, which can be very difficult with so many available. To complicate things further, diet promoters often contradict one another, with one saying you must eat certain foods while another says you must avoid them.

With medically supervised weight management, you can be sure you’re following a diet that’s healthy and grounded in science. The other major concern is that you could risk your health if you don’t have medical supervision.

Your Thompson Medical Group provider can assess your health, adjust your weight loss plan to ensure you don’t overstrain your heart, and monitor your health throughout. They can also identify any underlying health conditions that might affect your ability to lose weight, like hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone levels).

What does weight management involve?

Thompson Medical Group designs personalized weight management plans for each patient. Your unique program will contain dietary and exercise advice tailored to your specific needs. In some cases, you might benefit from medication or  Semaglutide injections.

Semiglutide is an excellent choice when used alongside other lifestyle modifications like a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

Adults with obesity (BMI ≥30) or those who have excess weight (BMI ≥27) can benefit from injections. Semiglutide is also great for people with weight-related medical problems.

Semiglutide helps regulate your hormones and signals from your body that influence your food intake. It works similarly to your body's natural appetite hormones, so you eat fewer calories, lose weight, and keep it off.

After selecting a treatment course, you see your provider regularly to monitor your progress, and they can adjust your plan to optimize your results. When you reach your weight loss goal, your provider helps you maintain your new healthy weight long-term.

Discover how you could benefit from a medical weight management program by calling Thompson Medical Group or booking an appointment online today.