Maintaining healthy body weight is one of the most effective ways to safeguard your health. If you’re struggling with your weight, the experienced medical team at San Antonio Premier Internal Medicine in Texas can help. Their highly-skilled clinicians provide healthy weight management programs that help you reach your target weight and stay there. To benefit from expert weight management support, call one of the practice’s three San Antonio offices or book an appointment online today.
Weight management is a critical element of good health because people who are overweight or obese can suffer long-term damage to their bodies. Obesity is a major risk for many serious and life-threatening health problems, including:
Carrying excess weight puts tremendous strain on your body. It stresses vital organs, joints, and muscles, causes your blood vessels to narrow, and makes breathing difficult.
In addition to the conditions listed above, excess weight makes you more likely to get skin problems, urinary tract infections (UTIs), gastrointestinal problems like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), serious respiratory infections like pneumonia, and shortness of breath.
The main reason for having excess body weight is consuming more calories than you use. Calories are energy units that tell you how fattening foods are. You need around 2,500 calories a day if you’re male and 2,000 if you’re female to stay at a healthy weight.
Burning extra calories requires exercise or other physical activity, so if you’re training for a marathon, your calorie intake would need to be higher. However, many people get very little exercise and eat a lot more calories than they require. The result is weight gain because your body stores all the fuel it doesn’t need as fat.
Unfortunately, shedding weight isn’t as easy as putting it on. However, San Antonio Premier Internal Medicine’s weight management programs can help if you’re struggling to lose weight.
The doctors at San Antonio Premier Internal Medicine begin your weight management program by giving you a thorough physical exam. They also check your medical history and take blood for testing. From the results, they can see if you have any underlying health problems that could be restricting your ability to lose weight.
If you have a condition like hypothyroidism or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), treating the disease should help you manage your weight better. It also improves your general health. If your doctor finds any problems like heart disease or high blood pressure, they can treat these too, so it’s safe for you to follow a weight loss program.
In addition to dietary and exercise advice, your doctor can provide medications like appetite suppressants where necessary. They tailor everyone’s weight management program individually for the best results.
To find out how you can benefit from expert weight management support, call San Antonio Premier Internal Medicine today or book an appointment online.