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Obesity: Should I Use a Diet Plan to Lose Weight?

You may want to have a say in this decision, or you may simply want to follow your doctor's recommendation. Either way, this information will help you understand what your choices are so that you can talk to your doctor about them.

Obesity: Should I Use a Diet Plan to Lose Weight?

Here's a record of your answers. You can use it to talk with your doctor or loved ones about your decision.

Get the facts

Your options

  • Use a diet plan to help you lose weight.
  • Get to a healthy weight by making small, long-term changes in your eating and exercise habits.

Key points to remember

  • You may already be at a healthy weight. If you are, you're better off forgetting about weight loss. Instead, learn healthy eating and activity habits that will help you stay at a healthy weight.
  • Diets almost never work, and they can cause many people to fall into an unhealthy cycle of losing and gaining weight.
  • Research shows that people who use a diet plan tend to lose more weight at first than people who try to lose weight on their own. But after they stop dieting, most people regain the weight they have lost, and sometimes more, no matter which method they use.
  • Not all diet plans are safe or effective. Some diets can even be bad for your health. It's wise to talk to your doctor before you start any weight-loss diet.
  • Lasting weight loss requires lifelong changes in your eating and exercise habits.

FAQs

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Current as of: October 24, 2024

Author: Ignite Healthwise, LLC Staff

Clinical Review Board
All Healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.

 
 

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