I Can't Lose Weight on My Own: Can You Help?

Your weight can affect the risk of many medical conditions, and with obesity remaining a major challenge for millions, it’s an issue we need to address carefully. As recently as last year, two in five American adults struggled with obesity, meaning more than 100 million people are dealing with a chronic problem that can worsen without treatment.

The problems with staying at a healthy weight are often attributed to out-of-control eating habits, but the underlying factors in why weight is so easy to gain and hard to lose are much more complicated than this simple idea. And this doesn’t even address the difficulties in trying to slim down and how depressing failing at it can be.

If you’ve been trying to lose weight to improve your health unsuccessfully, help is available. Dr. Shruti Patel and the dedicated staff at Low Cost Health Clinics are here for the residents of Anaheim, Riverside, Santa Ana, Corona, and Indio, California, trying to improve their health through weight loss, and finding it challenging.

Common factors in weight gain

Eating habits are a primary factor in getting heavier, and a diet high in saturated fats, fried foods, and carbohydrates is part of the problem. But in most cases, other reasons play a role in gaining and keeping weight, including:

• Genetics: the genes you inherit affect many things, including weight management, metabolism, and appetite

• Ethnicity: research shows minorities, including Blacks and Latinos, develop obesity at higher rates than other ethnicities

• Hormonal changes: hormones influence hunger, feeling satiated, cravings, and weight distribution

• Metabolism: this is how your body turns food into energy, which can slow down for many reasons

• Mental health: serotonin levels affect depression and comfort eating, both of which can affect sleep and cause weight gain

• Physical activity: lack of exercise or general physical movement can lead to gaining weight, especially if you have a poor diet

• Medical illness: Cushing syndrome, heart failure, hyperthyroidism, sleep apnea, and polycystic ovary syndrome can add pounds

Complications of weight gain

Having to carry the burden of the extra weight takes a toll on your physical condition and increases the risks of many long-term illnesses. Here are just some examples:

• Joint damage: the extra weight forces your bones and joints to hold more weight persistently, and leads to joint wear over time

• Diabetes: hyperglycemia comes from too much blood sugar in the body, and diets high in sweets and carbohydrates play a role

• Cardiovascular disease: either through damage to blood vessels or through other related diseases, obesity can take its toll on your heart

• Hypertension: high blood pressure can result from all the extra work your body has to do supplying blood

• Hyperlipidemia: high cholesterol comes from diets high in bad cholesterol, such as trans and saturated fats

• Mental health: obesity also increases the chances of depression, chronic stress, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and low self-esteem

How we can help

Managing weight problems can be just as complex as the reasons we gain and retain it in the first place. To provide an approach that covers many different aspects of why losing weight can be hard, we focus on several things, like creating habits that help you lose weight and keep it off, a balanced eating plan, behavioral therapy, improving sleep, and medications as necessary.

We can also help address any medical conditions that are contributing to weight gain, such as controlling insulin for diabetes, offering medications to lower bad cholesterol, and addressing problems with hormone levels.

Both gaining and losing weight are complex issues, but we’re committed to finding the solution that works best for our patients. Make an appointment with Dr. Patel and Low Cost Health Clinics today to start your weight loss journey on the right foot.