5 Reasons Weight Loss (Without Support) Is Challenging

More than two-thirds of men and women and a third of children in the United States are overweight or obese, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Obesity is a risk factor for serious and life-threatening conditions, including heart attack and stroke. Being overweight is one of the main risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.

Aside from the medical risks, you may not be happy with the way you look or the way you feel. Carrying extra weight adds stress to your body and stress to your life.

Yet, when you try to lose weight on your own, you may be frustrated that it always seems to come back. Or that you don’t feel as good as you look. 

At Modern Wellness Clinic, in Las Vegas, Nevada, our providers offer medically supervised weight loss so that you can achieve and maintain a healthy body and slimmer figure. We help you reach your goals quickly, effectively, and safely.

Why is it so challenging to lose weight on your own, without the help of a doctor or other medical professional? Following are five reasons why. 

1. You may lose muscle instead of fat

One of the biggest dangers in trying to lose weight on your own is that when you severely restrict calories, your body starts to eat its own muscle tissue. So, instead of burning away fat, you’re burning away your own muscles.

You need muscles to keep your body strong, especially as you age. But you also need muscles to burn fat. When your body is dense with muscle tissue, your metabolism increases. You burn fat more easily and so are able to stay slim with less effort.

If you lose muscle while dieting, though, you’ve now made it harder to burn calories. Without muscle tissue to speed up your metabolism, you can’t burn fat. Instead, the fat accumulates. You may actually weigh a little less (muscles are denser than fat) but instead of looking trim, you have more areas of flab and fat.

We ensure that whatever eating plan we have you adopt protects your muscle tissue. Losing water weight and muscle tissue may look good on the scale, but it’s not good for your health.

2. You can actually gain more weight

Eating less and exercising more may trigger a starvation response in your body. When you don’t take in enough calories, your body believes itself to be starving. You shed the pounds and feel great. For a while. But, your body is just waiting to start hoarding calories to prevent another “starvation” period.

As soon as you go into your maintenance phase, you start to gain weight. Not only do you gain back the weight you lost, you may end up heavier than you were at the start of your diet.

3. You don’t know how to customize your diet

Not every way of eating works for every individual. If you follow the latest diet trends — whether it’s going vegan or going keto, or going vegan keto — you may not be giving your body the nutrients it needs.

You may also have food allergies or sensitivities that could be triggered by fad diets. We don’t “guess” at your diet; we help you find an eating plan that works with your body and your lifestyle, and has solid science behind it. 

Instead of concentrating on calorie restriction, we help you transition to a whole-foods diet that nourishes your body instead of stressing it. We help you relearn the most healthful ways that humans have fed themselves throughout our evolution — and even provide recipes. 

4. You’re not held accountable

When you’re dieting on your own, the only feedback you get is from your scale. With medical weight loss, you have a team rooting you on but also letting you know when you’ve slipped off the track.

Just as star athletes need coaches so they can achieve their goals, you do better with someone pushing you toward your goals, too. You report to us at regular intervals so we can evaluate how your weight loss is going, monitor your health, and give you actionable feedback.

5. You don’t have access to medical support

If you’ve struggled with your weight for a while, you may have an underlying condition or a problem with your hormones that has to be addressed before you can attain a healthy physique.

We also have medications that may help you jump start fat loss or suppress your appetite. We also recommend supplements to support your body and energize your cells.

Don’t try to go it alone when it comes to weight loss: Do it right, healthfully, and with the support you need by contacting us for medical weight loss today. Phone our helpful office staff at 702-463-9159 or use our online booking form.