Medical weight loss refers to weight loss programs supervised by board-certified physicians based on medical and scientific principles. However, one should not mistake medical weight loss for “medicated” weight loss. Instead, the principles and methods involved in medical weight loss programs comprehensively evaluate your current health, weight, and metabolic composition to provide you with the most holistic and natural weight loss support. While medication can serve as one component of medical weight loss, many other excellent parts make up medical weight loss programs!

Any legitimate medical weight loss program’s primary focus is metabolic repair to enable your body to lose weight naturally and healthily! As such, medical weight loss programs do not focus solely on a target weight and get their clients there by any means necessary, regardless of its effect on their health. Rather, they aim to discover and diagnose the key contributing factor to your weight gain so they can then develop a personalized treatment plan that will both cause you to lose weight and enable your body to convert fats into energy more efficiently! Such factors could include a medical condition, nutritional deficiency, or lifestyle choices. In order to do so, there are a few steps that the supervising physician will take, including initial consultation, physical exam, and diagnostic tests.

• Initial consultation: During the initial consultation, your physician will want to get to know you, including your medical history, current health conditions, lifestyle choices, medications or allergies you have, and what you hope to achieve through the weight loss program. They will also listen to any questions or concerns you have about the program, your weight or health, and anything else you would like them to know!

• Physical Exam: After the initial consultation is over, your physician will conduct a physical exam, which may additionally include hip circumference measurements, body mass index (BMI) calculations, and waist-to-hip ratio measurements.

• Diagnostic tests: Finally, depending on what they discover in the initial consultation and physical exam, they will request some blood work and diagnostic tests to get a complete picture of your health and how your body is contributing and responding to your weight gain, which will include a comprehensive metabolic panel and test for nutritional deficiencies. With these tests, your weight loss team, which will consist of a board-certified physician, wellness coaches, and dietary experts, will be ready to craft your treatment plan!

The treatment plan will likely include any combination of or all of the following:

• Diet plans that avoid processed foods, are low in starchy vegetables and grains and are high in complex carbohydrates and proteins
• Encouragement, support, and guidance from wellness coaches and weight loss physicians
• Exercise regimens that are suited to your health and physical fitness
• Metabolic maintenance and repair
• Nutriplus and Profast supplements
• FDA-approved appetite suppressants and prescription medicine
• Vitamin and mineral supplements, according to any nutritional deficiencies found in your blood work

Since medical weight loss programs are medically supervised, they can be your safest option for losing weight! However, it is vital to check the physicians’ credentials who oversee the programs to ensure that they have all of the qualifications, education, and experience to provide you with safe and natural medical weight loss programs. Here at Metabolic Medical Centers, we have multiple physicians who have board certifications in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and general surgery! As such, you can trust our medical experts to provide you with the safest way to lose weight naturally and healthily with our distinguished medical weight loss programs.

We have several different medical weight loss program options for you to choose from at Metabolic Medical Centers! Whether you are in for the long haul or are looking for a shorter accelerated program, we have flexible options to accommodate whatever your weight loss goals and needs are. You can read about each of our weight loss programs on our Services page!

If you are looking for a highly acclaimed medical weight loss program in Columbia, South Carolina, you should come to Metabolic Medical Centers! For an appointment, please call us or schedule one through our website. You can find us at 3608 Landmark Drive, Suite E, in Columbia, South Carolina. We serve patients from Columbia SC, Bluffton SC, Mount Pleasant SC, Irmo SC, West Ashley SC, Murrells Inlet SC, Sullivans Island SC, Isle of Palms SC, Daniel Island SC, Charleston SC, James Island SC, North Charleston SC, Pawleys Island SC, Myrtle Beach SC, Hilton Head SC, and Hardeeville SC.