Weight Management
Obesity is a complicated and long-term disease that plays a big role in your daily life. When you start down the path of weight management, you’re moving away from today and towards the future you want. You might have a specific picture in mind when you think about the future, or maybe it’s as simple as a smile when you wake up each day. No matter what your goals are, we’ll be by your side every step of the way.
Our approach to weight management focuses on you and your goals. At Cleveland Clinic, we craft personalized strategies to help you set, achieve and maintain realistic weight goals for you. These are unique because you are.
Why Choose Cleveland Clinic for Weight Management Care?
Caring approach:
Our experts go beyond typical eat-less-and-move-more approaches to weight loss. We recognize that obesity is a disease and focus on you. We look at your biology, medical conditions, culture and environment when designing treatment for your specific needs.
Demonstrated expertise:
Our team includes healthcare providers with specialized training in weight management. Many of our providers are board-certified in obesity management.
Skilled collaborative providers:
Not sure where to start? Our expert providers from a broad variety of areas listen, learn more about you and connect you with the care that’s right for you. We also offer in-person and virtual visits — and you can schedule online in Ohio.
Personalized care:
Cleveland Clinic providers work together to develop weight management plans that address the challenges you face. From nutrition advice to bariatric surgery, we offer a range of treatments to help you find the best fit.
Recognized expertise:
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery named Cleveland Clinic a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. This designation means our surgery program has a proven record of good outcomes for weight loss surgery.
Diagnosing Weight Management Issues at Cleveland Clinic
Maintaining a healthy weight plays an important role in keeping your body healthy. Many children and adults in the U.S. have overweight or obesity. Obesity can be related to many other health conditions you might have, including:
- Diabetes.
- Fatty liver disease.
- Heart disease and stroke.
- High blood pressure (hypertension).
- Osteoarthritis.
- Sleep apnea.
To get started, you can make an appointment online in Ohio, reach out to us directly or ask your healthcare provider for a referral. Any provider can refer you for a virtual or in-person visit.
Many Cleveland Clinic experts can help with weight management. And we’re here to focus on you and your needs. We start the conversation by talking with you about your weight challenges and your health. Next, we’ll do a full physical examination. We may recommend tests for certain conditions, including:
- Blood glucose tests to screen for diabetes.
- Blood tests to check your cholesterol numbers, and look at how your kidney and liver are working.
- Sleep apnea, if needed.
- Thyroid blood tests to check how your thyroid gland is working.
During our early conversations, we might talk about body mass index (BMI). This is a tool where you input your weight and height and it provides you with a number. What’s the number mean? BMI uses number ranges to look at weight. For example, if you have a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, you’re considered in the healthy range. There are also ranges for overweight and obesity.
Interested in learning what your BMI is? Use a BMI calculator to get an estimate.
Although we use BMI as a starting point for our discussions around weight, we know it isn’t perfect. It’s possible that you’re at a weight that’s healthy for you even if the BMI says otherwise. And the opposite can also be true. You may have a BMI that’s considered healthy for many people, but due to factors like your race or other health conditions, your provider may recommend weight loss.
After learning more about your goals and running our tests, our weight management specialists recommend individualized treatment options. Each person is unique, and we’ll provide a specific treatment that fits your goals. We’ll go over these options with you and answer any questions you may have.
Weight Management Treatment at Cleveland Clinic
Getting to — and staying at — a healthy weight requires different tools. Our specialists work with you to help you figure out which tools will work best for you and your life. Our comprehensive care includes:
Medical weight management (BMI of less than 30)
We use a range of nonsurgical therapies to help you learn how to lose weight and keep it off, like:
- Eating strategies: Our dietitians (food experts) develop a customized meal plan for weight loss or weight loss maintenance. We help you learn what to eat, how to eat and when to eat.
- Exercise programs: Exercise physiologists create individualized exercise programs to build your strength and endurance. These programs improve your fitness and metabolism.
- Behavior management: Our psychologists create behavior strategies to help support your weight management efforts. They look at possible blockers that could prevent you from reaching your goals and help you find ways to manage them. Stress, for example, is one thing our specialists can help you manage.
- Medications: We may prescribe medications to help with weight management and keep you healthy. These medications may include appetite suppressants or nutritional supplements.
Endoscopic weight loss procedures (BMI that’s greater than or equal to 30)
During an endoscopic procedure, we use a flexible, lighted tube with a camera (endoscope) to reach your digestive (gastrointestinal) tract through your mouth. Using this nonsurgical method, we can:
- Do an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG). This non-surgical endoscopic weight loss procedure involves inserting an endoscope with a suturing device into the mouth and moving it down to the stomach. Sutures (stitches) are placed in the stomach to decrease volume and make it smaller.
- Place an intragastric balloon in your stomach to help you feel full and reduce the amount of food you can take in.
Bariatric surgery (BMI that’s 35 or greater)
Our specialists may recommend bariatric surgery if you're more than 100 pounds over your goal weight. If you experience weight gain after having another weight loss procedure, we can do something called revision surgery to help you continue with your weight management journey.
Our surgeons use minimally invasive techniques (surgery using small incisions for faster healing) to do:
- Gastric sleeve surgery: Surgeons remove 75% of your stomach to help you feel full. We don’t remove or bypass any intestines during this surgery.
- Laparoscopic bypass surgery (Roux-en-y gastric bypass): Surgeons make a small pouch in your stomach and connect the pouch to the lower part of your small intestine. Food “bypasses” or skips the remainder of your stomach and intestine. This bypass cuts down the amount of food you can take in and that your body can absorb.
Weight Management Support at Cleveland Clinic
Support is such an important part of your weight management journey. Our experienced team members can help you find the right treatment options and weight management healthcare throughout Cleveland Clinic.
Taking the Next Step
When it comes to weight management, there’s often no simple answer or quick fix. It takes a team of experts, a personally crafted plan and an eye turned towards the future. Maintaining a healthy weight for you is a complex process — it isn’t just a result of lifestyle choices or willpower. Trying to lose weight and keep it off by yourself can be challenging and frustrating. Working together, we can help you with your weight management goals.
Appointments
It’s easy to get help with one of our weight management experts at Cleveland Clinic. Request an appointment with one of our providers today!