We offer weight-loss counseling to all of our patients at no additional charge.  Our providers will review your lab work and treat any underlying medical conditions that could be causing your weight gain.

 We promote a healthy diet and regular exercise and will tailor a custom plan to fit your lifestyle.  Our providers are available via phone to support you every step of the way.  

How to know if you are overweight or obese?

If you have a high BMI (body mass index) or waist circumference you should make a weight loss appointment.  

BMI of 30 to < 35  Overweight

BMI of 35 to < 40  Obese

BMI of 40  Morbid Obesity

Waist Circumference indicating overweight or obese

Greater than 35 inches for women

Greater than 40 inches for men

Weight loss has many health benefits such as:

• Reduced Joint Pain

• Improved Blood Pressure

• Lower Cholesterol

• Improved Blood Sugar

Spirit Primary Care Comprehensive Weight Loss Plan

Diet

We will develop a personalized healthy diet plan that allows you to eat food you enjoy.  While many studies have supported the health benifits of the Mediterranean cuisine, we understand that this might not suit everyone's taste buds.  We want your diet plan to have lifelong success so we try to avoid giving you a long list of foods you can't eat.  We believe you can have all foods in moderation and right portion size, even cookies!   Our patients have found great success using our personalized plans.

Exercise

We offer personalized exercise plans to help you reach your weight loss goal.   You don't have to exercise to lose weight but exercise has too many benifits to ignore.  Exercising will increase the amout of calories you burn every day.  Exercise is good for your heart and can help control your blood sugar better in diabetics.  Endorphins released during exercise can also improve your mood.  If you fall you will be able to get up easier if you exercise regularly.

Healthy Habits

We think that getting to a healthy weight, and maintaining a healthy weight is about developing healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

We Practice What We Preach

Our Nurse Practitioner Lauren maintains a healthy weight, home cooks most of her meals and exercises reguarly.  Lauren loves a variety of fittness activities but is particuarly into powerlifting.  Since she has tried a variety of types of fittness, we think she will help you discover an exercise you enjoy.  Lauren has great tips about meal planing, cooking hacks to keep things simple, as well as cookbook recommendations.

Medication

We believe that you can lose weight without medication!  However, medication can be very helpful for some and if medically necessary, we do prescribe medications for weight loss.

• Here are some names of weight loss medications that can be used to help.

• Ozempic

• Semaglutide

• Wegovy

• Saxenda

• Liraglutide

• Metformin

• Orlistat

• Phentermine

• Bupropion-naltrexone

Are weight loss medication expensive?

• Weight loss medications vary widely in price, some are very affordable, while others are costly.  If you do not have insurance, we are commited to finding an affordable weight loss plan for you.

Will my insurance pay for weight loss medications?

Well that is a trick question as insurance plans and their coverage vary widely.  Some insurances require you to meet certain requirements before paying for a medication.  For example you might have to BMI greater than a certain number and also have another condition that is affected by you being overweight like diabetes and high blood pressure.  While your insurance may have it listed that they will pay for a certain medication, they usually require a certain diagnosis code for it to be covered.  For example, the insurance company may cover for Ozempic in people with the diagnosis code of diabetes but not for people who have morbid obesity and are not diabetic.

Surgery

While many people have lost weight with surgery, we believe that most people can lose weight with diet and exercise coaching.  We believe in exhausting all less invasive methods before referring to bariatric surgery.