According to recent market data, every year in the United States, about 45 million people go on a diet, but only 20% of these individuals will achieve sustainable weight loss without professional help. Some set goals that are out of reach and then become discouraged because they are not seeing quick progress. Or maybe they did an internet search for “how to lose 2 pounds a week” and they are trying to follow the advice they found, but it does not seem to be working.

Today, we are going to talk about some reasons why weight loss efforts often fail and how seeking help from obesity-trained experts like those at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss Center can help your efforts go further.

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How Safe Is Losing 2 Pounds A Week?

Setting a target of losing 2 pounds per week is both realistic and attainable. Health experts suggest that losing weight at this rate leads to gradual and steady progress, which helps minimize the potential health risks commonly linked with rapid weight loss. In addition, it lays the groundwork for long-term success by encouraging better eating habits and lifestyle choices.

What Hinders Successful Weight Loss?

The only way to lose weight is to successfully create a calorie deficit, meaning your body needs to use more calories during the day than it takes in. Calories fuel every function within your body, similar to how gasoline fuels your car. Even when you are at rest, you are breathing, blood is being pumped by your heart, your digestive system is working, and they all need calories to fuel their efforts. It sounds like it should be easy to create a calorie deficit, but unfortunately, the process is more complex than you might think. Sometimes, even when you are doing everything right, you may see no progress.

When an individual begins a diet, their intentions are often noble, but many lack a full understanding of the complexities involved in weight loss. Numerous challenges can impede your progress, including hormone imbalances, your metabolism slowing down to compensate for reduced calorie intake (a natural survival mechanism), insufficient sleep, high-stress levels, or poor eating habits that require significant lifestyle changes.

Successful sustainable weight loss requires thinking differently about what a diet is, not as a temporary period of deprivation but as a long-term commitment to healthy eating and living.

What Are Some Basic Strategies That Are Foundations For Weight Loss

If you want to know how to lose 2 lbs a week, first you need to start with the basics. There are some important steps you must take to successfully lose weight, regardless of any medical interventions you might be considering to support your efforts. The top three strategies you need to put into practice include:

Develop Healthy Eating Habits

Carefully choose your foods to create a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Avoid eating highly processed foods, sugary beverages, and high-fat snacks. Choose foods that will keep you feeling full and satisfied longer. Watch your portions and practice mindful eating (concentrating on what you are eating and how much) to prevent overeating.

Get Enough Exercise

Make sure to schedule regular physical activity into your routine every day, using a balance of both cardio and strength training. Cardio will boost the speed of your metabolism to help you burn more each day, and strength training will help you retain and build muscle. Often, when individuals go on a diet, they lose muscle mass, which ends up making it harder for them to create a calorie deficit because muscle burns more calories than fat, even when the body is at rest.

Make Gradual Changes To Your Behavior

Take a good look at your lifestyle and your habits and ask yourself, “Will this help me lose 2 pounds a week?” Do you have emotional triggers that cause you to overeat? Do you have bad habits that need to be broken? If you eat ice cream in bed every night while you watch TV, this becomes a habit, and your brain will remind you of this as soon as you climb in and turn on the television. You will need to wean yourself from these types of behaviors in order to maintain a healthy weight. You might not be able to stop doing this cold turkey, but you might try substituting this high-calorie ice cream with low-fat yogurt until you can watch television without having to eat anything or what you are eating is healthy and low in calories.

Making behavior modifications is going to be your largest area of opportunity to affect your weight loss results and also includes things like making sure you are getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, actively managing your stress levels, etc.

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How Medical Intervention Can Help You Lose 2 Pounds A Week

Earlier, we talked about how underlying issues can affect your ability to create a calorie deficit and keep you from losing weight, but what can you do about it? This is where obtaining help from a professional will make all the difference in your weight loss journey!

Dr. Steven Batash and his knowledgeable team at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss Center can help chart your path to successful weight loss. They understand the complexities of obesity and know how to uncover the hidden obstacles that are keeping you from reaching your goals. Aside from his knowledge and years of experience, you may also benefit from assistance in the form of an endoscopic weight loss procedure or through prescription weight loss medications. These are some of the solutions that can help you break through and overcome the underlying elements that are holding you back.

Endoscopic Procedures

A common challenge individuals face when trying to lose weight is constantly feeling hungry. This can lead to snacking between meals and overeating. The endoscopic weight loss procedures that have become popular in helping to overcome this challenge reduce the usable capacity of the stomach. This not only promotes portion control but also causes the stomach to take longer to empty, which prolongs the feeling of fullness you have after you have just eaten. These two procedures include:

Escultura de sutura Gastroplastia endoscópica en manga (ESG)

This non-surgical procedure involves using an endoscope to reshape the stomach into a smaller, banana-shaped tube and then holding it in place using sutures that are applied from inside the patient's stomach. By reducing the size of the stomach, limits the amount of food you can eat and provides extended feelings of fullness, which work together to . Because there are no abdominal incisions made, it does not require any time in the hospital, and patients can go home a few short hours after their procedure. The procedure typically takes about an hour to perform, and most patients are back to their normal routine within a week.

Intragastric Balloons

These are medical devices that are placed in the stomach endoscopically while deflated and then filled with liquid saline until they take up about ⅔ of the space in the stomach to create a feeling of fullness and reduce hunger pangs.

The balloon stays in the patient's stomach temporarily while they participate in a doctor-supervised program that teaches them strategies for making healthy lifestyle choices that promote weight loss. The balloon is removed using a similar endoscopic procedure; however, the patient continues to participate in the doctor-supervised program for an additional 6 months. The presence of the balloon in their stomach causes them to have a constant feeling of fullness and also slows down the rate at which the stomach empties.

Combining Endoscopic Procedures with Healthy Lifestyle Changes

While endoscopic weight loss procedures can assist you during your weight loss journey, they will not do all the work for you and are most effective when combined with permanent, healthy lifestyle changes. Watching what you eat, staying physically active, getting enough rest, staying hydrated, managing stress, etc. will work in tandem with your medical interventions to enhance your results and help you maintain a healthy weight long-term.

Set Up A Consultation With The Weight Loss Experts Today

If you are ready to lose weight, become healthier, and potentially eliminate type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure resulting from obesity, contact Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss Centers today. Our professional team of experts is ready to help provide you with the knowledge, weight loss tools, and endless support you need to lose a significant amount of weight and improve your quality of life. Set up an appointment to learn more about how losing 2 lbs a week can add up to substantial weight loss.

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