For many overweight people, the body prevents permanent weight loss. This means that in some ways your body is working against your efforts to lose weight.

This is because our bodies are designed to maintain balance and stable conditions. How much you weigh is controlled by complex interactions between hormones and neurons in your hypothalamus. Your hypothalamus is the part of your brain that controls thirst, hunger, and body temperature. These hormones and neurons influence your appetite, how much food you eat, how much energy your body uses, even how much you subconsciously fidget!

There are many positive health benefits to losing weight. Losing just five—10 percent of your body weight will lower your:

• blood pressure,

• lipid levels (fats), and

• glucose (blood sugar).

Losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight is a good starting goal for many patients and is worth the effort.

Did you know?

• Losing just three—five percent of your body weight will lower your chances of getting heart disease.

• High blood pressure is twice as common for obese adults than adults who aren't obese.

• For every two pounds you gain, your chances of developing arthritis go up by nine to 13 percent.

• For every two pounds you gain, this puts another four pounds of pressure your knees. Being overweight increases your chances of having knee pain.

• Older people who are obese have lower muscles mass. This means they're more likely to fall and fracture bones.

• People who are overweight have higher odds of dying or having serious complications during surgery.

FDA-approved weight loss medications include the following:

• Phentermine (Adipex, Lomaira)

• Phentermine/topiramate ER (Qsymia)

• Naltrexone/buproprion HCL (Contrave)

• Liraglutide (Saxenda)

• Semaglutide (Wegrovy, Ozempic)

• Tirzeptide (Zepbound, Mounjaro)

Phentermine is a pill you take by mouth. It's a stimulant that has similar effects to amphetamines. It's an appetite supressant and has been on the market since the 1970s.

Topiramate/topomax is a pill that helps manage binge eating and encourage weight loss. Topiramate is an anticonvulsant drug, which means it belongs to a class of drugs that help treat seizures. Low doses of this medicine are advisable. Some people also use it to prevent migraines.

Contrave (also called naltrexone HCL or bupropion HCL) is made up of two medications: naltrexone HCL and bupropion HCL. Naltrexone HCL is used to treat opiate addiction, and bupropion HCL is used to treat depression. Both of these medicines work together to lower your appetite and control some cravings.

Victoza (also called Liraglutide) is injected into your skin. When taken at a certain dosage, it helps lower your appetite and control some food cravings. It also lowers blood sugar levels in people who have diabetes.

Saxenda (also called Liraglutide) is an injection that helps people lose weight by lowering appetite and controlling food cravings. It uses the same active ingredient as Victoza, but you should not use these two medicines together.

Obesity is the result of an imbalance between daily energy intake and energy expenditure over time, resulting in excessive weight gain.

Many people become confused or even argue (passionately) when it comes to the how/why of the energy imbalance.

Obesity is a multifactorial disease caused by complex interactions between genetic, cultural, and societal factors.