Weight Management

Health and Wellness Center located in Biltmore Corridor, Phoenix, AZ

Weight Management services offered in Biltmore Corridor, Phoenix, AZ

Weight management sounds like it’s a weight loss program, but it’s not. It’s an extensive program supporting the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of people who struggle with unhealthy eating habits. At Cora Health Solutions in the Biltmore Corridor of Phoenix, Arizona, Betsy Serrano, PMHNP, offers compassionate care for people of all ages who need to restore a healthy body image, build healthy eating habits, and overcome eating disorders. Use the online booking feature or call Cora Health Solutions today for expert weight management services.

Weight Management Q & A

What is weight management?

Weight management includes two broad categories: disordered eating and eating disorders. These categories encompass numerous food, eating, body image, and weight challenges. And they include people who may need to lose or gain weight.

What type of weight management concern is disordered eating?

Disordered eating refers to eating behaviors that negatively affect your physical, emotional, and mental health but don’t meet the criteria for an eating disorder.

Disordered eating includes behaviors such as:

Using food to cope with emotions or stress
Unhealthy eating habits in people who are overweight or obese
Following fad diets that severely restrict certain foods or calories
Avoiding entire food groups or macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats)
Avoiding foods with certain colors or textures
Having rigid rituals surrounding food and eating habits

People with disordered eating may engage in behaviors that are similar to eating disorders. For example, they may exercise compulsively, binge, and purge by vomiting or using laxatives.

What eating disorders does weight management treat?

Eating disorders are psychological conditions that change the way you eat, cause a distorted body image and lead to a preoccupation with your weight and body shape.

There are three primary eating disorders:

Anorexia nervosa

People with anorexia firmly believe they are overweight even when they’re dangerously underweight. They constantly strive to lose more weight by avoiding food, severely limiting the amount they eat, or fasting. They often purge and exercise excessively.

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia causes binge eating followed by purging. People with bulimia can’t control the need to binge, so they eliminate the extra calories by vomiting or taking laxatives.

Binge eating disorder

Like bulimia, binge eating refers to consuming a large amount of food in a short time, even if you’re not hungry. Unlike bulimia, people with binge eating disorder don’t purge and often gain weight.

What health complications affect people that need weight management?

Purging may lead to acid reflux and nutritional deficiencies, including the loss of minerals needed for nerve, muscle, heart, and brain function.

Anorexia causes serious health problems, including:

Anemia
Thinning bones (osteoporosis)
Muscle wasting
Low blood pressure
Slow breathing
Drop in body temperature
Irregular heartbeat

Without intensive treatment, anorexia can lead to multiple organ failure, brain damage, and death.

What treatments does weight management include?

Treating the numerous disordered eating behaviors and eating disorders requires a holistic approach that includes medications, cognitive-behavioral therapy, nutritional counseling, and a plan to restore healthy eating.

Your Cora Health Solutions provider may prescribe one of several medications, including antidepressants and antipsychotics. They also refer you to a medical specialist if you have serious health problems due to anorexia.

Book an appointment online or call Cora Health Solutions today to receive caring and comprehensive weight management services.