Find out as much as you can about your health needs before joining a weight-loss program. Here are some questions you might want to ask your health care provider:

About Your Weight

• Do I need to lose weight? Or should I just avoid gaining more?
• Is my weight affecting my health?
• Could my excess weight be caused by a medical condition such as hypothyroidism or by a medicine I am taking? (Hypothyroidism is when your thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone, a condition that can slow your metabolism—how your body creates and uses energy.)

• About Weight Loss

• What should my weight-loss goal be?
• How will losing weight help me?

• About Nutrition and Physical Activity

• How should I change my eating habits?
• What kinds of physical activity can I do?
• How much physical activity do I need?

• About Treatment

• Should I take weight-loss medicine?
• What about weight-loss surgery?
• Could a weight-loss program help me?