Our program takes a whole-person, team-based approach to weight care. The program focuses on education, coaching, and encouragement. Together, we'll create a plan that fits your life and health needs.

Your care may include:

• Nutrition counseling: You'll work with a dietitian to develop realistic, balanced meal plans.
• Exercise guidance: You'll meet with an exercise physiologist to create a tailored activity plan. We may suggest joining FitRx or RecoveryRx, short-term prescription exercise programs through Carilion Wellness. 
• Behavioral support: You'll learn strategies to manage stress, improve sleep, and increase your motivation.
• Medicines for weight loss: In some cases, we use FDA-approved weight loss medicines such as Wegovy (semaglutide) or Zepbound (tirzepatide). Medicines are tools that work best alongside lifestyle changes. We adjust doses carefully and help you manage side effects.
• Ongoing medical care: Our team monitors your progress, labs, and medicines. We'll review your other medicines to make sure they're not affecting your weight.
• Care after bariatric surgery: We can help if you've regained weight after weight loss surgery. We'll check your vitamin levels and adjust medicines.

Our program is for adults who are overweight or obese. You may want to lose weight to help with health issues, get ready for surgery, or just to feel better in daily life.

Losing weight can also help improve many health conditions, including:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Sleep apnea
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Fatty liver disease
• Polycystic ovary syndrome 
• Joint pain
• Back pain
• Infertility
• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension

We also care for people preparing for bariatric surgery. Most insurance plans require several months of medical weight care before covering surgery. During that time, we help you build healthy habits, start safe activity, and get the medical care needed for surgery approval.

If you've already had bariatric surgery, our team can help you stay on track. If you've regained weight after surgery, we'll help find the cause and create a plan to get you losing weight again.

Insurance and cost

You need a referral to join the program. The referral can come from your primary care team or another doctor, like a cardiologist or endocrinologist. We charge visits to the weight loss program doctors to your insurance as internal medicine, so you'll pay the same copay as a primary care visit. Insurance usually covers visits with our dietitians.

Exercise programs are cash-pay but low-cost. They either include access to our Carilion Wellness centers, or you can apply the cost toward a Carilion Wellness membership.

Coverage for weight loss medicines varies, but we'll help get you approved if possible.

Starting a structured weight loss program is a big step. You won't be doing it alone, though. From your first visit, our team takes time to learn about your health history, daily routines, and goals.

We'll guide you through each phase. We'll provide the tools, support, and accountability you need to make lasting changes.

When our team receives your referral, they review your health history and recent lab tests. This helps us find things that might make weight loss harder, like medicines that cause weight gain or vitamin deficiencies after bariatric surgery.

Your first 12 weeks

The first 12 weeks of the Carilion Weight Loss Program have a set focus and structure. You'll meet weekly with our team. We're always here to answer questions. 

Here's what the program structure looks like:

• Week 1: At your first visit, you'll meet with your weight loss doctor.
• Week 2: Meet with a registered dietitian.
• Week 3: Meet with an exercise physiologist.
• Weeks 4 to 11: Weekly follow-ups with your various team members. We'll track your progress, adjust your plan, teach, and encourage you. These visits may include weigh-ins, nutrition and exercise coaching, or medicine changes.
• Week 12: Final consultation and progress review with your team.

After 12 weeks

After your 12-week intensive phase, you don't "graduate" and move on—you stay with us. Because obesity is a chronic condition, we focus on sustainable progress. Our team stays involved for the long term, offering continued guidance as long as you need us.

Your visits become less frequent as you've gained confidence and become more independent. You can continue with monthly follow-ups for several months. Later, you may space visits out as you maintain success.