The American College of Lifestyle Medicine released a toolkit providing guidance and patient education for pairing obesity medications like GLP-1s with lifestyle care.
Key takeaways:
- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine launched a toolkit to help clinicians pair obesity medications with structured lifestyle interventions.
- Without lifestyle integration, patients using obesity medications face increased risks such as nutrient deficiency, loss of lean mass, and weight regain.
- The toolkit offers clinician guidance and patient-facing education spanning medication initiation, titration, maintenance, and potential discontinuation.
- It is available for free to ACLM members and for $49 to non-members.
As the use of obesity medications like GLP-1 receptor agonists expands, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has released a new Obesity Medications & Lifestyle Medicine Toolkit to assist clinicians in delivering safer and more sustainable obesity care.
With one in eight adults reporting current use of obesity medications and one in five having used them at some point, these treatments are altering the obesity care landscape. Clinical trials establishing the efficacy of these medications paired pharmacotherapy with structured lifestyle interventions, such as dietary counseling and physical activity targets.
Without structured lifestyle medicine integration, patients face higher risks of gastrointestinal side effects, inadequate nutrient intake, loss of lean mass and bone density, functional decline, psychological distress, and weight regain. However, there has previously been a lack of specific information regarding the use of lifestyle interventions as adjunctive therapy.
“Obesity medications can be powerful tools, but they are not stand-alone solutions,” says Kate Cohen, MS, RD, CDN, DipACLM, clinical nutritionist at Hospital for Special Surgery, who helped develop the toolkit, in a release. “We’re in a time of unprecedented adoption of these new medications, but up until now, we have been lacking straightforward, practical guidance on how to pair these therapies with evidence-based lifestyle care. I’m excited that this toolkit provides much-needed support for clinicians and patients and the challenges they are facing right now.”
The toolkit provides practical, clinician-ready guidance and a library of patient-facing education across the full course of obesity medication use—from initiation and titration to maintenance and potential discontinuation.
Key features include:
- Expert clinical summaries on integrating obesity medications with the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: optimal nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, connectedness, and avoidance of risky substances
- Clear guidance on risk mitigation, including protecting muscle mass, nutritional adequacy, hydration, and mental health during periods of reduced appetite and rapid weight change
- Language and framing tools to support respectful, person‑first conversations that improve trust, adherence, and shared decision‑making
- Symptom‑management strategies to reduce gastrointestinal side effects and prevent unnecessary treatment discontinuation
- Behavioral screening and referral pathways to help clinicians identify when additional nutrition, behavioral health, or specialty support is needed
- Downloadable patient handouts that translate clinical guidance into actionable, supportive education for patients using obesity medications
ACLM developed the toolkit in response to growing concerns among clinicians about how obesity medications are being used in real-world settings, often without adequate lifestyle counseling. It is designed for use across primary care, endocrinology, cardiology, obesity medicine, and other clinical settings where obesity is treated.
“The toolkit reinforces ACLM’s position that the primary goal of obesity treatment is improved health, function, and quality of life—not simply weight loss,” says Jasdeep Saluja, MD, FRCPC, DipABLM, DipABOM, chief medical officer at Aroga Lifestyle Medicine and chair of ACLM’s GLP-1 Committee, in a release. “With these resources, clinicians can align rapidly evolving obesity treatments with current evidence, professional guidelines, and whole-person care.”
The Obesity Medications & Lifestyle Medicine Toolkit is available free to ACLM members and for $49 to non-members.
