Obesity treatment has entered a new era, with expanding pharmacotherapy options, metabolic and bariatric surgery, and increasingly personalized care plans. Yet one persistent challenge remains: helping patients maintain healthy behaviors when life becomes unpredictable.
“So much is changing rapidly in obesity care, especially with medication and advances in surgery,” Dr. DeBellis said. “And sometimes the missing link is the basics.”
According to DeBellis, one of these basics of care is helping patients build sustainable habits and develop resilience to return to those behaviors when life inevitably disrupts their routines.
Dr. DeBellis’ lecture will focus on how lifestyle medicine can complement every stage of obesity treatment. Drawing on the pillars of nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, and social connection, she will explore practical approaches clinicians can use to reduce barriers, strengthen engagement, and help patients achieve meaningful, lasting change.
“Lifestyle medicine to me is the foundation of any treatment,” she said. “We have advances in obesity treatment, but oftentimes we don’t realize that lifestyle medicine can enhance and complement those.”
Building a trusting, collaborative relationship allows clinicians to better understand barriers and adapt treatment plans to meet patients where they are.
— Joy DeBellis, DNP, FNP-C, DipACLM, PNAP
Attendees can expect to hear about an actionable framework built around four interconnected concepts: awareness, readiness, systems, and recovery. This framework helps clinicians assess patient readiness, identify behavioral patterns, establish realistic systems that support healthy habits, and enable patients to recover when those habits are disrupted.
Dr. DeBellis also plans to discuss habit stacking or pairing a healthy behavior with an existing routine, an idea popularized by James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. “While I’m brewing coffee, I’m going to do 2 minutes of calf raises at the counter,” she explained. “While I’m brewing coffee, I’m going to go ahead and begin prepping my healthy breakfast.”
Turning to the clinician’s role, Dr. DeBellis will examine how treatment plans that look perfect on paper can fail to account for real-life challenges. Transportation barriers, limited access to healthy foods, caregiving responsibilities, financial pressures, and other social determinants of health can quickly undermine the best intentions.
“Even the most evidence-based treatment plan has limited value if it cannot be realistically incorporated into a patient’s life,” Dr. DeBellis said. “Building a trusting, collaborative relationship allows clinicians to better understand barriers and adapt treatment plans to meet patients where they are.”
An important takeaway from the session will be a reframing of setbacks. Rather than viewing missed goals as failures, Dr. DeBellis encourages clinicians to help patients focus on recovery without guilt or discouragement—and to realize that success comes from “encouraging people to maintain those habits when life goes awry.”
Dr. Debellis’ Key Lecture takes place Sunday, Nov. 15, 10:30–11:30 am ET, at Woodrow Wilson, Ballroom Level, in the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
Other ObesityWeek 2026 Key Lectures on Sunday include (all times are listed in ET and all room locations are in the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center):
Recognizing many conference registrants were affected by flight interruptions across the United States, ObesityWeek 2026 has transitioned to a hybrid meeting format, allowing participants to stay connected and access scientific content.
Registered attendees can view sessions live through the conference app or by using the desktop link below (go to the session listings and click the Watch Live button for a chosen session). Live sessions are available during their scheduled program times; replay recordings will be available as part of ObesityWeek OnDemand beginning late January 2027. Purchase ObesityWeek OnDemand through conference registration by Nov. 17.
