Putting the Patient First: Lifestyle Medicine in Obesity Care with Dr. Varshi Thanikonda

In this episode of the Next Gen LM Podcast, we explore how lifestyle medicine can help clinicians provide more compassionate, patient-centered care for people living with obesity and chronic disease. From incorporating lifestyle counseling into busy primary care visits to overcoming stigma, misinformation, and barriers to healthy living, this conversation highlights practical ways physicians can empower patients to make sustainable changes.

We are joined by Dr. Varshi Thanikonda, a board-certified internal medicine physician with Hartford HealthCare Medical Group, whose clinical work focuses on chronic disease management, diabetes care, weight management, and sustainable lifestyle changes. Dr. Konda shares her journey from primary care into obesity medicine and lifestyle medicine, including how her training gave her practical tools to translate evidence-based medicine into language patients can understand and use.

She discusses the importance of starting with one actionable lifestyle change, using person-first language when discussing obesity, listening to patients' priorities, and meeting people where they are—including considering socioeconomic barriers to healthy food, physical activity, behavioral health, and other lifestyle interventions. She also explores the opportunities and challenges of social media in shaping conversations about obesity and health misinformation.

By the end of the episode, listeners will gain practical insights into incorporating lifestyle medicine into time-limited clinical visits, building patient self-efficacy, addressing weight stigma, navigating misinformation, and developing the listening and communication skills needed to deliver truly patient-centered care.

Whether you are a medical student, resident, or practicing clinician, this conversation offers actionable advice for bringing lifestyle medicine into your own career—and starting with small changes that can make a meaningful difference.

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The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

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