Losing weight properly in 2026 Your fresh start with the Weight Doctors®

Losing weight starts with listening

Sounds unusual? It isn’t. Anyone who has spent years trying to get their weight under control – with diets, counting calories and self-discipline – knows: it is not a lack of willpower. It is a lack of the right support.

That is why every path at the Weight Doctors® begins with a personal conversation. Not with a diagnosis, not with a prescription, but with the question: where are you right now? And where do you want to go?

Many patients tell us that it was precisely this first conversation that made the difference for them.

Every path is different – but nobody has to walk it alone

Obesity and severe overweight have many causes – and the treatment options at the Weight Doctors® are just as varied. Whether you want to lose 15 or 80 kilograms, whether you prefer a minimally invasive procedure or want to start without an operation at all: in a consultation with no obligation, we find together the treatment that fits your life.

How the German health insurer can cover the cost

Many patients regard the route to cost coverage for a stomach reduction as a bureaucratic hurdle. At the Weight Doctors® there is no advance application: we organise all the appointments and check all requirements for the German health insurer before the operation – you do not have to work your way through forms yourself.

This is how the route works: you contact the Weight Doctors® and, together with your specialist, choose the appropriate treatment. We organise your complete MMK programme (multimodal programme) and then set your treatment date. The MMK is a prerequisite for cost coverage by German health insurance but is not itself an insurance benefit. It comprises five pillars:

Who is entitled to cost coverage by German health insurance?

With a BMI above 40 (class III obesity) or a BMI above 35 with recognised related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea syndrome, there is a chance of cost coverage by the German health insurer where there is a medical indication in line with the guidelines. With a primary indication (BMI above 50 or BMI above 35 with type 2 diabetes in which all treatment options have been exhausted), an immediate operation without a preceding MMK is possible. Your health insurer decides on a case-by-case basis.

The place of treatment is then the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik in Wertheim – our national obesity centre for statutorily insured, privately insured and self-paying patients, around 40 minutes south of Frankfurt Airport. More about the process under German health insurance and cost coverage and in the article Weight-loss surgery & health insurance – without an advance application.

What our patients experience

Behind every review there is a person. Like Andrea, who made her journey with a Spatz3 gastric balloon for 12 months. Or Alex, who lost weight with the support of the Weight Doctors® team in Nuremberg and learned to eat healthily for the long term. Others have experienced particularly big changes with the gastric balloon as a temporary companion – not a resolution, but a decision and a new zest for life.

What all the stories have in common: it was not the treatment alone that made the difference. It was the holistic support afterwards. You can read more voices in the 2025 review and under Our patients’ experiences.

Why aftercare makes the difference

The procedure is only the beginning. Success is decided in the months and years that follow. That is why every Weight Doctors® treatment comes with a comprehensive 360° care package – independent of the therapy, professionally guided and holistic. More under Weight Doctors® 360°.

23 locations in 6 countries

In Germany the Weight Doctors® are represented at 15 locations: in Aachen, Berlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Wiesbaden, as well as at the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik in Wertheim am Main as the national obesity centre.

Internationally the Weight Doctors® treat in Salzburg (Austria), Waalre near Eindhoven (Netherlands), London (Great Britain), at four locations in South Africa (Alberton, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria) and in Windhoek (Namibia). Our team speaks German, Dutch and English as native languages. All addresses: Find a clinic.

Losing weight in instalments too

Many patients would like convenient payment in instalments. Together with medipay, the Weight Doctors® offer a discreet part-payment service; processing can be done entirely online if you wish. More under Payment in instalments.

Will 2026 be the year of your story?

Every big change begins with a decision. Andrea made it. So did Sandra. Alex, Barbara and Carsten too. Many thousands of patients have written their story with the Weight Doctors® – moving stories of people on their way to a new self.

A consultation takes a little of your time and is 100% free of obligation – in person, by telephone or by video. It can give you clarity about which path suits you. Which treatment may be suitable is something we discuss together – from GLP-⁠1 and the gastric balloon to the Weight Doctors SLEEVE® or a bariatric procedure.