Diet and Nutrition
Lifestyle modification is foundational to all obesity care. This applies even to those taking the newer, highly effective obesity medications. Though the disease of obesity is complex, lifestyle modification can be simplified and should be targeted. One size does not fit all. This is the basis of my Six Factor approach to managing weight and…
Lifestyle medicine is the nonpharmacological and nonprocedural management of chronic diseases that is practiced across many specialties in healthcare, as discussed in Lifestyle Medicine: Closing Research, Practice and Knowledge Gaps, our just-released book for health care professionals edited by Jeffrey Mechanick and myself. We were fortunate to have industry leaders author cutting-edge information in each…
We live in an obesogenic environment where high calorie foods are plentiful and physical activity has been engineered out of our daily lives. Despite your best intentions, this makes it hard for you to carry out your healthy lifestyle behaviors. In my 40+ year career helping patients manage weight and boost health, PLANNING AHEAD has…
Planning your meals and snacks is a proven strategy for eating better and improving health. Though this does take some time, it doesn‘t have to be time intensive. In this blog, I share some tips to help you and your family eat more healthfully: 1-Make a Rotate and Repeat Plan Did you know that most…
Seeking perfection in your diet plan is a set-up for failure. A common misperception my patients struggle with is thinking they have to strive for perfection in order to eat more healthfully. Whether it’s banning all carbs, sugar or fat from one’s diet, extreme food restrictions are hard to maintain for the long run. They…
I learned long ago that generic weight loss advice doesn’t work well for most people. That’s because managing weight is personal, influenced by your likes and dislikes, health goals and personal challenges. This applies whether or not you’re taking one of the newer anti-obesity medications. I wrote my book, Six Factors to Fit: Weight Loss that Works…
We are a weight-focused society but when it comes to managing weight long term, having a weight-only narrow focus can be detrimental. Throughout my 4-decade career I have stressed the importance of lifestyle modification being foundational for losing weight and achieving better health. Now with an average 15-20% weight loss with the new injectable obesity…
One of my yearly medical student classes I teach at Northwestern University is helping our future physicians learn behavior change strategies to improve their own health. Examples of targeted health behaviors may include not exercising regularly, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, eating too many sweets or fast food, not getting enough hours of sleep…
We all struggle with eating temptations over the holidays. The key to healthy holiday eating is to plan ahead so you feel in control to enjoy the foods you love in moderate portions. Here are some tips that have worked for my patients and can work for you too: 1-Don’t Go to the Party Hungry…
Your Saturday night outings may be the one day of the week when you let your guard down and don’t pay much attention to what or how much you eat. Though weekends are a time to unwind and have fun – they don’t have to derail all the progress you’ve made during the week. Dinners…
