Diet and Nutrition

New Standards of Care Offer Proactive Approach to Prescribing Obesity Medications

Dr. Robert Kushner March 1, 2026 No Comments

With the advent of powerful obesity medications that address the biological basis of obesity, the field of obesity care is rapidly shifting. To reflect this, the first Standards of Care on pharmacologic treatment of obesity published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) were just released. I had the honor of serving on the ADA Professional

Healthy Meal Planning Tips – from Our Home to Yours

Dr. Robert Kushner December 26, 2025 No Comments

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 3 tips that help our family stay on the healthy eating track: 1-Eat Better with Theme-Based Meals Themed meals break from the

A Resource for Patients, A Toolkit for Clinicians

Dr. Robert Kushner September 29, 2025 No Comments

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

Take a Closer Look at the Advancing Field of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr. Robert Kushner June 10, 2025 No Comments

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

Are You Doing this One Essential Strategy for a Healthy Lifestyle?

Dr. Robert Kushner May 6, 2025 No Comments

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

Rotate and Repeat: A Healthy Meal Planning Strategy

Dr. Robert Kushner April 1, 2025 No Comments

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

Be Better, Not Perfect – a Lifelong Healthy Eating Strategy

Dr. Robert Kushner January 7, 2025 No Comments

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

Personal Weight Struggles Require a Personalized Approach

Dr. Robert Kushner January 1, 2025 No Comments

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

Improving Weight Management Outcomes Beyond the Scale

Dr. Robert Kushner December 18, 2024 No Comments

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

Can Your Cell Phone Help You Eat Better, Move More, Stress Less?

Dr. Robert Kushner December 9, 2024 No Comments

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