Diet and Nutrition

Use Core Strategies to Stay Healthy during Life’s Ups & Downs

By Dr. Kushner / February 15, 2021 /

You are probably all too familiar with the drill – you lose weight and feel good but when life throws you a curveball, you stop doing the healthy lifestyle behaviors that kept your weight under control. Though the specific life challenge can vary from person to person (examples may include a new illness or injury,…

Pick Low Hanging Fruit for a Healthier Life

By Dr. Kushner / January 21, 2021 /

If you’re trying to boost your health but don’t have the motivation, time or interest to completely overhaul your lifestyle, a helpful strategy is to pick simpler lifestyle tweaks that require less effort. I refer to this as ‘picking the low hanging fruit’ or simpler strategies that are easier to implement. Here are some examples:…

Budget Friendly Healthy Eating & Exercise Tips

By Dr. Kushner / January 10, 2021 /

Is a healthy lifestyle expensive? Because we live in a world where tasty, tempting foods high in calories, fat, salt and sugar are abundant and cheap while a physically active lifestyle seems out of reach for those unable to afford an expensive fitness club membership or home exercise equipment, many people think it is. But…

What’s for Dinner?

By Dr. Kushner / January 3, 2021 /

Being able to whip up quick, healthy dinner meals in minutes is a skill that will serve you well in your quest to eat healthier. In our household, my wife and Six Factors to Fit co-author, Nancy, prides herself in doing just that for our family. For this blog, I asked Nancy to share her…

Healthy Living Gift Ideas

By Dr. Kushner / December 12, 2020 /

I like to think of healthy living as a 3-legged stool that incorporates diet, physical activity and mindset. If one of these legs is ignored or not attended to on a regular basis, you won’t feel steady and your health may suffer. For this holiday season, I asked staff from our Northwestern Center for Lifestyle…

Set Up Your Home for Weight Loss Success

By Dr. Kushner / November 9, 2020 /

It seems eating temptations to ‘eat now’ or ‘eat more’ are everywhere – in the office, at social gatherings, near store cash registers or when driving by billboards and restaurants. But what about inside your home? Your home is the one environment you have control over and as I tell all of my patients, you…

Tips to Manage Menopausal Weight Gain

By Dr. Kushner / October 15, 2020 /

Some of my most frustrated patients are women requesting help for weight gain and changing body shapes that develop during their menopause transition years. And though each woman’s personal story and weight journey differs, what they share is a feeling of powerlessness to take back control. If this sounds like you, know that though I…

3 Tips to Healthier Meal Planning

By Dr. Kushner / October 1, 2020 /

Are you hoping healthier meals will decrease your risk factors and lessen your chances of having to go on blood pressure or diabetes medications? Whatever the reason, if you’ve recently made a commitment to eating better, then healthier meal planning is most likely on your to-do list. Here are 3 tips to make meal planning…

Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget

By Dr. Kushner / August 15, 2020 /

As food prices soar amidst the coronavirus pandemic, your good intentions to eat more healthfully may be challenged by sticker shock at the grocery store. But preparing family-friendly healthy meals should not break the bank. By making some adjustments before, during and after you shop, less costly healthy eating is within reach. Here are some…

New Tool to Help You Eat Better, Move More, De-Stress

By Dr. Kushner / August 4, 2020 /

With stress levels high and routines disrupted in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, we are all feeling challenged to maintain healthy lifestyle habits. And yet because excess weight and obesity have been identified as risk factors for worse coronavirus outcomes, managing weight and boosting health are now more important than ever. Over the last…