Obesity care
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…
I am passionate about educating both current and future health care professionals on the care of patients living with the disease of obesity. If you’re a patient struggling with overweight or obesity, you need health care providers who are knowledgeable and skilled in giving you the most effective treatments. Here, I’d like to share some…
As an obesity medicine physician, I have been on a mission to train health care professionals about providing obesity care in their practices. Most recently, I spoke at the American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress where the room was packed with colleagues wanting to learn about new obesity care treatments. The timing was perfect as…
As a weight management expert, I’ve been encouraging my patients to take a more active role in their care for years. If this is something you’re interested in doing, engaging in shared decision making with your health care professional can be helpful. Shared decision-making is a process whereby health care professionals and patients come to…
Effective obesity care management begins with lifestyle modification (healthy eating patterns, increased physical activity and health behavior modification) for everyone as this is needed for optimal health. For select patients where lifestyle management is not effective enough to achieve improved health, medications or bariatric surgery can also be considered. As new and more effective medication…
If you struggle with overweight or obesity, you’re probably aware of the mixed messages in the media that surround the disease of obesity as well as its treatments. In support of Obesity Care Week, an annual public awareness campaign, I’d like to highlight some important obesity care resources: 1-Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) OAC is a…
Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease associated with multiple complications and co-morbidities, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and some forms of cancer. Because the disease of obesity is complex, we use multiple weight management treatments that work well together. Effective obesity care management begins with lifestyle modification (healthy eating patterns, increased physical activity…
This is an exciting time for heart health as a recent landmark study called SELECT has shown that taking the anti-obesity medication semaglutide can lower your risk for having a second cardiac event by 20%, while losing an average of over 9% body weight. And a new American Heart Association (AHA) Presidential Advisory highlights the…
I recently attended the Obesity Action Coalition’s (OAC) Your Weight Matters 2023- Engage conference in Orlando. No matter how long I’ve been practicing, I continue to be inspired by those who share personal weight journey stories that include both their struggles and successes. Throughout the weekend, we heard inspiring stories from former professional football players,…
