Weight Management
With 5 hours of presentations, the Your Weight Matters 2023 Virtual Convention reached more than 1500 people around the world. I’d like to share some highlights from one of the talks given by clinical health psychologist Robyn Pashby on the topic of body positivity and weight management and how to find the middle ground between…
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Many people know that to manage weight better, you also need to manage your time so you can take better care of yourself; this may involve making time to stay active, eat regular, nutritious meals, get enough hours of restful sleep and practice de-stressing activities. But this isn’t always easy to do when low energy…
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A common refrain I hear from patients is, “Dr. Kushner, I know what to do to lose weight, I am a smart person. I just can’t seem to do it and stick with it!” I typically respond to them by making an analogy to coaching. Elite athletes, musicians and dancers know what to do, but…
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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. As exciting new obesity care treatments become available, the science of obesity care continues to be questioned. That’s why I was so pleased last month during Obesity…
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Managing weight in a healthy way requires both zooming in to focus on the details of living a healthier lifestyle and zooming out to better understand the bigger picture. Too often individuals can get lost in the day-to-day specifics of trying to lose weight and may feel overwhelmed and frustrated by the ongoing immediate challenges.…
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As I mentor medical students who are learning how to help patients manage their weight, I often ask them what the patient can do at home to help boost their success. Helping patients be more accountable to themselves with self-monitoring is one of the tools I teach medical students to use in counseling as it…
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I recently added a lecture on ‘diabesity’ to the medical student curriculum at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Here’s why. Over 90% of people with diabetes also struggle with their excess weight. ‘Diabesity’ is the term we now use for the dual epidemics of diabetes and obesity that are both rising worldwide and often…
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Improving one’s lifestyle habits is foundational to all weight management treatment modalities, whether you’re taking a new weight loss medication or even undergoing bariatric surgery. I spend a lot of time talking to my patients to help them figure out the best mix of weight management strategies that fit their life and lifestyle habits. If…
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Monitoring your weight, diet and physical activity are some of the most successful strategies seen across multiple weight-loss studies. Self-monitoring keeps you accountable and aware of how key behaviors are impacting your health. If weight loss is one of your health goals, then tracking weight on a regular basis is encouraged. However, weight tracking should…
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A common misperception my patients struggle with is thinking they have to strive for perfection in order to be successful managing weight and boosting health. But this perfectionistic mindset only sets you up for failure because eating and exercise rarely go perfectly each and every day. Since managing weight tends to be a lifelong endeavor,…
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