Weight Management
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…
When managing body weight, you’re probably laser-focused on how your weight is changing day to day or week to week. This most likely applies whether or not you’re also taking obesity medications. Though I advocate tracking body weight as a good self-monitoring tool, weight is only 1 metric of health. If you’re someone who loses motivation easily…
Self-care is your ability to give your mind and body what they need in order to stay healthy and feel well. This includes eating well, being active, de-stressing, getting enough sleep, and engaging in leisure-time activities that bring you joy and help recharge your batteries. In my 40 + years treating patients, I’ve found that those…
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…
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…
Before you know it, the seasons will be changing. This is a good time to kick your health behaviors into higher gear. So many of us want to be healthier but feel pressure to do so in a certain way. My approach is different. The best way for you to boost health is to find…
Making small changes to what and how you eat can help improve your health. That’s because small diet changes are easier to follow and sustain. Here are some common eating challenges along with examples of the nutritional nudges I often recommend: 1-I Eat Too Many Sweets Sweets can be addictive because the ultra-processing makes you…
Resistance training has gotten a lot of buzz lately because so many people on the new anti-obesity medications are being told they need to do resistance training exercises to fight the muscle loss that occurs with weight loss. But even if you aren’t taking the new medications, resistance training is important for everyone – especially…
With Better Appetite Control on Newer Anti-Obesity Medications, is a Healthy Lifestyle Still Needed?
If you’re less hungry and losing weight while taking a newer anti-obesity medication, you may wonder if you still need to modify your eating and exercise habits. During Obesity Week 2023, the conference where thousands of obesity experts from around the world convene to share breakthroughs in the field of obesity, I had the opportunity…