lifestyle habits

Be Better, Not Perfect – a Lifelong Healthy Eating Strategy

By Dr. Kushner / January 7, 2025 /

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…

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Personal Weight Struggles Require a Personalized Approach

By Dr. Kushner / January 1, 2025 /

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…

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

By Dr. Kushner / December 9, 2024 /

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…

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Staying Healthy When Life Gets Busy

By Dr. Kushner / September 20, 2024 /

Your daily routine directly impacts your health behaviors. But what happens when you daily routine gets so busy, you have trouble maintaining your healthy lifestyle? As your daily routines change, so can your health behaviors. Eating healthfully and exercising may be challenging with a stressful work or school deadline or new family obligations. Much of…

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Ease into Healthier Eating

By Dr. Kushner / September 7, 2024 /

As new Fall schedules get underway, you may also be looking toward a healthier eating routine. If you want to eat better and get healthier, you’ve come to the right place. Instead of a one-size-fits-all, restrictive diet approach, I recommend making small lifestyle changes. If you’re ready to change your lifestyle for the better, I…

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Managing Weight is Personal

By Dr. Kushner / August 18, 2024 /

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. Different people have different struggles managing weight, depending on who they are and how they live their life. This applies whether or not…

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Can a Flexible Mindset Help Improve Your Health?

By Dr. Kushner / July 16, 2024 /

Do you approach improving your weight and health with a more flexible or inflexible mindset? If you’re unsure, here are some questions to ask yourself: Are you someone who has strict rules you tell yourself you must follow? Do you have a long list of forbidden foods that you must not eat? Do you feel…

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Social Prescriptions to Enjoy Better Health

By Dr. Kushner / May 2, 2024 /

What does it mean to be healthy? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “health is not merely the absence of disease but is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.” In Christina Caron’s recent New York Times article, When the Prescription is for a Dance Class, not a Pill, she describes a…

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Put Health Goals into Action

By Dr. Kushner / April 11, 2024 /

Having health-related goals is one thing. Being able to follow through with them is another. To help my patients put health goals into action, I encourage them to think about the steps they can take up front to set themselves up for success. Here are 3 STEPS YOU CAN STAR TAKING TODAY to improve your…

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Obesity Care Rx Considerations

By Dr. Kushner / April 6, 2024 /

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…

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