lifestyle habits

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

Your SNACKING TOOLBOX to Improve Daily Health Habits

By Dr. Kushner / November 6, 2023 /

Sustainable health habits aren’t typically developed as a complete overhaul of one’s lifestyle. Instead, it’s more realistic and doable if they’re created as one small ‘snack’ step at a time, whether it’s related to healthy eating, getting in more physical activity, or dealing with daily stressors. You can create your own SNACKING TOOLBOX for when…

Read More

With Better Appetite Control on Newer Anti-Obesity Medications, is a Healthy Lifestyle Still Needed?

By Dr. Kushner / October 24, 2023 /

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…

Read More

Changing Hearts & Minds about Obesity

By Dr. Kushner / October 11, 2023 /

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,…

Read More

Maintain Health Behaviors despite Life Transitions

By Dr. Kushner / September 12, 2023 /

Many life transitions are anticipated – a new home, moving to a new city, starting college or grad school, getting married or starting a family. As your daily routines change, so can your health behaviors. Eating healthfully and exercising may be challenging if you have a longer commute, different work hours, new school deadlines, more…

Read More

Build on Weight Loss Motives to Boost Success

By Dr. Kushner / August 13, 2023 /

So much focus surrounding weight management is on the ‘WHAT’ to do and ‘HOW’ to do it to lose weight and keep it off. However, it can be helpful to step back and review the ‘WHY’ managing weight is important to you at this point in your life. Although the ‘WHY’ for losing weight can…

Read More

Treat Yourself Better – You Deserve it!

By Dr. Kushner / July 21, 2023 /

When I see patients who are doing well following their new healthy lifestyle behaviors but complain that the scale isn’t budging fast enough, I ask them to make a list. On one side are all the positives they’ve been experiencing with their newfound healthier lifestyle such as being more active, easier to sit in an…

Read More

Improve Social Connections, Improve Health

By Dr. Kushner / May 12, 2023 /

Surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy recently warned that loneliness and a lack of social connections are having negative effects on both the mental and physical health of Americans. And surprisingly, this seems to be affecting young adults at almost twice the rate of those over age 65. According to Dr. Vivek’s advisory poor social relationships…

Read More

Improve Your Health – One Self-Care Behavior at a Time

By Dr. Kushner / April 9, 2023 /

One of my yearly medical student classes I teach is helping our future physicians practice improving their own health, one self-care behavior at a time. You may be surprised to know that health care professionals can also struggle to fit in time for exercise, plan healthier meals into a busy day, take time to de-stress…

Read More