lifestyle habits

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

Dr. Robert Kushner December 9, 2024 No Comments

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

Staying Healthy When Life Gets Busy

Dr. Robert Kushner September 20, 2024 No Comments

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

Ease into Healthier Eating

Dr. Robert Kushner September 7, 2024 No Comments

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

Managing Weight is Personal

Dr. Robert Kushner August 18, 2024 1 Comment

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

Can a Flexible Mindset Help Improve Your Health?

Dr. Robert Kushner July 16, 2024 No Comments

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

Social Prescriptions to Enjoy Better Health

Dr. Robert Kushner May 2, 2024 No Comments

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

Put Health Goals into Action

Dr. Robert Kushner April 11, 2024 1 Comment

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

Obesity Care Rx Considerations

Dr. Robert Kushner April 6, 2024 No Comments

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

Your SNACKING TOOLBOX to Improve Daily Health Habits

Dr. Robert Kushner November 6, 2023 No Comments

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

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

Dr. Robert Kushner October 24, 2023 1 Comment

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