weight loss success
Responses to treatment for overweight and obesity care vary across different subgroups and individuals. This has implications for both patients wanting to manage weight better as well as their treating clinicians. When studies report average responses to lifestyle modification interventions, medication therapies or surgical treatments, this means that some individuals exceed expectations while others lose…
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…
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.…
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…
Though your home is the one environment you have most control over, my patients often struggle to take charge of the foods that are available at home. I tell them that successful weight management occurs when you can better control all the ‘eat now’ and ‘eat more’ temptations in your home. If you’re interested in…
Whether you’re a patient or a provider, you know how quickly time can pass during a health care encounter. Your provider’s priorities may be to discuss your chief complaint, medications, lab results and other chronic medical problems. This doesn’t leave a lot of time to counsel you on managing weight. That’s why I recommend that…
Shared decision-making is a process whereby health care providers take into account each person’s personal preferences, priorities and goals before selecting a specific treatment plan. As a weight management expert, it’s a process I’ve been using for most of my career to help my patients lose weight and get healthier. Getting to know each patient…
Whether you have in internal drive to lose weight to improve self-confidence or feel better, or you are encouraged to lose weight by your health care provider to improve your diabetes or hypertension, sustained motivation is a key factor for long-term success. However, it’s not uncommon for motivation to wax and wane at different points…
Whether it’s the foods on your kitchen counters, eye-level in the fridge or in bowls on a cocktail table, we know that tempting food cues in your environment can lead to overeating. Too often, patients tell me they have no willpower and don’t understand why they can’t say no to all the tempting foods around…
Self-monitoring is one of the most important behavioral strategies for improving the healthfulness of your lifestyle. If, for example, you want to lower your blood pressure, you may purchase a blood pressure monitor so you can self-monitor at home. Reaching a health goal is easier to accomplish if you measure it on a regular basis.…
