weight loss and appearance

We are in Orlando now at a cosmetic GYN doctors conference.

First, we flew AIRTRAN yesterday and I cannot believe how tight the coach seats are...I had a patient in our program once tell me that one of the great senstivities of her being overweight was fear that she would not be able to fit into an airline seat and as some airlines have smaler seats/seatbelts than others, she would not fly certain airlines. For an overweight person, this airline yesterday would have been very difficult.

The doctors we are meeting today specialize in cosmetics...liposuction, laser hair removal, botox, etc.

It must be remembered that liposuction is NOT a weight loss procedure..it is a body sculpting procedure. Liposuction does not make people healthier or lessen the need for blood presuure or diabetic pills.

Weight loss makes people younger inside AND out....there is nothing that you can do to make yourself look younger and healthier than to lose weight. Sometimes doctors forget this point to...our profession is much beter trained to treat disease states rather than prevent them.

weight loss and looking younger

This morning I will speak to physicians who are attending the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine meetings in Orlando. We noticed that this is the only "weight" discussion occurring the entire 4 days of seminars. Most of the talks are about aesthetic procedures..liopdissolve, injection therapy, natural hormones, etc. Once again, from an aesthetic standpoint, looking younger (significantly) almost always accompanies weight loss. I am thinking about so many of our patients who appear to drop years (even decades) when they finish their formal visits with us.

It is important to remember that you do not have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars trying to look younger. If you are overweight, making signifcant progress in reaching your goals will make you look so much younger. How many of you can really believe that I am 73 years old? (Laughing....okay....I really am turning 53 and trying desparately to look no older than 52)