weight loss and alcohol

Previous entries here have raied against the use of alcohol as this lingestible liquid really derails weight loss efforts. There is something more damaging than the calories contained...there is something about alcohol that skows down metabolism,

Social functions nand vacations ntend to be the most harardous environments for the use of an excessic=ve amoiunt of alcohol.

Certainly a light wine will do much less damage than a Pina Colada. Downing a 6 pack of beer damges more than 2.

Try to NOT build your vacations around alcohol (such a s touring wib=ne country vacationa) andmost certainly do not put yourselves in all incluive reorts where you maty drink as much alcohol and eart as much food as you want.

Keeping alocohol to a bare minimum will help your quest to be healthier happier, younger and better about yourself

weight loss and routines

We, as human beings, tend to be quite "routinized" in our behavior patterns. Remember in college in the lecture hall? Did you always seek the same seat? Which sock do you put on first in the morning? Do you have coffee always before work? Do you watch the same shows weekly?

Many of us (certainly me included) are very routinized in our ways and this translates as well to our eating and exercising behaviors. Some people routinely have to snack before bedtime...some people routinely arise every morning and work out. Some routinized behaviors are derailing to weight loss efforts and others are much more conducive.

Examine your "routinized" behaviors as those relate to your food ingestion and exercise behavior patterns. Try to change those routinized behaviors that thwart your weight loss efforts and try to build on those behaviors that support your quest to become happier and healthier.

Changing routinized behaviors is difficult, yet for long-term weight loss it is necessary to achieve your goals.

Weight Loss Book

The Serotonin-Plus Clinical Staff is coming out with a book about weight management. Donna Eckenrode, PAC has written a number of chapters and in charge of working with the editor, designer and printer to have it ready by the end of May. Julia, our expert RD and I have also written chapters. Our new Medical Director of the national expansion, Laura Balda, M.D. wrote the chapter on childhood obesity and the L. Araba Sam, M.D., who is our partner in our Ft Lauderdale practice wrote the chapter on African Americans and weight control issues.

This book will be a reality book about weight management. So many books about weight loss are marketing-hype books professing to have some easy, no-work required approach to losing weight. The title usually includes the word "DIET" at the end, and as all of you know, Posner always tells people that the "D" word is not allowed....a "Diet" implies a start date and an end date....to lose weight and keep it off requires a life-style change, NOT a diet.

Please circle the following dates: Friday June 18 and Saturday June 19. We will be having book signings with all the authors and contributors those days...Friday late afternoon at our office and Saturday June 19 at our Fashion Show for charity at the National Harbor. Please come out to both events!

weight loss and corporate responsibility

Yesterday there was a comment to my blog about salads describing the chain Panera now listing calorie contents of foods and offering up a number of lower caloric choices. EXCELLENT! This is showing a responsibility to society as opposed to just making it all about the $$$.

Soft drink companies removing soda machines from schools: GOOD

Fast food companies offering toys/childrens movie paraphrenalia with the purchase of the "value childrens meals" : BAD

Bistro restaurants offering "free dessert" with the purchase of certain meals: BAD

I believe with enough ingenious thoughts from their MBAs and marketing people on staff, most huge companies offering food services to America can find the right way of making $$$ and yet not killing Americans...

It is kind of sad to say, but there is a truth here: We do need to be protected against our own destructive behaviors at times, and aside from personal responsibility to make the "right" food choices, we cannot be incentivized to make the wrong ones.

weight loss and salads

The concept of a "salad" usually involves a bowl with various vegetables, some dressing and perhaps a piece of protein.

When the salad contains numerous croutons, a high fat cheese, a high fat bacon , avocodo, and a thick creamy dressing, all of a sudden this "salad" has turned into a high-caloric derailing meal.

Fast food restaurants offer in many cases a very high calorie salad but you are made to believe you are making a healthy choice. Do NOT be fooled...stay away from fast food restaurants and their salads.

High grade vegetables, chicken/tuna/salmon, a lite dressing...this is a healthy choice.

weight loss and investment

We all spend money on "necessary" things...house payment, food, clothes, children's schooling needs etc. We also spend "discretionary" monies on recreational things, such as eating out, hobbies such as golf, vacations etc. We make decisions all the time as to where to direct our hard=earned money.

What is it worth if you could "buy" living for more years free of disease processes such as heart disease or diabetes? What would it be worth to you to look and feel 10 years younger? What price would you pay to be able to wear those clothes in the closet that no longer fit?

The answer for most people: Those above mentioned things are worth LOTS.

Whether it be investing in a piece of gym equipment for your home, hiring a personal trainer, or even entering a weight loss program such as ours, your investment into your own health and happiness is the very best investment you can make.

weight loss and Cultures

I am down in Southern Florida today for the launch event of our Ft Lauderdale Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Center. This will be in the offices of Dr. L. Araba Sam, a prominent GYN physician in the area. Dr. Sam is Head of Robotic GYN surgery at a local hospital and mentors other physicians on this procedure. She is a well-known physician who is co-authoring the chapter in our soon-to-be-released weight loss book about African Americans and weight control.

I grew up in a Jewish-culture household where you were made to feel guilty if you didn't eat all of the food placed in front of you by your little Jewish grandmother. At gatherings, bountiful amounts of high-caloric foods were present and EVERYONE ate much more than their hunger levels. From matzoh balls to potato knishes to seven layer cakes, thousands of calories were consummed.

Eating lots of food however is not limited to Jewish families. My Italian patients and friends tell me that a large part of the culture is based around family gatherings where tremendous amounts of foods were cooked and eaten.

But I believe that EVERY heritage and culture shows LOVE and NURTURING to the people of that culture through the use of food. It is almost instinctual to "care" for family via feeding them.

Particularly in the African American community, weight issues are producing a grave prognostic medical situation. With 86% of the female African American community overweight and 68% obese, the ramifications medically for severe co-morbidity development is ominous. The rate of heart disease, diabetes mellitus, breast cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions asociated with being overweight will rise exponentially.

I would ask everyone, regardless of culture, religion, or race to reinvent your family gatherings to include many more healthy choices and try to separate the love you have for your family from thje need to feed into weight problems. When you take a step back and think about it, if you are encouraging high-caloric foods to your overweight relatives, you are actually hurting them, not showing them love.