I think it’s safe to say that mostparents are dedicated to their child’s oral, visual and physical well-beingand diligently schedule annual check-ups at the dentist, eye doctor and pediatrician. Why is it, then, that so many of those same parents do NOT put the same emphasis on their kids’eating habits? After all, what  [Read more...]

When I start talking to new clients about the necessity of lowering their sodium, and to especially stop adding table-salt to their dinner plates, the look of panic and horror often follows. So many people are addicted; so many, just by rote response, will reach for the salt shaker before they even taste their  [Read more...]

There’s a word that my mother never allowed my sister and I to use at home when we were growing up, and that my husband and I didn’t allow our daughter to use either. No, it’s not the F word. I’m OK with that, depending on how it’s used. The word I’m talking about  [Read more...]

I’ve met so many people over the years who have fallen into a pattern of dieting failure: One diet after another, several in a year, multiple times, and each time focused solely on their weight, almost never on their health.Obsessively focused on a daily number on a scale instead of a cumulative improvement to  [Read more...]

You are NOT hungry most of the time. You are not hungry because something smells good, looks good, or tastes good. You are also not hungry because there is stress, a deadline, a personal or business problem, anxiety, tension, it’s morning, afternoon, evening, when alone, with thinner friends, with fatter friends, weekdays, weekends, day  [Read more...]

Not surprisingly, I meet many people who have all the various medical issues associated with being overweight and obese: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, acid reflux, insulin resistance . . . just to name a few.Unfortunately, I find that too many have a very cavalier attitude about it.When I question whether or not  [Read more...]

I know diabetes isnot exactly a barn-burner of a topic, but it is especially prevalent in overweight and obese people, which is how I come in contact with that issue regularly.At a time when the number of obese people in the world now outnumber the underweight, and since obesity changes your DNA, which increases  [Read more...]

Uh ohhhhh . . . they’re baaaack . . . the holidays! They come one after the other, in rapid fire: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. How are you going to handle all the fattening foods and drinks that inevitably accompany every party, gathering or event? Food is a big and  [Read more...]

When you think of the word diet, do you think of it as a noun or a verb? The answer to that question may very well explain why dietingis so difficult for so many. Those who struggle the most with weight loss and lifestyle change are those whose underlying intention is to change  [Read more...]

When you are overweight you have excess body fat both inside and outside. Too many people never think about the fat on the inside, but it affects you just as much. In this case fat can build up on the inside of the throat. This alone can partially block your airway and not just  [Read more...]

I recently wrote about how “I don’t know” is tied with “I don’t have time” for the #1 spot on the hit parade of excuses heard regularly from weight loss clients.The #2 spot?Well, that’s definitely “I can’t.”OMG . . . I hate that freakin’ word can’t.It’s not in my vocabulary. Here’s the short  [Read more...]

Would you let your children smoke cigarettes? Then don’t do it. Would you let your children do drugs? Then don’t do it. Would you let your children drink alcohol and drive? Then don’t do it. Would you let your children stop eating to lose weight? Then, don’t do it. Would  [Read more...]

Tied with “I Don’t Know”in the #1 spot for excuses from weight loss clients is the old standby, “I don’t have time.” Sound familiar? I recently read a fabulous article by Robert Bacall, Do You Lie To Yourself About “Not Enough Time?”,which gets right to the heart of the matteron the true meaning  [Read more...]

Aurorasa Sima is an Emotional Intelligence Trainer, business and executive coach who conducts sales training sessions, workshops, webinars and other events.In a blog, Do You Want to Search or Find, she mentioned how oftentimes after a training session someone will come up to her and say, “I knew all of that” and her response  [Read more...]

I recently read a very good post on the professional social network, LinkedIn,by Mareo McCracken, This is Why You Are Sabotaging Relationships (+8 Actionable Ideas to Build Incredible Ones). It wason the subject of sabotaging relationships when it comes to success (or failure) in business.It stood out for me because of two words:SABOTAGING  [Read more...]

Just as pipes are the strong tube-like structures which carry water where it needs to go (faucets, fountains, lawn sprinklers, shower heads, commodes) throughout our homes, blood vessels (veins, arteries, capillaries) are strong tube-like structures through which blood travels to get to where it needs to go throughout our bodies. The pipes  [Read more...]

Three words I hear an awful lot, daily — let’s call them some of the buzz words of weight loss — are: “I don’t know.” Some examples. Before the client gets on the scale. Me: So, how’d you do over the weekend? Client: I don’t know. When the scale shows  [Read more...]

The term “healthy obesity” has gained some traction over the last several years, and I want to put that oxymoron to rest.When I hear it, I always ask, “What does that mean? . . . that you haven’t had a stroke or heart attack yet?” . . . that the ticking time bomb hasn’t  [Read more...]

Our feet are small compared to the rest of our body; yet, the amount of pressure we put on them is great when we’re just standing.When we walk or run, however, it’s tremendous . . . and the bigger we are, the more our feet are asked to bear. Many problems that occur  [Read more...]

If you’re a business owner, you know that we business owners keep all kinds of records so that we can look back at various collected stats or data for evaluation:How did we do? What do we want to do differently? What worked that we want to continue? What didn’t that we want to stop  [Read more...]

Who doesn’t love soup, right? Hot soup warms our bellies in the winter. Cold soups are a refreshing touch in the summer. But, soups are a little tricky to fit into one’s portion-controlled weight loss and maintenance lifestyle. While you might find a canned soup low in calories, or even relatively low in  [Read more...]

Let me ask you this: Have you ever really wanted something so badly and then went on toachieve(and maintain) that goal withoutanyself-imposed restrictions? Did you cut back (even just a little) on all-night partying and drinking in college when you went on to law or medical schools? Or, did the rigorous “for all  [Read more...]

Once upon a time gout was associated with overindulgence in people of the upper class who had access to foods and alcohol of plenty. As a matter of fact, in 1726, British physician Richard Blackmore called gout “the grievous Calamity of the Great, the Rich and the most Easy in their Circumstances.” It became  [Read more...]

Every now and then I like to remind everyone that foolish, fad diets aren’t new to modern times. I’ve previously written aboutThe Candy Diet,The Cigarette Diet,The Tapeworm Diet, and theFruit Salt Pills & Bands; Reducing Soap; Bile Beans and Fat Girls Diets. It’s time to go back into the vault of dumb, dopey  [Read more...]

Think about this: According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,obesity most often develops from ages 5 to 6or during the teen years, anda child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has an 80% chance of becoming an obese adult.* A study of parents of over  [Read more...]

There’s lots ofRationalizations,ExcusesandDenial—a.k.a.bullshit—in weight loss. I hear it daily. My favorite, which I’ve already written about it, is“I’m not really that overweight; I’m big boned.”I always get a chuckle out of that one. My second favorite is a tie between “No matter what I do, I can’t seem to lose weight”  [Read more...]

Pusher: “Here, try this.” Addict: “No, thanks.” Pusher: “Are you sure?” Addict: “Yes, thank you.” Pusher: “C’mon, you’re doing great on your diet; you can haveonelittle piece.” Addict: “No, really; I’m sure. Thanks.” Pusher: “Aren’t you going to have any dessert?” Addict: “No, dinner was enough; I’m full, thanks.” Pusher: “My cheesecake not  [Read more...]

Sleep services all aspects of our bodies in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood. There is not a single tissue in the body that is not beneficially affected by sleep. It’s the single most effective thing we can do every day to reset the health  [Read more...]

My daughter, Sabrina, has been horseback riding since she was 7; she’s now 20 and a college junior.A couple years ago, she had a spill off a horse at school, and was off the mount for a few months. When home on break, I decided to hang around the barn one day to watch  [Read more...]

Almost everyone loves sushi. After all, what’s not to love? It comes in all varieties and all colors, and those bite-size pieces are so cute, right? And who doesn’t think a sushi hand roll in the shape of a cone isn’t healthier than an ice-cream cone, right? Well . . . uh . .  [Read more...]

The official first day of summer is almost here. Sun. Surf. Sand. Barbecues and beer. Beautiful beach sunsets and bottles of wine. Happy hours and hang-overs. Alcohol is deeply entrenched in our culture as a way to have fun, let loose, and be social . . . and  [Read more...]

I see a lot of young girls and teens who have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) — and most don’t even know they have it when they first meet me. Not only are these girls overweight and unhappy, but almost always by the time they get to me they’ve really been through the ringer. What  [Read more...]

I have worked with thousands of clients over the years, many of whom have come to me after having a liposuction procedure to learn how to eat correctly to lose a small amount of weight, 10 to 15 pounds, as well as how to keep it off so that the procedure they had  [Read more...]

I don’t believe I’m going out on a limb when I say that we expect people in their fields of service to match what they’re selling. Speaking for myself, I do. We expect dentists to have good teeth. We expect dermatologists to have nice skin. We expect personal shoppers to  [Read more...]

Marriage vows are promises a couple makes to each other during a wedding ceremony.And while of course couples often do write their own vows, we are all at least familiar with the following: I, ____, take you, ____, to be my lawfully wedded(husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day  [Read more...]

Despite widespread publicity about the obesity epidemic in children — everywhere you look you see fat kids — parents increasingly are willfully suffering from fat blindness: turning a blind eye as their children pack on the pounds. A study done a couple years ago found that more than three quarters of parents of pre-school-age  [Read more...]

In his excellent article, Declutter Your Desk to Declutter Your Mind, Brett Berhoff wrote about the clutter-mind connection. In my line of work, I can say without question that physical clutter and chaos is directly linked to excessive weight. Clutter and excessive weight make a perfect match for each other because they  [Read more...]

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? It’s obvious: You see your face, your hair, and all your external body parts, and lots and lots of skin. But what you don’t see is what’s going on inside . . . and if you’re overweight or obese I’m talking about the stuff that  [Read more...]

Even after all these years of listening to new clients recite a long list of diets (aka “torture”) they’ve put themselves through, I am still not immune to being shocked by how some will resort to absolutely insane levels in order to avoid hard work. Too many people would rather put up with stinky breath  [Read more...]

People are connected, and so their health is connected, said authors of their research findings a decade ago in The New England Journal of Medicine. It was the first time that prestigious journal published a study of how social networks affect health and, more specifically, how social networks play a powerful role in  [Read more...]

In his article, The Path to Productivity: Focus On 1st Hour, William King speaks to those (managers, supervisors, department heads, etc.) who are, at the end of the day, responsible for production output of a team, be it in an office or manufacturing setting. He writes of the importance of the first hour of  [Read more...]

This is a question I get asked quite a lot and to answer it, I’ll start with another question: What exactly is panko? — the Japanese word for “small pieces of bread.” First, some history. Did you know that panko crumbs are not made with heat? They’re electrocuted!! While the Japanese  [Read more...]

Recently, as I started to box up charts of clients from years ago to make room for more current clients. I started to go through many of those old charts, paying particular attention to the last part of the questionnaire we have everyone fill out prior to the consultation: Please give three reasons, in  [Read more...]

I read a wonderful, informative article by George Armes, Over 50? 60? All’s (definitely) Not Lost! that provides one great piece of advice after another for older adults to get past the stereotypical younger recruiter across the desk to either get back into the job market or switch jobs. One of Mr. Armes’  [Read more...]

I was recently asked this question, “Why is getting in the right frame of mind the key to achieving weight loss results?” Now, obviously, by starting that question with the word “why” instead of “do you think,” or “is,” this individual was (a) telling me what he thought to be a fact; and (b)  [Read more...]

It would come as no surprise that one of the questions I am often asked is, “What are some of the motivational tips you provide to clients to stay motivated and focused in order to achieve their weight loss goals?” Well, of course, there are many, but the best way I can answer this  [Read more...]

In weight loss, as in reaching many other goals, the key is motivation. Those who are most motivated are those who succeed. And you need to keep your level of motivation high not just at the beginning of your weight loss program, when you have decided to lose weight, but also throughout the program.  [Read more...]

Just when you think you’ve heard about all the crazy, idiotic, ridiculous (and oftentimes dangerous) weight loss gimmicks, I’ll write about another one. As with The Cigarette Diet, which I wrote about in Take a Puff, Lose a Pound, here’s another from the you-can’t-make-this-sh*t-up department. Ever hear of The Tapeworm Diet? This particular diet  [Read more...]

Osteoarthritis develops when the cushioning material between the joints, known as cartilage, wears away, eventually allowing the bones to painfully rub or grind together. Obesity is an important risk factor for osteoarthritis sufferers. This is because high amounts of fat around the liver, muscle tissues and in the blood is more likely  [Read more...]