Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Why You Should Stop Counting Calories To Achieve Long-Term, Permanent Weight Loss


It’s January, which means millions of people are looking to shed unwanted pounds. Gym memberships have been bought, diets have been started, and resolutions are in full swing. These are all the things determined to make this year THE year to finally lose weight and keep it off for good.

With America’s overweight and obesity rate reaching 68.5% in adults (33.6% overweight, 34.9% obese), these much needed and well-intentioned weight loss efforts are a welcome site.1 However, if history plays out like it has, then we’re not likely to see any real progress in our bid for slimmer waistlines, as evidenced by this 2014 global systemic analysis report on obesity published in the Lancet: “Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years.”2

That’s over three decades of failure, enough to make anyone want to quit even before getting started. All hope is not lost though. What we need to do is re-evaluate how we approach weight loss in the first place. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Advocacy for Good Health in 2015

by guest blogger Jody Perrecone

Last month I was at Mayo Clinic with my sister. While she was having some tests, I had time to go to the Patient Resource Center, a library of medical information located in the clinic.

Upon entering the resource center, painted in big letters on the wall was the following quote, “The object of all health education is to change the conduct of individual men, women, and children by teaching them to care for their bodies well, and this instruction should be given throughout the entire period of their educational life.” — Charlie H. Mayo