Say No to Overrestriction
Our primary focus is helping you find an eating pattern that provides enough energy to power you through your day, but also enables you to feel full more easily. The foundation of our plan is to highlight foods that are higher in protein and/or fiber. We’ll layer in a number of questions to better understand your relationship with food. Are there calories we can cut back on that don’t help us feel full? Are there items that taste so good they cause us to lose track of how full we feel? How does our food environment contribute to what we eat, when, and how much? Balance is very important to us: no foods will be entirely off limits. There are an endless number of eating patterns out there, but having worked with thousands of patients over the years, we know that the best nutrition plan for you is one with which you can have success AND which you can enjoy and sustain over time. Our job is to find that plan with you as our guide.
Our primary focus is helping you find an eating pattern that provides enough energy to power you through your day, but also enables you to feel full more easily. The foundation of our plan is to highlight foods that are higher in protein and/or fiber. We’ll layer in a number of questions to better understand your relationship with food. Are there calories we can cut back on that don’t help us feel full? Are there items that taste so good they cause us to lose track of how full we feel? How does our food environment contribute to what we eat, when, and how much? Balance is very important to us: no foods will be entirely off limits. There are an endless number of eating patterns out there, but having worked with thousands of patients over the years, we know that the best nutrition plan for you is one with which you can have success AND which you can enjoy and sustain over time. Our job is to find that plan with you as our guide.
Fit for Life, Not the Scale
Love it or hate it, exercise and other physical activities are essential for many aspects of life: stress relief and mental health, improved sleep, heart health, gut health, longevity, and much more. But you’ll notice what we haven’t mentioned so far – weight loss! There is very credible research that suggests we may not burn as many calories from exercise as we have been led to believe. Some calories burned during exercise may be subtracted from our baseline metabolism, meaning the additive effect from exercise might not be as strong as we once thought. Two of the most critical connections between exercise and weight may be preserving or adding muscle mass during and after weight loss and the role exercise plays in reinforcing weight loss maintenance. But above all else, like nutrition, we’ll work with you to ensure your activity plan is one that optimizes your overall health and that you can enjoy and sustain over time.
Love it or hate it, exercise and other physical activities are essential for many aspects of life: stress relief and mental health, improved sleep, heart health, gut health, longevity, and much more. But you’ll notice what we haven’t mentioned so far – weight loss! There is very credible research that suggests we may not burn as many calories from exercise as we have been led to believe. Some calories burned during exercise may be subtracted from our baseline metabolism, meaning the additive effect from exercise might not be as strong as we once thought. Two of the most critical connections between exercise and weight may be preserving or adding muscle mass during and after weight loss and the role exercise plays in reinforcing weight loss maintenance. But above all else, like nutrition, we’ll work with you to ensure your activity plan is one that optimizes your overall health and that you can enjoy and sustain over time.
Don’t Sleep on Shut-Eye
If we’re getting enough of it, we’ll spend roughly one-third of our lives asleep. While many of us aim to “live hard and play hard,” we know deep down that when we don’t get enough sleep, we may not have the energy to plan a meal, grocery shop, or get to the gym. But the connection between sleep and weight runs deeper: poor quantity or quality of sleep makes some of us hungrier and perhaps more susceptible to food cravings. Research shows that we are sleeping a full hour less than we did as recently as the early 2000s. While this corresponds with the rise of social media, there are many other keys to routinely getting a good night’s sleep. Everyone needs a slightly different amount of sleep, but the goal for most of us should be 7-9 hours per night. We’ll review sleep hygiene in detail and offer suggestions, where needed, to optimize the quantity and quality of your sleep.
If we’re getting enough of it, we’ll spend roughly one-third of our lives asleep. While many of us aim to “live hard and play hard,” we know deep down that when we don’t get enough sleep, we may not have the energy to plan a meal, grocery shop, or get to the gym. But the connection between sleep and weight runs deeper: poor quantity or quality of sleep makes some of us hungrier and perhaps more susceptible to food cravings. Research shows that we are sleeping a full hour less than we did as recently as the early 2000s. While this corresponds with the rise of social media, there are many other keys to routinely getting a good night’s sleep. Everyone needs a slightly different amount of sleep, but the goal for most of us should be 7-9 hours per night. We’ll review sleep hygiene in detail and offer suggestions, where needed, to optimize the quantity and quality of your sleep.
Handle Stress Without Calories
Who among us hasn’t been prone to stress eating or relieving stress with an alcoholic drink from time to time? While we can’t always control how much stress we experience, our approach helps you control how you respond to those stressors. We’ll help reinforce what you’re already doing or offer ways to optimize your relationship with stress.
Who among us hasn’t been prone to stress eating or relieving stress with an alcoholic drink from time to time? While we can’t always control how much stress we experience, our approach helps you control how you respond to those stressors. We’ll help reinforce what you’re already doing or offer ways to optimize your relationship with stress.
Medications Can Cause Weight Gain
Only rarely are medications prescribed to increase appetite or induce weight gain. But in our quest to treat various other diseases and illnesses, we’ve found that several common medications can make some of us hungrier or create metabolic changes that make weight loss challenging. We’ll carefully review your medication list to ensure we are optimizing your opportunities to lose weight and keep it off.
Only rarely are medications prescribed to increase appetite or induce weight gain. But in our quest to treat various other diseases and illnesses, we’ve found that several common medications can make some of us hungrier or create metabolic changes that make weight loss challenging. We’ll carefully review your medication list to ensure we are optimizing your opportunities to lose weight and keep it off.
Genetics: The Next Frontier
Do weight struggles run in your family? Research into the inherited drivers of weight continues to evolve, but it is well established that genetics play a major role. There are genetic conditions that cause weight gain as part of rare syndromes which are usually diagnosed early in childhood, but we know now that there are at least a few (and likely many more) genetic variants that may not cause a full syndrome, but do affect control of appetite and energy balance. At this time, there is only one medication (setmelanotide) approved for certain single (non-syndromic) genetic factors. Research is ongoing to understand whether setmelanotide can work for other genetic factors or conditions. We are happy to order free testing for you from this outside research program if you meet testing criteria and are interested in learning more.
Do weight struggles run in your family? Research into the inherited drivers of weight continues to evolve, but it is well established that genetics play a major role. There are genetic conditions that cause weight gain as part of rare syndromes which are usually diagnosed early in childhood, but we know now that there are at least a few (and likely many more) genetic variants that may not cause a full syndrome, but do affect control of appetite and energy balance. At this time, there is only one medication (setmelanotide) approved for certain single (non-syndromic) genetic factors. Research is ongoing to understand whether setmelanotide can work for other genetic factors or conditions. We are happy to order free testing for you from this outside research program if you meet testing criteria and are interested in learning more.
