by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Have you ever reached a plateau in your weight-loss quest?  You start off well, lose a few pounds (probably some of it water weight), think you’re doing so well … and then the scales just won’t move anymore.  It’s frustrating. I’ve heard so many say, “I’ve tried, and I just can’t lose weight.”  They just quit trying.

Don’t give up.  Here are a few suggestions to help you beat that weight-loss plateau and go on to success.

(more…)

Will this be Dr. H by year's end?

Let’s go over my reasoning.

(more…)

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

I am still trying to decide what my New Year’s health resolution will be.  Something I can keep, but have to work and focus on.  A long-term goal with short-term steps and rewards.  I have a few in mind, and thanks for your suggestions Sagan and Judy.

(more…)

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Most everyone who reads this blog knows we need to stay healthy and fit more than ever in these tight economic times.  It helps us cope with stress, and who needs more medical bills by getting down and sick?

Stacy Berman, a fitness trainer who has written for JHMFD, sent me some “frugal fitness tips.”  We like Stacy and thought we would share.  See her bio at the end of the tips.

In the past, we’ve featured ways to eat healthy while saving money (here and here), but she offers some new tips on fitness.  I wondered what you’d think.  Here are the tips.

(more…)

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

By age 15, the majority of teens don’t meet the 60 minutes of daily exercise the Department of Health and Human Services recommends, says a new study the July 16 Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Lack of physical activity in childhood raises the risk for obesity and its attendant health problems later in life,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in an NIH press release. “Helping American children maintain appropriate activity levels is a major public health goal requiring immediate action.”

With all the recent publicity regarding the “obesity epidemic” in children, their risk of diabetes, heart disease and the recommendation of cholesterol lowering medicine in some, Dr. Alexander’s statement seems timely. But what can parents do? (more…)

Jill Weisenberger M.S., R.D., C.D.E.

I love it when a research study comes out reporting what I’ve been saying for years. And that happened last November in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Wearing a pedometer is associated with some measures of better health, report the authors of the study.

I started wearing a pedometer sporadically before they became popular. And whenever I’m feeling a bit chunky or lazy, I clip it on and dust off my food record. (I have a research study that supports the use of food records too.) Both of these tools remind me that I have goals to eat healthfully and to keep moving. The moving part gets harder and harder as I get busier and busier with work, family and other things that tie me to my car or to my computer. But sometimes the reminder is all that I need.

After leaving it in a drawer for three or four months, I put my pedometer on a couple of weeks ago. I realized that yet again, I had let being busy trick me into thinking that I had been active. I see that many of my patients confuse being busy for being active as well. Wearing the pedometer and frequently looking at the steps accumulated forced me to circle my kitchen and dining room while waiting for the pot on the stove to boil. It would have been easier to just stand in front of the stove. It encouraged me to let the dogs in and out instead of yelling to my daughters, “Will you let Cocoa in please? Please let Nikki out.”

The authors of the JAMA article reviewed 26 published research studies that measured pedometer use among adults. It should be no surprise that the use of a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in blood pressure and body mass index (BMI).

So if you don’t already have one, get yourself a reliable pedometer. Good ones frequently cost between $20 and $30. If you do have one, it’s time to snap it on.

Happy walking! Or happy biking, skipping, hiking, dancing…

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association have published 2007 exercise recommendations for older adults in the August, 28, 2007, issue of Circulation.

Their definition of older adults is:

• people over 65
• people aged 50 to 64 with chronic conditions (such as high blood pressure or other treated or untreated ongoing issues) or functional limitations (something that “impairs the ability to engage in physical activity”). (more…)