Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Are you one of the thousands who resolve to lose weight and get in shape when the New Year rings in? Why make this commitment? Why deprive yourself of the goodies you love and spend your down time sweating and pumping iron?  Why lose weight?  Is it really all it’s cracked up to be?  The answer really is YES!!  The benefits of weight loss are countless.  Researchers are finding more health benefits all the time.  Losing any amount of weight can have a positive impact on your health.  People who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, diabetes and other risk factors that can lead to heart disease, stroke and other vascular problems.  Excess weight also puts greater stress on your joints (knees, hips and feet), commonly causes sleep apnea and is associated with increased rates of certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, anxiety, infertility and low testosterone levels in men (low libido, erectile dysfunction and drive).  So, by losing weight now, you may be able to prevent a multitude of medical problems in the future and have a better quality of life!

The providers at the Diabetes and Endocrine Center of Orlando can teach and support you in your efforts to lose weight and maintain your weight loss in a healthy manner with dietary education, meal replacements, healthier snacks, physical activity and, if necessary, medication.  Research shows that people with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes by making healthier dietary choices.  For those who are already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, weight control is the cornerstone of therapy.  We have partnered with the ITG Diet Clinic to provide dietary alternatives for our patients who have health consequences of high BMI (body mass index) and metabolic syndrome symptoms.  Instead of just telling our patients to “eat less and exercise more”, the ITG plan offers specific solutions to deliver a successful and sustained outcome.  Patients can lower their blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure with less or no prescription medication!  Best of all, losing excessive weight and backing away from unhealthy dietary choices, including overly processed foods, helps our patients feel so much better, both physically and emotionally!

Coupling an improved diet with increased physical activity provides a well rounded program of improved health and lowered risk of disease.  Physical activity is as important as your diet in helping you lose weight!  Regular physical activity helps lower all of the same risk factors that diet helps control (heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and more).  To achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, you should get at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity each week, such as brisk walking.  You can increase your activity gradually over time and decrease your caloric intake to a point where your input and output of calories allows you to achieve energy balance to lose and then maintain a more ideal body weight for good health!  The providers at the Diabetes and Endocrine Center of Orlando can help advise you along this path and help make this year’s resolution the start of a lifetime of good health!