Cross section of fit and obese men:

It doesn’t have to be this way. Your healthy body is waiting inside to get out. What actions will you take today to improve your health and wellness?

Cross section of fit and obese women:

You want to lose weight—and fast. You’re willing to try almost any weight loss product promising a miracle, but will it work? And more importantly, is it safe?

FTC cracks down on false weight loss claims

Looks like the Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on companies hawking weight loss products with bogus claims and here’s what’s happening right now.

Products that the FTC says are making false claims include Sensa and a “slimming” body cream by L’Occitane. The FTC is also working to get consumers their money back for purchasing such products and is going to urge the companies to stop the false advertising.

Some common false claims:

• Eat whatever you want and still lose weight
• No diet or exercise required
• Just take this pill and you’ll lose weight

Where’s the miracle?

“The chances of being successful at substantial weight loss just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing creams on your body or just using a supplement, well, they’re slim to none” — Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection

There are no miracle weight loss pills, no matter what those companies try to get you to believe. Buying these supplements from unscrupulous sources online without a doctor’s supervision is dangerous. Not only do they not work—they could cause you serious harm or even death.

The only legal (and legitimate) weight loss medications are those approved by the FDA, and are only available by prescription. These include Phentermine, Phendimetrizine, Qsymia,… See complete list: FDA Approved Medical Weight Loss Pills

Your best option is to work with a medical weight loss doctor who can advise you safely on what your body needs in order to lose weight.

Are you Overweight? Do you want to lose weight?

Find out how to lose weight fast and in a safe manner by speaking with licensed bariatric physician Dr. Aron. To schedule your first appointment, give us a call at 718-491-5525 or visit WeightLossNYC.com

Americans continue to gain weight

Several striking news reports reflect that in the US, more adults who are obese outnumber those who are just overweight. The LA Times reported notes from published in JAMA Internal Medicine quoting “adults who are obese now outnumber those who are merely overweight.”

[Researchers] estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.

• Washington Post remarks “"[this is] a startling shift from 20 years ago when 63 percent of men and 55 percent of women were overweight or obese and a depressing sign that campaigns to get Americans to eat healthier and exercise more may be failing.”
• CBS News (website) notes the ”analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2012 to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity.” including details on “15,208 men and women age 25 or older.”
• TIME magazine iterated “40% of men were overweight and 35% of men were obese” — “30% of women were overweight and 37% were obese.” Numbers “are similar to those estimated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which suggest that one third of American adults are obese.”
• and MedPage Today remarked “33% of Americans ages 25 to 54, and 28% of those 55 and older, fell into the normal weight category of having a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-24.9.”

Am I obese? or just Overweight?

You can test your own body mass index at WeightLossNYC™ for free online now, and determine your health risk and obesity/overweight metric.

For more results, you can visit Dr. Aron of WeightLossNYC.com for a complete medical evaluation and treatment of your body weight, fat, metabolism and more.

What’s the Health Risk?

Excess sugar can not only lead to weight gain, but you also have other health concerns to worry about. People who drink 1 to 2 cans of soda a day can increase their risk for Type 2 diabetes by 26%. Additionally, daily sugary drinks can also increase your risk of heart attack, death from heart attack and heart disease.

—Oksana Aron,M.D.
Bariatric Physician

The Not-So-Sweet Side of Sugar

We all know that sugar isn’t good for our health, waistline or teeth. But what we don’t know about it—including where it’s coming from—can be even more important. Additionally, many contain genetically modified sugars (GMO) and are often unlabelled as such, yielding further obscurity.

Consuming sugary drinks such as sodas and fruit drinks were once thought to be the main source of sugar in our diet, but the latest from the U.S. CDC shows that Americans are getting their sugar mainly from their food, not drinks.

Without knowing this fact, many people may be unwittingly be consuming a lot more sugar than they think and are scratching their heads as to why they can’t lose those last few pounds.

How sugar sneaks into your diet & How to prevent it.

Healthy Tip

When checking the ingredients list on food packaging, make sure that sugar or its other names (such as high-fructose corn syrup HFCS or corn syrup, etc.) isn’t one of the first few ingredients. That way you’ll know that the food isn’t mostly sugar.

Medical Weight Loss Consultation

Lose the weight to reveal a healthier body. Stay motivated and keep the weight off with a healthy weight loss plan. Call 718-491-5525 to schedule your consultation with Oksana Aron, M.D., Bariatric Physician at WeightLossNYC™.

Lose weight Easily

Is losing weight your number one goal? Setting a goal is great, however break it down into actionable steps so you can start seeing progress right away.

Today’s weight loss tip is so simple, yet most people don’t even consider it when trying to shed pounds. It’s one thing we can’t live without: sleep.

Get More Sleep, Lose Weight

Not getting enough sleep is linked to weight gain and obesity. When you’re tired, you reach for the wrong foods and wind up consuming extra calories. It also makes you hungrier, so you end up eating more than you need:

• A study published in the Wall Street Journal in 2012 found that inadequate sleep triggered increased levels of ghrelin, the hormone that causes hunger, in men.
• In women, it can lower their levels of the hormone GLP-1, which suppresses appetite.

Do Something About It

If you haven’t been getting enough shut eye (around 6-8 hours for adults), let’s change that. You’ll not only improve your weight loss success, you’ll also improve your quality of life and even live longer than those who are sleep deprived.

Tip: Be sure to shut off your computers, cell phones and TV at least one hour before bedtime to drift off to sleep easily.

If there’s one simple step to take right now to lose weight, sleeping enough is it. Try it and watch how quickly things will change!

Big Changes, Small Steps

Is it time for a change? Take the first step by calling us at 718-491-5525 to set your first appointment with Dr. Oksana Aron of WeightLossNYC™. We’re here to help you every step of the way to your healthiest weight ever.

Obesity Medical Expenses Cost Billions Each Year

Obesity not only takes a toll on your health but your wallet as well, as it costs $147 billion each year in direct medical costs and nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the U.S.

Roughly one in three Americans are considered obese. An obese person could spend as much as $4,870 per year on health care expenses on Medicare, which is about 41 percent more than a normal weight person spends at $3,400.

Prescription drugs are the majority of medical expenses and can cost an obese person upwards of $1,300 a year, which is 80 percent more than the $700 an average weight person spends.

“…the clear link between rising rates of obesity and increasing medical costs is alarming, but not unexpected,” …the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said in a statement. “Obesity is the driver of so many chronic conditions — heart disease, diabetes, cancer — that generate the exorbitant costs that are crushing our health-care system,” she said.

“The only way to show real savings in health expenditures in the future is through efforts to reduce the prevalence of obesity and related health conditions,” study author [and] director, RTI Public Health Economics Program, said.

Improve Your Health Today

Dr Aron can help you save money by helping you improve your health and wellness. Visit WeightLossNYC.com to learn about her medical weight loss program.

Slow down your eating to speed up weight loss

When you sit down to eat, do you savor it slowly or do you gobble it up in record time? Did you know that eating quickly can make you gain weight because your body hasn't registered how full your stomach really is?

Well, that's not the only news. Taking your time to eat can help prevent you from overeating, but there's a difference in how this affects your body, depending on whether you're considered normal weight, overweight or obese. Read on for more details.

Eating quickly can make you gain weight because your body hasn't registered how full your stomach is. Taking your time to eat can help prevent you from overeating, but how this affects your body depends on whether you're considered normal weight, overweight or obese.

Bite for bite, pound for pound

In the study published by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, two groups were observed: one group of normal-weight individuals and another of overweight and obese individuals. Both groups were asked to consume two meals, one at a slow pace with no time constraints in mind in which they were asked to stop and put the spoon down in between bites, and a second one at a fast speed with an imagined time constraint, large bites and quick chewing without putting the spoon down for breaks.

The results:

• Both the normal-weight and overweight groups were less hungry after eating the slower meal.
• They also tended to drink more water, which could have affected the amount of calories they consumed.

What can we learn from this? Taking our time and enjoying our meals—healthy food, mind you—we can ensure we'll be taking in a proper amount of calories. Plus, don't forget your H₂O…

Get more than diet tips

Learn how to lose weight and stay healthy: Call us at 718-491-5525 today and schedule your first appointment with Dr. Aron

You Are Who You Eat With

Friends can be very influential in the way we dress, speak and even eat. So does that mean who we hang around with can make us fat? Obese, even? Researchers decided to look into this to see if that was the case.

What did researchers find?

Turns out that the people around us can affect what we eat and how much, according to findings from several studies published in The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

I’ll Have What She’s Having

When people know that others in the group are eating low-calorie food, it makes them more likely to want to eat the same, the data said. The same went for high-calorie food. People also ate similar quantities of food just to fit in. When eating in group settings, people tend to eat like their friends do, whether it's healthy or not.

Real Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Junk

Eating is a social behavior and we can use it for good. When dining out or having friends over for a dinner party, set a healthy trend. Select healthier options on the menu and opt to split a large dish to cut calories. Serve a nutritious spread of fruits, veggies and smaller-portioned foods at your next party.

Overeating and making the wrong food choices can make you gain weight, so it's especially important to mind what you eat when in the company of friends. Be the one to make the first move!

Whether 20, 50, or 100 pounds or more, Dr. Aron is here to listen and help. Read more about her medical weight loss program in New York.

Weight Loss Motivation is in your hands

Dr. Aron counsels her patients to be aware of ways they may be tempted to eat when actual hunger or mealtime isn’t the way.

Some of her popular weight loss tips including drinking water to see if you’ really hungry. “Thirst often masks itself as hunger,‘ remarks Dr. Aron.

“Drink water to see if you’re really hungry.
Thirst often masks itself as hunger.”
— Oksana Aron, M.D.

Check Yourself: Overeating Traps and Pitfalls

Some of the subliminal ways you may find yourself nibbling when you naught:

• Coping mechanism
• Boredom
• Other People Are Eating
• Food is There
• A Special Occasion or celebration
• You’re Tired
• Because the Clock Says So
• Free or inexpensive snacks/meals
• You Can't Say No to Food Pushers
• You Suffer from Clean Plate Syndrome

Doctor Supervised Weight Loss Program

Whether you’re looking to overcome a lifetime of obesity or to focus on losing post-baby weight gain, wedding weight loss, or other health or lifestyle syndromes, give WeightLossNYC™ a call and see how you can achieve your weight loss goals today:

Call 718-491-5525

@weightlossnyc Follow Dr. Aron on twitter

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Safety and efficacy of HCG for weight loss vs other medical weight loss treatments available with prescription or bariatric physician supervision.