How to Control Your Portions and Your Weight

Portion control can slip up almost anyone no matter how hard you try. How do you know if you're eating the right amount of food? You can measure everything out, teaspoon by teaspoon… or you can try this simple guide.

Portion Sizes Made Simple

Looking for a quick, easy way to know you’re eating enough but not too much? Look no further than your own hand! Every time you prepare a meal or sit down to eat outside of the home, you can follow these guides to gauge how much you should be eating by simply looking at your hands. Here’s how to measure your portions with ease.

• Meat

  A serving of meat should be 3 or 4 oz., but what does that look like? It’s about the size or your palm.

• Pasta

  This carb-packed food should be no more than a 1/2-cup serving--or the size of your clenched fist.

• Peanut butter

  A quick snack, you need no more than a tablespoon of peanut butter. The distance of your knuckle to the tip of your thumb is just the right amount.

• Butter

  Go easy on the butter, but what does that mean? Try 1 teaspoon max on your toast or about the size of the tip of your index finger.

• Ice cream

  Ice cream can easily pack on the fat and calories, so avoid. A couple spoonfuls to taste; One cup is about the size of your closed fist.

Be in control of your weight

Controlling the number on the scale starts with controlling how much and what you eat. The serving size listed on food packaging isn’t always how much you should eat. But with these guidelines, you can easily keep yourself—and your weight—in check.

Power Tip

Need advice on what’s really going to help you lose the weight? A consultation with a doctor who specializes in medical weight loss is the first step to safely losing up 10 to 20 pounds a month. Call 718-491-5525 to set your first appointment with Bariatric Physician, Dr. Aron of WeightLossNYC™

New Weight Loss Medication Contrave® approved for treatment of Obesity and Overweight conditions

“Several safe and effective prescription medicines can be used to overcome the hurdle of weight loss, the latest of these to receive FDA approval is a combination of two other medications, naltrexone hydrochloride and bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets. Additionally, liraglutide has received favorable recognition from the FDA.” –Oksana Aron, M.D., WeightLossNYC®

“Contrave is a combination of two FDA-approved drugs, naltrexone and bupropion, in an extended-release formulation. Naltrexone is approved to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. Bupropion is approved to treat depression and seasonal affective disorder and as an aid to smoking cessation treatment.

“The effectiveness of Contrave was evaluated in multiple clinical trials that included approximately 4,500 obese and overweight patients with and without significant weight-related conditions treated for one year. All patients received lifestyle modification that consisted of a reduced- calorie diet and regular physical activity.” – FDA statement, Sept.2014

Safe and Effective Weight Regimen

Like similar treatments, medical supervision is highly advised, as part of a comprehensive program of proper diet and exercise. The unique combination of this new medication also underscores compatibility with the current state of health and fitness for any individual. Similarly, an FDA panel greenlighted Saxena® (liraglutide) as another effective candidate for medical weight loss treatment. Whereas most weight loss medications address hunger mechanisms, each approach offers a different biological or neurological pathway, providing alternative options for practitioners and patients to optimize for individual results. Ask Dr. Aron which is the best treatment option for you.

Lose Weight Fast

Oksana Aron M.D. is an internist and bariatric physician in New York City. Her medical weight loss center, WeightLossNYC®, helps you develop and maintain healthy habits and proper structures to build a sustainable, lifelong reduction of weight and weight-related health conditions. Her philosophy is the sum of your actions is the yield of your results. Call for an appointment today at 718-491-5525 or visit her WeightLossNYC practice website at http://WeightLossNYC.com

Sources: ASBP.org, FDA.gov, Takeda/Orexigen, Novo Nordisk, WeightLossNYC.com

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.

Organic milk: Does it help you lose weight?

Organic or non-organic? Whether we’re talking about fruits, veggies, meats or dairy, opinions abound.

While some claim it doesn't make a difference, a recent study published in PLoS One proves that organic milk is healthier for you than conventional milk. Here’s why:

It’s all about the fatty acids

Cows producing organic milk are fed grass with high omega-3 fatty acids, while cows used for conventional milk are fed corn, which have higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids.

• Organic milk has a healthier balance of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids in all types of milk but nonfat milk, which can aid weight loss or help maintain your weight.
• In the samples taken in the study, the total amount of fat in the organic milk was the same as the conventional milk. But when comparing the types of fatty acids, organic milk had 62 percent more omega-3s and 25 percent fewer omega-6s.
• Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential to a healthy diet. Omega-3s can be found in fish and flaxseed, while omega-6s can be found in many fried foods. The right balance of both is key. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids offer health benefits, but when it comes to milk, organic milk may be your healthiest option.

Struggling with your weight?

Weight loss expert Dr. Aron will personalize a healthy weight loss plan just for you so you can lose weight fast. Call 718-491-5525 for your initial consultation, or visit WeightLossNYC.com for more information.

The Facts on Fat

Are you trying to eat right? You're probably overwhelmed with dieting tips and information--some good and some downright incorrect. Just when you thought you knew what you were doing, another new study comes out and changes everything.

The Fat and Skinny on Fat

Doctors and dieting gurus have been harping on staying away from saturated fats, but the latest news challenges all that. Surprisingly, new evidence from a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine questions popular advice to cut out saturated fats and to eat polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease (and weight gain).

In the University of Cambridge study, researchers found no evidence supporting dietary guidelines of avoiding saturated fats to reduce heart disease risk. They also found that omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplements didn't have any significant effect on reducing cardiovascular disease either. Rather than focusing on macronutrients, we should consider the food groups our meals are based on.

Fat is still… fat

So, what do you do now? Should you start eating saturated fats with abandon? Not exactly. Until further research proves saturated fats are completely harmless, the secret to staying healthy, losing weight and lessening your chances of heart disease is still the same advice: eat a healthy diet, stay active and don’t smoke.

Lose Weight Fast without surgery

Want to fit into that little black dress or slimmer wedding gown? You can start making progress on your weight loss today. Call WeightLossNYC at 718-491-5525 and make your first appointment with Dr Aron, Bariatric Physician.

Taste with Your Brain?

Over recent years many people have been reaching for artificial sweeteners, thinking that it’s healthier than the real thing. It turns out that your tastebuds don’t know the difference between sugar and sweetener — but your brain does.

A new study out of the Netherlands used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses in people sipping two different orangeade drinks — one mixed with sugar and another mixed with four artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K, cyclamate and saccharin).

The sugar and sweeteners were found to stimulate the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that detects pleasure. Only the sugared drink stimulated the caudate in the brain, showing that the human brain can tell the difference between a caloric drink and a noncaloric one.

Other research on artificially sweetened beverages include:

• They can activate parts of the brain that create appetite, but do not satiate it.
• Increased appetite has been found to occur in people who don’t consume artificially sweetened beverages often.
• People who drink artificially sweetened beverages regularly tend to weigh more than those who don’t.
• For those who consume a lot of artificially sweetened beverages, however, their brains, can become used to the sweeteners and may not necessarily cause them to eat more.

Sweet Opportunity

Visit WeightLossNYC.com to learn more about medical weight loss and how you can lose weight fast under physician supervision. Dr. Aron is a leading bariatric physician in Brooklyn.

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