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.

Weight Loss Tips for Dining Out

Nationwide statistics show Americans dining out for almost 1/3 of their meals, with almost 1/2 of their food budget spent at these establishments.[1]

Given our tendency to dine out, it is worthwhile to consider ways you can manage and maintain your weight loss dieting program on the go. Some simple guidelines follow, as well as some links to some of our more popular posts past:

• Dr Aron’s Simple Diet Tips
• Slim Down with Soup
• 7 Easy Eating Tips to Slim Down
• Gain More Self Control, Not Weight
• 5 Unusual Weight Loss Tips
• Your Social Circle Can Make or Break Your Eating Habits
• Fast Weight Loss the Low Fat Way

Simple Tips for Planning Ahead

• Avoid unlimited buffets and junk food franchises. Salad bars are good if you choose the healthy staple items not the dangerous ones.
• Cater to places with extended menus to help you find healthy choices you will like. Favor seafood and salad places for healthier fare. Soups can be good, but know what you are choosing. Ask.
• Best to plan ahead to dine out instead of splurging on surprise outings. Consider reviewing online menu before going so you will know what you will have.
• Focus on eating for nutrition, not as a social activity. Make reservations to manage your cravings and limit the temptations to drink and snack while waiting. You can even have some small healthy crudite before leaving home to settle your stomach.
• Stay away from large portions and fried food places. Know what is reasonable for you to eat and enjoy with your diet.
• Consider sharing entrees with friends to manage your portions. Don’s be shy about tossing aside bread and extra carbs. Send away any extra munchies the waiter puts on your table. Only eat what you intend to eat.
• As always, start to drink water as soon as you arrive and while waiting for meal.
• Ask your server about options — extra salad instead of a heavier side dish. Bring your own dressing if you want to be sure of low calories. Add veggies to your entree to fill you up and slow you down.

Power Tips — Know your Menu Vocabulary

• Bad: Buttery, Breaded, Buttered, Fried, Pan-Fried, Creamed, Scalloped, Au Gratin.
• Better: Grilled, Baked, Steamed, Broiled, Poached, Stir-Fried, Roasted, Blackened.
• Avoid: Cream sauces, made with milk, mayonnaise, cheese or oil.
• Look for tomato based sauces instead. Order all sauces on the side and use sparingly.

Follow Your Diet Plan

As always, follow the diet guidelines presented to you by Dr. Aron. She will have told you your calorie limits and suggested foods for you to enjoy and avoid. Fill up on water, salad and vegetables first. Focus on your friends more than the food. Slow down and pace yourself so you can enjoy your meal and not be left hungry and crave more. Your body also needs time to recognize the food in your system to trigger satisfaction. It is also more than OK to leave the table a little hungry. You never need to stuff yourself, be gentle to your body.

Looking for More Motivation to Lose Weight?

Align with Dr. Aron at WeightLossNYC™ and start losing weight today. Call 718-491-5525 or visit WeightLossNYC.com

From: Division of Family & Community Engagement
Subject: Summer Meals Start on June 27

Dear Parents:

We are excited to share with you news about our annual Summer Meals program for all New York City children. The Summer Meals program is crucial to ensuring that New York City children are well fed beyond the end of the instructional year.

Summer Meals provides free, healthy breakfast and lunch to all children—regardless of New York City residency—ages 18 and under at hundreds of locations around the City. Children do not need to register or show any kind of documentation or ID to enjoy a delicious meal.

This year’s Summer Meals program will launch on Saturday, June 27, one day after the last day of school for New York City students. Starting June 27, breakfast and lunch will be available at hundreds of public schools, community pool centers, NYCHA complexes, libraries, and other locations throughout the five boroughs and spread across neighborhoods. Additionally, there will be four mobile food trucks offering meals seven days a week throughout the summer at locations frequently visited by children and families.

We encourage you to share this multilingual flyer about our Summer Meals Program with your constituents. Schools were also encouraged to distribute this flyer, which provides information on the program, including our first-ever, free SchoolFood App (for both Apple & Android), an easy way for families to locate Summer Meals sites near them. Families can download the free app by searching “SchoolFood” in the app store. Families can also find locations by visiting schoolfoodnyc.org, texting “NYCMEALS” to 877-877, or via 311.

Thank you for partnering with us to make the Summer Meals program a resounding success for our children and families.

Best,
http://www.schoolfoodnyc.org/

All those weight loss drugs advertised on TV.

Over-the-Counter Weight loss supplements: Are they safe?

Have you tried everything?

All the fad diets.

All those weight loss drugs advertised on TV.

All those popular fitness crazes.

And they still didn’t work for you?

People resort to desperate measures in their quest to lose weight, but what really works? That little fat-burning wonder cure you bought online, although it says it’s “natural,” may not be the miracle drug you’re hoping for. It may actually pose a serious health risk or even cause death.

5 dangers of unregulated diet supplements

A lot of those over-the-counter diet supplements are not helping people lose weight. Not only are they unregulated by the FDA, they’re also causing liver damage. Here are just a few startling facts recently published about bogus dietary supplements.

1. They cause 20% of reported liver injuries
2. They result in death or necessitate a liver transplant twice as often as liver injuries caused from FDA-regulated medicines
3. They show little or no evidence for safety or efficacy
4. The high amount of catechins typically found in unregulated diet supplements aren’t always labeled and can cause liver toxicity.
5. Many of these products are mislabeled, have been adulterated or contain dangerous dosages.

The FDA is prevented from approving most of these weight loss drugs before they’re sold. Often, they can’t do anything until people have died from them. So it’s best to steer clear of any you find outside of your doctor’s office. If you’ve been taking these supplements in vain, toss them in the trash and start fresh. You can slim down and lose weight the right way without putting your life at risk.

Medical Weight Loss is clinically proven safe and effective

If you’re tired of trying to figure it out on your own, give us a call at 718-491-5525. Get expert advice on what medical weight loss supplements work for you and how you can lose weight fast and safely with physician supervision.

Why aren’t you losing weight?

Slow Metabolism could be a culprit

Fast, slow or so-so, your metabolism controls your weight loss. No matter how quickly your body burns calories, there are other factors involved. These are just some things that can slow down your metabolism, but the good news is you can easily control them.

5 Factors that can Slow your Metabolism

1. Stress

   How much stress are you under? It could be the reason you can’t lose those last few nagging pounds. When your body’s under stress, it releases the hormone cortisol, which tells your body to hold onto weight. Try to avoid stressors as much as you can, while also seeking out ways in which you can manage your stress.

2. Not exercising

   If you don’t burn enough calories through exercise, then your unused calories turn into fat. Be sure to exercise a few times a week to control your weight. Also wear a pedometer or track how many calories you burn through your exercise so you can keep up with your progress.

3. Poor diet

   Eating too much? Not enough? You’re asking for trouble. Feed your body the fuel it needs to get through the day and keep your body at a healthy weight. Believe it or not, eating too little or skipping meals could lead to weight gain. Instead, nourish your body with healthy natural foods to stay in top shape.

4. Not snoozing enough

   When you don’t rest enough, you can gain weight by disrupting your metabolic patterns. Sleeping an ideal amount of hours each night, however, can boost your metabolism. For adults, get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.

5. Medication

   If you’re on any medications such as anti-depressants, they could cause you to gain weight as well. Discuss it with your doctor if you believe that’s the case and find out if there are other options that won’t lead to weight gain.

How to Lose Weight

Improve your health, too

If you haven’t noticed, keeping your metabolism in check means simply taking care of your overall health. While it’s important to want to lose weight, you also have to do it in a healthy, informed way. Follow the above steps and you’ll be on your way to a fitter figure, and you’ll also be leading a healthier and more fulfilled life

We can help

Dr. Aron is able to test your metabolism to see if it is slow.

Whether you have a slow metabolism or not, let Dr. Oksana Aron help you find your weight gain triggers and develop a structured plan for weight loss success. Please call us at 718-491-5525 and make your first appointment with WeightLossNYC™.

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™.