I’m Lost!

I’m lost. I hate to join the bandwagon on childhood obesity but It’s crazy. The sad thing is I don’t know what to do about. It. Weight loss is something you have to do for yourself. I can’t make you do it. You have to want to do it or in my case you have to want to make your child do it. I had a 278 lb 12 y/o female today. Mom told me they eat healthy and have dieted  but she gained 18 pounds in the past year. I will check labs but I know that only accounts for a few of those pounds not the 100 plus she needs to lose. I am met with excuses constantly. Just today alone. “I can’t make them eat healthy”, “I have a day care and that means I have a lot of  bag snacks around”, “I have too much homework”. “I told them they eat too much” this is from the parent easily weighing 300 pounds. I can offer classes, web sites, a personal health coach nutrition consult but I can’t be the angel on your  shoulder telling you how to raise your kid or what to eat for every meal. I’m trying to lead by example. I have pictures of me exercising with my child in my exam room. I know my weight is a problem and I know why. It’s a constant battle I acknowledge. I admit its not easy but we have to be willing to at least start. I just want my patients  and parents to realize its something they need to really work on.  The future depends on it. Ok I’m done griping.

Who Are you Listening Too?

Sometimes I wonder if people are listening. I’m overweight but I know why! I eat too much of the wrong things. I am changing that. It’s not easy. I’m in the strange area where I am doing that and counseling people to do that. Today I had an interesting conversation with a coworker. She asked me about my punching bag in my office. She states she is getting gastric bypass and needs to lose weight. She was advised to exercise and thinks this would be cool to have for exercise at home. I agree. I love my punching bag. The doctor in me says you know you have to change your eating habits too.  She tells me she knows and has talked about this with the gastric bypass people and the psychiatrist.  She needs to lose 20 lbs before surgery.  I think the conversation is cool until she says I need to lose weight quick my friend says eat corn flakes and I’ll lose weight.  Really corn flakes?  I say it’s not corn flakes but just eating less of bad foods more of good. She says she know’s all that but her friend told her corn flakes would make her lose weight fast. I get this often. Who are you going to listen too, your friend or the person who know’s what they are talking about.  The gastric bypass people or your friend. Its frustrating!!!   There is no magic food, pill or surgery for that matter.  Change your lifestyle. It’s the only thing that will work.  Sometimes I want to knock on people’s head and say HELLO is anybody home?  I can’t do this but until then I will continue to practice what I preach and keep on preaching!

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Temptations Lurking at Work!

Work drives me crazy for many reasons. One of the main reasons is food. OMG! You would think it is a health maintenance organization we eat healthy. Not always the case. Lets start with cinnamon buns in the break room this morning. Lunch ,Mr Pickles sandwiches and potato chips. This is the average lunch provided for us during meetings. I forgot the cookies. Afternoon snacks were brownies provided by nurse. Did I mention candy bars by the dollar? We have several candy boxes floating around for school fund-raisers. How can I stay healthy around this? This was just today. I haven’t started on pot luck and pizza parties for meeting goals. It’s not easy. I have learned to say no,thank you. I bring my lunch and my snacks. We do have fruit sometimes but they put salt on it!!   The patients bring gigantic  coffee concoctions. Help me! I just keep saying no but some days its hard.

Old Clothes On The New Me

I would be lying if I told you I’m only losing weight to be healthy. Health is the most important reason just not the only. I like to look good and I love cloths and shoes. I’m now fitting into some of my old favorite clothes. I didn’t keep all my old clothes just my favorite’s. I’ve done this weight loss thing before but this is the longest I’ve stuck to a plan. It is amazing when I try on something and like wow it fits. Even shoes! I bought a pair of suede peep toe ankle boots. I have wide feet and the left one wouldn’t fit. My husband and I had date night Friday night. I had on old jeans and a vest. These shoes would be perfect. Let me try one more time. Voila! They fit!! Off I went to Yoshi’s San Fransisco  to see Boney James looking as cute as I wanted too. It’s a good feeling.

Me & Boney

My new old kicks!

Is Fish Oil Healthy or Hype?

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We think fish oils are healthy then someone does a study and it’s not? What do you believe? I take fish oil supplements daily. I’ve read from many sources it reduces inflammation. Dr. Greger at NutritionFacts.org say’s we are just filling our bodies with PCB’s and other contaminants. It gets stored in our body fat.  Even the distilled ones are bad. He says get your DHA from algae. Well all the other people say there fish oil is great. Everyone has a study to back their idea. I do get DHA from my amazing grass. Also from chia seeds and flax. That does sound a little safer. I will still take my daily krill oil but won’t double up on it. What do you think? Which source is safer fish or algae?

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Diet Confusion Part Duex

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Ok here we go again. I know longer wonder why I a Doctor ( who’s supposed to know everything about health LOL) is confused about weight loss. I see other doctors are too. The latest this week is Bill Clinton and his new vegan life style. No meat, dairy,eggs or oils. I’m not blasting being vegan just this diet. Pasta and sugar are ok but not olive oil, avocado‘s and nuts. This I don’t understand.  I fully agree we need a plant-based diet. That would include health fats like avocado’s and nuts. How  healthy plant-based includes sugar and refined carbs is beyond me.  This totally opposite the Dr Mercola diet. Basically no carbs or fructose as he likes to say. He even eliminates most fruit. I think both diets are extreme. I do agree something needs to change in this word. The SAD (standard american diet) is going to send us to an early grave for sure. How to change is still the question. As I try to figure this out for myself  I’ll keep you posted. I have eliminated dairy for GI issues. I will continue my eggs and healthy fats and increase my veggies and whole grains. By the way I’m feeling better from my E. Coli infection. I  went to health department yesterday. They did a questionnaire and was surprised I only ate out 3 times in 10 days. One was by accident because I left my lunch at home. I actually only had beef once that week that I can remember and my other family members ate that and aren’t sick. Cross contamination is the most likely possibility. Good thing I’m off next week on a staycation. I have to be cleared by health department before I can return to work.

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Diet Confusion!

I guess if I was losing 1-2 lbs a weeks it I wouldn’t look into all these crazy diets. BF (before 40) I could lose weight. Not a problem I just couldn’t keep it off. I’m not mad that I’m not losing like before. I have made progress and trying to make life long changes. I also want to be healthy ,not just slimmer. This is where the confusion comes in. You got your vegan, raw,gluten-free, clean eating , primal,no grain people, what the heck am I supposed to eat? I’M NOT SAYING ANY OF THESE ARE WRONG!  I’m just puzzled. I thought whole grains were healthy now Dr Mercola says no grains except fruit and veggies. The Health Hound says all fruits and veggies are ok but eat grains only after a work out. I’m a doctor and I’m confused.  The Primal/Paleo sounds like Atkins. Did caveman live long enough to be healthy? The more I look at different diets the more I feel frustrated. I don’t know what works the best for me. It ‘s really trial and error and I have to do what makes sense to me. For now I will increase my veggies, continue to eat my fruit, and choose lean proteins and whole grains. You can’t go wrong with that or can you? I would love to hear what works for you.

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Vacation Planning Again!

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I’m leaving on a jet plane to Washington DC in the morning. It not my usual vacation its my annual CME (Continuing Medical Education). You think that would be healthy right? A bunch of doctors healthy NOT! Trust me we learned most of our bad habits while getting our medical education. DC is one of my favorite places. I lived in the area for 8 years. The conference will have mostly hotel food .We also have a lot of lectures at swanky restaurants. Then you throw in my DC favorite half smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl and I’m in trouble. In fact DC is where I gained my weight. It’s the scene of the crime!!! This will take some careful planning. I know I will eat out but the goal is to have healthy meals during the day and do my best at dinner. I won’t have my usual fridge  and microwave. I’m staying in a regular hotel room. I plan to go to the store when I get there and buy healthy cereal or breakfast bar for the morning.  Some Lara bars for snacks. I can usually find a good salad for lunch.  Wish me luck. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

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LIVE Well Be WELL

One thing I love about my job is our employee wellness program.  LIVE WELL BE WELL is our motto.We are encouraged to eat healthy and exercise. They schedule events throughout the year to encourage these activities. We have health fairs, walking at lunch groups,cooking and  art classes. We had a fitness test today. They do this about once or twice a year.  Its kind of cool. They check your weight, blood pressure and fitness. You even get a lovely water bottle for attending. I really wanted to go this year. I was the first one there:). I’ve worked hard at improving everything. I’m so excited to say that I did  improve in almost all the test. My Body Fat is down from 43% to 35%.  My Blood Pressure was  130/80  and is down to 118/70. My post exercise heart rate is down to 82 from 116. I need to work on my flexibility but oh well can’t fix it all at once.  Does your job support your health and fitness? Mine does:)

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It’s Never To Late To Be Healthy!

As my blog name says I am a doctor. I have been a pediatrician for 15 years. Being a pediatrician means my patients will out grow me. When you turn 18 you start being seen by the adult doctors. I recently ran into a patient. She is in early twenties. Its been ages since I’ve seen her. The last time was she was getting a tour at the gym. I ran into her in town. I said hi and asked how was the gym going since it was the last place I seen her. She said she had stopped going but acknowledged she needed to go back. She informed me that she was now on medication for high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. She has always been significantly overweight and we talked about it for years. I was sad to see it reached this point. She told me she know’s she needs to lose weight but it was hard with working. I told her she had to do it for her future health. I asked if she knew that she didn’t have to be on medication forever. If she bought her weight down she could get off meds. I shared with her my recent weight loss and how I bought both my cholesterol and glucose down. I told her If I can do it as a 43 y/o working mom I know she can do it. She told me that’s what she missed about me being her doctor. I wouldn’t let her feel sorry herself. This is not my first time losing weight but I hope its my last. I have had several excuses in my life time but I am running out. I hope to pass what I learn to my patients. It’s never to late.

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