In our last blog, we made the point that diet is 80% of weight loss effectiveness, and exercise is only 20%. We prescribe phentermine for most of our patients. It lowers your appetite and gives most patients an energy boost. So phentermine can help with both mechanisms of weight loss. Come see us if you think it might help you.

But exercise not only helps with weight loss and weight maintenance – it has tons of health benefits.

A 2012 study by the NIH showed that exercise can extend your life by about 3.5 years if you get the recommended amount (2.5 hours per week of moderate exercise). And even if you only get half the recommended exercise, you’ll live nearly two years longer. Those who got twice the recommended exercise lived 4.2 years longer than sedentary people. So the more you exercise, the more benefit for your longevity. And you don’t have to knock yourself out to get decent results.

Longer life is great, but what about quality of life? What does the research say about that? Research shows that regular exercise can prevent completely or delay the onset of 35 chronic disease conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity, many cancers, polycystic ovarian disease, depression and anxiety, bone fractures/falls, erectile dysfunction, and many more.

If you can prevent or delay these conditions, you will feel better and spend a lot less time as you age in the doctor’s office, hospital, pharmacy, and on those ridiculously long phone calls with your health insurance company. Plus, you’ll save many thousands of dollars that you can use for fun things for you and your family.

The research also shows that if you, say, had to have your appendix out, if you’re a healthier, fitter patient you are going to have way fewer complications afterwards and a shorter hospital stay.

This January is time to make some New Year’s Resolutions. I encourage you to make regular exercise your top resolution! Come see us at Cordova Medical Clinic if you need help getting started.

January resolutions are just around the corner! For this blog, I’ll be summarizing an article written by Alice G. Walton for Forbes.com in September 2013. If you’d like to read the entire article, which I highly suggest, please click here.

1. Dieting beats exercise. Of course, you’re doing your best when you do both, but you simply cannot out-exercise bad eating habits. Eating fewer calories is 80% of weight loss effectiveness. Phentermine can help reduce your appetite; come see us to learn more about it.
2. Exercise does boost your metabolism. Exercise helps keep your metabolism up, which makes maintaining your weight loss so much easier. And of course, it provides tons of other benefits as well: better sleep, feeling stronger, better heart health, stronger bones and joints… I could go on and on!
3. You may have to work harder than others to maintain your metabolism. Research has shown that formerly sedentary people who recharge their metabolism may never quite get back to normal, so they may have to work harder than their always thin friends to get and stay trim. Not a pleasant fact, but something you may have to deal with.
4. There is no one best diet. Paleo, low-carb, low-fat, vegetarian, and dozens of others will all work, but you have to decide to stick with it.
5. A calorie is a calorie…BUT! It’s true a calorie can come from any source, be it fat, carbs, or protein. But to be healthy, you want to eat mostly highly nutritious foods, like fruits and veggies and whole grains and low-fat meats. Avoid the junk food – you’re likely to feel full quicker with higher fiber foods like fruits and veggies, and therefore eat fewer calories.
6. Habits are the key. You can’t eat right for just a few weeks or a few months and then expect to stay thin and healthy. You have to decide that this journey is about a change in lifestyle, one where you are constantly learning about your food intake and exercise habits for the rest of your life. Start with a few small changes, and once those are ingrained, add a couple of new ones. You can make it happen!

Come see us at Cordova Medical Clinic to get started on your New Year’s Resolutions for 2018!

Research shows that about 50% of Americans make New Year Resolutions, 25% are broken within the first 2 weeks, and only about 8% actually achieve them at all. Here’s some advice on strategies to set realistic obtainable goals for your new year.

Be Specific

Try not to be too general when setting a goal. If you’ve committed to ‘ do more exercise’ you need to be sure you define what that means. Let’s be real, who doesn’t benefit from doing more exercise? The problem is, when you’re not specific it’s easy to let exercise fall by the wayside. You would be better off committing to a certain number of days a week or minutes per day even if you start small and work your way up.

The All Or Nothing

Try to stay away from words like ‘No’ & ‘Never’. Words like these can really set you up for failure. If you say ‘I’m NEVER going to have ice cream again’ and you go to a birthday party and you have it, then you can feel like you’ve already broken your resolution. This can cause someone to stop working towards his or her goal. The thing to remember is, any effort towards your goal is better than no effort at all.

Don’t Get Discouraged

Remember, none of us are perfect. Don’t turn mistakes or temporary failures into excuses to give up. It’s better to identify what caused the mistake, set up a new plan, and move forward.

Achieving your ultimate goal isn’t about how long it takes you to get there, but more importantly it’s recognizing what your goals are, being realistic, and staying committed. Cordova Medical Clinic is a great place to help you get started. We offer the appetite suppressant phentermine right here in our clinic to help you reach your goals. Let’s make 2017 your year!