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A new resolution
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| Losing weight tops 2008’s New Year’s resolution list. Experts agree an exercise program also is important to achieving this goal. Second on the list is to quit smoking. MICHAEL MITSEFF/Lake City Reporter |
‘Lose weight’ tops 2008’s New Year’s resolutions
By MICHAEL MITSEFF
mmitseff@lakecityreporter.com
Now that Christmas is a quickly fading memory, it’s time to engage in the national angst-ridden practice of listing our annual New Year’s resolutions that typically won’t be kept past the end of winter.
Topping the 10 most popular resolutions list for 2008 is weight loss, according to the federal government’s Web site, www.usa.gov.
Its popularity is not surprising since this is the time of year many gorge themselves on cookies, candy and fattening foods from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day.
Another popular Top-10 resolution is the promise to break couch-potato ways by getting fit, which leads to the perennial list favorite, ditching the cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Going smokeless may be in the Top 10, but weight loss “weighs” heaviest on the minds of most people.
“This time of year, people try to get rid of their holiday weight and in general feel better about themselves,” said LeAnn Kolovitz, manager of the Weighless Weight Loss Center in Lake City.
“Our program uses real grocery store food and we incorporate nutritional guidance with individual counseling,” she said.
“It’s getting back to the basics of good nutrition, lots of fruits and vegetables and cutting back on sugars and refined
starches.”
Kolovitz recommends keeping a record of foods eaten for at least one week before coming in to take advantage of the Weighless program.
“If they bring that list to me, then I can make some suggestions about what’s not working.”
Kolovitz also recommends adding some physical exercise such as walking for a total of 20 minutes at a normal pace every day.
Although losing weight is a popular goal, long-term weight loss seems to elude most people for a variety of reasons.
However, physical fitness, which is No. 5 on the most popular resolutions list, is often a forgotten but important component of weight loss.
“You tell us what you want to do and we’ll design a program that will help you achieve it,” said Betsy Beardsley, co-owner of M&M Fitness Center in Lake City. “It is one of the services that comes with a membership.”
For those who prefer the personal touch or who require accountability, personal trainers are also available at the fitness center for an extra fee.
“If someone’s primary goal is to lose weight, we offer nutritional counseling within a custom program called Nutrifit, it’s a program that we’ve offered for the past 15 years,” Beardsley said.
“We always recommend to our members that they include exercise along with healthy eating when trying to lose weight, get in shape
and get healthy,” said Mike Beardsley, co-owner of M&M Fitness Center. “It just makes sense to do both of them together, otherwise you’re fighting a losing battle.”
Some of the benefits to getting fit and eating right often include more than just losing weight and reducing body fat.
“If you work out and get the weight off, I know so many people who come off their medications and don’t have to take pills to lower their blood pressure anymore,” Betsy Beardsley said.
“The other benefit to reducing your body fat is that it reduces your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes (adult onset) because it goes hand-in-hand with obesity,” she said.
Mike Beardsley said that exercise also improves strength, endurance, flexibility and most importantly for older adults, the benefits of exercise also include better balance.
“If I was trying to lose weight, I’d personally try to change my diet slightly. I wouldn’t make too dramatic of a change,” said Joel Rosenfeld, owner/pharmacist of North Florida Pharmacy. “I’d also add exercise.”
Rosenfeld said he doesn’t recommend using a lot of the diet pills that are currently on the market today, with the exception of one.
“If someone wishes to use a weight loss product to help them shed pounds, the only one I would recommend is Allie; it’s relatively new to the market and it blocks the absorption of fat.”
Rosenfeld said that while the product can be highly effective, it has a downside as well.
“If you eat a fatty meal, the possible side effects include gas or explosive diarrhea, which can be embarrassing in public especially if you don’t follow the product’s directions.
“It does work and it’s an added incentive to not eat fatty foods.”
In addition to fitness and losing weight, quitting smoking may be only ninth on the Top 10 most popular resolutions list, but it’s probably one of the hardest resolutions to keep.
There are many products on the shelves of pharmacies that promise to help you quit smoking without too much effort, but is that a realistic promise?
“We sell a few different classes of smoking cessation products and they include, nicotine replacement products that include the patch and nicotine gum,” said Adonice Khoury, pharmacist for Baya Pharmacy.
“There are anti-depressants such as Wellbutrin, which has some effectiveness for smoking cessation but the newest and most effective product on the market is in neither of those classes, it’s called Chantix.
“In a way it tricks the brain into thinking that the nicotine receptors are occupied and that the brain has had enough nicotine, it thereby curbs cravings and also curbs the pleasure that is gained when one smokes a cigarette.”
Khoury explained that Chantix is obtained by prescription only, the nicotine gum and patches are available with no prescription and the Wellbutrin is by prescription only too.
“Nicotine is an addictive substance so it is treated as an addiction. The medication is not a magic pill, although it does help a lot in giving a person a better chance to quit,” he said.
The consequences of smoking are well-known and well-documented.
Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach and some leukemias.
“The drive to use nicotine can often outweigh all the negative consequences of using it,” Khoury said.
According to the American Cancer Society, smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers.
It is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. It also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes.
Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction because of blood vessel disease.
These are all just a sample of the “negative consequences” that people who smoke may experience in their future, a future they can easily influence simply by getting angry at the addiction and quitting smoking.
It’s a New Year’s resolution that should be on every smoker’s list.
Topping the 10 most popular resolutions list for 2008 is weight loss, according to the federal government’s Web site, www.usa.gov.
Its popularity is not surprising since this is the time of year many gorge themselves on cookies, candy and fattening foods from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day.
Another popular Top-10 resolution is the promise to break couch-potato ways by getting fit, which leads to the perennial list favorite, ditching the cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Going smokeless may be in the Top 10, but weight loss “weighs” heaviest on the minds of most people.
“This time of year, people try to get rid of their holiday weight and in general feel better about themselves,” said LeAnn Kolovitz, manager of the Weighless Weight Loss Center in Lake City.
“Our program uses real grocery store food and we incorporate nutritional guidance with individual counseling,” she said.
“It’s getting back to the basics of good nutrition, lots of fruits and vegetables and cutting back on sugars and refined
starches.”
Kolovitz recommends keeping a record of foods eaten for at least one week before coming in to take advantage of the Weighless program.
“If they bring that list to me, then I can make some suggestions about what’s not working.”
Kolovitz also recommends adding some physical exercise such as walking for a total of 20 minutes at a normal pace every day.
Although losing weight is a popular goal, long-term weight loss seems to elude most people for a variety of reasons.
However, physical fitness, which is No. 5 on the most popular resolutions list, is often a forgotten but important component of weight loss.
“You tell us what you want to do and we’ll design a program that will help you achieve it,” said Betsy Beardsley, co-owner of M&M Fitness Center in Lake City. “It is one of the services that comes with a membership.”
For those who prefer the personal touch or who require accountability, personal trainers are also available at the fitness center for an extra fee.
“If someone’s primary goal is to lose weight, we offer nutritional counseling within a custom program called Nutrifit, it’s a program that we’ve offered for the past 15 years,” Beardsley said.
“We always recommend to our members that they include exercise along with healthy eating when trying to lose weight, get in shape
and get healthy,” said Mike Beardsley, co-owner of M&M Fitness Center. “It just makes sense to do both of them together, otherwise you’re fighting a losing battle.”
Some of the benefits to getting fit and eating right often include more than just losing weight and reducing body fat.
“If you work out and get the weight off, I know so many people who come off their medications and don’t have to take pills to lower their blood pressure anymore,” Betsy Beardsley said.
“The other benefit to reducing your body fat is that it reduces your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes (adult onset) because it goes hand-in-hand with obesity,” she said.
Mike Beardsley said that exercise also improves strength, endurance, flexibility and most importantly for older adults, the benefits of exercise also include better balance.
“If I was trying to lose weight, I’d personally try to change my diet slightly. I wouldn’t make too dramatic of a change,” said Joel Rosenfeld, owner/pharmacist of North Florida Pharmacy. “I’d also add exercise.”
Rosenfeld said he doesn’t recommend using a lot of the diet pills that are currently on the market today, with the exception of one.
“If someone wishes to use a weight loss product to help them shed pounds, the only one I would recommend is Allie; it’s relatively new to the market and it blocks the absorption of fat.”
Rosenfeld said that while the product can be highly effective, it has a downside as well.
“If you eat a fatty meal, the possible side effects include gas or explosive diarrhea, which can be embarrassing in public especially if you don’t follow the product’s directions.
“It does work and it’s an added incentive to not eat fatty foods.”
In addition to fitness and losing weight, quitting smoking may be only ninth on the Top 10 most popular resolutions list, but it’s probably one of the hardest resolutions to keep.
There are many products on the shelves of pharmacies that promise to help you quit smoking without too much effort, but is that a realistic promise?
“We sell a few different classes of smoking cessation products and they include, nicotine replacement products that include the patch and nicotine gum,” said Adonice Khoury, pharmacist for Baya Pharmacy.
“There are anti-depressants such as Wellbutrin, which has some effectiveness for smoking cessation but the newest and most effective product on the market is in neither of those classes, it’s called Chantix.
“In a way it tricks the brain into thinking that the nicotine receptors are occupied and that the brain has had enough nicotine, it thereby curbs cravings and also curbs the pleasure that is gained when one smokes a cigarette.”
Khoury explained that Chantix is obtained by prescription only, the nicotine gum and patches are available with no prescription and the Wellbutrin is by prescription only too.
“Nicotine is an addictive substance so it is treated as an addiction. The medication is not a magic pill, although it does help a lot in giving a person a better chance to quit,” he said.
The consequences of smoking are well-known and well-documented.
Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach and some leukemias.
“The drive to use nicotine can often outweigh all the negative consequences of using it,” Khoury said.
According to the American Cancer Society, smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers.
It is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. It also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes.
Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction because of blood vessel disease.
These are all just a sample of the “negative consequences” that people who smoke may experience in their future, a future they can easily influence simply by getting angry at the addiction and quitting smoking.
It’s a New Year’s resolution that should be on every smoker’s list.
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