The Mayo Clinic Diet: Welcome to our new blog
By Mayo Clinic staffOriginal Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mayo-clinic-diet/MY01044
- With Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist
Donald Hensrud, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Dr. Donald D. Hensrud is chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine with a joint appointment in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic. He is an associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hensrud directed the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic for more than 10 years.
He received his B.S. from the University of North Dakota, M.D. from the University of Hawaii, M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota and M.S. in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic and completed a clinical nutrition fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Hensrud is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, of which he is a past president.
His career interests have combined nutrition, weight management, and prevention. He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters and was editor of Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody; The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, which won a 2005 James Beard Foundation award; The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Essential Steps to a Better Body & Healthier Life; and The Mayo Clinic Diet, published in January 2010.
Dr. Hensrud says healthy lifestyle habits in diet and physical activity are extremely important as evidenced by a large body of scientific evidence. He also says implementing these lifestyle habits is realistic, sustainable and enjoyable. A primary goal of his work is to help people achieve this.
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The Mayo Clinic Diet blog
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Dec. 30, 2009
The Mayo Clinic Diet: Welcome to our new blog
By Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Welcome and congratulations! Welcome to this blog where you can share your thoughts and experiences about managing your weight. And congratulations because you've taken the initiative to do something good for yourself in an area that's not easy.
You've probably tried to lose weight a number of times in the past, but The Mayo Clinic Diet is different from other diets you've tried. Using the principles outlined in our book, The Mayo Clinic Diet will help you to not only better manage your weight in the future, but also improve your health and quality of life.
Why is weight management so challenging? It sounds deceptively simple — eat less and exercise more. But that simple statement doesn't reflect how tremendously complex weight management is. If it were easy, a third of the population in the United States wouldn't be classified as obese and two-thirds as overweight.
Just think about all the things that influence what we eat:
- What our brain tells us regarding our appetite and feeling full
- What we grew up eating
- Our taste preferences
- Food availability (it's everywhere)
- Time pressures (that's why they call it fast food)
- Money (calories are cheap when supersizing)
- Habits (that's a big one)
And the list goes on and on.
In addition to the hundreds of different influences on what we eat, there are just as many for physical activity. No wonder it's challenging.
Another aspect of this is that the specific influences are probably different for each of us. For example, some of you may be in the habit of eating while watching television. For others it may be snacking at night after dinner. Still others may not have time to exercise. Or perhaps you just love to eat.
I'm an optimist regarding weight management. I believe that for every challenge there are potential solutions. The solution may not be perfect, but it will help. By using problem-solving techniques, we can overcome virtually any barrier.
Think about something you accomplished despite numerous obstacles. I'd love to hear from you. Tell us about a challenge or habit related to weight management that you overcame and how you did it. You may inspire a lot of people.
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