Uncategorized

• Debby Parker lost over 67 pounds by following the LifeMD weight management program.
• She is 8 pounds away from her goal weight.
• Today, she feels physically and mentally stronger than ever.

Debby Parker maintained a healthy weight until she began perimenopause at 35 years old.

“[After] that, it was downhill, and now, I’m 61 years old, and there was nothing working,” she told Healthline.

Over the years, Parker tried clean eating, intermittent fasting, working out, and other fad diets without success. In 2024, she found herself weighing 210 pounds and living with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and prediabetes.

“[I] was at the point that I had become so obese…when I got on all these meds to try to save my own life, I just hit a wall. I was thinking about taking my life…I had tried everything,” she said.

As a mental health professional who supports women living with disordered eating, Parker knew her situation was dire. With the help of her partner, Valencia, they found the virtual platform LifeMD and joined for access to its weight management program.

Through the program, Parker received support from a physician and a prescription for the anti-obesity medication Mounjaro.

By the end of 2024, she had lost 67 pounds and was closing in on her goal weight of 135 pounds.

“Right now, I am healthy, my blood pressure is down, my cholesterol’s down, and I’m no longer pre-diabetic,” she said. “To look at myself now and where I was in May, I can’t even believe I’m the same person…I feel accomplished. I feel supported.”

Why LifeMD’s weight loss program worked for her when other efforts were unsuccessful

After the first three weeks of taking Mounjaro, Parker connected with her LifeMD doctor to discuss side effects and how she felt emotionally and mentally. Because she experienced side effects such as nausea, vomiting, cramping, and constipation, the doctor made some adjustments.

“With GLP-1 therapies requiring regular check-ins, our model ensures consistent, accessible care that traditional primary care settings often cannot provide,” Anthony Puopolo, MD, president at LifeMD, told Healthline.

He said the program’s focus extends beyond losing weight and aims to improve total body health by emphasizing its “6S” Framework for Health, which includes wellness consultations and educational resources on the below six elements of a healthy and balanced life.

1. Sleep
2. Sustenance
3. Sweat
4. Stillness/self-talk
5. Stress management
6. Social interactions

“By addressing the root cause of the disease and contributing factors, we empower our patients to achieve sustainable, meaningful progress that benefits their overall well-being,” said Puopolo.

In addition to losing weight, Parker found that turning negative self-talk into positive self-talk was most impactful during her weight loss journey. Her provider encouraged her to celebrate her successes as she lost weight and improved her health along the way.

“Even though I’m a therapist, my own self-talk can be just awful, but [the encouragement] they offer is great,” said Parker.

A major obstacle regarding treating obesity is the pervasive societal stigma connected to it, said Joseph Zucchi, physician assistant and clinical supervisor at Transition Medical Weight Loss.

“This stigma often leads to the false narrative that obesity is simply a result of a lack of willpower. In reality, obesity is a complex, chronic disease,” he told Healthline. “Our bodies often react to weight loss attempts by increasing hunger hormones and cravings, creating a physiological battle against our own biology.”

Overcoming the stigma associated with GLP-1s

Mounjaro is the first prescription anti-obesity medication Parker has taken. While she knows stigma around GLP-1 drugs exists, she said the results prove their worth for her.

“There’s nothing wrong with taking medication if you’ve done all you can do. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help,” she said.

Feelings of shame prevent many people from seeking treatment or embracing options like medications due to fear of judgment, said Zucchi. Because obesity is a complex, multifactorial condition influenced by genetics, metabolism, lifestyle, and environmental factors, he said it’s essential to work with a provider who can offer personalized care.

“A one-size-fits-all approach often fails because each person has different challenges and may also have varying responses to a particular diet, exercise, or medication,” Zucchi said.

Because GLP-1s can cause people to lose 15-20% of their body weight on average by reducing hunger and cravings, proper nutrition is vital to optimize progress and body composition when losing weight, said Zucchi.

“For example, proper protein intake is important to prevent muscle loss, balance blood sugar, and promote fullness. Hydration and fiber intake through fruits and vegetables are also crucial for bowel regularity and overall health,” he said.

Additionally, exercise, especially resistance training, is essential for maintaining muscle and bone density while losing weight.

“It’s not just about weight loss but about achieving healthy body composition and optimal overall health,” Zucchi said.

Inspiring others to take control of their health

For those at a loss when it comes to weight management, Zucchi said there are effective treatments available.

“This journey is about progress, not perfection. It’s okay to stumble, and it’s okay to adjust your plan along the way,” he said.

Focus on small, achievable goals, be kind to yourself, and celebrate every victory, no matter how small, he added.

“Remember, your worth is not measured by the number on the scale. Your health and well-being are a worthwhile pursuit, and a better future is within reach,” said Zucchi.

Parker can relate personally as she embraces her newfound optimal health. She also relates professionally while working with clients who are living with overweight or obesity.

“[They] are doing all the right things, but they’re not able to see the changes, and then you get the depression and disappointment and negative self-talk,” she said.

Because she has taken the journey herself, she is able to connect with and inspire her clients.

“It makes me more compassionate for my clients who are at the end of the road and don’t know what to do,” said Parker. “[I] encourage them…[and tell them] you can make that sacrifice for your health.”

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women, often presenting…

Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com

• The 6-6-6 walking trend may help you lose weight and get fit.
• This low impact workout involves 60 minutes of walking, either at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m.
• Experts say walking, in general, is good for your physical and mental health.
• To get started with a walking program, it’s best to start slowly and build up.

If you liked the 12-3-30 treadmill challenge and the 90-30-50 diet, then you might also want to try the 6-6-6 walking trend.

Experts, like Dr. Milica McDowell, a Certified Exercise Physiologist and Vice President of Operations at Gait Happens, say walking is the most effective form of preventive physical activity you can do.

“Walking more than 3,500 steps per day has been repeatedly shown to help reduce cardiovascular and all-cause death risks. It’s low cost and assessable to most,” she said, adding that it’s an “amazing” way to take control of your health.

But, what is the 6-6-6 walking workout and what benefits can it especially provide?

What the 6-6-6 walking workout involves

Mike Julom, an ACE-certified personal trainer, CrossFit athlete, and founder of ThisIsWhyImFit, explained that the 6-6-6 walking workout involves walking for 60 minutes, either at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. It additionally includes a 6-minute warm-up at a slow place to help you ease into walking and a 6-minute cool-down to aid in recovery.

“The bulk of the exercise is at a faster, brisk pace to raise the heart rate and challenge the cardio system,” noted Julom. “It’s designed to be short and simple, especially for people who want to fit exercise into a busy day.”

According to McDowell, this makes the 6-6-6 program a way to get more than the 150 minutes of exercise per week recommended by both the American College of Sports Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“By doing it early (6 a.m.) or late (6 p.m.), it helps walkers find the time to squeeze the walk in before their day or schedule gets crazy,” she said.

How the 6-6-6 walking workout can benefit your health

As McDowell noted, walking in general, whether it follows the 6-6-6 format or not, is a great form of exercise.

“If you walk in Zone 2 of your heart rate range, you can reap numerous health benefits,” said McDowell. “Zone 2 is about 50% of HR Max for most people (estimate HR max by taking 220-(your age)).”

Per McDowell, walking in this zone helps you burn more fat for fuel, which can aid in weight loss.

Also, because walking has less impact on joints and tissues than running or sports like pickleball, McDowell said it can be safe for many people to try.

Julom agreed, saying that walking is great exercise, especially for older adults or those with joint pain or limited mobility.

He further noted that regular walking has been shown to reduce mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Additionally, according to Julom, it may improve gut and bone health and reduce people’s risks for cardiovascular disease and death.

The American Heart Association (AHA) adds that walking 150 minutes per week can provide such benefits as:

• Better sleep
• Improved cognition
• Reduced risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers
• Lowered blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol
• Increased energy and stamina
• Reduced risk for depression
• Better memory
• Lowered risk of dementia
• Stronger bones
• Less weight gain

How to get started with a new walking workout

To get started with a walking program, the American Heart Association (AHA) suggests choosing comfortable clothing and shoes with good support. Those designed for walking or running work best but aren’t mandatory.

They additionally advise leaving about a half-inch of space between your longest toe and the end of your shoe and avoiding cotton socks to prevent blisters. 

They further suggest starting slow and building up rather than attempting to do the full distance on your first day. Even as little as 10-15 minutes is enough in the beginning.

When you’re walking, the AHA says you should walk naturally and walk at a pace where you can breathe comfortably. After you warm up, you can try walking at a faster rate. You can also try alternating between faster and slower intervals, gradually increasing the amount of time spent walking faster. Walking uphill can help you build muscle and burn more calories.

Additionally, the AHA states that stretching should be done at the end of your workout since your body will be fully warmed up at this point.

Finally, they advise tracking your progress and squeezing walking into your schedule wherever you can, even if that means taking multiple short walks each day.

For many, the 6-6-6 workout’s requirement to walk either in the morning or evening could help them achieve this goal.

Takeaway

The 6-6-6 walking workout trend advises people to walk for 60 minutes a day, either at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m., with a 6-minute warm-up and 6-minute cool-down.

The benefits of walking are numerous, including reduced risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

To get started with a walking program, wear comfortable clothing and supportive shoes, begin slowly, and make sure you warm up before stretching.

• The time of day you consume coffee may affect mortality risk, especially from cardiovascular disease.
• People who consume coffee primarily in the morning, rather than throughout the day, had lower mortality risk compared to non-coffee drinkers, according to a new study.
• It’s unclear why morning coffee consumption appears to offer greater heart health benefits. Experts note that consuming coffee later in the day may disrupt sleep patterns.

In case you needs another reason to start your day with coffee, those who have a cup of joe in the morning have a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and lower overall mortality risk compared to those who drink coffee throughout the day or don’t drink it at all.

The novel research, published January 8 in the European Heart Journal, is the first of its kind to look at patterns of coffee drinking and whether the time of day of consumption affects mortality outcomes.

Coffee drinking is widely acknowledged for its health benefits — everything from being linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes to supporting heart health. On the other hand, it can also adversely affect sleep patterns and lead to feelings of agitation and anxiety.

Research has frequently focused on quantity of consumption: how many cups is too much? However, far less is known about how time of consumption patterns affect health.

The study, led by Lu Qi, MD, PhD, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, offers compelling data to consider not just how much coffee you consume, but when.

“Drinking coffee in the morning shows a better beneficial relation than all-day drinking with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality,” Qi told Healthline.

Morning coffee vs. all-day coffee

The observational study involved more than 40,000 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and 1,463 adults from the Women’s and Men’s Lifestyle Validation Study.

Both surveys include health and lifestyle data for a cross section of adults in the United States, including questions about coffee and caffeine consumption. 

Almost half of the participants (48%) were non-coffee drinkers, while the remaining participants were divided into two groups based on their coffee consumption pattern. About one-third of participants were “morning-type” coffee drinkers, meaning they consumed almost all coffee before noon, rarely consuming it in the afternoon or evening.

The second group, the “all-day-type” (16% of participants), preferred to consume coffee spread throughout the day and into the evening.

Only the morning coffee group demonstrated significant risk reduction in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease-related death.

Morning coffee linked to lower death risk

Over a nearly decade-long follow up period, researchers found that individuals who consumed their coffee in the morning had significantly lower risk of both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease-related death compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Compared to non-coffee drinkers, morning coffee drinkers had a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality, while cardiovascular disease-related death risk decreased by 31%. There was no reduction in mortality risk for all-day coffee drinkers. 

“The body has a diurnal cycle of waking, going and relaxing, and eventually sleeping. Morning coffee goes along this cycle, while continued drinking, particularly in the late afternoon disrupts this cycle and sleep,” Thomas Lüscher, MD, consultant cardiologist and director of research, education and development at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in the United Kingdom, explained to Healthline. Lüscher wrote an accompanying editorial to the study.

The quantity of coffee consumed in the morning also impacted heart health.

Moderate and heavy morning coffee drinkers (two to three cups or more) had greater reductions in disease-related death risk. The risk was smaller among light morning coffee drinkers (one cup or less).

The researchers also investigated cancer-related mortality risk, but did not find an association for either consumption pattern.

Effects of morning coffee on heart health not well understood

Despite the compelling findings, the study has several limitations.

Morning coffee drinkers, for example, were predominantly white with higher family income, making the findings difficult to generalize across more diverse populations.

Abha Khandelwal, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford Medicine who wasn’t affiliated with the study, pointed out that due to the observational, self-reported data, the study has limited value.

“I don’t think you can say timing of caffeine is an important factor in mitigating mortality risk….There is not a strong or rigorous scientific basis — at most there is an association with coffee intake,” she told Healthline.

The mechanism for why the time of coffee consumption could affect mortality isn’t clear either, something the study authors admit was outside the scope of their present work. However, there are clear areas for investigation:

“Late drinking of coffee may disturb sleeping and hormones such as melatonin, which affect the body’s circadian rhythm; this may partly account for the observations,” said Qi.

So, if you’re a regular coffee drinker, try to limit consumption in the afternoon and evening.

“If drinking 2 cups or more per day, it is preferable to drink only in the morning,” said Qi.

Khandelwal, on the other hand, told Healthline it’s too early to make recommendations based on this research.

“At most, one can say if you are a coffee drinker consider limiting it to AM hours, but this study is not designed or powered to talk about causality. I think a lot more has to be done in a much more scientifically rigorous way to make bold statements to change behavior,” she said.

Takeaway

Coffee has been shown to have wide-ranging health benefits from the brain to heart.

However, little research has been conducted on how the time of day when you consume coffee affects these benefits.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers found that individuals who consume their coffee in the morning, rather than throughout the day, had lower mortality risk and risk of cardiovascular disease-related death.

• A new advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General states that regular alcohol consumption, even in moderation, can increase the risk of certain cancers.
• The report shows that breast cancer has the highest alcohol-related risk for females while liver cancer and colorectal cancer are the highest risks for men.
• To help lower alcohol-related cancer risk, the Surgeon General recommends that cancer warnings be placed on the labels of alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine.

The top health official in the United States urges more public awareness of the cancer risks associated with drinking alcohol on a regular basis.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, released a new advisory recommending that alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, carry a warning about potential cancer risks. The recommendation was praised by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The new guidelines, which will require approval from Congress, would inform consumers that drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol could increase the risk of developing at least seven cancer types, including:

• breast cancer
• colon cancer
• liver cancer
• throat cancer
• mouth cancer
• esophagus cancer
• voice box cancer

In the report, Dr. Murthy noted that alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., behind tobacco use and obesity.

“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” Murthy said in a statement. “This advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”

Alcohol and cancer risk: What the research shows

A growing body of evidence warns of potential harms associated with alcohol consumption.

An August 2024 study linked light to moderate drinking to a higher cancer risk in older adults, while a September 2024 study found that excessive alcohol use could increase the risk of six types of cancer.

Other research has shown that regular alcohol consumption is associated with liver disease, brain damage, and weight gain.

“The direct link between alcohol use and cancer was first established in the late 1980s and evidence for this link has strengthened over time,” the Surgeon General’s report states.

Anna Lembke, MD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California, agreed.

“The evidence that alcohol causes cancer is reliable. People who consume alcohol have a right to know. It might make them think twice about consuming alcohol or encourage them to drink less,” she told Healthline.

Despite the known health risks of alcohol use, more awareness among the general public is still needed.

In the new report, Dr. Murthy cited a 2019 survey by the American Institute for Cancer Research, which showed only 45% of people in the U.S. recognize alcohol use as a risk factor for cancer. That compares with 91% who are aware of the risks associated with radiation exposure, 89% for tobacco use, 81% for asbestos exposure, and 53% for obesity.

“[The] advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General brings necessary awareness to the risks of alcohol consumption as it relates to cancer incidence,” Willliam Dahut, MD, the chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, said in a statement in response to the new guidelines.

“It is imperative that people are made aware of the potential impact of alcohol consumption and are met with recommendations on how to reduce their risk.”

How does alcohol cause cancer?

The Surgeon General’s report shows there were 96,730 cancer cases related to alcohol in the U.S. in 2019. Of these, 54,330 occurred in females and 42,400 occurred in males.

Of the 54,330 alcohol-related cancer cases that affected females that year, more than 80% (44,180) were breast cancer, which accounted for 16% of all breast cancer cases (270,000).

For males, Dr. Murthy reported the most serious alcohol-related risks were for liver cancer and colorectal cancer.

What’s driving alcohol-related cancer rates in males and females may vary due to various factors like an individual’s age or health status, but a key ingredient in alcohol could also play a role.

“There is extensive evidence from biological studies that ethanol (the type of pure alcohol found in all alcohol-containing beverages) causes cancer in at least four distinct ways,” Dr. Murthy wrote in the report. The four ways are as follows:

• Alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde in the body. Acetaldehyde is a metabolite that can bind to DNA and damage it, thus raising the risk of cancer.
• Alcohol generates reactive oxygen species, which can increase inflammation and also damage DNA as well as proteins and lipids in the body.
• Alcohol can alter hormone levels, including estrogen. This can play a role in breast cancer risk.
• Carcinogens from other substances, especially tobacco smoke, can dissolve in alcohol, making it easier for those substances to be absorbed into the body. In particular, this process can raise the risk of mouth and throat cancers.

“It is well established that excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with multiple diseases and cancers including cardiovascular disease, liver disease and several cancers (liver, head and neck, breast, esophagus and colorectal in particular),” Anton Bilchik, MD, a surgical oncologist as well as the chief of medicine and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline.

How much alcohol should you drink?

There have been reports over the years that moderate alcohol consumption may provide some health benefits, but for some people, the risks may still outweigh the benefits.

Still, a December 2024 study suggests drinking wine in moderation while adhering to a Mediterranean diet could help lower cardiovascular health risks.

Red wine also contain antioxidants, which some experts say can reduce oxidative damage to the body and help lower the risk of heart disease and cancer. Red wine has also been connected to lower risks of depression and dementia.

“Less is known about the negative effects of occasional alcohol use,” Bilchik said.

“Some studies suggest that a glass of red wine daily may have cardioprotective effects. The majority of patients I see with cancer have no clear etiology. Many of them don’t drink at all,” he noted.

If you choose to drink, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends two drinks or less per day for males and one drink or less per day for females.

The CDC notes the health risks associated with alcohol use increase the more a person drinks and recommend drinking less or abstaining entirely to promote overall health.

People who are pregnant, under 21 years of age, have certain medical conditions such as liver disease, or take medications that interact with alcohol should not drink at all, the CDC says.

Takeaway

The United States’ top health official recommends that cancer risk warning labels be included on all containers of alcoholic beverage, including beer and wine.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, says the warnings are needed because of the growing evidence that regular alcohol consumption increases the risk of at least seven types of cancer.

Murthy says breast cancer carries the highest risk for women, while liver and colorectal cancer have the highest risk for men.

The American Cancer Society applauded the Surgeon General’s report, but warning labels alone may not discourage people from drinking. More evidence is needed to determine the impact of occasional alcohol use on cancer risk.

Core Breathing for Urinary Incontinence Relief, the journey to overcoming urinary incontinence…

Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com

In this blog post, Becca shares her story of how meningitis changed her life and disrupted her plans just weeks into her starting her degree.

6 Surprising Causes of Bad Breath and Natural Remedies That Work, clinically…

Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com

• After years of feeling unwell and overweight, Richard and Jill Wendt decided to embark on a weight loss journey together.
• The couple lost a combined 118 pounds by following the Mayo Clinic Diet.
• Today, they both feel physically and mentally healthier.

In 2023, Jill and Richard Wendt decided to take charge of their weight and health. 51-year-old Richard had been taking blood pressure medication since his late 20s and used a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. And 49-year-old Jill reached a weight that made her feel uncomfortable and self-conscious.

“Over the course of time, the weight just kept going up and up. It just kind of happens without you realizing it,” Jill told Healthline. “You just feel down and out about yourself, and you get in the cycle of, well, that sucks. I can’t find pants that fit, might as well go home and have something to eat because what’s the point? I can’t find clothes anyway?”

Realizing that work stress and unhealthy eating habits had taken a toll on their health, the couple wanted to make a change.

“[Knowing] what challenges our parents and grandparents had, if we can do anything to be proactive going into our older years, we wanted to be able to do that,” said Jill. “We might not be able to avoid some of those illnesses, but maybe they won’t be as bad for us.”

They researched weight loss programs and decided to try the Mayo Clinic Diet in June 2023.

Since then, Jill has lost 60 pounds, and Richard has lost 58 pounds. He no longer takes blood pressure medication or uses a CPAP machine.

“I’m a stress eater, so [the diet] kind of brought that to my attention,” said Richard. “When I was in the office, it was easy having a stressful day to get up and walk to the snack machine and grab a bag of M&Ms or [when I’m] working from home, walk up the stairs and grab a bowl of cereal.”

In addition to offering a food plan, he said the Mayo Clinic Diet helped him understand his unhealthy habits and how to practice healthier habits.

What the Mayo Clinic Diet offers

The Mayo Clinic Diet is a digital weight loss program that uses a food groups system to create a whole-health menu program to follow.

“It’s the perfect fit for all the patients who’ve walked into my office and said, ‘Can you please just tell me what to eat?’” Tara Schmidt, lead dietitian for the Mayo Clinic Diet, told Healthline.

People can choose from seven different meal plans, including Simple, Healthy Keto, Mediterranean, and Protein Balance for GLP-1s.

“We have numerous Diet members who are actively taking anti-obesity medications. With this in mind, we created a specific meal plan to address the unique needs of those on these medications, group coaching sessions around frequently asked questions, and continue to update content the more we learn from individuals and research,” said Schmidt.

The program also provides education and behavior change and offers tools like recipes, virtual support, peer support, and a food tracker.

The Wendts chose the Simple plan, which offers quick recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“We did some freelancing with it and changed things or ingredients a little bit ourselves but generally tried to follow that,” said Richard. “It never felt like you were dieting, which is one of the things we really enjoyed about it. You were eating healthy, and nothing is off limits.”

One stipulation for finding a program was not feeling deprived of foods they enjoy. For instance, following a program that removed dairy was out of the question.

“[We] both grew up on a farm, and I love my milk. I’m not giving that up, so maybe I don’t drink as much, or if you like your sweets, you can still have them, but maybe you just don’t do it every night…or you find something that substitutes for that sweetness,” said Jill.

Going back to the basics of healthy eating is something that Jill also gained from the program.

“It’s re-learning what you learned as a kid with the food pyramid, the right portion sizes, it’s okay not to eat everything on your plate if you take too much, or if you’re at a restaurant, it’s okay to take the leftovers home,” she said.

Christina Brown, MS, ACSM CPT, a nutrition and weight loss coach, said the majority of weight loss results are due to changing eating habits to ensure that people are not only eating quality calories but also eating in a calorie deficit.

“In order to lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you are burning,” she told Healthline. “The easiest way to ensure you are doing this is to track everything you are eating so you know exactly how many calories you take in. You cannot out-exercise a bad diet.”

Breaking old habits and making healthier ones

Guidance on habits to add and habits to break is another aspect of the diet that resonated with the couple.

For instance, the habits they added included eating a healthy breakfast, as well as eating more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and healthy fats.

Some habits they learned to break included watching TV while eating, snacking (except for vegetables and fruit), and consuming sugar and alcohol.

“I review the healthy habits every day before I go to sleep,” said Richard. “[Maybe] I didn’t have whole grains today…you’re not going to meet everything every day but just to keep that general trend of making sure you’re not straying off those healthy habits.”

The couple incorporated the habit of exercising into their program, too, with Jill walking daily and Richard turning walking into running.

“I was never much of a morning person, but now…I try to be out running by 5:30 most mornings. It just became something…I found out I really enjoyed,” he said.

Losing weight together makes it easier

Research shows that people with partners who participate in lifestyle programs are more successful in reducing weight.

“Unfortunately, we can very easily give up on ourselves, but if we have someone else counting on us, we are much less likely to give up,” said Brown.

For example, she said if your partner is sticking to healthy meal planning, you will be more likely to or if you know they are meeting you at the gym for a workout, you will go even if you don’t want to because it is harder to cancel on them than on yourself.

This notion motivated the Wendts to try the Mayo Clinic Diet together. If Jill signed up, she told Richard he also needed to.

“I’m the one that usually prepares the meals, so to do it just for myself and then have to try to make something separate for him…would be difficult, but if we’re in it together, it’s easier,” she said.

In addition to eating the same food, following habits together, like not eating in front of the TV, also helped them stick to it.

Although the couple hit their goals, they plan to stay on the program for a while to maintain their weight and continue to use the program’s resources like its tracker and recipes.

Schmidt said the program is a lifelong health approach and not a program that preaches a certain number of weeks of toughness.

“We’re teaching our members to build new habits and slowly create eating and exercise practices they can continue long term,” she said. “A key predictor of weight loss maintenance is adherence. It’s important for people to find a method they can see themselves practicing for life.”

The benefits the Wendts have experienced are their biggest motivator to carry on healthy habits after they stop the program.

“We were putting up Christmas decorations yesterday and we were like wow a year or two years ago, going through the effort of hauling everything out we would be sweating and winded but this time…it wasn’t a struggle to get the boxes out,” said Jill.

Feeling well together is the most rewarding part of their journey, she added.

“Doing it together has been a fun thing to do…it just brings you closer cause you’re in it together,” said Jill.