A New Year’s Resolution to Your Health

By Dr. Todd Belott

The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions dates back as far as the Roman Empire. Romans would use the New Year as a time to both reflect on the past year and plan changes to improve one’s future as the next year begins. Today this tradition is alive and well. With another New Years Eve celebration behind us, the excitement and promise of this New Year generates motivation to improve ourselves on many levels. Improving one’s health and losing weight are often the two most popular resolutions year after year.

Sadly, despite the best intentions, more than 50 percent of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned before January comes to a close and more than 90 percent of them are long forgotten within six months. When it comes to one’s health and obesity, I hope this year may be different for many here in south Louisiana. Unfortunately Louisiana ranks 49^th for overall health outcomes and is in the top five for obesity. Louisiana residents have the highest rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer in the US. Obesity, the condition of being excessively over weight, is a leading cause of all three of these deadly health problems. The number of obese Americans continues to grow at an alarming rate. Soon obesity will cause more preventable deaths than smoking. Fighting obesity is a New Year’s resolution worth keeping.

Fortunately, losing just 10 to 15 percent of one’s body weight can lead to significant improvement in a person’s health. Relatively modest weight loss can lead to significant improvement in blood sugar control, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. One of the key points for successfully achieving a sustainable New Year’s resolution of weight loss is setting practical goals. Weight loss of one to two pounds a week is both practical and healthy and can be accomplished by reducing one’s daily fat and sugar intake. Also simply cutting just 250 calories a day from your current daily calorie intake will help make this goal achievable. Individuals who suffer from extreme obesity, those who have 100 pounds or more to lose, may need to consider weight loss surgery as a means of achieving their resolution. Surgical therapies like the Lap Band, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass can help individuals lose the excesses pounds, ultimately leading to drastically improved health and well being.

A goal of better health is a great resolution to make. Let’s make this New Year the perfect opportunity to find the motivation to stick with a healthy resolution for this year and many to come.