Everyday Fitness

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Everyone take a deep breath. It’s May and this year we’re going to approach the BB (beach body) issue differently.

Instead of horrified cries of: “OMG I…

a)    Should have stuck with my New Year’s resolutions, which were last New Year’s resolutions, which were the year before resolutions…

b)    Can’t look in a full length mirror naked without conjuring up visions of the latest episode of Heavy;

c)    Am facing another spring and summer wearing dark hide-it clothes;

d)    Will withdraw from fun social events, skipping the pool or the beach;

e)   Will spend another year hating my body and myself.”

You’re now going to hear: “Hey, OK I need to work on my body. But, I’m ready and willing to do the work. I love myself and want to take care of this precious body that I’m so grateful for. I know I can do this.”

Alright, it’s official. We’re done with the negative and hopeless attitudes once and for all. I’ve got a better way to help you achieve a healthier, more fit mind and body. It’s finally time you got to enjoy the warm winds, sunny skies, sandy beaches and tons of pool time. So, let’s get started. (more…)

A number of years ago, when Oprah’s infamous rapid weight loss liquid diet sent legions of folks off to gulp down gooey drinks, I met a woman I’ll never forget. She’d dropped 90 pounds over a short period of time downing 600 calories a day of some pricey fluid concoction. Here’s the catch. She’d done it three times for a total of 270 pounds worth of yoyo’ing. Talk about a pain in the wallet as well as wracking her mind and body.

She’d come to see me one year after her final go at it. During that time, she’d endured extensive liposuction and skin tightening procedures throughout her body to “neaten up” after this significant weight removal. The problem — she gained the weight back. In those days, there was almost no mention of the need for lifestyle change to support and sustain any weight reduction. (more…)

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bucket list person. There are so many persons, places and things in life that I find extraordinary and intriguing enough for me to want to experience them. Visiting exotic faraway places, discovering different cultures, and hiking higher mountains top the list. So, when my colleague Karan Staten, lead nutritionist for Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas invited me to come on down to her lovely southern state and keynote their state dietitian’s association meeting, I gave my team an immediate green light. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is a personal friend with whom I collaborated on the Discovery Health TV channel after his 110 pound weight removal. Heck, we even ran the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon together. He loves his home state and it was infectious. I wanted to see it as well. Packing my bags, off I went. (more…)

I’m just back from leading my team of Peeke Performers through the MORE and FITNESS magazines half marathon on a sunny but chilly Sunday in New York City’s Central Park. We were joined by 12,000 adventuresome women, kindred spirits wrapped in layers, ready to take themselves on for the 13.1 miles of rolling hills surrounded by the vibrant colors of spring. I love this event because it’s unique. This isn’t the Boston marathon where it’s all about outperforming yourself and obsessively watching the clock. That’s perfectly fine for those folks. Ours is all about having fun and sharing with other women equally as anxious about finishing. Having done this three times, I love to turn newbies onto the experience, and show them they can push their mental and physical envelope. The reward goes far beyond the medal. It’s a priceless mind-body transformation. (more…)

About two years ago, I posted a discussion on my Diet Community asking WebMD members if they thought they were addicted to sugar. The board lit up like Times Square, with men and women of every age swearing that cookies, candy, ice cream, buttered bread and chips were more like crack than food products.

I hear it all of the time. A frequent lament is “If I even see the stuff I’ve got to run the opposite direction or there’s no stopping me.” Others note “After I get a hit of that cake, I go into a La La land of pleasure. That is, until I wake up and realize what I’ve just done to myself.” And then there’s “I just can’t seem to get enough of it. I keep praying that after this binge it’s over,I’ll never do this again. But then I just want more.” Doesn’t this sound a lot like the language of substance abuse? Makes you wonder. Well, you can stop wondering. Now there’s a hot new science study that suggests you may indeed be experiencing an addictive process in your body. Let’s see what all of the fuss is about. (more…)

A couple of months ago, one of my patients alerted me to the fact that a new TV reality show was about to launch. She was intrigued by the title, HEAVY, and scoped out the teasers wanting to know what I thought. I decided to rustle up a number of my patients to watch the show for six weeks and study their comments. (more…)

“Oh, NO! Don’t make me count calories. Can’t I just eat healthy foods and be OK?” This is one of the frequent responses I get when I mention the importance of knowing how much you’re actually eating each day. I also get the “I’ve done that before. It didn’t get me anywhere and it was such a pain. Just one more thing I’ve got to do.” Since just about everyone’s been on some kind of “diet”, many people feel like they’ve been there and done that with calorie counting. (more…)

Recently I had the pleasure of keynoting an American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women luncheon in New York. This segued off the amazing Red Dress Fashion event at Lincoln Center I attended with the Surgeon General, where famous faces like Anne Curry and Patti La Belle wore glitzy red gowns, strutting down the runway in honor of heart disease prevention. All of this got me to thinking about what are simple, accessible things that everyone could do to promote heart health, shed weight and activities that would not be deemed a real drag to do. I’ve got the answer! Read on. (more…)

I’ve written about vitamin D in the past, noting you need to watch your levels carefully. Now there’s new evidence that we have a global vitamin D deficiency going on, and it’s occurring in some of the world’s sunniest places. So much for assuming 15 minutes of sunshine will solve your vitamin D problems. For instance, in very sunny Calgary, nearly 97% of its residents were found to be vitamin D deficient. How about Australia, a country that never seems to lack sun rays? Over 43% of those folks had low vitamin D levels during their winter. (more…)

How many times have you sat there and said to yourself, “I’m a smart person and I have accomplished so much in my life. So why am I such a miserable failure at dropping this weight? What the heck am I missing?” I’ve had legions of patients come to see me, frustrated to the point of serious angst, and desperate to understand why they seem to start out so well on that weight loss journey and then backslide big time.

After years of helping people achieve their optimal and healthy weight goals, I’d like to shed a little of my wisdom to solve this problem. Something I have noted again and again in my books, columns and media interviews is one of my favorite Peeke Principles: (more…)