One of the top reasons participants start an exercise program is weight loss. This goal is achievable with exercise but is much harder to accomplish compared to improved mobility, strength, or balance. The difficulty of losing weight with exercise is also one of the leading reasons people quit their exercise programs after an initial 4-6...
Allied health providers including Physical Therapists in our Boulder and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics continue to research interventions to improve activity levels of patients. Continued research has documented the negative health impact of sedentary behaviors including prolonged sitting at work. Patients who sit for longer hours each day and/or longer bouts of sitting without movement...
Nutrition is a key component of health and recovery from injury and disease. Due to strong evidence on this link health care practitioners, including Physical Therapists, are being to prescribe adequate portions of fruits and vegetables in patients diets. In a previous blog post we described the beneficial effects of a lower processed diet compared...
Nutrition, stress management, and sleep are the overlooked components of a patient’s recovery in our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy practices. These low hanging fruits are often easier to control and improve than the injured tissue’s path to recovery. Inherently we know nutrition is important and food that is fresher is more nutritious...
Many exercisers report weight control or weight loss as one of their main goals for performing a weekly exercise program. While exercise can produce a caloric deficit, especially when combined with a nutritional caloric deficit, our bodies have significant physiological mechanisms to avoid weight loss. For example, many participants will create a caloric deficit through...
Obesity is one of the greatest health problems facing our country. The causes of obesity are multifactorial in nature, but one contributor is a lack of daily activity or exercise by both children and adults. The CDC estimates less than 1/5th of Americans reach the weekly recommended amounts of exercise including either 300 minutes or...
America has seen a steady increase in body weight over the past decades with the CDC reporting 2 in 3 American adults can be classified as overweight or obese. Many of these individuals report attempts at weight loss by creating a caloric deficit through diet and exercise, but have been unable to achieve or maintain...
Americans who are overweight are at a higher risk of many diseases including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers. Thankfully many of these risk factors improve as an individual returns to a healthy weight through changes in their nutrition and exercise habits. Patients often ask if weight loss is the key factor in this...
The CDC reports over 2/3 of Americans are either overweight or obese with less than 1/3 reaching the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week (21 minutes per day). Weight loss is a complicated, multifactorial process but many researchers recommend the combination of diet and exercise to reduce body mass. Diet has the greatest impact...
The CDC estimates 10% of Americans have diabetes with close to 95% being diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is differentiated from Type I, in part, by the body’s reduced sensitivity to the insulin it produces leading to higher levels of blood sugar (glucose). Diabetes can have serious health consequences including vision loss,...