23 August 2015: Welcome to my Health Blog

I have started a Health Blog, based on health issues that may be of interest to others.  My medical background is posted at www.natpernick.com.

This first blog post is about my weight loss.  I have been trying to lose weight at least since March 2001, when I first recorded my weight using a doctor's scale.  I weighed 182.5 pounds, with a BMI of 25.8 (my height is now 5' 10.5").  After 14+ years, and with much more difficulty than I anticipated, I have reached my target range of 148 to 153 pounds, with most of the weight loss in the past 2 years:

 Weight from July 2012 to August 2015

Weight from June 2014 to August 2015

I hope my experience will be useful to others in some way.   I view weight loss not as a cosmetic issue, but as a public health and national security issue.  For this state and nation to successfully address current and future problems, we need to focus not on the 1%, but on the rest of us, because although we may not be worshiped as "rich and powerful", our  personal and economic activities actually create the dynamics of our economy and democracy.  To be the best we can be, we need to improve our education, economic prosperity and health.  As a pathologist, I know that one difficult but noncontroversial way to improve the nation’s health is to focus on preventable causes of illness, including tobacco and alcohol use, accidents and obesity.

Looking back, these are the 4 major themes that have helped me lose weight:

1. Weight loss and healthy eating must be a major priority.

2. Get a diet coach.

3. Get a smart phone app and record, in advance, the calories for everything you eat (also weigh and measure your food as much as possible to get accurate values).

4. Exercise at least 7 hours a week, more than you think is necessary to lose weight.

Future blogs will give more specifics.