Bilof’s Corner

There is a meme out there that says ”sitting is the new smoking,” capturing the idea that not exercising is bad for you, perhaps even as bad as smoking? Frankly, I am not totally sure that is true but, no doubt, exercise is good for you (the human body is designed to move, after all) and so a lack of exercise is probably harmful. Regular readers of this blog (I know there are a few of you out there!) may have noticed that I am not a big fan of snacking and so I want to propose a new meme....”Snacking

I Wish I Had Less Muscle Mass… …said no 80 year old EVER! This is a topic I’ve discussed often in these pages, and I suspect I will return to it often in the future. The more I research the topic of longevity, the more I appreciate the importance of muscle mass. We all understand, at least at an intuitive level, that ‘frailty’ is a big source of disability and unfortunately death in the Elderly. But that understanding becomes much more concrete when it’s backed by facts. Let me share an astounding statistic that captures what I am talking about

Given this is the time of year for resolutions, I figured I would chime in with my own suggestion for how to be successful with whatever your resolution is: Make the desired behavior (your resolution) the default behavior. Eventually, we all lose the battle with willpower (the main reason resolutions, and diets for that matter, often don’t work). So, rather than have a daily battle with willpower I suggest simply creating a rule and following it. You’ve been following rules your whole life, so let’s hack that system to our advantage. Consider a common resolution: "Lose 20 (or 30) pounds

By Dr. Michael Bilof I’ve been thinking lately that to really succeed at something… like really, truly succeed you have to play the “Long Game”, not the short game. Since our interest in these pages is health, fitness, and longevity, let me put it in those terms. The ‘short game’ is the crash diet: you get some results (sometimes even good results!) but they never last, not really. You lose 20 lbs. in 6 weeks, but as soon as you stop the unsustainable diet you gain those 20 lbs. back plus 10 more over the next 3 to 4 months…

By Dr. Michael Bilof Last month I did a brief overview here of the medical research on the new ‘wonder weight loss drugs’ that are on the market. In case you did not read it or didn’t know there are new ‘wonder drugs’ in our midst, the 2 drugs are Semaglutide (brand name Wegovy/Ozempic) and Tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro). The take home message from the research literature is that these drugs are effective for a significant number of the patients who take them (at least half in most of the studies) and, more importantly, they are relatively safe. Since we

By Dr. Michael Bilof Unless you live under a large rock or never go on social media, you have no doubt heard about ‘miracle’ weight loss drugs. They are indeed quite effective. The two drugs getting most of the attention are semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). I will not get into the technical weeds of how they work, other than to say that they both appear to have a rather pronounced effect on appetite. That is, they decrease the patient’s appetite—eat less, lose weight! What You Need To Know About Weight Loss Drugs If you’re reading this you probably don’t

By Dr. Michael Bilof If exercise were an actual ‘medicine’ it would probably be the best medicine for longevity that we have. First off, let’s start with the simple premise that the human body was designed for motion—NOT to sit in a chair staring at a screen all day. Given that modern life has so little physical activity baked into it, we have to generate that motion and activity… that’s ‘exercise’. Walking is a basic (and very effective!) form of exercise. Thirty to 60 minutes of walking several times/week, preferably outside, is wonderful for physical and mental health. Whether you

By Dr. Michael Bilof If you’re a regular reader (I hope there are a few of you out there!), then you know that in December I introduced the concept of the pillars of good health and last month I did a little deeper dive on sleep, which I think is probably the most important, truth be told. But, another truth be told, as a bariatric surgeon the pillar of good health that I spend most of my days talking about with patients is nutrition… the four letter version of which is ‘diet’. Let’s start with the Standard American Diet (SAD)...

By Dr. Michael Bilof Last month I talked about the “pillars” of good health. If we think of good health as a chair that has several legs, what are they? Last month I suggested there were 4 legs to this chair 1) Sleep 2) Exercise 3) Nutrition 4) Stress Tolerance. This month lets do a deeper dive into the one that I feel is the most important—Sleep! If you read this newsletter regularly you are, no doubt, familiar with my little quip that “8 hours of sleep is a superpower” and although I say that half-jokingly, it is something I

By Dr. Michael Bilof It’s the end of the year which seems to lend itself to reflection. As a bariatric surgeon, I spend most of my time discussing nutrition and weight loss. However, as I’ve been in practice for over 20 years now and (ahem) reached a certain age I notice myself focusing more on the broader subject of longevity and ‘healthspan’. If you are a regular reader you may have noticed this….LOL. What Is Healthspan? Healthspan is defined as the part of your life where you enjoy good health. If you live long enough, you will inevitably experience a