Health Library
The Health Library is a collection of health and wellness resources created for learning and accessibility. Select a topic below for related health information or search for a topic in the search bar for more information on other medical conditions.
Healthy Weight
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You've had success with weight loss, but now you're stuck. Get help thinking about what's in your way.
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When are weight-loss medicines prescribed? Losing weight can be hard work. Maybe you are wondering if taking medicines could help make it easier for you. Prescription weight-loss medicines may help some people who haven't been able to lose weight with diet and exercise. But they don't help everyone. Doctors only...
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Provides links to info on healthy living. Topics discuss healthy weight and weight loss. Discusses balancing how much you eat with how much you exercise. Covers whether your weight increases health risks. Includes info on nutrition.
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Celebrate your successes with non-food rewards.
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Learn what body image is and how to feel better about the way you look.
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Hear how one teen got motivated to take charge of his weight and eating habits.
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The upsetting situation Stop: My discouraging thought Ask: Is that a helpful thought? Choose: My new, encouraging thought Example My diet isn't going well right now. I can't lose weight. Why should I even try? Who says I can't lose weight? How am I going to lose weight if I keep thinking like this? I...
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Learn three proven strategies to help reach a healthy weight.
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Make your own plan for reaching a healthy weight.
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What makes you want to reach a healthy weight?
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Learn how your thoughts can contribute to weight gain.
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Learn how replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts can help you reach a healthy weight.
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Learn how to make healthy changes that can help delay or prevent type 2 diabetes.
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Dieting is hard. But avoiding "empty" calories helps you reach a healthy weight without feeling like you're dieting. Your body needs a certain amount of energy each day. Energy comes from food in the form of calories. Calories let you function and keep doing your daily activities. But after your body meets its needs...
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Losing weight safely means balancing protein, fat, and carbohydrate with every meal and snack. You'll feel fuller longer as your body takes its time digesting the food. There is no perfect method for weight loss, but it helps to have a guide. Reduce...
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Listen to your body to tell you when you're hungry or full. Hunger is a normal sensation that makes you want to eat. Your body tells your brain that your stomach is empty. This makes your stomach growl and gives you hunger pangs. Hunger makes some people feel lightheaded or grouchy. Everyone is different...
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Discusses healthy weight and why it is important. Covers the main steps to reaching healthy weight. Discusses difficulties of losing weight. Covers nutrition, lifestyle changes, and physical activity. Offers tips for preparing for changes.
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Keep the following in mind as you start an exercise program or try to lose weight while you are breastfeeding. Exercise Being active helps promote weight loss, improves your energy level, and can help you relieve stress. Follow these tips when you start an exercise program while you are breastfeeding...
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Physical activity increases the amount of energy (calories) you burn. Most weight-loss programs incorporate an exercise program—such as jogging or biking. And you can also use more energy by changing some of your routine activities, such as washing...
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Children Doctors weigh children at routine checkups. They plot measurements on a growth chart to see how your child compares physically to other children of the same age. Doctors update the chart at each routine exam to document your child's growth pattern. "Overweight" and "obese" are terms sometimes used when...
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Uses your child's weight and height to compare your child's size to that of other boys or girls of the same age. Covers what the results mean and next steps.
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Helps you check your risk of weight-related diseases such as diabetes, CAD, and high blood pressure. Tool calculates risk using body mass index (BMI) along with your waist size and other factors. Discusses what scores mean.
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Dawn is no stranger to dieting. Over the years, she followed many different weight-loss plans. Each plan worked for a while, but eventually she would go back to her old eating habits and her weight would go back up. She says that with dieting "There...
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Jeremy grew up being active and involved in sports. But he never gave healthy eating too much thought until he found himself gaining weight several years after college. In November 2006, Jeremy hit a turning point when he found that he was too out...
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Discusses how to encourage yourself with accurate, rational thoughts so that you can raise your odds of staying at a healthy weight. Covers how it can also help you handle stress better. Provides steps to practice. Includes keeping a thought diary.
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Genes influence your weight by their effect on: How calories are used (energy metabolism). Some people use calories efficiently—they need fewer calories to fuel the body, which can result in "leftover" calories being stored as fat. Other people use calories less efficiently—they need more calories to...
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Discusses how to deal with weight gain after you've quit smoking. Covers creating a plan before quitting to make weight control easier. Offers tips for avoiding weight gain.
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Exercise plays a big role in helping Maggie Morris stay in good shape. She got more active along with making healthier food choices. Her regular routine includes 45 minutes of exercise three or four days a week. She usually uses a recumbent bike or an indoor skier, which mimics the cross-country skiing that she loves...
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For inspiration to exercise, John hasn't had to look far. His father rides his bike daily to prevent another heart attack. John's grandparents and others in his family also had heart disease. John's doctor told him that his steady weight gain over the years was putting him in danger of heart problems as well. "He said...
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Whatever you do, don't tell Jaci that you can tell she's been on a diet. The 30-year-old mother of two feels strongly that losing 65 pounds over 4 years was the result of permanent lifestyle changes—not dieting. "I actually get mad at people when they say, 'You've been on a diet.' I'm not on a diet. I've never been on a...
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Maggie lost some weight a few years ago. But like many people who go on diets, she couldn't keep the pounds off. She didn't eat enough food, so she was hungry. And she denied herself the food she really loved, like pizza. Then she changed the way she looked at food and what it meant to be healthier. She lost 50 pounds...
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How is it that two people of the same age, gender, and height can eat the same foods and be equally active, but one gains weight while the other loses it? One piece of the puzzle is metabolism. How well your body burns energy to keep up basic functions like heartbeat, breathing, and thinking is called your basal...
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Losing weight safely means balancing protein, fat, and carbohydrate with every meal and snack. You'll feel fuller longer as your body takes its time digesting the food. There is no perfect method for weight loss, but it helps to have a guide. Reduce...
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Dawn is no stranger to dieting. Over the years, she followed many different weight-loss plans. Each plan worked for a while, but eventually she would go back to her old eating habits and her weight would go back up. She says that with dieting "There...
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Listen to your body to tell you when you're hungry or full. Hunger is a normal sensation that makes you want to eat. Your body tells your brain that your stomach is empty. This makes your stomach growl and gives you hunger pangs. Hunger makes some people feel lightheaded or grouchy. Everyone is different...
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Teaches listening to body signals that tell you when you're hungry or full (satiety). Describes hunger signals. Covers steps to get back in touch with your hunger signals so that you don't reach for food when you're not hungry. Covers keeping food journal.