It seems like every morning show has had a “Healthy diet for 2007″ program over the last 2 weeks.  Some tell you to eat this or not eat that but what each program has in common is the need to exercise on most days of the week to really help you lose the weight. 

Take a look at the magazine covers at your local grocery store and you’ll see celebrities and other Hollywood types in their expensive gowns or designer suits showing off their New Year body.  If you look closer at the magazine article they may even talk about their diet and how they maintain their physique year in and year out.  Some celebs may even promote their eating plan on television but I’m going to reveal to you the real secret behind their weight loss and their ability to keep the extra pounds off. 

The secret key to losing weight……is to exercise.  Yes, you can drop the pounds rather quickly when regulating your intake of food, avoiding overeating and maintaining a steady blood sugar level through out the day.  But diet alone will only get you so far. 

You still need to get to stepping and work out. (If you are having a problem getting motivated see Coach Ferguson) Ask any elite level athlete whose trying to maintain weight for competition, they do have to monitor what they eat but they wouldn’t dare step on the scale the day of competition if they hadn’t been working out at all in the weeks leading up to competition day.  The same can be said for actors who are getting ready for a film or for an awards banquet….they’re busy picking out what they’re going to wear but they’re also busy keeping up with their workouts. 

So take a cue from athletes, from celebrities….they all include exercise in whatever eating plan they follow. 

So once you’ve made the decision to eat healthy do the following IMMEDIATELY:

1. ELIMINATE the high fat foods
These foods are killers and they provide absolutely no nutritional value that is of real use. So chunk ‘em. 

2. REPLACE those high fat and high cholesterol foods with lighter options full of whole grains, fiber, complex carbohydrates and protein.  Don’t just start there….unlock the key to incredible health and weight loss by……

3. EXERCISE - Exercising will get you in shape and help prevent or lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and stroke. 

And I don’t know about you, but I’m not TRYING TO DIE anytime soon! SO GET BUSY LIVING or get busy dying!

So exercising has so many more benefits than simply helping you lose weight—-exercise can help save your life!

Unlock the key to weight loss today. Click here to get started today!!

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

Now I can say the year 2006 is officially over.  I finally put away the last of my Christmas decorations after enjoying them for the past several weeks.   The tree, the ornaments, the lights are all safely tucked away in the garage until next season.  And after delaying the close of 2006 for the past nine days, I say it’s high time that I get focusing on the year at hand. 

Stop proscrastinating in making those doctors’ appointments and start taking control over your health.  Let me say it again, it’s time to start taking control over your health…and that means taking care of business.

The business at hand is baggage control.  What I mean by baggage control is getting rid of all the old memories,  all the old habits, and all the old behaviors that are holding you back from achieving extraordinary success in getting healthy and staying healthy.  This means putting away those comfort items that you rely on to avoid moving ahead.  Throw out those pair of too loose sweatpants that you think people don’t know you use to cover up those love handles and take a real, hard naked look at yourself in the mirror.  You can do this literally or figuratively….either way, take off those blinders and take a good look at yourself. 

Do you need to start an exercise program?  Do you need to cut out the junk food from your diet?  Do you need to get a family member or yourself to start taking better care of themselves and their health?  Do you need to make that appointment for the doctor or the dentist that you have been putting off for months? 

Have you tried working out but failed to keep up with it for more than a few workouts?  Do you have a gym membership that is going to waste?  Do you find yourself wondering how you’re going to get rid of all the “holiday weight” you put on over the past two months? 

Are you afraid to go to the doctor’s for fear that you’ll have to come face to face with yourself and all the bad habits that you’ve developed over the past years?

Well, I’m here to tell you to stop procrastinating, stop living in the past, stop remembering the good ole days when you could eat a whole pizza by yourself and not gain a pound, when you could stay up all night and still function in the morning, when you didn’t have to try so hard to look presentable.  Get over it.  Stop trying to do the same things you used to do and get serious about your health.

I had to put away that after lunch cake or cookie and instead pick up a protein bar or piece of fruit for my afternoon snack.  I also had to stop waiting to make that dentist appointment that I dreaded and am scheduled to see the dentist later this month. 

So whatever is at the top of your To Do List, take time today to check it off your list and get starting on living healthy and staying healthy.

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

Dr. Traci Ferguson

I’ve just read the most ridiculous but true article about dogs here in the US. 

Over 3 million dogs in the US are obese!  Yes, that’s right.  There are 3 million dogs running (or trying to run) around here more than 20 percent above their ideal body weight.  And you know why….like mother like daughter, like father like son, like owner like pet. 

If you sit around all day at your desk and when you finally get home, you’re too tired to take the dog for a walk, your dog will pick up your bad habits.  First, he’ll keep eating even after he’s had his full.  He’ll be so stuffed from a meal, that he can barely keep his eyes open and take a ritual post-meal nap.  He’ll find the cool air-conditioned house to his liking and whimper every time you open the door to let him out to get some fresh air.  He’ll enjoy watching the game with the guys because he’ll be able to let loose and make all the noise he wants.  And soon,  he’ll start looking less like a dog and more like a cuddly stuffed animal with lots of folds and curves. 

The pharmaceutical company is banking on you not realizing what you’re doing to your dog.  They’re hoping that you’re so gung-ho in spending unnecessary money on diet pills that you’ll pay the extra money to make your dog slim and trim for the new year.  They’re not telling you that you can save your money and keep your dog living longer if you’d just stop overfeeding your dog.  No….that’s too easy.  They want you to make an appointment with the veterinarian, spend your money on the visit to the vet, buy the diet prescription drug, then make the necessary followup visits with the vet to see how your dog is doing on the new medication.  But this won’t phase some of you dog owners who’d travel around the world to give your dog the very best. 

I’m not hating on dogs….I love dogs.  I just think that enough is enough and that we need to start taking responsibility for our actions and stop trying to patch up the hole instead of taking the time to fix it. 

Must our dogs suffer because we don’t have the self-control and self-discipline to push away from the dinner table when we’ve eaten enough?

The Health and Wellness Queen’s food for thought.

About two hours ago, I came face to face with a man whose life will never be the same. 

I was finishing up my shift in the hospital when I was paged to the Emergency Room to see a 70 year old man complaining of a tightness in his chest.  Just a few minutes earlier I was packing up my stethoscope and putting my lab coat away getting ready to head home for dinner when the page came in.  When I pulled up his laboratory studies on the computer, I knew instantly that his tightness in the chest was not “indigestion in the chest” like he thought but it was a bonafide HEART ATTACK!  Yes, a heart attack. 

Mr. X had been experiencing chest pressure for two days before his wife finally asked him the one question that saved his life.  She had seen him go from an active retiree working around the house to a man who couldn’t even walk across the room without stopping to catch his breath.  When she noticed that he’d been basically sitting on the couch all day, she finally asked him the key question that lead to his presentation to the hospital.  She asked him simply, “Honey, you haven’t been yourself, what’s wrong?”  

With that simple question–What’s wrong?–Mr. X finally admitted to his wife that he had been suffering with pressure in his chest that would just not go away for the past two days.   She didn’t berate him about not telling her earlier, she didn’t blow it off and she didn’t think that he was just trying to get out of helping around the house.  She knew something was very wrong with him, so instead of nagging him to death, she told him to get dressed because she was driving him to the hospital.  

Now, let me say this—Mrs. X could have killed her husband.  Mrs. X did recognize that her husband needed immediate medical attention BUT she should have called 911 instead of driving him to the emergency room.  When anyone is experiencing symptoms suspicious for a heart attack, call 911.  Mr. X was lucky in the sense that he didn’t go into a fatal heart rhythm on the drive to the hospital but he could have died on the way.

Today was a wake up call for Mr. and Mrs. X.  They both found out that their lives were forever changed once Mrs. X asked that simple, life saving question, “What’s wrong?”

So, whenever you see someone around you that doesn’t look quite right, ask them what’s wrong?  You may save their life and you never know…the next life that’s saved may be your own. 

 Saving one life at a time…

The Health and Wellness Queen,

Dr. Traci Ferguson

After four days into the New Year, how’s your New Year’s Resolution coming?  Are you still sticking to it?  Or is that new resolution already a thing of the past?

I was sitting at the nurses’ station yesterday writing in a chart, when a former patient stopped by the hospital to say thank you to all the nurses who cared from him during his recent hospitalization.  A kind word would have been thank you enough but he came bearing gifts—>15 cheesecakes to be exact. 15 Cheesecakes!  I sat back and watched as they clamored around trying to get a piece of cheesecake…and some even took a whole cheesecake for themselves.  

Why is this so shocking?

Because some of those same people just told me, “Dr. Ferguson, I’m going to lose weight this year—that’s my New Year’s Resolution—to lose weight.”  Well, it seemed that the 15 cheesecakes made them forget all about their resolution. 

So I ask you, how’s your New Year’s Resolution coming?  Have you stuck to it?  Have you made the necessary changes in your life to really achieve your goal? 

“Plans don’t fail…people fail to plan.” 

This statement is truer than you might think.  How many people would hop in their car for a cross country trip and not take a map along, a car navigation system with them or a detailed guide outlining their trip?  I’m not talking about those people who enjoy the wind blowing through their hair with the top down and the adventure of ending up wherever their whim takes them.  I’m not talking about those people who think they have an internal navigation system and don’t ask for directions, at any cost. 

I’m talking about those people who need to plan out their day to get everything on their To-Do list accomplished.  These are the people who need a plan. 

So if you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution and haven’t yet made a plan to achieve your goal, now’s the time to sit down and plan. 

Start this year out right!  Once you’ve made that New Year’s Resolution, plan out how you’re going to get to that goal and go for it!

To your wellness!

After spending most of my New Year’s Day in the hospital seeing patients, I didn’t have much time to turn on the television and watch any of the day’s festivities—the Bowl games or parades.  What I did have time to do was spend some quality time with the family. 

When I think about, some people who were here yesterday aren’t here today.  This statement is truer than I even want to admit especially after witnessing a car accident unfold right before my very eyes as I drove to work early this morning.  I don’t know whether the driver of the car had been drinking or was just so tired from partying that he didn’t realize that he was veering straight for a parked car. 

Whatever the case may be, someone’s life changed in a matter of seconds.  It could be a car accident, a heart attack or a stroke….anything can happen and drastically change the course of our lives.  As we look to the future–to the year 2007–remember to enjoy each moment and don’t take your life or the lives of your loved ones for granted.  2007 looks to be a great year for all of us….so here’s a toast to your good health and sustained wellness throughout the year!

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

Dr. Traci Ferguson

As I’m writing this post, it’s less than three hours until 2007! 

It’s still amazing to me that we’re about to close the chapter on another year.  The year 2006 has been one of many milestones for my family and me–the birth of our first child, my husband’s diagnosis of high blood pressure and my -return to work full-time, balancing work and family life. 

The first several months of 2006 we spent feverishly getting ready for the arrival of our first child, Rufus.  Before we headed to the hospital early that Wednesday morning on April 5th, I had just completed the finishing touches on the baby’s room, getting enough diapers, wipes and bottles to last a week.  The birth of Rufus (named after my father-in-law) was a blessed event that will forever stay etched in my memory.  My husband, Rhadi spent every waking moment taking care of Rufus and me while we were in the hospital.  Who needs a nurse when you have such an attentive husband around?! 

I’m so thankful for his love and support but nothing prepared me for the wave of emotion that came over me as I was preparing to leave the hospital with Little Rufus in toe.  As the nurse was explaining my discharge instructions I suddenly burst into tears and couldn’t keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks.  The nurse came over to the bed and sat with me telling me that it’ll be okay…I was just nervous and excited to leave the hospital.  I was secretly thankful that my husband had already left to pack the car and didn’t witness my emotional breakdown…but he just smiled lovingly when I told him what happened when he returned.  

 Rufus has surely changed my focus in life and has helped me concentrate on the more important aspects of my life….my family and my health and wellness.  As a Board Certified Physician in Internal Medicine I have been trained to treat and care for others in their time of ill health. 

Experiencing the birth of my first born has made me realize that it’s more important to care and nuture the health and wellness of others than to solely care for them in illness. 

From this realization, The Health and Wellness Queen was born.  Born to help people reach their full potential in terms of excellent health and sustained wellness through the dissemination of evidenced based medical information geared to help you live a longer and healthier life. 

My first task as The Health and Wellness Queen was to get my house in order.  When my husband was diagnosed with high blood pressure…The Queen went into action.  I arranged his evaluation by a heart specialist and he underwent a series of tests to determine how well his heart was functioning and to determine if he had any other underlying, undiagnosed medical problems.  Thankfully, all that we were dealing with was uncontrolled high blood pressure.  After changing our diet, eliminating the things that can aggravate his blood pressure (in his case, salt and caffeine) and restructuring his workout regimen to incorporate more bodyweight exercises and leaving the heavy weights behind, my husband’s blood pressure is now normal—off all high blood pressure medications!  Now that’s something to be thankful about.

So as I look towards 2007, I’m looking forward to conquering your Health and Wellness issues and can’t wait to help you reach your goal of a healthier and longer life with healthy living.

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

Dr. Traci Ferguson