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"If you have a family history of colon cancer in, for instance, a parent, or a brother or sister, or even a child, you want to have your colon cancer screening done 10 years earlier than the age at which they developed the cancer," says Dr. Boardman.

A number of inherited genes may put you at risk. "The most common cause for hereditary colorectal cancer is for a condition called Lynch syndrome," says Dr. Boardman.

With behavioral modification, risks of developing colorectal cancer can be lowered.

"What's good for the whole body is good for your colon. And, so, we say really minimizing eating red meat, eating cold-water fish," says Dr. Boardman.

Also, add more whole grains, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as exercise. And avoid tobacco products and minimize alcohol intake.

Along with a healthy lifestyle, Dr. Boardman says to get screened and don't be afraid to talk about colon health because in most cases, colon cancer can be prevented.

"You don't have to get colon cancer, even if you are at risk for it or even if you make polyps because if we take out that precursor lesion, the cancer doesn't develop in most cases," she says.

For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

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DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a mom of three kids under 10, and I have struggled with weight loss for years. I am challenged between family and work obligations to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I always start off strong, but then I get overwhelmed and stop. Last month, despite trying to eat right and working out daily, I gained weight after two weeks instead of losing it. And then if I miss several days at the gym, I start wondering what's the point. I feel as if I am in a constant battle with myself to live better. Do you have any advice for helping to stay motivated?

ANSWER: Life can be busy, as you juggle kids, work and family, along with many other obligations. Understandably, this hectic pace can make it difficult to cook a healthy meal or find time to work out and take care of yourself. The side effects of this behavior often can be an increase in body weight or a standstill when it comes to losing pounds.

Adding insult to injury, yo-yo weight losses and gains can cause such issues as prediabetes with borderline cholesterol levels or prehypertensive blood pressure. Justifiably, this can cause higher levels of stress, guilt and depression, and lead to negative behavior like comfort eating and additional weight gain.

When I talk to patients, I find that people often come up with a plan to lose the weight that includes things such as:

• Ridding homes of any desserts, candy, soda and processed food.
• Promising to buy and eat only whole foods made from scratch.
• Going to the gym five or more days a week and working out for an hour each time.
• Hiring a life coach to help get their life together.
• Reducing work stress.

Does this sound familiar?

Most people start out strong and do OK for three to four weeks, but then they slowly revert to old habits that leave them with excess pounds and feeling discouraged. Once they get motivated to try again, they do, but the cycle tends to repeat itself.

I recommend simplifying your goals. Adjust your outlook of better health to break the vicious cycle of exercise and diet plans that aren't sustainable. Start with a few small things that are realistic given your lifestyle, work and family needs.

Rather than identify six or seven goals, select and focus on one simple thing you can change today. For instance, identify a single thing related to your diet, such as cutting out sugary drinks and increasing your water intake. If you are someone who drinks multiple sodas daily, you can lose upward of 10 pounds a year by reducing your intake by one soda per day, even if you change nothing else. This is a perfect example of creating success for yourself by just changing one thing.

Another idea would be to eat a salad every other day with a meal. This can be something you can easily manage and feel successful with. Just remember not to overload it with dressing. Or instead of grabbing a handful of chips for a snack, grab an apple or a cheese stick. Consider the same substitutions for your children so you won't be tempted.

Over time, one change will lead to another. As you implement healthy things into your routine, you will build more success. And that success will make these lifestyle changes sustainable.

With respect to physical activity, take a moment to focus on the amount of physical activity per week you want to aim for rather than a number of days at the gym. Ideally, we know that for optimal cardiac health and weight loss, the recommended amount of moderate physical activity is about 175 minutes a week. Although that translates to about five sessions of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, start smaller.

If you give yourself some grace to find something that works, you can then build on it until it's more sustainable.

As a working mom of young kids, getting to the gym daily may be challenging. Can you find two 15-minute slots in your day to go for a walk outside? Can you and your family — kids included — go for a walk after dinner? Over time, increase your behaviors. Commit to a 30-minute walk or visit the gym once or twice a week for 30 minutes. Recent studies show that even one visit to the gym, although not optimal, is still better than not going at all. In addition, you can feel good knowing you have had success.

Over time, you can gradually move your goal to three times a week. Then eventually you can increase the time to 45 minutes or one hour.

Remember, building healthy habits takes time. Think about your children. When children are learning a skill, whether it's reading, writing their name or riding a bike, they experience setbacks and successes. Those successes are usually celebrated. These experiences build momentum and provide confidence that leads to long-term sustainability.

Motivation by success works much better than motivation by guilt. Unfortunately, a lot of motivation to change is guilt-based. This doesn't work with motivating children, or with managers and leaders with employees in the workplace, so why should you expect this to work for yourself?

Take time to identify some easy, simple, healthy adjustments you can make that will give you the confidence to keep adding new things. Also, talk with your health care provider if you have special dietary needs, any underlying medical conditions or have more specific questions. — Dr. Graham King, Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato, Minnesota

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Related Articles 

• Mayo Clinic Q and A: Components of a healthy diet and clean eating published 3/26/21
• Consumer Health: The Mayo Clinic Diet — a lifelong approach to diet and exercise published 1/17/21
• Mayo Clinic Q and A: Exercise is important for body, mind published 4/7/20

The post Mayo Clinic Q and A: Simplify health goals for success appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Many people think if they just stick to a diet and exercise, they’ll lose weight; unfortunately, many are not successful. They wonder why they can’t lose weight even after trying many different diets, work out programs and medications. According to Andres Acosta, M.D., Ph.D., the answers, at least partially, may be in your genes.

His research in obesity shows that there is not just one type of obesity, and there are many different genetic and biological factors that play a role in losing or gaining weight. That’s why Dr. Acosta and his team have developed an individualized approach to tackle obesity – one patient at a time.

“Prior to using an individualized approach, only 30 percent of obese patients had successful weight loss after treatment. We studied 500 patients to identify the factors leading to their obesity and then selected the best therapy for each patient based on their unique characteristics. With this new approach, patients with obesity will lose two times more weight than with standard therapy. This is critical because obesity is one of the leading causes of death and increases the risk for developing diabetes, heart disease and many types of cancer. Our goal is to help people get control of their weight and live a healthier lifestyle,” says Dr. Acosta.

“We often think of individualized medicine being used to treat cancer or rare genetic disorders. Now we are pioneering a new treatment for obesity, a chronic disease. This is where the future of precision medicine is headed – developing individualized treatments for many common, chronic conditions.”

So how does the individualized approach work for patients with obesity?

Here is an example: some obese patients do not experience a normal sensation of fullness after eating and it takes them longer to feel full. Dr. Acosta and his team were able to identify genetic characteristics linked to this condition and then prescribe a currently available medication to help these patients feel full sooner, stop overeating and lose weight.

"This individualized approach to treating obesity allows physicians to maximize the effectiveness and safety of currently available, FDA-approved medications and endoscopic and surgical procedures. It may also lead to the development of new treatments to meet the unique needs of patients," says Dr. Acosta.

The Obesity Clinic is open to anyone who is overweight or obese and wants to lose weight. Patients visiting the clinic will see a multidisciplinary health care team, which includes gastroenterologists, dietitians, surgeons, endocrinologists and psychologists, all specializing in the treatment of obesity. As part of their evaluation, patients will have:

• Genetic testing to identify unique characteristics that may impact weight gain or make weight loss more difficult
• Pharmacogenomics testing to identify any genetic factors that impact how a person processes medications
• Evaluation of eating habits, including appetite and diet
• Assessment of lifestyle and behavioral factors that may play a role in weight gain

Patients also meet one on one with staff in Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program to develop a personalized plan for nutrition, fitness and wellness. With follow up support from wellness coaches, the program helps patients successfully maintain control over their weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

For more information or to request an appointment, email The Obesity Clinic at RSTINDIVOBESITY@mayo.edu

Register for the 2017 Individualizing Medicine Conference

Learn more about precision medicine and how it can be applied to improve diagnosis and treatment for many conditions at Individualizing Medicine 2017: Advancing Care Through Genomics.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, is hosting the sixth annual genomics conference, October 9–10, in Rochester, Minnesota.

• Register today via the conference website.
• See the schedule.
• Review the list of speakers.
• Follow the latest news related to the conference on the Center for Individualized Medicine blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter at @MayoClinicCIM and use the hashtag #CIMCon17.

Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is hosting the conference with support from the Jackson Family Foundation.

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“Heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory infections are the biggest threats to women’s health,” says Lori Devine, M.D., Mayo Clinic Health System women’s health physician. “By giving your mom a gift that promotes a healthy lifestyle, you’re doing her a big favor.”

Dr. Devine provides some suggestions for you to consider when brainstorming Mother’s Day gift ideas:

• Exercise equipment
  A yoga mat, free weights, stability balls, workout DVDs and the like are ideal gifts for busy moms. If you really want to splurge, get mom a stationary bike.
• Exercise gear
  New running shoes, tank tops and shorts could be just the thing for your mom.
• Cookbooks
  There are many cookbooks full of easy, healthy recipes available. Bookmark a few recipes you think she’ll enjoy the most. Remember to pick a cookbook that’s specific to healthy eating. These recipes should include nutrient-rich ingredients that will keep your mom’s hunger satisfied and her body healthy.
• Fitness tracking technology
  Moms who enjoy exercising and staying on top of their health goals probably would enjoy a wearable fitness tracker. These trackers, which usually take the form of bracelets, come in different colors. They have different features, depending on the brand and price. With the help of most wearable fitness trackers, you can track your sleep cycle, heart rate and miles walked. For moms who aren’t into technology, a pedometer also will do the trick.
• Planner
  Most moms are busy. They’re so busy that they sometimes forget about important things, such as annual checkups and cancer screenings. Get your mother a planner, where she can pencil in her important tasks, including taking care of her health.

The bottom line is your mother should feel as though her children and friends love her enough to keep her healthy. Keeping mom healthy means having her around to celebrate more Mother’s Days.

The post Celebrate Mom the Right Way: Keep Her Healthy appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Eat less, move more, quit smoking and get more sleep! These are just some of the common sense solutions we often hear that would help us live a healthier lifestyle. So, WHY does it seem so difficult to put it all together? Join us for our next program Saturday, March 22, at 9 a.m. CDT, when we speak with Donald Hensrud, M.D., medical director for the new Healthy Living Program at Mayo Clinic. The Healthy Living Program focuses on the pillars of wellness: physical activity, nutrition and resiliency. We'll take a peek inside what makes this program work and how you can put it to use for a healthier you! Join us.

Myth or Matter of Fact: When it comes to losing weight, what you think is more important than what you eat.

To hear the program LIVE on Saturday, click here.
Follow #MayoClinicRadio and tweet your questions.
Mayo Clinic Radio is available on iHeart Radio.

Listen to this week’s Medical News Headlines: News Segment March 22, 2014 (right click MP3) 

Mayo Clinic Radio is a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic. The show is taped for rebroadcast by some affiliates.

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Click here for news release

The post Mayo Clinic Named One of Best Employers for Promoting Healthy Lifestyles appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Mayo Clinic is receiving the Platinum Award for the second time because of its healthy living programs and ability to continue improving and innovating. Twenty-nine other employers are receiving the Platinum award.

The National Business Group on Health , a nonprofit organization of large employers,
initiated the awards eight years ago to honor organizations that demonstrate a commitment to promoting a healthy workplace and encouraging healthy lifestyles for employees and
their families. This is the seventh year Mayo Clinic has been recognized as an employer promoting healthy lifestyles since the program began in 2005.

"Receiving this award is a great honor," says Karen Ytterberg, M.D., chair of the Mayo Clinic Employee Wellness Committee at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.. "It recognizes the commitment Mayo Clinic has made to the health of its employees and celebrates the ongoing success of many wellness programs and activities that have established a culture of healthy living at Mayo."

Mayo Clinic has many health promotion programs that help its employees achieve the best quality of life possible. By utilizing existing resources, employees can access programs directly related to their individual health situations.

Employers can apply for one of two award levels:

Platinum, organizations with established workplace well-being programs and that have documented measurable outcomes and success; and Gold, organizations that develop cultural and environmental changes that support employees who are dedicated to long-term behavior changes.

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About Mayo Clinic:

Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.

Media Contact: Lynn Closway, Public Affairs, 480-301-4222, Mayo Clinic

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