Most women equate preventive medicine with their annual exam. This makes me happy as a gynecologist because it is usually easier, and much more satisfying, to prevent disease than to treat it.  

What most women (and men) do not realize is that preventive medicine can start at home. Women do not have to wait all year for that embarrassing, uncomfortable exam to think about preventive medicine.  

To rephrase the title of a popular couples book Sex Begins in the Kitchen, you could also say “Better Health Starts in the Kitchen.” We live in a “have it now” society. All of us, myself included, have forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer and find ourselves in the fast food line so we won’t be eating dinner with the kids at midnight. If this happens every so often, our bodies can overcome those high calorie fast food meals, but if it occurs on a daily basis our caloric intake far exceeds the calories we burn. Now I’m not talking about everybody going on a diet. I recommend the dreaded “Lifestyle change.”  

There are many helpful programs to get you pointed in the right direction. A few of them are Weight Watchers (online or at many churches), Scale Down (offered through Lane Regional Medical Center) and the Louisiana 2 Step (louisiana2step.com). All of these programs encourage HEALTHY eating and tips on how to not let yourself get hungry while cutting calories.  

Healthy eating is only the beginning. Exercise is a must. Aerobic exercise for fat burning and weight bearing exercise for proper muscle tone will help boost metabolism and also delay bone loss or osteoporosis. I like the Louisiana 2 Step motto of “Eat Right and Move More.” As always, please consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program.