Houston was number one last year, but this time it escaped the dubious distinction of being named America's fattest city -- unfortunately, at the expense of my hometown.

The embarrassing reasons Chicago topped the fattest list weren't unexpected or surprising:

• Chicago's addiction for TV, one of the reasons I remind you so often to turn it off.
• The lack of exercise, exacerbated by having the survey's worst workout environment among all cities polled.
• Based on CDC numbers, 60 percent of Illinoisans are so obese, their size threatens their health.

Folks, if you're blaming bad climate for your bad health, forget it. Besides Chicago, three of America's largest and warmest cities made the "top 10" fattest list (Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles) and two of the coldest towns (Milwaukee and Minneapolis) made the fittest list.

No matter where you live, you can find a way to exercise. Certain areas are just too hot in the summers or too cold in the winters to go outside. I highly suggest taking advantage of the nice days and going for long walks.

However, if the climate is less than ideal, consider joining a health club or purchasing a couple of pieces of home exercise equipment. (I recommend an elliptical machine.)

One of the keys to exercising is making sure certain minimum thresholds are met. I encourage my overweight patients to gradually increase the amount of time they are exercising to 90 minutes a day. Initially the frequency is daily. This is a treatment dose until they normalize their weight, after which they will only need to exercise three to four times a week.

And diet is just as important as exercise. If you want to start losing all that extra weight and begin to optimize your health, learn how to retool your diet based on your body's unique nutritional type with the help of my free online test.