Everyone wants to “look good”. What we want is to “feel good”.  We need to stop focusing just on weight but on wellbeing.  What we want is a healthy lifestyle that will help starve off disease and disability—keeps us healthy and active or “metabolically fit”.

What do I mean by “metabolically fit”?  This is what is going on inside your body—we take a measure of some of this looking at blood tests that tell us what might be going on inside your body. Things like cholesterol, blood sugar or inflammatory markers. We might talk about fitness in regards to cardiovascular fitness—what are able to do and what is that you want to do.  Let’s not focus on weight but on improving on your metabolic health to diminish your risk of heart disease and cancer.

Let us get started.  I am going to discuss some of the steps needed for you to begin to make changes. When I say changes, I mean making new and improved habits and abandoning old and perhaps not so healthy habits. You can do it and you will see that in time, with repeated new and healthier habits, you will reach your goals.

1. Assess where you are today? a) what foods are in the cabinets and fridge b) who is in charge of bringing the food into the home. c) what are you eating outside the home d) how much exercise are you getting every day.  Be critical, write the answers down and reevaluate this every 1-2 week. Reflect, improve, re-evaluate every 2-4 weeks. Always ask, what can I do better?  What did I do better?
2. Improve on what you do well. You have examined what is in the house and how active you are.  You do not need to choose a specific diet (“low cholesterol”, “South Beach”, “Keto”) but you need to make better choices of the things you choose to eat and how and when you eat them. You do not need to necessarily join a gym or buy new exercise equipment. Move the body in activities you now do or enjoy doing. If it is walking, biking, hiking or periodically going to the gym, you need to schedule this into your day.  Just be consistent at it. You will find this not hard to do but the regular habit of doing this will lead to healthier eating habits as well (“if I took the time to do the walk, I will be more mindful of what I am eating”).

Now for some Helpful Hints to get you going as you ponder the new habits you are about to begin to allow you to live the healthiest life possible (we will be expanding on these in future weeks but this just a start):

1. Cleanse the cabinets and refrigerator of unhealthy foods
2. Involve your significant others: spouse, friend, children
3. Develop a list of healthier choices and begin to plan meals in advance
4. Bring a shopping list to the grocery store and stick with it. Be a“Mindful Shopper”
5. Start each meal (especially first thing in the morning) with 6 to 8 ounces of water
6. Eat a salad always first, prior to lunch and or dinner. Select a variety of greens that you enjoy and get creative in topping such as nuts, cranberries, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds to keep things interesting. Use Virgin Olive oil and vinegar as your mainstay dressing or prepare homemade dressings with avocado or other healthier toppings (recipes to come).
7. Commit to reducing between meal snacks. If you need to snack, then choose the heathiest snacks possible: nuts, berries. Use clear mason jars to store nuts and berries and healthier snacks on the shelf or in the refrigerator where they can be seen easily.
8. Start your day with protein. Also eat carbohydrate in conjunction with protein or fat as this reduces swings in blood sugar. Avoid eating before bed, especially avoid sugar and carbohydrates before bed. Brush and floss your teeth after dinner as a way to reduce snacking in the evening.
9. Incorporate a walk or activity after each meal. Goal is to reduce blood sugar and consume energy. So, walk, do chores immediately after meals

Good Luck and more to come. You will be successful, I am positive. Slow and steady wins this race for sure.