The Road to Better Health
Making the Most of Your Life by Eating Right & Exercising When you ask someone what’s bothering them the most, you hear one response all too often: they’d like to be thinner. And it’s not just a matter of appearance. If you’re like most people, you aren’t going to feel your best until you get down close to your ideal body weight. Very few people are there. But there’s a lot you can do to reach and maintain a healthy weight — and to reap the health benefits that follow.
As a BodyLogicMD physician who specializes in hormones, fitness and nutrition, I can provide guidance on how many calories you actually need and how to modify your eating habits to cut out those unnecessary calories. I can also help you determine what kinds of foods best fit your health needs. In some cases, we may recommend an elimination diet. This is especially important if you are having trouble with food allergies or are overeating. The first things I generally recommend avoiding are gluten, dairy and certain other foods that have a tendency to make people feel poorly. And then, slowly, over time, you may be able to add some of those foods back.
Watch Your Calories — Count, Type & Frequency
If you want to lose weight and stay healthy, you have to pay attention to Bob Ghelfi, MD what you’re eating, how much you’re Avoiding Those Guilty Pleasures eating and how frequently you’re eating. Cravings are often the crutches that keep I generally emphasize smaller, more people from following a healthy diet. frequent meals with protein in every Some people have very strong cravings meal and fewer overall calories. for foods that they shouldn’t be eating. Many people don’t realize how many Often, when that’s happening, the craving calories they’re taking in or how few is actually at the root of your health they actually need. Most people need problems. It may even be something fewer calories than they realize — and you’re allergic to. certainly fewer than they’re actually I have found that, in these situations, you eating. So, for many people, the first step have to cut these foods from your diet to adopting a healthy life-long diet is to entirely. You can’t just have them once reduce calorie intake. It’s important to in a while. In most cases, once these take your activity level into consideration. problem foods have been removed for If you’re exercising frequently, you will at least a month, you’ll feel quite a bit need more calories than if you’re primarily better. And, frequently, if you can stay off sedentary. of these foods for a while, there’s a good But it’s not just how much you eat. What chance that your cravings will go away you eat is important, as well. Many people and you can avoid the food forever. aren’t getting enough calories from Changing Habits protein. About a third of all the calories from Bad to Good you take in should be from protein. That doesn’t mean you should over-indulge In many cases, unhealthy eating is a in red meats or fatty meats. Try to focus, result of bad habits, but you can often instead, on healthy proteins, such as lean meats, fish and nuts. exchange your bad habits for something that’s better for your health. What I’ve found is that many people are addicted to It’s also important to pay attention to how you’re eating. food. But once you start exercising, you can often get your Instead of focusing on just two or three big meals each day, mind off of food. Exercise can become your new habit. spread out your meals so you’re eating every three hours or so. This often means three smaller meals per day — The TV can also result in bad habits. Many people like to sit at breakfast, lunch and dinner — with small, healthy snacks in home and watch TV. The problem isn’t that they’re watching TV between your meals. — it’s how they watch it. They sit in front of it and eat, without
“When you think about it, all we really have is time. We either use it or we don’t. Being overweight or unhealthy makes it much harder to get the most out of whatever years you have left.”