Several years ago one of my patients made that statement to me and it has stuck with me ever since. It is such a true statement about health, but I would add that your heart, your spine, and your joints also depend on it. Another true statement is: Almost all illness is self imposed! What you eat and your lifestyle is what determines your future health.
Weight loss is a major part of your overall health, not just a cosmetic problem.. In order to lose weight, you must make it a priority everyday. You cannot manage what you do not measure; therefore, you should have an accurate bathroom scale, preferably a digital readout, that you check with every morning. That way, your activity and dietary intake for the day will be affected by that number.
Where “diet” implies a temporary fix to a chronic problem, what you really need is a change in lifestyle: Your eating habits need to be modified in two ways: smaller portions, and minimize carbohydrates. Lowering calories requires approximately a 50% reduction in your average total intake per day. Lowering carbohydrates requires eliminating all bread and bread products (bagels, crackers, muffins, chips, etc.), all pasta, all potatoes, all rice, and all sweets (pies, cakes, pastries, cookies, candy, ice cream, and especially soft drinks). Therefore, your daily food intake should consist of only: any meat, fish or chicken, vegetables, and salads. Fruit should be your dessert.
Intermittent fasting is also a VERY helpful way to lose weight and be healthy. The easiest way to do that is to limit your total daily intake to a 4 hour window. My personal method is to have my dinner from 5 – 9 PM daily.
Exercise is essential to any weight loss program. Ideally, 60 minutes of exercise per day should be your goal, but 30 minutes minimum. A brisk walk outdoors or on a treadmill, (approximately 3 m.p.h.), riding a bike, or using any kind of low impact equipment (such as stair machine, ski machine, elliptical machine, exercise bike and swimming) are all beneficial ways to stay active.
Membership at a fitness center is another excellent way to maintain good health. I have been a member since 2008 where I routinely use 10-12 different machines.
Think of muscle as “the currency of health!” It is a robust “bank account” that keeps you moving through life with power. Muscle helps to soak up excess glucose reducing the amount of insulin needed thereby reducing your chance of developing diabetes.
Any exercise that you do is good. Avoid taking elevators whenever possible. Take stairs even if you stop on every floor or two to catch your breath. For people with arthritic hips or knees, an exercise bike is still your best option, where your body weight is supported, and your legs are just exercising without as much stress. If your exercise level is diminished for whatever reason, then your intake should be cut back accordingly
Hopefully, these suggestions are helpful to you. I have been following this program for years with good success.
