By Susan J. White
NorthShore University HealthSystem
Why not make the ultimate New Year’s resolution and change the way you eat for the rest of your life, rather than just for one year?
That, suggests NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) Family Medicine physician Michael Rakotz, MD, is the best way to approach a healthier lifestyle and succeed at making real and long-lasting changes to benefit your health and well being.
Dr. Rakotz encourages his patients to make small modifications in their diet and exercise routine to improve their health now, and add to these changes slowly over time to help make the changes sustainable and prevent future problems.
While many people look to the latest trends for easy answers, Dr. Rakotz says there really isn’t anything new in terms of recommending a healthy diet.
“Eat real food that grows in the ground or is raised on a farm, not food that was made in a factory,” he explains. “Fruits and vegetables should really be the star of the show and should make up half of your diet.”
An easier way to consume more fruits and vegetables in winter—as most Americans fall woefully short of the recommended five to seven servings a day—is to incorporate frozen foods when fresh produce is not available (or too expensive). Dr. Rakotz is quick to correct what he calls a common misconception that fresh is better than frozen when it comes to vegetables and fruit, especially this time of year.
“Vegetables picked at the peak of ripeness and flash frozen still have most of their nutrients,” he explains. And they don’t have the chemicals used to keep produce that is shipped from across the country looking fresh by the time it arrives in a grocery store, he adds. As long as you buy unsweetened, unsalted, frozen produce without anything else added, you have a great and convenient source of fruits and vegetables that can be roasted, added to soups or eaten as is.
With half of the plate reserved for fruits and vegetables, the rest of a healthy meal should be one quarter whole grains and one quarter protein. Dr. Rakotz encourages his patients to choose grass-fed, hormone-free meats. “Some things are worth paying for and most people eat too much meat anyway, so spend more for meat that is better for you and have a smaller portion,” he suggests.
Staying away from processed foods is critical to maintaining a healthy diet, he says. “Chances are anything with more than five or six ingredients is not good for you.”
In terms of exercise—another key to losing weight and keeping a healthy body weight—the most important thing is that “some is better than none, more is better than less (for most people).” The key is to sustain a new exercise plan, and not make it only a “temporary resolution,” says Dr. Rakotz.
Thirty minutes of continuous exercise a day is a great goal, but even breaking it down to three ten-minute blocks a day provides a health benefit, explains Dr. Rakotz. “Take advantage of the breaks in your day, even if you think you don’t have time to exercise 30 or 60 minutes a day,” he advises.
It used to be that exercise consisted of cardiovascular training or strength training, but we now know that working core muscles and doing balance and flexibility training are key to aging well, Dr. Rakotz says. He encourages patients to incorporate cross training, TRX, yoga and similar balance work into their exercise routine, but the real key is sticking to whatever program you choose.
Getting enough sleep each night and staying hydrated by drinking water rather than coffee or sugary beverages are two important habits that will help you stay healthy, too, says Dr. Rakotz.
