Focus on one thing to improve your health (that's ISN'T the scale!)

Yep....you heard me correctly. First, I'm asking you to incorporate one healthy habit at a time. There's an endless list of things you could do differently right now. Keep it simple to avoid feeling overwhelmed and improve the likelihood of success! Second, I'm asking you NOT to focus on the number on the scale. Wait...what?? For many people, weight and health are inextricably linked. Yes, excessive weight can be its own risk factor for certain chronic diseases. However, an obsession with weight and weight loss certainly hasn't improved our country's health. A Google search for "lose weight" yields about 2 billion results and the weight loss industry is worth about 70 billion dollars, so clearly there are a lot of resources and dollars pointing us toward weight loss as the be all, end all...that are not benefiting our long term health.

I'm not naive enough to think that people can magically stop their preoccupation with the number on the scale. Believe me- if I knew how to do that, I would tell you! I will ask you to focus MORE on a single food-related habit that will improve your health.  Evidence shows that the foods we eat impact how we feel both physically AND mentally. If you are not content with your overall health right now, and worry that you might spend the next 20, 30 or more years walking the earth feeling like crap, taking a bunch of pills and suffering from chronic lifestyle diseases, then it's time to make a change.

If you're still reading and are considering this approach, then the next question might be "What DO I focus on?" or "Where do I start??" This is not a one size fits all situation - some people may already in the midst of some lifestyle changes while others may want to change, but struggle with the first step. A few things to consider:

• Make your one thing to focus on very specific. "Eat more fruits and veggies" has the right idea, AND needs to be more clear.  "More" to one person could be eating one cup of broccoli per week while "more" to another might be eating one cup of broccoli every day!
• Make sure you know HOW to do the "one thing" (more on that in a second)
• If possible, draw on a previous success. What have you done in the past that made you feel stronger, gave you more energy or improved your mood? That could be a great starting point.

Following are a few ideas...by no means an exhaustive list. Any of these can be adjusted to fit what works for you.

• Eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 1 serving of vegetables FOUR days per week
• Eat 25 grams of fiber per day (most Americans consume about 10 to 15 grams per day)
• Eat two meatless dinners per week (you can substitute in beans, meatless meat, tofu, lentils, etc.)
• Spend 45 minutes per week doing food prep (chopping fruits and veggies; making a batch of quinoa or brown rice; roasting a few sweet potatoes, etc.) If you have minimal cooking experience, your first step might be spending 45 minutes practicing basic knife skills)
• Journal three days per week. You can write down what you eat and drink and/or write about how you're FEELING when you are staring into the fridge or pantry. Humans tend to eat when we're happy, sad, celebrating, stressed, etc., so journaling can help you be more aware of what you eat or drink and why.
• Measure out "treats".  It's unrealistic to think you'll live out the rest of your days without occasional cookies, candy, chips, etc. Measure out a serving, then sit down and enjoy. This is preferable to mindlessly eating way more than you realize- perhaps while sitting in front of the TV or while standing in front of the fridge- then falling into the shame spiral afterward (or I am the only one who does that??)

Crazy concept...put the cookies on a PLATE! 

To sum things up, focusing our attention on the outcome (like our weight on the scale) can set us up for disappointment. If the number doesn't move quickly enough, we might be tempted to say "Screw it!"rather than staying the course. That stress and frustration often leads to eating more food representative of the standard American diet....I suspect no one is using kale as comfort food!

If you want to improve your energy level and ward off as many chronic health issues as possible, identify a clear, achievable (maybe not easy) habit to focus on....something that you feel will have a positive  LONG TERM impact. Notice how you body feels over the next few weeks (see "journaling" above). Stick with it until it becomes nearly automatic.  At that point, you can add on a new healthy behavior.

Until next time,

Michelle