By Jone Geimer Flanders, MD
Who in their right mind would decide to go on
a diet at the holidays? It may sound crazy, but that’s exactly what I recommend to patients.
As a cardiologist who is interested
in prevention more than treatment of heart
disease, I often find myself in the role
of counselor.
I think that starting a healthy lifestyle change during the holidays shows that if a patient can be successful eating healthily during the winter holiday season, the rest of the year will be a piece of proverbial cake.
In many ways, diet counseling is more about behavior modification than diet. I won’t say it’s easy. In fact, if there was one diet or plan that worked for everybody, we’d all be at an ideal, healthy weight.
Motivating change is all about the philosophy. Behavior modification begins with finding that one personal thing which will create change. I explain to my patients that the recipe for YOU is you, or rather, what you do. So if you want to change YOU, you have to change what you do.
This is the main reason “diets,” and the way we think of diets, don’t work. If you do anything temporarily, you will get temporary results.
Many people already know what to do to maintain healthy eating habits. It is how to do it that’s tricky. In fact, I usually begin the conversation, “I’m going to tell you a bunch of stuff you already know, then you can use it to make a plan you can stick to.”
The program involves six steps:
For change to take effect, you have to want it. Very few things will motivate humans to change overnight. The only truly potent eat-right motivator I’ve seen is a bad heart attack. Near death is a strong motivator. I have found that motivated commitment equals success.
Gain some degree of knowledge about the foods you eat. There are a lot of trendy diets out there, but there is also mounting evidence that glyce-mic load is important. Evidence shows that the types of carbohydrates and fats — and not just the calories — can impact the development of heart disease. I feel the South Beach Diet is healthy and easy to follow. If you need a diet or want to use a book, I advise the South Beach Diet book. It also happens to be very easy to follow, because it discourages starvation.
Get rid of the unhealthy food in your kitchen. It is hard to throw away perfectly good food, but you can donate it to a food bank. If you worry about the cost, think of the cost of an open heart surgery or funeral.
So, go through the fridge and throw out, give away or use up the breads, baked goods, condiments and all other foods that contain large amounts of sugar.
Start to read labels. It is surprising where sugar can hide; catsup, spaghetti sauces, salad dressings. Find them and flush them out. Toss the “temptations” from the pantry. Remember, will power is no match for starvation, so if you have your favorite cookies in the pantry, even on your best day those cravings will win. Don’t tempt yourself. If you get the craving for chocolate ice cream at 11 p.m., you’re far less likely to run out to the H.E.B. than over to the freezer.
Once you get all that bad stuff
out of the house, don’t buy it again. That’s right, never. You’ll have your chance to eat those things again; you’ll get invited to a wedding or birthday party. When it is worth the calories, it’s okay to eat bad choices. Just not all the time.
It is surprising how often we use food as a medication to get rid of boredom, anger or stress. Whatever chemical is in chocolate that makes for a great antidepressant, the side effects just aren’t worth it.
Once you make it a habit to eat mindfully through paying attention to healthy choices and hunger, you can go on “autopilot” without spinning out of control. Like a person good at horseback riding can let their mind wander without falling off the horse, you’ll be able to sail through your day and pass the McDonald’s without temptation. You’ll stop impulsively grabbing for comfort foods in order to make feelings happen or disappear. Frankly, you’ll develop a more healthy relationship with food.
This is the most important. If you are like most people, you have gradually gained 3 to 5 pounds a year since high school. You need to lose it gradually as well. Don’t set yourself up for failure. If your goal is to be healthy by the time you are 80, you get the rest of your life to be successful. That way when you just can’t make it through to dinner without blowing your diet, you don’t beat yourself up, get discouraged and go back to the habitual way of eating that got you into this mess. In fact, you are going to live each day, it is your choice: do you want to get there healthy and happy or unhealthy, heavy and battling diabetes, heart disease or possibly worse. I am just delighted when I see a patient who has lost 7 pounds in one year. I think it is wise to be in praise of slow. Gradual is good.
Sounds trite, but if you arise every morning with an aspiration, say to yourself “I will not eat the doughnuts in the break room today” or “I will not get the triple burger on my way home from work.” Throughout the day, examine your motivation: Why am I eating this, because it’s here and I’m bored, or, because it’s healthy and I’m hungry?
At the end of the day examine the victories, as well as the times you faltered. Don’t use the times you blew it to beat yourself up. Use them to figure out how to avoid the temptation when it comes up again. It really is about the choices, these
6 simple choices, which can get you simply healthier.
