Get The Edge With A Better Looking You
Wow! Spring is here! Well, it is here on the calendar, but the temperatures are not quite cooperating—but they will be! We know that for certain! Every time spring comes around, I think of new beginnings—the tulips and crocoises push through the hard, dead ground, the trees start budding, the grass turns green. It’s a beautiful time of year. Many people find this time of year a time where they need to do some spring cleaning—not only of their homes, but of themselves. In other words, they hope to look good on the outside, as well as the inside, and often use this time of year to “turn over a new leaf” if you will.
Looking and feeling good involves every aspect of your life—the foods you eat, the activities you enjoy, the way you live your life, the way you feel about yourself, and the way your body feels. All of us are not getting any younger. That’s obvious. But one thing that is perfectly clear—we all want to look and feel younger. I would venture to say that most of us want to remain active and productive, and look our best. This is not going to happen by accident. One of my friends passed along one of those online quizzes you take that calculates your biological age compared to your actual physical age. I, of course, took the quiz. I am eight years younger than my physical age – why? Because of my daily habits. Was this quiz scientific? No, but it was fun to take. But it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what we all need to be doing in order to look and feel good, appear younger than our stated ages, have the energy of someone much younger, and to enjoy life.
We live in interesting times right now. The economy is uncertain. Many job positions are being eliminated due to budget constraints. More people are vying for the same open positions out there. Many find themselves out in the job market when they may not have been there for 10-20 years! It’s tough out there. We know that. But what we don’t want to do is get depressed about it and ultimately let ourselves go. We need to take action and get the edge!
Approaching you in spring time is also a wide array of family and social activities. You may be getting ready to attend graduations, weddings, anniversary parties, and hope to hit the beaches or at least the trails in clothing that may reveal more skin than you have been revealing in your sweatpants and sweat shirts. I know you want to look your best as well as feel your best.
You know that we at the Hauser Diet feel that each person needs an individualized diet that best fits his/her individual physiology. That is why we have five different Hauser Diet Types. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was for me to counsel patients early on in my career on the same diet—the low fat, high carb, low sodium diet. I certainly would have never suggested anyone eat red meat or eggs, and definitely not butter! Yup—we all need to be eating low everything—low fat, low sodium, sugar-free foods. I was one of the fake food fanatics back in the day too. Believe me, I’ve been there! But you know what? That is not the diet for anyone! Nope, nobody should be eating like that! I know, the AHA may recommend that diet, but we here at Hauser Diet do not. IS THERE ANY REAL FOOD OUT THERE??
Many of you may be thinking about starting a new diet to get in shape for your upcoming event such as a wedding, graduation, or beach season. Or maybe you are finding yourself one of the newly unemployed and now you are one of many vying for the same job and you are looking to make yourself stand out among them. We want to help you accomplish your goals. But don’t do it by skipping meals, starvation, and adding fake foods or risky supplements. Take some steps toward a healthier lifestyle, including determining your Hauser Diet Type.
Here are some tips for looking good and feeling good – inside and out!
1. Sit down and make a plan that is reasonable and do-able.
2. Set goals. Be reasonable with your goals and stick to them. Are you looking to have more energy? Decrease one pants size? Run a 5K race? All of the above? Giving yourself some goals will help motivate you to work toward them.
3. Take a picture of yourself and post it somewhere you will see it. This is your “before” picture.
4. Time to start – yup! You can’t just write things down or want to do them, you have to DO them. Pick a start date and then …yup, START!
5. Get Hauser Diet Typing. Why? Because you will know what foods your body needs to feel and function best. Not everyone feels good on a high protein diet, conversely, not everyone should become a vegetarian. How do you know what you should eat to feel you best? You don’t! We test your blood so you can know for sure. Stop guessing. Yes, it involves a financial and time commitment. But you will be so glad you did. Stop fiddling around with diets that don’t work. Learn how your body functions and what fuel is best for it.
6. Start an exercise program. I cannot stress this enough. The benefits of exercising are numerous. I cannot tell you how happy I am with exercising at least five days per week. I have made some tremendous friends from my cycling and running groups. Part of the exercise experience becomes spending time with your friends, and the exercise is just an added benefit! Here are some benefits of regular exercise that I have personally seen:
• Improves strength
• Improves cardiovascular health
• Improves endurance and longevity
• Makes you happier and gives you a positive outlook
• Gives you an opportunity to do something with friends
• Gets you outside in the sunshine which improves Vitamin D status, as well as mood.
• Makes you look and feel younger
• Gives you more confidence
• Gets you out meeting more people.
7. Start a journal. Some people love to do this because it allows them to see their progress. You don’t have to document your entire food diary or exercise regimes, but if you write down generalities, you will be able to track your progress and show how far you have come.
8. Learn how to cook! This is one of my absolute pet peeves. People need to learn how to make good basic foods. If you never learned, now is the time. Why? The food is far better tasting, far better quality, and far less expensive than those pre-made chemically enhanced pseudo foods! You may not agree with these statements but #1 and 2 can happen once you learn how to cook, and #3 is absolutely true – because I have had to cost out recipes in many of my classes in dietetics. I’ll show you a comparison in one of my upcoming newsletters. So watch for that! There is no excuse. If you can read, you can cook. End of story.
9. Eat real food! Okay, let’s get serious here! I cannot tell you how important it is to eat real food. I want you to dump the packaged, microwavable, instant, fat-free, sugar-free fake foods. Shop along the periphery of the stores. This means fresh foods. You say you don’t have time for this? Make time. It’s worth it for your health and longevity. You can never underestimate the power of food. Once you know your Hauser Diet Type you will know what foods you need to eat in what proportions. But in general, you should be eating fresh vegetables, fresh poultry, fish and/or meats, whole grains, occasional organic dairy and fruits, and cut out most sugar and sugary foods. If most Americans did this, most Americans would be far healthier.
10. Get rid of soda and other sugar-laden drinks! Colas contain phosphorus that leaches out the calcium in your bones. We already have enough problems with osteoporosis in this country. We don’t need to add to it by drinking so much soda. Regular soda contributes to tooth decay which can lead to needing expensive and painful dental work. Yuck! Who wants that? Excessive sugar intake worsens concentration and mental fog and enhances behavioral problems such as ADD and ADHD. Kids are getting more out of shape more quickly than the previous generation. I attribute a lot of this to their excessively high consumption of soda and sugary drinks. Drink water or herbal tea instead.
Are you reading this newsletter and thinking to yourself, “Yes, this is me! I want to look better, feel better, and have more energy!” Well, what are you waiting for? Give us a call and we’ll help you get that edge – the one that will help you feel good inside and out!
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