5 Tips for a Healthier You
If you’re trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle, take a lesson from the tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race. Brett Young, M.D., a family medicine physician on the medical staff at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, frequently advises patients on lifestyle changes to lose weight and to improve blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
He offers the following tips for improving your lifestyle.
1. Think long-term. It takes years to gain weight and establish unhealthy habits. Reversing that can take just as long. “The first thing I tell people is to forget about short-term success,” Dr. Young says. “You want to change your lifestyle—not go on a diet.”
2. Start simple. We all have our own trouble spots. “I generally throw out several ideas, and my patients latch on to one or two they think they can do,” Dr. Young says. Maybe it’s reducing portion sizes. Some people might change their three-soda-per-day habit. Others might cut back on pasta. Over time, these little changes can have a big impact.
3. Get moving. “This one’s really easy,” Dr. Young says. “Do more than you’re doing.” He suggests setting realistic goals. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of us require three hours of moderate-intensity exercise a week to accomplish our health goals,” he says. “This isn’t about training for a marathon. We’re talking about brisk walking and resistance training to achieve a metabolic advantage”
4. Identify your support system. Whether it’s Weight Watchers, an online support group or your friends, a support system can help you achieve your goals, but choose wisely. “If your friends and family have a lifestyle contrary to what you’re trying to do,” Dr. Young warns, “it will be more difficult.”
5. Hold yourself accountable. Ultimately, you are responsible for changing your lifestyle. If you need help, you can turn to your physician. “We can give our patients insight into their motivations and help push their goals to the forefront,” Dr. Young says.
Your physician can be your partner in putting together a good-health plan. For a referral to a physician on the Baylor Plano medical staff, click here.