How Healthy is Healthy?

We all aspire to live long healthy lives and frequently make new-year resolutions to achieve them. But how healthy is really healthy? Is it an ideal BMI, a specific waistline measurement, a normal cholesterol level or a normal EKG? Should the new-year resolution include rigorous diets, purging one self of tempting desserts and spending hours on end at the gym to achieve those magic numbers?

The opportunity for a long, healthy life begins well before the need for medical care. Yes, genetics do play an important role in shaping our health, but we don’t get to choose our relatives.  There are definite social determinants of health – the conditions in which we live, work and play; their complex interactions affect our health. But how do we make simple sense out of these complex interactions?? Around new-year, gym memberships go up, women buy into expensive meal plans and sometimes anxiety and depression gets in to the mix as many of these resolutions are hefty, unrealistic and sometimes not even needed.

The golden rule for a healthy and long life is balance. Excess of any and everything is bad while balance in what we eat, how we live and play will eventually dictate how things turn out for us.

Lets talk about food first – moderation is the key here. You can eat any quality food you like as long as you can moderate your intake. Educate yourself about quality food items and spend time getting those items and eat them in moderation. Keeping calorie count can be exhausting and discouraging if you can’t make it to your magic number. Arbitrarily divide your stomach in three parts – one-third for water before you start eating, one third for food and leave last one third empty. This simple technique evades feelings of fullness and bloating post meals, is a deterrent for heartburn and acid reflux and of course controls calorie intake.

Healthier choice should be an easier choice – it’s a journey not a destination.

Staying active is another key part of this balance equation. Women are often multitasking, working, taking care of their families and juggling work-life balance. Not having enough time to exercise is one of the top reasons we give up on our resolutions to get in better shape.  But there are many things we can incorporate in our daily schedules to add not only calorie burning but keeping ourselves flexible and productive. Doing simple exercises at work like the FAB5 from the Healthy Living Program at The Mayo Clinic (5 minutes of chair squats, lunges, chair push ups, desk push ups and toe raises) can go a long way. If you work from home, walking out the door every few hours help increase body movement rather than trips to the kitchen looking for comfort snacks.

Add a 30-minute brisk walk or any sport you like to your day 2-3 times a week is likely to be sustainable in the long term. Instead of thinking of exercise as a means to weight loss, make a mental switch and focus on actionable habits – like using stairs instead of elevators. You are less likely to become discouraged if your goals are not linked to specific numbers.

Healthier choice should be an easier choice – it’s a journey not a destination. One size does not fit all. As long as we decide to be on that journey and start taking our baby steps towards wellness – we can all make it happen. It doesn’t have to be all or none!