We live in an obesogenic environment where high calorie foods are plentiful and physical activity has been engineered out of our daily lives.
Despite your best intentions, this makes it hard for you to carry out your healthy lifestyle behaviors.
In my 40+ year career helping patients manage weight and boost health, PLANNING AHEAD has been an essential strategy I discuss with everyone.
PLANNING AHEAD still applies even if you’re taking one of the newer obesity medications.
No matter where you are in your weight management journey, here are some PLANNING AHEAD tips that work:
PLAN AHEAD to Eat Better:
Being on your game requires being mindful of the many food choices we all make daily and finding ways to make healthy eating the easier choice.
This takes some planning ahead for common situations when eating healthy can be a challenge:
- Before dining out, look up restaurant menus online to be better prepared to choose healthy options.
- Before attending any celebratory event or holiday gathering, eat a healthy planned snack so you don’t come to the event starving.
- For the times you know you’ll be coming home stressed or tired, keep some healthy snack options that you still find satisfying.
Using the 80/20 rule, know that the goal is not to be perfect; being on your healthy eating game 80% of the time leaves 20% for life balance.
I encourage my patient to strive to be a ‘B’ student because ‘B’ students manage weight better.
PLAN AHEAD to be More Active:
Because we all sit too much at our computers, in our cars and on our couches, we need to do our best to decrease these sedentary activities.
Here are some times where you can PLAN AHEAD to build more physical activity into a busy day:
- If you’re taking kids to and from their sporting events, be sure to wear gym shoes so you can WALK AND WATCH, whether at the soccer field, baseball game or tennis court.
- If you’re traveling for business, wear earbuds so you can WALK AND TALK with work colleagues or WALK AND LISTEN to a relaxing music playlist or enjoyable podcast.
- PLAN regular family walks as special time to UNWIND AND CONNECT, always including your 4-legged friend if you have one.
As an added benefit, moving more and sitting less will boost your energy level and decrease joint stiffness.
PLANNING AHEAD can also be applied to other healthy lifestyle activities such as managing stress, improving sleep and staying connected with the important people in your life.
If you want more ideas to ease into a healthier lifestyle and manage weight better, check out my latest self-help book, Six Factors to Fit: Weight Loss that Works for You!
RK
Robert Kushner., MD
