Nutrition and lifestyle changes are not a new topic for weight loss. However, these two primary solutions are often overshadowed by the new popular diets, 30-day challenges, or other marketed efforts to push people to buy something they may not need. If you have struggled with weight loss and have found it difficult to make changes in your life that you can maintain, you are not alone. Our physicians at Track Your Max in Webster, TX have helped individuals with a range of body shapes make small adjustments to their nutrition and lifestyle that deliver big results.
How to start?
While results from a trendy diet can be good in the short term, you may notice that most of them are not meant to be maintained for long periods of time. When it comes to sustainable weight loss and healthy dieting, nutrition and lifestyle changes are the keys to success. Healthy lifestyle changes not only help you lose weight, but you will also reap other benefits that accompany a healthy lifestyle. This includes reducing the likelihood of serious conditions such as obesity, heart attacks, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
Social media has a never-ending bombardment of new fad diets that constantly populate your phone screen. It is no wonder that with people working 8+ hours per day and managing home-life, it can be extremely difficult to allocate the time and energy to lifelong changes. That is why it is important to set realistic and achievable goals.
At Track Your Max, we want you to have more than just your weight telling you about your health. The number on a scale never gives you a full picture of your health and some of the conditions that can cause you to struggle to see results. We suggest baselining with a number of diagnostic tests, including a Body Composition scan, a Resting Metabolic Rate Test, a Hormone Panel, and some basic bio-markers such as cholesterol and HbA1c. With these tests, your provider team will be able to formulate a plan around your body’s individual needs. The tests also allow the physicians to see if any prescription medication is appropriate for you.
With this great foundation of understanding where you are, our specialists can then walk you through the simple but highly effective approaches to weight management including understanding macros, food diaries, volumetrics, dining out, healthy nutrition vs. empty calories, and mindfulness while eating.
Nutrition Changes
Maintaining a healthy diet is the most significant element of providing your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to function properly and recover quickly. Every doctor recommends a diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, and whole grains. Let’s break that down a bit more.
Understanding Macros
Macro is short for macronutrients. Macronutrients are the three categories of nutrients that provide you with most of your energy: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. While counting macros is great, it often is unsustainable. Instead, we suggest just making two simple changes – try to ensure that every meal has all three macros in similar proportion and to avoid simple carbohydrates (sugar, white flour, white rice etc.) as much as possible.
What are empty calories?
It is also commonly recommended to limit foods that have high calories and low nutritional value. Food in that category is often said to have “empty calories”. This includes foods that are processed, fried, or have refined carbohydrates. Packaged foods, fatty cuts of meat, and other sugary drinks and desserts all fall under this category.
Together with your Track Your Max provider, you can create a personalized nutrition plan that is giving you the nutrients your body needs and that you can maintain for life.
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes are a broad group of actions you can take to minimize introducing your body to harmful things like low-nutrient foods but also to keep you active and your body moving.
Small changes such as recognizing patterns can have a tremendous impact. For instance, stress eating can become second nature for many people. Every time you pick up a snack when you are sad or under stress, you are reinforcing the habit of eating and for the most part, the snacking choice is not a healthy snack. Other habits like eating while watching TV can distract you from what you are eating and how much you are eating. Making lifestyle changes requires that you analyze your current eating habits and make incremental changes that get you to healthier options and practices.
Exercising
Exercising is another large part of lifestyle change. Regular physical activity burns calories and increases your metabolic rate. As you exercise, you enable your body to decrease body fat, increase muscle mass, and even burn more calories as you rest. A consistent dedication to exercise improves heart and lung function as well as increases mobility.
However, we understand that it is not possible for everyone to spend an hour at the local gym every day. That is why our Track Your Max providers personalize your exercise regimen – often starting from something as simple as walking (don’t forget to track your steps), going all the way to high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Gain control of your body transformation journey by utilizing the resources and expertise of the Track Your Max providers. Call today and find out more about how we can help you make the nutrition and lifestyle changes your body needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition and lifestyle choices play a pivotal role in maintaining and improving overall health, from helping prevent chronic diseases to managing weight, improving energy levels and increasing well-being.
A balanced diet includes foods from all food groups – fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and dairy or non-dairy alternatives are included as key elements – with each providing essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals essential to overall wellness.
For optimal nutrition, strive to incorporate more whole, unprocessed foods into your diet, reduce sugary, high-fat and processed food consumption and practice portion control in order to create balanced meals.
Healthy eating on a budget can be achieved through strategic meal planning, purchasing in bulk and selecting seasonal and sale items, as well as minimizing food waste. Opting for less costly protein sources like beans and legumes may be cost-effective options.
Weight management strategies don’t only consist of counting calories. By making healthier food choices when dining out and controlling portion sizes, mindful eating, or increasing exercise, one may achieve both weight loss and maintenance more successfully. When dining out there are a variety of ways you can choose healthier items – these should all help!
When dining out, opt for menu options with vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains as top choices. Also try to limit oversized portions, fried foods, and sugary beverages as these could potentially add unnecessary calories. Inquire if dressings or sauces can be provided on the side.
Increase your daily fruit and vegetable consumption by including them in each meal and snack, such as smoothies, salads, side dishes or even as smoothies! Experiment with different cooking methods and seasonings to make them more enticing. What role does physical activity play in living a healthier lifestyle?
Physical activity is integral to living a healthy life. Exercise helps manage weight, strengthen muscles and bones, increase cardiovascular fitness and lower the risk of chronic diseases.
Exercise depends on both age and fitness level; adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week, in addition to muscle strengthening activities on two or more days per week.
To make exercise part of your lifestyle, choose activities you enjoy, set realistic goals and find a workout partner or accountability partner. Gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts over time. What stress management techniques should I incorporate into my lifestyle?
Stress management techniques such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, mindfulness practices and regular relaxation activities are effective strategies for relieving tension. You should find what works for you best to manage stress effectively.
To improve sleep, set a regular sleep schedule and create an ideal sleeping environment; limit screen time before bedtime; avoid caffeine and heavy meals before sleeping; regular exercise can also contribute to better quality zzz’s.
Seeking guidance from healthcare professionals or registered dietitians may be useful if you have specific health concerns, dietary restrictions or goals that require their advice and recommendations based on your unique circumstances.
