Welcome to Straight Talk on Health. I’m your host Dr. Chet Zelasko. Straight Talk on Health is a joint production with WGVU in Grand Rapids MI. I examine the world of health. Nutrition. Exercise. Diet. Supplementation. If there’s something new, I look at the science behind them, and let you know whether it’s real or not. You can check out other things that I do on my website Drchet.com and sign up for my free emails.
With the first podcast of 2024, I wanted to share three objectives you might want to consider reaching this year—or any year for that matter. We sometimes try to make health too complicated. You know, something like “On the first night of the full moon, drink a glass of this gunk while rubbing your belly and standing on your left foot facing east” or something like that. Health is a matter of commission and omission. Even more simply, health is determined by the things we avoid and the things we embrace.
Without waiting any longer, the first objective to set for 2024 is to get to a normal weight and stay there. The first thing you think of is losing weight and for the bulk of Americans, that’s a fact. But it also includes those who are underweight. Being underweight is not necessarily healthy, either. The best way to assess your target weight it to use a BMI calculator or chart. I have one on my website if you want to check it out.
Many people criticize the BMI. However, it is still the simplest way to determine a normal body weight for height. Body composition has been in my wheelhouse for over 30 years. I’ve seen them all from underwatering weighing, still the Gold Standard, skin fold measurements, impedance analysis, the Bod Pod, and the latest whole body scanner called the Duel X-ray Absorptiometry or DEXA for short. The problem with every method of body composition analysis is that there are no direct measurements. Why not” it means you would have to sample every source of tissue in the body—not many volunteers for that kind of research! So each of the methods asseses some quality of the body, be it muscle, fat, or bone, and then inserts it into and an algorithm which spits out a percentage body fat. It may be good for bragging rights as to who may have a lower percentage of body fat but it doesn't really get anybody much closer to a more accurate wait for their height.
Having said that, sometimes people get puffy as they get older. What I mean by that, is that while their body weight maybe ideal for their height, they have lost so much muscle mass and gained more body fat that the estimate isn't as accurate as we would like. So let's just say that if you've been active through when you quit working at 65, BMI is just fine. If you're older than that, you may have to deduct a few pounds, probably not more than 10, to get to a healthy weight for your height. Unless of course, you work to increase your muscle mass. Not easy but still can be done even in your 70s.
Getting to a normal weight reduces your risk of just about every degenerative disease and reduces the stress on your joints. You may never be able to do the splits but you’ll be able to do more than you can do right now. There may be a lot of things that you don't consider so let me point them out to you. Your body weight impacts your posture. Of course, we have the cell phone hump that seems to be ubiquitous because everyone bends their neck and stares at their cell phone all day long. But that aside, excess body weight alters your center of gravity. That impacts how you carry your weight. What does that mean? It means that, if you carry extra fat on the front of your body, it may cause your shoulders to lean back to compensate for it. That can contribute to lower back pain.
Posture can then impact balance. If you're old enough to have her have gotten a Medicare physical, they ask you many questions about have you fallen, do you have trip hazards on your steps, do you have carpeting in your home, and questions like that. Aside from a natural tendency for muscles to shorten and reduce flexibility, excess body weight can lead to excess falls. That doesn't matter how old you are either.
One of the things that prevents people from trying again to lose weight is in their mental approach. This is not like losing some weight to go to a wedding or a graduation. This is a complete change of your lifestyle so that your activity level, your eating pattern as well as the types and quantities of foods that you eat is modified permanently. Trying to do all that at once is overwhelming. I challenge you to change one thing right to get you on the right path.
Cut down sugary and ultra-processed foods as much as you can. I know you can say no to that donut, cookie, or small bag of chips right now. Not forever because no foods are out of bounds but just to cut back a little.
I could go on and on about changing your eating habits to lose weight and keep it off but the only thing that's going to work is what you can figure out for yourself. Find out what your objective is and then systematically work towards attaining that weight. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it may take a few years. Believe it or not, time is an advantage at this point because there's no ending. It is something you're going to manage for the rest of your life. Develop the right attitude toward it and that will make it easier.
The second objective I'd like you to consider in 2024 is to get 10-20 minutes of exercise every day. It can be aerobic exercise like walking, cycling or the 100s of other ways you can perform aerobic exercise. It can also be stretching as we tend to miss this part of overall fitness. That leads to leads to sore muscle, cramping, and joint aches. Finally, weight training is also part of exercise. Exercise tubes, dumbbells, light weights, weight machines, or whatever fits your lifestyle. We lose too much muscle mass as we age and aerobic exercise isn’t enough to save muscle for us.
Do I mean “Just 10-20 minutes per day?” No. I still think that walking or something similar 30-45 minutes per day is the aerobic goal. A yoga class that lasts an hour is great and a weight training session specializing in a body area like the shoulders or legs is excellent. But you can find the time to get some stretching or resistant exercise that can be effective in small blocks if you choose to use them instead of staring at your phone. I know because I’ve done that myself more than I should. All the bits count and you’ll end up stronger and more flexible than if you watch another Tik-Tok video on your phone.
Finally, and this applies to most areas but especially taking dietary supplements, give what you’re doing at least 30-60 days of consistent use before trying to find something else. The exception would be if you feel like you have an allergic reaction to something because you should stop immediately. I tend to avoid supplements and powders with herbals unless I’ve tried them before. If you’re trying echinacea for a cold or ashwagandha for energy, they are plants and therefore it’s possible to be allergic. Short of that, give it time for it to begin working.
Even if you begin the year by taking a multivitamin or a mineral, you may not ever feel anything. But understand that there are trillions of cells in your body. It’s going to take some time for nutrients or some herbs to get where they can be effective. I know some people who begin a new regimen, don’t feel anything in a day or two, and stop. That makes no sense. That’s like going out for a single jog and expecting to run a marathon the next weekend. It doesn’t work that way.
You got the body you got today one day at a time, be it a gem or one you want to recycle into a new one. Whether it’s losing weight, getting fitter, or taking nutrients, it’s going to take some time.
There you have it. My three objectives for you to consider as health goals for 2024. They are not complicated nor time consuming. All you have to do is invest a little time every day. But as for time, I’m all out. Thanks for listening. This is Dr. Chet Zelasko saying health is a choice. Choose wisely today and every day.
