Welcoming 2017

Carr:

Drop the idea that you should follow a popular diet plan because it worked for someone else. You have to find what works for you. And remember that because your body’s changing, that might not be your plan for life—it might be your plan for now.

Brissette:

Fat is the enemy. It’s not!

Flower:

The idea that 15 minutes of sunshine is going to give you enough vitamin D.

Please finish this sentence: My inspiring advice to readers looking to take their health to the next level in 2017 is … Why is this key for readers now, and how can they sustain it throughout the year?

Brissette:

Eat more fat! Incorporate healthy fats into your day for beautiful skin and hair and to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Over the last couple of years, everyone has been focused on getting enough protein. In 2017, take this one step further by adding the healthy fats that lower inflammation and keep you satisfied.

Have a healthy fat at each meal and snack. Go for whole foods first such as nuts, seeds, and avocado because they come packed with other nutrients such as disease-fighting phytochemicals, protein, fibre, and vitamin E. For cooking and salad dressings, choose organic, unrefined, cold-pressed oils to get the most nutrients.

Flower:

Have your blood tested for vitamin D. Many of my cancer patients are coming in with deficient vitamin D levels. This is certainly supported in many studies as showing a link between vitamin D deficiency and increased cancer risk in some cases, but other conditions such as depression, arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis (MS) and many others seem to have some association with vitamin D.

Put your supplements in a place where you’ll remember to take them: in the kitchen right beside the fridge, beside your toothbrush, or on the dresser. It’s important to take the same amount on a daily basis.

Have your vitamin D levels checked annually to help refine the dosing to make sure you’re taking the right amount. It’s also important to find the form that works best for you: pills might be your first thought, but drops are an option that are better absorbed for some people.

Roscoe Barr:

Develop a mindfulness practice. Focus on what fills you up and what drains you in order to harness the power of neuroplasticity (ability for your brain to change).

Keep what I call a mood, food, and fitness journal. This is almost like a science experiment: you’re gathering empirical data and evidence about what serves you and what doesn’t. The act of thinking about and writing down how things make you feel—how you manage stress, how what you eat makes you feel, how movement makes you feel—stimulates neuroplasticity. That hardwires these healthy habits.

Petty:

Women have to be more proactive  in terms of working with a health care practitioner and taking charge of their own health. In my master’s research, it became painfully obvious that women are still not included in research studies to the same extent as men are.

Lives are busy and expectations on women are particularly high right now. Many women are experiencing a particular exhaustion—caring for children or young adults at home while also caring for older parents.

Consume protein, fat, and fibre at every meal and snack. One simple way for women to boost their energy levels first thing in the morning is to start the day with a food-based greens product.

Also, women don’t think about the importance of balancing blood sugar; it’s really key to energy management. Women will go either too long without eating or when they do eat, they load up on carbs because they’re easy and they give them an immediate rush of energy.

What is the organizing ideal you’ll be sharing with your clients this year?

Carr:

Create daily “no excuse” healthy habits. For example, as kids, we had to be told to brush our teeth. Now, most of us brush our teeth at least twice a day every day without thinking about it, without excuses.

McCarthy:

Try one new recipe a week. By the end of the month, you have four new recipes. Let’s face it: most people never dust off or crack open their cookbook, or they may bookmark their favourite recipe in alive magazine, but then do they actually make it?

What are the top two ways readers can sustain this ideal?

Carr:

Once somebody figures out what their new daily habit is going to be, they need to have a way to track their commitment. Use things that work for you, such as sticky notes on your bathroom mirror or an app on your phone.

Writing it down on a to-do list and crossing it off also works; your brain gets a boost of serotonin when you cross something off a list, and that feeling of being rewarded will help you stick to your commitment.

Another way is to sequence it: “So, I’m going to brush my teeth, and then I’m going to do that thing every day.”

McCarthy:

A meal plan really helps. Getting the family involved by cooking together is a really good thing to do. Or, make Sundays your batch cooking day: you have your girlfriend over, you make a big soup or a chili and split that and eat it for the week.