Tips for Healthy Living

We’ve partnered with Dr. Doug Husbands of Holistic Health Bay Area to bring you a new set of Tips for Healthy Living. Dr. Husbands is a functional medicine doctor, clinical nutritionist, anti-aging health practitioner and doctor of chiropractic. I appreciate that he encourages visiting the doctor to focus on staying healthy instead of only visiting when you’re sick. – Carmelo Sigona

3 Practical Ways to Lose Fat (Almost) Without Trying

By Dr. Douglas Husbands

Everyone knows that eating more fruits and vegetables, or as I say “vegetables and fruits” (in other words, more veggies than fruit!) is crucial for your health.  But all of my patients, and everyone I know of, including myself, finds it difficult to eat the recommended nine or more servings of vegetables and fruits each day.  Following are 3 practical tips for doing so:

1.       Start any meal or snack planning and preparation with vegetables or fruit.  Most people start planning a meal based on some meat, fish or chicken.  This practice even applies in all restaurants and fast food places…it’s called an “entrée”!   But by beginning with a vegetable of fruit as the primary part of your meal or snack, you will automatically begin to eat more veggies and fruit.  (By the way, you’ll not have any trouble getting sufficient starches from grains or protein and fat from meat poultry or fish because most people habitually gravitate toward that anyway!)  So try starting meal and snack planning with a vegetable or fruit…contact me to let me know how that works after a week of doing so through www.HolisticHealthBayArea.com!

2.       Rather than steaming vegetables, lightly stir-fry vegetables in a little butter and sea salt.  Taste, or lack of taste, is one of the main reasons I hear from people who do not like to eat vegetables.  There are many reasons for this, including the palates of people not being trained from a young age to enjoy the various delicious flavors of multiple varieties of wonderful vegetables.  Also, since veggies are low in fat, they don’t provide the savory sensation that fats have in making us feel satisfied.  Nevertheless, everyone could benefit from eating more veggies.  So what’s a solution?  Try sautéing veggies!  Using a stainless steel skillet, heat up the skillet on medium heat and dab a pat or two of butter or olive oil in the skillet.  Add some washed and cut carrots, bok choy, Swiss chard, various squashes, cilantro, various colors of bell peppers, or other veggie combinations you’d like to try, to the skillet.  Stir-fry them until they are slightly soft, but not limp.  Add sea salt, and other herbs to taste.  This provides a more savory sensation and more flavor, and you and your kids will likely start to enjoy finding various veggie combinations that you actually look forward to eating!

3.       Eat more juicy fruits, rather than just bananas or apples, for a snack in between meals.  Many times people are more thirsty rather than hungry, or their blood sugar drops lower than desirable between meals.  Most times, people look for a food to satisfy their cravings, but it doesn’t satisfy their brain cells needs for nutrients or hydration.  Now bananas and apples are a fine option, often available and not perishable, but sometimes people need more variety and they don’t look at these as exciting snack options.  Try having a more juicy fruit such as kiwi, ripe peaches, strawberries, melons, oranges, or other more juicy fruits.  The juices in such fruits satisfy our brain cells needs for glucose, give the water-regulation centers in our brain notice that were taking in liquids, and help us feel satisfied.

Change starts with small steps done consistently.  Try implementing these 3 practical tips for a week, and chart how many vegetables and fruits you eat each day for a week.  Also note if you notice your clothes are fitting a little less snugly.  If you see you are eating more veggies and fruits, and your clothes are fitting better after only a week, keep up with these tips!  Contact me with any feedback to how this is working for you through www.HolisticHealthBayArea.com.

About Dr. Doug:
Dr. Douglas Husbands is a Functional Medicine Doctor, Clinical Nutritionist, Anti-Aging Health Practitioner, and Doctor of Chiropractic.  As a health advocate and coach, he is dedicated to achieving optimal health through resolving the underlying disease processes through diet, nutrition and lifestyle modification.   To contact Dr. Doug, call 650-394-7470 or visit http://www.HolisticHealthBayArea.com

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