By Dr. Gaby Cora – Executive Health & Wealth Institute

 

Good nutrition is a key pillar providing for our physical, mental, and emotional stamina. There are too many guidelines as to “what” to eat, but few to guide us as to “how” to eat in a healthy way. The bottom line is simple: implementing a healthy diet demands discipline and adhesion to a schedule. Download as an MP3: Wellbeing tip of the day: Eat Well

 

Too many people are focusing on their diet instead of looking at health and Wellbeing in a holistic way. I refer to nutrition as one of the Four Pillars of Biological Health (the others being exercise, sleep, and relaxation). In addition to being healthy in the physical dimension, the only way to achieve a deep sense of Wellbeing is to be healthy emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

 

If you feel you are an emotional eater, seek for psychological advice. If your eating problems lie within one dimension, the strategic approach needs to address issues specific to that dimension. For instance, if you have endocrine problems like hyper or hypothyroidism (physical dimension), you will need to address the problem and find a healthy solution within this dimension. If you struggle with bipolar illness (emotional dimension), you may put on weight while you are depressed and lose weight during the manic phase. Some illnesses require interventions within more than one dimension. Both thyroid as well as bipolar illness may require both physical and emotional interventions. Adding goal-setting strategies once these other issues are addressed will work well.

 

These are some practical tips to improve your eating habits:

 

1)   Balance carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake. Check MyPyramid.gov with your information for a personalized plan. If you crave for carbohydrates, make sure you eat a healthy meal first, and then use carbohydrates as dessert. The fresher the food, the healthier. Add fish to your diet. If you are a vegetarian, make sure you add all your essential aminoacids and vitamins to avoid any deficiencies. Moderate use of alcohol and caffeine.

 

2)   Eat fresh fruit and vegetables with color: Eat at least one salad with every meal. Add olive oil as a great source of Omega 3s. The vitamin business is in the billions. Avoid taking more than one multivitamin a day: if you are eating in a healthy way, you don’t need any additional vitamins, herbs or anything else unless you are experiencing medical problems. I’d rather take a medication that works for a health problem for a specific amount of time in contrast with daily vitamins and potions that don’t have a tangible effect. Vitamins never replace a healthy meal.

 

3)   Divide your wake hours into even intervals: As a rule of thumb, consider breakfast, lunch, a snack, and dinner, as the essential structure of a healthy diet. Considering an additional couple of healthy snacks may be plenty for the busy executive and entrepreneur, only if complemented with daily exercise. Avoid fasting for long hours. A palm-size mix of nuts and dried berries will give you a power snack in the middle of the day.

 

4)   Include meal times in your schedule. Just as you would include a business meeting, or an appointment to hire a new employee into your calendar, add your meal and exercise time. A thirty minute break if you can eat at your facility will suffice. Consider meal times as sacred: sit down and concentrate on your meal rather than eat while you are checking on your email or catching up with work. A ten minute break for a snack may be sufficient as well, using the same strategy.

 

5)   Eat with your family at home. Not only will this enhance your relationship with your loved ones, there is sufficient evidence showing that children who have dinner with their parents are smarter and do better in school. Avoid interruptions with phone calls or PDAs. Just like the bedroom is for sleep and sex, the dining table is a great place to eat and interact with your loved ones.

 

Enjoy your Wellbeing!

 

Download as an MP3: Wellbeing tip of the day: Eat Well