Healthy Eating Tip:
Use your pre-flight checklist, and use it often!
One of the things that confused and frustrated me when I started my lifestyle modification journey on June 23, 2003, was all of the diet experts that were offering lifestyle modification advice continually argued about the details. One didn’t think that fat should be reduced, another didn’t advocate using textured vegetable proteins or TVP used in plant-based mock meat products, and they all had different ideas about whether refined sugar should be consumed. In the end, all of them thought that they each had it 100 percent correct and wanted you to “drink the Kool-Aid” and follow their recommendation and ignore what other experts said. I found valuable concepts in what many of these experts said and realized that following any one of these people to the exclusion of all would mean missing out on what the others had to offer. I didn’t think that any of them had it 100 percent correct. Eighteen years later, I know that none of them had it 100 percent correct because there is no one-size-fits-all lifestyle modification plan that works for everybody!
The most radical of the lifestyle modification gurus demanded that followers adhere to a 100 percent plant-based whole foods diet because it was the most effective way to heal the body and mediate all of the metabolic syndrome suite of diseases, which included heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and obesity and then extending to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and kidney disease. I saw right away on the first day of my research into lifestyle modification that my level of motivation or willingness to change would be an important factor in deciding if I was ready to adopt the plant-based whole foods diet these doctors were suggesting. I was highly motivated, had the time, the resources and the ability to make it work, so the plant-based whole foods approach was perfect for me. At the same time I made that decision for myself, I realized that I was in a unique position and not everybody would be able to adopt the plant-based whole foods diet even if they were willing to make that level of change in their lives.
In 2003, the plant-based whole foods diet was not widely accepted in mainstream healthcare circles as a realistic approach to mediate heart disease, diabetes, or hypertension. The few doctors that advocated a dietary approach to healing the body were considered extremists, and only a few doctors that were accepted as mainstream advocated the dietary approach. Dr. Denis Burkitt, the well-respected namesake of Burkitt’s lymphoma, emphasized the importance of dietary fiber based on studies of pre-Westernized African populations. Rather than quietly retire from a successful medical career, he dedicated the last ten years of his life to highlighting the importance of fiber and is credited with convincing cereal companies to add fiber back into breakfast products in the 1970s. He is now acknowledged as a pioneer, if not a prophet! In the late 1980s, Dr. Dean Ornish created the Lifestyle Heart Trial, a well done, prospective, randomized, controlled trial to determine whether comprehensive lifestyle changes affect coronary atherosclerosis. He published results in the highly regarded medical journal LANCET in July of 1990. Ornish started the Program for Reversing Heart Disease® shortly after that. This program combined diet, meditation, exercise, and support groups. In August 1993, the insurance company Mutual of Omaha announced that it would reimburse policyholders for the cost of participation in Ornish’s program, marking it the first time a major insurer had agreed to cover an alternative non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical therapy for heart disease. Dr. Ornish’s program is now the first integrative lifestyle program for reversing heart disease and other chronic conditions that Medicare is covering under the specially created category of “Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation.” It doesn’t get any more mainstream than that!
Now, the plant-based whole foods message is old news. I just Googled “plant-based whole foods diet” and received 224,000,000 results, including all the mainstream medical websites!
What has not changed is the limited number of people that are motivated enough and have the resources, ability, and appropriate life circumstances that create an environment where they can succeed with a plant-based whole foods lifestyle modification. Doctors are hesitant to discuss diet as a treatment for chronic illness for this reason, and rightly so. In the limited time that a doctor has with a patient, discussing a treatment plan that s/he knows most people will never have success with might even be considered irresponsible on their part. It is certainly a poor use of time! That is why it is critically important for all of us to take responsibility for our own health and treatment plan. If you have the motivation, resources, ability, and life circumstances that create an environment where you can succeed with diet as a treatment for chronic illness, then tell your doctor, and they will add that to the treatment mix. I don’t know a doctor here at Smith County Memorial Hospital that wouldn’t work with a person that indicated they wanted to try a dietary approach. But first, you will have to prove that you can make a diet work for you to get your doctors’ full support. The place to start is by taking off the weight your doctor has told you need to take off. If you can do that, then I guarantee that your doctor will include diet in your treatment plan!
Pilots use a pre-flight checklist every single time they get into a cockpit. They have it memorized, but they still use the list and go through the task of checking everything off before they fire up the engine to fly. You need to take your lifestyle modification just as seriously and use your pre-flight checklist. The pre-flight list I still use a few times a year is right below, and I suggest you use the same one!
1. Commit to “own your own health” by taking ultimate responsibility for your situation and healing plan.
“Absorb what is useful,
discard what is useless,
and add what is specifically your own”
― Bruce Lee
Nobody else is responsible for your health! You need to take control and not allow anything, anyone, or any situation to derail your lifestyle modification plan. I mentioned earlier that when I was starting my personal lifestyle modification journey, one of the things that confused and frustrated me was all the controversy surrounding the details of nutrition. Some doctors and scientists thought one thing and argued with others that thought something different. Some of those doctors had suggestions that were great for me, and others didn’t. Not any one of them provided a lifestyle modification blueprint that was 100 percent right for me, and you will probably not find anybody to provide you with a lifestyle modification blueprint that is 100 percent right for you, so as Bruce Lee suggests; take what you can use, discard what you can’t, and add your own ideas. Make it your own and OWN it!
I write at length about owning your own health in part one of a 5-part series of blog posts entitled Health is in the big picture, not the details! Part 1 is entitled What does it mean to own your own health? Have a look at those posts as a refresher.
2. Honestly evaluate your level of motivation or willingness to change.
Before you can do anything, you need to know yourself and what you are willing to change. Different diets on the healthy diet spectrum take different levels of commitment. Your motivation level is one thing that will help you choose the right spot on the healthy diet spectrum to start.
3. Honestly evaluate your resources, including time, finances, and kitchen skills.
Different dietary approaches take different amounts of resources. Some diets take more time to facilitate. You may need to equip your kitchen, which takes money and there may be a learning curve associated with the diet you choose. The DASH diet takes little time, not lots of money, and requires very few kitchen skills, but the plant-based whole foods diet requires more time, some kitchen equipment, and more cooking skills.
4. Honestly evaluate what is currently going on in your life to see what level of change is appropriate.
Your emotional status and the things that are going on in your life are just as important as your willingness level and resources. Even if you are highly motivated if you have important emotional issues to deal with, it may not be a good time to start making profound changes in your lifestyle. It might be better to start slower.
5. Acquaint yourself with the healthy diet spectrum and learn about diet options.
There is a learning curve here. Not a big one, but you will have to read about the details of some diets to see what diets you are willing and able to tackle. The commitment to education is an ongoing thing, and reading this healthy eating tip every week is a good start. If you are not willing to spend five minutes a week reading this blog, then your commitment level is lower than you think it is!
6. Choose a diet that matches your willingness to change, resources, and life circumstances.
Creating a lifestyle modification plan that is comprehensive, realistic, and actionable is something you have to commit to. Each aspect of your lifestyle modification is essential and needs to be well thought out. Your lifestyle modification plan needs to be comprehensive. Consider all aspects of your life, including how you feel, think and act over a day, week, month and year. Your lifestyle modification plan needs to be realistic. Your commitment to lifestyle modification is steadfast and unchanging, but your plan is dynamic and has to be based on your willingness and ability to change, given what is going on in your life at a particular moment in time.
Armed with some knowledge about yourself, your willingness to change, and your ability to follow through, it is time to select a diet. Selecting a healthy diet to use is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. What is right for you will undoubtedly change depending on what you are going through at different times in your life. For this reason, I do not refer to one diet that is the “best healthy diet.” Instead, I talk about a spectrum of healthy diets that may be right for different people, given their willingness to change, their ability to follow through, and present life circumstances.
The first question to ask yourself is, how much am I willing to change? Are you willing to eat reduced-fat and low-calorie ranch dressing, or are you willing to eliminate ranch and use salsa or something else as a salad dressing? Will you eat reduced-fat baked potato chips, or are you willing to eliminate calorically dense, nutritionally deficient snacks. Are you willing to try non-meat breakfast sausage, or are you ready and willing to eliminate high-fat breakfast meats? The answers to these questions will enable you to choose an appropriate spot on the healthy diet spectrum to start. The objective is to select a starting point that will allow you to succeed and move on from there. If you have a significant commitment to lifestyle modification, the place on the healthy eating spectrum you choose to start will not be the place where you are next year. Your commitment to lifestyle modification is steadfast and unchanging, but your plan is dynamic and has to be based on your willingness and ability to change, given what is going on in your life at a particular moment in time.
The second question to ask yourself is, do you have the ability to make the desired change? The most effective diets demand that you cook for yourself. That implies that you have space, tools, and skills to produce your healthy meals or that you are willing to invest the time and energy to learn the skills needed to produce your healthy meals. But one’s ability to change isn’t solely based on cooking skills. Time is a significant factor. If you are experiencing an especially busy time in your life, you may not have the time to indulge in the most effective diet. A moderate diet might be a more appropriate place for you to start. On the other hand, if you are highly motivated and ready for a serious challenge, you will not want to miss the opportunity to start an aggressive lifestyle modification plan. Nobody else can make this decision for you. You have to make it yourself, and then own it!
Several diets can be effective based on your level of commitment and what you are trying to achieve. Even well-known weight loss programs like WW (formerly Weight Watchers) are now using different levels of programs based on a member’s individual goals and commitment level. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to lifestyle modification. Some diets are very easy to follow and can yield good results over time but will not show results immediately. Other diets are difficult to follow but show significant results quickly. I like to think of all the healthy diet choices as a “spectrum” of diets with a diet called the DASH diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) on the moderate or conservative side of the spectrum and the plant-based whole foods diet on the more result-oriented side of the diet spectrum.
By far, the diet shown in many well-done studies published in peer-reviewed journals to be most effective in reducing weight, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure is the plant-based whole foods diet. It also helps stabilize blood sugar significantly. But if you think that is something you can’t do at the present time, start with a more moderate diet and gradually move in the direction of the plant-based whole foods diet. The closer you get to the plant-based whole foods diet, the more results you will see!
The DASH diet is the most conservative diet that has been shown in well-done studies published in peer-reviewed journals to be at least moderately effective in lowering blood pressure, but as a side effect, DASH dieters also lose small amounts of weight and lower cholesterol and blood sugar a little. The DASH diet is a great place to start if you have assessed your willingness to change as moderate or low. It is easy to follow and involves just a little cooking that you can certainly do with kitchen equipment you already own.
7. Periodically reevaluate steps two, three, and four and change your dietary approach if necessary.
One thing that many people neglect is that both people and life circumstances change. You will not create a lifestyle modification plan that will work for the rest of your life. Your plan needs to be dynamic and change as your life changes. Otherwise, you will fail. Sometimes people just stick their toe in the lifestyle modification waters. When they are comfortable, they can reassess their willingness, slide down the healthy eating spectrum towards the plant-based whole foods diet, and experience more results. Life also has a habit of throwing curveballs, and although I have gotten very good at hitting the curve, sometimes life gets the better of me, and I have to relax my lifestyle modification strategy a little. Failure shouldn’t be an option, so make the adjustments you need to make to stay in the lifestyle modification game!
Try the pre-flight checklist for yourself. Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Friday evening! Don’t forget daylight savings time ends this Sunday, so fall back!