A New Year Message

I have been racking my brain for days trying to come up with a message for the new year. While I was having a hard time, I was able to then see what other wellness people were preaching and now I may not have an idea what I want to say but I know what I don't want to say:

1. New Year, New You: This phrase is SO overdone! It's pure marketing. While everyone sees the new year as a good beginning point, 80% of resolutions still fail by February. What's wrong with a new you on a different day of the year? Your today could be a day full of poor wellness choices BUT your tomorrow could be a new start. When we pigeon hole ourselves into one timeframe we most often will fail and then our good intentions go with it. Only to perpetuate the cycle of shame and continuation of bad habits. In conclusion, don't get so wrapped up in the hype of New Year, New You. Your new you could be tomorrow, even if that day isn't January 1.

2. Low-Carb Eating: I cannot handle the low carb thing anymore! People treat it like it's the holy grail. The problem lies in the fact that most people replace the loss of carbs with animal protein. This includes the continued eating of milk, cheese, and other dairy products. They think this is healthy. It may help them lose weight in the short term, but long term it's just a bad idea. Just this morning I was watching a cooking show. I'm not sure why I indulge because it's just maddening. The theme of this show was called Healthy-ish Recipes. Right away I am annoyed with it:) She talks low carb the entire episode while she makes beef and cheese sliders on portobello buns and zucchini lasagna using tons of cheese and egg. Now in her mind, they aren't eating hamburger buns and lasagna noodles, so these recipes are "healthy." Really? The buns and the pasta are the criminals in this equation? I don't get why people buy into this information. While I agree that pasta and buns aren't the best foods you can be eating, the all beef sliders with cheese and the cottage cheese, parmesan lasagna will clog your arteries quicker. We all know in the short term you will lose weight on these diets but it's the long term that get a bit more concerning. A large study, done by the European Society of Cardiology, suggests that low carbohydrate diets are unsafe and should be avoided, say researchers who found that people who consumed a low carbohydrate diet were at greater risk of premature death. The results were confirmed in a meta-analysis of seven prospective cohort studies with 447,506 participants and an average follow-up 15.6 years, which found 15%, 13%, and 8% increased risks in total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality with low (compared to high) carbohydrate diets. Professor Banach said: "Low carbohydrate diets might be useful in the short term to lose weight, lower blood pressure, and improve blood glucose control, but our study suggests that in the long-term they are linked with an increased risk of death from any cause, and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cancer." In conclusion, if something sounds too good to be true than it probably is. The best way to live a healthful lifestyle is not to give up pasta for beef and cheese but most simply stated in the words of Michael Pollen, " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

3. Intermittent Fasting: Lastly, I have been seeing so many new year's articles about intermittent fasting. One of the most popular "diet" books right now on the market is The Dubrow Diet (there's that word, diet again...not a good sign). Much of it is based on intermittent fasting. So, what is intermittent fasting? Firstly, fasting isn’t a new concept. For centuries, people have temporarily restricted their food intake for religious reasons. Intermittent fasting is the process of cycling in and out of periods of eating and not eating. You don’t eat for anywhere from 16 – 48 hours. It has many benefits like weight loss, boosting energy levels, memory improvement, etc. For women though, it's not as good as it seems. Alisa Vitti, women's hormone health expert explains: "Fasting isn’t the same for men and women. If women try fasting, but don’t do it properly, it can cause more harm than good. If you’re a women, intermittent fasting can disrupt estrogen balance and throw a wrench in all these essential physiological processes. But when you know how to use intermittent fasting in a way that is safe for your unique female biochemistry—that is, when you know how to biohack intermittent fasting to improve hormone health instead of harm it—you can reap some amazing benefits." In conclusion, while I do agree with the concept of intermittent fasting, women need to be aware that unless done correctly, it can make them feel worse. Here is Alisa Vitti's tips to healthy fasting for women:

- Don’t fast on consecutive days. Instead, pick no more than two or three non-consecutive days in a week to practice intermittent fasting.

- Don’t fast for more than 12 or 13 hours at a time. Going any longer can trigger a negative hormonal cascade.

- Don’t do intense workouts on fasting days.

- Don’t fast when you’re bleeding.

- If you start experiencing symptoms of hormone imbalance, stop fasting.

If I had to give one new year's piece of advice I would say that nothing stays the same. Plato once said, "Everything changes, and nothing remains still." No matter what you are going through right now it will be different tomorrow. It's another version of this too shall pass, I guess. Maybe you are stuck in unhealthy patterns in your life. But, tomorrow CAN be different, even if it's not January first!