Fridge Makeover

We all know that when the healthy choice is the easy choice, we're a lot more likely to make the healthy choice. On the other hand, if the unhealthy choice is right there in our face, we're a lot more likely to go with the unhealthy choice. It's not just about willpower, it's about being human and going for what's easy. Studies have shown that 70% of the food eaten in the home is food that the nutritional gatekeeper purchases for the home. So, it's about going to the store and making healthy purchases and then positioning those healthy options in an easy to see and grab location to actually eat them. One way to do that is through a fridge makeover.

1. Clean it all out: how does what you've got line up with your meal plans for the week and the way you want to be eating.
2. Take inventory of what you need and what you have and strategically restock your refrigerator.
3. Make fruits and veggies highly visible: when you open up the fridge, they're the first things you see. Move fresh items to the front and have them easy to grab and snack on. They're very easy to see and they won't go to waste because you forgot about them in a bottom drawer. 
4. Move sweets to the back: if you're not always seeing it, you're less likely to eat it as often. You're creating a visual environment to make healthy eating easy and attractive.
5. Have healthy, low calorie options at the front of your drink shelf: water, milk, unsweetened iced tea; push the soda and sugary drinks to the back of the drink shelf.
6. Move the condiments to the bottom drawers: This creates an easy to find place for fruits and vegetables in the side shelves. When they're easy to see, it'll make it easier to grab an apple instead of a soda or sugary snack. 

Ultimately an easy way to make your family choose to eat healthier is by changing the environment in which you live, so that the healthy foods are easily accessible, easy to get to, and the unhealthy foods and less healthy things aren't even in the house, or if they are, they're a little bit harder to find.

Walking: Spiced Up

Have you noticed your physician paying greater attention to your exercise habits? Healthcare leaders are calling on physicians and their industry to routinely prescribe exercise, in general--and walking, in particular. For example, the Journal of the American Medical Association (Berra, Ripee & Manson 2015) recommends that clinicians do the following to integrate physical activity counseling into their practices:

• Make physical activity a vital sign at each clinic visit
• Ask if the patient exercises regularly or engages in physical activity
• Associate physical activity with reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many cancers
• Write a prescription for an agreed-upon daily physical activity
• Encourage use of a pedometer and advise recordkeeping

I'm excited about the continued recognition of exercise as a vital part of health. Increasing your exercise frequency can be as simple as walking more. Here are some ideas for how to adapt high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to walking. Which will be your favorite?

High-Intensity Aerobic Interval Walking: Complete up to 10 high-intensity walking intervals lasting 4 minutes each, interspersed with 2-minute relief intervals (walking at a lower intensity). About 1 hour duration

Sprint Interval Walking: Complete 4-6 sprint-walking intervals lasting 30seconds each, interspersed with 4.5 minutes of light walking at a self-selected pace. 20-30 minutes duration

Step-Wise Interval Walking: Start with a relatively easy walking workload for the first 5 minutes, then increase intensity by 15% for 4 minutes and continue to increase intensity every 4 minutes. This program can be halted at a particular intensity or after a specific duration; follow with a cool down walk. 20-60 minute duration

Near-Maximal Interval Walking: Perform a 5-minute walk at near-maximal intensity, followed by a 5-minute recovery walk; repeat. 20-60 minute duration

Supramaximal Interval Walking: Complete 7-10 sprint-walking intervals lasting 90 seconds, interspersed with 30 seconds of walking at a self-selected slower pace. 20-30 minute duration

Happy Walking!