The Doctor's Diet: Dr. Travis Stork's STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Health (55 page)

Studies also suggest that increased activity may help prevent cancer of the colon, breast, prostate, lung, and endometrium. For example, some research has shown that physical activity can reduce risk of endometrial cancer by 20 to 40 percent and lung cancer by 20 percent. In my book, those are odds worth shooting for.

Making changes like those in The Doctor’s Diet can help cancer survivors as well as those who have never had cancer. Research has found that breast cancer survivors who exercise moderately (three to five hours per week at an average pace) have better survival rates than those who don’t. Other studies show that colon cancer is less likely to recur in people who exercise.

The bottom line? By following the recommendations in The Doctor’s Diet—eating a healthy diet, losing weight, shedding belly fat, becoming more active—you can take significant steps toward lowering your risk of many kinds of cancer. And if you’ve already started following my plan, congratulations—you’re already on your way to lowering your cancer risk!

We’ve covered a lot of ground here. We’ve looked at the many physical and emotional payoffs that come with weight loss. But I don’t want to stop here. You may not realize it, but when you make life-changing choices in your diet and activity levels and drop excess weight, the payoffs go beyond you. Following The Doctor’s Diet and living a truly healthy life pays off for your family as well as yourself. And believe it or not, it even impacts family members that haven’t even been born yet!

Stay tuned, and I’ll tell you more about one of the best weight-loss payoffs of all: a healthier family.

As you follow The Doctor’s Diet and start to lose weight, renew your health, cut your risk of disease, and pump up your chances of living a longer, more vibrant life, you’re not just giving yourself the gift of health—you’re doing something amazing for your family, too. Taking charge of your diet, weight, and commitment to being active can positively impact your family’s health now and for years—even generations—to come.

I know that sounds dramatic, but it really is true. As researchers analyze the causes and effects of America’s obesity epidemic, they’re learning that the choices we make now truly can affect our family for a very long time.

Here’s an example. Being overweight or obese during pregnancy makes it much more likely that you’ll have a large-birthweight baby. Big babies make for a more complicated pregnancy—they’re harder to deliver, so their moms are more likely to need Cesarean sections, which are riskier than ordinary vaginal births. Big babies also tend to have more health issues during and after birth.

But the potential problems don’t end there. Large birthweight babies tend to grow into overweight toddlers, children, teens, and adults. It’s true—big babies are more likely than normal-weight babies to be overweight or obese for their entire lives. So a mom who gains too much weight while she’s pregnant is setting her child up for a lifetime of weight-related struggles.

Sure, there are some genetic and social factors at play. But those don’t explain everything. When a fetus is growing inside its mother, Mom’s excess weight actually seems to affect the fetus in a physiological, biochemical way. The fetus seems to receive some kind of cellular or hormonal imprints that predisposes it to a lifetime of extra weight.

I’m not saying this to make anyone feel guilty. I know it’s the kind of thing that can be hard to hear, especially if you’re an overweight or obese woman who’s given birth to a large baby. I’m saying it to drive home an important point about being overweight: it affects the people around you, often in a negative way. Fortunately the flip side is true as well: losing weight and restoring good health also affects the people around you—but it does so in a positive, life-saving way. You have power to impact your own destiny and your family’s destiny as well.

It’s never too late to choose life and health, both for yourself and for your family. That’s one of the things that excite me most about The Doctor’s Diet: by using it to design a new way of life for yourself, you’re also taking major steps to build a stronger, healthier family. The changes you make today could echo through the lives of the people you love for years to come.

By following The Doctor’s Diet, making smart changes in your diet, exercise, and weight, you’re setting an amazing example for your spouse, children, parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, co-workers—even the guy behind the counter at your local coffee shop, where you’ve switched from a daily donut and an iced latte to a coffee with a little milk.

Every time you choose a glass of seltzer over a soda, every time you toss a scrumptious salad instead of ordering a pizza, every time you go for a walk with a pal instead of plopping down on the couch with a massive bowl of potato chips, you’re modeling healthy behavior for the people around you. You’re showing them that healthy choices are possible and enjoyable.

Even dogs benefit when their owners get smart about diet and exercise. As many as half of all pets are overweight or obese, and if you bring your dog along on your walks, he’ll see many of the same health benefits as you. (Sorry, The Doctor’s Diet probably won’t work for cats, unless you have one of those rare felines who enjoys walking on a leash!)

Listen, we’re all looking for inspiration and motivation. That’s what you can give the people in your life when you start living a healthier life. Your enthusiasm and commitment can rub off on them, whether they’re adults or kids. It may not happen right away, or with everyone in your life, but I’m telling you—people will be watching you, and they’ll be guided by your smart choices.

Being a model of healthy behavior is just one way to spread the news about your new life-saving approach to diet and exercise. You can also take a more direct route, by working with the people you love to make changes in their lives.

Here are some ideas on how to do this. Remember, not every idea will work in your house—people have different ways of approaching healthy change, and sometimes if you’re too heavy-handed, your advice backfires. (Got teenagers? Then you know what I mean.) So before you
implement any big shifts in how you run your house, make sure you’re taking the approach that’s best for your family. Some of these tips work best for younger children; others come in handy if the people in your family circle are older.

The way you explain your new way of eating can have a big effect on how people perceive it. If you moan and groan about how hard it is and how much you’re giving up, nobody’s going to want to follow your lead. But if you focus on the positive, sharing your excitement and emphasizing all the health benefits and surprisingly tasty combinations of your new eating plan, people’s interest will be piqued, and they’ll be more likely to want to give it a try, too.

That’s not to say that you’ve got to make it seem like changing your diet is nothing but sunshine and happiness. I know there are going to be some challenges with change, and commiserating with others can be a helpful way to face them. But if your goal is to help your family adopt your new way of life, a positive, optimistic attitude will go a lot further than an earful of grumbling.

The grocery store is a great place to think about healthy, nutritious food. Instead of just walking down the aisles tossing foods into your cart, take time to talk with family members about what you’re buying. You don’t want to spend the whole trip lecturing about the health benefits of spinach, but maybe you can steer them in the direction of a new fruit or veggie. Maybe if they help pick out the ingredients for a stir-fry, they’ll
be more interested in eating it. Maybe they’ll learn how to read a food label, and why it’s important. So often we’re on autopilot in the grocery store, buying the same things over and over. But when you slow down and look around, you can make healthier choices—and so can the people you shop with.

Preparing a meal with other people can be an enjoyable experience, and it’s also an opportunity to brainstorm about healthy ways to create tasty foods. Experiment with spices and herbs; look for ways to give new, healthy twists to dishes you’ve been making for years. While you’re cooking, enjoy each other’s company.

You’ve probably heard the research on this: families who sit down together for a healthy meal fare better than those who don’t—not just in weight, but in social ways as well. Shut off the TV, sit down together, and enjoy a healthy meal with the people you love.

This is a great way to spend time with friends and family. Instead of meeting for a heavy meal, grab your best buds and go for a walk or hike. You’ll have plenty of quality time for talking and catching up. And you’ll be amazed at how the miles fly by! Head for a park, a high school track, a ritzy part of town, a wooded path—even just a stroll through your own neighborhood is a great way to be active and enjoy time with pals.

If you have kids, invite them to walk with you—you may be surprised how often they say yes. This works even better if you have a dog. If there’s no pooch in your house, offer to walk your neighbor’s—I don’t know any person or dog who would say no to that!

Many parents find that a walk in the evening is a nice time to connect with kids—especially teens. Kids have a lot on their minds these days, and sometimes when you’re out walking, they start to talk. Things
come up that may not when you’re home—stories about friends, worries about school, their opinions about what’s going on in their lives or the world. There’s something about walking together that opens kids up. The process of walking relaxes them, and with no television, computers, or other people to compete with, they feel good having your attention.

Sitting down to watch a movie with your family? Hey, I’m not telling you not to snack. It’s OK to have a little something while you’re watching a flick. But when you haul out a giant bag of chips with a massive tub of unhealthy dip, you’re setting a pretty bad example. Instead, set out some healthy snacks—vegetables and hummus, sliced fruit, or whole-grain crackers and guacamole, for example. Remember, the goal is to enjoy watching a movie together, not to have a giant load of unhealthy food while you’re doing it.

It’s happened so slowly that you may not have noticed, but portion sizes in America have gotten bigger and bigger over the years. Muffins, donuts, sodas, hamburgers—everything is two or three times bigger now than it was a generation ago. Even the dishes are bigger: a friend of mine showed me a set of 1960s nested mixing bowls she inherited from her mother, and we both were amazed to see that the smallest bowl in the set—the one my friend remembered using to mix a banana bread recipe when she was a child—was the exact same size as the cereal bowl in a set of new dishes she had recently bought.

You may remember when portion sizes were smaller, but your kids probably don’t. They may think 32 ounces is one serving of soda rather than four. Talk with them about this. Help them eat intelligent-sized portions. Show them that the bagel they are biting into is actually three servings rather than one. I’m not suggesting you be obnoxious about it—kids don’t like being force-fed advice on how much to eat. But if you can find ways to share this information in a supportive way, you’ll be doing them a real service.