Your Prescription for Health
Twenty's - Thirty Somethings
Eat Right - 5 a day of fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of fiber, lean meats, chicken, turkey and fish. No junk food, no fast food. If you do not feel well, chances are you are not eating well!! Do not underestimate the power of healthy eating, or the ability of eating the wrong thing to make you feel badly!! Please visit Healthy Approach Market for nutritional counseling with Bryan Bradford CN (817-399-9100). Read the Eat Clean Diet book. It is awesome at explaining nutrition and helping with weight loss. (www.eatcleandiet.com)
Drink lots of water - it should be your main beverage of the day. Limit caffeine to one a day if you must. Avoid artificial sweeteners, they are thought to increase PMS as well as other health problems
Exercise - For weight loss you need 45-60 minutes a day, 5 times a week. To maintain weight and bone health, 30 minutes a day 5 times a week. Yoga and Pilates are great, I like Leslie Sansone walking for weight loss; fun and easy to fit in a busy schedule. Exercise On Demand with cable and satellite – lots of great options for quick workouts.
Weight loss - If you are doing the top 3 you WILL lose weight. In a nutshell, eat protein at EVERY meal, moderate carbohydrates and fats, and fruits, veggies and water at EVERY meal. If you can do this, you will lose weight.
Fertility - If trying to conceive, make sure you are taking a prenatal vitamin, or a multi vitamin and extra folic acid (total 800 mcg a day). If your cycles are regular, you ovulate about 14 days before your cycle starts, so a perfect 28 day cycle this is day 14, 30 day cycles it is day 16…The egg is there for 24 hours, sperm live about 48, so timing is key. Home ovulation kits are very helpful for timing. If you have not conceived in 1 year of timed intercourse, or you are not ovulating by the kit, please come see us.
Safer sex - Based on your personal situation, remember to protect yourself if you are sexually active. There are numerous STD’s out there.
HPV - Human Papilloma Virus. It is sexually transmitted. Over 100 strains of the virus. A few strains cause abnormal pap smears, a few strains cause genital warts. Guys pass it to you not knowing they have it. A vaccine for four strains of the virus is available for women ages 11-26. It takes 3 injections over 6 months. Tested every year with your pap smear in women over 30. Together a pap and HPV status predict your risk for pre cancer of the cervix.
Pap smears every year - Papsure is optional; it allows us to look at your cervix with a special light and microscope. It can pick up things a pap smear can miss. Probably worth the money, it just depends on your risk factors.
Screening mammograms baseline at 35, yearly at 40, or 10 years prior to your mother or sister’s age at breast cancer diagnosis. Breast self-exam monthly.
Birth Control Options - The pill, patch, ring and shot can be used for birth control or to help control heavy or painful periods, or acne. This is a personal as well as medical decision. Side effects also can include weight gain, breast tenderness and headaches. The weight gain is caused from increased eating, so if you eat right, you won’t necessarily gain weight.
If you are done with children and experience heavy or painful periods please talk to us about options such as an endometrial ablation.
Labs- Depending on your family history, get fasting labs to check cholesterol and sugar at least every few years. Women need a thyroid test as well. Every year is great if you have insurance coverage.
Vitamins - a good multivitamin, calcium 1200mg a day total (diet and supplements), Fruits & Veggies if not obtained from diet (Juice Plus, Nature’s Way). B Complex good for energy and cholesterol, decreasing PMS and essential fatty acids (fish oil). Vitamin C 1000mg a day for anti-oxidant.
Recommended reading: What to Expect When You Are Expecting, What to Eat When You are Expecting, You, The Owner’s Manual. Also Dr. John Lee’s Hormone Balance Made Simple is an easy read and makes sense of complicated hormone explanations. The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno is a must read. Also, CW Randolph's From Belly Flat to Belly Fat is a great, easy read and hits on vitamins, eating right, thyroid balance and hormone balance for weight loss and feeling great. The 30 day diet plan in this book is a guarantee to lose weight.