Tracey Tann Parker is busy! She is a full-time nurse in the coronary care unit of Beth Israel Medical Center and a part-time, dual-degree nursing and public health student at Hunter College. Here she offers her personal tips for getting healthy through small changes and doing things that work for YOU!
Q: What advice do you have for others looking to adopt a healthier lifestyle?
A: Make substitutions and additions to your existing lifestyle. Don't focus too much on a diet plan-like telling yourself that for breakfast you can only eat this and this and for lunch only this portion. It won't work as well and it will be much harder.Diet plans tell you that you can have the bread, but you can't eat it three times a day, you can have a scrambled egg, but not every day, you can have sausage, but not every day and on and on. People are terrified that once they commit to a diet they'll never be able to eat their favorite foods again. No way! What I try to do is just make small substitutions and slight changes. If I was on an actual diet I don't think I would have lost any weight.
Q: What's the problem with traditional dieting?
A: People stress too much on diets and focus on "I can only eat this" or are frustrated thinking about what they can't have. But being on a diet shouldn't be stressful or frustrating. If you think about things you've never had, or things you can have and enjoy, it's exciting! I got to try all these new things. Like when I first started eating soups for lunch, they would have stuff like broccoli rabe soup. I saw that and was like "Ew! What in the world is that?" But I tried it and it was good! They also had stuff like chicken barley. I'd had chicken noodle and chicken rice before, but I didn't grow up eating barley. Trying these new things was exciting and it's always fun finding new things you like. You can still have your old foods too, but I try to treat new things as a treat or a present, something I have to earn.
Q: Do you have any other tips?
A: My second piece of advice is to get out and move! People tend to think that exercise is calisthenics. They don't realize that walking is exercise, dancing is exercise, and cleaning up your home is exercise. If you're moving, you're exercising! Any kind of movement on a consistent basis is exercise. You don't have to go to the gym or buy expensive equipment. Just dance! Find something that you like to do that fits into your life and do it. Walking worked really well for me.
Q: You work full time as a registered nurse. Do you have any professional advice?
A: I work in the cardiac unit of Beth Israel Medical Center and I see people who come in every three to nine months with the same problem that they came in with the last time. They come in, get a dozen medications then come right back. It’s a vicious cycle and I like helping people find a way to break it by finding the things that work for them. It’s hard to tell people what to do, so what I tell them is that it works better if they find something that fits into their lifestyle that they can change slowly but surely. Or, make a change that they don’t have to pay much attention to. That’s what worked for me. I’d much rather teach people how to find what works for them to actually get healthier than just pumping them full of meds.
Tracey’s tips for a healthy lifestyle:
- Think about what you are putting in your body. Keep track of what you are eating. If you see that you aren't eating fruits and vegetables, substitute them in as a snack or a meal.
- If you have to eat on the run, try soups. They are a healthy (and much less messy) option for on-the-go people.
- Drink water instead of juice or soda.
- Keep eating the foods you love, but instead of every day just once a week.
- Pay attention to salt/sodium intake (especially if you have high blood pressure). Look at nutrition labels for everything you buy. Compare products and buy the one with less sodium. Condiments are usually high in sodium so, pick ONE to season your food with. Don't use salt AND ketchup AND hot sauce. Each one has salt in it, so just pick your favorite.
- Make small, incremental changes. If they're small, you won't notice them.
- Surround yourself with people who are living (or want to live) the healthy lifestyle you want. It's easier to make changes if the people around you are doing the same thing.
- Wait until later. Want a cookie? Wait. Want a cigarette? Wait. Before you know it you will have waited all day and you can have your cookie or your cigarette or whatever it is that you crave as a reward. Even if you don't wait all day, you'll end up eating/smoking much less during the course of the day.
- Make substitutions and additions to your existing lifestyle. If you like salad, try a different kind of lettuce, like mesclun, it's more nutritious than iceberg. Find a place that serves food you like. Order your favorite dish once a week and chose healthier options-like soup or salad-for the rest of the week.
- Try new things. Don't think about what you can't have; think about what you've never had. It's much more exciting!
- Get out and move! Walk, dance, ride a bike, clean your apartment (energetically). Find something you like to do that fits your life and go do it!
- Find what works for you and your life. Make small changes, and then don't think about them. Once the changes are a normal part of your life, make more.
- Things change faster than you think; all you have to do is be willing to do it.