What is obesity and how does it impact our overall health?
TFal: Obesity and the misconception and how sometimes people use it as a term, is a diagnosis, just as we say people living with hypertension or diabetes, people are living with obesity now. So what we know about that is that it is a medical condition, and it is defined and has to do with calculating your weight and your height and getting your body mass index. Obesity is associated with a myriad of health outcomes. It’s a state of chronic inflammation. The extra fat cells are metabolically active and there’s inflammation. And with that, there is a clustering of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, S high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, and is higher in people who have the diagnosis of obesity than people with a normal body mass index. There are physical consequences in terms of joint musculoskeletal issues.
What are those five things that everybody should know about their health in order to improve their overall health and wellness?
Chi: We decided that these five, blood pressure, BMI, blood glucose, waist circumference, and all your cholesterol, impact your body most. If you are able to keep a good measure on these five areas, which we call the Fab 5, you are more likely to feel better and be your very best self. We know that’s where a lot of us fail in terms of connecting what we eat, the exercise we do or don’t do, and our mental health, because all of this together make us our best. We like to focus on this.
How do we create that healthy lifestyle and develop a plan that can meet the needs of multigenerational folks?
Dr. Nina: The first thing is really focusing on prepping. It starts with really focusing on color and focusing on ingredients themselves versus food. And I’m gonna tell you why it’s very approachable. We know the colors of the rainbow, right? It just so happens that the foods that are good for us match many of the colors of the rainbow. So instead of focusing on what we can’t eat and what we should eat, we just focus on the rainbow. And that’s something that applies to every single person of the family. So if you have big mama with her health condition, and you have the finicky eater in the house, instead of going around saying we’re gonna all eat the same big meal and do the same thing. Let’s do something like peppers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, colors. Let’s do something like cabbage and have it. And then let’s do something cool, like put some nut butters or avocado, healthy fats. If we really want to change, then the same way, we’re adamant about making those hair appointments and those appointments for those haircuts and those appointments for those manicures and pedicures. This is how we have to look at the way we eat, because those things are not gonna keep you alive, but counting colors will.