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Home > Health & Fitness Center > Health & Fitness Guide > Tips for Success >Stealth Health: Get Healthy Without Really Trying
Stealth Health: Get Healthy Without Really Trying
From : Writer : PublicTime : 2008-08-01 23:45:04
Living healthier doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming, experts say By Colette Bouchez
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

How much do you know about what makes up a healthy lifestyle? Here's a popquiz.

1. How do you define working out?

a. Going to the gym.
b. Turning the jump-rope for the neighbor's kid.
c. Playing Frisbee with your dog.

2. How do you define good nutrition?

a. Eating a vegetable at every meal.
b. Eating two vegetables at every meal.
c. Drinking a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

3. Which of these is a healthy activity?

a. Push-ups, sit-ups, or running the track.
b. Walking the dog after dinner.
c. Spending Saturday afternoon snoozing on the sofa.

Believe it or not, the correct answer to every question is A, B, andC -- even that Saturday afternoon snooze! According to the growing "StealthHealth" movement, sneaking healthy habits into our daily living is easierthan we think.

"You can infuse your life with the power of prevention incrementally andfairly painlessly, and yes, doing something, no matter how small, isinfinitely better for you than doing nothing," says David Katz, MD, MPH,director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center and of the YalePreventive Medicine Center. Katz is also co-author of the book StealthHealth: How to Sneak Age-Defying, Disease-Fighting Habits into Your Lifewithout Really Trying.

From your morning shower to the evening news, from your work commute to yourhousehold chores, Katz says, there are at least 2,400 ways to sneak healthyactivities into daily living.

"If you let yourself make small changes, they will add up to meaningfulchanges in the quality of your diet, your physical activity pattern, yourcapacity to deal with stress, and in your sleep quality -- and those fourthings comprise an enormously powerful health promotion that can change yourlife," says Katz.

And yes, he says, a nap on the couch can be a health-giving opportunity --particularly if you aren't getting enough sleep at night.

Nutritionist and diabetes educator Fran Grossman, RD, CDE, agrees. "Youdon't have to belong to a gym or live on wheat grass just to be healthy,"says Grossman, a nutrition counselor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in NewYork. "There are dozens of small things you can do every day that make adifference, and you don't always have to do a lot to gain a lot."

Do a Little, Get a Lot

The notion that good health can come in small tidbits is not really new.Research showing that making small changes can add up to a big difference hasbeen quietly accumulating for a while.

For example, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicinein 2004 found that adding just 30 minutes of walking per day was enough toprevent weight gain and encourage moderate weight loss.

 

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