A: The guidelines for determining a healthy weight is called the HAMWI method, which is typically used in healthcare to determine the ideal body weight (IBW) for adult men and women.

As women, we get 100 lbs. for the first five feet of stature. Then 5 lbs. for every inch above that. It’s different for men. They get 106 lbs. for the first five feet of stature and 6 lbs. for every inch after that. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? Due to hormonal differences, men generally retain more lean body mass (LBM) than women and LBM weighs more.

But that’s not all. Because we come in different shapes and sizes, we apply the 10% rule. So let’s do the math: At your height of 5’7”, you get 135 lbs. plus or minus 10% which puts a healthy weight range for you at 122 to 148 lbs. This application largely depends on your frame size, which is either small (think thin wrists as an example), medium, or large (thicker wrists, breadth of shoulders).

A shortfall of the HAMWI method is that an individual’s LBM isn’t taken into account. In this regard, optimum weight is underestimated because muscle weighs more than fat. For example, if you’re athletic or regularly strength train, you will weigh more due to higher LBM, which is desirable.

To your health!

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN

Take a probiotic. As much as 70 percent of the immune system is in the gut – the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Keeping your gastrointestinal tract inoculated with beneficial microbiota is the first order of business in maintaining healthy immunity. 

Tame your sweet tooth. In laboratory experiments, sugar is found to suppress white blood cells – the soldiers of your immune system. Besides its ability to destabilize blood sugar, it is also an antinutrient, capable of causing deficiencies in B vitamins and magnesium. 

Get your Zzzzz’s. Not getting enough shut-eye is another notorious immune system suppressor. If you regularly get less than six hours of sleep a night, you may be more prone to catching a cold this season. Resolve to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night because rest and repair are critical for an optimally functioning immune system. And a nice side effect to getting enough sleep is diminished food cravings. 

Exercise, but don’t overdo it. The benefits of exercise are indisputable for good health and overall wellness. But too much exercise has its downside. Elite athletes and marathoners are more prone to colds and flu because all that training hampers the immune system. Also, if you already have a cold, exercising when you shouldn’t may prolong your rehab. When you’re sick, you need rest, not a six-mile run. 

Last but not least, take some immune-enhancing supplements: Vitamin C, zinc, and olive leaf extract are mainstays during cold and flu season. Take with your meals for optimal absorption.

To your health! 

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN 

A: There are a myriad of reasons for low energy. Here are some obvious ones:

Are you getting enough sleep? Most adults require six to eight hours of sleep every night. Do you snore or have sleep apnea? This will cause sleep disruption and may lead to high blood pressure.

Were you diagnosed with low iron or anemia? Low energy and fatigue are common complaints among those with anemia. Even if you don’t have iron-deficiency anemia, you may have low ferritin which is the storage form of iron. Best to get this checked. You want your ferritin level around 70 – 90 ng/ml.

Do you have low B12 levels? Best to shoot for the 600 – 900 pg/ml range. Check your vitamin D too since low levels can contribute to fatigue as well. Shoot for ranges over 50 ng/dl.

An adrenal function test via saliva testing (as opposed to a blood test) will reveal if your adrenals are stressed or exhausted—a common reason for low energy.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Hypothyroidism is a primary reason for low energy as well as dry skin, constipation, hair loss, and depression. If you’re currently taking thyroid replacement, best to have your thyroid hormone levels checked every six months to ensure your dose doesn’t require tweaking.

Blood sugar imbalances can cause fluctuations in energy since it’s a common symptom of both high and low blood sugar. A five-hour glucose tolerance test with insulin is the gold standard to assess this.

Barring all of the above, food allergies or intolerances and looking for toxic exposures and assessing how well your detox pathways are functioning will be key to uncovering the cause of low energy.

Helpful supplements to give your energy a boost include CoQ10 and NTFactor®. In fact, NTFactor® is clinically proven to reduce fatigue significantly, no matter what the cause.

An assessment by a nutritionally oriented practitioner can help you uncover the cause(s) of low energy and recommend appropriate therapies for you.

To your health! 

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN 

Since you will be “allowed” to eat these special occasion foods (holiday goose with all the trimmings, fruit cake, egg nog, etc.), you won’t feel deprived. Feeling deprived is what increases the reward value of the food you’re missing. This strategy takes care of that.

Makes sense, right? We also do away with this negative self-talk: “I just completely blew my diet so I might as well continue to gorge.” You’re not blowing it. You’re having a holiday meal. That’s all. Discard the drama.

In previous years, I’ve advised that if you are hosting, have your guests bring a suitable storage container so they can carry away all those tempting leftover goodies. Make sure every last nibble goes out the door. Out of sight, out of mind! This year, most of us are celebrating the holidays with only our own household, so passing off any leftovers may be more of a challenge. Try repurposing your leftover meats and veggies into new, healthier meal ideas—a Christmas turkey can become a great base for homemade turkey soup, and ham or roast beef can be diced up and added to hearty salads or incorporated into a breakfast hash using leftover potatoes. If you have friends who are celebrating alone this year, consider portioning single servings of leftover desserts into to-go containers and arrange a safe, socially distanced drop-off. This way, your sumptuous holiday meal doesn’t turn into a weeklong feast.

Speaking of desserts: Are you receiving a lot of sweet treats as gifts—like boxes of chocolates? You don’t have to eat them to show your love and appreciation. Pay it forward. Make donations to your local food bank or soup kitchen. They will really appreciate it, and your waistline will thank you, too.

Now go enjoy those holiday indulgences! And the very next day, get right back on program. Breaking the rules on special occasions is good for the soul and can help restore your willpower. 

Remember: the perfect is the enemy of the good. Life is not about living in extremes. Enjoy these special times with your loved ones. Be present, engaged, and have fun! 

To your health! 

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN 

To put it another way, exercise is a powerful medicine. This medicine makes your cells more sensitive to insulin, optimizing glucose metabolism. It oxygenates muscles and organs allowing for nutrient exchange via blood circulation and detoxification through perspiration and lymphatic drainage.

This medicine releases powerful neurotransmitters called endorphins. Endorphins don’t just make you feel great, like that runner’s high, these important neurochemicals alleviate depression and smooth the edges around tension and anxiety. Moreover, endorphins are potent immune system modulators. 

Exercise provides energy by stoking metabolism and is critical to deep, restful sleep. And did you know that it has been shown to delay shrinkage of the hippocampus—the brain’s memory center? In this way, exercise bestows positive effects on thinking and memory. 

Not motivated enough to start an exercise program? Play a sport. Do you enjoy basketball, soccer or volleyball? Recreational sports create a wonderful sense of camaraderie and team spirit. And as an added bonus, the interval training is built right in! 

Or, if you prefer something solo, maybe running or working out at the gym is more your thing. I’m partial to yoga and strength training myself, but I love a game of volleyball on the beach, or badminton in the yard on sunny days. 

A positive psychological aspect to exercise is it’s YOU time. Whether you’re on the road, in the gym, or on your exercise mat in the living room, it’s an opportunity to get out of your head and into your body; an opportunity to be PRESENT and aware of your breath. 

Namaste! 

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN 

In fact, this message is more important today than at any other time in our lives.

As we grow older and face our future health with some trepidation, we as individuals are tasked with taking the best care of ourselves we can to avoid chronic disease, acute illness and accidents that may lead to a requisite hospital stay.

While we can’t shield ourselves from every ill—and short of becoming a nation of paranoid recluses (that’s not good for health either!)—there are steps we can take to lower our risk of accidents and illness. Along with looking both ways before crossing the street, and wearing a bicycle helmet EVERY time you ride your bike, there are multiple opportunities every day to manage the things we can control, such as the food we choose to eat and our lifestyle choices.

Choosing organic foods daily will help reduce exposure to toxins like herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, hormones and antibiotics. And don’t forget, you have the same opportunity to reduce your toxic burden when it comes to personal grooming products, household cleaners and even how you care for your lawn. We get some healthy exercise too when we manually weed our gardens rather than use toxic chemicals like Roundup (perfectly manicured lawns have always looked unnatural to me. I like dandelions!). And, you get to say NO to Monsanto.

If you have the real estate, consider growing your own produce. There’s nothing like walking out to your own garden to gather fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs for your next meal. The nutrition content of fresh picked produce surpasses anything we get at the store, even if it’s organic.

Stay healthy, and you’ll be wealthy the rest of your life!

To your health!

Leyla Muedin, MS, RD, CDN