Let me ask you something: why do you want to be healthier?
Sure, your goal may be to lose weight and feel better, but I’m willing to bet it goes deeper than that.
Choosing to become metabolically healthier sets a precedent for the people you care about. Not just friends and coworkers, but immediate family members too.
Roughly 47.7% of people say their spouse has the biggest influence on what they eat. And 70% of a child’s dietary behavior is established by their parents.
In other words, your actions matter — and they could significantly influence your family’s metabolic health.
Because as you already know:
The system starts us young
I know because I’ve experienced it. And I have a feeling you may have, too.
My parents didn’t set out to damage their metabolic health. In fact, they wanted to do ‘all the right things.’
So we used margarine instead of butter. We avoided high-fat foods. We bought diet sodas and played sports for physical exercise.
The food pyramid told us this was how to be healthy.
And yet, I was 100 pounds overweight.
The Standard American Diet — essentially ultra-processed food — has become almost ubiquitous in the American zeitgeist. Processed food comprises 60% of our diets and a whopping 70% of our children’s diets.
But food isn’t the only thing impacting our metabolic health. Americans exercise and sleep less than ever before. Not only are our kids less healthy than we were at their age, but they’re bombarded with food advertisements and terrible cafeteria food.
There’s no easy or overnight fix to this.
But changing your metabolic health is a powerful first step.
Nurturing your family’s metabolic health
You can’t force your family to change their lifestyle, especially not your parents or spouse.
But after coaching hundreds of patients over the course of my career, I can’t tell you how much influence a single lifestyle change can make.
Many of my patients’ spouses have made the changes and seen the results.
Even their children get involved to some degree.
If you want to break the cycle of poor metabolic health, you need to start with yourself — you must be your own catalyst.
Here are some ways to get started:
Set a dietary example
As you change your diet to whole, real foods, the rest of your family is bound to take notice.
Remember: the person who controls the shopping cart controls the metabolic health of the entire family.
Of course, no diet will work if you can’t make it sustainable. You need to find a way to work with your family and make adjustments over time. This could mean preparing a separate dinner for yourself, or slowly incorporating whole, real foods for everyone.
Keep in mind your children’s diets should look somewhat different from yours. Children need more carbohydrates as they grow, although metabolically healthy options (like fruits and vegetables) should take precedence over bread and other refined grains. Contrary to the advertisements, cereal for dinner is not a viable strategy.
Understand your family history
There are two different internal factors impacting your family’s health: genetics, and epigenetics.
Genetics are traits passed from one family member to the next. They may have some impact on chronic disease, but they’re not the end-all-be-all (especially when it comes to obesity).
Epigenetics refers to gene expression, or how the environment can change your health. This is a complex discussion I’ve briefly discussed, but to summarize: how you live impacts how you express certain traits.
To understand both of these factors, you should compile a family history of medical records and diagnoses. Understanding your risks can help you make informed decisions about diet and exercise (among other things).
As a side note: don’t give up just because your family has a history of chronic disease. Many are preventable and even reversible with the right approach.
Model healthier habits
Food is just one of many elements impacting your metabolic health.
Sleep, stress management, exercise, and other factors also play a big role.
You should try to adjust your lifestyle in ways that incorporate the seven principles of metabolic health. You can’t strong-arm your loved ones into following your example, but you can model new behaviors that your family simply can’t ignore.
Quitting smoking, for example, can have a gigantic impact on your family. Your spouse is 50% more likely to quit successfully alongside you (compared with a mere 8% success rate if you never gave up smoking).
Research also shows that when one partner becomes healthier, the other is more likely to follow. This includes following their exercise habits, dietary choices, and even the time you go to bed.
If you start improving your own health, your family is likely to follow.
Don’t make metabolic health a secret
It can be difficult to have candid conversations about health, especially when it comes to weight or chronic disease. You may be nervous about stepping on someone’s toes or offending a family member depending on the situation.
But secrecy and tip-toeing won’t solve our metabolic health crisis. Open conversation and honest dialogue will.
For children, this means talking about healthy foods and why they’re healthy. For spouses and parents, this could be explaining the science behind your lifestyle changes (and being willing to entertain disagreements if they arise).
The bottom line is, you need to be willing to talk.
If you don’t feel confident, I have some resources that can help.
Making an impact on the past and future
Breaking the cycle of poor metabolic health doesn’t just affect your children.
It can change your spouse’s life.
It can change your parents’ life.
All it takes is that first step forward.
I encourage you to start with micro-changes first. Maybe you add more protein to your diet, or you don’t replace processed foods once you finish them.
As you start to pivot towards healthier habits, your loved ones will start to take notice.
Invite your family to join you, then reap the benefits of better health together.