Joey Wahler (Host): A new study shows more than 30% of Americans have them, so we're discussing health-related New Year's resolutions. Our guests, from Silver Cross Hospital, Charles Murray, he's an exercise physiologist and Certified Health Coach and also joined by Stanley Bielawski, who is a clinical dietician supervisor.

This is Silver Cross Hospital's I Matter Health Podcast, where medical experts bring you the latest information on health topics that matter most to you and your family. Thanks so much for joining us. I am Joey Wahler. Charles, Stanley. Welcome.

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Thank you.

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: Thank you.

Host: Well thank you. We appreciate the time. So first for you Charles, why are we more health conscious at the beginning of each year? I would imagine at least part of it is the fact that when we get past New Year's and we're off to New Year's Day from then and beyond, it kind of feels like we're turning the page right.

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Being a health coach, what I've looked back on is the trends, the trends at the beginning of the year, and a lot of people have the holiday hangovers and I notice it's an emotional hangover or physical hangover from a couple months of the holiday season and they want a fresh start.

So what a perfect time to begin those New Year's resolutions. Plus those gym memberships. You see them all over the TV, social media, Hey, let's get that new discount for three months, whatever it may be. So those trends seem to be navigated toward the individuals that have not been physically active for a few months.

Host: Absolutely. And picking up on that, Stanley, Charles talked about discounted gym memberships, people being really into it at that beginning of the year. But then if so, why is it so hard for people to sustain these health resolutions throughout the year? What are the big obstacles?

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: Yeah. The, the big obstacles is just human nature, right? Everybody goes through it. No one's going to be perfect. Those obstacles are real. I'll tell people, one of the main issues that you see is people just set too lofty of goals. We try to focus on making behavioral changes, right? You want to set behavioral changes.

You're not trying to set goals where you're just going to say, I want to lose 30, 40 pounds before summer hits. That's an extremely lofty goal. You want to focus on day by day. So we really try to focus on behavioral changes and making those goals actually so simplistic to where they seem like it's almost a waste of time.

It's like, why would I want to do that goal? Well, because what you want to do is you want to build that base, you want to build your confidence up. Have one win at a time. So work on setting those goals, not so lofty, but making them almost so simplistic to where you're like, why am I even doing this goal? But you have to build that confidence.

Host: And speaking of which guys, I wonder, Charles, how important is just being aware as you set these goals, that those goals being difficult to reach, you are not alone in that? That pretty much most everyone goes through the same thing. How important is it just to be aware as you're going through this, Charles, that it's not going to be a straight line, so to speak? Right.

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: That's a really, really good question, Joey, and I'm going to piggyback off of what Stanley just said too, going into the mindset, because a lot of people talk themselves out of that goal. Our inner talk is key. How are we talking to ourselves? Because if you are already defeated in that journey, I'm not going to do it tomorrow, or I can't do this. What is that internal talk like? That environment is going to extract itself in the physical world. So I believe that how we approach that component is key. So that's what I always tell people to do, and I listen to that conversation when I'm doing health coaching. How's this person speaking about themselves?

You always want to speak to yourself, like you speak to your best friend or your family member. So I always do a self check. Knowing that component and knowing, Hey, you gotta be kind to yourself like Stan said, keep it so simple you may be like, wow, I just did an extra 50 sets. But that's a win, right? Don't consider that being a minimum, but it's growth. It's forward momentum.

Host: Absolutely. And Stanley, how about some tips from you for staying motivated to stay on track and meet these goals? Because it seems one really important one is if you slip up, don't throw in the towel. Going back to the point we made a moment ago, you have to realize that everybody slips up and the important thing is to get right back on track and not just say, well, forget about it. Right? We all have a bad day, a bad week, don't we?

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: No, no, absolutely. That's 100%. And like I said before, you have to develop these early wins. Your confidence is a big thing on how you're going to proceed with these long-term weight loss goals or long-term health goals, whatever your goal may be. But you have to develop those early wins, especially if you're new to weight loss or dieting or exercising. People get intimidated going to the gym. People get intimidated by tracking calories. This is something that's foreign to a lot of people, so what I tell them is set those goals really low. Do it day by day. Build your confidence. Learn your body. Get to know your body a little bit better. But don't sit there and stress yourself out and say that, Hey, listen, I'm not good at this, so I'm going to quit. You don't want to quit. Health is a lifelong journey. This isn't a race. This isn't something that you're trying to look a certain way before summer. You're trying to live a long, healthy life, and these early wins are going to help you do that.

Host: Absolutely. And Stanley, how about popular diets that are trending right now as we speak? I guess sometimes these days, these alterations in our dietary habits, they're not even called diets as much as they used to be. Right? Because for a lot of people that has kind of a negative connotation. So which ones do you recommend? In contrast, which ones not so much?

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: The diets I recommend is what's going to fit into your lifestyle that you can do on a daily basis that's going to be flexible for you. It's difficult to tell someone exactly what we want you to do, because that may not fit into your life. So, for instance, a popular diet is an oldie, but a goodie. People still like the Mediterranean diet, right? That's a nice diet where it's fruits, vegetables, lean meats, healthy oils, legumes. Right? Now, this is great for inflammation, it's good for nutrient dense foods where you have an increased feeling of fullness and satiety. We recommend that diet. But there's a lot of people that aren't going to eat vegetables. There's a lot of people that say, I don't like fish. I'm not going to follow that diet. And the dietician is over here saying, well, no, this is what we want you to do. But that's a great healthy diet that we would recommend. Another popular diet that we still see that's an oldie but a goodie, people still do intermittent fasting. Now is that necessarily a diet that a dietician would recommend? No. But for certain people, it fits their lifestyle because this is the timeframe that they get to eat and this is when they're going to do it. And then sometimes, you when you set a timeframe on when you're going to eat, you're probably going to cut out those late night calories. So that's a diet that we see that is really popular. So another diet that we see that's always popular, but I wouldn't necessarily that say that I recommend the ketogenic diet is still super popular. Carnivore diet is still very popular. People still do these juice cleanses, where there's not a lot of proven science behind it. Now if those things work for you, I would say speak with your physicians, speak with a dietician, and they can help you work through what deficiencies may be in that diet. But you do have to realize that if you're going to choose a diet, you do need to find something that is going to one, fit your lifestyle. Fit what you have health-wise going on already. And you all do realize that a lot of these diets do have deficiencies. Like you're missing out on fiber, you're missing out on a lot of different vitamins because you're removing whole grains, fruits and vegetables. So lots of diets are out there, but I recommend a diet that is going to fit into your lifestyle, that you work with a dietician or your physician that you can do for a long-term. That's the main goal. Long-term, not short, short term gains.

Joey Wahler (Host): Charles, how about in terms of trending exercise approaches that you're seeing right now? We've gone through a rise in recent years in CrossFit, participation.

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Yes,

Host: and Pilates and hot yoga, everything kind of has its time, right?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Yes.

Host: Whose time is it now? What's going on these days?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Really good question, Joey. What I'm noticing is the AI versions of fitness training. So I see individuals using Chat GPT or these different AI components to navigate the wellness world. And what I worry about with that is it doesn't take into account individuality, if a person has mobility issues or injuries, right? So you gotta be really careful on following these components. Stanley and I had a conversation recently about this, how they give you what you want to hear, so they're not taking into account, who you are as an individual and the person. It's a structured program. So I really see that as a, as a growing trend nowadays.

Host: And so picking up on that, Charles. You mentioned AI. There are so many people on social media that promote themselves as virtual trainers these days.

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Yes,

Host: Is there a best place in 2026 for the average person that doesn't have a lot of knowledge or maybe does and just wants more? Where do you turn? How do you know who you can trust as a go-to source for this kind of information?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: What I always do is, keep it specificity. What are you looking for? So let's say if an individual is looking for flexibility, mobility, and balance. Okay. So you want to follow someone that knows their information, not just, getting the certification online, those five minute certifications.

So do your work, do your homework on the individual that you're following, because hey, everyone has the newest and latest and greatest trend out there, right? I remember 20 years ago, PX 90 was popular, so dating myself, it was an awesome program, right back 20 years ago. But that wasn't for everyone. If you have those 20 minutes, yeah, that's fine.

But always do your homework on who you're following. Don't just follow the trend. And know yourself. That's another thing. Stan and I had a conversation a few months ago. You know, we were talking about playing basketball and talking about knee problems and things like that. So someone say, Hey, you going to go run for two hours, or do this for such and such amount of time. Hey, you gotta know your body and know your limitations. So don't let that ego become your enemy. Because hey, that'll mess you up for the long run.

Host: That's a great point, Charles. One of the great enemies here is the old ego. It's, so much of everything we're talking about, whether it's nutrition or exercise, is really from the neck up, right?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: It really is.

Host: So having said that, in summary, I want to get each of your thoughts on the following. It seems like so much of what you're talking about and preaching here is about balance, it's about moderation. Don't overdo it, whether it's in the gym or cutting things out at the table. So let's start with you, Stanley. If you had to just give our audience, one or two job one things that they can start right now where if you don't do anything else, you can at least do this to improve your diet. What would it be?

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: Yeah, absolutely. Like we said, start small. Make it nice and simple. It could be as easy as maybe you wake up and you skip breakfast. You know, you shouldn't be skipping breakfast. But a behavioral issue would be you're going to skip breakfast. For a New Year's resolution, it could be as easy as, you know what, every day I'm going to wake up, I'm going to wake up 15 minutes early, I'm going to have me a breakfast.

And it could be whatever the case may be, some fruits, whatever you want, eggs. Just making sure that you're doing something that simplistic, maybe track your water. Most Americans don't drink enough water. Maybe just actually for one day or two days, track how much water that you're consuming. Sleep plays a big role. People stay up late. They have snacks, maybe work on just getting to bed a little bit earlier so you could cut out those late night snacks, so you're hungry in the morning so you can have a breakfast. These are very simple things that you can do that are behavioral, but they're not necessarily based off an outcome.

And once you start implementing small behavioral changes, these things build up and over six months, you're no longer following a diet. This is just who you are. This is your lifestyle, and that's the end goal is not following a diet, but just being consistent in who you are and just this is who I am, this is how I eat, and this is how I live my life.

Host: Absolutely and along those lines, Charles, sort of same church, different pew as they say in the exercise world. For the excuse makers out there, Charles and folks, you know who you are. The ones that say, I don't have time, or I don't feel up to it, or I'll do it next week, or I'll do it next month, or I don't have where to do it. What are one or two things that anyone and everyone can do if they don't do anything else?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: And you know what, Stanley just summed it up really well. So I want to start with that and with my component, what I think about is, when you wake up in the morning, if you don't have time, if you are a busy individual, start with stretches. Stretches will help you build your mobility and flexibility. That's one of the things that we lose as we age, right?

Because we are all going through different seasons. So for the individual that has that running goal, start stretching for a month or so every morning. Building that momentum, making it a habit because you don't want to injure yourself when you start that next journey. We are all going through a season, so remember, if you're not 20 anymore, remember what season you're in and be kind to your body along the way.

That's one thing I, tell a lot of people. And we forget about that stretching and balance component.

Host: In summary here, it just seems like so many of these things are largely common sense, but we all know that common sense isn't always that common, and that's why people need to be reminded of these things, don't they?

Charles Murray, B.S., Exercise Physiologist, CHWC: Absolutely.

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: Absolutely.

Host: Folks we trust you are now more familiar with healthy New Year's resolutions. Stay on track. That's the main message it seems here. Don't get thrown just because you have a bad day or a bad week. Charles, Stanley, thanks so much again. Great advice indeed. And, uh, perhaps when the warm weather months approach, we can revisit this and talk about some of those tips for that time of year.

Stanley Bielawski, RD, LDN: Absolutely. Love to thank you.

Host: Yeah, and for more information folks, please do visit silvercross.org/nutrition. If you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. I'm Joey Wahler, and thanks again so much for being part of Silver Cross Hospital's I Matter Health Podcast.