The first few months of a new year is a common time to reset your priorities and make goals for the coming year ahead. More often than not, these goals revolve around personal health and wellness. Often times, patients will discuss these goals with their doctors which can be very important and helpful for the physician. As a surgeon, I look forward to my patients sharing their goals. This can be especially helpful to cosmetic surgeons because it tells the surgeon how the individual views their own beauty and health. Even very small goals can yield big results. Below are a few that I would like to share with patients.

Stand and move at least once an hour

Sitting all day is bad for your health and can lead to weight gain and extra fat (especially around the abdomen). Many people own Fitbits, an Apple watch, and other health monitoring devices. Many of these devices have a built-in reminder that taps and reminds you to stand up, stretch and move around at least once an hour. Find other ways to get more movement into your workday — get a headset and walk around when you’re on phone calls, go for a walk on your lunch break, or consider getting a sit/stand desk.

Take your own lunch and snack to work

Processed food is bad for your health, your skin, and your waistline and eating out can also leave a serious dent in your wallet. For a healthier year, make an effort to take your own lunch to work so you can take more control over your eating habits. Even if you don’t have time to prepare your own lunch, preparing a few healthy snacks like almonds, almond butter and a few apple slices or hummus with carrots and red pepper can add some nutrients and vitamins and will help sustain you so you don’t hit the vend- ing machine during the day.

Drink water

Water helps you stay hydrated and energized and control your appetite. Drinking water is also essential to having healthy skin. Carry a 16-ounce water bottle with you to work each day and make an effort to empty and refill it at least two to three times during the workday.

Remove sugar from your diet

Too much sugar is bad for your waistline and it destroys collagen in your body and leaves you with older, weaker looking skin and more wrinkles. Limit yourself to one treat a day or just on the weekends and pay more attention to the sugar content in your daily foods.

Make skin care a priority

Taking good care of your skin is one of the best ways to ward off the signs of aging — wear sunscreen when you go outside, exfoliate twice a week, use moisturizer each day, drink a lot of water and wash your makeup off at night. It may also help to consider cosmetic treatments that can restore your skin and make you look younger.

Dr. Tamy Faierman is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. Her office is located at 17130 Royal Palm Boulevard, Suite 1, in the Windmill Professional Campus in Weston. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am-4:00 pm. For more information, please call 954-322-2742 or contact Tamy here


Originally published FEBRUARY 2017 | OUR CITY PEMBROKE PINES