This post is for you guys! Has the 6 pack you had in your 20‘s turned into a man “pooch”? Or perhaps you used to be able to eat anything you wanted but now your doctor is threatening to put you on a statin? Or maybe you eat minimally during the day and way too much at night … with a few too many glasses of wine? With Fathers Day just behind us, I thought this was a good time to talk about nutrition tips specifically for men. Your diet can help you fight disease, look and feel good, increase energy levels and predict how well you will age. (Main pic on blog is my family/extended family celebrating Fathers Day on Cape Cod: David Baker from Cape Cod and Connor’s grandfather, Connor Hurley, my nephew, Dustin Baker, my step-brother and iron man athlete and my dad, who is also Connor’s grandfather)

Problem areas for men
I work with many men in my nutrition practice and unfortunately see a lot of guys who don’t make their health a priority. Some of the problems I see include:
1. Inadequate exercise due to long work days and family obligations
2. Eating minimally during the day and then too much at night
3. Frequent traveling and/or business dinners lead to poor food choices
4. Not getting regular check-ups or health screenings by their doctor
5. Too much booze (pic: funnycrave.com)
6. Not eating proactively to ward off disease

Invest in your health
Think about your health like investing money. The more you take care of yourself now, the higher rate of return you’ll get later … like warding off heart disease and some forms of cancer, preventing diabetes, maintaining a youthful appearance, maximizing energy levels both during work and workouts and preserving your joints so you can continue to exercise as you age. Here are my top 10 lifestyle tips to invest in your health:

1. Move it
We all lose muscle as we age, especially after the age of 40. Men will likely notice this loss even more than women. Your once hard biceps and chest get soft while your belt gets tight! The good news is that you can slow this muscle loss and even build muscle by adding in regular resistance training – as little as 2x a week. In addition to preventing muscle loss, exercise decreases risk of heart disease, diabetes, many kinds of cancer and other diseases. It also helps with weight control and is a great stress reducer. – Of course, check with your doctor prior to starting any exercise program. (this man from Strictly Cycles in N.J. finds time to bike after working a long day)

Recommendations:
– Ideally you should aim for a 30 minute cardio workout 5 times a week
– If you don’t have the time to do this, aim for three 25 minute more intense cardio sessions a week
– Don’t forget to add in weight training 2 times a week
– I would suggest meeting with a knowledgable personal trainer a few times to learn how to make the most out of your limited time at the gym.

2. Get your zzzz’s
Working long hours, having high levels of stress and juggling family and business obligations can make it difficult to get adequate sleep. Numerous studies have shown that inadequate sleep increases risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It can also increase your cravings for junk food! And here is something for younger guys – inadequate sleep leads to decreased testosterone levels … enough said!

Recommendations:
– Make it a point to get into bed earlier (and this doesn’t mean answering emails from your smart phone in bed!)
– Limit alcohol intake as this can cause broken sleep
– Try to eat dinner at least 3 hours before going to bed to avoid heartburn
– Exercise on a regular basis

3. Eat for heart health. Heart disease is the #1 killer of men. And even if your cholesterol is in a good range, don’t think you are out of the woods. Many men who get heart disease have normal cholesterol levels. Your weight, blood pressure, stress and activity levels, glucose, and overall diet play a role in risk of heart disease. (pic: this man, David Baker, looks like he’d kill for a piece of meat)

Recommendations:
– Limit saturated fats found in high fat animal foods (cheese, fatty red meat, full fat ice cream, butter) and substitute heart healthy fats found in olive oil, canola oil and other vegetable oils, nuts and nut butters, avocado, and omega 3 rich fatty fish (aim for 2 servings a week)
– Increase your intake of fiber, especially soluble fiber found in oats, legumes, barley, eggplant, apples, and many other fruits and veggies
– Increase your intake of antioxidant rich whole grains, fruits and veggies
– Limit sodium, added sugars and processed carbohydrates (“white carbs”)

4.Booze control
I find that many men hit the bottle when it comes to stress, whereas women seek out sweets! Whether it’s meeting the guys for beers after work a little too often or polishing off a bottle of wine with dinner, excess alcohol can take a toll on your weight and overall health. Not only does alcohol add empty calories and lessen your willpower to watch what you eat, but it can also interfere with a good nights sleep, raise blood pressure, triglycerides and increase of some forms of cancer.

Recommendations: Alcohol in moderation, especially red wine, has health benefits. For men, moderation is defined as 2 drinks a day. If you find you are going above this recommendation several days a week, it’s time to cut back! And FYI, a martini is not “one drink” – it’s more like 3!

5. Don’t bottom load your diet
Many men I work with are so busy during the day that they forget – or don’t take the time – to eat. Consequences of this include poor energy levels or headaches during the day and overconsumption of food at night.

Recommendations:
– Get into the habit of eating breakfast. Get up an extra 5 minutes early to eat a quick meal. If you forget to do that, at least keep some healthy breakfast options in your office including, yogurt, instant oatmeal, whole grain cereal, fruit and low fat milk.
– Find restaurants that have healthy options near your office and have them deliver lunch everyday at a certain time. Ideally you should take a quick break at lunch and leave the office, but if you don’t have time, now there is no excuse with the seamless web.
– Keep nutritious snacks in the office including fruit and nuts, cut up veggies and hummus.

6. De-stress
Men tend to internalize stress while we woman are more verbal! A study showed that middle-aged and older men who reported years of moderate to high levels of stress were more than 40% more likely to die than men with lower levels of stress. And who isn’t stressed out these days?

Recommendations: Find ways to de-stress, whether it be through reading, exercise, yoga or meditation. Working out is the best stress reliever in my opinion!

7. Decrease risk of prostate cancer through a healthy diet. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men. Evidence suggests that a healthy diet and regular exercise will decrease your risk.

Recommendations:
– Eat more fat from plants vs. animal
– Increase the amounts of fruits and veggies you eat a day. These foods contain disease fighting phytochemicals.
– Include soy in your diet. Try tofu stir-fry, soy milk and edemame

8. Go meatless. Manliness isn’t associated with jumbo slabs of beef! Plant foods are associated with decreased risk of heart disease as well as colon and prostate cancer.

Recommendations: Try having a vegetarian meal (or at least a fish meal) 1-2 times week. Try whole wheat pasta with veggies, quinoa, rice and beans and tofu stir-fry with brown rice. (Pic: Rick is having a vegetarian meal with edemame, grilled veggies and pasta with veggies from Beach Cafe in NYC)

9. Lighten up your business dinners. Gone are the days where you have to gorge on 16 oz steaks, salads with blue cheese and creamed spinach in order to fit in with the group as more men are looking to eat healthy.

Recommendations: Almost all restaurants these days some nutritious options.
– Best choices for appetizers includes: salads with vinaigrette dressing, raw bar or non cream soups, grilled veggies
– Entrees: grilled fish, lobster tails (limit the butter, use more lemon), roast chicken (try to take off the skin) or a smaller cut of lean meat (petite filet mignon).
Pasta with red sauce isn’t a bad choice either
– Try to limit your alcohol to a few glasses of wine with dinner … skip the pre-dinner martini and after-dinner drinks

10. Keep up with health screenings. Get a colonoscopy after the age of 50, know your blood pressure, get your Hemoglobin A1c tested (for pre-diabetes/diabetes), keep tabs on your blood pressure and get your cholesterol checked (including LDL and triglycerides)

The bottom line is that by paying more attention to your lifestyle habits now, you can feel and look better in the short term and live a longer healthier life long term. If you are a woman reading this, forward it to a man in your life (or print it out and leave it on his desk!)