Healthy Tips for the New Year from Dr. Jessica Goddard Lucot

By Andrew Wilson

Are you are determined to lose weight, eat healthy and exercise more during the New Year? Those might be the most common New Year’s resolutions and perhaps the most often abandoned after a few months. If you are resolved, however, to shed the pounds, quit the junk food, and get to the gym, checking in with your primary care physician (PCP) may be one way to ensure you meet your goals.

Jessica Goddard Lucot, D.O., who recently joined St. Clair Medical Group Family Medicine, offers sound advice for staying on track with your resolutions.

“Those are the top three resolutions I see most often,” Dr. Lucot says. “The first thing you want to consider is having a reason why you want to set the goal because that can help you to stay motivated. And then, make your goal really specific,” she advises.

“Instead of ‘I want to eat healthier,’ set your goal to increase your servings of fruits and vegetables to two or five servings per day so it is specific. You can measure progress that way, and then incorporate more as you reach that goal,” she says.

Dr. Lucot recommends frequent visits to your PCP to help you achieve your goals. “Your PCP can help you make your goal more attainable, meaning that you can set benchmarks and have someone hold you accountable,” she explains. “With weight loss and eating healthier, I like to have my patients keep a food log to get an idea of what they're eating and where we can make small tweaks to help them achieve larger or long-term goals.”

When it comes to setting weight loss goals, Dr. Lucot advises patients not to look at losing a certain number of pounds per week but working more on the changes in eating habits. “Setting a goal is not so much about a number on the scale. It’s more about eating a healthy number of calories for your weight, age, and exercise tolerance, and then adjusting that based on the goals,” she says. “You can have fluctuations within the week, but you're working toward that calorie range. That's good for weight loss.”

“I do a little more nutrition counseling than most physicians because I really enjoy it,” Dr. Lucot adds. “Patients can always see a nutritionist or dietitian if they want, but I like to talk about nutrition and different ways to eat healthier like making healthier swaps. If someone's eating a breakfast sandwich every day, skipping lunch because they're busy, and then eating a lot of snacks at night, then we will work on how to incorporate a lunch meal that's quick, easy, and healthy so they're not eating more snacks at night,” she explains. “It's not about never having ice cream or potato chips, but how can we fit those treats into your healthy eating plan?”

As far as exercise, Dr. Lucot recommends a sensible approach to beginning an exercise plan. “If you're a person who has been pretty sedentary or hasn't worked out for a while, I think there's a tendency to head to the gym and do as much as you can. That sets people up for failure, when they go from zero to a hundred real quick. A better approach is to incorporate exercise slowly. If it's your goal to run more, or even just walk every day, start with three days a week for just 15 minutes a day to get used to that. Then you can increase to 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night. Starting small and working your way up is a good idea. I like patients to do cardiovascular exercise three or four days a week, which would be walking or some type of cardio that's getting your heart rate up. Then, incorporating strength training on the other days to work on resistance.”

If you have risk factors such as heart disease, Dr. Lucot recommends checking with your doctor to be sure it’s safe for you to begin an exercise program. And for the smokers out there who want to quit, Dr. Lucot advises a similar strategy of making gradual changes. “The biggest thing with smoking is to have people go slow. If they're smoking ten cigarettes a day, then cut back to nine or eight per day and do that for a week. Buy a set number of cigarettes and commit to smoking only that amount. Have someone either buy them or hold them for you.”

“The key to success with health goals is to make sustainable changes,” Dr. Lucot advises. “Pick things that you can stick to and that will make you healthier over time rather than a quick, fad diet that causes you to gain the weight back if you stop the diet in a month. The most common reason why diets and resolutions tend to fail is because the fad diet just isn't sustainable long-term. Changing behavior should be small steps you can stick to over time that will make a lasting impact,” says Dr. Lucot.

Dr. Lucot received her medical degree from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a family medicine residency at UPMC. She is board-certified in family medicine. For more information or to make an appointment with Dr. Lucot, please call (412) 942-8570. Her primary office is located at the St. Clair Health Village Square Outpatient Center, 2000 Oxford Drive, Suite 302, Bethel Park, PA 15102.