Healthy resolutions and habits for real life
By Loretta Fulton
Photography by Beth Dukes
Just about every list of resolutions for the new year includes exercising more and sticking with a weight-loss diet.
And, by about Jan. 5, just about every list is in the trash. If it makes you feel any better, some local experts in healthy living agree that’s where the list belongs. They hate words like “weight-loss diet” and “exercise.”
“I think people should move, not exercise,” said Mark Rogers, an endurance sports enthusiast and creator of the Simply Human lifestyle program. “And there’s a difference.”
Kelly Taylor, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Hendrick Medical Center, is just as adamant about the word “diet,” which for most people translates to “what I can’t have.” Instead, she likes to use the word “fuel” when talking about healthy eating.
“We’re like a car,” Taylor said, “and we have to fuel it with something healthy.”
Getting enough exercise or “movement” and eating the right foods seems to be a constant struggle for most Americans, with a big-screen TV and easy chair in most living rooms and a fast food restaurant or convenience store on almost every corner.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, those in the know say. It’s just a matter of developing new routines.
For those who claim not to have enough time to do everything right, no better model exists than Mark and Jenn Rogers and their three children, Haelyn, 6; Hope, 5; and Hunter, 2. Both parents work full time at Abilene Christian University, where they both earned degrees. Haelyn is a first-grader at Taylor Elementary School and Hope and Hunter attend Rainbow day care at University Church of Christ.
Their week begins on Sunday night, when the parents do food prep for the rest of the week, including lunches for the children. That may sound hard, but Mark assures it isn’t.
“If it’s not simple,” he said, “I won’t do it.”
“Simple” is a key word in developing a new routine that is sustainable, and the internet provides a world of ideas for simple recipes and movement ideas. A good place to start is www.dinnertonight.org, a website developed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The Dinner Tonight website periodically posts quick, simple, and nutritious recipes designed for families.
Jane Rowan is the local county extension agent for family and consumer sciences, a division of the AgriLife Extension Service. She periodically teams up with Kelly Taylor for diabetes education presentations at Hendrick Medical Center.
There is a reason that Rowan, with her knowledge of healthy eating, and Taylor join forces for the diabetes education programs. Even people with no symptoms of diabetes or no family history are susceptible if they eat too much of the wrong foods and are inactive. Taylor said she frequently sees patients with diabetes who had no family history of the disease.
“Probably lifestyle is what led them there,” she said.
A website Taylor suggests for easy, nutritious recipes is www.eatright.org, sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The information is research-based and easy to understand.
“That is my go-to for everything,” Taylor said, adding that the information is good for everyone, not just people who are on restricted diets. “That would be the healthy way for all of us to eat.”
For parents, a healthy lifestyle is important on two fronts – for their own health and for setting a good example for the children. Rowan, who has worked as a family and consumer sciences agent for 33 years, has a 26-year-old son who is proof that a good example pays off.
As a child, he was active in 4-H nutrition programs and watched food shows on television. He also watched – and listened – as his mom prepared healthy meals for the family. He grew up to be just like her.
“He is an excellent cook today,” and understands the value of nutritious eating, Rowan said.
She also likes to tell a story that a Head Start teacher relayed to her. Three times a year, Rowan presents programs on healthy living for children in Abilene’s Head Start program. One day, a teacher ran to meet her to tell her what she had overheard the day before.
The children were in their play kitchen when one little girl remarked, “OK, let’s make some whole grain bread.” When Rowan heard that, she knew the lessons about healthy eating were sinking in.
Mark and Jenn Rogers have three good reasons to set a good example and hope the lessons sink in. Their three young children are benefiting from the healthy lifestyles that their parents chose—and they obviously are enjoying it.
A trapeze hanging from the ceiling of a room in the Rogers’ home and a trampoline in the backyard provide easy ways to get some quick exercise—or “movement”—as the parents prefer. And don’t think that the children are deprived of fun foods. They eat healthy meals every day prepared by their parents. Those sack lunches include such staples as cheese sticks, fruits and vegetables. But the children are allowed to eat a small portion of cake and ice cream at birthday parties and take part in pizza day at school or daycare.
Mark and Jenn hope that by the time their children grow up, a healthy lifestyle, including nutritious foods, ample sleep, and activity will be second-nature. For Mark and Jenn, that kind of lifestyle didn’t develop until they were older.
They met as interns at summer camps in Lubbock and married in 2002. Jenn transferred to ACU her junior year from the University of Houston, where she had attended on a dance scholarship. She earned a degree from ACU in 2003 in education and psychology. She later earned a master’s degree in human development at Hardin-Simmons University.
Mark played football at ACU in the 1999-2000 season and earned a degree in 2003 in journalism and mass communication. Today, Mark works in the advancement office at ACU and Jenn teaches in the College of Education and Human Services.
Mark got into endurance sports in 2006 when he trained for a marathon in Dallas. From there, it snowballed. He still does endurance sports and has a workout station in his garage. It’s a passion for Mark, not exercise.
The couple soon began getting interested in proper nutrition. When their first child, Haelyn, was a few months old, they watched the documentary “Food Inc.”about food production in the United States. What they learned was disturbing.
“That was kind of a turning point,” Jenn said, and the couple realized they needed to be more aware of what they were eating. They began researching and got to the point that they created their own Simply Human Lifestyle website. Mark also gives lectures to groups on healthy living.
Basically, they say, healthy living means eating and moving like our ancestors. That doesn’t mean hunting and foraging. It means eating foods that are natural, not the result of a lab or industrialized processing. And, it means moving about freely, not in manufactured exercise periods.
“The things humans have done the longest,” Mark said, “are the things that are the most sustainable.”
Although the Rogers and all health experts say that developing a healthy lifestyle isn’t a quick process after a lifetime of bad habits, they do offer some tips. Chief among them are, “no sugars and no grains.” That may be hard to think of, but the Rogers assure it’s possible. They insist that “no sugars and no grains” doesn’t involve will power, once the healthier eating practices are established. Eventually, foods heavy on grains and sugars aren’t appealing.
“I don’t have to use will power to not eat ice cream,” Mark said. “I don’t want it.”
For those who just can’t quite get to the point of “no ice cream,” other experts offer some helpful advice.
“Basically,” said Hendrick’s Kelly Taylor,” it has to do with portion control.”
And that doesn’t apply just to ice cream or other sweets. That’s good advice for all foods that add on the pounds, she said.
Starting off a new year in a healthy way isn’t just about appearances. You may be determined to lose 10 pounds in time for the swimsuit season, but healthy eating and living does more than just facilitate weight loss. It improves overall health—and that makes it worthwhile to stick with a goal and not get discouraged.
Jane Rowan, Taylor County’s family and consumer sciences extension agent, noted that the unhealthy lifestyle that so many Americans live is contributing to an epidemic of obesity and the health complications that follow.
“That didn’t happen overnight,” she said, “so we’re not going to change it overnight.”
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