• Three Ways To Watch Your Weight
• Three Essentials for Working Up a Sweat
• Three Steps to Better Eating

1. Check your body mass index number (body weight adjusted for height). A BMI of more than 25 significantly increases your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
2. Watch for weight gain after your early 20s. Middle-aged men and women who gained between 11 and 22 pounds after age 20 were three times more likely than people who gained 5 pounds or less to develop heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and gallstones.
3. Tuck in that bulge. Fat that collects around your waist and chest may pose a greater health problem than fat around the hips and thighs. Abdominal fat has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and heart disease, especially when waist measurements are greater than 39 inches for men and 34 inches for women.

1. Learn how to set up an exercise program.
2. Exercise for at least one hour a day. Remember, physical activity is cumulative, meaning you can spread it over smaller chunks of time.
3. Work to stay motivated.

1. Limit your saturated fats and avoid trans fats. Trans fats raise your LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and lower your HDL cholesterol. Saturated fats raise your serum cholesterol, specifically LDL cholesterol. Carefully read the ingredient lists on all the packaged foods you buy. If you see "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" you have found a source of trans fats. To determine the amount of saturated fat in a particular food, look for the serving size and the amount of saturated fat (in grams) on the nutrition label.
   • Trans fat food sources: margarine; vegetable shortening; foods containing "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil", such as cookies, crackers, pastries, microwave popcorn, and some frozen meals; deep-fried foods such as donuts, French fries, and fast foods
   • Saturated fat food sources: cheese; butter; fatty meats (hamburger, steak, prime rib); cold cuts; poultry skin; whole milk and whole milk products, such as ice cream and cream; desserts prepared with butter, cheese, coconut, including cakes, pies, cookies, etc.; tropical oils such as palm kernel or coconut
2. Increase your intake of good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats). When substituted for the unhealthy fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats lower your LDL cholesterol. Many population studies show that countries that consume monounsaturated fats as their main source of fat have a much lower rate of heart disease. Polyunsaturated fats such as omega-6 and omega-3 also are considered healthy fats. Large population studies and clinical trials indicate that omega-6 fats are good for the heart.
   • Monounsaturated fat food sources: olive oil; canola oil; peanut oil; nuts, including almonds, cashews, filberts, macadamias, pecans, pistachios and peanuts; avocados; peanut butter (look for all-natural brands) and other nut butters
   • Polyunsaturated fat food sources:
     • Omega-6 food sources: corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils, sunflower seeds
     • Omega-3 food sources: fish, including herring, bluefish, salmon, pollack, flounder, lake trout, tuna, and sardines; fish-oil pills with EPA and DHA (500 to 1,000 milligrams per day); sources of alpha linolenic acid such as canola oil, flax seeds and flaxseed oil, wheat germ, soy bean oil, walnuts
3. Pile on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and good grains. Nutrition research shows that people who consume higher amounts of fruits and vegetables have lower rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Likewise, nuts have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Finally, eating whole grains offers protection against diabetes, heart disease, cancer and gastrointestinal problems such as diverticulosis and constipation.
• Fruit and vegetable food sources:
  • Vitamin C — oranges, green and red peppers, collard greens, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, papaya, strawberries, kiwi
  • Beta carotene —l apricots, carrots, broccoli, pumpkin, cantaloupe, sweet potato, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, hubbard squash, papaya
  • Folic acid — dark leafy greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, sweet potato, orange juice, oranges
  Vitamin B6 — banana, sweet potato, avocado, broccoli
• Nut sources: almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts, peanut butter and other nut butters such as almond butter and cashew butter
• Whole-grain food sources: 100-percent whole-grain bread, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain crackers, whole-wheat flour, wheat berries or cracked wheat, quinoa, brown rice, barley, millet. Note: Look for foods that list whole grains first on the ingredient list.

Best wishes for a healthy New Year!

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Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D./N., is the director of the department of nutrition at Brigham and Women's Hospital and director of nutrition and behavioral modification program for the Program for Weight Management at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Simmons College and received a Master of Science degree in nutrition from Framingham State College.

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