Taking Care of your Health for the Holidays….Start the New Year Right!

The Holidays can be a special time for parties and gatherings with family, friends and co-workers.  It is a time where the risk of overindulgence is high, and food is all around us – especially the high calorie, high fat foods we try to limit the rest of the year.  Many of us give up on our exercise routines to make time for Holiday preparations. Unfortunately, it’s the time of year we tend to eat and drink more and exercise less…getting ourselves farther away from our health goals.

Medical Associates of the Hudson Valley, P. C., believes now is the time to treat yourself to Healthy Holiday living!  MAHV works with each patient’s individual healthcare goals as a team, providing patients the support they need to succeed.

Did you know MAHV’s Poughkeepsie office offers services in Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, as well as Family Medicine and Nutrition? All of these specialties close to home can make iteasier for our patients to meet their healthcare goals.

What sets MAHV apart from other medical practices?  We believe in Providing Quality Care…Because We Care.  It’s not just a slogan.  Our team of healthcare professionals work closely with our patients, helping them attain their best health.  At our Poughkeepsie location, our specialists work side by side with Primary Care Provider – Dr. Elizabeth Minei-Costley with a comprehensive treatment plan for our patient’s best health.  Dr. Elizabeth Minei-Costley is Board Certified in Family Medicine.  As a Primary Care Provider, Dr. Costley works together with her patients, providing support and follow up care for their healthcare needs.

Are you looking to create health goals this Holiday Season to start the New Year right?

A good start is preparing for your doctor’s visit by bringing your questions. Consider asking your physician:

• What do I need to do to improve my health?
• What lifestyle changes should I make to improve my health?
• What are my healthcare goals, how can I get there?

Many health goals can be reached with diet and lifestyle changes. A nutrition assessment with a registered dietitian is a good place to start. The visit will include reviewing blood work, nutritionally relevant medications, what a person eats, their lifestyle, and how all of it affects one’s health. A dietitian can then make recommendations on how changing certain eating habits can improve one’s health. For some, it may be changing the type of protein, carbohydrates or fats one eats. For others, it may be the amount a person is eating. A nutrition assessment also provides an individualized recommendation of calorie, protein, carbohydrates, fat and fluid needs. What people may not realize is that a dietitian helps a person meet their unique nutrition goals, and customizes a nutrition plan for their lifestyle.

This time of the year nutrition counseling includes tips on how someone can still meet their nutrition goals during the Holidays. As many parties and gatherings around the Holidays center around food, difficulties can arise for those who are trying to watch their weight, or control other health issues such as their blood pressure or diabetes.

Holiday Tips to meet your Health Goals: 

• Begin by informing your family and friends of your nutrition goals.  These may include weight loss, weight maintenance, or controlling your blood glucose.  Getting their support may be what you need; you may even be surprised to find out they have similar goals.
• Don’t fall to the pressure that you may feel from family, friends and co-workers to eat more than you had planned.  Practice ways of saying no thank you, or maybe later.
• Holidays are all about sharing time with family, friends and co-workers.  Consider other ways of gathering together such as donating time as a group at a food bank or soup kitchen. It may be an experience you revisit every year as a fun memory.

Medical Associates of the Hudson Valley’s Physicians work together with Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Tanya L. Lopez, MS, RD, CDN.A registered dietitian is a qualified health practitioner who has had extensive education and supervised practice and is licensed by the Commission on Dietetic Registration and State.

Medical Associates of the Hudson Valley makes it easy and convenient to get your nutrition information and advice from a credible source.   MAHV will also review your health insurance to check your coverage for nutrition services.

Make this year the time to meet your Holiday and New Year’s healthcare goals by making Medical Associates of the Hudson Valley the medical team you need to succeed.