Stay young and fit with Michele Promaulayko Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo Health - Alina Reyzelman

Stay young and fit with Michele Promaulayko Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo Health

I was honoured to interview one of the leading healthy eating experts Michele Promaulayko! Michele is the Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo Health, a digital magazine offering the latest need-to-know news and expert advice on health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness topics. She is also the author of the new book 20 Pounds Younger. Previously, she was for six years the Vice President/Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health, one of the fastest growing women’s magazines in the world.

Before joining Women’s Health, Promaulayko was Executive Editor of Cosmopolitan for eight years. She has been an expert guest on television programs such as Today, Good Morning America, Katie Show, The Doctors, The Rachael Ray Show, CNN, EXTRA, Access Hollywood Live, and Fox News.

I spoke with Michele about her new book, and the challenges that people face in maintaining their health and weight.

Hi Michele, congratulations on your new book Twenty Pounds Younger. What has motivated you to write the book? 

As I entered my 40s (I’ll be 45 in March), I wasn’t resigned to the inevitability of being less healthy, fit and energetic. So I set out to find managable ways to sustain health and fitness in a crazy-busy world. And not surprisingly, the same things that keep you healthy and help you lose weight also anti-age your appearance, hence the name 20 Pounds Younger. I wrote the book because I wanted to share some of the tools that I’ve discovered as a health editor who has access to the best minds in health, fitness and nutrition.

There is a lot of info available on the subject (diet, fitness, etc), why your book is different?

For one, I find it difficult to stick to a super prescriptive eating plan where my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks are meticulously mapped out. To me that’s not realistic. So I centered the eating plan in 20 Pounds Younger on mindful eating, which is critical to sustaining weight loss because it teaches you how to recognize real hunger cues so that you don’t fall prey to emotional eating triggers. There are also sections on strength-training, reducing stress, and caring for your skin. So this book is a total transformation guide that promises lasting results.

You have done a lot of research for the book. Who were your gurus, consultants and wellness experts?

You’re right! There are a TON of experts in the book and almost all of the advice is back up by hard science and research. As a journalist, I feel it’s important to present the facts and to do your homework. I bring a skeptic’s eye to everything I try. There are too many experts to name them all, but the team that I call my «Life Stylists» include yoga teacher Kathryn Budig, spiritual coach Gabrielle Bernstein, strength and conditioning expert Holly Perkins, nutritionist Keri Glassman, dermatologist Francesca Fusco, hormone expert Aisa Vitti and alignment expert Lauren Roxburgh. I also relied heavily on psychologist Jeanne Kristeller to help me build the mindful eating workshop.

What are your Top 5 diet tips for the readers from the book?

  • Go to bed earlier: Sleep is critical to health and weight loss
  • Meditate: There is tons of research on its ability to battle stress (which reduces hunger hormones)
  • Learn to cook: The more you control you have over what goes in your body, the better
  • Lift weights: Strength-training is critical to building lean muscle, which burns more calories all day
  • Cut back on sugar: It rots your teeth and your brain and elevate your levels of ghrelin, a hormone that acts as a powerful appetite stimulant and increases cravings.

Why and how the proper diet will make you look younger?

A poor diet damages cells and leads to diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cataracts, cardiovascular problems, and…wrinkles!

In your book you write about 6 week strength training plan, could you please elaborate on that? Why is it important?

Where to begin! It’s so important. Every pound of muscle you add to your frame increases the number of calories you burn, even at rest, because muscle is more metabolically active than fat is, which means it requires more energy to sustain. With more muscle, you burn extra calories—even in your sleep! Strength is an often-overlooked component of physical health. Lifting weights is excellent for bone density, joint mobility, and body composition. And by body composition, I mean that you’ll look leaner and firmer.

How do you inspire readers to exercise? What are your Top 3 tips on that?

  • Fitness is not a one-size-fits all proposition. Find the things you love. For example, I hate running, so I do metabolic body-weight exercises for cardio. Also, I love being nature, so I go stand up paddling as much as I can. Keeping it fresh is important to sustaining your interest.
  • Take group classes: The elements of camaraderie and competition are equally motivating.
  • Exercising helps you maintain your weight, sleep better,perform better at work and it also boost your confidence in the bedroom. That’s a lot of benefit for the investment of time!

Eating mindfully, what does that mean? Counting calories? Excluding certain foods?

There is no calorie counting or food restriction, period. A big part of the book is about mindful eating, so it’s hard to sum up in a few words. But simple put, mindfulness is bringing awareness and attention to any experience without getting tangled up in judgment. But the more mindful you are, the less susceptible you may be to the temptation of immediate rewards. It’s not about resistance. It’s not about deprivation. It’s about deciding: Do I really want this? With practice you can learn to do it really, really effectively. There’s a workshop in the appendix of 20 Pounds Younger that spells it all out.

Get Michele’s book here 

Read more about wellness and healthy eating at eatwellco.com