How many calories should I eat each day?

How many calories should I eat each day? This is a question that my patients commonly ask of me and there is not a one-size-fits all answer. There are several steps to finding the appropriate calorie intake on a daily basis. One of those steps is calculating your basal metabolic rate. 

Once you know your basal metabolic rate, you can add in the amount of calories that you burn each day from exercising. If you jog for 30 minutes each day, you may burn about 200 calories. If you do yoga for 30 minutes each day, you can burn around 150 calories. 

Take the number of calories burned in the day and add that to your basal metabolic rate. If you have a reasonably stable weight, you can estimate that you are taking in about that calorie total in your diet. 

Then you have to consider your weight goals. Are you trying to lose weight or gain weight? If you seek weight loss, then removing 100 - 200 calories from your diet each day may be a safe number for you to achieve your goals. Remember, in general, it is unsafe to lose more than 1 - 2 pounds each month.

Using an app like MyFitnessPal can be really helpful, especially if you are meticulous about documenting the foods that you consume and workouts that you perform each day. If you're a patient with Plum Health, I will review your data in the App and then we can make better decisions about dietary changes and exercise regimens. 

In general, my opinion is more about eating healthier foods, not necessarily less food. I recommend eating foods discussed in "The End of Dieting", found on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2snb78z

In it, Dr. Fuhrman recommends eating GBOMS, Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms Seeds and Nuts. The point is to get more nutrients/calorie and he sums it up this way: Health = Nutrients/Calorie. The more nutrients per calorie, the better your health.

Kale, Bok Choy, Quinoa, Blueberries, Almonds, Walnuts, Wild Caught Salmon are a handful of examples of highly nutrient dense foods! This would be in contrast to Iceberg Lettuce, bananas, peanuts, and ground beef - these foods are less nutrient dense then the aforementioned foods. 

Making healthier food choices, especially those foods that are nutrient dense, can help you to be healthier. Further, if you make organic selections, you will have less toxins in your body. Physician and author Dr. Mike Dow discusses the importance of eating organic foods in his book The Brain Fog Fix. 

I hope that this is a helpful and comprehensive answer for you! Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day,

- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health Direct Primary Care in Detroit, Michigan

Plum Health at Rock CF Rivers Half Marathon

This morning, I was out at the Rock CF River's Half Marathon and 5K in Grosse Ile, Michigan. Rock CF is an organization that advocates for patients with Cystic Fibrosis across the country, and their global headquarters are in Detroit on West Grand Boulevard. 

Emily Schaller is the founder of Rock CF and organizes this race to raise money for the organization. The Rivers Half Marathon started at Grosse Ile Middle School and ran the perimeter of the island. The Rivers 5K started at the Grosse Ile Airport and ended at the GI Middle School. 

I was representing Plum Health DPC as the race doctor and I was stationed at Mile 7.5/8ish. Fortunately, there were no major course injuries to report and things ran smoothly - no pun intended! 

I'm really proud of the Rock CF organization, their mission, and the work that they do in the community. If you'd like to be a part of Rock CF and/or donate to people with Cystic Fibroses, hit up their website!

As a physician, I recommend 30 minutes of exercise each day for 5 days each week. That's about 150 minutes of exercise each week. Aerobic exercise like running a 5K is a perfect way to get and stay in shape. Exercise has innumerable benefits from better heart and blood vessel function to better control of diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression. 

Now that the weather is nicer, it's the perfect time to develop healthy habits like running or walking every day. My pro tip is this: hang your workout clothes on your bed post and make exercise the first thing you do when you start your day. 

To learn more about how you can become healthier, reach out to me here!

Thanks for reading and have a great day,

- Dr. Paul with Plum Health

Ice Skating at Clark Park

This week I was able to ice skate at Clark Park in Southwest Detroit. First, ice skating is a fun, enjoyable activity for the winter months in Detroit and Michigan. Many families are able to stamp down enough snow and construct a wooden border, flood the area and allow it to freeze. These back yard rinks are the stuff of memory and family lore, but it's nice to have a community rink that is open to all. 

Second, 60 minutes of activity each day can increase our physical and emotional wellness. Children especially need to be active and create habits of activity and exercise that will help them maintain a healthy weight and avoid chronic diseases as they age. Here's some key stats:

• Children now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen (e.g., TV, videogames, computer).
• Only about one in five homes have parks within a half-mile, and about the same number have a fitness or recreation center within that distance.
• Nearly one-third of high school students play video or computer games for 3 or more hours on an average school day.

If you want to learn more facts and stats about healthy activity patterns, hit this site: https://www.fitness.gov/resource-center/facts-and-statistics/ 

Third, I was able to mentor some neighborhood kids and help them with their skating, passing, and shooting. It's always great to help kids build confidence in their abilities, and this was a nice opportunity to work with a group of kids in the neighborhood.

The ice rink at Clark Park is run by the Clark Park Coalition. If you want to learn more about what they do, or donate to their ongoing programming, hit their link! http://www.clarkparkdetroit.com/ 

Thanks for reading!

- Paul Thomas, MD