Adjust your attitude, adjust waistline

Around 55 percent of the 170 million American adults who are overweight or obese say they want to lose weight. But it’s a challenge — many folks try but fail to shed significant weight, and most of those who succeed regain much or all of it within three to five years.

Why is it so tough to reach your goal? One obstacle you might not have considered: your attitude toward yourself when you overeat, eat foods you’ve declared you will avoid, or eat at a time you said you wouldn’t.

A new study published in Appetite says that if you can acknowledge how tough it is to change your eating habits and understand that one slip doesn’t mean failure, you have a much better chance of continuing to improve your nutritional habits and shed excess pounds.

You can learn to achieve more self-forgiveness by practicing mindful meditation. It allows you to recognize your self-defeating attitudes and let them drift away. A Brown University study even found that mindfulness directly promotes more healthful food choices.

Also, add more of the prebiotic fiber inulin to your diet — or consider a supplement. According to a study in Gut, people taking 30 grams a day of inulin were more likely to select medium- or low-calorie foods than high-calorie ones.

Vitamin vitality

For the 40 percent of people aged 65 or older who contend with some degree of age-associated memory impairment, we have great news.

A third major analysis of the COSMOS study that combines earlier findings on 5,000 participants and 573 in-person interviews shows that taking a multivitamin-mineral every day slows cognitive aging by the equivalent of more than two years. We each take half a multi in the morning and half in the evening, to keep nutrient levels steady in our system.

Sustained physical and cognitive health and a younger Actualage result from optimal nutrition at every age (no red or processed meats, added sugars or overly processed foods; lots of vegetables and fruit, healthy fats and fish like salmon). But even healthy foods are now delivering fewer nutrients. One study analyzed 43 vegetables and found that calcium content had declined by 16 percent, iron 15 percent and phosphorus by 9 percent since the 1950s. Even the most conscientious person can fall short of the nutrients needed. That’s why we suggest most teens and adults take a multi.