The Healthy Way: A Great Local Resource
Eating well is an important
part of maintaining good
health. As you get older,
it’s even more vital. Locally
owned The Healthy
Way is a fabulous resource
for personalized weight
loss and lifestyle management
tools plus convenient
healthy food available from
their onsite market.
Cheri Bianchini, RN,
PHN, founded The Healthy
Way in 1986. Her inspiration
for starting the
business? When she was
21 years old, she became
an RN and worked for
several years in the surgical
ICU at Stanford Medical
Center. “I saw so much
chronic illness there and
vowed to help patients with
prevention. That’s how The
Healthy Way was born.”
At that time, she was 29.
Having recently turned 65,
Cheri has direct experience
regarding how our
bodies—and our needs—
change as we age.
During its 36-year history,
The Healthy Way has
served 10,000 people.
About half of clients are
55 and older. There are
individualized programs
for people of different ages
and for those with dietary
needs including vegetarian,
gluten-free, food allergies
and sugar addiction. “We
specialize in blood sugar
stabilization, metabolism
balancing and inflammation
control,” Cheri
explains. “Our clients have
dramatic results improving
diabetic, hypertension
and cholesterol issues.”
The Healthy Way offers
one-one individualized
support, motivation and
education using three methods:
in person, by phone, or
virtually.
Cheri offers Sentinel readers
a few senior-specific
tips that any age can benefit
from:
1. Be sure to eat breakfast.
“By doing so, ideally
within one hour of rising,
the metabolism starts
burning and blood sugar
levels normalize, helping
to balance the system at the
onset of the day. No other
meal has as profound an effect,
because typically at no
other time during the day
is one’s body responding to
the awakening state. I see
most seniors do best with
protein in the a.m. When a
carbohydrate meal is eaten
first thing, sugar cravings
often occur later. Have
eggs or cottage cheese,
some chicken from the
night before, tofu, or a protein
smoothie. These will
give you staying power. If
you just want toast, top it
with a slice of turkey and a
tomato.”
2. Watch your sodium
intake. “Remember, a quarter-teaspoon
of salt will
retain up to a half-pound
of water. Watch labels and
do not consume an item if
it has more than 300mg/
sodium per serving.”
3. Improve your joint
health. “If you are overweight,
even a 10-pound
loss will make a big
difference, especially with
joint health. Your risk for
injury diminishes and your
joints will suffer less wear
and tear. Every pound of
body weight translates to
about four pounds of force
on your ankles, knees and
hips when you’re walking,
so 10 extra pounds on
your frame means 40 more
pounds of pressure on your
joints.”
4. Decrease your sugar
consumption. “Sugar is the
real culprit in the American
diet. It’s frightening when
we realize that almost
everything packaged
contains this! Diabetes is a
difficult disease, especially
as one gets older. How we
break down glucose can
become more challenging
as we age, so the goal is to
eat less. There are many
wonderful, low-glycemic
sweeteners. A few examples:
Stevia, Monk Fruit,
Coconut crystals, Xylitol
and Erythritol, Palm sugar
and Fruit Sweet. All are
available at The Healthy
Way market (you can also
order online from their
website).
Also, dates and bananas
can be used in many
recipes to add sweetness.
We never recommend
artificial sweeteners like