There is too much information out there. T.M.I.!

Take blood pressure in both arms, study says. Caffeine alters estrogen levels in women, study says. Fatty foods may cause brain damage, study says. Chew more eat less, study says. Cut calories by eating same food every day, study says. Consumers eat trans fats despite concern, study says. We are three times more likely to eat the first thing we see, study says. People that live near fast food restaurants are more likely to eat at them, study says.

These are all real headlines that I just got by googling 'top health studies'. New ones come out every week. Some of them are helpful but most of them conflict with another study and only create confusion. Over the years I have read about the benefits and risks of a glass of wine a day. I have read the controversy about how much protein we need. I have heard that dark chocolate is an antioxidant. I have read conflicting reports on coffee's impact on our health. I've read studies about how important heart rate zone is during exercise and studies that discount zone training entirely.

I believe we have to be very careful about what we read, listen to and otherwise allow into our library of information especially this time of year. There is a point at which we have so much information floating around in our heads that we really have no idea how to proceed, and that doesn't do anything to encourage belief in this process. And that is the most important goal- to change your belief and to have complete faith that if you make healthy choices and move your body consistently that you will be rewarded with improved health, your goal weight, more energy and feeling better about yourself.

Bouncing from one solution to another does not help, it hurts. That is because the solution is holistic. It involves the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of our being. Therefore, strength training is excellent but it is not the answer. Yoga is wonderful but it is not the key. Eliminating processed carbohydrates is very wise but it is not the secret. Cardiovascular exercise is important but alone it's not enough. Vegetables are super healthy but are only one piece of the whole. Eventually you have to put it all together.

Everything is also relative. So when a study says green beans are good, I find I have to run that through a common sense filter. Good for what? There are many different goals out there. Good for weight loss? Good for overall health? Good for digestion? Good for heart patients? Good for kidney patients? Good for runners? Good for body builders? When an article or study is written, it is helpful to know who the writer is and who they are writing to. Another question I like to ask is - who is this information helping? To me if it does not support and encourage people to make healthy choices, I don't see the point. I'll never forget the very first newsletter I wrote in response to a cover story in Newsweek entitled Is Exercise Making You Fat.

Then just because a study says green beans are to be encouraged, we are all in a different place with respect to our green beans. Here's what I mean. Back in the day, green beans to me meant French fries. I had a way of spinning the truth to meet my desire for junk food so I could do some pretty amazing math. Something like green beans = vegetable = potatoes. If A = B and B = C then A = C. Have potatoes instead and don't worry about the fact that they are fried. I'll call that SMD - Sue Markovitch Denial. Then I moved to baked potato (loaded). Next came a baked potato with light sour cream, low fat butter, and salt. Then I finally got around to the green beans on the plate with the baked potato. Those green beans had some kind of cheesy sauce on them. Eventually I worked my way to canned green beans with just butter and salt and hung out there for awhile. Next came frozen green beans. No butter, no salt! Still use them but I also discovered how good fresh green beans were steamed or sautéed. Then I found fresh beans that were organic, with nothing sprayed on them to make them look shiny or last longer - steamed or sautéed with a splash of lemon and a dash of pepper. I may keep going on this road and find a healthier green bean but that's where I am now and I love 'em.

I can tell you the same story for many foods in my life. I am just not a person to abruptly change. I do things incrementally so as not to freak out that part of me that I know will rebel if I change too quickly. I've learned this one. Make small changes that I can live with and commit to keep going. So I have this same story for my coffee which started with lots of sugar then flavored sweetened creamer and now has light vanilla soy. My breakfast, which used to be McDonald's big breakfast then eventually a NutriGrain cereal bar and is now Fiber One, homemade oat granola, walnuts and flax. My lunch, which used to be Burger King then a Lean Cuisine and is now my veggie bowl. And my snack, which back when was usually M&M's, then went to processed Luna Bars and is now my whole food plant strong homemade protein bars. These are changes that work FOR ME and keep me committed to the process that I believe in: whole foods, plant strong, move my body, lift some weights.

There is nothing perfect or magic about the changes I have made, they are just things I'm trying. If something doesn't work, I let it go. Remember my goals are not your goals, you probably aren't a kidney patient, you may have a health issue of your own you are dealing with. You need to find your own changes. It is important to keep an open mind about trying to improve. For example, I realized that the canned ingredients in my veggie bowl add some extra sodium that I really don't need with my kidney problem. And I want to be the fun, crazy old great aunt at my nieces' and nephew's kids weddings fifty years from now so why not try to make it a little better. So today I used black beans from the bag instead of the can. No sodium! Saved over 1000 mg for the whole recipe by doing so and it still tastes great.

Baby steps always work better than giant leaps. Do me a favor. Stop reading and stand up at the very edge of the room you are in. Now in one giant leap get to the other side. Did you make it? Now get up and go do it again taking small steps. Did you get there? Which took longer? Oh wait, one of the strategies didn't get you there at all! The only way to move forward is right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. If you catch yourself searching for that one thing, the key, the secret to all this remember your attempt to take a flying leap across the room. Then get over it, go to your kitchen and start making small changes that you are willing to live with forever. Say goodbye, have a ceremony if you have to, grieve it leaving your life then embrace the new. Turn your French fries into fresh steamed organic green beans and keep doing that until your changes add up to a transformed life.

I like to say that all I have is my story. I don't have all the info or all the answers. But I made baby step changes, I didn't give up and here is the outcome: After smoking for 17 years, yesterday was my quit smoking anniversary - 13 years! Pounds lost and kept off for 7+ years now = 45. Drop in cholesterol ~ 50 points. And just this year, reversal of key kidney function tests to levels last seen in 1998. 1998!! If I wasn't a true believer before, I am now. This process works. There is truth in all this. But it's not about a study, or a secret, or the key that only a few get to know. It's for all of us and available to you any time you are ready. The truth is holistic: Make lots of small changes to what you eat and how much. Make lots of changes in how you move and how often. Don't think calorie restriction, think abundant life. Don't think deprivation, think health and wholeness. Add good things to your life. Find support and encouragement. Filter the information you encounter. Remember the truth and don't ever give up. It may be a long slow road but do you know anything worthwhile that isn't? I don't.

Now get moving!