BALANCE_MARCH_2020 - 26

TIME FOR
A CHANGE
Dr Rangan Chatterjee was tired of seeing short-term solutions to wellbeing.
With new book Feel Better In 5, he's devised a plan that's sure to last

MEET THE
EXPERT
Dr Rangan
Chatterjee is a
doctor, television
presenter and
author who is on
a mission to empower 100 million
people in the UK to feel better.
drchatterjee.com

E

veryone wants to make a change.
People always tell me, "I want to
be healthy. I want to feel better
than I currently do, but I don't have
time." Time is the biggest obstacle out
there in this busy, stressful 21st century.
So how can you address that?
I've been seeing patients for almost
20 years and I've witnessed, over and
over again, what tends to work and what
tends to not work. Anything works for
two or three weeks: you can pick any
health plan or book you want. If you
follow it for two or three weeks, you will
probably feel better. But the problem
is that particular change is short-term
and not sustainable. And so that's what
really drives me: how can you make
sustainable change - or change last?
With my new book, Feel Better In 5,
I have found a formula. I have found
a way.

26

WHY WE NEED TO TAKE
POSITIVE AC TION

30

At this age, we start to lose muscle and by the time
we reach 50, muscle power drops 3% every year

80% of people in the UK
suffer from a gut-related
problem each year

50%

The percentage of lonely people who are likely to
die earlier - good connections are crucial!

Rule One: Start small

Rule Two: All-rounder

If you want to make
a change, you have to
make it easy. My research
has shown that when
you start small, you can
make it viable and
consistent. I had a patient
who tried to exercise for
40 minutes, three times
a week. I saw him a
month later and asked
how it was going. He was
sheepish: "Work has been
really busy. The gym is
expensive. And it's not
that near to work."
So I said, "Right, I'm
going to teach you a
bodyweight workout that
only takes five minutes,
twice a week."
He went away and came
back one month later. This
time his body language
was completely different
and he had a big smile
on his face. He said: "Doc,
I started off doing it for
five minutes, twice a week
and loved it so much. It's
so easy and now I do it
for ten minutes every
evening before I have
dinner." He's been doing
that for five years now.

You can't just focus on
one area of your health
if you want to make
feasible change. For
example, many people
try to give up alcohol or
sugar. And again, they
will manage to do so
for maybe one to three
weeks. After a while, most
people, bit by bit, start to
revert back to their
pre-existing behaviours.
Why does this happen?
For many, the reason
they over consume sugar
or alcohol is because
that's their way of coping
with stress. If you don't
address the stresses,
you're never going to
change the behaviour in
the long-term.
I have always found
it much more beneficial
for people to take a
rounded approach to
health. I thought about
those components of
wellness and have kept it
simple: mind, body and
heart. By breaking up our
approach to wellbeing in
such a way, that gives us
360-degree health.
http://www.drchatterjee.com
BALANCE_MARCH_2020

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