Dr. Jana Klauer - The Park Avenue Nutritionists Plan: The No-Fail Prescription for Energy, Vitality & Weight Loss

THE PARK AVENUE NUTRITIONISTS PLAN

ALSO BY JANA KLAUER, M.D.

How the Rich Get Thin

T HE N O -F AIL P RESCRIPTION
FOR E NERGY , V ITALITY &
W EIGHT L OSS

JANA KLAUER, M. D.

ST. MARTINS PRESS NEW YORK

THE PARK AVENUE NUTRITIONISTS PLAN . Copyright 2008 by Jana Klauer, M.D. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Design by Patrice Sheridan

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Klauer, Jana.

The Park Avenue nutritionists plan : the no-fail prescription for energy, vitality, and weight loss / Jana Klauer1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index (p. 215).

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37848-6

ISBN-10: 0-312-37848-3

1. Nutrition. 2. Physical fitness. 3. Vitality. 4. Weight loss. 5. Health.

First Edition: May 2008

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The information contained in this book should by no means be construed as a substitute for the advice of a qualified medical professional, who should always be consulted before beginning any new health, diet, or exercise program. If you are pregnant or nursing, or taking any kind of prescription medications, or are under the care of a physician, please consult with your physician before starting any health, diet, or exercise program and for optimum dosage requirements of all vitamins, nutrients, and supplements.

For Gerold

This book comes from a desire to help people understand how certain foods, exercise, and stress management can improve their lives. The food we eat becomes us, in a sense. It is important to understand how different foods work within our bodies.

First, I want to thank my wonderful patients. I am privileged to know you and am moved by your trust of me. You have enriched me more than you can imagine.

Columbia Universitys Institute of Human Nutrition continues to offer superb courses for physicians. Notable recently is the series on the benefits of omega-3 fat on health. Richard Deckelbaum, M.D., and Sharon Akabus, R.D., Ph.D., are to be commended for getting the word out to doctors on the subject.

Martha Stewart has brought her standard of excellence to the Martha Stewart Center for Living at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, which brings seniors the benefits of meditation, tai chi, walking programs, nutrition, and alternative medicine. It is a joy to see this happen and to be associated with the project.

Franois Payards recipes are so perfect. Im so grateful to be able to include them in this book.

Thank you to Richard Curtis, my trusted agent, for working out details and encouraging me. Your advice is always solid.

St. Martins Press again gets a round of applause from me. Sally Richardson, the publisher, and Elizabeth Beier, my editor, have my unending gratitude, as do Michelle Richter and Tara Cibellithey are just wonderful. Wendy Lewis, the book whisperer, turned around my poor words and made them user-friendly. John Murphy, head of publicity, and Colleen Schwartz worked energetically to get the word out. Sales, marketing, design, productioneveryone at St. Martins gets kudos from me. I appreciate the efforts of every single person at that remarkable company.

My trainer, Joe Masiello of Focus Integrated Fitness, saw me through the awful months of my knee injury and managed to keep the rest of my body strong. His advice on the exercise chapter was spot-on.

Shakila Rosario, the star of my office, gets a big thank-you. Your humor, poise, and gentle grace make every day a delight.

My dear husband and tango partner, Gerold, is always there for me. Thank you for it all. My children, Erika and Matthew, fill me with joy.

New York has a trip-hammer vitality
which drives you insane with restlessness,
if you have no inner stabilizer.

ARTHUR MILLER

New York is often referred to as the city that never sleeps. New Yorkers are known for boundless energy and excitement. They are by their very nature unwilling to miss out on any of it. Fast-paced multitaskers, everyone is on their BlackBerrys 24/7. New York residents typically take less vacation time than residents of most other regions in America. The phrase New York minute describes New Yorkers to a tee. They dont want to wait more than a minute and can fit more into a minute in time than anyone else on the map.

My high-profile patients lead busy, hectic lives that are scheduled to the nanosecond. The result is that their energy supplies get depleted and they feel as if they are slipping into a state of total exhaustionboth physically and emotionally. New Yorkers are like the Energizer Bunny; if they keep going at a frenetic pace, 24/7, they will eventually hit a wall.

My daily routine rarely varies. I am up at 5:30 A.M. to work out for an hour, have a healthy breakfast, and then walk along Park Avenue to my office, where I review laboratory records and charts of the patients I will see throughout the day. My work is very rewarding. As a physician specializing in nutrition, daily I see people turn their lives around. Men and women from all walks of lifestockbrokers, restaurant owners, real estate developers, physicians, dentists, schoolteachers, lawyers, socialites, and even religious clergyare patients of mine. Across the board they complain of low energy, fatigue, and sleep difficulties. But as they follow my plan, they become revived and invigorated. While cardiologists and internists can be satisfied knowing their prescriptions enable their patients to live longer, I feel like I have the added gratification of witnessing true transformations every day.

I often tell my patients about my grandmother, Maggie Ella. She was a dynamic, energetic woman who lived her life and raised seven children on a farm. Her impact on me was immense and my memories of her are strong. She was in perpetual motion. When I stayed with her we would feed the chickens first thing in the morning. Then she did the laundry, put the clothes through the wringer, and hung them on the clothesline with wooden clothespins. And I can still remember the fresh scent of my bed linens, which my grandmother ironed after they had dried in the Texas air. We picked vegetables from the garden for dinner; I shelled peas and snapped green beans into bite-size portions. We baked bread together every other day. My grandmother caught one of her chickens, wrung its neck, plucked the feathers, and then cooked it for dinner. There was no dishwasher, except my grandmother. All pots, pans, glasses, and dishes were hand washed. The house was spotless. She did an enormous amount of physical work daily. It was tiring, I am sure, but it was a source of pride for her. She would have laughed at the idea of a personal trainer!

Maggie Ella showed me how to have a zest for life, as this is what kept her going. Even when her days were long and she had her aches and pains, her spirit never wavered. She was strong, had a positive attitude toward her lifeand her healthand she lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three! Her natural energy was driven by her exuberant spirit.