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IT'S Ii.

~Start GettingHealthierRightNow!

byDr.MarkLiponis

The starsof CBS'sThe BigBangTheory get adviceyou can use,too.

Get afresh start in 2010! Our PARADE month of makeovers will helpyou with

everythingftom finances tofamily. This week, we kick things off with your health.

. To inspireyou, Kaley CuocoaT{liJohnny Galecki, stars of the hit CBS sitcom "The

Big Bang Theory, "joined PARADE ContrilJuting Editor Dr. Mark Liponis

for a three-day stay at Canyon Ranch Health Resort, where he is the medical

director. They were game for some healthy changes. Are you?

also through the lessons theylearned from their parents.Many factors affect yourphysical condition, and family background is oneof them.

ALEY AND JOHNNY AREboth young and healthy, butthey wanted to look and feeleven better. So on a brief hiatus

recendy from shooting their TVshow, they visited me in Lenox,Mass. Over a

period of three days, we rantests to check everythingfrom cholesterol to bone

density to blood sugar,then gave them adviceon health, nutrition,

and fitness. Through itall, Kaley and Johnny weregreat sports. They agreedto share their experi-ences so that others could

benefit from what theylearned, too.

As actors living inHollywood, Kaley andJohnny have pretty simi-lar lifestyles these days. But their childhoods werevery different, and their backgrounds continue toshape their health-not just through genetics but

.HANDLE STRESSBETTERKaley, 24, grew up in a tight-knit family that val-ued healthy eating and exercise. When stressed,she's likely to get active-playing with her dogs

. -. .,. .or riding one of the horses she'shad since childhood.

Johnny, 34, grew up in ablue-collar neighborhood

outside Chicago. At 15,he left home and headedto L.A. on his own. Now

. when he's stressed, Johnnytends to reach for a ciga-

rette or an unhealthy snack.To help him learn better ways to

cope, we hooked h\m up to a biofeedback monitor,which works much like a lie-detector test. "Sen-

sors measure a person's physical reaction to stress,and the results appear on a computer screen in realtime," explains my colleague Dr. Jeff Rossman.

Smallchangescanmakeabigdifference

"Johnny's testing showed a strongphysiologic response to stress, but hewas able to control it using some simplebreathing and visualization exercises."Johnny saythe experience helped him realize that "it's important to take time for myself and decompress.1

. I like to immerse myself in my work, but I needlbalance in my life."

.SAVEVOURJOINTSKaley is in excellent physical shape, but her pos-Iture is her Achilles' heel. "It's true," she says. "Itold the doctors that my back hurts when I slouch)]and they said, 'No, your back hurts becauseyouslouch!'" To help her with the problem, physical'therapist and physiologist Reba Schecter analyzedKaley's carriage and movement.

"Kaley often has pain in her neck and hips,which could be improved by being more mindfulof her posture and doing some simple exercises,"Schecter says. Additionally, her ankles are rotatedslighdy inward-a skeletal problem she's had sincechildhood-which can be corrected with custom

inserts (orthotics) in her shoes. We were happy tocatch this now, because ifleft uncorrected it could

cause serious joint problems later in life.

COVER AND INSIDE PHOTO BY MATTHIAS CLAMER FOR PARADE; HAIR BY STEPHEN RAMSEY/ARTISTS BY TIMOTHY PRIANO, MAKEUP BY NICK BAROSElEXCLUSIVE

ARTISTS, AND STYUNG BY MINDY SAAD/CELESTINE; COVER WARDROBE: CUOCO'S DRESS BY CATHERINE MALANDRINO, BRACELET BY RJ GRAZIANO, AND

EARRINGS BY ALEXIS BITTAR; GALECKI'S SHIRT BY TOMMY HILFIGERAND DENI~ BY SEVEN 7 JEANS; COVER BACKGROUND BY KULYKlSPLlGETTY PAGE 4. JANUARY 3, 2010 . PARADE

Schecter helped the actressget comfortable withthe feeling of good posture-shoulders back, headup, chin in, and spine straight. "Kaley learned howto take the strain out of her neck by shifting herposture," Schecter says."She really got the hang ofit and felt better almost immediately."Kaley agrees."Standing straight helps me look taller and moreconfident," she says."That's really cool."

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g ~ .GETTHE RIGHI NUTRIENTSI:w

~~ Both Kaley and Johnny have struggled with food

~ § in the past, so they met with nutritionist Chrissy

~ ~ Wellington to assess their eating habits. Before she

~ ~ began working with her own nutritionist several~g years ago, Kaley felt like she was constantly grap-

~ ~ pIing with her weight, despite being hungry all~~ the time. She now "grazes" throughout the day to

~ ~ avoid feeling hungry and makes notes about what

~ ~ she eats to stay in control. "It's an everyday batde

~ ~. for me," she says. "I need guidelines."~r; Johnny has been through several crash diets to~.~ slim down for roles, and we saw the effects in his

~ ~ bone-density scores, which were slightly lower3 ~ than normal. (Smoking also decreases bone den-

~ ~ 'sity.) These days, Johnny is eating much better. He3~ has become a vegetarian for the most part, though~ ~ he still eats fish. And he has made other sacrifices,

~. t~o(). "I s,!QPpeddrinking soda about sixweeks ago,"~ ~ he says. "I wanted to make a new health change,

~ ~ so that's what I picked." Wellington applauded~ ~ him for that but encouraged him to make sure"0)-I:°1>«::»-zaJ«~.0::)0Zo~:r:DV>>-0"'vJo~aDei::

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he has breakfast

every mornmg.Eating right afteryou wake up kick-starts your energyand metabolism

and sets a healthytone for the rest of

the day.Kaley's and

Johnny's bloodtests looked goodoverall, thoughKaley has an el-evated level of a

hereditary formof "very bad" cho-lesterol known

as lipoprotein(a),which diet and

the addition of a B vitamin can help control. Sur-prisingly for a guy who lives in sunny SouthernCalifornia, Johnny is severely deficient in vitaminD. We ~commended that he get out of the studioand into the sun more often, and that he take avitamin- D3 supplement daily.Actually, that's goodadvice for many people.

.-------------------------------------------------------.

Howdo you compare? ~

IIIIII

: HealthMeasurementII

: . Body-mass index (BM!)

: BodyfatI

: Bone density: CholesterolI

: HDl ("good") cholesterol

: LDl("bad") cholesterolI

: lp(a) ("very bad") cholesterolI

: Triglycerides

: VitaminDI

: Blood sugar (A1c level): Blood PressureII

Kaley Johnny.'..Desired~_Range

19;9 . 24.4 lessthan2522.4% ~ 25.1% lessthan25%92% 88% 100%182 203 lessthan20062 63 Over5097 119 lessthan10012 6 lessthan 10119' 118 lessthan 15032.4 13.4 32-100

5.6% 5.6% lessthan.6%90/60 110/70 Below130/80

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Your~c:.Q~~

" "

.PLAN A HEALTHYNEWYEARAt the end of our long weekend together, Kaley,Johnny, and I reviewed their health plans for the

Smallstepscan makea bigdif-ference inyourhealth.

Get a complete checkup.Askyourdoctorto helpyoufill in theabovechart.Knowingyournum-berstellsyouthe areasin whichyouneedto Improve.

De-stress. Try10 minutesof medi-tationoryoga.Simplestretchescanloosentensemusclesin theneck,back,Clndlegs.Orblowoffsteambyexercising,dancing-evenrelaxinginahotbath.

Stand up straight. If you'reasloucherlikeKale~startbytaking--~-

a look at yourselfin afull..lengthrnirror.Goodposture balancestheheaddirectlyabovetheneckandasttaightspine.Trystandingagainstawall-the backof yourheadshouldbe aboutan inchaway.andyourshoulderbladesandbuttocksshouldtouchthewall.

Eatbreakfast. Startthedayrightwithfruit,awhole-gr(\lin,high-fibercereal,andasourceofproteinsuch

. assoymilk,eggs,oraprotein-pow-dersmoothie.

Takeyourvitamins.UkeJohnn~manyof usaredeficientinvitaminDandneedaD3supplement.Talkwithyourdoctor.

Stay fit. Makeexercisea part ofyourroutine.Just30to40minutesof physicalactivitya daywill helpyoustayfit for life.

coming year. Kaley's main goals are to improve herposture and lower her levelsoflipoprotein(a). She'llcontinue to exercise and watch what she eats.

Johnny, who's been hooked on cigarettes for 20years, needs to quit smoking. His lungs alreadyshow mild but significant damage. "Mter talkingto the doctors and undergoing lung-capacity tests,it became clear to me that I smoke too much,"

he says. "That's one of the things I was worriedabout. But I've been cutting way,way down, andhopefully I'll continue to wean myselfoff cigarettesuntil I'm smoke-free. It's definitely time." Johnnyis also a terrible snorer and likely has a conditioncalled sleep apnea, which means he stops breath-ing periodically throughout the night. He couldprobably benefit from a complete sleep study. Butfor now he's planning to practice meditation andexercise more. "I need to look at how to best sus-

tain a healthy lifestyleover a long period oftime," he says.

Mter their check-

ups, KaleyandJohnnyhad a lot of informa-

tion to process, butthey felt relieved and inspired to make healthierchoices in the future. Empower yourself to do thesame. Start by talking with your doctor about anyconcerns you may have, and then determine whatyou need to work on going forward. Make 2010your healthiest, happiest year yet. !III

W:1h:h CBS'sTtwEarty Show onMondny, 7-9 a.m., formOreheam,ildvicf.'

from Dr. Liponis