A BODY THAT SHEDS FAT

UNCOMPLICATE WELLNESS: Dr. Breus’ easy “Domino Effect” plan fights stress, improves sleep and jump-starts metabolism. Linda cured her insomnia and lost 2 sizes!

- LISA MAXBAUER

This festive time of year, we all want to look and feel our best with our nearest and dearest, without all the stress of strict gym and nutrition routines. But wellness has gotten so darn complicated. Who wants to cold plunge in the winter?!

Clinical psychologist and world-renowned sleep pro Michael Breus, Ph.D., author of The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan, set out to find a simpler way to transform health and weight. He knew, “I can’t ask people to do anything they don’t already do.” So he focused on three simple “bio behaviors”—which he calls dominoes of health, things that are already part of our daily routines.

“You have to sleep, you have to hydrate and you have to breathe,” he explains. And if you line up those three dominoes correctly, they start a chain reaction that improves stubborn weight issues. Unfortunately, Dr. Breus finds, most people “are sleeping, hydrating and breathing wrong.” And women over 40 suffer most.

In Dr. Breus’ new book, Sleep Drink Breathe, he shares a three-week jump-start plan to improve habits for the long term. Let’s dive in…

The power of hydration

About 75% of us are chronically dehydrated, according to the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The color of your urine offers a clue to your hydration status: It should be clear or pale yellow, not dark. Hydration expert Dana Cohen, M.D., coauthor of Quench, also suggests trying the pinch test. “If skin ‘tents’—it doesn’t bounce back to its normal shape—especially on the tops of your hands, you are dehydrated.”

WHY WATER MATTERS:
“Hydration is energy. If you’re dehydrated, nothing functions well,” including your metabolism, says Dr. Breus. Plus, it’s easy to mistake thirst for food cravings and overeat. Top tips:

Figure out your formula.