Healthy Habits: Dr. Dorit Donoviel enjoys fruit salad, podcasts and plenty of rest

October 3, 2016 Center for Space Medicine, Dr. Dorit Donoviel, Healthy Habits

Taking care of your health is a priority and nobody knows that more than physicians and healthcare providers.

It can sometimes be difficult to find ways to stay healthy, so we’ve asked members of our Baylor College of Medicine community to share what they do in their daily lives to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Dorit Donoviel, director of the Biomedical Innovation Laboratory in the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor and deputy chief scientist at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, shares some of her healthy habits with us.

Q: What health decisions start your day?
A: Sleep! I make sure I get a minimum of seven hours of sleep, but I do best with 7.5. It is the best health and performance booster and it’s free.

Q: What is your go-to healthy breakfast?
A: I alternate between two eggs with Ezekiel 4:9 bread for toast and non-fat, plain Greek yogurt with fresh or frozen berries, honey, and ground flax seeds sprinkled on top.

Q: What is your favorite type of exercise?
A: Intense, short workouts. Ten minutes of hard rowing or stair climbing followed by lunging, squats, abdominal exercises, and free weights arm work.

Q: What keeps you motivated during your workout?
A: Music! 70’s disco stuff is the best.

Q: What activities do you do when you can’t fit in a full workout?
A: If I am traveling, it’s really hard to motivate myself to go to the hotel gym. I try to walk to places.

Q: What is your favorite healthful snack?
A: I am lucky because I love fruit. I will cut up whole melons, papayas, or mangos and keep all of it in a Tupperware in the fridge and snack on that when I get the itch. When I want something crunchy I eat spicy seaweed snacks from Trader Joe’s.

Q: Do you take vitamins and if so, which ones?
A: I take 5000 iu of Vitamin D3 (the gel caps, not tablets), Centrum Silver, and 600 mg of Calcium Citrate a day. I am over 50…

Q: What do you include in your child’s lunch?
A: My kids are grown but both of them loved peanut butter sandwiches.

Q: How do you make an unhealthy recipe healthy (healthy substitutions)?
A: I don’t believe in substituting man-made products for naturally occurring fats. I use only real butter. I will use whole grain flour whenever possible.

Q: What is your nighttime skin regimen?
A: I am religious about removing all makeup, washing my face/neck with a Clarisonic electric face brush and using good products to moisturize with every night. Staying hydrated, eating well and getting plenty of sleep is also important for healthy skin.

Q: What hobbies do you have to help you relax?
A: I love cooking while listening to podcasts or music.

Q: What is your go-to Houston restaurant for a healthy meal?
A: I like Local Foods at Rice Village. I have cut back on eating animal meat for protein, and there are vegetarian options on their menu.

Q: Do you use a pedometer or Fitbit and what is your daily step goal?
A: I have a Fitbit but I don’t use it. I think we are too obsessed with self-monitoring.

Q: What is your favorite health tip that you live by?
A: Sleep sleep sleep!