Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty focused on using evidence-based, healthy lifestyle changes as a means to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic diseases. Lifestyle medicine empowers individuals to make healthy lifestyle choices that can ultimately lead to improved health and well-being.

At Consulting Cardiologists, we are proud to have two skilled providers who specialize in this area. Their goals is to educate and support our patients in making lifestyle changes in order to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and improve your overall health.

Core Principles of Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle medicine is guided by 5 core principles:

Focus on Lifestyle: Lifestyle changes are prioritized as the primary treatment for chronic conditions, rather than relying solely on medication or surgery.

Evidence-Based: Scientific evidence is used to guide lifestyle interventions, ensuring they are effective and safe.

Whole-Person Approach: All aspects of a person’s life are considered, including their physical, mental, and social well-being, when developing treatment plans.

Prevention and Reversal: Lifestyle medicine aims to prevent the onset of chronic diseases and, when appropriate, reverse existing conditions through healthy lifestyle changes.

Patient Empowerment: Patients are encouraged to take an active role in their health by making informed decisions and adopting sustainable lifestyle changes.

Lifestyle Medicine Areas of Focus

Lifestyle medicine focuses on these core areas:

Nutrition: Emphasizes a whole-food, plant-predominant diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, while minimizing processed foods, saturated fats, and added sugars.
Exercise: Promotes regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity tailored to your needs and abilities.
Stress management: Teaches techniques for managing stress, such as mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation exercises.
Social Support: Encourages strong social support networks and positive relationships.
Sleep: Encourages sufficient, high-quality sleep to optimize your physical and mental health.
Avoidance of risky behaviors: Promotes the avoidance of tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption, and other harmful substances.
Weight loss management: Support with usage and maintenance of GLP-1 agonists.

Meet Our Lifestyle Medicine Providers

Dr. John Dinkler and Amanda Votto, PA, are our Lifestyle Medicine experts. They have completed education in Lifestyle and Wellness Coaching including recent certification by Harvard Medical School’s Executive Education Program. They believe Lifestyle Medicine is a critical factor in improving cardiovascular outcomes and quality of life. They enjoy working 1:1 with patients to create customized plans that lead to long term, sustainable improvements in overall health.

How the Program Works

If you are interested and/or referred to our Lifestyle Medicine clinic, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about your lifestyle. We will then schedule a 45-minute consultation in one of our office locations. Sessions are covered by insurance.

In our initial consultation, we will discuss your eating and exercise habits, smoking and substance use history, sleep quality, social network, and overall mental health. Together, we will create a personalized plan that is customized to your challenges and goals. Through education and coaching, you will learn the small steps you can take that can lead to real change.

In follow-up 30 minute sessions, we will assess your progress. We will celebrate your accomplishments and uncover obstacles in your way. Our goal is to help you stay on track to achieve your ultimate goals. Some patients return for 2-3 follow-up visits and others to schedule more sessions. The frequency is based on your specific needs and motivation.

How to Get Started

If you or your doctor think you can benefit from working with our Lifestyle Medicine clinic, reach out to our team.

Stop by the front desk and ask for information about Lifestyle Medicine.
Call our main number (860) 522-0604 and ask to schedule a Lifestyle Medicine visit.