Dr. Karam’s Personal Advice to Improve Health and Wellness

In the spirit of a new year, I’m shifting gears from facial rejuvenation and skin health to a more holistic focus: overall health and wellness.

During medical school and residency, I didn’t prioritize my health at all. My diet was hospital food like tater tots and chocolate milk, and exercise wasn’t even on my radar. But as I got into my practice and started seeing patients in their 50s and beyond living full, vibrant lives, I was inspired to make a change.

The truth is, I always knew health and wellness mattered, but there was so much advice out there, and so many directions to go. But now, after 20 years of refining my habits, I’ve simplified everything into a few key practices that deliver maximum impact in minimal time.

This collection of habits has profoundly improved my life, and my hope is that they’ll inspire and empower you to create your own path to a healthier, happier, and more energized you.

Here are my 5 tips to simplify health and wellness:

1. 
   Exercise for Strength, Endurance, and Longevity

Regular exercise isn’t just about looking fit—it’s one of the most effective tools for improving heart health, mobility, mood, and longevity. Research shows consistent physical activity reduces the risk of chronic diseases, boosts mental health, and keeps your body resilient as you age.

Strength training helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, which naturally decline with age. Cardiovascular exercise supports your heart and circulation, while functional movements improve mobility and prevent injuries.

The most important thing I have found about exercise is to build a routine that fits into your life.

How It Works in My Life:

For me, exercise had to be simple, efficient, and accessible. I keep my workouts short—30–40 minutes. For me, I found it was best to bring my work-outs home because then I really had no excuse to not do it.

My routine centers around calisthenics—bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and core work. These movements save time by targeting multiple muscle groups at once.

For cardio, I’ve found rucking—walking with a weighted backpack—remarkably effective. It strengthens my cardiovascular system, builds endurance, and doubles as quality time with my wife.

How You Can Start:

• At-Home Options: Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated. A few dumbbells, a pull-up bar, and a yoga mat are all you need. 
• Budget-Friendly Tip: YouTube has countless free, guided calisthenics and cardio workouts. Or, you can get outside for your cardio, like I do–no gym membership required.
• Find What You Love: Whether it’s dance, yoga, biking, or walking, the best workout is one you’ll stick with. Find something you genuinely enjoy so you look forward to it every day. 

Wellness to Recover and Restore Body + Mind

I find that wellness practices are about creating space for my physical recovery, mental clarity, and emotional balance. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook the importance of rest and recovery, but wellness isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Wellness isn’t one-size-fits-all. For some, it might mean a daily meditation session or a quiet walk in nature. For others, it could be a massage, a podcast, yoga, or even something as simple as sipping a cup of tea in stillness. I tend to gravitate toward practices that not only feel good in the moment but also deliver long-term results for my health, longevity, and overall well-being.

Whatever works for you, carve out this time for recovery, and let it become a daily ritual.

How It Works in My Life:

Every night, I spend 20 minutes in a 194-degree sauna. It’s not just about sweating—it’s about stress relief, better sleep, and improving overall health. Saunas have been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk, improve circulation, and support detoxification.

In the mornings, I have added the cold plunge to my daily wellness routine. I start my day with a 2–3 minute in water at 36 degrees. It’s mentally tough, but the mood boost and energy spike are worth it, and after it’s over, I‘ve already accomplished something difficult for the day, which boosts my serotonin and dopamine. 

In the evenings, while watching a show with my family, I use my red light therapy cap, and stretch and roll out my muscles to improve my flexibility, posture, and release physical tension. Stretching is something I do because it’s relaxing, and also prevents stiffness, especially after a long day in the operating room. This has been a big part of my routine to help keep me out of pain. 

How You Can Start:

• Affordable Options: Wellness doesn’t have to be expensive. Try finishing your showers with a blast of cold water, or spend a couple of minutes in a cold, winter pool. If a sauna isn’t accessible, they make portable infrared tents and blankets that offer similar benefits.
• Small Changes: Try adding 5–10 minutes of wellness like stretching, meditation, breathwork, or reading before bed and notice how it helps you unwind and improves your sleep.
• Explore Your Options: Look into gyms that offer wellness options, like red light therapy, massage chairs, saunas, or steam rooms. Or, if you’re not a gym person, you can look into wellness centers that offer memberships for those types of treatments instead.

Nutrition to Fuel Your Body and Energy

The food you eat is one of the most powerful tools for your overall health and well-being. It directly impacts your energy levels, mood, skin health, and long-term vitality. When you fuel your body with nutrient-dense foods, you’re not just satisfying hunger—you’re giving your cells the resources they need to function optimally, repair damage, and thrive.

A healthy diet also impacts how you feel every day. I’ve personally experienced the difference a clean, balanced diet makes. I used to start my mornings with foods like chocolate chip muffins that left me sluggish and foggy by midday. But now that I am intentional about eating whole foods, I feel sharper, more energized, and more capable of handling long hours in surgery without hitting an afternoon slump.

How It Works in My Life:

For over a decade, I have started my day with a green smoothie packed with kale, spinach, ginger, blueberries, and almond milk. My lunch is light but energizing—like an almond butter sandwich with a cup of coffee, and I have this famous protein cookie that Neda makes for me that has been the staple of my daily surgical midday routine; there's no sugar in it, but it's incredibly delicious. 

When I come home it's basically a bowl of protein, all sorts of vegetables like sauteed mushrooms, sweet potato, salad–all these wonderful, beautiful colors I get that I get in the evenings. I love cooking and we enjoy putting our meals together knowing we are eating clean, healthy, delicious nutrients. Nutrition isn’t about perfection—it’s about building small, sustainable habits.

How You Can Start

• Simple Swaps: Replace one meal a day with a homemade smoothie. I add greens and protein to make mine more nutrient-dense. Also, swap sugary snacks for homemade options or yogurt, nuts, or fruit. 
• Affordable Eating: To save money, cook at home. I would say 90% of what I eat every week, we make at home, which is more cost-effective, but it also gives me control over ingredients—ensuring every meal is fresh, balanced, and nutrient-rich.
• Plan Ahead: Neda and I meal plan every weekend, prepping the essentials for the week in advance. We plan dinners and prep fresh salads, ensuring healthy, balanced meals are ready and stress-free.

Skincare Routine to Look As Good As You Feel 

Your skin health is a direct reflection of your overall wellness. A consistent skincare routine protects against environmental damage, prevents premature aging, and enhances your natural confidence.

I designed Trifecta, a simple yet powerful 3-step system, to deliver everything your skin needs:  Rinse Daily Cleanser to gently remove impurities, Quench Vitamin C Serum to brighten and protect, and Illuminate Anti-Aging Cream, an all-in-one formula to enhance skin tone and texture.

How It Fits Into My Life:

I’ve personally used Trifecta every day for over three years, and the results speak for themselves. I could never commit to skincare before, but now it takes two minutes morning and night, and has become a non-negotiable part of my day, whether I’m sick or on vacation, nothing stops me from my consistent skincare routine. I also never skip SPF—it’s my daily shield against sun damage and one of the most impactful habits for maintaining youthful skin over time.

How You Can Start:

• Simplify Your Routine: Choose a system that’s easy to commit to. Great skin doesn’t require a 10-step program. Keep it simple, consistent, and effective.
• Sun Protection is Essential: Never skip SPF—it’s the most important step in preventing premature aging and skin damage. Support sun protection with antioxidants in your skincare routine both morning and night for further protection and repair.
• Stay Consistent: Using a committed skincare routine, twice a day, can make a visible difference. Skincare isn’t about chasing perfection—it’s about building a small, sustainable habit that keeps your skin healthy, resilient, and glowing for years to come.

Invest in What Brings You Joy

Wellness isn’t just physical—it’s also about finding happiness in life’s little pleasures. Find rituals that make you feel a little better or your day a little brighter. Whether it’s a great cup of coffee, a hobby you love, or going out for a jog in the fresh air and sunshine, these moments can bring peace and contentment.

If you find something that improves the quality of your life, invest in it. Buying a new pair of running shoes can be just what you need to re-spark some joy. If you need to drink more water, invest in a reusable water bottle that encourages you. Or invest in yourself and try new things, it might inspire a new passion. 

Wellness doesn’t have to be about grand gestures—it’s about consistently showing up for yourself in small, meaningful ways every day.

How It Works in My Life:

For me, coffee is one of life’s simple pleasures. I invested in a high-quality coffee machine and I choose organic beans so I know the coffee I drink every day is high-quality (and I don’t have to clean out the espresso grounds which is the part that does not bring me joy).

It’s a small ritual that not only makes my day easier and saves me time, but also brings me happiness every morning.

How You Can Start

• Try New Things: If you don’t have something in mind yet, invest in new hobbies. Sign up for a class, start a creative project, or get a gym membership—investing in yourself can be great motivation to get you started. 
• Invest in Tools That Support Your Habits: Having the right tools can make your daily habits more enjoyable. Love skincare? Investing in a high-quality routine, a new red light mask, or an at-home skin treatment, can all add value to your current routine.
• Time is Money: Little luxuries don’t have to be expensive; it’s about intentionality. Carving out a small pocket of time every day can also be an investment—a morning walk, journaling, or decluttering your space can take time and pay you back with an uplifted mood.

The Key to Everything: Consistency

These habits have completely changed my life. I feel healthier, stronger, and more mentally focused than I ever have–but this didn’t happen overnight. Consistency is everything. 

Building a habit takes months, sometimes years, but once it’s part of your routine, it becomes second nature. Whether it’s exercise, wellness practices, nutrition, daily rituals, or skincare, the real magic happens when you stick to small daily habits that build over time, creating real, lasting change.

Your path to health, wellness, and longevity doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be yours. Start small, stay committed, and remember that every little step adds up.

Draft #1:

In the spirit of a new year, we’re going change gears from facial rejuvenation and skin health to overall health and wellness. 

Now if this is a topic that intimidates you, let me start by admitting something about my experience in medical school and residency:  I didn't prioritize my health at all. Literally didn't think twice about it. I did not exercise, I was eating hospital foods like tater tots and chocolate milk, and it wasn't until I became a facial plastic surgeon and saw patients that from 50s onward, basically had zero medical problems, in good shape, living life fully–and that inspired me to make a change. But going from absolutely nothing to trying to figure it all out was complicated.

There are so many different directions between diets, exercise, wellness, skin and all these other things. Personally, it has taken me 20 years to simplfy everything down to what I consider the essence the most important things that give me the highest bang for my buck in the shortest amount of time. 

But, these health and wellness habits were not something I just came upon easily. One of the most important things I had to figure out was that habit formation is the key to all good things. 

If you figure out the right thing to do and do it on a daily basis, eventually a habit will form, and that habit is going to carry you forward where you don't even have to worry about motivating yourself. 

But habits don't happen overnight. 

They happen slowly, as you maintain discipline to do it on a regular basis, until suddenly the habit forms. This takes at least 3 months, but for an engrained pattern, I’d say close to a year, maybe sometimes a year and a half, to really, truly develop that habit. 

Along my personal health and wellness journey, I've learned tricks to make building healthy habits easier, and ways to accomplish wellness goals in the least amount of time possible, and that's what I'm going to share with you.

This is my personal lifestyle philosophy that I have applied to my own life that has allowed me to be efficient with my time, to be able to give myself the physical energy and the mental energy to be able to do the things that I do to live my life fully.

So let's get started. 

Here is my simplified philosophy on health and wellness, aka my “Life Hacks”:

Exercise: 

One of the biggest challenges is finding a routine that works for you, but also finding a routine that you can actually do on a regular basis. 

What I found was that if I bring the exercise home, and I sort out a good routine for at home, then it's really straightforward. In the morning, I get out of bed and get to it right away. In the evenings, when I come home 30 - 40 minutes, there's no excuse. My workouts never take longer than that, whihc makes it easier to stick to, and I get it all in in under an hour, so time is never going to be an excuse in that situation. 

Workouts are personal, and the key is finding something you enjoy. Some people love the energy of group fitness, the fresh air of running, the release of kickboxing. Neda loves F45, and I personally enjoy calisthenics, which is body weight exercises, push ups, pull ups, dips, core exercises, leg exercises, that don't always involve a lot of weight. 

It can be done literally anywhere, and isextremely time saving, and also extremely functional, because they're all compounding exercises–meaning when you do a push up, you're using your shoulders, your triceps, your chest and your core. You're using all these things together. So you don't necessarily have to do four or five different individual type of workouts for each muscle group, instead they all get addressed in one or two activities. This has saved a tremendous amount of time for me.

Calisthenics is challenging. It's difficult. Body weight exercises are the foundation of military training, martial arts training, wrestling training, boxing training, and I feel my body is moving significantly better than it ever has. From an athletic point of view, frankly, I think my body looks more compacted in better shape physically, in addition to being stronger than it ever has. 

Cardio, my routine in the mornings, before I get to the office, almost seven days a week, is I go out for a ruck. I put a weighted backpack on and go for a 45 minutes, sometimes an hour, sometimes an hour and a half walk. I used to do it without a ruck, and then I started adding the ruck because it increases the physical burden. It's more energy consuming. It also is better for a cardiovascular point of view, muscular point of view, you're going up hills, etc. So rucking has been a very good addition to my daily routine, just adding a layer of efficiency to something that I do with Netta almost every day, it's great time she and I go out on a walk. We spend time together, we catch up, and I'm getting a great exercise out of it, peloton. But something I do in the mornings, if I don't go out on a rock, I'm going to supplement that with at home exercise, with peloton at home gym, not heavy equipment, nothing expensive, literally, just handful of dumbbells and a pull up bar. They're good to go cardio, super easy. I can't run regularly. My knee hurts. 

1. Wellness, 

For me, wellness practices are my time just to recover, mentally and physically. Wellness is holistic and integrates practices that benefit the mind-body-spirit connection to help create a balanced and fulfilling life. Wellness can mean a lot of things: from something as simple as spending time in nature, or the more scientifically advanced versions of wellness like red light therapy or hot/cold therapies. As someone who obviously values science-backed regimens, some of these wellness practices have been proven to be incredibly beneficial to your health and longevity, and incorporating them in my life has become a highlight in my day. Just like exercise, you have to find what you enjoy or what can be tailored to your lifestyle and goals. Whether you’re focusing on physical recovery, mental health, or overall vitality, integrating these into your routine can create meaningful, long-lasting benefits.

Examples of wellness practices to try:

• Yoga, breathwork, meditation
• Going outside to get fresh air, taking a walk
• Red light therapy
• Cryotherapy or cold plunges
• Steam rooms, saunas, spas
• Getting a massage or stretching

What I do:

• Every night, after work and dinner—usually around eight o’clock—I make time for a 20-minute sauna session. At 194 degrees, it’s intense, but the benefits are incredible. Research shows regular sauna use (3–4 times a week) can reduce cardiovascular-related death by 50%. It boosts heat shock proteins, which are vital for heart health, and raises your heart rate, giving you a light cardio workout. Plus, you sweat out toxins, and the mental benefits are just as powerful—improved mood, endorphin release, and overall psychological relief. It’s also fantastic for muscle recovery and overall wellness. While infrared saunas have their place, I prefer the traditional dry sauna—it’s been more extensively studied. Either way, sauna therapy is a game-changer for both body and mind.
• I added a cold plunge around the same time I set up my sauna. Sometimes, I’ll turn it down to 36 degrees—about as cold as it gets—with the water flow on, creating a river-like effect. I use it every morning, no exceptions, for 2–3 minutes. The feeling afterward is incredible—pure elation and energy. Cold plunging has well-documented benefits: mood stabilization, increased serotonin and dopamine levels, enhanced immune function, and cardiovascular support. But beyond the physical effects, it’s about doing something hard every day. Just like spending 20 minutes in a 194-degree sauna isn’t exactly comfortable, starting your morning with something difficult—like stepping into freezing water—makes everything else in the day feel a little more manageable. It’s a mental reset, a physical boost, and a daily ritual I wouldn’t trade for anything.
• Stretching is important, especially if you are like me and standing all day, or the opposite, anyone who sits in a chair all day, or is like in a position your body is contracting, it needs to be released and opened up. An important part of just being physically mobile and active is having that stretching component. I do it almost every single day, but I don't have necessarily an hour or 45 minutes to stretch every day. So I do it in the evenings, as our family comes together to watch a Netflix show or whatever it is, I'm on the ground and I'm rolling, I'm stretching, I'm doing calf stretches, all these different things, a great use of enjoying the show, very relaxing stretching. And when you stretch on a regular basis, it's not painful anymore. It's actually enjoyable. And then afterwards, you feel great if I don't get it done at that point, I always do a short stretching routine before I go to bed. It actually helps me sleep better. My body feels better unwinding and part of that, if you can add this to your lifestyle, trust me, it'll make things a lot better. 
• On top of that, I hang every single day I go to the pull up bar that I have in there in just like a minute or two. You just feel your entire body relaxing. In addition, you're building grip strength, but you just feel all your vertebrae just completely unraveling. And unwinding is that weight is being pulled away in a vertical fashion. It's an incredible addition, shoulder health, back health, and posture, all these things hanging is one of the greatest hacks. And I strongly, strongly urge you guys to include this in this and just basically get a pull up bar somewhere in the garage or somewhere in the house or whatever it is, and include this. And it can be in a doorway. Stretching helps all of us who have sedentary lifestyle jobs to feel functional and being able to be, you know, productive for longer.

03.

Diet. 

As I mentioned, I used to eat terribly. Had no idea what good food was, no idea what I was doing. I'd eat like a chocolate chip muffin on my way to work and then start my day, but always felt tired in the middle of the day. I was a lot younger, but I felt a lot more tired at some point. 

I can't remember what it was, but then I started drinking green smoothies, blueberries, ginger, kale and chard and spinach, yogurt, almond milk. Neda makes it in the morning. She's gone on it as well for the last, however, many years. Honestly, the first time I started doing this, I could feel the energy fueling my body. It was incredible. I remember very vividly going into surgery early in the morning. I just felt like a different person as a result of that, and that's been a daily habit for, I would say, close to 15 years now, but it's been like constant part of my day, and start my day with a with a green smoothie. 

90% of what I eat on a weekly basis is food that we make at home. I rarely, rarely eat outside, except for socially, when we go out with friends or we're on vacation, despite the fact that I can appreciate and love the food that is being prepared from any restaurant, even the best restaurants, nothing compares to the food that's made at home. I love cooking, something I do practically every night for the family, knowing that you are choosing excellent ingredients, we get most of our stuff. It's all organic and locally sourced, fresh fish, grass fed beef, organic free range chickens and eggs, we make a very big effort in terms of making sure that we're eating at home most of the time, and which means that Neda and I, on the weekends, we spend meal prep, our salads, all that other stuff is being prepared. Mid week, Neda will make another batch of salads, but together we will put together all the stuff. 

My daily diet is a green smoothie in the morning, followed by an almond butter sandwich right before surgery, a cup of coffee, and then in the afternoon, I have this famous protein cookie that Neda makes for me that has been the staple of my daily surgical midday routine for again, over 10 plus years. There's no sugar in it, but it's incredibly delicious. Then I come home and it's basically a bowl of protein, all sorts of vegetables, healthy carbohydrates, oils, a salad, sauteed mushrooms, sweet potato, all these wonderful, beautiful colors I get that in the evenings. 

The beauty of it is the energy throughout the day, because there's not these highs and lows of sugar. I feel completely the same. And it's so important, especially as a surgeon, that my morning case, I feel the same way as I do for my afternoon case, I never feel different. And it's because the food keeps me kind of in the same energy, insulin and sugar levels are all dialed in very, very important aspect of it. 

04.

Invest in What You Love

I enjoy the taste of coffee in the morning. I don't need it for being awake, I just enjoy a good, good cup of coffee. I like espresso, but the whole espresso machine cleaning I used to have one years ago, and it just became too much of a fiasco, so I didn't use it. This particular coffee maker that I use, it's all in one; I just press the button and I can make espresso Americanos, etc. I get to choose the beans that I'm going to put in there. So I put in organic beans, making sure it's a healthy bean and flavors that I enjoy. It gives you flexibility. I definitely think these type of things are worth investing in, because a lot of the coffee beans that are out in most of the chain type places, even a smaller boutique type, you're not using organic, pesticide free, etc, type of beans. I want to do the best I can, because if you're going to do it on a regular basis, you want to make sure that what's in you is good. But also, if you have it and it's easy to use, then you're going to do it more often. So this has been something that, in the last year, has been added along with my sauna and cold plunge. This has been a new addition, and it's really been lovely. I mean, a nice espresso midday cappuccino. Don't have to think about it. Just go out and make it. I love it. If you're a coffee lover, that's a great thing to add to your life. And it's a little bit outside the general wellness thing, but it's a pleasure thing, all right.

05.

Skincare. 

From day one as a facial rejuvenation specialist, I always believed in a comprehensive, holistic approach to rejuvenating the faces. I treated the skin, I treated the volume, I treated the shape. I put people on all the well known medically based skincare brands, Zo, SkinMedica, etc, andI would spend 45 minutes talking to my surgical patients after surgery and organizing them on what I thought was a very comprehensive skincare routine; 8 - 10, individual bottles that you have to maintain. I would put people on this with best conscious and three to six months later they would come back and they weren't able to do it. Why? Because there's too many steps. It took too long. It was incompatible with most people's lives. 

That's what inspired me to create the Trifecta. I wanted to put everything together in one single system to make it really easy to do. Up until the last three years since I've had the trifecta, I did not do any skin care. I would look at Neda when she would do her evening routine. I was like, there is no way I can muster up the motivation to do this for myself, but I felt very guilty not doing it, and I knew my skin was going to start to show signs of aging and started getting pigmentation, and I knew it was not going to be a bright future. 

So I developed Trifecta and have been using it for over three years on a daily basis. It takes me two minutes at night, two minutes in the morning. That's it. I've been consistent with it every single day, whether I go on a vacation, whether I'm sick, doesn't matter. Every single day, there's no excuse. I mean, everyone can do two minutes twice a day, right? 

That has been one of the greatest advantages of hacks when it comes to skin, is being able to do something that is completely right for you, that creates real, visible changes. It really has improved my skin a lot, my evenness and tone and it's really easy to use, so it easy to be consistent, and that becomes reinforcing to what we talked about earlier, which is routine building. When it comes to skin, also think about sun protection as an absolute must. So if you're going to do something good for yourself, do the Trifecta + sun protection. Do these things in tandem, and your skin will get younger and younger.

The Key to Everything: Consistency.

If you do these things regularly, you're going to see massive energy coming forward. Your body is going to get stronger, you're going to lose weight, you're going to get more toned. Your skin's going to look better. Your mind is going to get better. Your stress is going to get better, your energy is going to go up. All these good, wonderful things. 

If you do them without commitment, you're really not going to see gains no matter what you do. Go into the gym, workout really hard for a month and stop you're back to Dad Bod and containing your way back and all these other things. So it's all about discipline, to get yourself to a point of routine. Once there's a routine, then it becomes a lot easier, but you need to have the right systems that work for you in your life to be able to make something doable with your time frame and your lifestyle, so that you can remain consistent and build that routine for a healthier happier, long, full life.