Staying
an "After"
You have seen them often. The "before" and "after" pictures advertising
weight loss
methods. The unfortunate thing for most is that, even when they
do lose weight, their experience being an "after" is far too fleeting.
The weight comes back as soon as they stop dieting.
The question remains, how do you stay an "after"?
You have heard it all before. You likely already know what is necessary
to maintain weight loss or to stay an "after". You know that
eating a healthy balanced diet and incorporating regular
activity is the way to go. Eating fewer calories than you burn is the
only sure way to lose weight and balancing your intake and output is
the only way to maintain weight.
What might not be as clear is why this, supposedly simple
formula, is nearly impossible for many to implement. The fact is that
your weight problems are based deep within your psyche.
You may feel you are not worthy of this "ideal" weight, you
may see
yourself as a fat person, you may be using the
extra pounds to protect yourself, the list is as long and varied as
there are people struggling with weight.
Staying an "after" means more than just knowing what you need to do. It
means feeling that you deserve to be how you want to be; it means
loving and accepting yourself, first just as you are and then as you
want to be. Once you have your psyche on side, there will be
no
struggle and balance will be restored to your life.
Eating right and
moving your
body are ways of respecting your body and yourself. You body is built
to move; regular physical activity improves
cardiovascular performance and increases metabolism. Regular activity,
even if it is only moderate activity, is not only helpful in weight
maintenance, but in preventing heart disease.
Your body does not always appreciate what your taste buds
love.
A healthy diet contributes to the health of your entire body, from the
cells to the organs. Your body requires fuel to burn, the healthier the
calories you consume, the better use your body can make of them.
Some foods, especially highly refined foods, often referred to as junk
food, can actually be considered anti-nutrients. Tea, coffee,
and
alcohol also fall into the anti-nutrient category. Anti-nutrients,
besides providing no nutritional value, actually
negatively affect the ability of your body to absorb essential
nutrients. Prolonged excessive intake of anti-mutrients is
associated with physical and mental problems.
Neglected
Aspect of Staying an "After"
There is a third, often neglected, aspect of weight loss and
weight maintenance. The emotional component of weight loss is so vital
as this is what enables you to respect your body and yourself.
Once you
fully accept and respect yourself, you will find it easy to
give
your
body what it needs to be healthy and fit.
Unless you resolve the emotional issues that are blocking your success,
you will continue to struggle—sabotaging your own best
efforts. Help dealing
with the emotional component of weight loss.
Thoughts
on Nutrition
Limit
Junk Food
The food that you choose to put in your body has a great impact on your
health and well being, as well as your weight. Just consider the film,
Super Size Me, which looked at the impact of fast food on health. Not
only did Spurlock gain weight, but his cholesterol rose dangerously,
his liver became toxic and his libido sagged.
A Swedish study attempted to replicate Spulock's experiment under
clinical conditions. The subjects were mostly male and
in their
20s. The results were not as drastic as Spulock's, for liver or
cholesterol problems. They propose that Spurlock may not have started
out in perfect health. In the Swedish study, participants gained from 5
to 15% of their
body weight in one month--for a 180 pound person that would have been
between 9 and 27 pounds in one month.
Regardless of how you look at it, eating a lot of junk food is
detrimental to your health and will contribute to weight gain. For
instance, in order to burn the calories contained in a Super Sized Big
Mac Meal, you would have to walk for seven hours. Nutritionist
recommend eating fast food once a month or less.
National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) Nutritional Guidelines:
(The National
Academy of Sciences is a non-profit organization, which
provides a public service by working
outside the framework of government to ensure independent advice on
matters of science, including nutrition.)
Total
fat intake, 30% or less of total calories consumed
Saturated fat intake, less than 10% of calories
Daily cholesterol intake of less than 300 milligrams
Complex carbohydrates, more than 55% of total calories
Eat five
or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily
Especially green and yellow vegetables and citrus fruits
Six or more servings of whole grain breads, cereals and legumes
Eat no more than 1.5 grams per 2 pounds of body weight of protein daily
200
pound man; 150 grams of protein
Eat less than 6 grams of salt daily
Eat low-fat dairy products and dark green vegetables for calcium
Stick to Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for dietary supplements
Drinking alcohol is not recommended.
If you
must drink, drink no more than 1 ounce of pure alcohol a day
(two small glasses of wine, two average cocktails, or two beers)
There are two basic types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Most fiber
rich foods contain some of each type, they typically have more
insoluble fiber. Insoluble fibe is also known as bulk or roughage. It
passes through the intestines basically undigested. It is found in the
peels, skins, stalks, and husks of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
It helps prevent constipation and hemorrhoids. Eating sufficient
insoluble fiber may also help prevent colorectal cancer.
Soluble fiber is more digestible than insoluble fiber. It is found in
fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Soluble fiber forms bulk
in the stomach, giving the sensation of fullness. For this reason
soluble fiber is useful for weight loss or management. Soluble fiber
also slows the rate at which the body absorbs sugars, making it useful
in helping control diabetes. Oat bran can help reduce cholesterol
counts for many people without the side effects associated with drugs.
Fats: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Fats are a necessary part of our diet. Fats help our bodies absorb
nutrients from food, aid nerve transmission and help build healthy cell
membranes. However, too much fat results in weight gain and other
health problems. A common recommendation is to keep your fat intake
below 30% of your daily intake of calories. Besides the amount of fat
consumed the source and type of fat is an important consideration.
Polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats could be called the "Good."
These are liquid at room temperature and are found in nuts and seeds
and oils such as olive, flax and canola. They are also obtained from
salmon, tuna, mackerel and avacados. These fats can help reduce the cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease. They
also provide essential fats that your body needs for normal growth and
development, as well as brain function (omega-6 and omega-3).
The "Bad" fats are the saturated fats. They are solid at room
temperature and are found in animal products, dairy, eggs, some seafood
and oils such as coconut and palm. These fats increse unhealthy
cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease.
Trans-fats could be construed to be the "Ugly." These fats both
increase the bad cholesterol and decrease the good cholesterol. They
are a toxic food substance. Trans-fats are found naturally in small
amount in some animal and dairy products. Most trans-fats are
manufactured as partial-hydrogenated oil, to increase the shelf life of
food. Ironically, increasing the shelf life of food may decrease our
life expectancy. Vegetable shortening is an example of a trans-fat and
the following are excellent sources of trans-fats: deep-fried fast
food, many snack foods, cakes, pastries, muffins, croissants, crakers,
cakes, cookies and donuts.
Though it is not necessary or healthy to avoid all fats, we need to be
aware of what we are eating. Read the labels on packaged foods and
watch for saturated fat and partial-hydrogenated oil.
Plans for Eating
Dispite the claims of fad diets, there are no magical foods, nor are
there specific foods you have to eat or must avoid in order to lose
weight. When planning what to eat it is more important to consider your
likes and dislikes, availablitiy and affordability. It is also
important to consider proper nutrition.
In order to get enough nutrients the average adult needs to eat at
least 1200 kcalories/day. Eating less than that creates feelings of
deprevation and starvation, which inevitibly lead to binging. Remember
that eating a balanced diet leads to many health benefits, even if it
doesn't lead to weight loss.
Try evaluating foods based on nutrient density, that is the amount of
nutrients they give you for each kcalorie eaten. For example a carrot
wieghing 75 grams has 32 kcalories and french fries weighing 55.grams
has 184 kcalories. If you devide the calories by the weight you end up
with the energy density.
Carrots 32 kcal/75 g = .43 kcal/g
French Fries 184 kcal/55g = 3.34 kcal/g
French fries are more energy dense than carrots--they provide more
calories per bite. Choosing foods with high energy density is helpful
with weight gain. Choosing food with low energy density is helpful with
weight loss.
Let's
Get Active
Adding regular movement to your day; at least for 30 minutes three
times per week; helps you lose weight faster and more consistently than
just reducing what you eat. Your body is amazing and intertestingly the
more weight you lose the more efficient your body will become. Meaning
the less you weight the longer you will have to move your body, if you
wish to keep losing weight.
Getting Motivated to Exercise
Knowing the benefits of being active is often not enough to get you
moving. It is more important that you feel confident that you can do
it. Choose an activity that is challenging, but that you are able to
complete successfuly. It does not matter whether you choose to swim,
dance, walk, run, hike, or bike. Choose an activity that you are
confident that you can do. Your confidence can then be increased by
gradually extending the time or increasing the intensity or variety of
the activity.
Finding a partner to exercise with may be a way to increase your
motivation to be consistent. Someone to exercise with can help you get
out the door or help you get started. It can also make the time spend
exercising pass more quickly.
Make it fun. Do anythig that you enjoy. For some games are be much more
enjoyable because of the social aspect. Find creative ways to add
activity to your day.
It can be difficult to fit activity into an already over busy schedule.
The good news is that, although 30 minutes of activity at least 3 times
per week is needed, the 30 minutes can be cumulative. Meaning that
three 10 minute bouts of activity in a day will give you the same
health benefits as 30 minutes. For the activity to count, it needs to
raise your heart rate, you need to exert yourself beyond the usual.
Remember to ease into it. If you start out too intense, you will play out before you begin.
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