Jane Brody always writes articulate and sensible columns on health and fitness that connect to our daily lives. You should bookmark her and read her regularly.
In this column, she discusses how to avoid losing fitness and gaining weight during the holiday season and winter in general.
Some of the key points from the column:
- We tend to eat foods that are more calorically dense in the winter. (Obviously a bad thing for weight gain.)
- Many people cut back on physical activity during winter as it becomes more difficult to exercise outside. Stress is higher during the holidays and we’re busy with less time to exercise.
- Holiday parties bring on greater than normal temptation to overeat.
- We gain pounds during the winter and if we don’t have a conscious strategy, we may not lose those extra pounds during the rest of the year.
- We may be biologically programmed to put on some extra fat in winter to keep warm and eating itself generates heat.
The key to success, according to Ms. Brody is to develop a sensible eating strategy and factoring exercise in your daily routine. Feel hungry? Take a brisk 30 minute walk instead of eating. Avoid red meat to the maximum extent possible and focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and sea food, and avoid processed foods (the so called “Mediterranean diet.”) Never go to a dinner party hungry and in all eating, focus on portion control. Keeping track of everything you eat is a key factor is losing weight.
All great stuff. Read the full article here.
Many of the suggestions in the article are tried and true health and diet advice that we simply can’t repeat often enough.
Here are getfitsource.com’s top ten weight loss rules repeated from an earlier post.
Getfitsource.com: Top ten weight loss rules.
1. Weigh yourself every morning, always.
A daily morning weigh in is essential to losing weight. It will serve as definite measurement of your progress as well as a subtle psychological incentive not to over eat. Your weight on any one morning may be affected by factors such as exact time of weigh in, time of your last meal, water retention, etc. that do not affect your long term weight loss plans. However, over time you will understand how these factors affect your morning weigh in. Also, importantly, the morning weigh in “puts you in touch with your body” so that you can see the immediate effect of your prior day’s eating habits. Our forthcoming health book devotes an entire chapter to the morning weigh in, so it’s a complex subject, but you get the idea.
2. Educate yourself about food and keep track of calories.
If you do not understand the caloric content of what you are eating, you will never be able to lose weight effectively. There is simply no way around this. You must educate yourself with respect to the caloric content of the foods you are eating. The internet has hundreds of sites that provide the caloric content of basic foods. You have to learn about caloric content and portion size. You’ll need a small scale in the kitchen to determine what 4 ounces of hamburger meat means. You will likely have to write down the foods you eat and their calories initially but over time you can easily keep it in your mind. Take a few minutes twice a day to add up your calories so far and do a final tabulation before going to bed.
3. Set a daily calorie goal and visualize an eating plan for each day.
In order to lose weight you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. A good rule of thumb for a calorie goal is to take your target weight times 10 to 12 for the number of calories you can consume and lose weight. So, if your target is 150 lbs, you should be in the 1500 to 1800 caloric range. Once you have your target, visualize your eating plan every day. It’s similar to a credit card with a credit limit. Your credit limit is, for example, 1500 calories and once you consume them, you’ve reached your limit: no more charges. The good news? You get a new allotment each and every day.
4. Avoid refined carbs whenever possible.
Refined carbs are anything with refined sugars and processed starches; for example, soft drinks, donuts, cakes, bagels, muffins, and candy bars. Complex carbs (good carbs) such as whole wheat bread are fine. Also, while some fruits and vegetables tend to cross over into the “bad carb” area such as pineapple and watermelon, generally feel free to eat any vegetable or fruit as long as you control calories. Refined carbs per se are the enemy and to be avoided, because, besides containing excess calories, they raise your glycemic index and will cause you to be much hungrier later in the day. Do avoid orange juice and similar juices.
5. Healthful eating is a plus, but calories consumed are more important.
Don’t let “healthful” eating get in the way of losing weight. Although calories from different sources can and will impact other areas of your health, they are all created equal as to their impact on your weight. Walnuts are healthful foods, containing omega 3 fatty acids, manganese, copper, and tryptophan. But a cup of walnuts, an amount which is quite easily consumed as a snack, contains a whopping 652 calories. Don’t even think about the faux healthful foods that are refined carbs masquerading under the “low fat” label. Yes, all things being equal eat the healthful foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. But, when losing weight, it’s all about the calories.
6. Exercise is crucial (but not as important as calories consumed.)
A person weighing 150 pounds who walks three miles in an hour will burn approximately 250 calories. A standard two ounce candy bar contains around 280 calories. As to losing weight, you can either walk over three miles or not eat that candy bar—the effect on your weight loss program will be approximately the same (the candy bar is somewhat worse.) However, there is no contradiction in establishing up front that you need to exercise to lose weight; it’s just that calorie control will trump exercise and you can’t lose weight effectively simply by exercising. Exercise confers a litany of health benefits to which we devote several chapters in our forthcoming book and is essential to your well being.
7. Develop a plan to burn extra calories each day.
At the weight loss margin, every calorie counts. Everything that you can do to burn extra calories is helpful. We’ve blogged many of these in the past but they include: taking the stairs whenever possible, parking as far as you can at work and at the supermarket, vigorous play with the kids or the dog, gardening, yard work, isometrics at work, standing while talking on the phone instead of being seated, moving around when you watch TV, and so forth. Depending on your schedule, take a few minutes each morning to plan these activities. If you can burn an extra 100 calories per day, that equates to a ten pound weight loss over the period of a year. Your formal exercise plan is a separate issue. Plan to exercise vigorously at least 4 times a week, for at least 30 minutes and preferably an hour. Learn about functional training and cross training to maximize the benefits of exercise for weight loss and overall health.
8. Don’t expect to feel full after eating.
If you eat to satiety, if you have to have that feeling of fullness before you stop eating, you will not lose weight. It’s the elephant in the room of all dieting: losing weight means sacrifices and one of those sacrifices is that you can’t have that same feeling of satiety that you may wish. However, with good planning and careful eating of lots of fruits and vegetables, you can minimize the feeling of hunger, but you may not be able to totally banish it. Try to recognize that being slightly below complete satiation is a far better than feeling bloated and stuffed from overeating and perhaps having acid reflux.
9. Buy a pair of jeans in your target weight size and try them on twice a week.
This rule relates to both measurement of your progress and motivation for the future. Putting on those jeans, or trying to put on those jeans, depending on where you are in your plan, is a stark reminder of your need to control your weight. It will also serve as a complement to the daily weigh in to understand your progress. The time will come when you get to the point of being proud to wear those jeans in public.
10. Never reward yourself or deal with stress with any product that contains calories.
Food is for sustenance not for rewards or reducing stress. If you have a personal psychology where you are in the habit of eating a high calorie meal when you are frustrated or to reward yourself for some accomplishment, you must change your psychology. Banish the words, “comfort foods” from your vocabulary. If you find yourself eating from either of these two factors, stop and reassess. Over time and with conscious effort you can wean yourself from destructive eating patterns. The first step is recognition, then control. Taking pleasure in eating is, of course, fine, and can be a great source of personal enjoyment, as long as it meets your calorie guidelines. Actually, as you learn more about food and its caloric content, your satisfaction in eating will improve. It’s great fun to be smart enough to eat well and not gain weight.