It’s only a week after you made that big New Year’s resolution to live healthier in 2007. Already, the weight bench you bought with so much hope is getting a real workout–as your clothes rack.
And so soon after you declared this year would be different, your plan to give up sweets crumbled like the chocolate-chip cookies you couldn’t pass up on a visit to your mom’s.
It’s OK. Big changes come with small steps. Here are some tips.
Motivation
– Buy a digital scale and weigh yourself every day at the same time. Make adjustments as appropriate.
– Change the way you think about exercising. Make it an essential part of your daily routine by adding it to your to-do list.
– Target just 2 pounds of weight loss at a time, so you feel really good every time you meet your goal.
– Start exercising with a goal of 15 minutes. Often, the hardest part–starting–is overcome, and a longer period of exercise becomes less formidable.
– Find a partner in push-ups. Get a friend to commit to the lifestyle change with you, so you can hold each other accountable.
– Keep a log of even your smallest success stories, so you can look back and see progress.
– When you feel like you’ve failed to meet your goals, look at it as having learned something important about yourself. Don’t make it to the gym regularly, but you can manage a home workout? You’re just not a gym person. The more you know about yourself and your patterns, the more you can work with them to your advantage.
Food and drink
– Seek the advice of a registered dietitian.
– If you don’t like an appetizer or dessert that you bite into, don’t finish it. It’s better it go to waste than it go to your waist.
– Spend your calories on things you really like. If you love dark chocolate, accept no substitutes, and don’t be tempted by those milk chocolate kisses in the communal candy dish at the office.
– Get 30 grams of fiber per day from a variety of fruits and vegetables and whole-grain products.
– Eat enough breakfast.
– More carrots, less cake.
– Skim down. Use fat-free rather than whole milk.
– Avoid high fructose corn syrup in your diet.
– Instead of having a hard roll or doughnut for breakfast, eat yogurt and fruit or oatmeal.
– Cut back on carbs.
– Don’t eat butter.
– Don’t use mayonnaise.
– Chew peppermint gum to kill those hunger pangs, especially at night.
– Don’t eat after 7 p.m.
– Think water’s blah? Add a twist of lemon or lime to make it more appealing.
– Have a craving even though you’re really not hungry? Use the delay technique. Wait 10 to 15 minutes, and then see if the craving’s still there. If it is, eat up. Otherwise, see if you can hang on another 10 to 15 minutes. Often, urges pass. Each time you put space between the craving and giving in, you’re weakening the habit of eating on a whim.
– Eat off smaller plates to control portion sizes.
Move, move, move
– Try a trial membership at a gym to see if you like it.
– If you like to socialize, join a group fitness class.
– Exercise at a gym close to where you live.
– Park as far away as you can from the store (even in the parking lot for a neighboring store).
– Always go into the bank, don’t use the drive-up window.
– Find exercise that is FUN. Sticking with it will be EASY.
– Walk 2 miles almost every day.
– Get a weed eater with a steel saw blade, and find things to trim and clear away year-round.
– Do more housework. A 150-pound person can burn 153 calories with 30 minutes of mopping, and your floors will sparkle.
– Dance to music. If you’re shy, that’s what window blinds are for.
– Take the wheels off your luggage.
– Get a dog that likes to go on walks, and take Rover out, rain or shine.
– Know how long you have to walk, run, bike, swim, yoga or dance to burn off those chicken tenders. “The Diet Detective’s Count Down” offers the exercise equivalents for 7,500 foods. Klondike bar? Twenty-seven-minute run. Apple? Eight minutes.
DIETING MYTHS
There are so many myths about weight loss, it’s difficult to figure out what’s true. The Weight-Control Information Network helps sort out the myths with this true/false quiz. Find the answers below. [THE SACRAMENTO BEE].
1. High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are proven to be a healthy way to lose weight.
2. Starches should be limited when trying to lose weight.
3. Government tests have certified most natural or herbal weight-loss products as safe and effective.
4. Fast foods should not be eaten when dieting.
5. Lifting weights will make you “bulk up,” which will cause you to gain weight.
6. Avoid nuts if you are trying to lose weight.
7. Eating red meat makes it harder to lose weight.
8. Vegetarians are never overweight.
Answers
1. False. The long-term health effects of a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet are unknown.
2. False. Starch provides energy for your body.
3. False. These products usually aren’t scientifically tested.
4. False. Fast foods can be eaten if you are careful about calorie and fat content.
5. False. Lifting weights builds muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat.
6. False. Nuts contain healthy fats that do not clog arteries, and they are good sources of protein, dietary fiber and minerals.
7. False. Red meat contains healthy nutrients like protein, iron and zinc.
8. False. Vegetarians also can make food choices that contribute to weight gain, like eating large amounts of high-fat, high-calorie foods or foods with little or no nutritional value. [SOURCE: WEIGHT-CONTROL INFORMATION NETWORK, WIN.NIDDK.NIH.GOV].
