Small Steps to Successful Weight Management
The statistics are alarming: obesity (and its co-morbidities) is the 2nd leading cause of death in the United States today, and 100 million of us are overweight or obese. The causes of obesity are many, including excess portion sizes, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, high fat foods, and more frequent snacking.
So where does one start if the pants are shrinking in your closet, and you haven’t really seen your toes in a while? The best place to start for most of us is to take a look at each of the above named causes, make some changes, and see what happens. Small changes in lifestyle can yield great results over time. In fact, a weight loss as small as 10# and 30 minutes of physical activity in a day can cut a person’s risk of developing diabetes in half!!
Things to Look for:
Excess Portion Sizes: (or, Portion Distortion) In the last twenty years, America’s idea of what makes up a portion has grown with our waistline. The typical restaurant meal contains portions that far exceed those required for health. Americans want value for their money, and a restaurant that serves the recommended portion sizes of: 3oz of lean meat, ½ cup rice, ½ cup vegetable, ½ cup fruit and 1 cup of milk will surely go out of business. In the American mindset, Value=quantity, and the larger the better!!! But what we perceive as value and what our bodies need are two different things. Here are some ways portions have changed in the past 20 years:
| Food item |
Portion 20 years ago |
Portion today |
| Bagel |
140 calories |
350 calories |
| Cheeseburger |
333 calories |
590 calories |
| Soft Drink |
85 calories (6.5 oz.) |
250 calories (20 oz. ) |
Visit this site for an interactive quiz on how portions have changed in the past 20 years: http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/portion/
Sedentary Lifestyle:Face it, it’s easy to see that we are less active as a nation than we were even 10 years ago. Many of us sit all day at the computer, drive home, and for many of us, sit all night at either the computer or on the couch. Sound familiar? THEN GET UP!!!!! Experts recommend 30-60 minutes of vigorous activity most days of the week. And that does not include changing the paper in your printer! Walking is the easiest, most widely recommended activity that can be done by almost everyone, almost anywhere. In addition to the aerobic activity walking provides, strength training exercises should be incorporated into a fitness routine. Building lean body mass (muscle) burns more calories, improves overall health, and makes for a trimmer appearance. In addition, regular physical activity has been shown to reduce the severity and frequency of illness, and those who exercise regularly have a lower rate of absenteeism and a higher rate of productivity at work. Visit the president’s challenge at: www.presidentschallenge.org to design and track your own personal fitness profile- AFTER YOUR WALK, or course!!!
High Fat Foods:Current recommendations for fat consumption are 30% of calories, with saturated fat intake limited to 10% of calories. This translates to approximately 65 g of fat per day for the average person consuming 2000 calories per day. While fat plays a vital role in our health and should not be eliminated, excess fat in the diet can contribute to elevated lipid levels, increasing cardiovascular risk. Excess fat in the diet is efficiently and preferentially stored as body fat, making weight loss efforts difficult.
Fat is found naturally in many foods, and is also added to foods during the food manufacturing process. A diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol consists of:
a rainbow of fruits and vegetables- strive for 5-9 servings per day
whole grains, especially those high in fiber
low fat and fat free dairy products
lean meats and poultry without the skin
fatty fish at least twice a week
unsaturated oils in moderation (canola, olive, sunflower)
Processed and prepared foods can be a source of excess fats and of trans fats, which have been linked to an increase in cardiovascular risk. Trans fats can be identified on an ingredient label by the words “partially hydrogenated”. Food manufacturers are becoming more aware of trans fats and are making efforts to reduce these fats in their products.
For more information on healthy heart eating, visit this link:
www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200010
Frequent Snacking:Although almost every diet has room for healthy snacks, American social life seems to center around the foods that are served at an event. We have snacks at coffee break, snacks at happy hour, snacks while visiting with our families, snacks for no reason in particular. While eliminating these snacks may not be a possibility, consider improving the quality of the choices made, as well as the size of the portion offered. Here are some ideas for alternatives to traditional snacks:
| Instead of this: |
Try this |
| Donuts and Pastries |
Whole grain bagels & low fat cream cheese |
| Potato Chips and Dip |
Pretzels and Salsa |
| Bologna and Cheese |
Fresh Fruit and low fat fruit dip |
| Candy Bar |
Multi grain granola bar |
For more ideas for healthy snacks, try this link:
http://ww4.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/anytimesnacks_07112001.xml&categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/FastFixinKidsRecipes.xml
Eating healthy is not easy in today’s world. Prevention and treatment of obesity requires a combination of good food choices and effective physical activity. Making changes gradually will form healthy habits that can be maintained for a lifetime. Good Luck!!
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