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Do you know what you should be doing to maintain a healthy weight? Do you feel lost at the grocery store as you wade through a sea of products stamped "Atkins Approved"? If you are as confused as ever, you are not alone…
According to Marian Burros of the New York Times, The Department of Agriculture is revisiting the Food Guide Pyramid. The agency says that 80 percent of Americans recognize the pyramid, but that few know what to do with the pyramid's information about serving sizes and number of servings.
"When the department did research on the pyramid, all it showed was that no one understood it," said Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of food studies, nutrition and public health at New York University.
Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy for the Consumer Federation of America, cited one problem: The foods that people should eat the least of are at the top, where they get noticed more easily and "people think they are more important."
To create an even more confusing situation, the Atkins people have published their own version of a pyramid. We are truly on a "slippery slope"; there is a lot of baloney in the air! Rather than figure where baloney belongs on either pyramid, I will cut through the baloney and give you a couple of tips that will help you lose weight.
Keep a log of how much you eat and drink. Do this religiously for at least a week. Whatever you put into your mouth, write down what it was, the quantity (ounces) and what you were doing at the time. You may find what I call "leaks" in your nutrition and behavioral patterns that contribute to overeating.
What is a "leak"? A leak is a pattern of consuming a large amount of non-essential empty calories. For example, let's say that you consume one or more 12-ounce beers or soft drinks on a daily basis. If you reduce your beer or soda consumption by 12 ounces per day, you will lose 10 pounds per year!
Your log may tell you that you consume these beverages while watching TV. I would be willing to bet that you might not even miss the 12 fewer ounces as your mind is occupied elsewhere.
Now for my second tip:
To be successful at weight loss/weight management, you need to make exercise a part of your everyday life. Exercise needs to become a part of your daily hygiene, the same as showering and brushing and flossing your teeth! It does not need to take over your life, but it definitely needs to be a part of your life!
I divide exercise into aerobic and strength. Let's talk about each form of exercise:
AEROBIC
Aerobic exercise is defined as a rhythmic, continuous, large-muscle activity that promotes a simultaneous increase in heart rate and a return of blood to the heart. "Rhythmic" and "continuous" refer to an evenly paced activity such as walking, running, or cycling. Playing tennis or basketball would not be a good aerobic exercise, as those activities involve sudden bursts of speed and stops.
I recommend exercising aerobically for at least one half-hour, five to six days per week. Regular aerobic exercise will strengthen your heart and burn calories. If you walk one half-hour, five days per week for one year you will lose at least 7.5 pounds! Running and bicycling will burn even more calories and promote further weight loss.
STRENGTH
Strength training is an extremely critical part of the weight management process. Regular strength training helps increase and maintain lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat mass, the higher your lean muscle mass the higher your metabolism. If we do no strength training we will lose 2 percent of our lean muscle mass for each decade we age after age 20. Strength training will help us maintain the weight that we have worked so hard to achieve.
There are many forms of strength training: weight machines, barbells and dumbbells, rubber tubing and Pilates to name just a few. You should do at least two strength training sessions per week. You want to make sure that you are using proper form and doing exercises that are appropriate for your goals and your health history. I recommend investing in a few Personal Fitness Training sessions to get started.
There you have it! I have just given you two tips that will help you lose up to 17.5 pounds in one year!
That's it for now. I am currently training for Ironman Canada on August 29 and I need to go out and exercise. Have a great month!
To Victory!
Mark "XBigMan" Davis
"The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books-how not to eat what you just learned how to cook." - Andy Rooney
Fitness Xtra Archives
The Tyrannical Scale
Dealing With Plateaus
Overcoming Mount Everest
Creating Our Own Circumstances
Let's Get Busy!
Overcoming Fear
Mindful Eating and Exercise
Goal Setting
It’s What’s Eating You
Keep A Food Log!