Rosalee Brown
In April, two of Your Health readers -- Donnette Thomas and Sandra Smith -- took on the public challenge to battle with their bulges. Their initial anthropometrics were taken by the staff of the Tropical Metabolism Research Institute (TMRI); they are being guided by Your Health's nutritionist, Rosalee Brown and exercise expert, Kenneth Gardner. Today, we take another peak into the participants' diary and get the health specialists' update. Shutters on the battle come down next month. Who will win -- the bulge or Donnette and Sandra. Read the final in the series on July 6.
IT IS week nine of the battle of the bulge and three quarters of the way through and the participants have gone another four weeks of life style choices and changes to improve their health and well-being. These changes have not been easy, but they have learnt to set small, yet manageable goals and work at them.
We invite our readers who are also making lifestyle changes in eating habits, to look at the contracts they made at the beginning. What was it you had planned to achieve? Was it to eat more vegetables at each meal, to reduce juice consumption, to eat less starchy foods or to eat less high-fat foods? Whatever your goals were, you need to evaluate how well you have done, and are doing, and also identify what are your challenges. What is preventing you from being even more successful? Is it that you are not planning well in advance?
PLAN HEALTHY
If you refuse to plan healthy meals in advance, shop for the items, do the pre-preparation, then when you are hungry you will be forced to eat what is available. If that food does not fit your healthy choice then you are derailing your plan.
You also need to be rested. When you are tired you will not have the energy or interest to prepare healthy meals and you will eat the easy food item available to satisfy hunger. You have to make difficult decisions. Is it more beneficial to set up to watch the late movie, or to spend time in some other activities which will have you up past your bed time so you will be left with just enough time to shower and rush out of the house in the mornings without a proper meal or time to do pre-prep for dinner, which will offer greater long-term benefits?
If you are keeping a journal, you should be able to identify problem areas, such as large portion sizes or unhealthy snacking among others. Choose one or two problems and resolve to work on them this week. Strive for consistency, not perfection.
Let us look at how Sandy and Donnette dealt with some of their real life food challenges.
Sandra has made further changes in her eating habits and continues to eat more vegetables and fruits. She has reported reducing a lot of her processed starches. Sandy reports a problem I consider major in changing old habits, which is her difficulty in keeping a journal. She reports a mental picture, which is not as effective as a journal of actual food intake. When this is done, it is easier to compare what was actually eaten with the recommended portions, and one can see a tendency to eat more and what. She is also concerned that her weight loss is not dramatic, but as I explained to her, she wants to be concerned with reducing body fat and improving other healthy areas in her life, such as eating habits, exercise and stress management. Fat loss can be slow but steady if the rules are followed.
POSITIVE CHANGES
Donnette has also made positive changes in her eating habits. She is controlling her portions better. She still eats at fast food outlets but shares her portions with friends when she eats out. She has been consuming more fresh fruits, but still has a challenge in consuming the required vegetables, but is making an effort. She is happy so far with her progress.
Both ladies need to work on consistency in their positive changes, since it is the long- term change which will be beneficial.
Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
