Rosalee Brown
SO WE have completed 12 weeks of the 'Battle of the Bulge' series with two participants who wanted to improve their lifestyle by eating healthier and doing more physical activities.
They identified those areas that needed changing and those that needed improvement; they set small goals and made concerted efforts to modify their lifestyles. We followed their struggles.
Some of the food-related changes which were encouraged included:
Have scheduled meals as much as possible as this prevents hunger
Always have breakfast
Reduce overall portion sizes
Increase cooked and raw unadulterated vegetables
Consume whole fruits instead of processed fruits and juices
Reduce juice consumption and increase water consumption
Reduce refined carbohydrates and have more complex carbohydrates within the recommended portion
Reduce overall fat consumption
Read labels
Plan meals in advance
Keep a journal and record eating queues
Remember the goal; seek support and stay focused.
HOW DID THEY DO?
SANDRA
Sandra has done very well in improving her eating habits. These changes, when sustained, will pay big dividends in the future. She now has more structured meals and does not deliberately miss meals to reduce calories; she has moved from little or no vegetables to the consumption of vegetables daily; her fruit consumption has also increased. She has increased her water consumption and reduced her juice consumption, reduced refined carbohydrates and increased complex sources, and is using food much less as comfort.
These changes, along with increased daily physical activities have resulted in short-term success. She has dropped seven pounds putting her body mass index below 30, which takes her out of the obese category, three inches from her waist putting it below 35 and reducing another risk factor. Now she has the energy to face her day.
The proof of a changed lifestyle is sustainability as many persons have lost weight, but have regained it in a short period of time. Weight control is a lifelong pattern of daily routines ( not a weight loss programme) with a target to achieve within a specified time.
This 12-week period proved that with effort, your body will respond, but to continue the change and to maintain it, let us look to persons who have. Participants of the national weight loss registry in America, which has 4,000 plus members who have lost 30 lb and more and have kept it off for over a year, have these qualities in common:
Low-calorie meals
Low-fat meals of about 24 per cent of total calories
Always consume breakfast
Monitor weight
A high level of daily physical activities.
WORD OF CAUTION TO SANDRA:
Do not try to exercise food out of the system as this is most times not possible, since many foods, especially high calorie sources, contain much more calories than you can burn in your workout session. It is best to have a small portion of that food occasionally, than larger portions with the hope of 'exercising it out of the system'.
Best wishes Sandra on your path to good health.
DONNETTE
Donnette has also done very well and has learned to reduce overall portion sizes, to make better choices when she eats out, to snack healthier when she is studying and to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. She worries about consistency, but this is achieved with practice over time.
WORD OF CAUTION TO DONNETTE:
With a busy lifestyle and limited time for meal preparation, plan well or choose eating places with some form of healthy options.
Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
