What seem to be normal and reasonable portions are often many more calories than our bodies need, and are certainly more calories than our bodies need to lose weight. Unless you are a swimmer, biker, or other athelte who burns a lot of calories every few days, then the portions offered to you in restuarants and in some packaged foods can get in the way of you reaching your weight loss goals. For example, a large cookie (like the ones you get at sandwich shops or burrito shops), are typically around 700 calories – that’s 5 times the size and calories in a healthy serving size for a cookie. And that’s more calories than you needed in your meal alone! What about before you eat? When you go to a mexican restaurant, you are typically offered around 40 tortialla chips – that’s 4 times a healthy serving size (of 10 chips), and provides an extra 400 calories before your meal comes…and that’s not to mention the cheese dip and margarita that you have with it! Calories add up very fast when portions are to large.
Remember – all things in moderation. It just requires additional effort in moderating when we live in such a supersized culture.
There are no good or bad foods. And when you eat certain foods, you are not a good or bad person. Educate yourself to understand your body’s caloric needs, and how many calories are in your favorite “naughty” foods. What would happen if you ate just 1/2 of it? Or even 1/4 of it? Is that realistic for you? If so, cutting portions can be a very effective way to lose weight without depriving yourself of pleasurable eating experiences. If this method is a recipe for disaster, then it may be best to just stay away. One of my clients taught me this saying:
“One is too much, and a thousand is never enough”
You know yourself better than anyone. Weight management is about self management. Know yourself, and your tendancies. Then manage accordingly.
Weight loss can stir up a lot of emotions and a lot of life changes. This is good. Let it happen. Feel as though you are shedding, truly shedding the layers of pain. When you let go of food as your comfort, as your friend, and as your escape, you will have a lot of emotions that you may not know what to do with. This hidden emotional work is an important part of the weight loss process. It can make the world of difference to have a safe place to work through the emotional side of weight loss – a quiet room behind closed doors, a good friend, therapist, or a loving family member to talk to, or personal time to go for a relaxed walk. The most important thing to remember is that this is normal and natural, so let it happen.
One of my favorite mantras is “keep up”. It is simple, but it is powerful.
Whatever is going on, whatever you are going through, just keep up. It too will pass. And you will come through it on the other side and you will be OK. Remind yourself that you will be OK.
The breath regulates our thought patterns and the speed of our movements. The more we breathe, the fuller our range of motion, the deeper our relaxation, and the more efficient we are at everything we do.
This month’s tip is about feeling better about everything. Start and finish your day by taking deep breaths. Try to walk anywhere from 10-45 minutes taking deep breaths and relaxing your body. This will remove tensions and bring you peace, bringing you to your center. Do this as often as you can.
Don’t think of this as an exercise. If you think of it as an exercise, you will carry the tension with you, which feels tight and unfulfilling. When you feel free and relaxed, you will then tend to add more to your physical routine out of freedeom, rather than out of expectations.
Your journey to weight loss is the journey to self-ownership. Respect yourself, respect your breath, respect your peace, and here you are. Only then are you successful and fulfilled at weight loss and in everything you do.
Spring is finally here…rain and all! It is time to climb out of our winter shells, breathe fresh air, and get our bodies into action once again. Remember that exercise does not have to feel like punishment. Just getting outside and wandering or working among spring flowers is a perfect way to awaken your body and spirit – and is a good start to burning off some of that winter fat. Tip: Go explore spring – get out of the house, away from the kitchen, and give your body a chance to move. Knoxville has a botanical garden that not many people know about – it’s a great place to explore spring on foot. Learn more at www.knoxgarden.org.
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We now have an extra hour each evening to play! As the weather continues to get warmer and the sun continues to set later, we have more time in the evenings to be outside and move our bodies. Maybe it’s just a simple walk, or playing with the kids in the yard. Maybe it’s gardening or working on the house, or even doing yoga on the back porch…
Do anything! Move your body and enjoy that healing feeling from being outside, among the perfect and divine creation of our earth. It doesn’t have to feel like exercise – it doesn’t even have to be “exercise”. Just MOVE. In any way.
One of my clients taught me a great little tool that I’d like to share.
When you feel a binge coming on….that compulsive and URGENT need to go directly to food, look at the clock. Give yourself 5 minutes before going to food. Just 5 minutes. Distract yourself, calm yourself, talk to yourself….whatever you have to do to stay away from the food. Keep checking in with the clock. When five minutes have passed, check in with yourself. How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? Are you OK without the food? Do you think you can last another 5 minutes without going to food? If so, go for it. Use this time to write in a journal, talk to yourself, listen to music, relax and BREATHE…..again, whatever you need to do to calm yourself down and bring yourself back to balance without the food. Continue this cycle over and over again until the urgency passes (and it will eventually pass).
If after one or two 5 minute intervals you absolutley must go to food and can’t hold out any longer, then you can congratulate yourself for interrupting the cycle. It may take many 5 minute exercises over a long period of time to build up the ability to completely stop the cycle of binge eating. If you can interrupt the cycle even for 5 minutes, then you have exercised your ability to change. Just like exercising a muscle, strength will come in time.
Written by Frederic Leyd, Personal Trainer at Women’s Way
Having a hard time fitting in your work-outs? Finding time for yourself? Use the gentle way.
Go with the flow.
Sometimes schedule is not in our control….circumstances are not in our control…..so having attachment to a structure makes us feel defeated. The gentle way is to go with the flow and allow yourself a few minutes here and there to connect with yourself, nourish yourself, nurture yourself. A few minutes of exercises can be simple seated squats, a few abdominal breaths. Stop to bring awareness to your eating experience – to enjoy the foods you choose and dissolve the guilt.
In short, always honor yourself and your life by making yourself first and everything else you do second.
Earlier this month the American Dietetic Association published its position on weight management, which was endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine.
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that successful weight management to improve overall health for adults requires a lifelong commitment to healthful lifestyle behaviors emphasizing sustainable and enjoyable eating practices and daily physical activity.
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) outlined the evidence supporting this position statement in a paper published earlier this month (Journal of the American Dietetic Association) and also offered several recommendations. The following recommendations are those based on the strongest scientific evidence:
1) Estimated energy needs should be based on resting metabolic rate (through metabolic testing or metabolic calculations).
2) An individualized reduced calorie diet is the basis of the dietary component of a comprehensive weight management program. Reducing dietary fat and/or carbohydrates is a practical way to create a caloric deficit of 500-1000 calories below estimated energy needs and should result in a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week.
3) For people who have difficulty with self selection and/or portion control, meal replacements (e.g., liquid meals, meal bars, or calorie controlled packaged meals) may be used as part of the diet component of a comprehensive weight management program. Substituting one or two daily meals or snacks with meal replacements is a successful weight loss and weight maintenance strategy.
4) A comprehensive weight management program should make maximum use of the multiple strategies for cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy in addition to diet and physical activity leads to additional weight loss.
5) FDA Approved weight loss medications may be part of a comprehensive weight management program.
These recommendations are based on strong, science-based evidence. Other recommendations based on good and fair evidence are also listed in this ADA publication, such as portion control and glycemic index. I don’t think the word ‘comprehensive’ can be stressed enough in these recommendations. The reality is that weight loss is a complex journey, involving many different factors. It is the role of the dietitian or other health care provider to listen to each person who struggles with his or her weight as an individual and to then determine what the best and most effective strategy is for him or her. That strategy is very often not a simple one step process. Then comes the most important part: consistent and close follow-ups with adaptations as necessary. This is that critical step that most practitioners leave out.