Weight Management Guidelines
(Adapted from Eat, Drink, and be Healthy, Walter Willet, MD, Healthy Weight chapter)
Losing and maintaining weight is a lifelong journey and gets even more challenging as we age! While lifelong vigilance is required, the numerous benefits include better health, quality of life, and self-esteem.
When you want to lose weight, avoid drastic or unbalanced diets, unless your weight poses serious health risks. Aim for a modest deficit in energy balance (e.g. daily deficit of 100 – 500 calories) and slow steady weight loss over months and years. Yo-yo dieting may lead to obesity because each diet episode may cause some loss of lean muscle, along with fat, and decrease your metabolic rate, making it even harder to avoid gaining weight or lose weight.
Weight control isn’t impossible, nor does it need to mean deprivation or a boring, repetitious diet. With conscious effort and creativity, most people can successfully control their weight for the long term with an enjoyable but reasonable diet and near daily exercise.
A longer, healthier life is definitely worth the effort!!
Three steps to weight control:
1. If you aren’t physically active, get moving. If you are, increase the level of your activity.
a. Exercise at least 30 minutes per day
b. Make your day more active. There are many ways to inject more activity into your day. Restructuring your day can add small “activity bits” that add up. Walk up stairs, park further away or get off the train a stop or two early, rake your leaves instead of using a blower.
c. Make exercise enjoyable. Turn walking into a social activity or learn a new skill.
2. Find a diet that works for you.
a. Keep track of calories and follow the healthy eating pyramid.
b. Choose diets low in refined carbohydrates.
c. Choose a Mediterranean diet which is the most heart healthy of popular diets (plenty of vegetables and whole grains, unsaturated plant fats, some fish and relatively little meat).
d. Incorporate cuisines from around the world, as well as your own creations into an eating pattern with enough variety and pleasure to last a lifetime.
3. Become a defensive eater.
a. Practice stopping before you are stuffed.
b. Be selective. Don’t eat things just because they are in front of you.
c. Choose small portions.
d. Beware of desserts. Desserts tend to be very high in calories and fat. Try sharing a dessert 4 ways. Better yet, have a healthy meal and finish it off with a piece of fruit or other lower-calorie option.
e. Slow down and pay attention to your food when you eat. Eating at a moderate pace gives your stomach and intestines time to send the “I’m full” message to your brain.
f. Be creative with low-calorie options to show you really care.
g. Keep track of the calories in the foods you eat (including beverages).
h. Spoil your appetite. Have a healthful snack or appetizer before eating a meal.
i. Minimize temptations. Do not keep “goodies” in the house; instead keep a supply of low-calorie snacks such as apples, carrots, or whole-grain wafers on hand.
j. Be vigilant.
k. Keep it simple. You may eat less if your entire meal is a chicken dish and vegetable than if you prepare several tempting dishes.