Mississippi Valley Health News asked the advice of our team of medical, physical, nutritional and psychological experts from the Mississippi Valley Health Network to help you make 2012 your year for healthy changes.
This year is going to be different. This year, you’re not going to try the doomed-from-the-outset diet. This year won’t start with a new Flab Roller you try eight times, then use as a clothes rack. This year, 2012, will belong to the new you.
Change is what you’re going to do, but you’re going to keep it manageable — because too much is just about impossible. “Combining major dietary and fitness changes, no matter how great our intentions, won’t work with a with a sink-or-swim attitude: that’s a recipe for eventual failure and frustration,” says Dr. Rosina Linz, a Davenport psychologist and member of the Mississippi Valley Health Network specializing in managing life changes.
No more “diets” and ho-hum exercise
Our experts advise the two changes you must manage are your meals and your activities. But you’re not going to travel the familiar roads of fad diets (low-carb, no-carb, carb-only) and expensive gym memberships or apparatus purchases. Instead, you’re going to make two gradual transitions. First, you’ll carefully transition yourself and your family from low-health, high-calorie convenience foods to a daily menu that is satisfying, healthy and better for you all around – even your pocketbook.
The second shift will be to a lifetime of regularly scheduled fitness programming. Coming at the problems from these perspectives, you may just look back at 2011 as the year when it all changed. For the better. For good.
The Diet is Dead – Long Live the Diet!
You’re going to live with your body for the rest of your life, so make a plan for the entire trip. Many of us need to lose fat, but coming at it just as a weight-loss issue can lead in the wrong directions. We all know by now that The Diet is doomed, or if we don’t know, we should. Doing away with carbohydrates, eating only mung beans or grapefruits, doing away with fats and eating only carbohydrates, eating only food grown within 25 miles of your house — none of these is sustainable over the long term.
The crushing, guilt-laden end to any one of these unrealistic diets is always just one catered holiday party or sumptuously presented Valentine chocolate away. Human animals like food. In any competition between a human’s culinary cravings and that human’s willpower, the smart money is on the cravings.
Mississippi Valley Health News' nutrition blogger Jeni Tackett (left) and fitness blogger Jen Foley (right) offer their insights and inspiration to help you keep your promises and get on the road to great health.
“The question really shouldn’t be What diet will help me lose weight in time for swimwear season?” says Registered Dietician Jeni Tackett. The question is, How can I enjoy eating healthy food for the rest of my life?” The plan that has the best staying power centers on consistent portion control and a strong emphasis on quality, minimally processed foods.
Transitioning to consistently healthy fare for many of us means a new, lifelong approach to food. Specialized support is critical to making this lifestyle change. “It’s important to have contact with others who share what you’re going through,” adds Dr. Linz. “They’re the ones who will hold you accountable for your choices.”
“Whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats — people already know the fundamentals of healthy eating,” agrees Tackett.
There are many good alternatives to high-calorie comfort and convenience food. Tackett points out that, “Simple things like drinking two glasses of water before eating and sneaking some good high-fiber, low-calorie ingredients into your favorite pig-out food can make a huge difference in the calories you consume.
“And making good choices in the grocery store can help us learn to make better ones when the pressure’s on. I always tell my clients if you shop and bring home indulgent foods, you are giving everyone in the house, including yourself, permission to eat them. If we’ve made good choices in the grocery store, it’ll be hard to make bad ones at home.”
The sweet-treat problem is a serious one because of how our bodies metabolize simple sugars. Ice cream or other sweet treats can cause cycles of high and low blood sugar, and those cycles trigger hormonal secretions that make us want more and more high-calorie foods. It’s a deadly cycle.
Gastroenterologist Sreenivas Chintalapani, Gastrointestinal Clinic of the Quad Cities, says managing weight loss comes down to some very basic changes. “It’s simple math: calories in vs. calories out. You need to expend more than you take in.
“Patients also tend to confuse low-fat options with health. Beware of low fat foods because they compensate for taste by adding sugar,” he advises. Dr. Chintalapani recommends avoiding snacks and really increasing your intake of fiber – an amazing ally in fighting weight.
“Both soluble and insoluble fiber are necessary for a number of reasons,” explains Dr. Chintalapani. “Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and passes through your digestive system largely unchanged. Insoluble fiber is found in cereals, wheat bran, and in the stalks and peels of fruits and vegetables. It is a great mechanism for slowing down digestion and for keeping your intestinal walls scoured and healthy.
“Soluble fiber dissolves in water and is degraded by bacteria in your colon. This type of fiber is found in fruits, oats, barley, and some beans. Soluble fiber slows stomach emptying time, which delays glucose absorption from your bloodstream as well as having been shown to lower cholesterol.”
An End to Exercise!
There are a few hard-core athletes who actually enjoy going to the gym to run nowhere on a treadmill, but for many the allure is … well, there just isn’t always allure to monotonous crunches or weights or ellipticals. So, how do you achieve and maintain physical fitness critical to good health?
Almost every gym in the nation starts the year with many earnest new members. You can see them in there, sweating and straining and working hard. But a lot of those determined January faces are nowhere to be seen when March rolls around. There are many reasons for failure, including unrealistic expectations for quick weight loss and a true resentment of feeling like a hamster on a wheel. The secret: find something you love to do, first.
One of the keys to becoming and staying fit is to shift the focus off of exercise and onto activity. “Doing something you enjoy is one of the keys to lifelong fitness,” says Orthopaedic Surgeon Tuvi Mendel, Orthopaedic Specialists.
“Having a regular activity you enjoy is a great start, especially if it’s something non-seasonal and full-body like dance or racquet sports or martial arts, regular participants can maintain a fair level of fitness,” adds Dr. Mendel. The problem is harder for people who only want to become and stay fit, in the most efficient possible way. For them, trainers and workout buddies and other accountability systems are critically important.
“The key is to mix it up and do something active every single day,” adds Jen Foley, Healthy Lifestyles Director, Two Rivers YMCA, Moline. “It can be jogging one day, gardening the next, but keep moving.”
“It takes more than just a goal, patience and a personal commitment,” adds Dr. Linz. “To make any good change last a lifetime, it’s going to take new knowledge and people to help you apply that knowledge to your own life.
“Trying to tackle weight loss and exercise all at once while not giving yourself permission to fail, will ultimately result in frustration,” she adds. “So, take your time, make small changes every day, and know you are on the road to better health.”
