How to lose weight and maintain energy
(By
Nancy Clark, MS, RD. Reprinted with permission)
If you have excess body fat that you want to
lose, you must understand that diets don’t work! In order to lose weight
healthfully and successfully keep it off, you should look at your eating. After
all, eating contributes to weight-problems …particularly the over-eating that
commonly occurs after blowing a strict diet.
Strict diets teach you willpower. Strict diets
leave you feeling deprived of one of life’s pleasures - food. Rather than diet,
you should learn how to healthfully eat diet portions of any food that you
currently enjoy and would like to eat throughout the rest of your life. Healthful eating
offers more long-term success than crash dieting. Healthful eating also ensures adequate
vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates -- the nutrients you need to exercise at
your best.
The following eating tips can help you
successfully lose weight plus have energy to train hard and exercise at your best.
Expect to gradually lose weight at a realistic rate of one-half to three pounds per week
depending on your body size and total amount of fat you have to lose.
Twelve Steps for Successful Weight
Reduction
#1. Write down what you typically eat in a
day, then evaluate your meal patterns and eating habits. Do you nibble all afternoon?
Devour huge dinners? Munch-out at night? If you eat very few calories during the day but
then over-eat at night, experiment with eating a bigger breakfast, lunch and a planned
afternoon snack. Then you will be less hungry at night and better able to eat a smaller
dinner.
By giving yourself permission to eat more
calories during the day, you will not only have more energy to exercise, you will also
prevent yourself from getting too hungry. Generally speaking, once people are
ravenously hungry, they don’t care about what they eat nor how much and
can too easily over-eat.
#2. If you over-eat when you are
stressed, nervous or lonely, remember that no amount of food will satisfy you. You really
need a hug and human comforting. Food is only fuel. It will not resolve your
problems.
#3. To lose weight appropriately, you
should know your calorie budget. To determine the number of calories for your reduction
diet, you first need to estimate your maintenance calories:
- Multiply your desired
weight by 10 to determine your resting metabollc rate (the amount of calories you
need to simply lay in bed all day and breathe). For example, if your target weight is 120
pounds, your resting metabolic rate is about 1,200 calories. You burn off these calories
even if you are injured or taking a rest day from exercise.
- Add another third to
half of that number for your general daily activity excluding your specific
training or exercise program. If you are mostly sitting, studying, or working at a desk,
you need fewer calories than if you are active during the day (i.e. going up and down
stairs, walking around, doing errands).
For example, a 120 pound mother with two children is quite active and burns approximately:
1,200 calories (resting metabolism) + 600 calories (general activity) = 1,800
calories (without exercise).
Next, add on calories burned off
during your exercise program. Here is the calorie expenditure for some popular sports,
based upon weight and calories burned per minute of activity:
Activity
110 130
150 170 lbs body weight
Biking, 13
mph
8.5 10.0 11
.5 13.0 calories burned per minute
Running,
8min/mile 10.8
12.5 14.2 16.0
Squash
10.6 12.5
14.4 16.3
Swimming, hard
7.8 9.2
10.6 12.0
Walking, normal
pace 4.0
4.7 5.4 6.2
From: Exercise Physiology: Energy,
Nutrition and Weight Control. W. McArdle, F. Katch & V. Katch, Lea & Feblger
1991
NOTE: This is a rough estimate of your
calorie needs. You may burn more calories or fewer calories, depending on many factors
unique to your body. For example, fidgeters need more calories than mellow folk& A
registered dietitian can help you more accurately determine your actual energy needs.
#4. Subtract 20% of your maintenance
calories to determine an appropriate calorie target for weight loss. For example, if you
maintain your weight on about 2,000 calories, you should plan to lose weight on about
1,600 calories. Note that petite athletes (i.e. skaters, gymnasts, dancers) will subtract
fewer calories than bigger athletes (football players, body builders). If you cut back
more than 20%, you will likely become ravenously hungry and put yourself at high risk of
blowing your diet.
#5. Organize your eating into a
balanced plan. For example, divide your 1,600 calorie diet into three meals plus snacks,
such as: breakfast - 500 calories; lunch - 500 calories; afternoon snack - 100 calories;
dinner - 500 calories. By eating the majority of your calories during the day, you
will have energy to exercise at your best. You will also be able to (easily)
"diet" at night because you will be less hungry.
Remember: you will not gain weight by eating a
substantial breakfast or lunch. You will gain weight, however, if you skimp on these
meals, get too hungry and then over-eat during the evening...!
#6. Eat slowly. Over-weight people tend
to eat faster than their normal-weight counterparts. Your brain needs about 20 minutes to
receive the signal that you have eaten your fill. No matter how much you consume during
these twenty minutes, the satiety signal won’t move any faster. Hence, you
should try to pace your eating. Practice chewing slowly, putting down the fork between
bites rather than eating nonstop, and tasting and savoring the food.
#7. Once a week, relax and enjoy
a piece of birthday cake, a special Sunday breakfast or a planned treat. This will give
you incentive to maintain your reducing program when tempted at other times. When enjoying
this treat, be sure to eat it slowly to fully enjoy the taste. After all, the best part
about food is the taste.
#8. Keep away from food sources that
tempt you. For example, read the newspaper in the living room rather than the kitchen.
Avoid jogging past the bakery. Stand away from the buffet table at a party. By keeping the
food out of sight, you will be more likely to keep it out of mind -- and out of your
mouth!
#9. If you tend to eat because you are
bored, stressed, tired or lonely, make a list of ten non-food activities that you can do
instead of eating: water the plants, take a bath, call a friend, write letters, go for a
walk, go to sleep, etc.. If you eat because you are stressed, take steps to resolve the real
problem. Recognize that no amount of food will resolve the stress. Learn how to
handle stress and anxiety without over-eating.
#10. Think positive. Every morning
before you get out of bed, visualize yourself eating appropriately and achieving your
nutrition goals. This will help you start the day with a positive attitude. Continually
remind yourself that you would rather be leaner than over-eat.
#11. Measure success by looking at
yourself naked in the mirror. If you see, and pinch, less fat, you have less fat!
If you weigh yourself, do so once a week first thing in the morning, after you have gone
to the bathroom and before you have eaten. Don’t weigh yourself after a
workout or at night -- that gives a false weight! Remember that if you are starting an
exercise program, you may gain pounds of muscle while you lose pounds of fat. The scale
may read the same weight, but your body will be different.
#12. Be proud of your healthy eating
patterns and keep reminding yourself that when you eat well, you not only feel better but
you also feel better about yourself. Plus, you have enough energy to exercise and enjoy
life.
