Weight Loss and the Holidays

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Good Morning!

 

Weight Loss and the Holidays

 

To obtain successful weight loss, you must apply this rule: " Eat less

and exercise more. "

 

Eat less sugar, simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. The right

dietary choices can have a profound impact on our health and

longevity. The fact remains that none of the fad diets or supposed

breakthroughs in weight control have made any difference in the

epidemic of obesity. Obesity is a complex, complicated problem

containing both physiological and psychological components that must

be addressed.

 

About 66% of adults in the USA are overweight or obese, and a recent

government survey showed that one-third of children and teens, about

25 million young people are either overweight or on the brink of

becoming so.

 

According to the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR), the

best strategy to promoting good overall health is to eat a balanced,

predominantly plant-based and nutritionally dense diet. Most of your

daily calories should come from vegetables, fruits, whole grains and

beans.

 

 

Best Diet Tips

 

1. Think Lifestyle: REMOVE the word " diet " from your vocabulary. You

will be making changes that will have a profound effect on your way

of thinking, how you eat and most of all, your lifestyle.

 

2. Don't Count Calories : But, be in tune to the total calories you

consume daily, and make an effort to replace high-fat foods with low-

calorie ones like vegetables and fruits.

 

3. The Glycemic Index: The glycemic index describes the difference by

ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose

levels. Low GI carbs produce only small fluctuations in our blood

glucose and insulin levels and this is the secret to long-term health

reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to

sustainable weight loss. You must try to eat low on the glycemic

(sugar) index, in order to avoid highs and lows in your blood sugar

that can lead to increased insulin production and conversion of

calories to fat.

 

4. Alcohol is fattening: since it can't be stored by the body and

burns up right away, increasing the likelihood that the food you eat

while you're drinking will turn into fat.

 

5. Exercise is crucial: to successful weight loss. Not only does it

help burn excess calories, but by increasing your physical activity

you can modify the way your brain regulates hunger, making you less

susceptible to food cravings.

 

5. Drink Plenty of Water: Not only will you loss water as you

exercise, drinking water makes you feel full, therefore, not as much

room for food.

 

6. Eat More, More Times: Eating the right carbs, proteins and fats

should be consumed in small portions more times throughout the day.

This keeps craving and blood sugar levels in check. Water,

carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the basic building blocks of a

good diet. By choosing the healthiest forms of each of these

nutrients, and eating them in the proper balance, you enable your

body to function at its optimal level.

 

7. Vitamin Therapy: is a good way to help your body regulate what you

may not be getting through your diet. A good daily multivitamin is

the best start.

 

8. Limit Animal-based Foods: such as meat and dairy products, which

are loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. Use olive oil or

canola oil instead of butter or margarine to reduce your intake of

saturated fat and hydrogenated fat (trans fat). Moderate your

consumption of fried, salted and smoked foods.

 

9. Portion Control: Eat portions to satisfy hunger, not to clean the

plate. By dinner, if you have complex carbs (potatoes, yams, brown

rice…) with your meal; it should be no more than a cup full. Half of

your plate should be vegetable. The meat, fish, chicken portion

should be the size of your fist. Portion control is the secret to a

healthy weight!

 

10. Believe: Your belief system has everything to do with the mental

and spiritual aspects of weight control. Fight anxiety with

relaxation exercises rather than food. Utilize meditation, yoga,

stretching. By creating healthy eating habits and regular exercise,

you are sure to lose weight without depriving yourself of nourishing

food. And if you continue those good habits after you reach your

goal, you will have an excellent chance of maintaining your desired

weight and see it more as maintaining a lifestyle as opposed to a

diet. Learning to have a more structured and disciplined lifestyle

can make all the difference in your progress. You deserve it!

 

11. Sleep Well: Good quality sleep is important, especially when you

are trying to loss weight. I think it is most important to go to

sleep with a " Quiet Mind " . Sleep rejuvenates, detoxes and regulates

the body.

 

12. Overcome Fear: Fear can be an underlining problem in many cases.

There are many ways to quiet the mind. Doing 15 to 30 minutes of

meditation or yoga can be very helpful. You must allow yourself to be

distracted or get into your meditation or yoga and " let go " of the

days thoughts...see Meditation.

 

 

Managing Your Weight

 

Sleep allows our body to rejuvenate and repair!

 

Don't Smoke: Besides the fact that it can cause lung cancer and is

the second leading cause of death for both men and women, nicotine is

a stimulant and complicates weight control.

 

Life to Go: Everyone has a busy lifestyle. You plan your day's

meetings, schedule your kid's soccer game or know when to pick up the

dry cleaning. Do the same with your meals and snacks. Prepare food

ahead. Make goodie bags with cut veggies, apples, grapes, pears, and

bananas. Have some nutrition bars on hand or cook/pack your lunch the

night before. Mix a salad or make a large pot of soup or hearty

chili.

 

Shop Ahead: Go natural, go organic or simply go to your local food

store, which seems to have fresh produce. The products you choose

should be low in sodium and contain wholesome ingredients, and they

should be trans-fat free. Plan meal ideas and shop ahead for them.

This way, it gives you less of an opportunity to end up at a fast

food restaurant.

 

Body Mass Index BMI

 

According to The Cleveland Clinic, A BMI (Body Mass Index) of 40 or

more indicates morbid obesity, which increases a person's risk of

death from any cause by 50% to 150%. BMI is an indirect measure of

your body fat, which is a quick way to see if you are overweight. BMI

uses a person's weight and height to gauge total body fat.

 

A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is ideal.

A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is overweight.

A BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity.

A BMI of 40 or more indicates morbid obesity, which increases a

person's risk of death.

 

Calculate your BMI here:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/index.htm

 

 

Exercise

 

Exercise is crucial to successful weight loss. Not only does it help

burn excess calories, but by increasing your physical activity you

can modify the way your brain regulates hunger, making you less

susceptible to food cravings.

 

Consider Power walking, Aerobics, Swimming or any cardiovascular

exercise that you do consistantly for 20-40 minutes. It is important

to keep the heart rate up in your target zone during this time in

order for cardio exercise to work effectively.

 

Stimulate your metabolism. Adding weight training and/or

cardiovascular exercise to your routine will boost your metabolsim.

Cardio will burn extra calories while you're doing it. Resistance

training will actually increase the rate at which your body uses

calories.

 

Exercise during the day to exhaust the muscles and the mind. The

moving is good when we are depressed too! Aerobics, power walking,

weight training, swimming are all great for working the muscles and

the mind. Exercise gets the blood flowing and makes us move past many

issues.

 

Exercise early in the day. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every

day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or

afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before

bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.

 

See a doctor before starting any kind of exercise program if you have

never exercised before or have any other illnesses.

 

 

Nutritional Advise

 

Water should be a very important part of any nutritional program.

Distilled water is best. 6-8 8 ounces per day. Water allows for the

cleansing and hydrating of the system. It is also filling and a good

substitute for soda or sugar-laden drinks. Although it may seem

counterintuitive, drinking water helps you burn fat. Studies have

shown that a decrease in water intake, will cause fat deposits to

increase. Without water, the kidneys cannot effectively filter out

the waste products and other chemicals which build up in the

bloodstream and interfere with the liver's ability to metabolize fat.

As a result, you become more likely to store fat and less likely to

burn it.

 

Ironically, drinking more water is the BEST remedy for water

retention. When your body is low in water, you retain pockets of salt

and water under the skin, as a defense mechanism. For your body does

not know when it will get its next drink. This stored water and salt

under the skin will create a puffiness and looks like fat. Drink

plenty of distilled water or low sodium water and avoid high- sodium

foods.

 

The FDA recommends limiting your intake of fat to 65 grams per day.

By safely and carefully selecting your foods so that your fat

consumption is about 30 grams per day, you can see a significant

amount of weight loss, depending on your body mass index.

 

Your body expends a certain amount of calories upon digestion.

Proteins are burned at the highest rate-20-25%, Carbohydrates 8-10%,

and Fats only about 2%. This is known as the Thermic Effect of Food.

 

This fact cannot be stressed enough: EAT five or six small meals a

day will prevent hunger pangs, provide constant energy, increase your

metabolic effeciency, improving your fat lossing abilities and

decrease your risk of heart attack.

 

Consme lean sources of protein such as skinless white meat poultry or

fish, with fibrous water rich vegatables such as string beans,

tomatoes, cucumbers. Protein shakes or meal replacement bars work

well as one of your small meals. Be aware of the carbohydrates in

most bars and shakes for they can be extemely high. Medium to low

amounts of carbs 2-14 grams a bar is sufficient.

 

Reducing fat in the diet is an important component of weight loss.

Foods with a high proportion of calories from fat should be

eliminated or limited in the diet; these include red meat, poultry

skins, dark poultry meat, fried foods, butter, margarine, cheese,

milk (except skim milk), junk foods, and most processed foods.

Vegetable oils should also be restricted, as should nuts, seeds, and

avocados (although these foods are healthful for people who have no

weight problem). Instead, the diet should be based on fruits,

vegetables, whole grains, and non-fat dairy products (and low-fat

fish for non-vegetarians).

 

Hydrogenated oils are very bad, for two reasons. First reason is that

hydrogenated fats are saturated fats, and saturated fats raise total

cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Second reason is that hydrogenation

also produces what are called " trans " fatty acids. Although these are

unsaturated, with one double bond, they act the same as saturated

fats. Some margarines are now available without trans fatty acids,

these are better. a lot of convenience foods are made with

hydrogenated fat, like cookies, crackers, etc. This increases the

shelf life of the product but is bad for human life. Good question.

We need labels that show amounts of trans fat as well as amount of

hydrogenated fat.

 

A reduction of 25% of total calories will usually promote slow,

steady weight loss. For some, weight loss is easier by changing the

dietary content. By this, I mean reducing carbohydrates by 25%-30%.

In my opinion, for the long-term, it is important not to increase fat

when decreasing carbs. Most people who restrict carbohydrates tend to

maintain the same total daily calories by increasing dietary fat.

Avoid all breads and pastas (flour-containing carbs) and unprocessed

sugars.

 

Avoid artificial sweeteners and synthetic fat substitutes and the

foods made with them. They are unhealthy and not conducive to the

kind of good eating habits you need to form in order to slim down and

stay that way. Stevia is a natural sweetener that is 300 times

sweeter than sugar but contain NO calories. It is also safe for

people with diabetes and hypoglycemics.

 

Eating adequate amounts of fiber is believed to be important for

individuals wishing to lose weight. Fiber contains bulk and tends to

produce a sense of fullness, which allows people to consume fewer

calories. However, research on the effect of fiber intake on weight

loss is conflicting. Some studies have shown that supplementation

with a source of fiber accelerated weight loss in individuals who

were following a low-calorie diet. In another study, supplementation

with a bulking agent called glucomannan (1.5 grams before breakfast

and dinner) promoted weight loss in overweight individuals who were

not following a special diet. However, other researchers found that

increasing fiber intake had no effect on body weight, even though it

resulted in a reduction in food intake. Different types of dietary

fiber are available from a variety of sources, and the amount

recommended depends on the kind being used. Individuals wishing to

use a fiber supplement should consult with a nutritionist.

 

Juice Therapy is an excellent way to get your fruits and vegetable

fresh and in their natural form. Blending fruits and/or vegetables

into a great juice creation or smoothie can be an excellent snack or

meal replacement.

 

For Juice therapy recipes, herbal medicine, homeopathic help,

exercise for weight loss and your belief systems in weight loss,

please consider more information here:

 

http://www.peacefulmind.com/weight_loss.htm

 

 

 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

Peacefulmind.com

Therapies for healing

mind, body, spirit