We all realize that it’s that time of year again – the beginning of the Holiday Season! We’re planning for Thanksgiving the day after tomorrow. Then, it’s a mad dash of shopping, cooking, eating, drinking, parties, family get togethers, religious events, perhaps traveling, and lots of joy (and possibly sadness depending on our circumstances) until after New Year’s Day. In other words we’ll be incredibly busy and have little time for ourselves, and, even worse, our daily routines will be disrupted for months! Despite this, the Holidays are a good thing. We just have to plan. This is not a time for thoughts such as “I’m not going to gain weight!”, or, “It’s impossible so I won’t even try!”, or, “I’ll wait until after the New Year!”, or “I’ll skip all those parties!”, or, whatever. The truth is we’ll all party and eat and drink – some of us will maintain our weight but most of us will gain at least a few pounds despite our best intentions. By planning, however, we can minimize the damage and enter the New Year healthier by doing a few simple things. We must be honest with ourselves because we know what’s going to happen otherwise. The first thing we must do is try to get at least and extra 30 cumulative minutes of physical activity each and every day. This can be simply walking while shopping or visiting. Next, since we are planning to snack and drink more, we should cut back on our regular meals and try to keep the accumulation of goodies in our homes and work spaces to a minimum by taking inventory and throwing them out daily if necessary. We all know what to do – we just have to do it. Thirdly, we should keep some type of record or diary of what we consume and where we’re going to go so we know what we’ve done and what we’ll probably soon do. This sounds too easy and it is, but, we’ll only do it if we begin now.
Archive for the ‘“Good” calories = “Bad” calories – Every Calorie Counts’ Category
The Holiday Season Need Not Cause Weight Problems: We Must Begin Planning for the New Year Now!
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011The Weight Loss Blues Affect Everyone – Even “Experts” Like Me!
Thursday, October 13th, 2011“Too much knowledge is a dangerous thing” a sage once said. This is the way my wife and I feel now. Since we’ve recently cut way back on our professional activities we’ve had much more time to travel. In fact, we’ve spent over four of the past eight weeks traveling – 31/2 weeks driving to Oregon and back and last week driving to northern Wisconsin for a blissful week in the gorgeous north woods. Even though we kept active – kayaking, swimming, hiking, horse back riding, etc. – we both gained around 4 – 5 lbs. which we are having a devil of a time taking off. This despite our knowing what to do and being very knowledgeable in calorie counting. I get on the scale frequently and know how my patients feel when dieting. It’s frustrating! However, why we gained the weight isn’t a secret if we think about it. Firstly, although we were active on our trips, the physical activity was more intermittent and not as constant during the day. Secondly, we were, of necessity, eating out a lot and our food choices were not the best for weight control. Thirdly, we usually eat only two meals a day – a late breakfast or early lunch and a dinner later in the day. When traveling, the norm is, more often than not, that we eat three meals a day plus snacks which are more difficult to control when away from home. So, our problem was not one of ignorance or lack of knowledge of what we should have done, but one of our not planning and anticipating what would happen to us. Because of this lack of preparation, we blew it. Even the old cliche “Eat, it’s OK you’re on vacation,” doesn’t change the outcome. We now have to lose those pounds! It would have been better to not have gained weight by planning and applying the principles we know so well. Until we do this we will be forever flumoxed by our weight management.
To show how much I haven’t changed, I reread my previous post of January 20, 2010 where I lament my new year’s weight gain as well as my post on February 9, 2010. You should read these too.
For My Weight Loss – Why “Eating Healthy” Was Not the Total Answer – “Good” vs. “Bad” Foods
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010First, an update on my own weight loss efforts – two pounds this past week by a combination of daily physical activity and less calories while going out to restaurants to eat three times, eating most of a triple fruit pie (a regular recipe without low calorie ingredients) that I personally baked, and having a daily cocktail. Am I eating healthy? What does this mean? Why did I lose weight?
I guess what most people mean by “Eating Healthy” is avoiding “junk” food (my pie and alcohol?) with its refined contents, sugars, chemicals, pesticides, and preservatives, and other “empty” calories plus avoiding trans fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol and replacing these with non processed (non refined) and ”organically” produced foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grain cereals, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, seafoods as opposed to meats, less caffein, and perhaps taking vitamins and other “health improving” additives or supplements. It’s the same old refrain replace ”bad” foods with “good” foods – “bad” calories with “good ” calories. A lot of individuals are doing this to a more or less degree. Are they “healthier” because of this? Most definitely. Are they losing weight? Most are definitely not. Why? Because a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, “bad” or “good.” An ounce of high fructose corn syrup’s ”bad” carbohydrate has the same number of calories as an ounce of the “good” carbohydrate in whole grain cereal – an ounce of saturated or trans “bad” fat has the same number of calories as an ounce of the “good” monounsaturated fat in olive or peanut oil. An eight ounce glass of regular soda pop has the same number of calories as a glass of orange juice. Is the orange juice healthier? Of course it is! Will substituting a glass of orange juice for a glass of pop help you lose weight? Of course not because they’re calorically equal! Getting the picture?
Now, back to me. I lost weight while eating out a lot, eating home made pie, drinking alcohol - eating in a way most would consider “unhealthy” – because I consumed less calories than I needed to maintain my weight. Therefore, for me it was the quantity (total number) of calories not the type (good vs. bad) of calories which made the difference. Yes, I also performed daily physical activity but really no more than I had done before I decided to lose those pounds.
Remember, your “eating healthy” will result in weight loss only if, by “eating healthy” you are actually eating less calories than you need to maintain your weight!
I’ll discuss how we can easily calculate our daily calorie needs in my next post.
