Tips and Tricks for
Maintaining a Healthy
Weight
Jessi Saxton
WKU Dietetic Intern
Breakfast… The most important
meal of your day!
• Starting your day with breakfast is one of the best choices you
can make in the morning. Eating breakfast:
• Starts your metabolism for the day so you begin burning
calories
• Gives you energy to perform at your highest potential
Breakfast continued…
• Improves concentration
• May help you eat less throughout the day
• Provides important daily nutrients such as protein, fiber,
calcium and carbohydrates
Portion Distortion
• Measure your portions and never eat straight from a container
• Many people have a distorted image of what an actual portion
size is of the foods they eat on a daily basis
• Consuming larger portion sizes can lead to consuming excess
calories and weight gain
• Portion sizes have increased dramatically over the past few
decades; however, recommended serving sizes have remained
the same
Serving Sizes
Are you actually hungry?
• Many times when we feel hungry, we are actually just thirsty.
• Drink 8oz. of water when you are feeling hungry, wait 15
minutes and see if that takes away the hunger cue.
• Use “The apple test”. When you are craving a certain food,
ask yourself if you are hungry enough to eat an apple instead.
If the answer is “no”, then you are probably not actually
hungry.
• Do something to take your mind off the craving
Ex. Take a walk, play a game on your cell phone, read a book
or magazine
Exercise
• The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and The American Heart
Association (AHA) recommend 150 minutes (2 hours and 30
minutes) a week of moderate intensity physical activity (such
as brisk walking) per week
• Ideally, each cardio session should last at least 10 minutes and
be spread throughout the week
• 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week is a great guideline
Exercise continued…
• 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorousintensity aerobic physical activity provides similar health
benefits
• 1 hour of aerobic exercise per day is recommended for weight
loss
Use your muscles
• The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
recommends strength training for adults to increase lean
muscle mass
• The ACSM recommends 2-3 moderate intensity strength
training sessions per week
• Lean muscle mass takes up less space than fat
• Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat
Muscle vs. Fat
• Muscle tissue has been observed to burn roughly seven to 10
calories per pound per day
• Fat burns approximately two to three calories per pound per
day
• Gaining even 3 to 5 pounds of muscle mass will burn
approximately 15 to 30 calories per day
-Dr. Cedric X. Bryant - Chief Science Officer for the American
Council on Exercise (ACE)
• That's 450-900 more calories burned per month…
• Or, 5,400-10,800 more calories burned in a year
• That's about a 3-pound weight loss, simply by building and
preserving your muscle mass!
Sugar
• Reduce sugar sweetened beverage consumption
• The average American consumes 22 teaspoons in added
sugars per day which contributes to 350 excess calories
• Empty calories = excess weight gain. Better options: water,
milk, diet sodas, tea
• The AHA suggests an added-sugar limit of no more than 100
calories per day (about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar) for
most women and no more than 150 calories per day (about 9
teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar) for most men.
Tips and Tricks
• Be goal-oriented. Our brains are motivated by goals so be
specific. Set a tangible goal with a firm deadline. Ex: “I will
lose 10 pounds by June 1st.”
• Keep a food journal. Women who do lose six pounds more on
average, according to a 2012 study in the Journal of the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
• Never go to the grocery store hungry and always use a list.
Shop the perimeter of the grocery for the healthiest food
options and avoid the center aisles where most of the
processed foods are.
Tips and Tricks
• Bring your own lunch to work. According to a 2012 study in
the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, dieters
who eat out for lunch even once a week lose 5 fewer pounds
on average.
• Start meals with vegetables to naturally eat more of them,
become fuller faster, and ultimately reduce total caloric intake.
• For weight maintenance, weighing daily may help to keep you
on track. For weight loss, weighing weekly may help monitor
progress without becoming obsessive or discouraging.
• Eat every three to four hours to keep metabolism running
efficiently and to stave off cravings.
National Weight Control Registry
• Established in 1994 by two physicians as a large scale
prospective weight maintenance study
• Developed to identify and investigate the characteristics of
people who lost weight and were successful at keeping it off
• Currently tracking over 1000 people
• 80% of persons in the registry are women and 20% are men
• The "average" woman is 45 years of age and currently weighs
145 lbs, while the "average" man is 49 years of age and
currently weighs 190 lbs
NWCR continued…
• Registry members have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off
for 5.5 years
• 98% of Registry participants report that they modified their
food intake in some way to lose weight
• 94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently
reported form of activity being walking.
How they kept the weight off…
• 78% eat breakfast every day
• 75% weigh themselves at least once a week
• 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week
• 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day
Bedtime
• Set a time to stop eating at
• Stop eating at least 3 hours before bed
• "Get six to eight hours of sleep a night. Without it, the
appetite hormone ghrelin increases, which could result in
weight gain. And schedule at least two three-minute breaks
during the day to practice deep-breathing exercises. It will
reduce the stress hormone cortisol, which builds fat around
your mid-section."
—Manuel Villacorta, RD, author of Eating Free