December is the time to celebrate for most Filipinos. Aside from it being the time that they receive their
13th month pay, it is also the time for an almost endless array of parties and reunions, not only to celebrate Christmas and the coming New Year, but also to celebrate the fruits of their labor and to give a
toast for their successes and an adieu to their trials.
Of course, a celebration is never complete without delicious food on the table, and it could never be a
celebration if the menu does not contain any high-calorie food and drinks: meat, cakes and pastries, and
pastas and extra rice would be in abundance, and beer and softdrinks would be overflowing. Add to
these the thought of “minsan lang naman ito sa isang taon” (“This is only once a year”) and there is
really no question how suddenly the form-fitting jeans that turned heads just a couple of months ago
would not even go past the knees anymore. As the New Year comes, it would not be unusual to hear
someone complain, “I’ve gained weight!”
For those who are already on the heavy side, the New Year is also the time
to make the resolution to go to the gym to work out and lose weight. They
will promise that by the end of the year, they will be able to fit in that fancy
dress or suit that they have always wanted to buy but could not bear to
wear, or at least be ready to wear less clothing when they go to the beach
in April.
However, losing weight is not as easy for most people as they thought it
would be. After a couple of weeks in the gym, they start to feel pain in their
muscles and joints, and they begin to make excuses that their increasingly
hectic work schedule would not permit them to go to the gym anymore.
Worse, after a long, tiring day at the office, they would go home, open the
fridge, and only find nothing much to eat (as they had sworn off eating meat
and sweets). As they stare at their plate filled with leaves and a few pieces
of fruit, they begin to wonder what the point of life is if they could not afford
to satisfy their craving. Ultimately, they decide to give up on their weight
loss program and tell themselves that at the very least, they are happy with what they eat.
It should first be made clear that losing weight is not about giving up everything all at once. The body
needs to adjust to the changes, and so it also needs to be gradually conditioned towards eating less and
doing more. Throwing away all the sweets and other fatty foods in the refrigerator and immediately running 10 miles a day when one could not even travel from their house or office building to the corner of
the street without needing to ride a jeepney or a tricycle will not only spell disaster for the weight loss
program, but may also be dangerous to the person’s health. Depriving oneself from food that he or she
normally eats may only cause him or her to crave for it more. Creating “cheat days” in the diet program
will only cause the person to overindulge in those days, if not create more “cheat days” as he or she
slowly gives in to his or her cravings, until everyday becomes a “cheat day.”
So how do you start a weight loss program that you will be able to sustain not just for the New Year, but
for the rest of your life? Here are a few helpful tips:
Commit
Just because it is the New Year would it mean that you need to have a resolution, which usually consists of losing weight (along with “become a nicer person” and “will not be late for work as frequently as
before”). Actually losing weight – and maintaining the weight that you have reached – take serious commitment as any inconvenience or difficulty that you may encounter in the course of your program may
sway you from continuing. The decision to finally lose weight is not something that is done in a whim but
it is an everyday decision with a specific goal in mind. Do you want to reduce your risk of developing
diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and heart diseases? Do you want more options when buying clothes so
that you could look much better? Do you want to save more money to buy whatever you like instead of
splurging it all on food? Then you must commit to your weight loss program and remind yourself of your
goals often.
Watch what you eat
Take note that this says “watch” what you eat, and not give up entirely on eating meat, chocolates, or other fatty foods or sweets. As
said earlier, the more that you deprive yourself of what you normally
eat, the more that you will crave for it, and this will only lead to you to
eventually abandoning your goal. Watching what you eat may actually involve keeping a journal to record what you ate as well as what
you were feeling that day. This will help you establish a pattern between your eating and emotions. This will help you control the
amount of food that you eat. This also holds you accountable to
something and will make you think about what you are doing right or
wrong in your weight-loss program.
Eat your breakfast
Studies have shown that eating breakfast regularly results in better
dietary and improved physical activity behaviors, and there is an inverse relationship with excess weight.
It was also found that people who have breakfasts have greater physical activities versus those who
never consumed breakfast.
Exercise and stay active
You
do not have to enroll in an expensive gym or aerobics class to lose
weight. Walking has been found to significantly help lose weight, and you can
later shift to running, which spends more energy. Instead of commuting when
you are only going to travel a short distance, walk. Use the stairs when going
up or down two to three floors instead of waiting for the elevator. Brisk walking
for 30 minutes a day (which may be divided into three ten-minute walks in a
day) for five days a week may help you lose 5% to 10% of your current
weight. As time progresses and as you become more comfortable with your
routine, you may gradually increase the distance that you walk or run and the
number of floors that you climb up or go down.
Think positive
Losing weight does not involve only the body, but more so it involves the
mind. As you slowly condition your body to walk more, eat less, and take in
healthier foods, you may find yourself increasingly becoming resistant towards doing those activities, especially when you see other people indulge in
foods that you promised to eat less of. Thinking positively involves thinking what you really value the
most as well as thinking about the outcome of your weight-loss program, and not about how you are depriving yourself of food. It also involves looking at the bright side of the challenges: the extra block that
you walk may mean being able to look around the area and appreciate your surroundings; you get to try
different varieties of food instead of sticking to sweets and fatty foods; and you get to save more money
by not buying extra rice or softdrink with your every meal. Positive thinking will also serve as your motivation to go on with your weight loss program.
Drink lots of water
There
have been no consistent findings that establish that mere intake of
beverages are related to weight gain compared with whole foods; however,
current evidence indicates that the more that a person consumes a greater
quantity of sugar-sweetened beverages, the more that he or she gains
weight and becomes obese. This is pretty much similar to any other type of
food that we eat, and so the issue really is regulation. It is recommended
that a person should drink water instead of these beverages on the basis of
reducing calorie intake rather than a link between added-sugar intake and
obesity. Drinking also helps you to feel full because it adds volume and
weight to your meal.
Be realistic with your goals
As much as eating heavily in one day will not make you gain a hundred
pounds by the following morning, eating less and doing exercise for one week will not cause you to lose
a significant amount of weight by the following week. Besides, the large amount of weight that you will
lose may only be water, which you actually need and you will eventually regain once you eat. One to two
pounds a week is ideal and doable. Safely losing weight will reasonably take
several months to a year. The key to it is that the body is slowly but steadily
becoming conditioned to the smaller quantity of food that you take and the increasing strenuousness of your physical activity.
Get help
Getting other people to help you lose weight is helpful as this encourages you
to stick to your weight loss program. Those who are genuinely concerned with
your welfare and supportive of your decision may give you tips ranging from
something as simple as an alternate route for your walk or run for you to appreciate the view, to reminding you of your commitment to lose weight. Fitness
trainers (if you decide to join a gym) and weight-loss support groups may also
give you helpful advice so that you will not easily get bored or lose interest on
your diet or exercise program. Health professionals may also help you create
an effective weight loss program to ensure that you lose weight safety,
surely, and effectively.
References:
Arora, M et al. “Association of breakfast intake with obesity, dietary, and physical activity behavior among urban school-aged adolescents in Delhi, India: results of a cross-sectional study,” BMC Public Health XII:1 (October 17, 2012).
Deshmukh-Taskar, P et al. “The relationship of breakfast skipping and type of breakfast consumed with overweight/obesity, abdominal obesity, other cardiometabolic risk factors, and the metabolic syndrome in young adults. The National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES): 1999-2006,” Public Health Nutrition III:1-10 (October 2012).
Malik, VS, MB Schulze, and FB Hu. “Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition LXXXII:2 (August 2006), pp. 274-88.
Slavin, J. “Beverages and body weight: challenges in the evidence-based review process of the Carbohydrate Subcommittee from
the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee,” Nutrition Reviews LXX:Suppl 2 (November 2012), S111-20.
Williams, PT. “Greater weight loss from running than walking during 6.2-year prospective follow-up,” Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise (November27, 2012).
http://shine.yahoo.com/five-tips-losing-weight-holidays-070000281.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/HQ01625
http://www.readersdigest.ca/weight-loss/20-ways-lose-weight-after-holidays
http://www.livestrong.com/article/216624-will-walking-30-minutes-a-day-help-you-lose-weight/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/516580-5-ways-to-lose-weight-after-holiday-overeating/
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