 | Adam Gangriwala was born in Overland Park, KS. He has spent time in Dallas, TX, London, England, Parsippani, Nj, Houston, TX, and ended up in Overland Park, KS in 1999. He began working in the newly acquired family GNC store and has been there ever since. You can contact Adam by phone at 303-960-9799. |
Fitness
2009-10-01 15:50:00
Losing weight and keeping it off
Question: How can I lose weight and keep it off?
Answer: No matter how peaceful your nature, when it comes to the battle of the bulge, you have to put up a good fight. In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized world, maintaining a healthy weight can be hard enough, and healthy weight loss can be a real struggle. Adding to the difficulty is the abundance of fad diets and “quick-fix” plans that tempt and confuse us and ultimately usually do not work.
Weight management not only makes you look and feel better, it influences your future health. A healthy weight decreases your chances of developing serious health risks such as heart disease or diabetes.
If your last diet attempt wasn’t a success, or life events have caused you to gain weight, don’t be discouraged. The key is to find a plan that works with your body’s individual needs so that you can avoid common diet pitfalls and instead make lasting lifestyle changes that can help you find long-term, healthy weight loss success.
Why do some weight loss programs fail?
Diets, especially fad diets or “quick-fix” pills and plans, often set you up for failure because:
• You feel deprived. Diets that don’t allow certain types of food (carbs, fat, sugar) in moderation are simply not practical, not to mention unhealthy.
• You “plateau” after losing a few pounds. There’s actually a second component to healthy weight loss: exercise.
• You lose weight, but can’t keep it off. Diets that severely cut calories, or restrict certain foods might work in the short term. However, once you meet your weight loss goal, you have no means of lifelong, healthy diet maintenance, and the pounds quickly come back.
• After your diet, you seem to put on weight more quickly. Restricting your food intake slows down your metabolism – another reason why starvation or “fasting” diets are counterproductive.
• You break your diet and feel too discouraged to try again. Just because you gave in to temptation and overindulged, doesn’t mean all your hard work goes down the drain.
• You feel isolated and unable to enjoy social situations revolving around food.
• The person on the commercial lost 30 lbs in 2 months – and you haven’t. Diet companies make a lot of grandiose promises, and most are simply not realistic. Unfortunately, losing weight is not easy, and anyone who makes it seem that way is doing you a disservice. Don’t get discouraged by setting unrealistic goals!
Why do some weight loss programs succeed?
While there is no “one size fits all” solution to lifelong, healthy weight loss, try these tips:
• Lifestyle Change – Permanent weight loss is not something that a “quick-fix” diet can achieve. Instead, think about weight loss as a permanent lifestyle change. You are making a commitment to your health for life.
• Commit to a plan and stick to it – Experiment until you find a good, long-term plan that helps you lose the weight and maintain that loss in a way that works for you. If you cut out just 100 calories a day you could lose 10 pounds in a year. Remember one 12 oz can of a popular soda contains 150 calories.
• Lose weight slowly. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your nervous system, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re actually losing mostly water and muscle rather than fat. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week to ensure healthy weight loss.
• Stay motivated and keep track – Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as goals like wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes. Find and use tools that help keep you motivated. Stay focused: when frustration and temptation strike, concentrate on the many benefits you will reap from being healthier and leaner.
Weight loss bottom line
Your weight is a balancing act. If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. Gaining and losing weight comes down to calories consumed, minus calories burned through metabolism and physical activity.
Reducing calorie intake promotes weight Loss – type of diet isn’t important
A major study concluded that it doesn’t matter which diet program you choose, as long as it is one that reduces your calorie intake and is healthy for your heart (low in saturated fat and cholesterol). See reference below.
Emotional and social components of healthy weight loss
Food isn’t just used to satisfy hunger – it is also a common part of social interactions and a means of comfort and stress relief. How we eat is also partially dictated by how we were raised – “clean your plate – there’s children starving in Africa” – and how the people around us eat. If your friends and relatives start packing on the pounds, you are more likely to do so as well.
What’s a healthy dieter to do? First, consider how and when you eat. Do you only eat when you are hungry, or do you reach for a snack while watching TV? Do you eat when you’re stressed or bored? To reward yourself? Also pay attention to how much sleep you are getting – lack of sleep has been shown to have a direct link to hunger and overeating.
Recognizing your emotional triggers can help make it easier for you to make changes. Once you realize your own personal challenges to weight loss, you can work towards gradually changing the habits and mental attitudes that have sabotaged your efforts in the past.
Adam Gangriwala was born in Overland Park, KS. He has spent time in Dallas, TX, London, England, Parsippani, Nj, Houston, TX, and ended up in Overland Park, KS in 1999. He began working in the newly acquired family GNC store and has been there ever since. You can contact Adam by phone at 303-960-9799.
