Healthy You Article – January 23, 2009

Weight Management Program – Month Three
By Mary Perkins – Wellness Center Manager

Month number three of my weight management program is coming to an end and I’m still chugging along slowly but steadily. It gets very discouraging at times because the weight went on much more easily and seemingly much faster than it’s coming off. I suppose, thinking logically, if it takes a negative calorie balance of 1000 calories per day to lose about two pounds a week, and I did it only through physical activity because I love to eat, I would have to walk 10 miles a day every day and not eat more than my weight maintenance amount of calories (figured by taking your weight in pounds x 12) to lose two pounds. Seeing that I work at least 8 hours every day and have a very active household, I don’t have the luxury of walking 10 miles every day. Therefore, I need to create a negative calorie balance through both physical activity and cutting calories. This means eating proper portions of lower calorie foods and exercising regularly, which takes a whole lot more energy and planning than gaining weight does.

It had taken me 9 years to gain the weight that I had grown to when I started changing my lifestyle in October, 2008. Before that I had yo-yo dieted up and down for years before I finally gave up and told myself I didn’t care anymore. I got rid of the scales, mirrors, and decided I hated shopping for myself. Secretly I did care and still do.

Part of journaling requires weighing in every day. I admit that, when I have had a particularly unsuccessful day, I will skip a weigh-in, but that’s happening less and less often as I continue making strides toward a healthier lifestyle.

The amount of exercise I am getting is increasing every couple of weeks as well. It’s not that I have fallen in love with physical activity, but as I get stronger, I find that I feel better for longer amounts of time while exercising. I am finding that I have more energy and fewer aches when I finish a workout, and actually look forward to the next one. Whereas I started out trying to get 30 minutes three times a week, now I am getting in an hour or more five times a week. My latest goal is to try to get some physical activity every day of the week. I think this will be easier for me once winter is over.

Cutting down on calories has been a challenge for me and I am still struggling with it. I have discovered that portion sizes are a lot different from what I had been practicing. One thing I’m doing regularly now is measuring things. My faithful bowl of morning Cheerios that I was just pouring into a bowl was actually 1 ½ servings. Now I either measure myself a 1 cup portion or I use the same bowl that I’ve measured in previously. The same with the skim milk I put on the cereal. Instead of large bananas to slice on top, I choose medium or small bananas when I shop.

I’ve also started using a smaller dinner plate. I find that if I use a large plate, I feel cheated if my food servings look small. Typical serving sizes are very different from what we may think. A serving size of macaroni or spaghetti is ½ cup. To compare the difference, measure out ½ cup, 1 cup, 1 ½ cup on a plate to get a visual. Then get the calorie count and figure out the differences in calories for each of the servings. If you’re trying to create a negative calorie balance, this difference could be huge. If you stick to the ½ cup of pasta, you can add ½ cup of green beans, ½ cup of low fat cottage cheese, and ½ cup of fresh fruit, eat it slowly, and feel pretty satisfied when you’re done. Then maybe there will be room for ½ cup of low fat ice cream for dessert.

My choice to adopt a healthier lifestyle is a learning work in progress. Much like learning how to play a new sport or how to play a musical instrument, it takes practice, lots of practice. Whereas I wouldn’t expect to master the fundamentals of basketball in a few short weeks, I don’t expect to learn to master a healthy lifestyle in a few weeks. I am much better than I was at it 3 months ago. I expect I will be even better 3 months from now. And better still 3 months from then. I don’t expect this to be a quick fix that will end once the formal lesson is over. It is not a diet, it is a lifestyle. Anything worthwhile in life takes time, and my health is worth every second of it.

By the way, in case anyone is curious, I have lost 12 pounds so far; that’s one 10-pound and one 2-pound bag of flour that I’m not carrying around any more!

"HEALTHY YOU” is a weekly column prepared by health care providers and staff at North Country Hospital and Health System. For information or to suggest a topic for this column, please call Mary Perkins, Wellness Center Manager, 334-3226, or email mperkins@nchsi.org.