Health And Weight Loss Tips For Surviving The Festive Season

Health tips to keep you on track without spoiling all the fun

learning how to get rid of belly fat is a great lifestyle choice

Another new year and another set of resolutions to challenge us. This year, though, why not make more gradual changes which you are able to sustain as a 'new normal'. Embarking on a crash diet probably isn't the best way to lose weight - learning how to get rid of belly fat may be a better choice. Our bodies like consistency and tend to get upset when there is radical change.

Homeostasis is a term that literally means same state; this refers to a range within which our bodies work most efficiently. Rapid or significant changes to what we eat or drink and the amount of exercise we do typically upsets this balance and is more difficult to sustain.

Christmas tends to be a time of celebration, which includes eating and drinking - often to excess! We don't want to spoil this but neither do we want you to have those guilty feelings afterwards.
Try to maintain your weight at this time of year as losing weight is much more difficult and not too much fun. Here are a few tips to enable you to enjoy the festive season without adding to your waist line:

• Plan what you are going to eat ahead of time and avoid eating as you're preparing/cooking.
• If you know you are having a bigger celebration meal, cut down the amount you eat the day before and the day after; weight is impacted by an accumulation of calories, not a single day
• Allow yourself a few extra treats but balance this with lower calorie fruits and veg, e.g. dried fruits, satsumas
• Have a brisk walk before your meal.
• Use Greek yoghurt and plain ice cream instead of cream or brandy butter which are very high in calories
• Drinking several glasses of fruit juice/juice drinks or sugary drinks will add calories and won't fill you up; this often happens when people are avoiding alcohol. It may even make you hungrier as the high levels of sugar in the drink change blood sugar levels which can lead to further craving
• Try to have low calorie drinks and mixers or add fizzy water to fruit juices
• Remember alcoholic drinks are very high in calories

There are different ways to measure your health, most people tend to focus on weight. Weight is reasonably accurate as long as you view it over the longer term; checking once or twice a month is sufficient.

Another way is to take waist measurements. If you are male, your waist measurement should be below 94cm/38 inches and if you are female it should be less than 80cm/32 inches. A simple check of improvement is that your clothes should feel more comfortable and you are less out of breath when you do similar jobs.

The single biggest impact you can have on your health is stopping smoking. Did you know? You are 4 times more likely to quit with the help of medical based Stop Smoking Services and medication compared with going it alone.

We are becoming far more aware of the dangers of long term inactivity. We have evolved over tens of thousands of years as hunter gatherers. Our bodies developed with this, using movement and the associated muscle activity as part of our whole body health. Regular physical activity can make you more regular on the toilet, reduce changes in blood sugar, improve your mood, reduce your desire to smoke, improve bone strength and reduce the risk of several cancers. Not only that but it's free! If you are concerned about your health, visit your doctor.

Manage Your Stress For Quicker Weight Loss

Many people tend to adopt unhealthy eating habits and reduce their physical activity levels when they are experiencing stress in their lives. Learning to manage your stress will help you to adopt healthy lifestyle changes that will contribute to weight loss and maintenance. Here are some ways to manage stress:

• Identify your stressors. Ask yourself why, what, when, where and how you experience stress.
• Determine how you will deal with each stressor. If you find yourself eating to relieve stress (this is called emotional eating) or consuming alcohol to drown your sorrows, exercise instead. Exercise gives you a natural high and is great for unwinding at the end of the day or recharging in the middle of the day.
• Learn relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, tai chi, yoga or meditation. Aromatherapy, talking to friends and walking your dog are more examples of ways to de-stress.
• If eating is the only way to relieve stress, choose crunchy and/or low-calorie foods that help to reduce tension. Examples are carrots, celery, crispy apples, sugar-free chewing gum and low-fat ice cream or yoghurt.
• When you feel your life spinning out of control, have something stable to latch onto. That something could be a regular exercise routine. For example, if you wake up at 6 a.m. every morning to exercise, you not only get your daily dose of stress relief but also improve your sleep pattern and quality (compared to those who keep irregular hours). With regular exercise, you will feel more alert and be more productive during the day. With increased productivity, you will get more done and your stress level will drop.

Self-Monitoring

It is easier to get back on track if you have gained 2 kg than if you have gained 6 kg. And just because there's diet pills like Abdominal Cuts available doesn't mean that you can binge on food, then take weight loss pills to make up for it. It doesn't work like that unfortunately. To detect weight regain and react promptly, self-monitoring is important. Faithfully monitor the following:

• Measure your weight and waist circumference weekly.
• Complete a three-day food record every month and work out your average daily caloric intake.
• Record your physical activities and step counts in your physical activity diary.
• After visiting your doctor or after completing your annual check-up, tabulate your latest blood pressure, lipid levels, etc., against past records to see the trend.

If you find it too tedious to monitor the above parameters, you can always resort to diet and exercise software that can make your job easier. There are desktop as well as personal digital assistant versions.

No Time to Exercise?

It is common to hear people say they are unable to adhere to their weight-loss program because of their busy work schedules. However, at my sports medicine practice, I see many top executives who exercise regularly. Not surprisingly, they don't have a weight problem.

I was initially puzzled as to why the busiest of executives tend to choose the most time consuming of sports, such as Olympic distance triathlons (1.5 km swim, 40 km cycle, 10 km run), iron-man distance triathlons (2.4 km swim, 180 km cycle, 42 km run), marathons (42 km) and ultra marathons (about 100 km). After interviewing some of them, these became obvious:

• Their daily training sessions served as their "escape" from work and provided time to unwind and think.
• The busier they got, or the more stress they faced, the more they insisted on sticking to their training schedules!
• The regularity of their training provided an anchor around which to organize their hectic and erratic work schedules.
• They found that their training increased rather than decreased the productivity.

Weight Loss Tips For Long Term Weight Management

Behavioral Strategies And Quick Weight Loss Tips For Long Term Weight Management

The key to success in weight loss and maintenance, especially in the long term, is to create some healthy habits around your dietary practices and physical activities. When we do things out of habit, it seems less of an effort. It takes a fair bit of effort to change our daily eating and activity patterns. For example, it takes about a month to overcome the inertia to exercise regularly. But if we persist and cross this hump, the road ahead becomes a lot easier. In this article, I discuss some healthy weight loss tips and some good habits to develop for long term success.

Manage Your Environment



Healthy Weight Loss Tips

 Learn to identify situations or circumstances that cause you to adopt unhealthy eating practices or that discourage you from engaging in physical activity. Modify your environment so that you may be more successful in maintaining your weight-control efforts. Here are some tips:

• Rid your house of snacks. You may also want to remove any kind of food from the living room and bedrooms. Restrict eating to the dining room and the kitchen only and avoid eating while watching TV.
• Try not to socialize where food is readily available, such as in the kitchen or in fast-food restaurants, food courts and cafes. Meet for a walk in the park or go in-line skating instead.
• Change your walking or driving routes to avoid food places that may tempt you.
• Ask your close friends or relatives to prompt you to exercise through regular phone calls. Make a pact with your friends to exercise together.
• If there are other members of your family who are overweight, encourage them to lose weight as well. It is difficult to restrict your diet when the rest of the family eats liberally.
• Hang out with friends who have a habit of eating healthy and exercising.
• Put your running shoes by the front door to remind you to exercise.
• Make physical activity easy to do. Have all your exercise gear on hand, packed in a bag, so you can grab and go. Leave work-out clothes at your office. As a routine, pack and bring along your exercise attire when traveling.
• When traveling overseas, make it a point to choose hotels with gyms or hotels located near parks, trails, esplanades or beaches. Include short trekking/hiking trips as part of your holiday itinerary.

Manage Your Expectations

• Let go of your past mistakes and focus on making progress, not on being perfect.
• Instead of focusing on weight loss, focus on the dietary and activity changes that will lead to long-term health benefits.
• Set realistic, achievable goals that will move you forwards in small steps. The recommended rate of weight loss is about 0.5-1.0 kg per week.
• Don't dwell on what you are giving up to lose weight. Concentrate on what you are gaining instead. For example, instead of thinking, "I really miss my favorite roti prata for breakfast," tell yourself, "I feel a lot better when I eat wholemeal bread and oats in the morning."

Develop a Healthy Relationship With Food

Stop labeling food good or bad. Remember that it is the total caloric intake that matters most. Practice the following:

• Listen to your body's natural hunger signals and avoid eating simply for the sake of eating.
• Rather than gorge, chew slowly and appreciate the flavors and textures.
• Pause mid-meal to check your appetite. Stop as soon as your appetite is satisfied; do not keep eating until you are full.
• A very occasional and controlled indulgence is permissible, as total deprivation can later trigger binges.

Besides enjoying internal rewards such as feelings of accomplishment and improved self-esteem, reward yourself externally for goals you have achieved. Don't reward yourself with food. Try these alternatives:

• Buy yourself something that you always wanted, such as an outfit that you really liked but could not fit into.
• Treat yourself to a massage or spa session.
• Take an afternoon off work.
• Buy yourself new running shoes, workout clothes or other exercise gear.
• Try marking out intermediate milestones (e.g. every 3 kg) on your progress chart and indicate the reward you will give yourself upon achieving each milestone.

Don't use food to help you deal with your feelings. Follow these steps instead:

• Take a deep breath to calm yourself.
• Identify the feeling. Is it anger, sadness, frustration, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, tiredness or even happiness?
• Do something healthy that does not involve food to release your emotions. If you are angry or frustrated, engage in a physical activity, such as running or doing housework. Or talk to a friend about what is upsetting or worrying you. If you are bored, engage in an activity you enjoy, such as doing handiwork. If you are tired, take a short nap or bath.