Diet and exercise, staying fit

Over the summer while listening to radio and TV talk shows about lifestyle changes I jotted down some analogies and thoughts I thought were particularly interesting. We as a society all seem to be constantly looking for answers as how we can stay healthy and active. Many of the chronic diseases that plague our society can be linked to the lifestyles that we choose to lead. Attention to healthy behaviors will make us all feel better.

On a daily basis women will ask me how they can lose weight, why they are not losing weight or why they are gaining weight. As a society we are encouraged to over consume and when it comes to exercise to under spend! Humans were not designed to be sedentary creatures. We all need to pay attention to what is going in and what is going out.

Thus you can’t evaluate what you are eating without looking at your energy expenditure. That is like talking about what fuel you will use in your car without talking about how you will be driving it. Food can be looked at as currency; how much will you spend while exercising? A good example of this was reported in the Wall Street Journal several years ago. Reporters were looking at obesity in a former coal-mining town as compared to a nearby university town. The rates of obesity in the former mining town were alarming and directly linked to over-consumption of calories. People were eating what their parents always had but were no longer burning that same 5000 calories a day working in the mines. As their energy expenditure had decreased but their consumption stayed the same they gained weight.

Deprivation doesn’t work. Our mind has a harder time processing negatives as opposed to positives. The example given in the talk show I was watching (yes it was Oprah) was saying to the audience: "Stop sitting down" (it took a while for everyone to stand up) versus "all stand up." Treats are O’K as long as they are eaten in moderation and balanced by energy expenditure. Saying or thinking I won’t eat a lot today is not as effective as saying I will have balanced meals today and go for a walk after work.

The typical American diet is full of processed food such as refined starches and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates aren’t "bad"; in fact we need them for energy. It is the type and quantity of carbohydrates that can be problematic. Women should try to get most of their carbohydrates from unrefined sources (e.g. fruits, vegetable, whole grain foods). Refined carbohydrates (sugar, cakes, cookies etc) send insulin levels climbing; that can make you hungrier for more sugars. If you really want (crave?) carbohydrates or sweets you are better off having a piece of fruit that has no processed sugars. Think about this…. having a cookie can make you want the rest of the package, when is the last time one apple made you want the whole bag?

When shopping for food, spend most of your time in the periphery of the supermarket. This is generally where the fruits, vegetables, dairy and protein sources are found. Most of the processed and "junk" food is found in the aisles. If you have to go down the aisles go for something specific and avoid the temptation to browse (and thus over consume). Other tips while grocery shopping are to stick to a list and never go when you are hungry.

Our goals should be to be fit and healthy. Trying to look likes models, actresses or even as we did in our teens and twenties is not particularly realistic and likely doomed to failure. Ponder the mixed messages given to women the next time you are standing in the supermarket checkout line. Magazines extol the virtues of exercise, the "perfect" size eight while displaying chocolate deserts next to models in bikinis. It’s no wonder we all "fail." Keeping our goals reasonable and remembering no big changes occur overnight will help achieve "success."