New Year, New You

Hello all! I hope you had a very happy holiday and a happy new year!

It is hard to believe that 2012 has come and gone. The thought of the New Year brings up thoughts of New Year’s resolutions. What will your New Year’s resolution be this year? Did you know that losing weight is the most popular New Year’s resolution in the United States?  Knowing this, it is hard to believe that over 60% of Americans are still considered overweight or obese. What does this tell me? That year after year Americans are not reaching their weight loss goals. Why you might ask? The reason is because we set unrealistic or unreachable goals. We need more patience. Remember the saying that “Rome wasn't built in a day”. I want you to take a minute and do some math.  How long did it take you to gain your unwanted weight? Not how long have you been this weight but how long did it take you to go from your goal weight to current weight? Realistically, take that amount of time and double it. That might be how long it takes you to lose the weight. I know this news is frustrating to hear. This is the reality. The reason this is true is because once you have added fat cells to your body it is hard to take them off. Your body actually has to increase the size of your organs and grow more blood vessels to fuel, or feed a larger you. It is stated that if you were to stretch out the blood vessels of an average adult, there are about 100,000 miles of blood vessel. As a result, when you gain weight you also gain more blood vessels. When you are trying to lose weight your body has to break down the added blood vessels and adjust to your new weight. Also, research shows that fat cells produce hormones that help regulate appetite. Your body gets acclimated to having a certain level of these hormones in the blood, especially if you have been at your current weight for more than a year. When you lose weight, especially fat, the amount of the appetite regulatory hormones decreases in the blood.  As a result, your body panics and increases your appetite so that you will gain more  fat cells and send the hormone levels back to the level the body has gotten acclimated to. Some people refer to this as the body’s set point.

Here are some tips to help you set a New Year’s resolution that you can meet:

1.       Be Realistic with your weight loss goal. Then break the weight loss goal down into small reachable goals with time frames.

Remember that is takes burning 3500 extra calories to lose 1 pound of weight. As a result, my advice is, do not set a goal to lose more than 8 pounds per month. In fact, I recommend starting with a goal to lose 4 pounds per month. I know that this seems like a slow weight loss, but in the long run it will help you to achieve you overall weight loss goal. The hardest part to weight loss is maintenance. If you lose more than 8 pounds per month, it usually means that you are doing something drastic to lose the weight that realistically you will not be able to maintain over the long haul. Examples of this are severely decreasing you calorie intake or exercising more than 90 minutes per day. This can lead to yo-yo dieting and regaining the weight. Research shows that yo-yo dieting is more detrimental to your overall health than being overweight.

2.       Be Realistic with your exercise goal.

Start out slow. A little bit goes a long way. If you don’t currently exercise, then make it your goal to exercise 15 minutes a day. In fact, it does not even have to be all at once. You could do 8 minutes in the morning and 7 minutes at night. If you currently exercise 30 minutes per day, then make it your goal to exercise 45 minutes per day. In other words, take what exercise you currently do and make it your goal to add 15 more minutes on per day. Remember, In order to consider it “exercise” you need to increase your heart rate enough where you can talk to the person next to you but you cannot sing to them. You should be slightly out of breath.

3.        Find a buddy to help keep you on track.

Research shows that people, who start a weight loss program with a buddy that has the goal to lose the same amount of weight, are more likely to reach their overall goal. You need some who can boost your spirit when you are getting frustrated. You need someone who will keep you accountable, when it comes to what you eat and your exercise plan. I recommended that this person be the same gender and not be a significant other/husband/wife.

4.       At the beginning of each week, make time in your daily schedule to accomplish your exercise goals. This would also be a good time to outline the meal plan for the week. If you drink alcohol, figure out where and how it will fit into your weight loss plan.

The biggest complaint that I hear about why people have trouble losing weight is because of lack of time. By taking time at the beginning of the week to plan the meals for the week you are more likely to stay on track. The easier it is to make meal decisions the more likely you are going to make the right ones. When it comes to exercise you have to figure out where it can fit into your schedule, realistically. A majority of people are not thrilled to exercise. Look at it as part of your daily work schedule that you have to accomplish before you can go home. Once it becomes part of your routine, it will make it easier to stay on track.

5.       Decide ahead of time how you are going to reward yourself after you achieve your goal. Do not use food or alcohol as a reward.

Think of all the money you are saving with each pound you lose. You are spending less money on food, medications, clothes, and stress relievers. I recommend that you come up with an amount of money that you are going to put aside for each pound that you lose. Once you reach your goal, take the money and go spend it on yourself. Whether it is on clothes, shoes, jewelry, a vacation or something you have always wanted. You deserve it for all of your hard work!

6.       Let your family, friends and co-workers in on your weight loss intentions.

Weight loss is not an easy task. There are tons a sabotages all around you. Whether it is commercials, holidays, special events, family, friends or yourself, obstacles will stand in your way and mess with your mind when you are trying to lose weight. If you can explain to family, friends and co-workers why it is important to you to lose weight, they can help you through the weight loss obstacles instead of being part of them. The larger your support network the more successful you will be. This is a good thing to keep in mind for your-self. You never want to be sabotage for family, friends and co-workers in the goals they are trying to reach.

Keep these things in mind when you are deciding on your New Year’s resolutions to help you to be successful in accomplishing your weight loss and overall health goals in the New Year. May 2013 bring you nothing but good health and success in achieving your goals!

XOXO!   The Dietnista