Have a Happy & Healthy New Year! - the Parklander

MEDICINE & HEALTH
BEYOND RESOLUTIONS...
Be healthier–for life
By Fran Perel
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The holiday season for most people is synonymous with friends, family,
gifts and good cheer. The celebrating seems to start earlier and earlier
each year. As soon as the back-to-school supplies are off the shelves,
the Halloween candy is ready for sale. Do we really need to buy our
trick-or-treat goodies in September? Then, before we finish that last
piece of candy, in rolls Thanksgiving will all its trimmings.
Unfortunately, the average weight gain between Thanksgiving and the
New Year is seven pounds. For some people it’s an easy gain of an extra
10 pounds that takes months to shed. More and more people, particularly
women are feeling that the holidays intensify the stress they already
experience in their 24 /7 do-it-all career to caretaker world. The woman
who struggles on a daily basis to look, act and play at the top of her game
now finds herself with even more on her already too full plate.
Many people feel a bad case of the post holiday blues, technically called
post-holiday seasonal depression, a common mood disorder. How many
times can you go through months of taking it off at the gym, only to put it
back on again? Years of “yo-yoing” would depress anyone!
It’s time to get started now and stop that holiday weight gain dead in its
tracks before the extra pounds pile up any further! First cheer up.
Know that you are not alone and that there are good reasons for the way
you feel. Secondly, take heart and know that you can do far more than
shed those extra 10 pounds.
With just a few pointers you can make permanent changes in your life
and create a healthier lifestyle. This year instead of gaining and losing you
can take those unwanted 10 pounds off, keep them off, and create a more
permanent and healthier lifestyle.The answer is not a magic diet trick, pill
or some sort of abdominal blasting machine. The solution is to make
small, specific changes in diet and exercise that are reasonable and realistic
along with a specific start date and goal that is measurable.
Still stumped or can’t get started?
Here are some pointers for you.
• Pinpoint and write down a specific goal. Determine a reasonable
amount of weight to lose in a reasonable time period. Healthy weight
loss is an average of one pound per week. Not only write down your
goal, but track your success. If you feel you are losing your focus,
looking at in on paper can be a big help. Whether it’s keeping track of
pounds or inches lost, you will be more likely to stay on track if you see
the progress you are making towards your goal.
• Come up with a specific plan. It’s not good enough to say I want to
lose 10 pounds in the next 10 weeks (which is a reasonable time frame
to lose 10 pounds.) Decide exactly how you are going to achieve that
result. Write it into your daily planner: “Walk after the kids go to
school or with a co-worker at lunchtime, Pilates class at 7:00 p.m.,
exercise video at 6:00 a.m.” are all good examples.
• Make small changes and add up big results. Remember it doesn’t all
have to be done at once. A long brisk walk with the dog before and after
work can add up to burning a quick 200 calories a day. Substituting diet
soda for regular cola can save you 100 calories, mustard for mayonnaise
another 100 calories, skip that evening glass of wine and another
100 calories are eliminated. It’s just a matter of simple math.
Burn 200 calories more a day and reduce your caloric intake by
300 calories a day for seven days and you will equal 3,500 fewer calories
48 JANUARY 2007
Parkland Pilates clients stay fit by doing the “Teaser” exercise from
Pilates Mat. From left to right: Norma Flax, Kira Levy, studio owner
Fran Perel, Robin Cohen, Marci Butters, Maria De Mondal, and Haley Krul.
for the week. Put another way, a safe weight loss of one pound per week.
• Being reasonable and realistic is extremely important. Forcing
yourself to follow a diet that makes you eat things you dislike and
deprives you of things you crave is unreasonable and surely doomed to
failure. You can eat some pretzels if you feel like something crunchy or
a piece of candy if you feel like something sweet. Just budget it into
you total calories for the day. The average woman should eat 1,500
calories a day to lose one pound of weight per week. If you write down
what you eat and keep track of it, you can eat healthy and still have
room to occasionally splurge selectively. Also be realistic and
reasonable about your exercise regimen. If you make exercise fit into
your life’s timetable and lifestyle, you are more likely to stick with it.
Hopefully the exercise you pick should be enjoyable and something
that you look forward to and at the same time be challenging.
• Don’t expect perfection; everyone gets derailed from time to time.
No one is perfect. Go easy on yourself. If you can’t do a full workout,
do something, 10 to 15 minutes of exercise. You’ll feel better knowing
you did something. If you overdo the calorie count on Tuesday, cut
back on Wednesday to make up for it. Conversely, praise yourself
along the way as you see the pounds and inches dropping down in
numbers. Congratulate yourself with a massage or a new pair of jeans
in a smaller size and celebrate your success along the way.
• Focus on making a commitment to living a healthier life.It’s not just about
losing those extra pounds. Yes, it is about short-term changes, but it’s also
about creating a long-term healthier lifestyle. Exercise is a great stress
reducer and mood elevator. Stress reduction and cardiovascular
improvement can easily come with weight loss as healthy bonuses.Doing a
mind-body form of exercise such as Pilates engages your mind in
something other than your problems. The more you link your mind to
your body,the more you will reduce your stress level and even possibly your
blood pressure.Improvements in your cardiovascular system can also mean
possible lowering of cholesterol and risk of coronary disease.
• Consult with a fitness or nutritional professional. If you are still
confused or just need a little help getting started, personal trainers,
nutritionists and dietitian are great sources of guidance and assistance.
If you need help setting up realistic goals and a plan to achieve them,
professional guidance can help you get on the right path and keep
you going.
It’s an attitude and a mindset that will help you go beyond losing those
post holiday pounds to create a healthier, long term lifestyle. Believe in
yourself and your ability to make the necessary changes. You are in control
of the situation and being smart and successful is the ability to make the
right choices. Start today and take the first step on a new path that will
lead you long into the future. You will be taken on a life long journey that
goes far beyond New Year’s resolutions.
Fran Perel owns Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs, Inc. E-mail her at
perel@theparklander.com.