PEG JORDAN
WHY is that we can't seem to get through holidays and New Year's day without adding inches to the waistline, and even worse, guilt to one's frame of mind? May be we should just accept the fact that with this season "to be merry", comes a certain dose of celebratory excess, and not beat ourselves up for it.
Obviously, we load up on all the wrong things: favourite foods, huge portions, too many sweets, too many drinks, and too much sitting around.
Opportunities abound to indulge. Friends have holiday get-togethers and are obliged to tempt you with every known delicious toxic substance on the planet.
Visiting families and relatives are never without their ploys to make you overeat. Mothers are especially good at making you feel guilty if you pass up a "comfort food" of your childhood. It's one of life's great injustices that as a youngster, you could down a dozen cookies and they never add a gram of weight. Now you seem to walk by the buffet and pounds attach themselves like magnets to bellies, hips and thighs.
But all this moaning will get us nowhere. The real task at hand is to enjoy the holidays, with all its excess and good cheer, then buckle down once again on a realistic set of New Year's resolutions.
Here is my latest, new and improved, list of hot new trends for 2003, guaranteed to keep your motivation fuelled and return your physique to pre-holiday shape within one month. And if your goal is to double the weight loss, then extend your efforts as a permanent lifestyle change.
Remember, if you party hearty now, you'll have to pay the piper later.
So take it a step at a time, adopt each of these 10 steps on this list, forget the guilt, and resolve to focus on progress, not perfection.
Move daily. Get 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. Commit to a fast walk, slow jog, cycle, swim, dance or jump rope. Just do something continuously and vigorously. If you feel like you're exerting an effort that's equivalent to a four to five on a one-to-10 scale, then do the activity every day. If you're exercising at more of a eight to nine on one-to-10 scale, then three days a week is sufficient.
Vary your intensity. Push yourself hard for a minute, then bring down the intensity of your effort for two minutes. Alternate these high and low intervals at least seven more times. This fluctuation is part of new research known as Cyclic exercise, as defined by the Lifewaves programme (read more about it at www.lifewaves.com) It seems to help decrease the wear and tear on the joints, plus taps into fat-burning more efficiently.
Drink more water. Resolve the first week of January to drink at least eight to 10 glasses of filtered fresh water a day. It promotes feelings of fullness, assists all metabolic functioning and helps you rid the body of toxins.
Lift weights. Three times a week, for at least 20 minutes, alternate a programme of upper and lower body strength training. You'll gain lean muscle, which uses five times the calories that other tissue does. That means you can burn more calories even at rest!
Stretch like a cat. Stretching adds flexibility to your muscles and joints. Learn to stretch all day long, not just during one brief time period. Take a hint from our feline friends and watch the way they elongate their frames whenever the whim hits. Elongated muscles are sleek and beautiful. Consider a weekly yoga class or learn floorwork Pilates.
Try a shake. Once a day, drink a meal. Consider the new protein shakes as a meal substitute, either first thing in the morning for breakfast or as your lunch or dinner. A good, well-balanced shake (and there's a variety of them at health food stores) will provide you with at least 12 grams of protein, and a balance of minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients to help control your hunger for a few hours, while decreasing your carbohydrate load. This serves as a great little kickstart to start to reduce your caloric intake and have sufficient energy to workout.
Reject the refined. Recognise your food foes. They lurk within refined flours and refined sugars. Candies, cookies, processed foods, crackers, white bread, pastries, bagels, white rice, snacks and sweets all loaded with nasty trans fats and foods that contribute to a sluggish bowel and poor digestion. These "white" foods were popularised a few decades ago as lighter, fluffier, tastier, but they're disastrous as nutritional foods.
They strip whole foods of their nutrients, while delivering empty calories that add weight and contribute to rising obesity and diabetic rates.
Rearrange your plate. The new graphic image for your plate should look like this: Divide it into quarters. Fill one-quarter with protein (lean meats, fish, soy, legumes, or low fat dairy, etc). Fill two quarters with vegetables, such as green leafy ones and colourful veggies (peppers, tomatoes). Fill the last quarter with starchier items (potatoes, brown rice, corn, bulghar, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, etc.) And use a smaller plate!
Make time for play. Exercise can become pure drudgery when it's never accompanied by a playful or recreational aspect. If you're one of the few that can stick to a routine, by all means, follow through with that.
But most of us have to spice up workouts with a new endeavour: play golf, swim, or play ball, cricket, soccer, tennis, badminton. Take up belly dancing, cycling, ballroom dance. Hike, snorkel or sail. Find something that enthralls you and pursue it at least one day a week. You'll soon want to stay in shape just so you can enjoy your play-time. Life will take on a new vibrancy and creativity. And the kid in you will rejoice.
Nourish your soul. Do some contemplative and exploratory investigation around what surrounds your hunger. Sometimes it's not always physical hunger. Sometimes the urge to eat emanates from a need for love, comfort, attention, or even spiritual nourishment.
Get the support you need to open your mind and life to greater possibilities. Keep a journal to express your innermost thoughts along the way, and you'll soon discover how to distinguish typical hunger pangs from your "hunger" for a more meaningful existence.
Here's to your healthiest, happiest year ever!
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