Wellness Tip: Weight Management with Common Sense
February 9, 2007 | EditorWellness Tip: Weight Management with Common Sense
By David Gobble, PhD
Weight just seems to creep up over time. As you age your body is burning between 300 and 500 fewer calories per day. In ten years you will put on up to 20 pounds, and wonder, how it happened. Part of your weight gain is human biology, but a very large part is your behavior. As you age, you are losing muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. One solution is to be very physically active, keeping your muscle mass fairly constant. But, your general lifestyle, and in particular, how you eat, must receive your increased attention if you hope to succeed in managing your weight over time.
What Now?
Believe it or not, small changes lead to significant improvements. The key to managing your weight lies in balancing physical activity and the amount of calories you consume every day.
Daily Routine for Weight Management
- Know your body; take a serious look at your body each day.
- Keep track of how clothes fit, which ones are tight and use these as a guide.
- If multiple outfits don’t fit, don’t buy new clothes, focus on your diet and exercise.
- Start each day in control; eat breakfast at home emphasizing simple wholesome food.
- Low-fat yogurt sprinkled with low-fat granola
- Oatmeal with low-fat or fat-free milk, or soy-based beverage
- Whole-wheat toast with a thin spread of peanut butter
- Fruit smoothie made with frozen fruit, low-fat yogurt, and juice
- Low-sugar cereal with soy-based beverage
- All day long, think about including exercise in what you do; taking stairs, parking further away, and walking at lunch.
- Include regular scheduled exercise in your day, alternating with strength building and aerobic activity.
- Eat low calorie snacks between meals to help keep portion sizes under control at mealtime.
- At the end of the day, review how you did, both with your exercise and eating.
- Before going to bed, make exercise and eating plans for the next day including how you are going to overcome the barriers that you faced today, and will likely face tomorrow.
Sources: Wellness Councils of America and the National Institute for Health (www.nih.gov).
Contact Cindi Rutten, Employee Health & Wellness Coordinator for more information.
