Whenever January 1st rolls around, everyone starts talking about their New Year's resolutions. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it seems, these resolutions have to do with losing weight. (Mine did in 2001; as I wrote in a previous article, that year I resolved "successfully" to make two of my cats slim down.)
As a result of such resolutions, not only on January 1st but throughout the year, the weight loss industry has become a multimillion-dollar business. People - mostly women and girls - spend enormous amounts of money on weight loss clinics, diet pills, low-fat and/or calorie food, gyms, and exercise equipment. Yet despite all this, we're still getting heavier. Statistics suggest at least a third of North Americans are overweight. And this has led to an increase in health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
Let me be clear: I don't endorse the Kate Moss look. Medical experts say it's best to stay within a Body Mass Index of between 20 and 25. To calculate your Body Mass Index, take your weight in kilograms and divide it by your height in meters multiplied by itself. For instance, if I'm 1.65 meters (165 centimeters) tall and weigh 58 kilograms, I divide 58 by 1.65 squared (1.65 x 1.65, which equals 2.7225). My Body Mass Index turns out to be 21.3. If youre like me and still think according to the old system, convert units of measurement to metric ones by multiplying your weight in pounds by 0.45 (example: 114 pounds equals 51.3 kilograms) and your height in inches by 0.0254 (example: 65 inches (5 feet 5 inches) ends up as 1.65 meters).
There are ways to slim down without spending oodles of money on various programs and gadgets. Based on my own and on friends' experience of shedding the pounds, I've come up with ten tips on what to do and not to do to lose weight.
1. Don't go on crash diets. Besides being potentially dangerous to your health, crash diets rarely lead to long-term weight loss. A common pattern is to lose a large amount of weight in a short period of time, only to gain it back again once the diet ends. It's better to learn healthy and long-lasting eating and exercise habits.
2. Don't skip meals. You get fixated on food and tend to gorge on it when your next meal rolls around. One Garfield cartoon, for instance, shows Garfield the fat cat on a diet imagining the dog Odie with an apple in his mouth like a Thanksgiving turkey. That's how obsessed he is with food. So make sure you eat three meals a day.
3. Make breakfast the biggest meal of the day. Because you'll be moving around throughout the day and will need energy, don't scrimp on this meal. Also, if you eat a good-sized breakfast and lunch you won't be tempted to pig out at dinner, after which time you don' t have as much chance to burn off the calories you've just consumed.
4. Avoid alcohol. The term "beer belly" didn't come about for nothing. Not only do alcoholic drinks contain calories, but alcohol itself can prevent the body from burning fat.
5. Cut down on sugary foods. Replace them with healthier and less fattening stuff. Here fruit comes in handy. Have delicious fruits like oranges, grapefruits, mangoes and peaches for dessert rather than cake or pie. Substitute unsweetened fruit juices for soft drinks. And if you really love sweets, save them for a special occasion when you'll value them more (remember, a long absence makes one fonder of heart). For example, every Saturday morning my best friend and I go out to a little cafe where I order a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie. So I enjoy the pie as well as the time with my friend.
6. When it comes to foods from animal products, go lean. Take the skin off chicken. Buy lean meat, and if you can't find any, cut the fat off any meat you do eat. Also, make sure to drink skim or low-fat (1% or 2%) as opposed to whole milk.
7. Eat lots of fiber. As well as preventing constipation (a literal pain in the butt, especially, in my case, just before menstruation), fiber can help you lose weight by making your stomach feel full and thus reducing the urge to eat more. Good sources of fiber include fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans, lentils and chick peas), whole-grain bread and crackers, and bran.
8. Walk or cycle to and from work and/or school rather than drive or take the bus. Living in Toronto, Canada, where the public transportation system is quite expensive, I've found I save a lot of money by walking to and from work. And even if it's not feasible to walk all the way to your school or workplace, try going there on foot at least halfway and you'll still get the benefit of exercise.
9. Walking is a cheap, efficient, pleasant and healthy way of burning off calories. So find a reason to go out and do it. You might look for a part-time job that involves walking, such as courier or mail delivery or dog walking. Or for a volunteer opportunity that literally sweeps you off your feet. For example, I lost about ten pounds by going door-to-door to shops and restaurants putting up posters for the Humane Society. I had the satisfaction of knowing I was helping animals get adopted and the added bonus of knowing I was losing weight as well.
10. Take up a sport. High-energy sports like soccer, basketball and hockey (yes, girls do play hockey) are great for burning off calories. If, like me, you're not a team player, there are sports like badminton (my favorite), cycling, and swimming. Take advantage of them.
So these are my ten do's and don'ts for losing weight. By following them, you can not only lose weight but enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. I look back on my pie-after-every-meal, take-the-bus-to-go-a-block days and wonder how I could ever have lived like that. Like the Virginia Slims girl, I've come a long way (without the cigarettes of course), and so can you.
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