It sure is hard to believe that September is here. School is back in session; the weather will eventually get cooler, and holiday candy is back on store shelves.
The good old holiday candy time, which runs from now until Easter, is always hard for me. I swear, those bags of colorfully wrapped candy throw themselves into my shopping cart, and when I try to get them out, they gang up on me. I almost lost a finger one year.
Some days I think I need a shopping buddy to smack me if I even look down the seasonal candy aisle. But if junk food makes it into my house, whose fault is it?
I think we know.
A couple of months ago I found a book on our newsroom give-away table titled Nicki Anderson's Single-Step Weight Loss Solution. It offers 101 no-nonsense tips for healthful living, weight loss and a diet-free life. It has been gathering dust on my desk for a while, but after reading through it, I see that what she's offering is some good information and encouragement.
Anderson starts by telling her story. She was obese for two simple reasons -- she ate too much and moved too little. Like many, she found that technology and cars enabled that behavior.
For some people, a day's worth of walking consists of going from the house to the car to the job, then back into the car, to the store or home. And with the accessibility of drive-through restaurants, all we do is pick up food, drive home, sit down and eat.
Anderson says that many people pay physicians to medicate them into the possibility of good health. But what we need to do is make changes.
So she lost 50 pounds and ended up working at a fitness club. This was in 1978. She was only 17. She learned a lot and in 1992, started her own business helping others become healthier.
One thing Anderson writes that I wholeheartedly agree with is, "Everyone is meant to be healthy, while just a few people are meant to be thin." Her point is that healthy and thin are not the same thing.
Some of us have a genetic makeup that often does not comport with our being really thin. I see that in my family. I am the middle child of three girls. My older and younger sisters were full-term, normal-weight babies. I was born three months premature, weighing only 4 pounds and 8 ounces.
Fast-forward about four years. I started out leaning to the chunky side, and then suddenly I was several inches taller and bigger than they were. All our childhood photos tended to be made with me in the middle, sort of the Empire State Building between two Chrysler Buildings.
And through the years it has stayed the same. I can't wear my fashionable sisters' hand-me-down clothing or shoes, although I have managed to score a nice purse or two over the years.
But my point is that even though we have the same parents, ate the same food and played outside the same amount, I have always been bigger than they are.
I still contend that I'm Mom's favorite, though.
But back to the book. Anderson says it is her goal to change lives and inspire people to find their own path to health and wellness. Often we tend to listen to celebrity gurus, who don't face the obstacles we do, or we buy into fitness myths that end up making us feel inadequate and hopeless.
Anderson says our bodies are amazing machines. We should not judge our bodies by what others tell us is appropriate. And instead of the notion that we have to be thin to be worthy, we need to tell ourselves that we can be strong, healthy and happy regardless of whether we fit the current aesthetic standards.
So, with that said, I want to share some of Anderson's tips.
• Shift your thinking about food. We should analyze how we view food. If we cooked food for nurturing instead of obsessing about fat, carbohydrates and calories, we would probably be better off?
Sadly, diets can create food obsessions. The more we obsess, the worse we tend to eat.
• We need to get educated about real nutrition. For help, check out the website of the American Dietetic Association (eatright.org). There you'll find sound advice on topics that include Nutrition Facts, Meal Planning, Eating Right on a Budget and Reading Nutrition Labels.
• Keep a food journal. See if there is a lot of mindless eating going on. Being aware of eating challenges us to change what is wrong.
It's like Dr. Phil McGraw says, "You cannot change what you do not acknowledge."
• Stay hydrated. The body is about 75 percent water, so it should be an essential part of a healthful diet. It helps flush waste and toxins out of our system, especially the kidneys and bladder.
• Try one new vegetable recipe per week. Look online for recipes that fit your time and experience. You could even try a meatless Monday.
• Avoid the all or nothing approach. Moderation is better than eliminating something completely from your diet.
• Find alternate coping mechanisms. Food is often our friend, our ally when times get tough. But all that comfort eating really does is pack on pounds and guilt. Find other ways to handle challenges.
• Steer clear of weight-loss myths, including the ones that say all fats are bad, that fad diets work for permanent weight loss and that "low fat" or "fat free" means no calories.
Food is not our enemy. It is good and good for us, as long as we view and eat it as intended -- to fuel our bodies to help us live a strong and healthful life.
• Experiment with different types of exercise until you find what you like. And keep variety in the program to stave off boredom.
• Many of us are "experts" when it comes to weight loss. What we lack is the expertise in keeping the lost weight off. The secret to maintaining weight loss, Anderson says, is to make permanent changes in our lifestyle.
I just wish it was easy.
Anderson's book, which came out in 2010, is still available online if you're interested. Or you can check her out at nickianderson.com.
Email me at:
rboggs@arkansasonline.com
ActiveStyle on 09/08/2014