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The nutritional approach to weight loss - About Health | Blog

The nutritional approach to weight loss

While the matter of losing those post-Christmas holiday pounds may be weighing on your shoulders as much as the spare tyre around your middle, the equation of shedding unwanted weight is a relatively simple one - eat fewer kilojoules (energy) than you are burning daily.  It can be simply a matter of making different food choices and/or doing more exercise. There are no tricks, no scams, no expensive meal replacements and above all, no dieting - which incidentally has been proclaimed by a leading researcher to be “the leading cause of obesity in North America.”

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) analyzed 31 long-term diet studies and as published in the April 2007 edition of the American Psychologist Journal, their findings were that while a diet of some description can initially assist with shedding 5-10 percent of your body weight relatively quickly (within the first six months), only a small minority of people actually sustain this weight loss.  Most participants regained the lost kilos, or more, within four or five years. Other studies point to dieting as a consistent predictor of future weight gain. According to one of the UCLA study’s co-authors, Janet Tomiyama, both men and women who participated in formal weight-loss programs gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who had not participated in a weight-loss program. Furthermore, the more times you yo-yo diet increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and altered immune function.

 

So if a quick-fix diet is off the menu, what can we do to downsize?

Change your thinking and be patient - don’t consider dieting to be a temporary fix; make realistic decisions about what you are going to alter and think of these as permanent lifestyle changes. Avoid fads that will end up being impossible to maintain. Studies confirm that the kilo’s lost gradually, stay lost - aim to reduce your weight by approximately 10 percent over six months.

Keep a diary - while this may sound like a bit of a drag, in the early stages if you take note of your moods and hunger patterns you can identify times when you may be tempted to eat for emotional reasons or boredom. A 2008 study at Kaiser Permanente’s Centre for Health Research found that people who kept a daily food diary had double the weight loss of those who didn’t keep any records. The process of tracking food intake and reflecting on what they eat means people are less likely to overindulge and therefore consume fewer calories.

Get moving - you needn’t race out and join a gym or purchase the latest fitness equipment - even a half hour walk or swim daily will help with burning kilojoules, building muscle and releasing those feel good hormones - endorphins.

 

Food do’s and don’ts

Don’ts -  while we don’t want to pick on one food in particular, a Harvard study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2011 found that  potato chips and French fries - and generally any potato products - contribute to the biggest weight gain over time. The study’s lead author explains that this could be due to the fact that starches and refined carbohydrates cause spikes in blood glucose and insulin release that can increase hunger and lead to a person eating more at their next meal.  Other weight-gain culprits include processed white breads, sugar - containing beverages (no surprises there!), alcohol and processed meats. Do’s - increase fibre-containing foods such as whole-grain cereals and breads, increased your daily intake of vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, a moderate amount of nuts, low fat dairy foods (yoghurt, milk and cottage cheese). To lose weight any form of fast-food, snack (chips etc) or sweet treats are OFF the menu. They don’t provide adequate nutrition and satiety for their calories quota. In other words they are essentially providing you with empty calories that only support your unwanted spare tyre. 

Have a support crew - by letting your friends, colleagues and family know that you are making lifestyle changes they can encourage and support your endeavours. Better still - see if you can ‘buddy up’ with someone who also wants to make changes.

Keep positive and be kind to yourself - If you deviate from your lifestyle changes one day, don’t let yourself fall into a slump. Just because you ate two chocolate biscuits doesn’t mean you may as well eat the whole packet! It just may mean you have a longer walk that day. Focus daily on the things that are important to YOU and boost your sense of self worth. A new study in the Psychological Science Journal found that women who wrote daily about their most important values (relationships, religion, music, creativity, family and friends etc) lost more weight than participants who wrote about less significant topics. By focussing on what increases our personal sense of self-worth, the study’s co-author Christine Logel suggests that we are less likely to turn to nibbling on food to deal with unpleasant emotions. As time progresses the habit of snacking is broken and permanent weight loss can be maintained.