JANUARY 22, 2024 – A resolution, in its simplest of terms, is a determination to commit to something, whether it’s saving more money, quitting the nicotine habit, enjoying life’s roses, becoming debt-free, losing unwanted pounds through dieting, and exercising, etc. Is 2024 the year you stick to your resolution(s)?
About 25 to 35 percent of Americans will commit to a resolution of losing those extra pounds by stringent dieting and exercising. As a sports dietitian, it’s the dual question I’m asked most often – How can I get this weight off and which exercise should I do to burn more fat.
It’s no wonder I cannot get on the stair master, my absolute favorite cardio equipment, or grab a bench to do barbell presses, etc., at my gym because the new year resolutioners arrive every year during the first week in January. I predict, by March/April timeframe, the new years’ resolutioners will abandon the gym and their stringent diets, as it’s harder to stick to a yearly resolution. However, adapting to long-term, healthier lifestyle changes is so much easier.
For those of you who need to lose weight, eating smaller healthier meals throughout the day can be quite beneficial in reaching your weight loss goal; thereby making it easier to maintain and adapt to a healthier dietary lifestyle. The International Society of Sports (ISSD) Nutrition Position Stand on nutrient timing is “Increased meal frequency appears to help decrease hunger and improve appetite control.”
Adding exercise with healthy dietary changes for weight loss is essential. Losing two pounds per week is a very good, healthy goal; one pound from modifying your caloric intake and the other pound from expending calories during aerobic exercise. One pound equates to 3,500 calories. Decreasing your dietary caloric intake by 500 calories over a 7-day period will lead to one pound lost from your dietary intake. The same applies to cardiovascular/aerobic exercise – expending 3,500 calories over a 7-day period equates to one pound lost from exercise.
The following are the basics of grocery shopping for healthier food choices, preparing your weekly meals, and eating small meals throughout the day:
Grocery Shop/Meal Prep for the Week
- Make a grocery list of healthier food choices, such as an assortment of fruit, vegetables, poultry (breast over thigh), fish, whole-grain products, olive oil/canola oil (good sources of monounsaturated fat), nuts, reduced-fat cheeses, skim or 1% milk or reduced-fat almond or soymilk w/calcium, etc.)
- Grill, bake, or sauté your meats on the weekend and add whole grain products, reduced-fat dairy, and fresh or cooked vegetables or/and fruit throughout the week.
- Consume and be cognizant of true serving sizes.
Sample of a simple meal plan with frequency for a typical day:
- Breakfast (eat half and eat the other half an hour later);
- Lunch (eat half and the other half an hour later);
- and Dinner follows the same pattern.
Include three low-calorie or no calorie snacks; one between 1000 to 1100 hours; the second between 1400 to 1500 hours; and the last between 1900 to 2000 hours. Snacks such as hard-boiled eggs (remove the yolk and remove all fat and about 186 to 230 mg of cholesterol); 3 to 4 whole-grain crackers with low-fat cheese; 10 almonds; a medium baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon; ¼ to ½ a cup of soybeans (Edamame), ½ cup of frozen fruit, ½ cup of veggies with seasoned hummus dip, etc.
The following are the basics of getting started with an exercise regimen for weight loss then maintenance for a healthy life. Aerobic exercise (with oxygen) is recommended for expending calories and anaerobic exercise (without oxygen) is recommended for shaping the body and the long-term benefit of the body continually expending calories due to strength training’s metabolic effect.
Exercise – Aerobic Activity for Weight loss/Maintenance weight
Weight Loss
- At least 300 minutes per week or 60 minutes per day at low to moderate intensity.
- Try swimming, walking, biking, running, the stair master, etc.
Maintenance weight
- The ISSD and the American Heart Association recommends at least 2½ hours of moderate aerobic activity per week or
- 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week or
- Combine moderate with vigorous aerobic throughout your week.
- Try swimming, walking, biking, running, the stair master, etc.
Anaerobic Activity
- 2 Days per week, add resistance or strength training.
- Moderate or/and high intensity
- 20-to-30-minute sessions
- Use weight machines, free weights, bands, etc.
- I’d recommend toning as your initial goal; so, keep the repetitions high and the weight low.
Now that you know what to do, let’s get started!
Courtesy Story
Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center