Food For Thought

Food For Thought  after the Holidays-

Well,we are just coming off the longest eating stetch of the year and I’ve noticed the gym is packed each night with post holiday New Years resolutionaries. I’ve talked to several dieticians and nutritionists over the years and the secret to losing weight is not in the exercise you do, but in the amount of food you eat. The ratio is 80 diet and 20% exercise. You will not exercise your weight off nearly as easily as you will calorie restrict your weight off.

That being said, I like to eat. I also like a good beer (good beer, not a lot of beer). We have always enjoyed good food and drink at family functions over the years, but I’ve noticed that a few tricks help keep the bulge off the holidays.

There is no magic food. All food contains calories. When you eat more calories than you need, you gain weight. When you eat fewer calories than you need, you lose weight. In order to lose a lot of weight, you need to consistently eat fewer calories than you need EVERY DAY for an extended period of time. You are what you ate last month/year.  Healthy weight loss is about 1-2 lbs per week. So, if you want to lose 30lbs, at 1lbs. per week, it’s going to take you 30 weeks or about 6 months. The good news is that this long period of time should do something transformative to you. It should nearly permanently change your eating habits so that you are not “dieting” anymore, you are just eating the way you eat to maintain a healthy weight.  The holiday eating is an exception, not how you live and eat normally. The other 48-50 weeks of the year is what you really are.

I don’t particularly like tofu, fish, wheat grass or cod liver oil, but there are plenty of lean healthy foods that I do like that I enjoy every day, and I keep my weight pretty well in check most of the time.

The book series, Eat This, Not That and Cook This, Not Than by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding are great resources. I also like Clean Eating Magazine and refer people to their web site for affordable, delicious, low calorie-dense food.

Have some strawberries dipped in dark baking chocolate (South Beach Diet recommended) and enjoy a massage or pedicure instead of cheesecake. Go for a walk on a nice day. Watch a sports event while on a piece of home exercise equipment instead of the couch and try to drink one water for every beer or glass of wine you consume.