The road to weight loss is filled with obstacles
Monday, January 14 2008, 01:55 AM EST
Contributed by: R.J. Ignelzi
DIETING DETOURS
Resolution: Lose weight.
There it is, right at the top of your New Year's list. Again. But, this year you swear you're going to do it. You're motivated, dedicated and maybe a little desperate. But no matter how firm your weight loss convictions are today, unless you look ahead and plan for some of the obstacles you'll face along the way, you have a slim chance of succeeding.
"There are always going to be challenges," says Dr. Santiago Horgan, director of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity at the University of California San Diego. "I tell my patients that they will face the challenge of being harassed by food every day of their lives. They must be prepared."
Medical experts, along with others who successfully lost excess pounds, weigh in on how to handle inevitable bumps on the road to a thinner you.
EATING IN A RESTAURANT
- Don't eat it all.
BODY FAT
"Before you go, you have to think about what the restaurant has to offer," says 49-year-old Tracy Berger of San Diego. "Be prepared not to eat your whole meal. The portions restaurants give you are way too much, so you can ask for a doggie bag upfront and put some (of your food) in the bag before you even start."
Berger, who lost 35 pounds two years ago, always requests her salad dressing be served on the side, then she dips her fork into the dressing and then picks up some salad with that fork. "You get that taste of dressing without pouring a lot of it on the salad, she says.
- Share the love and the food.
"Share (an entree) with your mother, your child, or your significant other," Horgan says. "The plates in this country are huge. Use the bread plate as your main plate."
- Tell 'em what you want.
"When you go to a restaurant, you have to be assertive when ordering. Ask to have the fish grilled (not fried) and sauces on the side (or none at all)," says 56-year-old LuAnne Evenson of San Diego, who avoided eating in restaurants the first year she was losing weight. She also learned to be the first at the table to order "so you're not tempted by what everyone else is having," she says.
- Beware of buffets.
"Buffets can be deadly," says Dr. Ken Fujioka, director of nutrition and metabolic research at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. "The brain is wired to eat, and with all those food choices, it tends to go wild. Generally, we find the more variety (of foods), the more difficult it is to make good choices."
FAMILY GATHERINGS
- Bring a healthy food contribution. "I love to cook, so I just make a healthy food to take to family gatherings," says 40-year-old Rich Ligato of Chula Vista, Calif., who lost 35 pounds five years ago.
This past Thanksgiving, he took a "tofurkey" (tofu with turkey seasonings) to the family feast. Unfortunately, Ligato was the only one who really enjoyed his alternative dish.
- Burn some calories before or after the event.
"I would work out before I go and put some exercise in the bank," says 52-year-old Karen Rakestraw of La Mesa, Calif., who lost 70 pounds six years ago. "I'd maybe add an extra mile to my run or make sure I go for a run the next day. If you just keep up your exercise and paying attention to portion control, things like (family get-togethers) become a nonissue."
VACATION
- Limit alcohol consumption.
When we're on vacation, we tend to drink more alcohol, Horgan says, and too many mai tais or glasses of French wine can quickly derail a diet.
"Limit your alcohol to no more than one glass a day. It has calories, and it reduces your willpower," he says.
- Maintain your active routine.
"Vacation can be especially difficult if you go to a foreign country and you want to sample their food. That's OK, but don't get out of your routine," Fujioka says. "Keep walking or find a way to incorporate exercise into what you're doing. Vacation isn't a license to eat everything."
BUSINESS TRIPS, LUNCHES AND DINNERS
- Dial down hunger with a healthy premeal snack.
"I'll have some air-popped popcorn before the business dinner or lunch, so I am not starving when I get to the restaurant," says Evenson who packs her air popper on trips. "(The popcorn) is satisfying, it gives you that hand-to-mouth activity, and it's lots of fiber (and few calories)."
- Take along some healthy protein bars.
"Don't be afraid to take meal replacement bars with you and eat them on the plane or in the morning with your coffee before the meeting. That way you'll at least be getting one healthy meal that day," says Fujioka, who recommends looking for bars that have between 150 and 200 calories with 10 to 15 grams of protein.
- Have it your way on the plane.
Horgan always packs his own sandwich to take on the plane. On the way home, before he gets on the plane, he goes to a deli or restaurant and has a sandwich made for him just the way he wants it - without any mayonnaise or butter.
FALLING OFF THE WAGON
- Get back on track as soon as possible. "You just have to try to do better at the next meal," Berger says. "Just because you blew it on one meal doesn't mean your whole diet is blown."
- It's OK to indulge occasionally. "If you do have a bite and indulge occasionally, enjoy it and don't feel guilty," says 50-year-old Mimi Lev of La Mesa, Calif., who lost about 70 pounds. "If you go off the wagon one day, you just have to get back on. It's OK to take a treat now and then."
PLATEAUS
- Realize weight-loss plateaus are temporary and normal.
"For most of us, when we lose 5 (percent) to 10 percent of our body weight, our body makes adjustments and will fight weight loss. The scale won't move. You have to be ready for that," Fujioka says. "You'll get angry and say you're not going to exercise because it's not working. But, it is working. You're doing everything right," he continues. "Your body is using a long-term survival mechanism, and (plateaus) usually kick in harder for women than men."
- Concentrate on your health, not on what the scale says.
"At first the plateaus bothered me. But, I just had to focus on the healthy lifestyle, not the weight," says 56-year-old Jim Jafolla of San Diego, who lost 90 pounds five years ago.
- Look for improvement in other areas of health.
"When I was at a plateau, I shifted my focus from weight loss to my exercise performance," Ligato says. "Maybe I wasn't improving in losing weight, but I could do a few more push-ups or run a bit faster."
- Fine tune your exercise and eating plan.
"I had been losing weight and then when I got to 141, (the weight loss) stopped," says 58-year-old Becky Baker of Vista, Calif., who lost 30 pounds three years ago. "So, I increased my exercise and cut back on the carbohydrates and ate more lean protein and the pounds started falling off again."
COOKING FOR FAMILY
- Prepare healthy meals for everyone.
"If you have several vegetables, a fruit and some kind of lean protein, that's good for the person losing weight and the entire family," Fujioka says. "If you have some kind of starch in the meal, just make sure the dieting person limits the starch."
- Reduce portions and prepare food healthfully.
Everybody eats the same thing at Berger's house, but she just eats less of it than her husband and two children. She has also cut down on the fat and oils she uses in cooking.
RESISTING FAVORITE TEMPTATIONS
- Have a personal strategy.
"I make a deal with myself. I don't eat dessert unless it's the weekend. And then it must be something that's really good or special," says 60-year-old Carol Hunter of San Diego, who lost 35 pounds and kept it off for the past three years.
When it comes to resisting certain foods, Rakestraw says, "sometimes you have to take it just one minute at a time." When her favorite sweets seem to be calling her name, she tells herself, "I'm not going to have any today. Maybe I will tomorrow." Then the next day, she hopes she has the same steadfast resolve.
- Have a healthy alternative handy.
Candy sits in plain view of Tracy Berger every day at work. "It's really hard because I stare at (the candy) hourly and watch people eat it," she says.
She buys 100-calorie snack packs "that still give me some of the sweet but not the calories of the candy."
DEALING WITH UNSUPPORTIVE/SABOTAGING PEOPLE
- Just say "no."
"You have to decide on what's OK for you and what you can and cannot handle," Mimi Lev says. "When people say, 'Come on, have a couple of french fries or a half slice of pizza or little piece of cake,' I say, 'No, I can't.'"
- Say adios.
"You just have to try to tune them out. If they don't encourage you, you have to try to rise above that and not cave in," Berger says. "You may find that you are not able to socialize with them. It's like being an addict. If you hang out with them, you may never change."
- Ignore them.
"You have to think about who and how you want to be. You have to recognize that there are some people in your life who are underminers," Ligato says. "So, when they stick another beer in your hand when you don't need it or give you (more food), just smile and don't eat it. And don't feel bad about it."
- Confront them.
"You may just have to let them know that you're overweight and you want to live longer and be healthier and you need them to help you out rather than to give you food that's not good for you," Fujioka says.
BEING UNABLE TO EXERCISE (DUE TO INJURY, SCHEDULE, WEATHER, ETC.)
- Be extra calorie careful.
"When I couldn't exercise (due to surgery), I really had to watch my diet more. I wasn't burning off as many calories so I couldn't be as lenient with what I ate," Maria Johnson says.
- Get movement into your life.
"You can find a way to fit exercise into everyday life. Don't use the weather or (a hectic schedule) as an excuse to miss exercising," Mimi Lev says. "You can climb stairs at work, walk around the parking garage at your office, go to a gym. You can find a way to exercise if you really want to."
- Tune in to exercise.
If you can't get to the gym or the pouring rain hinders your walks, Johnson suggests working out to one of hundreds of exercise DVDs or even tuning in the fitness channel on TV.
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