This summer I went to Joseph A. Bank to update my wardrobe and found, much to my astonishment, that my waist line had expanded from 36 inches to 42 inches. The scales confirmed that I was overweight: 210 pounds on a 6″2″ frame = 27.2 BMI. (A BMI over 25 is considered overweight; a BMI of 30 or above indicates obesity.)
A waist circumference of greater than 40″ in men and 35″ in women indicates a risk for developing metabolic syndrome (increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels that lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and most chronic illnesses including some cancers).
No wonder I had trouble getting out of a chair without pushing with my arms. I noticed I got slightly out of breath when tying my shoelaces. I was easily tired and fatigued. My joints were stiff. Although I am 74-years old, age couldn’t explain these symptoms. Excess weight could.
I immediately decided to make the following lifestyle changes:
- 30-45 minutes of high intensity yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays alternating with DVD instructions from Baron Baptiste (Power Yoga), Jillian Michaels (Yoga Meltdown) and YouTube workouts with Sean Vigue. Caveat: Jillian Michaels is a sadist. Those without masochistic tendencies should avoid her.
- A brisk 60-minute walk on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
- On Sundays I did no formal exercise program.
- Adapted a Mediterranean diet eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. I replaced butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil and used herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods. I ate fish three times a week and chicken twice a week. I limited red meat to one meal each week.
- Avoided snacks, soft drinks and sugars
- Weighed myself daily and measured my waist line every Monday
- On Mondays I recorded my weight and waist line measurements on my computer calendar to track my progress
- Notice that I lost on average one pound a week. This slow progressive weight loss alters habits. The lifestyle change has been inculcated, instilled, implanted and imprinted into my daily life so that deviating from this program is like not brushing my teeth. It has become a favorable program from which benefits far supersede toxic habits.
- Almost all diets offer quick results. It is true that fad diets can result in a 20-50 pound weight loss, but the demands are so severe that a lifestyle change never develops and the weight returns rather quickly.
- Caloric reduction almost always result in a quick 5 to 7 pound weight loss, most of which is water. That rate cannot be retained and people become frustrated and discouraged.
- Aerobic exercise is so essential to weight loss that caloric reduction alone is useless.
- Recording weight and waist measurement weekly helped me keep steadily on course. For several weeks my weight would plateau or I might gain a pound occasionally but the average over 20 weeks was 20 pounds lost.
- It was interesting that with this lifestyle change I rarely became hungry except for an occasional snack attack around 10 PM. The next day my weight would increase a pound because my metabolism had changed. This increase encouraged me to avoid nighttime snacks. Weighing daily reinforces lifestyle change.
- Week-end trips proved disastrous because I would eat all sorts of salty and sugary snacks while driving and gorge on pizza, ice cream and other unhealthy foods upon arrival. On Monday I would weigh 3 pounds heavier, mostly due to water and salt. The weight increase would get me back on track. I’m still working on how to change my lifestyle when on trips and vacation. When successful I will let you know how I did it.