You had thirds at Thanksgiving dinner and ate all of those cookies and drank lots of eggnog at Christmas. Your New Year’s resolution was to join a gym and change the way you eat, but where do you start? A few local health experts have some tips for shedding the holiday pounds.
According to Dr. Vincent Pera, director of the weight management program’s behavioral medicine clinic at Miriam Hospital in Providence, losing weight and eating healthy is a matter of watching portions and determining which exercise regimen works for you.
“If you’re doing this on your own, try to be aware of caloric intake or food consumption,” he said. “We underestimate our caloric intake by 50 percent. Count calories. Obviously, fats have about two times the amount of calories.”
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Look out for the pitfalls of trying to cut fat from your meals, warned Pera, who specializes in internal medicine. Eating salad is obviously healthy, but piling on the blue cheese dressing could account for 200-300 calories, which he said is equal to eating a regular-sized candy bar or a hamburger with bun.
“Some people do very well by cutting down on portion sizes,” he said. “Some need to be more rigorous with the whole process. Counting calories takes a lot of education and persistence.” No matter what kind of healthy eating plan a person adopts, no matter how much weight they want to lose, Pera stressed the importance of pairing those with an exercise regimen. And anyone looking to start a weight loss program should always see his or her physician before beginning.
“I’m certainly not advocating rigorous activity for long periods of time,” he said. “Shorter periods of moderate activity are just as good as longer periods.” Even walking 10-15 minutes, two times a day every other day will produce benefits, the doctor said. The minimum suggested frequency of cardiovascular activity is for every other day; the metabolic boost from exercising lasts for about 48 hours, Pera said.
This formula of watching portion sizes and calories, and sticking to a good exercise plan usually works for people who want to lose 10 or 15 pounds, Pera said. For those looking to lose more than that, the doctor suggests they seek professional guidance, with a nutritionist or physician.
According to Kristen Carlson, fitness director at the Cranston YMCA, the key to sticking with an exercise and weight loss plan is to overcome anxieties about not being in the greatest of shape.
“For an adult, it’s very intimidating,” she said of joining a gym for the first time or for the first time in years. “A lot of the people they’re dealing with are younger than them.”
The YMCA has a special program for people in this situation, who might be joining a gym for health reasons, instead of wanting to look good in a bathing suit. Members meet with a counselor, who will determine what their exercise needs and goals are, and tailor their program to their abilities. The counselor will also work with the member to set a schedule for working out, to make it as convenient as possible.
“We really try and find a convenient time for them to work out,” Carlson said. “We don’t want to add any stress to their lives.” The easier the process is on the member, the more likely they are to stay with it, she said.
“The majority of people who quit are afraid of being embarrassed,” Carlson added. “People who already exercise don’t go through this. There’s a lot of anxiety” associated with working out for the first time.
To begin, YMCA-certified personal trainers introduce members to the cardiovascular equipment like the bike or treadmill, which Carlson said is the easiest way to get the member accustomed to exercise. Once they feel more comfortable, (after 4-6 weeks) trainers teach them how to use six Nautilus machines, then another six in the weeks following.
While some members might not have the time to devote one hour four times a week to exercising, Carlson said the exercise regimen can be designed with the member’s available time in mind, whether it be 30 minutes three times a week, or two hours a day.
Once a member gets their program established and is comfortable with exercising, Carlson said they should monitor their intensity – every four to six weeks, the workout should be changed so that the body does not become too accustomed to the work. If this happens, the person will hit their plateau, when their body no longer responds to the exercise. When you feel comfortable with exercising, “change it,” Carlson said.
“Exercise is stress to the body, but it’s a good stress,” she said. “Your body adapts to the stress, then you change it. It adapts to that stress, then you change it. It’s part of the ongoing process.”
Another important aspect of losing weight and changing eating habits is using common sense, according to Katherine Turcotte, a certified personal trainer and spinning director at Newport Athletic Club. Don’t starve yourself; drink lots of water; and do everything in moderation, including indulging in your favorite foods.
“The most important thing you have to do is get into a program you can stick with,” Turcotte said. “People start off too hard and they burn themselves out and complain when they don’t get results in three days.” Losing weight and changing bad habits takes time, she said, and people need to remember to take it slowly and have patience.
“It takes a lot of commitment,” she said. “You can still drink and have your butter of whatever you like, but just don’t do it excessively.”
Turcotte has been a spin instructor for three years, teaching an aerobics class on a bike, and said she has seen many people who simply need common sense to be healthy.
“People think just because they’re exercising they can eat whatever they want,” Carlson said. “It’s really both” exercise and healthy eating.
Eating to lose weight doesn’t mean depriving yourself, Pera said. “It’s counterproductive,” he said. “You’re undermining your nutritional rates and you will actually lose less weight.”
Identify eating habits and establish a schedule; identifying and preventing bad eating habits and doing extra little activities whenever you can for your health, he said.
If you leave a candy dish on your desk and study often there, remove the temptation, he said. Use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Park farther away from the store to give yourself a little brisk walk. Get up to change the TV channel. And steer clear of fads and miracle solutions.
“You hear of the fad diets and trendy things, and you hear they’re going to work for everybody,” he said. “People are all different and they’re overweight for different reasons.” When it comes to fads, Pera had one piece of advice: “You need to ask yourself if it seems too good to be true. If so, then it usually is. People can do it without the pills, he said.
“Most people have within them the power to do what it takes to lose weight.”
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