It's all about calories
26/07/09 11:27 Filed in: Nutrition
If you consume more calories than you use, you will gain weight.
It is all about calories – Part 1: what you consume.
To maintain body weight in a healthy range, balance calories from foods and beverages with calories expended. To help prevent body weight gain or to achieve gradual weight loss, most people need to reduce portion sizes, avoid calorie-dense food, snacks, and drinks, and take 30-60 minutes of moderately-intense physical activity on most days of the week.
It helps to consume a variety of nutrient-dense (not calorie-dense) foods and drinks within the basic food groups. Limit the intake of saturated and trans-fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.
Eat more fruit, vegetables, and nuts, and reduce red meat and animal fat intake. Consume sufficient fruit and vegetables within energy needs: usually about two cups of fruit and two cups of vegetables a day are recommended. As the Japanese would say, try to eat a rainbow a day: select from all vegetables (light and dark green, orange/red, peas and beans, root vegetables, and so on) or at least throughout a week.
Limit intake of grain products, preferably eat whole-grain, and reduce cakes, biscuits and pastries and other highly-processed food.
Consume less than 30 percent of calories as fat, with most of it polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids, such as in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils (use in moderation)
Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little added sugars or caloric sweeteners. It takes only a few weeks to adapt to much lower sugar levels in food and drink. "Diet" drinks with sweeteners simply perpetuate the "sweet" tooth.
It is all about calories – Part 2: what you use.
Exercise should include aerobics or cardiovascular conditioning and resistance exercises for muscle strength and endurance, as well as stretching for flexibility.
Many chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer can be prevented through a better diet and more physical activity. Also, physical activity is an important part of managing heart disease and arthritis.
If you have any disease or illness, ask your doctor before starting whether taking moderate physical activity would improve your health. For example a good personal trainer can develop an exercise program specifically for people with arthritis to help increase joint flexibility and range of motion and to maintain muscle strength.
A new CDC study shows that nearly 60% of adults with heart disease also have arthritis and that about 30% of Americans with arthritis and heart disease are physically inactive. Adults with arthritis may be concerned about pain, or making their arthritis symptoms worse. However, a little joint-friendly exercise may help both heart disease and arthritis and relieve both conditions. Source: CDC
Physical Activity for Everyone
Growing Stronger - Strength Training for Older Adults
Goal-setting
If you don’t know where you want to go, how will you get there? Setting short-term and long-term goals and writing them down helps you to achieve them. Goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely or time-based.
For example, one of my current goals is to lose 4 kg of body fat by the end of April, while maintaining my strength and endurance. That's very specific, is measurable, is attainable at a rate of 0.5 kg loss a week, is realistic since my waist size is 2" to large, and has a deadline. If the goal is important to me and that I have a strong desire to achieve it, I will succeed. An example goal-setting worksheet may be helpful.
To maintain body weight in a healthy range, balance calories from foods and beverages with calories expended. To help prevent body weight gain or to achieve gradual weight loss, most people need to reduce portion sizes, avoid calorie-dense food, snacks, and drinks, and take 30-60 minutes of moderately-intense physical activity on most days of the week.
It helps to consume a variety of nutrient-dense (not calorie-dense) foods and drinks within the basic food groups. Limit the intake of saturated and trans-fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.
Eat more fruit, vegetables, and nuts, and reduce red meat and animal fat intake. Consume sufficient fruit and vegetables within energy needs: usually about two cups of fruit and two cups of vegetables a day are recommended. As the Japanese would say, try to eat a rainbow a day: select from all vegetables (light and dark green, orange/red, peas and beans, root vegetables, and so on) or at least throughout a week.
Limit intake of grain products, preferably eat whole-grain, and reduce cakes, biscuits and pastries and other highly-processed food.
Consume less than 30 percent of calories as fat, with most of it polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids, such as in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils (use in moderation)
Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little added sugars or caloric sweeteners. It takes only a few weeks to adapt to much lower sugar levels in food and drink. "Diet" drinks with sweeteners simply perpetuate the "sweet" tooth.
It is all about calories – Part 2: what you use.
Exercise should include aerobics or cardiovascular conditioning and resistance exercises for muscle strength and endurance, as well as stretching for flexibility.
Many chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer can be prevented through a better diet and more physical activity. Also, physical activity is an important part of managing heart disease and arthritis.
If you have any disease or illness, ask your doctor before starting whether taking moderate physical activity would improve your health. For example a good personal trainer can develop an exercise program specifically for people with arthritis to help increase joint flexibility and range of motion and to maintain muscle strength.
A new CDC study shows that nearly 60% of adults with heart disease also have arthritis and that about 30% of Americans with arthritis and heart disease are physically inactive. Adults with arthritis may be concerned about pain, or making their arthritis symptoms worse. However, a little joint-friendly exercise may help both heart disease and arthritis and relieve both conditions. Source: CDC
Physical Activity for Everyone
Growing Stronger - Strength Training for Older Adults
Goal-setting
If you don’t know where you want to go, how will you get there? Setting short-term and long-term goals and writing them down helps you to achieve them. Goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely or time-based.
For example, one of my current goals is to lose 4 kg of body fat by the end of April, while maintaining my strength and endurance. That's very specific, is measurable, is attainable at a rate of 0.5 kg loss a week, is realistic since my waist size is 2" to large, and has a deadline. If the goal is important to me and that I have a strong desire to achieve it, I will succeed. An example goal-setting worksheet may be helpful.
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