Posted by Alicia Leeds on Mon, Sep 06, 2010 @ 06:20 PM
Studies have shown that people with a longer history of dieting have a smaller chance of maintaining weight loss than those who diet less frequently. The argument that usually follows is that diets don't work.
A new study from researchers at the University of Sweden looked at the impact short periods of weight gain have on long term weight management and provide the data for an alternative argument. It's not dieting that promotes failure, but weight gain that reduces the chances of long term success.
The study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, has found that a four-week episode of increased energy intake and decreased exercise can cause increased weight and fat mass more than two years later when compared to control individuals.
The researchers capped the physical activity of 18 individuals and used excessive food consumption to increase their energy intake by an average of 70% for four weeks. A separate control group ate and exercised as normal.
The intervention group gained an average of 6.4 kg (about 14 pounds) in body weight, which was mostly lost 6 months later. However, one year later the intervention group showed an increased fat mass compared to baseline; the differences were even greater after two and a half years.
95% of people who lose weight will gain it back. Why? Well, There's the "I've got this under control now so I can eat whatever I want" at my goal mindset, or the "I'll just have one, haven't had this in a long time" rationalization, or the "when are you going to be done with that diet already?" social pressure... among other things like injury, divorce, and job changes. Mostly, people return to their old ways of eating and they give up their exercise plan and fail to maintain the level of healthy behaviors they need to keep the weight off. People often gain back even more weight than they lost, their failure to maintain weight loss compounded by feelings of disappointment, guilt and low self esteem, and they eat even more.
But the argument that the diets are to blame for lack of success in long term weight loss maintenance has always seemed ridiculous to me. (Assuming the diets were balanced, healthy and coupled with exercise.) Why would periods of practicing healthy behaviors be to blame for future failure?
As a coach, I am optimistic that the client who comes to me having lost and gained her 30 pounds over and again will learn something new this time around, and together we create a different approach. Not trying to lose weight again will surely end in failure, so the willingness to keep trying is a prerequisite to success.
Past failures can be a perfect place to look for potential pitfalls; they are a wealth of experience to mine for insight. Past failures can provide future opportunities to modify a program which better suits a client's needs, tastes, and circumstances. Past failures only predict a reduced chance of future success if no new steps are taken. Giving weight loss another try requires a sustainable plan, a lifestyle mindset, and a stronger commitment to a lifelong process.
The message we need to promote is not that diets are bad and don't work, but that binges are bad and don't work. Just because you lost the 5 pounds you gained on vacation or the 10 pounds you put on over the holidays doesn't mean that those pounds don't have a lasting impact on your future health and successful weight management.
Prevent weight gain. Not gaining weight is the key to success.
The "diet" industry gets a bad rap and for good reason. There is an unending menu of false promises, quick fixes and unhealthy slim scams to choose from. Throw pills, creams, celebrity how to and self helps in the mix and you've got a whole lot of "diets" that don't deliver.
But use your noggin. Healthfully decreasing your calories while increasing your Physical Activity will result in weight loss long term. Doesn't it make sense that gaining weight is the reason people are not successful maintaining weight loss?
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 04:40 PM
We do, do, do and finish what we are doing so we can start doing what we need to do next.
What happens when we stop doing for a moment and make time for just Being?
This is spider season in Sausalito, CA and webs are everywhere. From porch railings to shrubs, tree branches to lawn furniture, spiders cast their intricate webs which glisten in the sunshine and get caught in your face and hair. There are three large webs beneath the landing of my front steps and three thimble sized spiders hanging there in the Center of the Universes they have spun for themselves.
A lot of work went into their webs. The strands are too numerous to count, woven around and through, and attached to points far and wide, way beyond the Center where the spiders just wait. It occurs to me that their survival depends on their just Being there, now. Spin, spin, spin, spin, wait. Hang out. Literally. From elsewhere in the Universe, the food will come.
I took note of these particular spiders when I came home from yoga today. In yoga, we move and pose, twist, turn and pose again, stretch, balance, breathe and bend... and every teacher that I have ever had has told me the the same thing. The most important pose of the entire class is the final one. Corpse pose.
Savasana.
In this pose, lying flat on your back with eyes closed, palms resting at your sides toward the ceiling, the object is to imitate a corpse, to still the body and the mind and allow space for conscious relaxation. Some people fall asleep, although Being Fully Awake is the goal. Some people jump ahead to the chores of the day, or think about going back to work, or make a grocery list. I have done all these things in Savasana. It is incredibly difficult to lie perfectly still, and not fidget, calculate, plan, organize, judge, or snooze. For 10 to 20 minutes!
In Savasana you can breathe open the door to a place of pure Being. All the hard work is done. The web you have spun is strong enough to hold you in the Center of the Universe. There is no where to go and nothing to do.
As I practice Savasana I begin to understand the power of just Being. When I quiet my mind and body I make space to experience possibility and connectedness. When I practice, I am reminded that this place of pure Being is a place that I can access any time I choose. A place in the Center of my Universe where I can Not-do, Un-do... just Be and Breathe.
In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyenger says, "The stresses of modern civilization are a strain on the nerves for which Savasana is the best antidote."
My spiders will spring into action when a bug gets caught or an unsuspecting pedestrian tears through their web. And we are called into doing by our responsibilities and our jobs and our people and our goals. But just Being - in the space between doing - can be a source of infinite peace, joy, light and love. Allow yourself Savasana. Just hang out in the Center of your Universe and breathe. Your nourishment will come.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 03:49 PM
You know it when you feel it. You met this great trainer, new teacher, fantastic weight loss coach... and you just Clicked.
It's not something you can manufacture, not something you find on a resume. Usually, it's a gut reaction to the details about a person that you take in as energy, like the way he looked you in the eye, or her tone of voice, and that elusive something more. Something that makes you feel like they know what they're doing and you are in the right place.
Some of us are moved by the Click. To call or email. To pursue a relationship. And sometimes we wait optimistically after an introduction or second meeting for the Click to happen. But beyond some point in time can we let go without that Click?
If you are embarking upon a journey for better health... check in with the Click. Do you trust the person who is telling you to eat this and not that? Are you really being honest with the person on the other end of the phone? Are you willing to take a leap of faith and try it their way?
Ten years ago I walked into a yoga studio and met my first teacher. We Clicked. I went to her class four days a week and when she retired two years later I was devastated. She guided me through the start of my journey and I wasn't sure what I would do without her. But her influence was so profound that I kept practicing yoga even though it would be years before I found the Click again.
Last year I moved to a small town with a delightful yoga studio and I have, gratefully, Clicked again. Now I have several teachers, each of whom has something to say that I am open to hearing. My practice has deepened and expanded because I am ready to learn and I trust in their ability to guide me.
There are websites, gyms and medical centers, self help groups, pop culture docs and a gazillion other gurus to turn to when you're looking for help with your weight. And many of us say the same things, just in different ways. So seek out the Click.
You are inviting people into your life hoping these relationships will help you change.
When you identify the changes you want to make, visualize the people you want to have around you. What do they look like? What do they sound like? Do they challenge you? Do they coddle you? Do they make you laugh? Is your coach more like an army drill sergeant or a wise old woman meditating on the top of a mountain? Or both?
The people you choose will support you and cheer you on, but they might also tell you things you do not want to hear. You are asking them to help you be different, and so they will be pointing out ways for you to do things differently. Most people, no matter how much they want a different result, resist doing things differently. Over time, there will be hundreds of conversations, trials, successes and failures, good times and bad. The scale goes up and the scale goes down.
The Click helps you take the leap of faith with a trainer, teacher or weight loss coach. And in the best case scenario these are the people who will have a profound and lasting impact on your life. Who do you want to share your healthy life with?
Posted by Natalie Deangelo on Sun, Aug 29, 2010 @ 07:16 PM
Hello Fighters, I hope you had a fabulous weekend!
I had to follow up on my previous post about what Americans are really eating with this crazy stat from Fitness Magazine: Statistics show that the average American consumes 56% more processed foods like candy and ice cream than fresh food like chicken, veggies, and nuts.
WOW - 56% more processed foods! That means, when given the decision, the average American will choose processed foods more than half of the time when deciding what to eat for a meal. Maybe it's because our environment is continuing to produce and support things like this: sandwiches in a can (or Candwich, as he calls them). Check it out here: http://vitality.yahoo.com/video-second-act-mark-kirkland-21318007
As you go into your week, fighters, think about this stat when you choose your breakfast, lunch or dinner: Ask yourself: which choice am I making? Overly processed foods that don't support weight management? Or fresh foods that keep you healthy and lean? I think you know which choice Full Life supports!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 @ 05:14 PM
Snacking has to be one of the biggest challenges I face with my clients as we make long term changes for weight loss and better health management.
Snacking is good. Snack foods, on the other hand, are not so good. In fact, although I usually resist the urge to call foods good or bad, snack foods as we know them in America 2010 are really pretty BAD.
Most snack foods bear little relation to what our ancestors gathered, planted and hunted to sustain themselves with. In fact, the new biodegradable packaging has about the same nutritional profile as the snacks they contain - with a lot less salt and fat.
Which also gives new meaning to the phrase "eat the whole bag!"
Snacking is good in so far as staying full throughout the day helps us avoid the many pitfalls of living in our obesogenic environment. And healthy choices abound! Potato wedges, sweet potato rings, clementines, grapes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, carrot sticks, strawberries, cherries, chopped cucumbers, peppers, peaches, plums, pears and bananas...the list of available healthy snacks is delightful! Reinvent your snacking and you will be well on you way to better weight and health management.
And if you think the kids need snack foods let me ask you this - if it's a battle for you to re-learn snacking - why would you set your kids up to have to face the same battle?
Trash the snacks. Avoid the vending machine and the soda aisle. A typical bag of chips is 2.5 servings at 150 calories per serving. That's 375 calories. Just ten of those equal more than a pound. A bag of chips each workday for a year is almost thirty pounds!
There's a lot of talk out there about who is to blame for the obesity epidemic. I say - let's stop pointing fingers and start working on solutions instead. Cut, chop, cook and fill the fruit bowl. Learn to love ziplocks. Grab a snack and join me!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Tue, Jul 06, 2010 @ 06:25 PM
Today is the day (you've said it before but you really mean it this time) the first day of the rest of your life. Today you will eat healthy, exercise, lose weight, work hard, be patient with your kids, give more money to charity, volunteer at the local food bank, and take old Mrs Green out for a nice shopping trip.
Whew. Time to get up!
Unfortunately, on your way out the door, you've forgotten to have breakfast and hadn't even thought about packing a lunch, so by the time you remember that today is the day you are changing your life forever, you are sitting in a conference room trying to pay attention to the presentation on marketing goals while engaged in a battle between your willpower and the lone Sesame Seed Bagel left on the console next to the coffee pot.
You lose.
A bagel is healthy, right? Well, whatever, it will be your breakfast and lunch and you will just not eat another thing until you get home tonight at which time you will have plain iceburg lettuce. (So you will be virtuous while punishing yourself for your earlier transgressions, and tomorrow morning the scale will register your success.)
Turns out the girls are going out for Chinese to celebrate Mary's birthday - how could you have forgotten? And what do you mean you are on a diet - you can start tomorrow - get your coat on, silly.
There it is. Your first day ruined. If only you didn't have a pesky job you could focus all your energy on losing weight. Ok, just start tomorrow... but tomorrow is Tuesday and who starts a new life on Tuesday?
Really want to change? Change the way you think about changing. Monday, Tuesday, whenever... doesn't matter...you are taking yourself and all your old thoughts, habits and excuses along for the ride. Stop.
Get out a pen. Write down your goals for today, for the week, for the month. Make a plan for tomorrow, and think it all the way through. Set up your environment to support your success. Get help from people who know how to do what you want to be doing. Commit to the process.
Your NEW Life (whatever that means to you) starts with you changing your mind, changing your approach, and changing how you do things. Start writing. Now.
Posted by Monica Bautista on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 @ 11:17 AM
May 2010 marks the third annual Exercise is Medicine Month ~ a month to recognize and celebrate the valuable health benefits of regular exercise. Even small increases in physical activity can go a long way toward reducing chronic diseases, preventing illnesses, and leading a healthier lifestyle. Regular exercise is a key component in successful weight management and it's fun!
Exercise is Medicine is a national organization whose vision is to make physical activity and exercise a standard part of disease prevention and treatment in the United States. Their website is a valuable source of information for health care providers, fitness professionals, local communities, worksites, and the general public.
Full Life is proud to be a member of the Exercise is Medicine Network and fully support their guiding principles that exercise and physical activity are the key to better health and disease prevention and that more should be done to address physical activity in health care settings and our communities.
As a Network Member, we invite you to join us in celebrating Exercise is Medicine Month. Click here for access to valuable resources and to find out how you can get involved.
Start today...get out there and encourage your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to Get Moving with you...your healthy lifestyle depends on it!
Posted by Monica Bautista on Mon, Mar 01, 2010 @ 10:59 AM
Another month has quickly gone by and Spring is just around the corner! This is the perfect time to get out there, be active, and get healthy. We encourage you to Buddy Up this Spring and find solutions to the challenges you face as you make healthy lifestyle changes and achieve your goals. Get together and get healthier - with your spouse, your friend, your mother, father, sister, brother, your co-worker, or your neighbor. Having someone in your corner can make the difference between pushing through challenges or throwing in the towel!
Full Life is here to support you! Our Personal Coaches offer one-on-one and group coaching. They will work with you to develop a customized plan and provide the support and accountability to help you reach your goals. Call us at 508-353-7560 or email HMRatHome@earthlink.net for more details.
We have also posted our March Calendar full of tips and ideas for healthy living. Click here to download now.
A Healthy Lifestyle is Within Your Reach!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Wed, Dec 16, 2009 @ 12:15 PM
There are lots of low calorie products on the market designed to capture the calorie conscious consumer. None irk me more than the 100 calorie snack packs of your favorite high calorie cookies.
On the face of it, providing the consumer with a portion controlled calorie controlled option is not a bad idea. The problem with the snack packs is that no matter how you slice and dice it - 100 calories of oreos is still 100 empty calories - and it's easy to rationalize having another little bag because, after all, it's only another 100 calories.
Achieving Balance Weight Maintenance Tip #5 - Don't just count calories - make your calories count!
The key to making a healthy lifestyle change, and managing your weight more successfully, is changing your choices. Have fruit (around 16 calories per ounce) instead of cookies (around 100 calories per ounce), shakes instead of ice cream, potato wedges instead of potato chips... get more bang for your calorie buck by choosing more nutrition everytime.
Check out Full Life's Transition to Maintenance Guide for more tips, tools and strategies for long term, successful weight loss maintenance.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Tue, Nov 03, 2009 @ 09:46 PM
Successful weight maintenance is a matter of balance. Calories in- Calories out. But if you have lost weight in the past only to put it all back on and then some - our new BLOG feature can help.
Achieving Balance is a weekly post with a Weight Maintenance Tip designed to help you keep your weight off!
Write down these weekly tips and try them. Embrace a new approach to maintenance including more of the strategies you used to lose weight in the first place.
Achieving Balance - TIP #1
Do some type of Physical Activity every day. Make it happen. If you can't fit in a full work out or a 45 minute walk - do 10. Just 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes is a 10 minute walk away from the slippery slope.
If you want to be different you have to be different. You can do it.