Reduce your waistline and
you’ll reduce your health risks! Below
are some nutritional and exercise tips to help you start making improvements. Try one change a week or several at a
time. Just make sure they are changes
you can sustain and you will start to see improvements within a few weeks!
ü Eat meals on a salad plate versus a dinner plate; and don’t
go back for seconds.J This small change will dramatically reduce
your portion sizes!
ü Reduce all processed foods including protein bars, soy
products, and snack foods. To help you
resist temptation stay away from the snack isle in the grocery store. Remember to read the ingredient list – if the
item has more than five or six ingredients and/or you can’t pronounce the words,
then don’t eat it!
ü Reduce simple carbohydrates. Most are processed foods so you’ll be
accomplishing two goals at once! Stay
away from white bread, cookies, crackers, granola bars, breakfast bars, cereals
with more than 6 grams of sugar per serving, chips, pretzels, etc. Try to go one day without packaged snacks and
you’ll eliminate processed foods and simple carbohydrates as well as wasted
calories!
ü Reduce or eliminate alcohol. Drink water!
ü Reduce or eliminate juices – eat whole vegetable and
fruits instead – they contain more nutrients and fiber which will keep you
satiated longer.
ü Eliminate fried foods (e.g., fried chicken, fried
fish, French fries, onion rings, donuts, taco shells, etc.). Fried foods are high in unhealthy saturated
fat.
ü Eat leaner proteins (e.g., skinless chicken and fish)
– you’ll reduce saturated fat and calories.
Also, be sure to use low-fat cooking methods - grill, bake, or broil.
ü Consume nonfat or low-fat dairy products. Limit cheese – it is tends to be high in fat. A serving size is approximately the tip of
your thumb.
ü Nuts contain healthy fat, but a serving size is only
about 1/3 of a cup.
ü Walk more often – park further away from your
destination, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and/or get up and walk at
least once an hour when sitting at your desk.
ü Perform cardiovascular exercise daily for 30
minutes. Exercise can be broken up into
three, 10 minute increments if necessary.
A few of its many benefits include helping to strengthen the heart, improve
blood flow throughout the body, and enhance wellbeing by releasing endorphins.
ü Perform strength training 2-3 days per week. Strength training improves bone and muscle
mass as well as many other health benefits.
ü Prepare dinner instead of buying premade dinners. Standing burns approximately twice as many
calories as sitting!
Some of the strategies
listed above are easier than others. As
you master one change, you can then begin to adopt another! They will begin to build upon each other. The changes you make will become part of your
life and over time you will be living a healthier life!
References
American Cancer Society. (2014). Study: larger waist size increases health risks. Retrieved from:
