Obesity is the enemy. The quest for good health and independent living are admirable goals at any age, but never as important as during your senior years. Counting calories, cutting back on carbohydrates, eliminating fats, and tracking points are difficult at any age, but when your metabolism fights your efforts it is a real bummer. It makes you wonder if it is worth the bother, doesn’t it? Unfortunately safeguarding your health is even more important now, and if you have a problem with your weight it is time to get a handle on it. The pounds melt off slowly as your activity level decreases, but the formula never changes. The formula is not a secret. No matter what your age it still boils down to the same thing. If you want to lose or maintain your weight you need to consume fewer calories.
This isn’t always easy as you grow older. How do you consume all of the nutrients that you need to stay healthy without increasing your consumption? Jessica Belasco (Houston Chronicle: Houston, Tex: January 10, 2011) writes that just because a food item has vitamin D or contains omega-3 doesn’t mean that you need to consume massive amounts of it.
Portion control is a problem in America. We all feel that if we aren’t served large portions that we aren’t getting our money’s worth. It doesn’t help that we can still remember Mom telling us to clean our plates; every last French fry. What gives? We love big portions because we love value. We love getting a bargain so we gravitate toward restaurants that give us the platefuls of food that are two or three times what we need. The average adult weighs nearly 25 more pounds than in l960. That statistic says it all doesn’t it?
Larry Lindner discussed portion sizing in an article for Arthritis Today magazine (January/February 2011). The easiest way to eat less is by changing your environment so that it is harder to overeat. This might mean setting the table with smaller plates, using smaller serving spoons to dish out your food, and not having a candy drawer or a bowl of candy on your desk. Recognize that you may be using food to distract you from other problems (coping with boredom, stress, anxiety or grief) and try not to use food as a reward.
- Know your portions. What kind of serving size are we looking at? Cheese (4 dice), meat (a deck of cards), cooked pasta or rice (half a tennis ball), fruits and vegetables (half a tennis ball), nuts or nut butter (an average sized shot glass). Remember that the food pyramid is still alive and well.
- Exercise every day. Physical activity helps regulate your appetite, burns calories and keeps you out of the food arena.
- Eat more vegetables. Vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber and no one has ever over-doses on vegetables (fill your plate half full of vegetables).
- Eat out less often and if you do, take home half of it to eat at another meal. You don’t have to be embarrassed and you don’t have to pretend it is for Fido.
- Avoid all-you-can eat buffets, say no to super sizing, read labels and balance out whether a moment of pleasure is really worth 340 calories for a drink. Take advantage of the senior menu.
Just use a little caution. Decreasing your portion sizes will go along way toward helping you avoid having to go on a “diet.”
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