It’s time to think beyond New Year’s extra kilos … to lifestyle
Having recently closed the book on this year’s Spring Festival — with its delicious meals, either cooked at home or in restaurants — many of us are thinking about dropping the kilograms we added.
The task may seem daunting.
There is no reason to prohibit most types of food or drink, barring certain medical conditions. But for those who want to stay healthy and reduce medical risks, it might be a good time to go beyond losing a few kilos and rethink their approach to food and lifestyle.
A lot of what is described as eating healthy is a matter of degree and consistency. That’s why “yo-yo” dieting doesn’t work. That’s when people try some extreme change — eating only grapefruit, for example. They may lose weight rapidly at first, but when they can’t stick to it, the results don’t stick, either.
So their weight goes up and down like a yo-yo as they try fad diets, which can damage their health.
When my doctor told me a few years ago that I needed to lose body fat and add muscle, I felt overwhelmed. I soon realized that I needed to make changes that were not going to be temporary, and it wasn’t all about diet.
That’s where moving to China really helped. In the United States, I must have had a dozen fast-food outlets on my drive home. After a long day, they were incredibly tempting. I could pull up to a drive-through window and order something that was tasty but not so healthy without having to leave my car.
But I found that not having a car in China was a huge blessing. I walk and ride my bicycle a lot more as I go about my daily routine. I started walking for exercise, at first just a block a day, adding more and more until I was doing up to several kilometers at a time. I also got to know my neighborhood a lot better and found some nice parks.
Low-calorie prepared foods are much easier to find back home. But when my wife and I researched creative ways to use the many fresh fruits and vegetables available to us, we found ways to cut calories, carbohydrates and saturated fats. Cauliflower, for example, can be chopped up in a food processor and, amazingly, made into a substitute for fried rice.
I have practically eliminated some foods, such as pizza and many baked goods, and I choose whole-wheat bread over white, processed bread.
I take jars full of nuts, chopped fruit and the whites of boiled eggs to work, as well as a bag of raw celery to munch on instead of potato chips.
It also helps tremendously to track what you eat. There are many apps that allow you to log what you eat, and they can tell you exactly how you’re doing and what you need to do to meet your goals.
I do believe it is good to have small treats to avoid feeling deprived. A small piece of chocolate or two isn’t bad — you just shouldn’t eat half a bag of them. It does take discipline. You have to be satisfied with the small treat. But it is far better than having no treat.
My palate has changed, so that I don’t like food as sweet or salty as I used to.
There is an ancient maxim — food is medicine — attributed to Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, and I truly believe it.
I find being consistent with exercise a bigger challenge, especially during Beijing’s cold winters. So that’s my post-Spring Festival resolution — to get moving again.