Resolve to get in shape correct way
When Americans migrate to gyms and workout rooms across the nation to fulfill their New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get in shape, they’ll bring with them the advice of friends, fad-diet cookbooks and the omnipresent weight-loss industry.
Trouble is, much of that advice is bad, according to health experts.
With central Ohioans trying to get in shape for the new year and promising to lose excess weight gained over the holidays, The Dispatch spoke to several experts about the right and wrong ways to get healthy in 2019.
Here’s what to avoid:
Any diet that’s temporary
“There’s a ton of diets out there,” said Emily Monfiletto, a dietitian at the Mcconnell Heart Health Center on the Northwest Side. “Not to say they don’t work, but diets usually have a beginning and end. They’re more short-term.”
Keeping weight off, she said, requires permanent change. The idea of totally overhauling your diet is intimidating, which is why nutritionists recommend gradual change.
“In the first week, try cutting out all calories for beverages, like juice, soda and fancy coffee drinks,” said Julie Cantrell, lead physician for the Ohiohealth Weight Management Program. “Then in the second week, cut out rushed-out meals and carryout. And maybe in the third week, you can eat more fruits and vegetables.”that’s more livable,” Cantrell added. “If you do everything at once, you do it for a day or two, and then you quit. If you introduce it gradually, it’s easier to adapt to it.”
Cutting back on caloric beverages, which typically contain hundreds of calories but don’t provide the sense of fullness you get from eating, is uniformly recommended by nutritionists.
The same goes for junk- or fast-food.
“Find something a little more nutritious and lower in calories,” Monfiletto said.
Many people eat fast-food for lunch because they have limited time and it’s convenient, but alternatives exist for anyone in a time crunch, Monfiletto said. She recommended packing lunches several days ahead to avoid being in a rush in the morning. Peanut-butterand jelly sandwiches (with natural peanut butter and whole-grain bread) are a healthful replacement for fast-food and easy to prepare a day or so in advance.
In general, replacing sweets and processed foods with fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods is key to losing weight, she said. Monfiletto recommended replacing fatty meats such as steak and burgers with fish and plant-based alternatives such as beans, lentils and protein-rich vegetables. Cutting entire food groups
Every few years, a new fad diet sweeps the airwaves or internet promising weight loss to anyone who swears off some supposedly unhealthy portion of their diet — like removing all carbs or saturated fat and focusing on just protein or fiber.
But nutrition experts say the healthiest diets are balanced and include a range of foods, from fruits and vegetables to whole grains. Even oft-maligned food groups such as carbohydrates are an essential part of your diet.
Adopting a low-carb diet means cutting out healthy carbs, said Kacie Vavrek, a registered dietitian at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
One-sided workout routines
Personal trainers and physicians say that an effective workout regime needs to include both strength training and endurance workouts.
Strength training and cardiovascular exercise complement each other, said D.R. Ebner, a Wexner Medical Center physical therapist. Cardio increases your endurance, and strength training builds muscle, meaning you can handle more intense cardio workouts.
The key is to gradually ramp up the intensity once you become accustomed to a workout, he said.
“If you walk a lot, walking isn’t going to be very challenging,” Ebner said. “Then you need to run.”
Jumping straight into intense workouts
A workout regime is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but those who have gone without exercise for a significant portion of time — or never exercised at all — should ease into it, health experts say.
“It’s important for people to know what their limits are and adhere to those limits,” said Latoya Minneyfield, health and wellness director for the YMCA of Central Ohio, who recommends a physical assessment to new YMCA users. Otherwise, she said, they risk injury. “You might have all this excitement about getting started, then you leave (your first workout) and you’re super sore, or you get injured and you’re done for a long time, and then you’re starting over,” Minneyfield said.
Ebner suggested setting small goals, such as lifting weights a few times every week, or walking every day. People tend to get burned out if they begin exercising six times a week and eating healthy at every meal and don’t see immediate results, he said.
“Those small goals will snowball into a bigger lifestyle change,” Ebner said.
pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley