Summer Weight Management
In a perfect world, our weight wouldn't go up and down in line with the seasons and various holidays and weddings, etc. We would manage our weight year on year with healthy eating, exercise and good habits. That's a great theory, but this isn't an ideal world. In the real world we are bombarded with media images of how we ‘should' look which only serve to illustrate how we ‘don't' look. There are convenient high calorie snacks and junk food tempting us everywhere we turn.
As a nation we have a surplus of about 1000 kcal per person per day - what happens to all that spare food? Umm..well I'm guessing we probably eat it. As we deal with more and more stress and busier lives, we turn to food for comfort.
And on top of all that we are perpetually confused by what exactly we should and shouldn't be eating. Eggs are bad one week, and avocado the next. We know on a subconscious level that we shouldn't really go on a ‘diet' as such.... surely it can't be good for our bodies to eat so little? But the other half of our brain (which shouts louder) says that we want look amazing and be slim TOMORROW. So even as intelligent, educated women, we get sucked in.
BIKINI PANIC!
It's at this time of year that we don't just get sucked in, we go into full blown panic mode. More specifically, bikini panic mode. Every magazine and newspaper features a ‘holiday shape up plan' or swimsuit diet of some sort along with xyz celeb in their bikini looking fabulous. How does this make us feel? That we have to be stick thin to even venture on the beach? That we can't even don a bikini unless we have a beautifully toned stomach and no hint of cellulite? So what do we do? We embark on yet another starvation diet plan and exercise regime and just to get in ‘shape' for our holiday.
Of course we all want to feel body confident on the beach when we are at our most exposed, and I accept that many of us may in fact need to lose a few pounds. The only problem with this approach is that when we starve our bodies in eager anticipation of our long awaited holiday, when we do get there, we overindulge (because we've earned it and because ‘well, we are on holiday after all') and we end up gaining all that weight back again in only two weeks. We come home feeling somewhat more relaxed and tanned, but with jeans that don't fit anymore.
Let's deal with the bikini panic issue first.
Whilst a holiday can be a good motivator and catalyst for weight loss, it shouldn't be the main reason, it's only a short term goal. Basically it's not motivating enough. Because what's the tiny flaw? As soon as the holiday is over you have lost the very thing that motivated you to lose weight in the first place, so you go back to what you used to do, gain the weight back only to start the cycle all over again.
Try to think, on a deeper level, about what else you will gain from losing weight and eating more healthily - and then write it all down. Positive motivation is what we're looking for. More energy to play with the kids? Greater self esteem? Reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer?
Able to wear sexier clothes? These may well be very personal and individual to you, but once you've identified some powerful motivators, weight loss will become more important to you and will become easier.
If you have decided that yes, you do need to ‘shape up' and exposing your body in a bikini is a good short-term goal, then the ideal strategy is to plan ahead and start thinking about eating more healthily and gradually increasing the amount of exercise you do well in advance of your holiday. Your holiday is only a stepping stone to long term weight management.
Habit
Going back to that ‘ideal world' I talked about earlier. How do some people manage to stay the same weight year on year? How do they stay slim and still manage to eat ‘whatever they fancy'? Well, it's unlikely that they have a secret herbal remedy, a particularly high metabolism or indeed are just ‘lucky'. It's more likely a combination of a balanced approach to exercise, confident body image and some good eating habits, which see them through stressful times and demanding social occasions.
They make the time to incorporate exercise into their busy schedules because it's important to them and they have well developed eating habits and make sensible food choices. Notice carefully that I use the word ‘habit'. This is the one thing that you must take away from reading this piece. Weight management, and I'm talking about lifelong weight management here, is not about the latest fad diet or exercise craze, it is about HABIT and balance. Easy to say, but harder to put into practice. The key is this. Raise awareness of the poor habits in your diet and lifestyle that need improvement, make some changes and re-learn new healthy habits. Do them long enough and repeatedly and they will then stay with you for life and make managing your weight a piece of cake (excuse the pun!).
Get beach body confident
Getting more in tune with your body will encourage you to care for it. Give it more TLC and feel more confident. Then you'll want to eat more healthily and treat it well.
Exfoliate and moisturise every inch of your body - focusing on the bits you like!
Get yourself an all over body spray tan - either DIY if you're brave or go to an expert! You will instantly feel slimmer and more toned.
Pluck, shave and wax all the bits of you which haven't seen the light of day since September.
Get a manicure and pedicure - then keep on top of it, exfoliating your heels and keeping your toes polished.
Hit the shops and buy a bikini or swimsuit which makes you feel fabulous. Don't, whatever you do, buy a smaller size thinking you'll slim into it.
Best of all - do some exercise. Become more body aware and enjoy being more active and feeling your body respond. Exercise is the best confidence boost in the world.
Healthy Holiday Habits
Banish the phrase ‘well, I am on holiday' as an excuse to overindulge. By all means enjoy your holiday, but don't say ‘yes' to every ice cream, bowl of chips and cocktail that comes your way.
Airports and motorway service stations are healthy eating disaster zones. Plan ahead and take homemade sandwiches, chopped vegetables which travel well, fruit and healthy snacks for the journey. Try to avoid bags of sweets and chocolates for the car - have chewing gum and boiled sweets if you must.
Accept it's unlikely you will actually lose any weight on holiday. Your goal is to limit weight gain to only a few pounds, easy to drop when you are back home and living normally.
There is absolutely no obligation to consume ‘all you can eat' at the hotel buffet to get value for money. Remember the phrase ‘better to go in the waste than on my waist'!
Incorporate some activity every day. This can be tricky and requires some motivation and organisation. But the main goal is to just to keep burning up some calories to keep you in energy balance. Swimming is ideal, as is walking or jogging. Using the hotel gym or taking the kids out cycling all count towards keeping your energy expenditure ticking over.
Make sure you keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Be careful with fruit juice, squash and fizzy drinks loaded with ‘empty' calories, you'll easily pile on the pounds.
Don't skip meals in the hope that you'll save calories for later. You'll end up overeating as you'll be so hungry.
Avoid the ‘all or nothing' approach to eating and drinking especially on holiday. Clever food choices can make all the difference to whether you gain weight or not, yet allow you to feel that you can still relax and enjoy eating out. See below for some practical suggestions to save calories yet still indulge:
Foods to limit
Creamy ice cream cones, luxury choc ices
Liqueurs, syrupy and creamy cocktails
BBQ'd sausages, burgers, chicken drumsticks with skin, lamb chops with fat
Crisps, tortilla chips and creamy dips
Picnic foods such as pork pies, quiche, flans, pasties etc
Fried breakfast with the ‘works'
Creamy salad dressings, Olive oil and balsamic dressing
Swap for
Fruit lollies, kids sized choc ice
Fruit juice based cocktails, low calorie mixers
BBQ'd fish, prawns, lean chicken and pork kebabs
Tomato and yoghurt based dips, chopped vegetable crudités
Vegetable pizza slices, grilled chicken pieces, marinated lean meat kebabs
Scrambled egg, grilled bacon and tomato, wholemeal toast, grilled mushrooms
Ask for it on the side
Written for Summer 2008 issue by Sarah Russell MSc. Sarah is a fitness expert and weight management coach with over 15 years' experience in the industry. She works with individuals and organisations to help them gain a more balanced approach to weight loss, health and wellness.
www.lifestyle-matters.co.uk
