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Awareness:
The Key to Successful Change
by
Gay
Riley, MS, RD, CCN
NetNutritionist.com
 |
Assume
you have made a conscious and committed decision
to lose body fat and to live a more active,
healthy life. How are you planning to accomplish
that goal? There is no magic solution as of
yet.
Are
you aware of your current food and lifestyle
habits and how those daily habits affect your
energy balance (the energy consumed and the
energy expended)?
Awareness
of lifestyle habits
that affect your energy balance is the first
step towards your achieving your goal. The second
step is to know what to change
and what
will work for you. |
The
most important habits related to energy-balance
are:
-
Your
food intake. What, when, where, how much,
and why you eat.
-
Your
daily activity level or calories expended.
Your spontaneous daily activity such as
taking the stairs and your exercise.
-
Your
relationship with food (how you use food
to cope with stress, emotions, boredom,
entertainment, etc.)
Isn't
it more realistic to change the bad habits than
to adopt all new habits? Restrictive diets that
do not include the foods you like, and rigorous
exercise when you have been sedentary, are usually
short term solutions at best. Gradual consistent
changes in personal lifestyle habits are easier
to sustain and more permanent for long term
success.
How
do I become more aware of current habits?
Ask
yourself the following questions and collect
some data regarding your lifestyle habits before
you start a new diet and exercise program.
-
How
many calories do I consume in a day?
-
How
many calories do I expend in a day?
-
What
is my typical pattern of eating? How many
times a day do I put caloric food or drink
in my mouth?
-
What
are the 5 foods and typical portion sizes
I eat most often?
-
How
many times a week do I eat breakfast?
What is my most commonly eaten breakfast
food?
-
Who
do I usually eat with?
-
Do
I eat fast or slow? How long does it take
for me to eat a meal?
-
How
many meals do I eat out per week? And
what places?
-
How
often do I skip meals?
-
Do
I eat for reasons other than hunger? What
are the other reasons I eat other than
hunger? What circumstances or events cause
me to eat (or overeat) not related to
hunger?
-
What
do I spend most of my time doing during
the day?
-
How
many hours per day do I watch TV or videos?
-
How
many hours per day do I spend at the computer?
-
How
many hours per day do I stand?
-
How
many hours per day do I spend socializing
with friends and family?
-
Is
my house clean? Do I clean my own house,
do my own yard work, chores, etc.?
-
How
many hours of recreational activity do
I participate in each week and what is
that activity?
-
How
many hours of aerobic exercise do I participate
in every week?
-
How
much water do I drink in a day?
-
Do
I eat better during the week or on the
weekend? Why?
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Now
that I have answered these questions, how do
I make changes?
An
example of a change that you might make would
be obvious in question 1 and 2. I eat 3200 calories
a day and I expend 2300 calories a day. You
would obviously need to reduce your calories
to 500 calories below your calories expended
to lose 1 pound of body fat a week (no less).
Expend more calories if you want to lose up
to 2 pounds per week. It is recommended that
you expend around 2000 calories from exercise
a week to lose body fat.
Another
example would be question 4. If one of your
5 foods or drinks most frequently consumed was
cola drink and you drink 4 cans a day. You could
reduce your calories by 450 per day by drinking
1 can a day.
By
asking yourself these questions, you will be
more aware of your habits and begin to understand
what sensible and realistic changes you can
make to lose body fat and live a leaner, healthier
lifestyle.
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