Lifestyle
University Daily Kansan / Friday, January 26, 1990
9
Taking the "D E" out of dieting
O n Jan. 1, you resolved to start eating right, get into shape and work off those five pounds you gained during the holi
days.
On Jan. 2, around 10 p.m., you were attacked by a wedge of strawberry cheese-cake accompanied by two scoops of ice cream with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and those little sprinkles.
You were defenseless; you had no choice.
And now, your will power is thinner but your
power is still strong.
Not to worry, says Ann Davis, a registered dietician at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
"Ninety percent of the students that I see for weight loss gain weight over the holidays," Davis said. "Maybe another 5 or 7 percent maintain the weight they had reached before Christmas, leaving 3 to 5 percent that actually lose weight."
Davis said the average person gained three to five pounds during the semester break and that the gain was the result of too much sitting in front of the television and pigging out. You don't have to kill yourself to get back to your old slim self.
Davis said the secret to shedding those untreated pounds was simple: eat less and drink more.
"With regard to eating less, people tend to be all or none about weight loss. They put on five pounds over Christmas and want to take it off overnight." Davis said. "You have to set small, achievable goals. So, by eating less, I don't mean starving yourself for a day and then end up binging down the road."
Bob Johnson, owner of Nature's Best Health Foods and the Fitness Factory, 23rd and Louisiana streets, agreed that starving was not the way to lose weight.
"I've had people come in who've eaten
nothing but popcorn for three months,"
Johnson said.
Johnson said that a balanced diet coupled with regular exercise was the only way those pounds would come off. And even then, it will be slow-soiling — around two pounds a week.
Davis said snacks were OK, as long as they were healthy, and it was a big mistake to put certain foods on a "Never Eat" list.
"Don't set up a whole lot of foods as forbidden because all that does is make you want them all the more, and then you do end up eating inappropriately," Davis said.
"With the exercise, I can't stress enough that small, achievable goals are important in this area, too. So many students I've counselled are real gung ho and say, 'I'm going to log six days a week and four miles a night,' and what you do is you burn out very quickly even if you can sustain that high level of activity." she said.
Davis suggested starting with achievable exercise goals. For example, a person can take one or two fast-paced walks a week that are 20 minutes long and increase the amount of exercise in a few weeks.
"The activity should be pleasurable." Davis said. "It shouldn't be like pulling teeth to get your exercise. If you hate to swim, you shouldn't choose it as your activity just because you've read it burns more calories than walking. That's crazy."
Davis said certain exercises, such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling, rowing, cross-country skiing and jumping rope best beled reduce stored fat.
Not at all, Davis said.
So, you may ask, is one expected to eat twigs and grass for the next couple of months?
"The emphasis needs to be on more complex carbohydrates," Davis said. "And those are foods like fruits and vegetables, wholegrain breads and cereals." Davis said. "(Students) also need to cut back on fat. Fat is a big culprit in terms of trying to get total calories down. Fats are things like butter,
Couch potatoes can burn up the calories doing what they do best
Strenuous physical exercise isn't the only way to burn calories. Listed are alternative ways to burn calories without having to leave the couch.
Calories *Activity per hour
Lying at ease 102
Sitting still 96
Card playing 108
Knitting 114
Source: Exercise Physiology:
Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance
- All numbers are for persons thinking they weigh 170 pounds but too lazy to actually go check.
Stephen Kline/KANSAN
margarine, salad dressing, mayonnaise, gravies, sauces — those pack twice the calories of the breads and fruits and vegetables."
Johnson said that fried foods should be avoided, as should red meats such as beef and pork.
Davis added that low-fat dairy products were equally important when trying to lose weight. She said skim milk should be chosen instead of 2 percent or whole milk, and products such as low-fat yogurt could save calories.
"In terms of their eating patterns, college students do have some unique characteristics. They have more waking hours and they can sustain that. But as a result, they eat more a lot of times, too, and they tend to choose either quick, easy foods to prepare at
their apartments or it's awfully tempting to do the fast-foot type of thing," she said.
Davis said many healthy, portable foods were available for students to bring to campus for meals. She said a sliced bagel with a thin layer of peanut butter, light cream cheese, mozzarella cheese or other filling and a piece of fruit was an ideal meal. Raisins or dried fruit were also served; Davis mentioned as snacks for time constraints students.
Davis said skipping meals was one of the worst things you could do to your body and that it often resulted in weight gain.
"Eventually this will cause one of two things to happen," she said. "Either your body will break down because you're not meeting your nutritional needs and you're
going to compromise your immune system and get sick, or a feeling of psychological deprivation will set in and it will be so strong that you will start eating everything in sight
Johnson said successful dieting was a matter of discipline.
"If you have to," he said, "write down on a piece of paper what you're going to eat that day. Have it down in writing and that will help reduce the impulsive eating."
Davis said there was an irony to the diet mania that has swept the United States during the past decade.
"Some studies are indicating that Americans are becoming more health conscious and are choosing a lot of the Lean Cuisine and lighter dinners at the grocery store," she said. "On the other hand, we're buying oatmeal ice cream with 23 percent butter fat."
“It's a real mixed picture. We're becoming more educated and lowering our fat and making more prudent choices in some ways. But we can't resist the ads for the rich ice cream products and rich desserts and that kind of thing.”
Davis said she expected that the emphasis on aerobic conditioning and lowering fat would continue during the 1990s.
Davis also stressed that many people did not need to diet.
"I had a woman come in who was very petite, only about 51" or "52", and she weighed 105 and felt very overweight and wanted to lose about 15 pounds. That's very frightening, and unfortunately, I see quite a bit of that — a distorted body image and a feeling of fatness when a person is actually at a great body weight," she said.
For those who feel they do need to lose weight, Davis said that moderation was the key. "I don't think there's much," he said.
Lori Seaberg, Atchison sophomore,
agreed.
Seaberg said she was on a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet and did aerobics an hour a day, four days a week. She lost five pounds during Christmas break, which she has since regained. She said dieting was a continual, difficult battle of the will, although she allowed herself one day a week when she could eat a little more — if she worked extra hard the next day to burn off those added calories.
"it's mind over matter," she said. "It takes a lot of effort to stay with it. It's easy to just go to McDonald's."
Story by Bryce J. Tache'
Art by Stephen Kline
Save big bucks. Clip Kansan Coupons
/