Feeling Light
By
Becky McCully Varner
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Many
people make a New Year's resolution to go on a diet
and lose weight, only to give up a short time later.
If you're wondering if anyone ever takes off excess
weight and keeps it off, the answer is yes. But it is
not by going on the latest diet plan, feeling deprived
and turning back to old eating habits. It starts by
changing the way one thinks about weight.
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| Instead of focusing on losing weight
or dieting, think about more healthful eating. Dieting is an
on-again, off-again process. More healthful eating is a lifelong
process that incorporates many aspects. One aspect is the actual
food intake. |
- Choose up to 6 ounces of lean meat, fish
or skinless poultry daily. This is best divided into two
or three small servings at two or three meals during the
day. Avoid large servings of high-fat meats. Try several
main dishes each week featuring pasta, rice, beans and a
variety of vegetables instead of a portion of animal protein.
Or create main dishes by mixing these foods with small amounts
of lean meat, skinless poultry or fish.
- Choose skim milk and milk products such as
yogurt and cheeses made from skim or low-fat milk.
- Eat at least five servings daily of fruits
and vegetables and at least six servings of breads, cereals
or whole grains daily.
- Limit the use of fats, oils and sweets. Focus
on foods to eat instead of foods to avoid. Have you ever
noticed how we tend to want what we say we can't have?
- The next thing is to set reasonable goals.
Lose one-half pound to one pound a week. Forget losing weight
quickly. Slow, steady but consistent weight loss until one
achieves a healthful weight is the goal. Remember that fat
has 9 calories per gram, more than twice the calories of
protein or carbohydrate. Choose foods low in fat. That does
not mean avoid all foods containing fat or all added fat.
It simply means to use cooking methods that require little
or no oil. Broil, boil, bake, roast, poach, steam, saute,
stir-fry or microwave foods instead of frying, basting with
fat or otherwise adding fat in the cooking process.
- Use small amounts of salad dressings. Try
the fat-free varieties or, if you don't like those, dilute
regular creamy dressings with a little skim milk and oil-based
dressings with a little vinegar.
- Use a small amount of jelly or preserves
instead of butter on toast.
- Trim visible fat before cooking meat and
poultry. Drain off any fat after cooking.
- Chill soups and stews after cooking so the
hardened fat on top can be removed.
- Season vegetables with herbs and spices instead
of butter, margarine, oil or cream sauces.
- Choose low-fat, whole-grain breads instead
of rich dinner rolls, croissants or heavily buttered breads.
Simply be smart about choosing low fat instead of high-fat
foods. Eat smaller and less frequent portions of foods that
are rich and calorie laden.
- Keep moving. Exercise burns calories and
helps one to lose weight and maintain that loss. Choose
something you enjoy, walking, dancing, swimming and biking
are good options. It is always a good idea to check with
your physician before embarking on an exercise program.
- Drinking six to eight glasses of water daily
is a good habit. Sometimes, people eat food when they are
actually thirsty instead of hungry and would be more satisfied
with a glass of water than something to eat.
- Deal with life problems head-on instead
of stuffing them down with food. Sometimes, people
eat as a way to avoid something they do not want to confront.
Learn to reward yourself with something besides food.
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High
Heels
Wobbling Down The Runways
Have heels replaced hemlines as a leading economic indicator?
If so, then next fall the world’s
markets will be soaring. At the fall winter 2002-womenswear
shows in Milan last week, Gucci, Prada and Dolce &
Gabban all sent models teetering down runways in ankle-breaking
11-centimeter high
heels. In what one hopes wasn’t an economic forecast,
modlest at Gucci and Prada fell their towering stilettos
and crashed to the floor. In fact, as if to mirror to
day’s seesaw financial markets, the Gucci model
wobbled, then recovered, then toppled off her Betty
page pumps halfway down the runway.
When she tried to get up, she fell again. She finally
took off the shoes and finished her turn
barefoot to re sounding applause. Gucci and Dolce &
Gabbana say they will be making a shorter,
nine- centimeter version. Looks as if they’re hedging
their bets.
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