*The following information is intended for entertainment and educational purposes only and should not replace advice from a licensed medical professional. Consult with your physician before making any major lifestyle changes.
Like many people, the holidays got away from me — family obligations, kids home from college, food, food, etc. I must confess that I gained more than a few pounds this year and got into some not-so-great eating habits. In addition, I could feel my daily stress level creeping up. So, I finally took some of the same advice that I have given to my training clients over the years and made some changes. A couple of things: 1. This isn’t about making New Year’s resolutions you know you won’t keep. 2. These changes are things that work for me. Everyone is different, so take what you can from this article.
I’ve spoken of this often — temporary changes lead to temporary results. Wellness needs to be a lifestyle — a marathon, not a sprint. Still, I found that I needed a clear course correction, so I decided to use methods that have worked for me in the past based on my habits and success with certain behavioral modifications.
Sleep: Like I’ve said, ad nauseam, sleep is not a passive activity. It doesn’t just happen to you; you are not simply unconscious. Without enough quality sleep, your body cannot heal properly, cement memories, manage stress, or properly produce certain hormones, among other things. Now, I have struggled with sleep my entire life, so this is definitely an ongoing challenge, but I have taken certain steps to improve the duration and quality of my sleep. I first started to go to bed much earlier. Approximately two hours earlier. Second, I have made an effort to wind down before I go to bed. I prefer reading until I get sleepy. TV will keep you awake. Third, I stopped eating at least three hours before bedtime. Food, especially high-carbohydrate snacks and/or alcohol, will also disrupt sleep.
Exercise: I have always liked to exercise, but I found that with the kids home from college, I was getting out of my regular routine, and my workouts were becoming a bit sporadic. I do best with short, frequent workouts that are roughly the same time every day. This change wasn’t hard, and I was able to get back into my routine quickly.
Meditation: I know, I know, what is an ex-powerlifter doing talking about meditation again? Next thing you know, I’ll be out talking to trees and going to work in tie-dye. Just kidding. Hopefully, with age comes wisdom. As I have gotten older, I have made an effort to be more open-minded. I have found that daily meditation and breathing exercises have done wonders for managing stress, clearing my mind, and lowering my resting heart rate. Getting back into a regular exercise routine has also made it easier to practice breathing exercises and mindfulness, as my preference is to do them after a workout.
Diet: Ah, food; my kryptonite. When I was a kid, I could eat anything and not really gain weight. Then I hit middle age, and it seems that I gained weight just thinking about food. Add to that holiday festivities, wonderful time spent with my family surrounded by sweets and junk food, less exercise, and less sleep, and you have a recipe for disaster. The other joke that life plays on us as we age is that weight is soooo much easier to put on than it is to take it off.
Eating less sounds simple, but putting it into practice is not so simple. We Americans, eat way too much as a society. Some experts call this being over-fed and under-nourished. Other cultures around the world do not eat constantly and, thus, have much lower obesity rates. 3+ big meals a day and snacking all day is not good for us. I won’t go into the statistics of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease in this article. Suffice it to say that we won’t starve if we cut back. Personally, I needed to become reacquainted with the feeling of hunger.
Feeling hungry is a good thing. It lets us know when to eat and how much we need to eat. The operative word is need. However, what and how much we eat needs to be sustainable for long-term results. I chose to cut back to two meals per day with no snacking in between. I wanted to find out when I actually got hungry and not be bound by the time of day or a preconceived routine. The first few days were hard, but then I started feeling quite good. My energy levels were up, and I was more productive at work. Again, this is just what I did and is not for everyone. I typically get up early and have a couple of coffees between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. (I like coffee, but this isn’t part of any diet plan.) I would then eat something small around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. Maybe a bowl of hearty homemade soup or stew with lots of vegetables. I do not snack in the afternoons because I do not feel the need. Dinner is something sensible, such as a protein like chicken or beef with a non-starchy vegetable side like broccoli. I try to drink a fair amount of water throughout the day. Once per week, I might have a “cheat meal.” I don’t actually like using this word because it implies I am doing something wrong, which I am not. I simply reserve a day or a meal to have whatever I want, guilt-free, and it helps to keep me from obsessing about certain foods. It is important to note that this needs to be a very narrow window of splurging lest we fall off the wagon.
Remember, this reset is just what I did to get back into a lifestyle of wellness that suits me. Your reset could look entirely different. If you feel that things have gotten out of control, talk to your doctor about options. Be smart and think long-term. The cabbage soup diet may work to lose weight initially, but things like it are certainly not permanent solutions, which means the weight will come right back on, plus a few extra pounds. Start small and make sustainable changes for lasting results.
