A New Year’s Resolution to Lose Weight? – Here are 6 Tips to Help

Nearly everyone likes to make a New Year’s Resolution, and one of the commonest is to lose weight.  The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has published a series of tips to help people who are trying to lose weight in 2011.  Here’s a summary of the first 6 of them:

1.    Keep moving each day.  Aim for 30 to 60 minutes a day – brisk walking or a bike ride (to work?) - 5 days a week.  Having a dog means you’ll get a guilt trip if you don’t take him out for a daily walk.

2.    Keep a food journal.  Knowing just how much you eat will allow you to see where cuts can be made.  Adding in calorie counting will make this easier, too.

3.    Set realistic goals.  You can’t hope to lose a lot quickly – it will only come back a few months later, when you relax.  Try for1-2 pounds a week to start with.

4.    Set specific goals.  Several small but specific goals that are readily attainable will work.  For example, 5 servings of fruit/veggies a day, or a 15-minute walk after lunch, or drink 6 glasses of water a day.

5.    Don’t give up at the first setback.  If this happens, try to understand what happened, and think how to avoid such situations in future.  If you lapse and buy a candy bar at the checkout counter, use the self-service checkout, or eat a handful of nuts before going shopping.

6.    Try yoga.  Regular yoga practice is associated with weight maintenance or weight loss, through the mindful eating it encourages.  “Mindful eating is a skill that augments the usual approaches to weight loss . . .” according to the Fred Hutchinson team.

The press release by the Cancer Center includes an invitation to participate in a free nutrition- and exercise-based weight loss study for women in the Seattle area.  If any of my readers are interested, they should e-mail vida@fhcrc.org or call 206-667-6444.            

Let me wish you a Very Happy New Year, whatever resolutions you may or may not have made.