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Weight control advice |
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Introduction
Most often, excess
weight accumulates slowly over the years. Let’s suppose a
overload of 10 kg gathered in 5 years, not an uncommon
situation in childhood and adolescence : this means 10.000 grams in 1825 days, i.e.
slightly more than 5 grams a day ! This example helps understand that a drastic diet offers no
adequate solution. It does not make sense to start
a hunger strike to go back to an « ideal » weight
in a few months. The almost invariable result is a marked malaise, and an end to
this unnecessarily heroic
effort.
On the other hand, if the patient manages to improve, if only slightly but permanently his/her daily life hygiene, enough to stop this - mostly fat - accumulation of 5 grams a day, weight control becomes relatively easy, especially in a growing child. If weight stabilization is achieved in childhood, it produces a much leaner person a few years later. Weight control counseling includes a number of useful tips, effective and fairly easy to put into practice.
* Drink a large glass of water at the beginning
of each meal. Almost all overweight persons drink too little, when they
don’t take beverages rich in
calories (sweetened juices, carbonated drinks, beer, wine). Drinking more water is a very useful help in a
strategy aiming at
limiting one’s food
intake.
* Eat slowly. The feeling of having eaten enough does not come before 15-20 minutes. It is good to talk at the table. Meals are also an opportunity to meet and exchange. They must not be limited to drinking and eating.
* Never skip a meal. The result is almost always too much food taken at the next meal. On the other hand it is a bad idea to eat between meals, commonly sweetened foods.
* If possible, eat often enough (ideally 5 times a day). Snacks are OK but they should not be too rich, i.e. too caloric (chocolate, biscuits, chips). Raw carrots, apples, a low fat yoghurt are useful alternatives.
* Abandon almost completely sugar containing beverages and sweets. Since nothing is forbidden, they can be offered a moment in the week, but should be avoided at other times.
* A balanced diet. Limit fat, sugar, and “slow
sugars” (starch, cereals, potato chips, pasta). On the other hand, it is
almost impossible to gain too
much weight with salads, fish, meat or eggs. A diet rich enough in calcium also
helps fight excess weight gain. Milk and dairy
products – preferably skimmed or half-skimmed - are
useful in this respect. For people who don’t tolerate milk, a calcium
supplement is advised (such as Steocar or Steovit – with vitamin D).
A better intestinal flora also protects against
overweight ; this may be obtained through regular
(daily) intake of a bifidus yoghurt
(Yakult , Activia...) or a probiotic (Protectis...)
*
Medicated appetite suppressants are not recommended but a food
supplement such as Psyllium, one capsule (for instance Deba pharma) or
one tablespoon (for instance Mannavital) with a
large glass of water before or at the start of an meal, can
perform
this function, with the added benefit to be useful against diarrhea and
constipation. * Do not nibble or snack in front of the TV set !
* Move. It does not require a high level sport activity. Leaving a bus at the previous stop, using a staircase rather than the elevator, walking, taking one’s bike or skates rather than a car, all that consumes energy and reinforces lean body mass (including muscles) which even at rest burn more calories than fat tissue.
* Putting a measuring tape around the waist is easy. The scale is no less important. It is useful to measure waist and
weight, at least once or twice a week, and daily if needed, i.e. if one does not succeed in
controlling one’s weight
gain. It is essential to follow the result of one’s efforts, closely enough to
adjust them. A meaningful
psychological
feed-back cannot be established
otherwise.
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