My waistline suffers and so does my energy level. I've been lulled into sedentary somnolence by frigid temperatures. I eat often and too much. In these days of decreased physical activity, I should pay extra attention to my eating habits. I need to eat healthy, low fat foods and not too much. I can be a good health-conscious eater; I can also be very, very bad. I'm a senior with a curl in the middle of my forehead!
All this on the heels of the resolutions made in the fervor of the new year-to curb eating, take off a few pounds. Ah, yes, I could crawl into the cold basement and walk on the treadmill, and I know I should, but it's so uninspiring. I gave my TV to a fire victim and it's boring down there with only the sound of the machine and its endless revolutions. There are some of us who think it's boring in a warm room with a television. Let's face it, we're spoiled and to the point in our lives that we want what we want-I want a brisk outdoor two-mile walk four times a week!
Ah, if it were only easy. Read the blurbs for fad diets, or the magazine covers in the checkout lines.... I saw one last week and the cover proclaimed, LOSE 14 POUNDS. This week the same publication has a new issue, SHE LOST 135 POUNDS BY CHEATING ON HER DIET. Obviously the way to sell magazines is to promote WEIGHT LOSS in big letters on the cover!
Beware of fad diets, no matter how appealing it sounds to lose a few pounds in a short time, many of these get-thin-quick diets can be hazardous to your health.
One of the most popular today is the Atkins Diet that restricts daily carbohydrate intake to a low of 15% (the US recommended daily allowance is 60%). It promises you can happily and greedily indulge on meats and the pounds will drop quickly. It eliminates bread, pasta, grains, and most fruits and vegetables, which constitute the base of the food pyramid, and by doing so, deprives the dieter of fiber and essential vitamins and minerals. Pounds usually drop rapidly in the beginning but it's mostly due to water loss. Additionally, reduction of carbohydrates forces the body to burn fatty acids for fuel and this can cause headaches, dizziness and fatigue. The surplus of protein and saturated fat can also tax your heart and kidneys.
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