Rethinking Exercise

-Brooks Wingo, PhD

For many people, the thought of exercise brings up of pictures of pounding away hours on some form of immobile gym equipment while staring blankly into a TV screen that you can’t really hear.  How can anyone love exercise so much that they spend an hour a day on the treadmill; especially with having to work, raise a family, and maintain some form of social life?  This sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, but my point is that many times the thought of exercise is more difficult to overcome than the physical exertion we dread so much.   In this post, I want to address 3 common mental errors that people often have when trying to initiate a new exercise plan.

The first mental error is failing to plan.  The old adage “failing to plan is planning to fail” definitely holds true for establishing a good exercise routine. One of the most common reasons people fail to get in enough exercise is time.  Most of us have so many responsibilities that it feels like there is no way to fit in one more thing.  Sit down on a Sunday afternoon and look at your calendar for the week.  Find any available blocks of time and plan your exercise during those times.  Write it on your calendar, just like a dentist appointment.  Then each evening, pack your bag for the next day’s work out.  10-15 minutes of planning ahead can lead to hours more exercise, and much less guilt about missing workouts. 

The second mental error is all or none thinking.  If I can’t spend an hour exercising, it’s not worth going at all, right? Wrong.  When it comes to weight loss, a calorie is a calorie.  You can burn calories by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking around the block during a 10 minute break or walking across campus rather than driving around looking for a good parking spot.  There are all different levels of activity and exercise, and each has a role in weight loss and health.  To lose weight and establish a healthy lifestyle you don’t have to spend hours in the gym, just find a healthy balance between daily activity and a few longer exercise sessions during the week.

The final mental error brings us back to the treadmill (or mouse wheel, as many of us think of it).  When it comes to exercise, think outside the gym.  Go for a walk, or a hike, sign up for a flag football or kick ball team.  The point is to find something you enjoy.  I have never met someone who enjoys the treadmill so much that they spend hours a day on it.  I have met many people who love running, cycling or hiking so much that they spend hours doing these things.  Look for something that you can do with family or friends to make exercise more social.  Or if you need to relieve stress, take up yoga or Tai-Chi to help calm you mind. 

The take home message here is that if you can begin to think of exercise as something you plan to do for yourself-rather than one more thing you have to get done, it takes much of the drudgery out of the process.  

Self-Evaluation- Form Follows Function

In the first week of your program, I asked you to complete a basic but critical exercise as you begin to lose weight—self-monitoring. The primary purpose of self-monitoring is to provide an opportunity for you to examine your current behaviors, increasing your awareness of what you are doing currently in your daily lifestyle.

Now the second week of your program is about evaluating what you've recorded and making plans for how to move forward. In many instances when we ask people to journal their food intake the week prior to coming to the EatRight clinic at UAB, people will start to recognize patterns and areas for improvement in their typical intake. By the time our team of clinicians meet with them, they have diagnosed many of the problems that are making it difficult for them to manage their weight successfully.

What have you noticed about your week of journaling? Common patterns of eating that I see frequently include skipping breakfast, irregular spacing of meals, unplanned snacking, and grazing. Each pattern of eating has an underlying cause—I skipped breakfast because I stayed up eating "unmentionables" until midnight. So of course, I wasn't hungry at 7 am! Or I graze in the afternoons because I worked through lunch and didn't take the time to get a balanced meal.

I'm almost done with this post, and I still haven't said anything about WHAT you ate. And, I won't. This is all about understanding your structure of eating. In the design world, the phrase "Form follows function" describes a principle that the design of an object should be consistent with the intended purpose or use of the object. Your "FORM" of eating has a lot to do with the "FUNCTION" of your weight. You can't eat in a pattern designed to promote inconsistency and high calorie intake and expect to lose weight in the long-term. It just won't happen.

So for week 2, I want you to review your food journal from week 1 and identify any structural changes that you would like to make. Think about timing and spacing of meals and snacks (ideally every 3 hours); think about triggers that make you inconsistent; think about how the previous meal sets up the next meal. Figure out what you need to do to be consistent with your "FORM" of eating on a daily basis in the setting of your lifestyle. Continue journaling daily on your road to success.

A Case for Cooking

-Laura S. Burton, RD

As a dietitian, I have noticed that the number of people I see who cook regularly is dwindling rapidly. When individuals disclose how often they eat out, immediately a long list of excuses as to why cooking is not an option for them ensues. The top 5 reasons are as follows: 

1. “I can’t cook”
2. “I don’t have time to cook”
3. “I don’t know what to cook”
4. “Planning meals is overwhelming”
5. “It’s hard to plan healthy meals that will please everyone in my family”

I can relate!  Now although there are tips, shortcuts and resources that can make cooking much easier and more enjoyable (which I’ll share with you in a minute), I won’t argue that the drive-thru isn't still the easiest, quickest option. So what are the benefits of cooking and are they enough to get Americans back in the kitchen? Is cooking really worth it?

Cooking allows you to take control of what goes into your body. When we eat out, our health is at the mercy of food manufacturers, and all they’re concerned with is achieving maximum flavor and maximum shelf-life at minimum cost. Even grilled fish and chicken at restaurants can be loaded with sodium and smothered in high-fat sauces. We must start caring more about what goes into our food, especially when it comes to weight and disease management. Has your physician or dietitian recommended a reduced-sodium meal plan? With cooking, you can easily limit the amount of salt in your foods. Do you have trouble with high blood sugar? Cooking allows you to easily half the amount of rice or pasta in a casserole…and double the amount of vegetables! Heart disease or high cholesterol? You can still enjoy a burger when it’s made at home from extra lean ground turkey breast.  And the best part is that you can customize it based on your taste! Give it some Greek flair by mixing in breadcrumbs, red onions, reduced-fat feta cheese and dill. Be creative!

Set a good example for your family. The kitchen can be such a fun place to bond with your spouse or kids. Children who help their parents in the kitchen will not only develop cooking skills to carry into adulthood; they’ll learn about choosing healthy foods, learn to follow instructions, and realize that putting a little time and energy toward something often results in a great outcome. Cooking will likely foster a child's appreciation of teamwork, as well as give them a sense of ownership over the meal (which may make them more willing to eat it!)

It’s clear that cooking can be beneficial for a multitude of reasons.  But let me also suggest that cooking doesn’t have to be as daunting a task as we make it out to be. In fact, here are a few tips that might just change the way you think about cooking. 

1.  If you can read and follow directions, you can cook! Sure, cooking requires some basic knowledge of measuring, mixing, and heating techniques, but your faithful friends Google and SIRI are always there and willing to help. Simply type in those terms you don’t quite understand, or ask them how to “fold in the egg whites,” for example. Like any new practice, this may require a little extra time in the beginning, but you’ll find that once you understand the basics and get some practice under your belt, cooking will begin to come naturally for even the most anxious beginner chefs.

2. It may be worth it to spend a little extra money on shortcuts. If you’re low on time, purchase the pre-chopped onions rather than a whole onion (it’ll save you time and tears!). Or instead of buying the boxed rice that requires boiling, save time by purchasing the 90-second microwave brown rice in-a-bag.

3. Short on good, healthy recipes? Explore EatRight by UAB’s Nutrition Guidance System. With lots of healthy, easy, and kitchen-tested meals, our recipe collection won’t disappoint. In addition, the Nutrition Guidance System has teamed up with Piggly Wiggly to offer nutrition guidance as you shop! Watch a short promotional video here. Or sign up for one of EatRight by UAB's monthly cooking classes to learn new recipes as well as healthy cooking techniques.

What will you fix for dinner this week?

Every Super Villain Has a Story

After having my name bantered about the blogosphere by several people, I figured it was time for me to take control of my story and tell my side of things.

You see, a couple of years ago I got labeled as the Evil Dr. Ard by a young man who shall remain nameless (to protect the identity of minors). However, his grandfather (Dean Harold Jones) is primarily responsible for initiating my turn to the "Dark Side." As I recall the story, he and his grandson were playing with action figures and Dean Jones, who had recently started the EatRight program at UAB, prompted him to come up with some nicknames for me. I'm sure his grandson said things like "Really Great Doctor" or "Super Man", but not being satisfied with those depictions of me, Dean Jones pushed for something a bit more sinister. Hence, you have the creation of the Evil Dr. Ard. (If you're interested in the whole story see Dean Jones is Losing It )

Well, being the popular guy that he is, Dean Jones got this nickname spreading around pretty fast. He told all the staff at EatRight and many of the other patients. He even paid Shonnie Wilson, one of our many outstanding OPTIFAST patients and author of another great blog- Diary of an Angry Fat Woman, to adopt the name. No matter how I try to shake the name, it seems to be sticking.

So, when you can't beat'em, you join'em. I'll be using my Evil Dr. Ard blog to share strategies to help you lose weight and keep it off. We work with individuals in the Birmingham, AL region on a daily basis in our award winning EatRight by UAB program, so I know that the fight to lose weight is a challenge. However, it's one that can be overcome with the right help. Our philosophy is that there is no magic bullet or one-size fits all approach. Everyone is different and may require some unique approaches based on those differences. We focus on the best medical evidence and technology to stay above the fray of fly-by-night weight loss plans that have no chance of working. What I plan to do with this blog is give you access to my expertise and opinion about how to tailor a plan for yourself.

The staff at EatRight will be assisting me with topics from time to time. We have a great team of professionally trained dietitians, exercise specialists, behaviorists, nurses, and physicians who provide a comprehensive perspective on what you need to build a successful weight loss plan. Please follow along and send your specific questions. I may be evil, but I'm always happy to help!