Working It Out—and Off!
It's difficult to lose weight while living with your father whose fondness for old-school, fat-is-fine cooking earned him the affectionate nickname "Mr. Butter." Dianne Fontes has always loved food like her dad, who at age 79 is the self-appointed household chef.
But Dianne hated feeling that in her early 50's, her unfettered enjoyment of his fat-loaded food was turning her into him. "I'm turning into that old man," Dianne recalls thinking as the pounds built up on her body and she gradually lost her energy as well as her sense of femininity. At her high of 250-plus pounds, she says, "I was sexless, fat, a nonentity."
Not wanting to hobble her father's culinary hobby, Dianne settled on exercise as her first dieting priority. A year later and about 70 pounds past her first visit to the gym, the 5'4" post office window clerk says, "I'm a convert. I am to exercise what born-again Christians are to religion."
You've Got to Move It, Move It
For most of her life, Dianne's notion of taking a walk was traveling from the kitchen to the sofa to watch TV. Her favorite activities were sewing, knitting and reading. "If I could sit and do it, I'd do it. But if I had to move, forget it."
Fact is, Americans don't have to move in their daily lives, with the television and video games to entertain them and labor-saving devices such as remote controls to do everything from changing their TV channels to opening their garage doors.
Left to their own devices to seek out physical activity, many Americans instead lead sedentary lives like Dianne did for years.
Some 24 percent don't engage in any physical activity to speak of during their leisure time, according to the Surgeon General's 1996 Report on Physical Activity and Health, and 54 percent do less than is recommended.
The end result? Unwanted pounds. The solution? Exercise.
Physical activity has been shown to be an important—and probably the most essential component— of a successful weight loss program. Health experts, including those at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommend that people do at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. However, if you have been sedentary, speak with your doctor before you take up strenuous physical activity, especially if you have known health problems.
Take a Walk, Go Dancing!
"There's no way around exercise," says cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D., who points out that excess weight—even 10 pounds (for women)—is a risk factor for heart disease.
Sinatra, who frowns on weight-loss drugs, encourages his patients to make exercise part of their lifestyle. "I tell people to go out and walk the dog, park their car farther from the store, get a treadmill, just walk or go dancing. There are lots of ways to incorporate exercise into your life without it feeling like exercise. Without an adequate exercise program, it's going to be very difficult to lose weight. It's going to be impossible."
"In fact," Sinatra adds, "Exercise is more important than diet when it comes to losing weight. You can't lose weight without increasing your basic metabolic rate. If you eat loads of high-glycemic carbohydrates like breads, pasta, rice and corn every day, you won't metabolize it. You're going to store it and wear it."
How to Lose It
To lose a pound a week, you need to burn 3,500 calories, or 500 calories each day through exercise (or less if you're cutting back on what you eat, as well).
NIH provides the following rough estimates of how many calories are burned per hour of exercising. The numbers were figured for a 150-pound person. Heavier? You'll burn more calories. Lighter? You'll burn fewer.
Calories Burned Per Exercise*
It's difficult to lose weight while living with your father whose fondness for old-school, fat-is-fine cooking earned him the affectionate nickname "Mr. Butter." Dianne Fontes has always loved food like her dad, who at age 79 is the self-appointed household chef.
But Dianne hated feeling that in her early 50's, her unfettered enjoyment of his fat-loaded food was turning her into him. "I'm turning into that old man," Dianne recalls thinking as the pounds built up on her body and she gradually lost her energy as well as her sense of femininity. At her high of 250-plus pounds, she says, "I was sexless, fat, a nonentity."
Not wanting to hobble her father's culinary hobby, Dianne settled on exercise as her first dieting priority. A year later and about 70 pounds past her first visit to the gym, the 5'4" post office window clerk says, "I'm a convert. I am to exercise what born-again Christians are to religion."
You've Got to Move It, Move It
For most of her life, Dianne's notion of taking a walk was traveling from the kitchen to the sofa to watch TV. Her favorite activities were sewing, knitting and reading. "If I could sit and do it, I'd do it. But if I had to move, forget it."
Fact is, Americans don't have to move in their daily lives, with the television and video games to entertain them and labor-saving devices such as remote controls to do everything from changing their TV channels to opening their garage doors.
Left to their own devices to seek out physical activity, many Americans instead lead sedentary lives like Dianne did for years.
Some 24 percent don't engage in any physical activity to speak of during their leisure time, according to the Surgeon General's 1996 Report on Physical Activity and Health, and 54 percent do less than is recommended.
The end result? Unwanted pounds. The solution? Exercise.
Physical activity has been shown to be an important—and probably the most essential component— of a successful weight loss program. Health experts, including those at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommend that people do at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. However, if you have been sedentary, speak with your doctor before you take up strenuous physical activity, especially if you have known health problems.
Take a Walk, Go Dancing!
"There's no way around exercise," says cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D., who points out that excess weight—even 10 pounds (for women)—is a risk factor for heart disease.
Sinatra, who frowns on weight-loss drugs, encourages his patients to make exercise part of their lifestyle. "I tell people to go out and walk the dog, park their car farther from the store, get a treadmill, just walk or go dancing. There are lots of ways to incorporate exercise into your life without it feeling like exercise. Without an adequate exercise program, it's going to be very difficult to lose weight. It's going to be impossible."
"In fact," Sinatra adds, "Exercise is more important than diet when it comes to losing weight. You can't lose weight without increasing your basic metabolic rate. If you eat loads of high-glycemic carbohydrates like breads, pasta, rice and corn every day, you won't metabolize it. You're going to store it and wear it."
How to Lose It
To lose a pound a week, you need to burn 3,500 calories, or 500 calories each day through exercise (or less if you're cutting back on what you eat, as well).
NIH provides the following rough estimates of how many calories are burned per hour of exercising. The numbers were figured for a 150-pound person. Heavier? You'll burn more calories. Lighter? You'll burn fewer.
Calories Burned Per Exercise*
Type of Exercise--------------------------->Calories (per/hr)
Bicycling ------------------------------------->410
Jogging -------------------------------------->740
Jumping Rope ------------------------------->750
Swimming ----------------------------------->275
Tennis --------------------------------------->400
Walking -------------------------------------->320
Exercising Your Options
To incorporate exercise into her daily life, Dianne chose to join a gym. She was happy, when she took a free introductory tour of her local health club, to see that those working out weren't the "Spandex queens" she had envisioned. "There were people of all ages, 16 to 90, and of all sizes, fat and thin."
Dianne spends 45 minutes every other day on a stationary bike at the club, and on most in-between days, spends 20 to 30 minutes on the bike and another 20 minutes toning her body by lifting weights. She enjoys the bike, which increases the likelihood that she will keep it up long-term to continue her weight loss and maintain it. Her combined aerobic/weight training activity has been shown to be even more effective for weight management than aerobic activity alone.
"You can lose the weight with just aerobic exercise because your body is burning calories, but you're burning off some muscle, too," explains fitness trainer and health club manager Steven Morningstar.
"Muscle burns more calories than fat does, so adding some weight-lifting to your workout can increase your lean muscle mass, raise your metabolism, and allow you to eat more calories and still lose weight."
Not motivated to join a gym, or don't want to spend the money? Just making small changes in your everyday activities can add up to better health. Consider:
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator at work and at the mall.
- Taking a walk first thing every morning, alone or with a neighbor, or walking each evening after dinner.
- Getting off the bus one stop early and walking the rest of the way.
- Mowing your lawn or doing some gardening.
- Planning an active getaway, where you can hike, bike or just throw a frisbee, instead of lying on the beach all day.
- Park your car at the far end of the parking lot when you go to the mall.
On the Road to Health
Dianne didn't lose her 70 pounds by exercise alone. She watches the amount of fat and sugar in her food choices. And to keep feeling full, she eats five or six "mini-meals" a day, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. By day, she remains very attentive about her food intake. In the evening, she partakes in her father's fabulous cooking with a new eye to portion and calorie control.
But Dianne credits her 45-minute exercise routine, more than anything else, for her shrinking size. "I even look at food in a different way. When I feel like eating a Big Mac that's 500 or 600 calories, I ask myself, 'Would I want to go to the gym and work out for an hour to offset that?'" No thank you, she says, 45 minutes on the bike is enough. She will ride on until she loses another 20 or 30 pounds, and to maintain her weight after that. "I don't want to be a skinny size 2, just healthy," she says.
How has her conversion from couch potato paid off? "I feel incredible," Dianne proclaims. "I'm much more agile. My breathing is better. I sleep better. And I enjoy getting dressed up now."
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