A Kick-Start, One Month Into the New Year

Welcome to WABC TV’s Reset Your Life: A Healthier You blog! It follows the popular show "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" with host Chris Powell on ABC as well as other timely health issues as they come up in the headlines. As a bonus, you will also find meal plans, exercise routines and music playlists throughout the different posts to help get you motivated to reset your life! I wanted to start this blog, because like thousands of women in the tri-state, I too have struggles and triumphs with weight.

I have had major weight losses and gains in the last 12 years. The highs and lows on the scale correspond with the highs and lows I've experienced through school and college, work and the challenges of adult life. I am on my own new journey once again to get healthy.

After a few weeks off, I'm baaaaaccccckkkk!!

Just more than a month into the New Year, how are you doing on your path to a healthier and happier you? Have you fallen off the wagon?  Are you still going strong? Or, are you somewhere in-between?  I have to admit I've fallen off the wagon a bit.  I did not attend a Super Bowl party last night, so there were no distractions there, but I did go to Texas last week and enjoyed more than one Tex-Mex dinner. The trip was followed by a doctor's appointment that also came with a reality check. So, here we go.

Have you ever tried Zumba?  My doctor loves it and recommended I check it out.  I bought a pack of the DVDs, but haven't opened them yet.  What do you think about the exercise?  It looks fun on the tv commercials.  Now that I've put it out there, I'll have to try it and tell you how the work out is working out for me!

Eyewitness News Medical Reporter Sapna Parikh filed this report last month and I thought it was a good refresher for our journey. Check it out!

 

NEW YORK (WABC) -- One week into the New Year and it's a good bet some of you are already struggling with your resolution to lose weight. One helpful way to jump start your diet routine is to keep a journal and write down everything you eat and drink.

When she was in her forties, Charmaine Jackson weighed 260 pounds. That's when she knew she had to put the brakes on her bad eating habits, so Jackson put her diet into words.

"I started the food journaling, and that's when the weight started to come off because I had already started exercising a little bit and then that sort of triggered the whole exercise, eating, trying to sleep more," she said.

It's been working. She's been keeping a daily food record for five years and is now 130 pounds lighter. Jackson is also still writing and doesn't plan to stop.

You don't have to keep a food log this long to make it effective, says registered dietitian Marisa Moore.

"For better or for worse, you write down everything that passes your lips," Moore said.

There is not just one way to keep a diet diary.

"You can get an application for your smart phone to track what you eat," Moore said.

She says the research supports the effectiveness of record-keeping.

"There's one study that showed that people who kept a food journal, they were able to lose about double the weight versus those who did not keep a food journal, but importantly they were able to keep the weight off," she said.

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I've used food journals in the past and have found great success with them!  It definitely helps keep track of everything we're putting into our bodies.  How many times have you gone home after a long day and had a hard time remembering everything you ate?  The little things we pick up and snack on throughout the day really add up!  We see a complete count of it with a food journal.

If you're looking for some more help, check out Consumer Reports' top diets for the year.

 

NEW YORK (WABC) -- More than two-thirds of American adults are overweight, even obese. At the top of many New Year's resolutions is the dreaded "D" word - diet. Consumer Reports' just-released survey of 9,000 subscribers rates more than a dozen of the most popular diets.

Terry Voltaggio stays fit with the help of an app on her smart phone - MyFitnessPal. It's an easy way to track calories.

"All I have to do is find the food I've eaten, select the number of servings, and it goes right into my calorie count for the day," Voltaggio said.

MyFitnessPal was among the top-rated in Consumer Reports' survey of its subscribers who were asked about their real-life experiences with 13 popular ways to lose weight.

"People who used MyFitnessPal said it made them very aware of how many calories they were eating and how much they were exercising. They also liked how it helped them maintain their weight loss," Nancy Metcalf of Consumer Reports said.

MyFitnessPal has useful features like a barcode scanner that automatically enters the amount of calories per serving. You can also track how many calories you burn exercising. And on its website you can get encouragement from others using the program.

"Besides the do-it-yourself diets like MyFitnessPal, we also rated commercial diets, which you generally have to pay to join and in some cases buy their prepackaged food," Metcalf said.

Nutrisystem was the lowest-rated commercial diet. More than a third of those surveyed who tried it didn't like the plan's food.

"Among commercial diet plans, Weight Watchers scored much higher - higher than Jenny Craig. It works a bit differently. You don't have to buy their food, and you can eat whatever you want within their points limit," Metcalf said.

You can attend Weight Watchers meetings and track your diet online. However, Terry is happy with MyFitnessPal, which is free.

"I'll lose ten pounds easy. It's a great tool for me," Voltaggio said.

Another do-it-yourself diet that did well in Consumer Reports' survey is called the Paleo Diet. It instructs dieters to eat what cavemen ate - lean meats, seafood, fruits, and vegetables and avoid processed foods and dairy products.

Please share your diet and fitness stories and photos with me and Eyewitness News on Twitter using the hashtag #HealthyYou.

Follow me on Twitter! @carminmarie

I'll see you here soon with more encouraging weight loss stories and health news.

**This program is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor for treatment of any medical condition and before beginning any diet or exercise regimen.**

 

Comments

[Weightlosstips4u]

Your articles don’t beat around the bushes exact t to the point.