Glutenfreeda : Beauty & Fitness by Pam Brooks

No, this month’s fitness article isn’t about the audio on your Walkman. It has nothing to do with the volume button on your T.V. remote. The volume I’m referring to is about the amount of food you are consuming while trying to improve your fitness level, lose weight, and stick to your New Year’s resolutions.

There are an infinite amount of diets that take the stance that you can eat any amount you want, as long as it’s only vivid colored foods. Or limited to protein only. Or large servings of low fat foods. One of my friends even went on a diet that allowed unlimited amounts of one food per day. One day she ate nothing but strawberries. The next day she was all about seafood. By the end of a week, the novelty had worn very thin and she was experiencing some strange gastric rumblings.

The problem that all of these diets have in common is that they don’t help you retrain your eating habits for the real world. What do you do when you go to a restaurant and your current one-food-item-per-day happens to be missing from the menu? What about going to a dinner party — do you ask the hostess to serve you only artichokes because that’s the last vegetable you can stand to eat after a full day of each of the others?

Novelty diets are almost always doomed to fail because the novelty wears off and cravings for favorite foods assert their will over your best intentions. So even though there might be great progress in the beginning of the diet and you might even reach your ideal weight, most people can’t maintain the weight loss over time because they are back in the real food world where portion size determines weight maintenance success. The rigidity of the specialty diet is hard to take on a long term basis.

If you keep a food diary and begin to track the kinds of foods you choose (and abuse) over time, you will begin to understand your eating rhythms — like the situations that trigger overeating. A food diary gives you the opportunity to choose your meals ahead of time, assess the amount and quality, and make a conscious decision about your food intake.

Whether you count fats, calories, or simply cut down on your portion size, the food diary helps keep you in touch with the volume of food you consume. You will begin to notice how much you have really been eating. You’ll start to budget your food intake for special treats as rewards. Most of all, the diary will keep you out of diet denial. You know the,"how-could-I-have-eaten-that????" kind of delayed reaction?

The diet diary can be a great way to reward yourself for asserting some control over food portions. You can look forward to balanced amounts of your favorite foods, knowing that you have taken over the volume controls.

A slow-motion movement for core muscle group fitness and stretching:

1a.

This Pilates-inspired movement is for a more advanced fitness routine. If you can’t achieve the leg position in 1C, skip that part until abdominals have gotten stronger. Regular crunches can prepare you for the more advanced abdominal work in photo 1C.

Directions: Start with left foot crossed over right foot, sit up straight, abdominals tucked and seat bones pressing downward on the mat.

1b.

Directions: Roll backwards, cross right foot over left foot.

1c.

Directions: Tuck abdominals in, reach arms up and out, towards feet.

1d.

Directions: Slowly lower legs while keeping abdominals tucked. Shoulders press downward and backward, chest reaches outward with arms reaching forward.

Go back to position 1A, cross right foot over left foot and repeat the movement. Increase the number of repetitions as you improve.

2a.

A slow-motion movement for core strength and toning:

Directions: On hands and knees, stack hands under shoulders. Keep back flat. Slowly extend one arm forward and the leg on the opposite side of your body backwards. Keep the extended arm and leg parallel to your body. Return to your hands and knees basic position and switch arms/legs. Increase repetitions as you improve.

3a.

A slow-motion type of reverse crunch, for abdominals:

Directions: Lie back with knees bent, lower back pressed to the floor with fingers supporting the weight of your head. Slowly bring shoulders off the floor, curling your torso upwards. At the same time, bring your knees in toward your chest until your tail bone is off the floor. Hold the position for a short time, then slowly return to the start position. Increase repetitions as you improve.

4a.

A slow-motion curl-up for the upper torso, gluteals and hamstrings.

Directions: Lie face down on the floor with your legs extended, toes down, and with your hands clasped together behind your head. Keep your elbows out to the sides and your chin off the chest. Press your hipbones into the floor at all times. Keep feet together and contract lower body muscles. Slowly lift your head upward until your chest is off the mat. Hold briefly, slowly return to the start position and repeat. Increase repetitions as you improve.