Writer / Alicia Wettrick . Photos / Submitted
The holiday season is creeping upon us, and so are the “oh so good” devilish dishes and desserts. Don’t wait until after the holidays to decree a healthier lifestyle. Start hammering out your armor now, before the seasonal temptations lure you in.
The National Institute for Health reports an average weight gain up to 5 lbs. during the 6-week holiday season, for people who already struggle with weight. The holiday season is responsible for 51 percent of weight gain for the year. Reason enough-YOU NEED A BATTLE PLAN. Write it down and proclaim it to your family so all are onboard.
In the spirit of the diet battle, meet the three Greenwood ‘diet-teers’ who accepted a 30-day diet challenge. Each one wants to make a change in their diets to lose weight, feel better, and improve overall health. The diets chosen declare they are NOT fads but plans meant for lifelong. We are going to put these diets to the test on typical Greenwood residents, and will share their experience and results in the following month.
Meet our Three ‘Diet-teers’
Kellie and the Paleo diet
“I have struggled with my weight forever. I’m 47 and my metabolism is as slow as a snail. I have started working out recently and plan on stepping that up along with taking the Paleo Challenge for 30 days. Paleo comes from the Paleolithic period based on what cave dwellers ate. I will be eating only organic produce primary focused on vegetables with some fruit and grass fed protein. It’s clean eating and hopefully will help me lose weight but also just feel better. I struggle with hypothyroidism and sore joints. I’m looking forward to the challenge and my goal is to lose 15 pounds. My overall goal is to lose 50, but hopefully this will kick start my desire to continue and turn the Paleo way of eating into a lifestyle.”
Tonya and the Mediterranean diet
“I’m Tonya, wife to Tom for 19 years, mom to three kids aged 9-13, and a missionary working with a human trafficking prevention ministry, HOPE61. I have struggled with my weight for as long as I remember. I have, over the years, successfully dieted away 20-40 pounds at a time, but I have never successfully maintained the loss. Even though I have always been overweight, I have always stayed very strong and fairly fit. Over the last two years, that has changed. I went from working around the house most days with sporadic exercising, to working behind a desk. I really dislike this change in my body, so my goals for this next month are to lose a 10 pounds and find a healthy eating plan that can be easily incorporated into my daily life. Long term, I would like to lose 50 pounds and make time in my schedule to exercise regularly.”
(The Mediterranean diet primary focuses on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, seafood and olive oil. If desire a daily glass of red wine.)
Don and the 5/2 modified fasting lifestyle
“I’m Don and I’m concerned about aging and staying in shape for my children. At 42 I have three kids, with the youngest being five. Also at 5’8”, weight loss and gain can come pretty quick, and my knees didn’t want me to weigh over 190 pounds. So, I’ve cut back on the traditional weight room exercises, and focused more on of a cardio and resistance mix. While I’m trying to lose some weight with my busy life, I wanted to try a simple diet that did not take much planning. The 5/2 diet plan is simple since there is no real specific foods you eat just calorie counting. I am also fascinated by not only the potential weight loss but the other health benefits that fasting can have, such as reducing cancers and slowing the aging process. Cancer tends to run in my family.”
The 5/2 plan is an intermittent fasting diet with two modified fasting days of 600 calories for men (500 for women), ideally not consecutive, and five days of normal caloric intake. Dr. Michael Mosley popularized this in the UK in the BBC Horizon program “Eat, Fast, Live Longer.”
If you would like to take a 30-day diet challenge or just start eating healthier this issue will help your crusade. Local organic food markets both established and new are featured in this month’s issue to help you get started.
To the ‘diet-teers,’ and their families, remember…“All for one and one for all” is the motto when heading into a new, healthier lifestyle!
