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DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — The holidays can give your willpower a workout.
Whether your waistline suffers through the gatherings and the traditions designed around food depends on how you approach the problem.
The temptation that starts with candy at Halloween, picks up speed at the Thanksgiving feast and peaks during the Christmas season is all too real.
It couldn't come at a worst time of year. People are generally less active in late fall and early winter, so weight gained during the holidays is harder to shed.
Following a practical strategy is a good way to keep off the pounds.
Being at the ballpark four nights a week when her three sons were growing up made it hard for Kathy McCall to plan meals.
"By the time we would get home it was almost bedtime, so we ate at the ballpark a lot," she said. "Hot dogs and ballpark food, it is so hard to eat sensibly there."
The food was filling but not very healthy. "That was one of my downfalls," she said. "That just packs on the pounds."
As an area captain for Take Off Pounds Sensibly, McCall knows her case is far from unusual.
The group helps members reach weight-loss goals by providing the tools they need to make lasting changes. The member's doctor prescribes the diet and TOPS provides guidance and support.
At stake is more than weight and appearance. Health issues related to poor diet and lack of exercise range from diabetes to heart disease.
Eating sensibly and including exercise in your routine is the backbone of the TOPS approach.
The weekly meetings involve a brief program, contests, games and group discussions. Members share ideas on everything from regulating portion size to food preparation techniques that reduce sugar, fat and calories.
"Normally somebody will have a suggestion, because it seems like we all went through the same things," she said.
McCall said most weight-loss plans fail because people set unrealistic goals. A plan that starts with large decreases in calories and huge increases in activity is likely doomed to failure.
The TOPS philosophy takes a reasonable approach to maintaining health and weight. No food is completely off limits as long as it is part of an overall plan that helps members reach their goals.
"You can't stick to a diet perfectly," McCall said, but when you do make a mistake "right then is the time to start over."
Members who are at their goal or below often continue to attend because it provides the support they need to keep going.
"We not only help them lose, we help them maintain," McCall said.
Molly Hand, a registered dietitian with the Diabetes Treatment Center at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, emphasizes behavior change when she talks to patients.
"Diet and exercise is very important, but you have to make the behavior change," she said. "Of course we could all go on a crash diet and lose 10 pounds in 10 days by not eating the foods we typically do. It's about keeping the behavior consistent long term to keep the weight off."
She doesn't teach diet foods or restricting one certain nutrient. "We want you to eat normal stuff, the stuff that you enjoy," she said. "Don't deprive yourself of something. If you tell yourself you can't eat a certain food, that's what you are going to want."
She encourages people to include things that they want in their diet but still make sensible, healthy choices to balance out those meals.
"It's figuring out what are the unhealthy behaviors I have, identifying those, and then replacing them with healthier behaviors," she said.
Behavior modification involves understanding portion size and portion control to make a diet sensible and sustainable.
Your body needs a combination of carbohydrates, fats and proteins to satisfy your caloric and nutritional needs.
"There may be healthier choices in each group, but they work in your body the same way," Hand said.
She doesn't recommend crash diets.
"If you try to change every unhealthy behavior that you have at once, you may be able to do it well for a week but eventually you're going to get tired of it," she said. "Work on one behavior for a little while, make that behavior a habit, and then add other things in as you go, and over time you'll be doing everything healthier."
For some people, finances are an issue. They can't afford to buy only organic, "so they're going to write off everything we have to say," Hand said.
"So I try to teach people, yes, trying to eat the healthier foods is important, but whatever you can afford, whatever you can eat, eat it in moderation, eat the right amount," she said.
Dr. James C. Jones, medical director of the emergency department at SAMC, said food has the power to change who we are at a fundamental level.
A person may have a genetic predisposition toward cancer or other disease, he said, but with changes in diet and lifestyle, the person may never acquire the disease, or may be able to slow or reverse disease processes.
The doctor shared strategies on maximizing healthy food choices and supporting the body's natural self-healing potential at this month's gathering of the Sweet Tea Society, a series of forums on health issues sponsored by SAMC.
He cited studies that show some foods can reduce chronic inflammation - a root cause of heart disease, many cancers and Alzheimer's Disease.
Inflammation is the body's response to removing something harmful or irritating, like an infection or a wound, but when inflammation becomes self-perpetuating it can damage tissue.
While no one makes healthy choices all the time, eating more vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds and fewer animal products can help you minimize long-term disease risk and maintain optimum health.
"Numerous studies have shown that vegetable consumption is the most important factor in maximizing health and preventing chronic disease," he said.
Some of the most health-promoting foods are "G-BOMBS": Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds. Some help to boost the immune system, protect against cancer and other diseases, increase the absorption of nutrients, protect blood vessels and reduce cholesterol levels.
Preventing disease and maximizing your health span is the goal of healthy eating. Nutrient-rich, whole natural plant foods are best because they contain bioactive compounds.
The micronutrients in processed foods have been altered or are missing, so they don't have the same beneficial impact.
Jones said the distribution of calories should be about 30 percent from fat, 40 to 50 percent from carbohydrates and 20 to 30 percent from protein, but select the most beneficial sources within each category to maximize health.
Dr. Leona Graham, medical director of the behavioral health services offered through AltaCare, SAMC's Outpatient Psychiatry and Counseling program, said food can be a stress reliever.
"We think of food as comfort, and so when we're stressed food and alcohol are two stress relievers for a lot of people," she said. "Food actually, from a behavioral standpoint, can trigger those chemicals in our brain that make us feel better."
Just as excessive alcohol consumption can cause problems, overeating has consequences.
People with a family history of health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure might avoid those conditions by altering their diet and lifestyle. Graham said it often takes a life altering event like a heart attack for some people to change their habits.
The psychiatrist said problems associated with obesity are a significant drain on the health care system, but weight gain doesn't happen overnight.
"It happens very insidiously," Graham said. "You're not noticing it's happening and it's happening."
Most people have fond memories of holidays. "It brings back a warm, comfortable time, a happy time, and we tend to just want to keep that feeling going by eating those memories," Graham said.
But a 60-year-old doesn't metabolize food like a child, so the effect may not be the same. Also, a lot of dishes these days are made from processed ingredients instead of fresh.
"It's going to change how that food is processed by our bodies," Graham said.
Information about food and exercise is available, yet more than one-third of adults in this country are overweight. They often opt for alternatives that are quick, easy and affordable.
Graham said people should become more aware of what is in their food and how it will affect their health.
"When you eat it should be to live, and food should not kill you," she said.
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Information from: The Dothan Eagle, http://www.dothaneagle.com
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