Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 3, 1 March 2004 — Diet, exercise choices now can help undo those extra holiday pounds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diet, exercise choices now can help undo those extra holiday pounds

By Claire Hughes , Dr.PH., R.D. Is it time to talk about holiday weight gain yet? It is best to do something right away, before becoming accustomed to carrying the extra weight around. Holiday meals are about abundance, and as such, are rarely balanced. Abundance tends to emphasize meats and other protein foods. Often, several different meats are served with favorite starches. Then, there are muhiple dessert choices. Vegetables and fruits are few, or smothered with mayonnaise and whipped cream. High calorie drinks round off the menu. We wait all year to eat those "specialty items" made for family parties by the loving hands of moms, dads, aunties and uncles, etc. Telling ourselves that it's a onee a year thing, we enjoy the moment. If there are several parties, the result usually is a few new pounds gained. How ean we undo these indulgences? A quick analysis of your own eating habits ean reveal many answers. Look for fatty and sugary food choices, then, reduce your intake. Eating out frequently or bringing home take-out food is of major eoneem. These foods are higher in fat ealories than home-cooked meals.

What ean you do for your family? Put a ehiek- L en in the oven to hake as snnn as von oet home

from work; it should be ready in less than an hour. Start the rice cooker, put potatoes in the oven or microwave. Or, season

some fish steaks or filets with garlic ginger, sesame oil, etc., and broil them

a few minutes before dinner is served. Salads, j vegetables and fruit A

ean be put together in just minutes. Because

Americans

demand good flavors, many tasty low-fat

products are available. Some

small changes like these ean result in

healthier and lower calorie meals. One crucial factor across the

U.S. is the ehoiee of drinks. I ean remember when soda was consumed only on special occasions. Intense marketing campaigns have brainwashed us into believing there is no harm in drinking

■ endless cups of soda

every day. Experiment — add up the calories you save by drinking water, tea or other

^ unsweetened drinks. It could be as many as several hundred. Calories in

soda, juice drinks and ibeer range from 110 to 240 calories per drink.

Cutting back on sweet drinks and soda ean save on dental and grocery bills,

as well as many inches on family waistlines. A friend, who drank sodas daily, lost ten pounds in one month by drinking water instead. Cut back on sweetened drinks and aleo-

hol, and watch the weight drop off. Without a doubt, a great key to improved health is exercise. Muscles burn calories. Building or reactivating muscles will increase the calories your body uses

for hours after exercise is over. The large muscles in arms and legs respond quickly and burn lots of calories. See DIET on page 15

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Fresh fruit and other nutritious foods ean help with post-holiday weight loss.

DIET from page 7 Walking is easy and eheap, costing only the price of good walking shoes. Good shoes are important to protect feet and arches, knees and ankles. An exercise bonus, often forgotten, is that exercise increases blood circulation and clears out waste and impurities from the body quickly. Drinking lots of water is critical. It cools down blood and muscles and helps to eliminate waste. Hawaiian values plaee great responsibility upon parents and grandparents to teach children appropriate behavior. "Ku i ka mana'" means that a child's behavior mirrors that of those who taught him or her. All parents want their keiki to grow up to be happy, successful and productive adults. Teaching children how to be healthy and fit is a part of the awesome responsibility we assume when we make the decision to have a family. While this is not an easy thing to do in our current world, we must try and do our best. ■