Hopefully, the summer days have left you with fond memories, but have they also left you with a little extra bulge you're not so delighted with? This might be the right time to get back on track with better eating habits that could help you reach a healthier weight. The Heart and Stroke Foundation recently developed a new online program to help you do just that. The MY Heart&Stroke Healthy Weight Action Plan™ is a great way to start making these changes.
The HW Plan includes:
- Twelve weekly sessions that will guide you through the steps to make the healthy lifestyle changes that will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight
- Interactive tools to track your progress such as food and physical activity diaries
- Recommendations regarding what and how much to eat, tailored to your profile and needs
- Behaviour modification tips that will help you recognize your food challenges and overcome them
Susan Fyshe, registered dietitian and consultant on the HW Plan, says the benefit is that this tool is easy to use, accessible and teaches people to make the kind of sustainable long-term changes important for maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. "The tool really helps bring weight loss into the reality of our day-to-day lives," she says.
What's a healthy weight?
A healthy weight depends on your age, height, gender and ethnicity. There are two effective ways to help you determine if you could help your heart by shedding a few pounds: the Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Circumference. With the BMI, you divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres. Another tool is waist circumference. Fat stored around your middle can put you at risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Find out how to calculate your BMI and take your waist circumference under the resources listed below.
After I lose the weight, how can I maintain it?
Fad diets will always be popular because they promise quick weight loss. The problem is that this weight comes back quickly and sometimes you gain even more – usually because you've put your body into starvation mode. So after the initial loss, your body grips onto those calories as strongly as it can. "We have learned that most weight-loss programs only offer a temporary solution. Slow, steady weight loss is actually the fastest way to lose weight because you keep building on your progress rather that just losing the same pounds over and over again," says Fyshe. That's why she believes this e-tool is a good bet – because it includes behaviour modification techniques that teach people how to keep weight off over their lifetime in a healthy way.
Another great benefit of the HW Plan is that you get to choose your own goals. After answering series of questions about your diet and activity levels, you are given a choice of how many calories a day you want to eat. For example, if you typically eat 2,000 calories a day, you can choose to reduce it by up to 500 calories a day. Then, the HW Plan will tell you how many servings you should be getting from each food group to meet that target.
The HW Plan also allows you to decide between a diet that has more grains or more protein, depending on your food preferences and lifestyle. "It's so important to ensure that a weight-loss program allows the user to match their choices to their food preferences – whether it's influenced by their personal taste, culture work routine, or family structure," says Fyshe. "Some people find they are more successful and happy eating a little more protein, others with a little more carbohydrate."
Your personal goals can also be met by adding small and simple steps, such as remembering to eat five times a day (three meals plus two snacks), go grocery shopping with a shopping list, add protein to your breakfast or go for regular walks.
For those who have had difficulty losing weight in the past, the HW Plan is a great tool to help support the principles of healthy eating and physical activity. Dr. Arya Sharma, Chair for Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, says that maintaining healthy habits is the most important benefit of the HW Plan – even if you don't necessarily lose any weight.
RESOURCES
Learn how to assess your weight.
Get started on your personal weight loss goals today with the MY Heart&Stroke Healthy Weight Action Plan.
Try our exclusive heart-healthy recipes to help you eat nutritiously.
Posted: September 1, 2009
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© – Reproduced with permission of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 2009
