Body Weight
Prevent Weight Gain
By AICR.org
Aug 30, 2007 - 9:16:48 PM

What can a person with a healthy weight do to prevent the long, often unperceived slide toward overweight and obesity?

We live in fattening times. Everything in our environment conspires to make us gain weight: inexpensive processed foods, modern conveniences that make physical exertion unnecessary and TV and computers that keep us inactive for long periods of time. If you consume just 100 calories more than you burn each day, you’ll put on a pound in a little more than a month, and almost 30 pounds in three years.

Remember the advice that many scientists give: Limit your weight gain during adulthood to 11 pounds. Several studies suggest that gaining more than 11 pounds (5 kg.) increases your risk for cancer and other chronic diseases.

Drawing a Line in the Sand

The best strategy to manage your weight is to set a reasonable limit on weight gain by mentally adding 11 pounds to your current weight. That’s your limit. You’ve drawn a line in the sand. Now promise yourself never to cross it. And keep that promise for life.

If your weight starts moving toward the limit you set, it’s time to take action:

• Move toward a mostly plant-based diet.
• Increase your physical activity
• Reduce your portion sizes

Taking off 30 or 40 pounds later will be a tough challenge.  Losing 4 or 5 pounds now is much easier.

Lose Weight the Healthy Way - Move Toward a Plant-based Diet

This easy step will reduce your cancer risk in two ways:

1. It will help you lose weight.
2. It will supply you with cancer-fighting substances like vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and dietary fiber.

One problem with the traditional American diet is the proportion of foods we eat. Americans typically consume too much animal protein and too little plant food. As a result, we take in too many calories, too much fat, and far too few of the nutrients and nutrient-like substances that keep us healthy in the long term.

Try AICR's New American Plate approach to eating. Look at your plate every time you sit down to a meal. Your plate should hold two-thirds (or more) vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans. Only one-third (or less) of your plate should hold animal protein.

A Common-Sense Strategy for Weight Management

Moving to a plant-based diet is not really a “new” approach to losing weight. Salads have always been a popular diet food. Even today, when low-carbohydrate diets seem to be all the rage, a recent AICR survey found that 4 in 5 weight-conscious Americans turn to salads, vegetables and fruits when trying to shed a few pounds. See the results below:

The fact that a clear majority of Americans are still adopting this old-fashioned, common-sense approach, even after a low-carb marketing craze, is encouraging news to health experts concerned about the state of nutrition in the U.S.

Lose Weight the Healthy Way - Get Physically Active

Physical activity burns calories. That is why getting active and staying active is one of the keys to managing your weight.

The following is AICR’s recommendation for everyone: Take an hour’s brisk walk or similar exercise daily, and also exercise vigorously for a total of at least one hour in a week.

Weight loss is only one of the many benefits of exercise. Regular physical activity can help you gain strength, relieve stress, boost self-esteem, reduce anxiety, sleep better, and feel more energetic. Strong scientific evidence shows that staying active may protect against cancers such as colon and breast cancer.

Building Exercise Into Your Life

AICR recommends working toward a healthy exercise routine gradually. If you’re not currently exercising, start by checking with your doctor. Then slowly begin adding more physical activity into your life.

Remember, many everyday activities burn calories. Walking the dog, gardening, taking the stairs instead of the elevator…all of these activities can add up to an hour of moderate exercise. More vigorous exercise can be done in short spurts, rather than all at once. Use our exercise calculator below to see how many calories are burned during specific activities.

Lose Weight the Healthy Way - Cut Back on Oversized Portions

The first two things to do when you want to lose weight are to move toward a mostly plant-based diet and to increase your physical activity. But if you have taken these steps and still have weight to lose, it is time to focus on portion size.

Large portions are a fact of life in the United States today. In restaurants, fast-food outlets, and even at home, many Americans consume far more calories than they really need. Enormous bagels, 32-ounce sodas, heaping dinner platters and “value meals” are contributing to our nation’s obesity problem.

 There can be up to three or four standard servings, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the portions we regularly eat. Use the Serving Size Finder to determine just how many standard servings are in the portions on your plate.

Are there three standard servings of potatoes in the portion you eat? If you are worried about your weight, you might be satisfied with just two.  

Slowly reduce the amount of food on your plate.  Do it gradually to avoid hunger.  You should find it easy to get used to smaller portions.

 Originally published on AICR.org