Diet and Exercise: What’s the Program Doc?

All advice about getting into shape boils down to diet and exercise, but the question is how do you find out what specific diet and exercise program would work for you? It's a trial-and-error process, but you can probably get some pointers from what has worked for others. Thanks to my daughter and my wife, I have found a diet and exercise program that seems to work for me. For me the exercise program began when my daughter Ashley started running in the Montgomery County Road Runners Club and wanted me to accompany her. I wanted to be sure that I could finish the 5K run without collapsing, so I decided to practice on the treadmill. I had modest aspirations—run 3 to 5 mile races at less than 10 minutes a mile. Since I found running to be somewhat stressful on the knee joints, I began alternating the treadmill runs with some weights and the elliptical machine. Soon I was routinely running 13 to 15 miles a week at about 9 minute per mile pace.

At the same time I started running on the treadmill, my wife suggested that we try some variations in our normal diet. It wasn’t any specific diet plan. We simply cut back—way back—on the carbohydrates (rice, noodle, bread, cereals) and made up the volume with vegetables (salads or vegetable soups). For protein, we ate more fish, some chicken, lots of tofu ("bean curd") and very little red meat. And I switched from coffee with cream and sugar to black tea. We also ate a good breakfast, which we used to often skip in the bad old days. By the way, just as we were starting on our diet, I saw Nicholas Perricone talk about his diet on PBS—it was in the context of skin care. We did not want to follow his (or, for that matter, anyone's) strict diet regimen, but it seemed many diets had a similar thread of less carb and good proteins such as fish.

With my lower-carb diet and running program, I have had very good results. After about five months, I lost about 40 pounds and dropped six inches off my waist! I have maintained the current weight level (and the waistline) for over 20 months, which is encouraging.  It's hard work, but I plan to keep it up!

What can you do? You have to find your own unique diet/exercise program, but some intense exercising together with a reduced carb diet might be worth trying out. The trick is to find a diet and exercise plan that you can stick with for the long run. How about getting started today?

Tags: healthy living diet exercise low-carb weight loss

Comments

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Naba. I think you're absolutely right about needing to find the diet that works best for you. I was getting rather large about 10 years ago and decided to try something on my own. It was the start of summer and I cut back on my meal sizes and evening snacks. More importantly, I tried to have a lot of watermelon on hand... Anytime I got hungry at night I ate as much watermelon as I wanted to. The result: I lost about 20 pounds between April and September that year. I also ramped up my exercising, which obviously played a part. I've managed to stay within about 5-7 pounds of my low point that year ever since. I guess if I ever get large again I can try the "watermelon diet" and see if it will bring me back down again. It worked for me, but who knows if others would have the same luck.

[Naba Barkakati]

Joe, It seems you always need something that keeps you feeling full without ruining the diet. I have been eating almonds, peanuts, and drinking lots of black tea. I too notice a fluctuation of about 4-5 pounds from a nominal weight. It's a continuous struggle, but worth it :-)