Lose the weight and keep it off!

The experience of Health's weight-loss challenger, Tanny, has confirmed that there are tried and proven fat-reduction tools. These are some of the tools used successfully by Tanny and many others.

Planning

This is the first step in achieving your goal. Plan the S.M.A.R.T. way. Have a 'specific' target weight loss; it must be 'measurable', 'achievable', 'realistic', and have a 'time' component. So Tanny had a specific weight-loss target of shedding one to two pounds per week over a 12-week period. She is making use of the support of professionals in the Health section to reach her goal.

Portion control

A large contributor to excess fat accumulation is eating too much energy. You have to learn about the variety of foods and portions that contribute to energy intake. Fats are the most concentrated source of energy and so the portion size of this food group should be the smallest in your diet. Sugar is also high in energy with a limited ability to cause fullness and you tend to consume more of it to reach satiety. Highly-refined foods are also very calorie dense and so should be consumed in very small portions.

Through trial and error, or with the assistance of a dietitian or nutritionist, you can find your portion-size distribution and then adhere to it in order to be successful at weight loss. Generally, visualising a medium-size dinner plate, 50 per cent should be vegetables (both cooked and raw); 25 per cent should be staples and 25 per cent should be meat or fish with a fruit for dessert or snack.

Food diaries or logs

You should document what you consume to appreciate your total intake, eating patterns and eating triggers.

Reduced-calorie cooking

You must be willing to make changes to achieve lasting results. A major contributor to a high intake of energy is not always large portions but large numbers of calories. Fat is the guilty additive. Our traditional way of cooking includes the use of a lot of oil, butter and other fats in frying, rice, soups, vegetables and in steaming. Cook with less fat to achieve weight loss.

Set meal times

It is important to have meals on time to prevent hunger, binge eating and large swings in blood-sugar levels.

Exercise

Weight-loss success will not be achieved or sustained without in-creasing aerobic movement each day.

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.