Authors: Travis Stork
The Doctor's Diet: Dr. Travis Stork's STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Health (56 page)
Be honest with your kids. Hey, you enjoy a double-scoop ice cream
cone as much as the next person. But help them to understand that it makes so much more sense to stick to healthy-sized portions. Most of the enjoyment of something like ice cream comes in the first few bites, anyway. It comes down to immediate gratification vs. long-term thinking. And let’s face it: kids are terrible at delaying gratification about anything, not just food. Any parent who’s watched a kid play video games instead of studying for their spelling test knows that. But your job as a parent is to help teach kids about the value of making smart choices that pay off over the long term.
This is something you have to think about carefully in relation to the personalities of the people you live with. Lots of nutrition experts tell you to do a full-scale clean-out of your kitchen and get rid of every speck of food that isn’t on their approved lists. I agree with that to some extent—you’re not going to inhale a gallon of chocolate ice cream if there’s none in the freezer. But let’s face it: if you have a house full of teenagers and you leave nothing for them to eat but quinoa and lentils, they’re going to rebel. My advice is to get rid of as much of the junk as possible, but do so within the parameters of your own family’s reality.
If you can’t do a clean sweep, settle for a swap. If your family won’t give up their ice cream, limit the amount you keep in the freezer. If they insist on having chips in the cabinet, pick the healthiest kind you can find. And remember that for some family members, a gradual approach with their eventual buy-in may end up being way more successful than renting an industrial-size trash bin and filling it with everyone’s favorite foods while they’re not looking.
I get it—after a long day, it’s nice to be able to zip over to a fast-food joint and pick up a drive-thru dinner in minutes. But fast food is usually such an unhealthy choice, both for you and your family. Studies have found that people who frequent fast-food restaurants pay the price with excess weight.
A 2009 study published in the
Journal of Nutrition
, which followed
3,000 young adults for 13 years, discovered that people who had higher fast-food intake levels at the start of the study weighed an average of about 13 pounds more than people who had the lowest fast-food intake levels. They also had larger waist circumferences and greater increases in triglycerides. You may feel like you’re saving time eating fast food, but considering that a lifetime of too many burgers and fries could contribute to a shorter life, regularly eating fast food doesn’t seem like such a great idea.
There are loads of ways to be active and still have an enjoyable, relaxing vacation. Instead of just lying on the beach for a week, choose trips with built-in active fun. Go cycling along boardwalks, hiking in national parks, swimming in lakes, and so on. All of my favorite vacations have been packed with activity and the memories they have created.
This is a big one. Studies have found that the more time adults and children spend in front of televisions and computers, the more likely they are to carry around excess weight. We all like our screen time, but all that sitting (and the snacking that usually goes along with it) adds up to weight gain. You can limit your kids’ screen time by keeping televisions, computers, and phones out of their bedrooms. Limit yours by planning non-screen ways to relax. Instead of watching TV, head out for a walk or a bike ride. It’s fine to veg out in front of the screen sometimes, but make it a treat, not a habit.
Children who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to gain weight. A 2005
British Medical Journal
study of 8,000 children found that those who slept fewer than 10.5 hours a night at age 3 had a 45 percent higher risk of becoming obese by age 7, compared with children who slept more than 12 hours nightly. A 2008
Pediatrics
study found that each one-hour reduction in sleep during childhood was associated with a 50 percent
higher risk of obesity at age 32.
The bottom line: set an example of good sleep for your children. Talk to them about the importance of sleep and its impact on health, and help them arrange their schedules to allow for enough sleep time. Keep computers, televisions, and phones out of the bedroom, and make sure your children’s bedrooms are dark enough, quiet enough, and the right temperature for sleeping.
HAPPY AND FAT?
Does a good marriage lead to weight gain? Unfortunately, a 2013 study published in the journal
Health Psychology
found the answer to that question may be yes. Researchers discovered that young newlyweds who are satisfied with their marriage gained more weight than those who were less satisfied.
I would have expected the opposite, but the researchers’ explanation makes sense. They believe that those who are satisfied are less motivated to attract an alternative mate. In other words, feeling secure with your spouse may lead you to relax your efforts to maintain your weight because you’re not out trying to find someone to date.
This doesn’t mean we should get divorced in order to stay lean. But I think it does suggest that when we think of weight just in terms of appearance, we’re likely to lose focus when we feel we look good enough—or as we get older and we become more realistic about valuing other things over appearance. If we look at weight as being about health rather than vanity, we can work together with our mates to reach a healthy weight and have a satisfying relationship. In fact, I think that a common goal of eating right, being active, and aiming for a healthy weight can nurture a relationship in a positive way.
FACTS ABOUT KIDS AND WEIGHT
Obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past three decades.
Overall, about 33 percent of youths age 6 to 19 are overweight, and 18 percent are obese.
Rates vary among ethnic groups: 26 percent of African American, 23 percent of Hispanic, and 15 percent of white youth are obese.
Although genetic factors play a role in youth obesity, an overall change in calories consumed vs. calories burned during the past 30 years is believed to be the major cause of kids and teens becoming overweight or obese. Basically, kids today eat much more and exercise much less than earlier generations.
Obese youth are likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, poor self-esteem, and social problems.
Overweight and obese kids are highly likely to grow up to be overweight or obese adults. Many of the health risks faced by obese adults are worse when they start in childhood—which is why it’s so important to try to help overweight and obese kids lose weight through healthy eating and exercise.
There you have it—a list of weight-loss payoffs a mile long. You probably knew all along that weight loss was worth it, but now you really understand the many advantages of losing weight and choosing to live a healthier life!
It’s time to move on to the next—and final—part of The Doctor’s Diet: the MAINTAIN Plan. Starting the MAINTAIN Plan is a bit like graduating from school—you’ve worked really hard, won many victories, and learned a lot about yourself, and now it’s time to begin the journey that will lead you through the rest of your life.
THE DOCTOR’S DIET MAINTAIN PLAN
Y
ou’ve done it!
You’ve faced your weight emergency head-on and have made major changes in your diet.
You’ve shed your excess pounds, burned off life-threatening body fat, lowered disease risk, and taken many giant steps on the pathway toward a longer, healthier life.
You’ve completed the STAT Plan and the RESTORE Plan. Now you’re ready to move on to a lifetime of good health with the MAINTAIN Plan.
The MAINTAIN Plan does just what its name implies: it helps you maintain all of the weight loss and health benefits that you worked so hard to achieve. However, because your goal is to maintain weight loss rather than shed pounds, the MAINTAIN Plan focuses a little less on cutting back and gives you a lot more leeway with your food choices.