Ten Percent In 2014

By Anne M. Rensberger, LICSW

Wondercoach

More Weight Control, Nutrition & Exercise Articles

Ten Percent In 2014

New Years Resolution 2009 I will go on the Pritkin diet and go to the gym once a week until I get my weight down to 200 pounds.

New Years Resolution 2010 I will go the Atkins diet and go to the gym twice a week until I get my weight down to 210.

New Years Resolution 2011 I will go on the body type diet and go to the gym three times a week until I get my weight down to 220.

New Years Resolution 2012 I will go on the lemon detox diet, go to the gym every morning until I get my weight down to 230.

New Years Resolution 2013 I plan to gain at least 30 pounds, stop what little exercise I do, and watch more TV.

A lot of us have given up on our New Year's resolutions of the past. Have you tried and tried but each year ended up heavier than you were the year before? For those of us with chronic weight management issues, New Year's brings hope and fear. We diet and lose weight but not enough, and we aren't able to keep it off.

I'd like to suggest a new goal lose 10 percent of your current weight in 2014.

So if you weigh 250 pounds, make it your resolution to lose 25 by 2015. Why 10 percent? Those of us that are obese are at increased medical risk.

One especially dangerous syndrome associated with obesity is called Metabolic Syndrome. It isn't a disease, but rather a cluster of disorders of our body's metabolism levels including high blood pressure, high insulin levels, excess body weight and abnormal cholesterol.

Each of these disorders is serious. But in combination, they dramatically heighten our chance of having diabetes, a heart attack, and a stroke. We are putting ourselves at risk for never having the opportunity to make New Year's resolutions for 2015.

But research has shown that even the modest weight loss of 10 percent of body weight can help restore your body's ability to recognize insulin and greatly reduce the chance that the syndrome will evolve into a more serious illness. Small changes in what you eat and in how much you exercise can make that goal very attainable.

So take up the challenge and end 2014 10 percent thinner than you were on Jan. 1, 2014. Just imagine what your New Year's Resolutions might be for 2015.