Weight Loss the Natural Way

By JOANN BISHOP, CSCS

Director, Health and Wellness

Wanna lose a couple pounds? Just eat less and exercise more. End of story.

We all know if it was just that easy, no one would be carrying around a “little extra.” Food is an integral part of our life, our culture, our sense of self.

We are bombarded with food choices and messages. While waiting to fill up your car with gas, the video monitor encourages you to go into the store and buy cookies. Watch a sporting event on TV and about every 10 minutes you are encouraged to drink beer, eat pizza, go to a fast food restaurant, or buy a soda.

Think about your daily decisions in the IAIA cafeteria. The caterer offers a wide variety of foods at every meal. Which ones are you choosing?

Supersize the Greens, Not the Fats

Research has shown that one of the most addictive combinations to offer humans is a delicious mix of sugar, fat and salt. Who doesn’t love ice cream? The food industry is very creative at combining these three ingredients and then advertising them to us in mind-numbing batteries of video. French fries inside of hamburgers? Pizza baked with cheese inside the crust? The taste buds become numb to taste and the brain screams out for more and more salted fat dipped in sugar.

Your health will improve and you will have more energy if you fill up on natural foods and save treats like ice cream and pizza for special occasions. Avoid foods that come in boxes and packages. Gravitate to the brightly colored foods that have a lot of vitamins and minerals packed inside.

If you are trying to lose a couple pounds, try this: eat until you are almost full and then stop. Take your plate away. Drink a glass of water and relax with your friends. Take a walk. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a month.