The solution is to walk.

Get your coat and boots on and take a stroll. Check out the neighborhood Christmas lights, or perhaps drive to a local mall and check out the stores. A half-hour walk after two of the major meals can cancel out as many as 260 calories taken in and this exercise will also get your metabolism going. And invite your host and/or spouse along. You can combine fitness with celebrating the holidays.

The stevia plant seems to be surrounded by a bit of controversy. Disrupt metabolism? Male reproduction problems? Cancer?!? Read some more about these concerns at http://www.steviacafe.net/dangers-of-stevia. And yes, indeed, male reproduction problems occurred in lab animals consuming large amounts of stevia. So “natural” does not always automatically mean “good” – If so then we would have no concerns smoking rolled up tobacco leaves or drinking nightshade tea!

Bottom line: You will probably be just fine using stevia in small amounts – a packet or two a day in your tea should not cause concern. But I might be a bit wary in substituting it for the 1 cup of sugar your zuchinni bread recipe calls for.

I think I might go back to my sacharrine sweetener once my Truvia is gone as I continue to cut down my sugar intake. Sacharrine has been around a long, long time (since 1878) and has a proven track record of being fairly safe.

We then drove to a nearby lake-walk area and took in some sights (on foot) and rode in one of the horse-carriage rides. We must have spent about 3 hours walking around, and I would bet we walked several miles if not more on the very nice lake-walk, enough to even burn up much of the calories of that super-duper meal. And it was on the lake walk that I noticed something:

Nearly every one of the people that we walked by was very trim and fit! There were older people and very young people, and people of different races, but almost all were trim.

So what does that say? People that make a point of getting in some regular exercise, even when on vacation (and there were a lot of vacationers here) will stay trim. They will never get fat!

I observed something else this night as well: Right before going home my wife wanted a small ice-cream cone (she did not eat nearly as much as I at dinner) so we stopped at a local Dairy Queen. As I looked around, what did I see? Fat people. Really fat people. Of course not all were fat, but there were a fair number.

My conclusion: If your lifestyle (including your vacation) incorporates regular exercise and physical activity, then you are very unlikely to get fat. Conversely, if your lifestyle has frequent periods of eating very fattening foods (like on vacations and holidays) in the absence of physical activity, then you will put on the pounds.

It is all about lifestyle.

Last summer I posted how I started drinking a low calorie root beer to cut down on my sugar intake.  And indeed, in the process, I cut my sugar. Previously, just about every night, I was drinking about 16 ounces of sugary pop, containing about 10 packets of sugar, or about 130 calories (13 packets in 16 oz). So this new 30 calorie (per 16 oz) root beer was saving me 100 calories per day, every day! In addition, I was replacing 1+ tablespoons of sugar on my morning oatmeal (I like it sweet!) with sweet-n-low. At 45 calories per tablespoon, that amounted to around 45 calories per day, every day except Sunday. On Sunday we have pancakes and I still pour on the syrup! At any rate, I was saving 100×7 + 45×6 = 970 calories per week. Multiply by 52 and that makes 50,440 calories per year! Actually, that would amount to about 14 pounds of fat lost per year!

The key to my secret are the words every day.

You see, I was able to cut calories at a rate of over 50,000 per year without sacrificing a thing in my diet otherwise! What I also do, and have done for years now, is make a points to get 30-60 minutes of some sort of exercise daily. That can be a walk, cleaning the garage, shoveling some snow, or any of the many chores waiting to be done around the house. I get this exercise in after my evening meal. And later I have a small bowl of popcorn (with a little butter and salt) and my root beer – that’s my routine.

So what you need to do is target some foods or snacks that you routinely eat and make a substitution in that food to save calories. Do you have a piece of toast each morning? Perhaps substitute something of lower calories for the spread. Just a switch from whole milk to 1% can save you 100 calories per day (and you will hardly notice). And stick with that substitution daily. Also, make a point to get the after dinner exercise daily.

This plan works, it is easy, it is safe, and it hardly costs a dime. And it will make you healthier, probably saving you a lot in health care costs down the road.

1. Weight loss is not as important as weight maintenance.
2. To maintain your weight, get enough exercise, especially after meals.

Why Is It Important To Exercise After Meals?
Many years back my wife was trying out the Hilton Head Metabolism Diet. Two features of this diet consist of exercise and a low fat diet. Specifically, according to the diet, exercise is to be done after meals in order to increase one’s metabolism. It is accepted medical fact according to Webmd.com and Mayoclinic.com, that exercise increases metabolism. And exercise that develops muscle, like weight lifting (or lifting heavy boxes in your garage), is even more beneficial. In fact, at Webmd.com they mention an “Afterburn Effect” of such muscular activity that can last for as much as 24 hours after the activity.

My Winter Exercise Plan!

What Types of Exercise Do I Do To Keep Weight Off?
The answer to this question is “Any!” Any type of activity will work. You can walk, jog, ride a bike, play catch with your kids, or work on a project. You should, however, try to work in some activities that develop muscle if you can on several days a week and try to do some aerobic type exercise like walking, biking, swimming, or jogging  on some days. Personally, I jog 3.75 miles every other day. And on the non-jogging days I will work on projects around the house for an hour or so after dinner that often involve lifting of some sort. One winter I cleaned and organized our incredibly cluttered storage shed – it took about 15 after-dinner 1-hour sessions! And truthfully, I don’t think I would have straightened it up any other way   Also, I reserve a fire wood pile for splitting in our cold winter months when physical activity is restricted, even though I could easily afford to buy a wood splitter and split it all in a day or two. The wood splitting is the ultimate in upper body muscle development!  So get active, and maybe clean up your garage while you are at it!

Of course, use good judgment before starting any exercise plan and consult a doctor if you have health or age-related concerns. For example, shoveling your walk after a heavy snow when you have a heart condition would not be a good idea.

But I Want To Lose Weight!
Losing weight is all about energy. As stated at Webmd.com, “… weight is dependent on the balance of total calories consumed versus total calories burned.” Burn up more energy than what is provided by your food intake and you will lose weight. I would suggest maintaining your current diet caloric intake (minus any fatty foods or excessive calories) and increasing or doubling your physical activity level. You will lose weight, since you are burning up more calories than you are taking in. And you will probably convert some fat (low density) to muscle (higher density) so even if you do not lose much weight, you will become trimmer.

More Tips
Get enough sleep. It is strongly suggested that sleep-deprived people tend to gain weight – see article at Medscape.com. It makes sense to me – When you are tired, you tend to not be physically active. Also, eat a balanced diet, avoiding excessive amounts of high fat foods and especially avoiding excessive amounts of  “empty calorie” foods like soda, candy, and snack cakes.

Yes, it is that simple! And the cost of this diet plan? Nothing, it is free. So get active, watch what you eat, and stay healthy and well rested.

Benefits of Keeping Physically Active
You will feel better. Much better! Personally, I feel bloated and all out of sorts if I can not get some sort of exercise on a daily basis. Often, I will not sleep well if I have not gotten some sort of exercise.  And personally, I would rather be able to take care of myself in my elder years instead of being a burden on my children – keeping fit will help achieve that goal. You can read about more benefits of exercise at Mayoclinic.com.  As an added note, upon receiving the results of my blood work done as part of my recent physical examination, my doctor recommended “Get 30 minutes aerobic exercise each day”. He also stated that he makes this recommendation to virtually every patient he sees.