Laura's Lean Beef: Lean, natural beef.

Weight management

Weight Loss 101

There are all kinds of weight loss diets out there. Which one will help you lose weight? A recent study by the USDA found that all popular diets result in weight loss, because most of them restrict intake to between 1400 and 1500 calories a day, while the average American adult normally takes in 2200 calories a day.

Unfortunately, most folks who go on diets end up gaining the weight back. Why? Because they eventually go off the diet. When you resume your old eating habits and stop exercising regularly, the pounds creep back on.

Of course, a lot of factors come into play with weight management, including genetics, health status, activity levels and metabolism. And let's be honest: it's hard to stick with most diets. A lot of popular diets cut out your favorite foods, feel restrictive, leave you hungry, and result in low energy levels.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, don't think about your "diet" in relationship to some short-term goal (e.g., like losing 15 pounds in time for your summer vacation). Instead, focus on healthful eating for long-term weight management. Make changes you can stick with for life.

At Laura's Lean Beef, we believe long-term weight management can be achieved by:

Eat real food.

When we talk about "real food," we mean wholesome foods that haven't been highly processed. Focus on foods that are rich in nutrients, low in fat, high in fiber, and satisfying. Look for quality sources of lean protein, like Laura's Lean Beef. Seek out whole grain cereals, breads, and brown rice; limit low-fiber white bread, white rice and high-sugar cereals. Include legumes, nuts and seeds. Be sure to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, which are powerful sources of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. Include some dairy, especially reduced fat cheeses, yogurt and milk, all good sources of calcium. These are the foods that supported life long before packaged, processed foods came on the scene.

You know the processed foods we mean -- junk foods like chips, cakes, cookies, candy and soft drinks. These highly processed foods and beverages tend to be high in calories, sodium, refined sugars and trans fats. When you fill up on junk foods, you deprive your body of essential nutrients and fiber that are found in "real foods."

That's not to say you need to forever deprive yourself of your favorite snacks; remember, we're focusing on healthful eating you can maintain for life. There is no reason to say "no" to a piece of your sister's wedding cake. Focus on good nutrition for the long run, and make adjustments as needed along the way.

Make physical activity part of every day.

Physical activity is an important part of long-term weight management in two ways: activity burns calories, and it builds muscle that increases your metabolism, so you burn more calories even when you're resting.

Here's how it works. The number of calories you need to eat each day to lose weight depends on your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and your activity level. BMR represents the number of calories needed to maintain vital body functions like circulation, respiration and digestion. BMR is raised by exercise, primarily resistance exercises like lifting weights, push-ups, squats and lunges, because it increases muscle mass. When you have more muscle you burn more calories and you can eat more food without gaining weight. In contrast, if you try to lose weight by simply eating a low calorie diet, you will lower your BMR and need fewer calories just to maintain your weight.

Physically active people burn more calories. The more vigorous the activity, the more calories burned. For general wellness it is sufficient to walk for about 30 minutes five times a week, at a pace that enables you to cover two miles in that 30 minutes. However, to lose weight you need to exercise aerobically for at least 30 to 60 minutes 5 days a week and include 30 minutes of weight training on 2 or 3 of those days. A 150 pound person running an 11 minute mile expends 9.2 calories per minute, or 276 calories in 30 minutes. That same person walking a 15 minute mile burns 5.4 calories per minute and would have to go for 50 minutes to burn the same amount of calories. Strive to burn 3500 calories each week through exercise. As you become more fit you will be able to work harder and longer and your body will use more fat for fuel. Once exercise becomes an established routine you will be able to maintain a healthier, leaner weight. You will feel better and be able to enjoy a variety of foods without obsessing about your weight.

So how do you go about increasing your activity levels - and sticking with it? First of all, if you've been inactive, go about it gradually. Then, find activities you like, and find someone you like to join you in those activities. Think about your patterns of activity (or inactivity, as the case may be) and how some of those patterns may need to change. Do you settle in front of the TV for long periods of time? Do all your social occasions center around food, and only food? Maybe it's time to establish new patterns - a daily walk with a friend in place of the reruns on TV, a pool party with your pot luck, a game of frisbee with your picnic, taking your bicycle instead of the car, and so on. Maybe it's time to renew that gym membership, take up line dancing, or sign up for yoga.

We've all got things that can keep us from exercise - demanding jobs, small children or elderly parents to care for, busy travel schedules, whatever. On an even more fundamental level, our jobs, our housework, our errands and our forms of entertainment require less physical activity than ever, with more hours spent in front of a steering wheel, a computer or a TV. But our bodies need physical activity, and we need to find ways to make physical activity a part of our daily lives.

Listen to what your body is telling you.

This seems like it should be the simplest part of weight management, yet it can actually be the most difficult. This is where "diets" fail most people. You go on a diet, and follow some proscribed plan. Then you become dissatisfied, or bored, or you find it too difficult, and you go back to the comfortable patterns you established before, gaining back the weight you lost. In the process, you've learned to measure foods or to count calories, but you've not learned to pay attention to your body's cues.

We talked earlier about "what" you eat, focusing on the difference between real foods and processed foods. Now think about "why" and "how much." Why do you eat? You eat because you're hungry, obviously. But do you eat sometimes just because you're lonely or anxious? Because you're stressed? Because you're bored?

And do you keep eating after you're satisfied because food is so readily available? Because it seems polite to do so? Because your mom always told you to clean your plate?

Feed your body what it really needs. When you're hungry, eat. When you're lonely or anxious, call on a friend. When you're stressed, deal with your stress, and be honest with yourself - that package of cookies looks good right now, but it's not going to take away your stress.

When you listen to your body, you'll find out something you already know: Food nourishes your body, but friendship, fun, meaningful work, and relaxation nourish your soul. Don't use food to try to make up for things that food can never make up for.

It's easy to eat without much thought, in part because food, and especially convenience foods, are so readily available. We eat in the car, while we work on the computer, while we watch TV or sit in the movie theatre. But when we eat this way, we miss our bodies' cues, lose track of how much we're eating, and don't realize when we've had enough.

So while you may be an expert at multi-tasking in other areas of life, resolve to not do five things at once while you eat. Instead, just eat. Enjoy. And pay attention to your body's cues.

Chances are you know from experience that fad diets result in roller coaster weight loss, up and down, up and down again. Weight loss is hard, and keeping it off will take more than chasing a passing fad. Laura's Lean Beef can be a part of your new commitment to healthful eating for life, and help you manage your weight for the long-term. We try to provide some tools to help you do that, with our Nutritional Facts, cooking tips and recipes.

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