8 things we learned Taking It Off
A lot of things weigh 4,000 pounds.
A car. Some species of rhinoceros. Two great white sharks. And 10 blue whale hearts.
That's a lot of poundage.
That's also how many pounds participants in Take It Off lost over our 12-week health challenge. To be exact, 4,037 pounds.
The main goal of this challenge, which has been sponsored by Christiana Care Health System, has been weight loss, but not with fad diets or extreme exercise. We've been encouraging lifestyle changes with nutrition and exercise to help stave off chronic disease, such as diabetes, which is reaching epidemic levels due to poor eating habits.
More than 400 million are diagnosed annually worldwide, and in Delaware more than 1 in 10 people have it. That's expected to rise quickly to 15 percent of the population and if it continues unchecked, doctors say that in a few decades, half of Delawareans could have diabetes. About a quarter of those who live with the chronic disease don't know it, but when someone is diagnosed as pre-diabetic, they can change their diet and exercise habits and avoid the illness.
NARRATIVE: Celebrate Taking It Off
GET YOUR TICKETS: Imagine Delaware: Combating Diabetes
As a final hoo-rah we have planned "Imagine Delaware: Combating Diabetes" vendor fair and panel focused on how we can combat diabetes in the First State. It will be April 27 at Cab Calloway School of the Arts. From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., there will be a vendor fair of people offering services to diabetics or pre-diabetics. From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a panel of experts will talk about the impact of diabetes on society, health care and individuals and what we can do to make it better.
Those on the panel will include Dr. Patrice A. Harris, the incoming chairman of the board of the American Medical Association; Dr. James Lenhard, medical director of the Christiana Care Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Disease and medical director of the Christiana Care Weight Management Center; Rita Landgraf, secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, among others; Dr. Jeffrey Burtaine, a medical director in clinical client relations for Highmark; and Chuck Knothe, a Wilmington lawyer who has had diabetes for 15 years.
More than 400 million are diagnosed annually worldwide, and in Delaware more than 1 in 10 people have it. That's expected to rise quickly to 15 percent of the population and if it continues unchecked, doctors say that in a few decades, half of all Delawareans could have diabetes. About a quarter of those who live with the chronic disease don't know it, but when someone is diagnosed as pre-diabetic, they can change their diet and exercise habits and avoid the illness.
Health challenges are a great way to hold you accountable in attaining lifestyle goals, but you can still have sustainable weight-loss once they are over.
Changing up your routine, working out with a buddy or trying out new technology are just some ways to reinvigorate your weight management plan.
Tracking exercise with devices such as iPhone applications or FitBits is easy and rewarding, says Emily Hartline, a weight management dietitian with Nemours, but just writing down or making a schedule of what your exercise goals are can also be beneficial.
"We know that people who track are held more accountable, nutritionally or exercise-wise," Hartline said.
Julie Jackson, of Wilmington, is not a big fan of routines, but has steadily begun using an activity tracker on her phone to track her movement. She tries to fit in 30 minutes of activity a day whether it is chasing her grandkids, going to the gym or walking on the Christina Riverwalk in downtown Wilmington.
"I just make sure I have it in my back pocket," said Jackson, a Take It Off participant.
Last November Jackson said she was sick and lost some weight. Then she thought she'd capitalize by join Take It Off and specifically by signing up for News Journal editor Jeff Gentry's "Army of Losers" team.
Now she weighs herself every morning to keep focused on her weight loss goal. Even if her weight fluctuates, she said she will jump on the scale in the morning and write down whatever the number is.
"I wanted to see if it would work. I’ve been a yo-yo dieter all my life and I've gotten to go on Weight Watchers before," she said. "It seemed like the group help would be a good incentive."
Having a buddy, whether through a health challenge or on your own, will help prioritize goals, Hartline said, and it is a social activity too. You can try a new class at the gym to try and meet other people or even do so by taking a cooking class.
"Anything you can do to incite some more excitement and passion into a healthy lifestyle," she said. "Once you have been doing it for a while it's [becomes] fun. It becomes something you want to do and not something you feel like you have to do."
However, don't just Google advice; talk to a dietitian if you are in a slump because they can show you small ways to modify your eating habits in a healthy way.
VIDEOS: Take it Off playlist
"Dr. Google is not good at explaining nutrition in an evidence-based way," Hartline said. Just touch base with insurance as you do your research to make sure the consultation is covered. Go to www.eatright.org to find a dietitian near you.
Jackson won a YMCA membership during the Take It Off challenge and said she just started meeting with a trainer to figure out what exercises are best for her. She's looking forward to trying out some yoga and Zumba classes as well.
Coupled with exercise, she also watches what she eats and stays up to date with studies on nutrition like whether to go for full-fat foods like milk or yogurt.
A pescatarian who only eats fish and vegetables, Jackson said aside from meat she doesn't make any food off-limits.
"That way I don't get a terrible craving," she said.
As she approaches her 66th birthday she's lost 25 pounds and dropped two jean sizes, but ultimately Jackson said the goal is just to be comfortable
"I want to keep going. This time around it seems like it's more of a mobility thing and not just "I want to look better," she said.
Throughout Take It Off we've talked with nutrition and fitness experts statewide about a host of topics aimed at getting people toward sustainable weight loss.
Some have been surprising. Others are common sense, and even more we guiltily just ignore when we get busy with work or family.
Here are a few of our top tips:
Take time to get to know your meat products
Take a look at that steak for a minute and think about this: you are eating what your cow eats. It makes sense. If the cow is eating pesticides, antibiotics or grains, remnants of the feed will be found in its meat and fat.
Meat and fish are healthy sources of fat and protein, but take time to find less fatty cuts and try to buy local when you can.
Parents play a big role in a family's health
Good health starts in the family. According to the recent State of Obesity study 16.9 percent of Delaware kids between 10 to 17 years old are obese and about a third of adults are considered obese.
Increased weight can be deadly; it is linked to risk of diabetes, heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, cholesterol, cancer and blood pressure.
Engaging parents early on to make lifestyle changes for the family have a better chance of sticking.
Know your numbers
If you have a chronic illness like diabetes, it's important to know your blood sugar levels. A continuous glucose monitor can help you measure blood sugar at home and an A1C test screens a person's average blood sugar level over the past three months at a doctor's office.
A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent. Someone with diabetes may have a level of 6.5 percent or above and a person with prediabetes tests between 5.7 to 6.4 percent.
If you are testing at home, your levels should be between 80 and 130 mg/dl before a meal and below 180 two hours after the start of a meal.
"Testing allows you to be your own detective so you can manage your diabetes more effectively," said Desiree Surplus, a pharmacist with Acme, one recent Saturday to a diabetes management class held at the Dover Acme.
Carbs are your friend
We cannot live without carbs. About 45 to 65 percent of our total daily calories needs to come from carbs.
They are not just in sugar-sweetened snacks, either. Carbs make up cake and cookies, but also pretzels, pizza, soft drinks and healthy fruits, vegetables and grains.
A serving of carbohydrates is about 15 grams, explained dietitian Kelli Janowski. Make sure you check serving sizes to make sure you only get about 30 to 45 grams of carbs per meal.
"Different carbs make glucose spike differently," she said. Carbs with fiber, such as a apple, are more easily digestible and do not cause sugars to spike, whereas a cookie will just cause sugar to build-up.
Check out your plate
The American Diabetes Association recommends using the "plate method” to help people decide how much and what kind of food they should be eating.
Recommendations suggest a 9-inch plate. About half of the plate should be filled with a heaping amount of non-starchy vegetables such as mushrooms, spinach or cauliflower. A quarter of the plate should contain lean meats and another quarter can contain starchy foods such as grains.
These recommendations are beneficial for people with diabetes, but also for people who want to have a healthy, balanced diet.
Spice up your life
Ditch salt and heavy butter and use herbs and spices to add flavor.
But be wary of the spices you buy in the grocery store since a lot of the mixtures contain salt.
Muscles help us burn glucose
Changing the way you eat is great, but you can't have sustainable weight-loss without exercise.
Exercise helps build muscle that better processes glucose in food. The food is converted to energy instead of building up as fat.
Carefully consider weight-loss medication
Not everyone should take weight-loss medications. Typically doctors will suggest them to people who have not been able to lose weight from changing what they eat and exercising. Candidates also have a body mass index over 30 and have an obesity-related medical problem such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Jen Rini can be reached at (302)324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.