Your Weight Loss Plan for the New Year: Diet and Exercise

by Hillary Miller, M.D. Medical Director, ARC Weight Management Program

Happy New Year! As we begin the new year, many of us reflect on what we can improve about ourselves in the upcoming year. If not, perhaps you’re just thinking about losing the pounds gained from the three back-to-back largest eating and drinking holidays of the year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. We all pack on more calories this time of year than at any other time.

If you’re thinking about losing weight, there’s no lack of fad diets, exercise routines, and magic pills promising fast results. However, as most of us have experienced, such promises of quick results can be unhealthy and tend to fail in the long run.

There is nothing sexy or glamorous on the path to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. It takes hard work and discipline to mold a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age. Here are some ways to get started.

1. Assess your weight
   • Calculate your body mass index, BMI.
   • Measure your waist size. Your waistline may be telling you that you have a higher risk of developing obesity-related conditions if you are:
     • A man with a waist circumference more than 40 inches
     • A non-pregnant woman whose waist circumference is more than 35 inches
   
   
2. Balance calories and exercise.
   Weight management is all about balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.
   
   • Start a food diary to become more conscious about your eating habits and the number of calories you take in daily.
   • Make an activity diary that includes day of week, time of day, type of activity and duration, to measure the amount of exercise you do each day.
   • Review both diaries and decide what you need to do to create more balance.
   
   
3. Take control.
   • Find a diet that recognizes the long-term discipline required to help you reach your ideal weight. It is OK to make small changes at a time, as long as you can turn them into new long-term habits.
   • Join a program that helps you change your diet and your attitudes toward eating and food.
   • Develop an exercise habit that you can stick with without getting bored or tired. It may include joining a class or simply taking regular walks with a friend.

For more tools and tips, visit the ARC Weight Management Program and read about our patients’ successes at MyARCSuccess.com.