As a movement practitioner, I love it when my clients become my teachers. One conversation with someone going through the process of changing their life and fighting challenges may prompt, lead, or sometimes shove me into examining my practice, my approach, and my connection with the people I serve. Just recently Mary, one of my clients, wanted to meet with me to discuss her progress and our conversation inspired this article.
The holiday season can be a wonderful time for gathering and celebrating with family and friends, but it can also be a source of much added stress. You may be fretting about any number of circumstances like: how to manage your weight or chronic condition like diabetes during all the “feastivities”; choosing the perfect gifts and worried if you can afford them; missing a loved one who can’t be with you or who has passed away; or perhaps you feel unwell or someone close has been diagnosed with a disease.
Whatever personal challenges you are experiencing, research shows that grateful people are happier and healthier; can make better decisions; and are more joyful(1). It’s a skill anyone can learn and benefit from and best of all, it’s free!
An attitude of gratitude bolsters the feel-good neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) dopamine and serotonin. Feeling thankful and appreciative also boosts the love hormone oxytocin so we feel more connected while it decreases the stress hormone cortisol(2).
Our day-to-day lives are so busy that we often rush from one task to the next one without being mindful. Living in the fast lane thrusts us into a chronic state of stress, consistently raising cortisol levels that end up damaging our body cells, organs and systems. This is a major reason why stress is the silent killer that we all talk about but don’t take seriously enough.
Slowing down, taking a few deep breaths and being grateful moves us out of the sympathetic state or fight or flight mode and into the parasympathetic state of rest, digest, heal and repair. This is where our body and mind can relax and rejuvenate so we can sleep better and experience more energy and vitality. And who doesn’t want more healthy energy?!
When we focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have, it puts us in a positive frame of mind. We become more content, satisfied and fulfilled. The ability to notice, appreciate and savor life’s moving parts grows gratitude for better physical and psychological well-being(1,3).
Grateful people count their blessings and look at their lives and experiences as gifts(1,3). We can shift our perspective and explore: “What is this difficult situation trying to teach me?” “What am I grateful for in this moment?”
When my family and I were recovering from chronic Lyme, we were all thankful for each other, the support of family and friends and for having the resources to pay for exorbitant out-of-pocket medical expenses. Gratitude played a starring role in our healing.
Practicing mindfulness is an effective way to plug into the feeling of gratitude. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally…as if your life depended on it”(4).
When you think about it, all we really have is the present moment. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and waste precious energy worrying about the future or commiserating over the past. Focusing on the present moment helps us connect to each other, our thoughts and our own lives so we can become the best version of ourselves. Each day we have the opportunity to do and be better.
When we are mindful we can be amazed by the power of breath, the body’s ability to heal itself from an infection or injury, the beauty of the blue sky, a pink sunrise or sunset, the miracle of a baby being born, the unconditional love of a pet, the plants and trees that clean the air and provide oxygen, the water that runs out of a faucet or down a cool Rocky Mountain stream… the possibilities are limitless.
Scientific studies show that being thankful and appreciative is associated with less physical illness, fewer aches and pains; lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression(3, 5); and fostering new and lasting relationships(6).
Being grateful also expands our scope of cognition so we can be more flexible and creative with our thinking and make better decisions. This makes it easier to cope with stress and adversity(1).
When we are grateful and thankful, we tend to be kinder and more generous. Gratitude makes us feel good, so we want to do it again and again. The best part is that it’s easy to get started and can feel the benefits quickly. Research shows that you can start feeling better in as little as 2 weeks by writing in a Gratitude Journal(1).
Grab a notebook, pad or smart phone and each evening before bed, write 3 things you are grateful for. Write novel blessings, trying not to repeat the same ones, because the possibilities are endless. Practice this for 2 weeks and see what happens.
The best time to get started is now, in the present moment. Today, tell someone how grateful you are for them. You will be sharing a great gift.
Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Practitioner candidate on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.
References
Remarkable changes in body composition occur as people get older. For example, physiologic proteins are reduced, including proteins that make up blood components, immune bodies, or organ tissue. This can lead to poor wound healing, poor immune function, or loss of skin elasticity.
The hardest time of year for weight management is from Halloween until Valentine’s Day – temptations are everywhere from home to the workplace and everywhere else you go, people wear more clothes and are more covered up because of the weather, and people tend to exercise less because they are stressed, exhausted, it is cold, and they have very little time.
Here are some tips to manage weight during the holiday season…
Kristy Richardson is a dietitian and exercise physiologist, specializing in sports nutrition and weight management, She is the founder of OC Nutrition and also works as a nutrition professor at Fullerton College.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2009). 8 Steps to Surviving the Holiday Weight Gain. Retrieved December 22, 2009 from: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/nutrition/holidayeating12_01.aspx
Zamora, Dulce. (2007). Holiday weight management; Surviving the Feasting Season. Retrieved December 22, 2009 from: http://www.medicinenet.com/holiday_weight_management/article.html
In a national television interview with Barbara Walters in 2014, Oprah Winfrey confessed that not being able to maintain her weight loss was her biggest regret. In that interview, Walters asked Winfrey to finish the sentence, “Before I leave this Earth, I will not be satisfied until I…”
“Until I make peace with the whole weight thing,” Oprah replied. Losing weight is hard; keeping it off is even harder. What is unique about those who succeed? The answer is buried deep in the archives at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence, Rhode Island: The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), the largest database ever assembled on individuals successful at long-term maintenance of weight loss. Founded in 1994, the NWCR includes more than 10,000 individuals who complete annual questionnaires about their current weight, diet and exercise habits, and behavioral strategies for weight loss maintenance.
Living with intention eliminates the random approach to weight loss maintenance in favor of the systematic and methodical one that leads to results. The NWCR has shown that, when intention is behind weight loss maintenance, 21 percent of overweight people are successful weight losers. [1]
The longer people keep their weight off, the fewer strategies they need to continue keeping weight off. [2] In other words, weight maintenance gets easier. The longer your clients persist in their intention and behave in accord with that intention, the easier it is for that behavior to “stick” and turn into a habit.
What makes one individual persist at a specific behavior while another individual doesn’t? For starters, the persistent individual has a conscientious personality. In the most recent NWCR study published in 2020, conscientiousness was compared between successful weight losers from the NWCR and non-NWCR weight regainers. [3] The successful weight losers were found to be more conscientious than the weight regainers and scored higher on measures of order, virtue, responsibility, and industriousness. The scientists suggest that being conscientious may help individuals maintain their weight loss by improving adherence to specific behaviors.
In a review of 56 studies that contained 58 health behaviors, researchers at Université Laval in Quebec, Canada and the University of Limburg in The Netherlands found that intention remained the most important predictor of health behavior, explaining 66 percent of the variance. [4] In half of the reviewed studies, perceived behavioral control (believing that you have control over your behavior) significantly added to the prediction.
Being a successful weight loser requires a lot of self-control, delaying gratification now (e.g., dessert) for the more desirable reward later (e.g., a slimmer waistline, better health, enhanced self-esteem, and happiness).
Compared to typical unsuccessful dieters, successful weight losers are better able to resist temptation, control themselves, and push back against the environment. They restrict certain foods, [5] weigh themselves regularly, [6, 7] and use digital health technology. [8]
One of the key factors of self-control is disinhibition, which literally means not being inhibited. Some inhibition is good, because it prevents people from not giving into temptation and eating whatever and how much they want. High levels of disinhibition are bad, because it leads to risky behavior. Disinhibited eating is a failure to maintain control over eating. The opposite of disinhibited eating is dietary restraint. Several NWCR studies have found that increased disinhibition leads to regaining lost weight. [9, 10, 11, 12, 13] Other studies have found strong relationships between a lack of self-control—impulsivity—and obesity. [14, 15, 16]
Successful weight losers consume fewer daily calories than the general population. Table 1 shows the number of calories the NWCR members consume per day, from the several studies that have reported it, along with the amount of weight they lost at the time they entered the NWCR.
Table 1 – Caloric Intake of Successful Weight Losers
| Calories Per Day | Pounds Lost | |
| 1,381 [17, 18]
1,297 (women) 1,725 (men) | 66
63 (women) 78 (men) | |
| 1,306 (women) [19]
1,685 (men) | 63 (women)
77 (men) | |
| 1,390 [20] | 69 | |
| 1,462 [21] | 124 | |
| 1,400 [22] | 62 | |
| 1,399 [23] | 73 | |
| Average
Women Men | 1,406
1,302 1,705 | 79
63 78 |
Successful weight losers consume a low-calorie diet of about 1,400 calories per day, with women consuming about 1,300 and men consuming about 1,700 calories per day. By comparison, the U.S. adult population consumes an average of 2,120 calories per day (women consume about 1,820 calories per day and men consume about 2,480 calories per day). [24, 25]
Successful weight losers control calories several ways, including limiting how often they eat out at restaurants, [26] rarely eating fast food, [27] and limiting how many calories they drink. [28] They are also more likely than normal-weight individuals to have plans to be extremely strict in maintaining their caloric intake, even during times of the year when it’s easy to consume calories, like during holidays. [29]
Want to learn about more of the habits of successful weight losers? Check out Dr. Karp’s book, Lose It Forever: The 6 Habits of Successful Weight Losers from the National Weight Control Registry
A competitive runner since sixth grade, Dr. Jason Karp pursues his passion every day as a run coach, exercise physiologist, bestselling author of 10 books and 400+ articles, speaker, and educator. He is the 2011 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year and two-time recipient of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Community Leadership award. His REVO₂LUTION RUNNING™ certification has been obtained by fitness professionals and coaches in 23 countries. His new book, “Lose It Forever: The Habits of Successful Weight Losers from the National Weight Control Registry” is available on Amazon.
References
[1] Wing, R.R. and Hill, J.O. Successful weight loss maintenance. Annual Review of Nutrition, 21:323-341, 2001.
[2] Klem, M.L., Wing, R.R., Lang, W., McGuire, M.T., and Hill, J.O. Does weight loss maintenance become easier over time? Obesity Research, 8:438-444, 2000.
[3] Gold, J.M., Carr, L.J., Thomas, J.G., Burrus, J., O’Leary, K.C., Wing, R., and Bond, D.S. Conscientiousness in weight loss maintainers and regainers. Health Psychology, 2020.
[4] Godin, G. and Kok, G. The theory of planned behavior: a review of its applications to health-related behaviors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11(2):87-98, 1996.
[5] Wing, R.R. and Phelan, S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82:222S-225S, 2005.
[6] Wing, R.R. and Hill, J.O. Successful weight loss maintenance. Annual Review of Nutrition, 21: 323-341, 2001.
[7] Butryn, M.L., Phelan, S., Hill, J.O., and Wing, R.R. Consistent self-monitoring of weight: A key component of successful weight loss maintenance. Obesity, 15:3091-3096, 2007.
[8] Goldstein, C.M., Thomas, J.G., Wing, R.R., and Bond, D.S. Successful weight loss maintainers use health-tracking smartphone applications more than a nationally representative sample: comparison of the National Weight Control Registry to Pew Tracking for Health. Obesity Science and Practice, 3(2):117-126, 2017.
[9] McGuire, M.T., Wing, R.R., Klem, M.L., Lang, W. and Hill, J.O. What predicts weight regain among a group of successful weight losers? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67:177-185, 1999.
[10] Niemeier, H.M., Phelan, S., Fava, J.L., and Wing, R.R. Internal disinhibition predicts weight regain following weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Obesity, 15:2485-2494, 2007.
[11] Butryn, M.L., Phelan, S., Hill, J.O., and Wing, R.R. Consistent self-monitoring of weight: A key component of successful weight loss maintenance. Obesity, 15:3091-3096, 2007.
[12] Thomas, J.G., Bond, D.S., Phelan, S., Hill, J.O., and Wing, R.R. Weight-loss maintenance for 10 years in the National Weight Control Registry. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 46(1):17-23, 2014.
[13] Lillis, J., Thomas, J.G., Niemeier, H., and Wing, R.R. Internal disinhibition predicts 5-year weight regain in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). Obesity Science and Practice, 2(1):83-87, 2016.
[14] Chamberlain, S.R., Derbyshire, K.L., Leppink, E., and Grant, J.E. Obesity and dissociable forms of impulsivity in young adults. CNS Spectrums, 20(5):500-507, 2015.
[15] Fields, S.A., Sabet, M., and Reynolds, B. Dimensions of impulsive behavior in obese, overweight, and healthy-weight adolescents. Appetite, 70:60-66, 2013.
[16] Amlung, M., Petker, T., Jackson, J., Balodis, I., MacKillop, J. Steep discounting of delayed monetary and food rewards in obesity: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 46(11):2423-2434, 2016.
[17] Klem, M.L., Wing, R.R., McGuire, M.T., Seagle, H.M., and Hill, J.O. A descriptive study of individuals successful at long-term maintenance of substantial weight loss. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66:239-246, 1997.
[18] Wing, R.R. and Hill, J.O. Successful weight loss maintenance. Annual Review of Nutrition, 21:323-341, 2001.
[19] Shick, S.M., Wing, R.R., Klem, M.L., McGuire, M.T., Hill, J.O., and Seagle, H.M. Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low calorie, low fat diet. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 98:408-413, 1998.
[20] McGuire, M.T., Wing, R.R., Klem, M.L., Seagle, H.M., and Hill, J.O. Long-term maintenance of weight loss: Do people who lose weight through various weight loss methods use different behaviors to maintain their weight? International Journal of Obesity, 22:572-577, 1998.
[21] Klem, M.L., Wing, R.R., Chang, C.H., Lang, W., McGuire, M.T., Sugerman, H.J., Hutchison, S.L., Makovich, A.L., and Hill, J.O. A case-control study of successful maintenance of a substantial weight loss: Individuals who lost weight through surgery versus those who lost weight through non-surgical means. International Journal of Obesity, 24:573-579, 2000.
[22] Klem, M.L., Wing, R.R., Lang, W., McGuire, M.T., and Hill, J.O. Does weight loss maintenance become easier over time? Obesity Research, 8:438-444, 2000.
[23] Ogden, L.G., Stroebele, N., Wyatt, H.R., Catenacci, V.A., Peters, J.C., Stuht, J., Wing, R.R., and Hill, J.O. Cluster analysis of the National Weight Control Registry to identify distinct subgroups maintaining successful weight loss. Obesity, 20(10):2039-2047, 2012.
[24] Wright J.D., Wang, C.Y., Kennedy-Stephenson, J., Ervin, R.B. Dietary intake of ten key nutrients for public health, United States: 1999-2000. Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics, 334:1-4, 2003.
[25] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Energy intakes: percentages of energy from protein, carbohydrate, fat, and alcohol, by gender and age. What We Eat in America, NHANES 2015-2016, 2018.
[26] Wing, R.R. and Hill, J.O. Successful weight loss maintenance. Annual Review of Nutrition, 21:323-341, 2001.
[27] Thomas, J.G. and Wing, R.R. Maintenance of long-term weight loss. Medicine & Health Rhode Island, 92(2):56-57, 2009.
[28] Catenacci, V.A., Pan, Z., Thomas, J.G., Ogden, L.G., Roberts, S.A., Wyatt, H.R., Wing, R.R., and Hill, J.O. Low/no calorie sweetened beverage consumption in the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity, 22(10):2244-2251, 2014.
[29] Phelan, S., Wing, R.R., Raynor, H.A., Dibello, J., Nedeau, K., and Peng, W. Holiday weight management by successful weight losers and normal weight individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(3):442-448, 2008.
How do you want to be old? This question was on my mind as I entered my 70’s in August 2016. We never think it will happen to us, but inevitably we all age. Prevention in all its aspects is part of the answer and the remainder is in the choices we make and the habits we develop over a lifetime.
Often clients have nagging pains and aches that do not seem to go away. Pain inhibits seniors from doing more. And they WANT to do more. You need to find out what is causing pain. You might need a team of referral partners. You might figure it out yourself. You start by becoming a Movement Detective !
Analyzing your clients’ daily patterns and repetitive activities as well as how they spend their “down” time will give you many CLUES into what might be causing the aches and pains of daily living. A careful detective asks the best probing questions in a conversational manner. There once was a 70’s TV detective named Columbo. He was always asking questions to get to the bottom of the crime. You need to get to the bottom of the crimes of poor movement and poor sedentary postures.
Once you discover a few clues, then you can incorporate alternative patterns and postures that may be less irritating to the joints and safer for the client. Just because they are still climbing stairs and ladders does not mean they are doing it well. Sewing all day in a hunched over position is doing nothing to improve that chronic neck and shoulder pain. Plopping into car seat and grabbing the seat belt with too much force and rotation is not helping with their back pain. See where this is going?
A. WHAT to look for
Ask your client to answer these questions. Give them a day or two to think about it. Write them down on an index card for them to carry around and be prompted to pay attention to their personal patterns.
Things you do the most often…
B. HOW to set up the crime scene for examination. Clues are in the moves.
C. WHO to refer to if you spot a problem that you are not qualified to address.
Having a strong network of allied health professionals for your client to consider is a level of service most trainers are unable to provide.
Sometimes we notice things that are troublesome like seeing the client wince in pain when doing daily movement. This is when you ask about it and see if they would consider going to the doctor or physical therapist to determine if there is pathology to the pain or other discomforts such GI issues, headaches, etc. (Take detailed notes here. This will help the allied health professional if your client goes to them for diagnosis and treatment).
Important things to remember:
D. WHEN and WHERE to begin teaching the client new ways to do these everyday things.
BETTER and PAIN FREE.
Millions of people over age 65 looking for guidance from fitness professionals who are knowledgeable in exercise, nutrition and lifestyle principles that can help them improve functional mobility, while also preventing and managing chronic conditions to live their highest quality of life. The Geriatric Fitness and Lifestyle Specialist online certificate course will give you insights, strategies and tools to be a successful professional in this rapidly growing market. Learn how to be a valued part of clients’ continuum of care, working with the medical team to improve functional outcomes and positively impact people’s lives.
Holly H. Benson, BS, is a veteran in the Recreation and Fitness industries with over 35 years of administrative and technical experience. She holds two bachelor’s degrees, Corporate & Community Fitness and Recreation Administration, and numerous fitness certifications. She has developed thriving fitness programs for special populations and has passionately focused her career on the much older adult. She currently owns and operates Moving Strong Medical Exercise, LLC in Lakewood, Colorado and provides in-home and virtual fitness training to older adults and persons with chronic medical and orthopedic conditions.
Time, time, time. There never seems to be enough. This is especially true for busy executives and business travelers, not to mention parents, coaches, teacher, doctors, nurses… well, just about everyone in this over-scheduled world. Unfortunately, when Mr. Timecrunch visits, it’s usually our health that picks up the tab.
