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Fighting Holiday
Weight Gain
By Wayne L. Westcott |
Quincy
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Dieting is clearly not the best approach for avoiding
Holiday weight gain. First, dieting during the Holidays is
not fun. Second, dieting at any time is typically
counterproductive because 95 percent of all successful
dieters regain all the weight they lost within one year.
Third, dieting almost always exacerbates the underlying
cause of most weight gain. That is, dieting results in less
muscle and a lower metabolic rate, which are the main
reasons we gain fat as we age.
Unless we perform regular resistance exercise, we lose at
least five pounds of muscle every decade during the mid life
and senior years. The muscle loss leads to at least a three
percent reduction in our resting metabolism. Consequently,
calories that were previously used to maintain the lost
muscle tissues are now stored as fat. A decrease of only 20
calories per day in resting metabolic rate can produce a
20-pound fat gain over a 10-year period.
On the other hand, if you add muscle tissue you can increase
your resting metabolism and burn more calories all day,
every day. In fact, if you increase your muscle mass by just
three pounds, you will use approximately 100 more calories
at rest on a daily basis. Without question, replacing our
lost muscle and recharging our metabolism represents the
best means for avoiding Holiday weight gain. Not only will
you look better, you will also feel better and function
better.
How difficult is it to develop three pounds of muscle?
Probably much easier than you think. Our ongoing research
with more than 3,000 adults and seniors shows that 10 weeks
of basic and brief strength exercise is sufficient to add
three pounds of muscle, as well as to lose four to 10 pounds
of fat. Our participants do just 20 minutes of strength
training (1 set of 10 Nautilus machine exercises), two
nonconsecutive days per week. While it is important to
perform these exercises correctly, two 20-minute workouts a
week should be a schedule that will work for most seniors.
Think of your muscles as engines, because that is
essentially their role in the body. As we age, our muscle
loss is analogous to going from an 8-cylinder engine to a
4-cyclinder engine. However, by performing regular strength
exercise, we can add cylinders to our muscular engines and
burn more calories every day, essentially reversing this
undesirable process.
Prepare now for special holiday meals and greater caloric
intake. Don’t overindulge any food, but do enjoy
moderate portions of festive foods with families and
friends. Just keep strength training through the holidays to
maintain your muscular engines and higher metabolic rate. I
assure you that this is your best defense against fat
accumulation and your best means for experiencing a fit and
active lifestyle.
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About The Author
Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research
director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, and author of 21
books on strength training.
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