Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Living Well

Candace Carrie

HOW TO WIN AT LOSING

We all know how easy it is to add extra pounds during the holidays.

Interestingly, it takes 3,500 extra calories to produce one pound of stored fat. For each pound to be lost, you must reduce your intake by 3,500 calories or more than your body uses.

For those of us who want to lose a pound or two, just remember that if we want to lose two pounds a week, we must consume 7,000 fewer calories than the body uses or 1,000 calories fewer each day for the week. You should never go below a 1,200- calorie diet without the permission of a physician or dietician.

To lose weight, we must make lifestyle changes and increase our physical activity. An overweight person, who consumes just enough calories to maintain their current weight, can lose nine pounds per year by increasing physical activity.

Some activities that will help you lose weight include walking faster, jogging, biking, swimming, climb-ing stairs and working more vig-orously during activities.

Weight conscious people must adopt sensible eating habits that they are willing to stick with the rest of their lives. You should not deprive yourself of any particular foods. However, you must practice moderation.

Remember, unless you are losing weight for yourself, you're fighting a losing battle. Surveys show that no one has ever lost weight and kept it off for another person; it has to be your idea before it actually works for you. Start with small changes that you are willing to live with.

The Cooperative Extension Ser-vice, University of Arkansas is spon-soring a Noonliting Weight Control program at the Nevada County Extension office beginning the first week of February.

This weight control program is a weekly support group of co-workers and friends who are fighting the "losing battle together. There are no gimmicks or special items to buy.

Noonliting encourages sensible food selection and walking. You will learn how to develop new eating strategies and fit them into your lifestyle so you can live comfortably, reach your goal weight gradually, and keep weight within an ideal range for the rest of your life.

Noonliting members will meet weekly for 15 weeks.

There is a one-time enrollment fee of $25. Pre-registration is required. Class time is 30minutes.

Noonliter's will have their first meeting at Noon on Friday, February 6. Call (870) 887-2818 or come by the Nevada County Extension office at 532 West First Street South for additional information.

EXERCISE APPEARS TO

REDUCE WOMEN'S RISK

OF PREMATURE DEATH

University of Minnesota re-searchers say that menopausal women who exercise regularly have a reduced risk of dying prematurely from conditions such as cardi-ovascular disease and respiratory illness.

The finding is based on a seven-year study of more than 40,000 Iowa women. Researchers found that those women who took part in moderate exercise as little as once a week were 24 percent less likely to die prematurely than women who didn't exercise.

Women who took part in vigorous exercise more than four times a week had a 43 percent lower risk of premature death.

Results of this study were published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researches indicate the findings reinforce the importance of regular exercise for women of all ages.

This is the largest study to look specifically at the benefits of exercise in older women.