KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | 2 a Week: The final weigh-in

2 a Week: The final weigh-in

by Jennifer Castro
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- For the past 10 weeks, I've been learning how to have success on the scale by going back to the basics of diet and exercise.

By cutting calories, using portion control, and of course, doing dozens of squats, I've learned putting all the small simple steps together is how you achieve losing 2 a Week.

It's hard to see how a moment's indulgence could have an impact on your health long term, but when it comes to our weight, it's the little things that add up.

"It's just what we're doing routinely all the time that catches up with us," said Dr. Ross Tanner with the Diabetes and Lipid Clinic of Alaska.

It wasn't long before my daily decisions showed up on the scale.

Full of shock and shame, I knew I had to do something.

But this time, my process of losing the pounds had to be different, because everything else I'd tried didn't work.

For once, I decided to take the advice off the back of every weight loss product: Diet and exercise recommended.

And I built a foundation based on the basics of these very two things.

The result: Losing 20 pounds and changing my Body Mass Index category from being obese to overweight.

Through portion control, counting calories, lifting weights, and getting some form of cardio, I realized that when it comes to weight loss, it's the little things we do every day that add up.

But my weekly weighs-in weren't always a success.

As I found out, many people tend to hit a plateau.

A common question I'm asked by our viewers is how to get past it.

"One way to get off the plateau is change your routine, change the types of foods you are eating, maybe timing of the meals. Definitely change your exercise routine, because our body gets efficient at doing something if you've been doing it for awhile," licensed dietician Young Fisher said.

In addition to seeking success on the scale, many of us desire to lose inches, especially from our bulging bellies.

One viewer asks: Does our waistline measurement matter?

"We are seeing that people who tend to gain weight in the central part of their body, sometimes also described as apple-shaped versus the pear-shaped, it does increase your risk for cardiovascular disease and insulin resistancy which can unfortunately develop into Type 2 diabetes," Fisher said.

Fisher says men who have a waist circumference of 40 inches or more are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

For women, it's a waist circumference of 35 inches or more.

When we want to lose weight it's important to take out the take out, but sometimes we fear trading one bad habit for another.

One viewer asks: Will I gain weight if I quit smoking?

The experts say there's a good possibility.

"The reason why a lot of people gain a substantial amount of weight is because after someone quits smoking, instead of smoking after dinner they may have something sweet to eat, or they may have more snacking, so generally most of the weight gain after quitting smoking has to do with just an increase in caloric intake," Tanner said.

Fisher says former smokers should shift their focus from food to a weight loss competition with their spouse.

Another question came in asking if it is bad to eat at night.

Both Tanner and Fisher say you want to have a majority of your calories during the day when your metabolism is higher, and the rest of your bodily functions are at their peak, as opposed to when everything is winding down at night.

But does the man have an unfair advantage? One viewer asks if men lose weight faster than women.

"Many people think they do, and I think it just appears that men lose the first 10 to 15 pounds faster, however, I think initially after they lose that 10 pounds the struggle is the same," Fisher said.

But that struggle doesn't always have to be stressful.

With some work and patience you can lose 2 a Week.

I had my final weigh-in this morning, and had two pounds left to lose to achieve losing 20 pounds in this series.

Last week, I weighed in at 222 pounds.

Today I weighed in at 218 pounds, which means I lost four pounds this week, bringing my total to 22 pounds in this series.

Contact Jennifer Castro at jcastro@ktuu.com