Since I’ve had arthritis, I am always looking for new ways to control pain and inflammation. Since I am more than middle-aged and less active, I could certainly stand to peel away the pounds.
Best of all, when you lose weight, it puts less pressure on your joints, and in my case, I don’t feel like I am experiencing the highs and lows of fluctuating blood sugar.
There are some people who would rather follow an extreme diet such as the Grapefruit Diet, or eat 500 calories a day like some of the fashion models do when they are about to hit the runway.
Avoid Extreme Dieting
I was reading something online this week about how jockeys make weight. Owners tend to choose jockeys who can maintain the correct weight to ride their thoroughbreds and if you are not chosen, your wallet can grow flat very quickly.
What is the correct weight? On average, a horse jockey weighs between 108 to 118 Pounds & their Average Height Is 4’10” to 5’6, ″ When a jockey weighs it is not like you and me, who hop on the scales and see what we weigh. They have to weigh with the saddle and boots and most of them have to do a lot more to get their weight down.
Some are known as “flippers,” who eat and vomit. Others take laxatives, drive around in the car in sweat clothes with the heater on high, sweat in the sauna, and some have even had a tapeworm inserted in a capsule. The tapeworm would attach to the small intestines and suck the nutrients out of the body. Thank God I am not a jockey!
Here is a more sensible diet that can allow you to lose weight in a healthy way:
Follow the Step Diet
One diet that caught my eye was called the Step Diet. I like the sound of it. Instead of counting calories, you count steps. It is popular because no foods are off-limits, and you can eat chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast without having to slap your hands for not eating something healthier.
The entire Step Diet premise is simple: Cut your food intake by 25%, then balance your daily intake with plenty of steps, starting at 2,000 and working your way up to 10,000 per day.
Purchase a pedometer and you’ll get a good idea of how many steps you take in a day. Look for ways to take more steps. Park in the back of the parking lot, take the dog for a walk or have a date night walk with your spouse.
Walk 10,000 steps and you’ve walked five miles. I don’t drive and when I was working, I could walk five miles and more. I walked to and from the bus stop twice, I walked to my place of business from the bus stop, and because my back was always killing me, I walked through every lunch and break.
When the work day was over, it was back to the bus stop for the return trip home.
Deal With Arthritis Complications
If you have arthritis in your knees or feet, it is going to be very difficult to walk that far in one day. I said difficult, but not impossible. I ride a stationary bike instead of walking because I have arthritis in my knees and feet, and it’s less impact on my joints to pedal rather than walk.
Try a Compromise
You may be having trouble getting in as many steps as you would like, so another option would be to cut your intake a little more, instead of killing yourself with exercise. I walked a ton when I was younger, but since arthritis pain is keeping me from being as active as I would like, cutting down on calories makes good sense.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day or roughly 1.5 to 2 miles. Use your pedometer to get a baseline of how many steps you are taking now. Then you can work up toward the goal of 10,000 steps by adding 1,000 extra steps a day every two weeks.
Final Thoughts
You want to minimize symptoms of arthritis to have the best quality of life. Start slowly increasing your activity and eating less. It takes time and effort to see results so be patient with the process.
