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Don’t get ‘stuffed’ over the holidays

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Couch potatoes, take note: research indicates the average American gains 7 to 10 pounds over the end-of-the-year holiday season, and it can take months to lose that extra "stuffing."

For that reason, a program that promotes sensible eating and watching your waistline is slated to get under way soon at Tinker Air Force Base. The goal of participants in the Air Force Materiel Command's "Freeze the Gain" program is to maintain, not gain, weight during the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

Those who enroll in the free program will receive a food and activity "tracker" at their initial weigh-in, to help them control their weight. Jennifer Archer, a health promotion specialist with Civilian Health Promotion Services, said the tracker is a small booklet.

FTG participants must attend two classes that will be offered back-to-back and span about an hour, total. One class is on stress management; the other is a class on "lose your excuse" for why you can't be fit and healthy.

Participants who complete the classes and gain no more than two pounds over the holidays will receive a copy of Dr. Ann Kulze's book, "Eat Right for Life," which has more than 100 pages that provide a road map for healthier eating and feeling better.

Enrollment for FTG can be accomplished online at www.AFMCWellness.com by Nov. 11. Print the enrollment certificate and bring it to an official weigh-in, which will be held Nov. 2-10 at various times and locations around Tinker AFB.

Weigh-outs are scheduled Jan. 4-13, 2012.

Freeze the Gain is open to anyone on base, Ms. Archer said. Department of Defense civilian employees must complete an online Health Risk Assessment before they can enroll in FTG, but active-duty personnel do not.

In conjunction with FTG, CHPS will host several health education classes in November. Courses will include the five basic food groups/reading and understanding nutrition labels; diabetes education; eating healthy while staying within a budget; mindful eating; cholesterol education; healthy eating during vacations and holidays; food safety; the benefits and importance of physical activity at any age; and recipe modification (such as substituting evaporated skim milk for cream, using a small amount of olive or canola oil instead of a stick of margarine, and using whole-grain bread, rather than cornbread, in stuffing).

To attend a CHPS course, or to schedule a class at your work location, contact CHPS at 734-4645.

In another related matter, Health and Wellness Dietitian Wendi Knowles said the Support Lifestyle Improvement Motivation weight-loss support group, better known as SLIM Time, meets weekly at Tinker and is open to anyone on base.

Discussion topics include calorie salary, sweet treats, holiday eating, positive self-talk, cooking demonstrations, fast-food quiz, emotional eating, the ABC's of behavior change, urges to overeat, etc.

Meetings are held on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the HAWC, Bldg. 5922. No pre-registration or sign-up is required. "You are welcome any time," Ms. Knowles said.

According to Ms. Knowles, a U.S. Air Force study revealed that over a 20-year period, a typical active-duty man gains 36 pounds, while an active-duty woman gains 26 pounds.