Santa is coming, but don’t start looking like him

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and those extra pounds you packed on at the dinner table have come, but have they gone?

 

We are in the midst of the holiday season, and the 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron’s Health Promotion Flight wants to remind all Team Dover Airmen to be smart by maintaining a healthy weight through this time of sugar plums and figgy pudding.

 

“Just be mindful,” said Dan Munford, 436th AMDS Health Promotion Flight dietician. “It’s not about counting Calories, the holidays are about spending time with your family and being happy.”

 

Maintaining a high level of physical fitness and healthy lifestyle are essential parts of the Air Force culture all the time, not just the holiday season.

 

Munford recommends sticking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate recommendations. MyPlate is the successor of the well-known Food Guide Pyramid.

 

MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. Everything you eat and drink matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future. This means:

 

  • Focus on variety, amount and nutrition.

  • Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.

  • Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.

  • Support healthy eating for everyone.

     

Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions made over time. All food and beverage choices count. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help individuals create a healthier eating style that meets their individual needs, while simultaneously improving their health.

For more information on MyPlate, visit the USDA website at www.choosemyplate.gov.

 

There are season-specific recommendations as well.

 

Some holiday cooking and eating tips from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute include:

 

  • Use ingredient substitutions. For example, substitute one cup of fat-free evaporated milk for one cup of cream. Replace one cup of butter, margarine or oil with  a half cup of apple butter or applesauce, and try using a graham cracker crumb crust instead of pastry dough.

  • Take a tip from the reindeer and snack on something green at holiday parties. Also ditch the full-fat dips and dressings; instead use fat-free or reduced-fat yogurt in your recipes and for the veggie dip.

  • In Santa’s chimney-side treats, substitute three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, plus one tablespoon of vegetable oil for one ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate. He may “know if you’ve been bad or good,” but he will never know he is eating healthier.

  • Pour yourself a tall glass of fat-free milk. Milk is an excellent source of protein, calcium and Vitamin D. If you prefer eggnog, try sipping on a fat-free or low-fat version.

  • Have one or two of your favorite holiday foods (not five or six), and stay as light as your Menorah. Larger portions mean more Calories, which can add up to extra pounds.

     

These will help you and your family avoid packing on the additional pounds and reduce the health problems associated with being overweight.

 

“Overall, the key is moderation,” Munford said.

 

Besides eating right, maintaining an exercise regimen is important for overall health.

 

“You can’t outrun a bad diet,” said Munford. “You can exercise as much as you want, but if you’re taking in 5,000 Calories, it’ll take you a long time to burn them off.”

 

Since March 2015, the Dover AFB Fitness Center has operated as a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week facility.

The facility sustains 100 percent surveillance coverage, automated external defibrillators and first aid kits, providing optimal safety for all customers.

 

The fitness center encompasses 58 thousand square feet and is capable of serving nearly 1,400 daily customers. The center is outfitted with more than 100 pieces of cardio equipment, dozens of body-part-specific weight training apparatuses, and a full-service fitness and sports program, including: an area for parents and children, the main gym floor, two softball fields, one football field, a quarter-mile outdoor running track, an outdoor running trail equipped with nine body-weight training stations, and an outdoor tennis and basketball court. Additionally, this facility also provides countless programs and amenities.

 

CAC holders may fill out the Dover AFB Fitness Center Statement of Understanding and Compliance of Rules During Unmanned Hours to gain access to the fitness center after hours. Dependents and military retirees who do not posses a CAC, will be given a proxy card that gives them the same privileges once the SOU is signed. Individuals who fill out the SOU have the option to request an orientation and safety briefing from a fitness center staff member or watch a short informative video.

 

Remember, as you are scarfing down ham and deviled eggs, take it in moderation. Healthy and fit Airmen are necessary to make sure that the U.S. Air Force remains the world’s greatest.