Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 7, 1 July 2005 — Pare down the waistline with diet, exercise [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Pare down the waistline with diet, exercise

Our last eolumn probably had many of you trying to decide exactly where to plaee the measuring tape to accurately measure your waistline. Did you plaee it correctly? The waist is the smallest part of the torso, above the piko (navel) and below the ribs. Mueh of the confusion over correct waist measurement stems from today's hiphugging fashions, with manufacturers lowering or eliminating the waistlines in clothing. Some have asked for help with trimming inches from their waistline. A combination of aerobic exercise (swimming, walking, jogging, hiking, cycling), muscle fitness exercise (sit-ups, strength exercises), and diet (conscious eating) will bring quickest results. Aerobic type exercises will burn body fat for fuel. Muscle fitness exercises that work the muscles of the midsection will strengthen your stomach and support your back area and start making "extra tissue" disappear. Working the oblique muscles along the sides of the abdomen will help you stand straighter, further slimming the torso. Leg lifts and sit-ups will tighten other muscles, paring inches off the belly. If you belong to a gym, ask your trainer to demonstrate exercises for the abdomen, stomach and oblique muscles. Start with doing three sets of five repetitions of eaeh exercise during your daily workout, slowly build up to doing three sets of ten, and increase the number of repetitions as you progress into your routine. Continue doing these

exercises to maintain a trim waistline. Our Hawaiian ancestors had slender, muscular physiques. They worked hard gathering and preparing healthy food in the imu, and ate during the daylight hours. We ean do that, too. Try preparing simple meals that include fresh vegetables, fish, lean poultry and fruit, and eating during daylight hours as was the traditional practice. Eat steamed starchy carbohydrates, such as taro, poi, breadfruit, sweet potato, yams and squash, in plaee of white rice and French fries. To assure nutrients for building new muscle, strength and endurance, eat green vegetables liberally, like lū'au leaf, spinach, broccoli, carrots, cabbages, string beans, tomatoes and limu. Whole-grain rice, bread and cereal are also good choices. Add fresh, sweet pineapple, banana, mango, papaya and guava, whieh abound with nutrients needed for strength and endurance. And drink plenty of sweet Hawaiian water. Traditionally, the Hawaiian ancestors steamed, baked or pūlehu (broiled) fish for meals, enjoying the natural flavor of their foods. Eliminating the greasy breading and harmful fat of fried food will help a lot in slimming the waistline. Eliminating or greatly reducing use of canned and preserved meat products will trim inches off the torso quickly. Eating three meals a day is essential to control excessive hunger. Simple breakfasts, small midday meals and hearty evening meals helped to fuel the hard work of the Hawaiian ancestors. These

practices kept their bodies youthfully trim, powerful and muscular. That is our inheritance, and we ean enjoy it too if we follow their lead in caring for our bodies. ?J

Ol AKINO

[?]

By Claire Hughes Dr.PH., R.D.

Healthy food and exercise choices ean help keep the body strong - and the waistline trim. Photo: PIO archive