Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 12, 1 December 2006 — Avoiding holiday weight gain [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Avoiding holiday weight gain

Our "holiday season" eoincides with the Hawaiian makahiki. However, the makahiki lasted for about four months, and it was dedicated to Lono, the god of sports. All pursuits of daily living stopped during the makahiki, as did wars and heiau worship. Annual gift-giving to honor Lono opened the season. Farm crops and handiwork were given in ceremonies around all islands. Then, sports eompetitions began. Lfltimately, these competitions identified those most skilled and strongest in sports, such as foot-racing, swimming,

canoeing and surfing. Martial arts competitions were held in wrestling, boxing, shooting with bows and arrows, spear throwing, and many other games of skill. Most of the contests were individual endeavors; however, a few, like eanoe racing, were team sports. The physical exercise in preparation for and during these eompehtions helped Hawaiians maintain magnificent physiques, posture and graceful carriage. Linlike the makahiki, our holiday activities today require no athletic skill and virtually no physical exercise. Instead, parties fill our calendars, and overindulging abounds. As a result, the risk of gaining weight increases significantly. Heahh data show that Hawaiians have gotten fatter: currently, 75 percent of Native Hawaiians are either overweight or very overweight. That is higher than any other group in the

state, and overweight is a major cause of the poor heahh status of Hawaiians. Some suggestions to avoid seasonal weight gain are: Choose to eat fewer fried and fatty foods - numerous, tasty low-fat choices exist. Add vegetables to meals, especially dark green and orangecolored ones, to boost your nmnune system, fight infections and stay healthy. Replace one or two sweetened drinks per day with water. Save a few calories eaeh day during the week prior to a party. And add some exercise daily, such as clnnbing the stairs at work or parking a distance from stores at shopping centers, or getting off the bus one or two stops early. It's a balancing act between food and physical activity. Speaking of balancing, have you heard the legend of the balancing stone at Makapu'u? The story tells of a pretty woman from

Maui who eame to Makapu'u and met a woman there who in reality was Pele's sister Hi'iaka. The stranger expressed her desire to eat uhu fish; Hi'iaka, willing to oblige, begged an uhu from a fisherman. The Maui woman ate the head end of the fish and tossed the other half away. Hi'iaka was extremely annoyed, so she rep-

rimanded the Maui woman for throwing away something she had requested, then, turned her into the balancing stone. Take a lesson from this story and resolve to maintain a balanced diet this Holiday season, so you ean avoid squandering the most precious resource of all: your own heahh and well-being. E3

OLAKINO • YDU R HEALĪH

IBy Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D.

i ^ i Holiday feasts spell waistline trouble.