‘Losers’ hear about their dietary choices

Chronicle Staff

Published: Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Dr. Jolene Falkenberg from Custer Regional Medical Clinic spoke to the contestants of the Biggest Loser compeition at last week’s weigh-in.

        The food choices people make can have an important impact on their health. To give insight on healthy dietary choices was Dr. Jolene Falkenburg at last Thursday’s Biggest Loser weigh-in. The hardest part, she told the ‘losers,’ is modifying one’s  lifestyle. “You can’t just diet to lose weight. Dieting is important, but what is also important is smart healthy decisions every single day during every single meal. Certainly we all want to get to our goal weight, but what people need to do is a lifestyle modification. Every single day people need to focus on eating healthy and exercising,” she said. Falkenburg said she does know that living a life like that can be stressful, so she told the audience that it is okay every once in a while to loosen up and get off track, but just for a little bit.  “It stresses people out to deprive themselves,” she said. “I tell people to sometimes take a break from it and not count calories. That’s fine every once in a while, but people should never go off the deep end and indulge themselves too much. But people need  to give themselves a rest every once in a while, because if dieting becomes an obsession, it can become very taxing for people.” Foods—first and foremost— Falkenburg recommended to have in their daily diet were fruits and vegetables.  “People who have three to five servings of fruits or vegetables every day decrease the risk of stroke or heart attack and other types of vascular complications. People who have six servings are real go-getters, but one extra serving won’t make much of a difference,” Falkenburg said. Falkenburg was asked how much is a serving size. She replied, six to eight ounces. Information sheets Falkenburg handed out read that a high intake of fruits and vegetables also reduces the risk of developing certain kinds of cancer (including lung cancer and cancer of the gastrointestinal system). Eating a diet that is high in fiber decreases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke by 50 percent ,said Falkenburg. She also discussed the B vitamin folate.  “Folate is very important for women of child-bearing age. It also decreases the chance of breast cancer,” said Falkenberg. She recommended vitamins containing folate and breakfast cereal fortified with folate as the best ways to ensure adequate folate intake. Overall, Falkenburg said that if people want to maintain a healthy dietary lifestyle they need to eat their fruits and vegetables.  “If you want to snack between meals that’s fine, but do your best to stay away from chips and junk food. Set a fruit or vegetable tray in front of you and snack on that,” she said. Stacey Mulliner was this past month’s biggest loser with a 4.27 percent drop in her total weight. Coming in second was Michael Grace with a 3.35 percent drop. Finishing in third was Jane Stolz with a 3.12 percent drop in her total weight. Finishing in fourth and fifth were Margie Hutton and Maria LeDuc with 2.97 percent and 2.42 percent droppages in their total body weight respectively. The top three monthly losers each win a free 6-inch sub sandwich courtesy of Subway. Those top three winners can stop in the Chronicle  office to pick up their coupons. The next weigh-in for contestants will be Thursday, April 30. Those who cannot make it need to call 673-2217 to make other arrangements or they will be disqualified.