When she was younger, weight was never a challenge for Gisele Landers-Smith. Then she turned 40, and almost instantly, she recalls, she gained five pounds. Within the next year, she had put on another five.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ve got to start doing something differently,” said Landers-Smith, manager mixing center administration in Atlanta.
Now 46, Landers-Smith stays healthy – and keeps the pounds off – by watching what she eats and maintaining a regular exercise regimen.
She works out at least twice a day. During her lunch hour, she hits the gym across from the Goode Building, or walks stairs. At home in the evening, she works out with free weights or runs the Silver Comet Trail with her husband, Dewey Smith.
To keep her metabolism going, Landers-Smith said she eats “mini-meals” about every 2-1/2 to three hours during the day. She combines a high-protein diet with other healthy food choices, dining on such standbys as albacore tuna, grilled chicken breasts, boiled egg whites, and salads. She snacks on fruit, yogurt, and granola bars, and sips water and nutrition drinks.
“I think it keeps me looking young and feeling good – and gives me lots of energy,” she said. “When I don’t work out, I’m just lethargic.”
Landers-Smith said her father’s experience with hypertension and diabetes motivated her to strive for a healthy lifestyle.
Her advice: Start out small, keep it simple, and find the combination of diet and exercise that works for you. “Something that works for one person might not work for another,” she said.
Also, be committed to the long haul, she said, but give yourself a break, too. “If you revert back to your old habits, just don’t beat up on yourself. You can always recover.”