It’s a Long, Long Shabbos

Summer time ShabbosNow it is summer and the days are longer. There is certainly a great advantage to having longer daylight hours.  There are more hours for outdoor activities and trips.  We even have more time on Friday to prepare for Shabbos without rush.  But when it comes to Shabbos itself, we can run into problems that can affect our health.

Gershon and Mindy live with their 4 children in a fifth floor apartment.  They both needed to lose weight and began doing so during the winter months.  Their weight loss went pretty steadily, but since a week or so before Pesach, their weight loss was less consistent. Some weeks they lost, many weeks the weight just didn’t go down. Gershon were good about writing down their food and both tried to exercise most days of the week.  When our dietician and I went over their food and exercise logs, we didn’t find any good reason why they should not have been steadily dropping weight. So we took a closer look at what was going on during Shabbos and sure enough, once the days got longer, there had been a problem of over-consumption and little activity and that sometimes extends for 36 hours until Sunday morning.

In short, the reason they were gaining so much on Shabbos were:

  1. Over-consumption at each meal,
  2. Too many extra calories nibbled all afternoon and
  3. Almost no activity.

Friday night meal

Problem:

With Shabbos starting later, Gershon and Mindy started eating a full Shabbos meal very late.  By the time they finished eating and cleaning up, they were usually exhausted and would fall asleep pretty quickly after the meal.  This is not a good thing for your metabolic rate. There is little calorie-burn as you sleep.

Solution: 

We decided together that some weeks, they would bring in Shabbos early so they wouldn’t fall asleep on a full stomach.  They were able to go for a small walk after the meal before they went to sleep.  On the weeks that they were taking in Shabbos at regular time, we adjusted the menu so there was less food.  Gershon and Mindy eliminated the first course and also one side dish.

Shabbos meal

Shabbat day

Problem:

Gershon would go to shul at 8 in the morning.  He would get home about 10:30 and the family would sit down to eat their Shabbos meal at 11 in the morning.  They would finish at about 1:00 in the afternoon and many times, would head straight out to daven Mincha.  Gershon would then nap, and sometimes that could be as much as 2.5 hours.  Mindy would generally interact more with her kids and lay down for an hour a little bit later in the day.  From the time they woke up, there was still a lot of time until they would eat Seuda Shlishit and this where the trouble would begin.  They had put out a “Shabbos Party” for the children which consisted of candies, chocolates, cookies and nuts.  Gershon and Mindy would munch on what was left while they were learning or reading. By the start of the third meal, they had already eaten their day’s calories.

Solution:

We decided that in the late afternoon, they would take a family walk.  They would go out for about 45 minutes and by doing this, they weren’t inside noshing on high calorie junk food.  Gershon gave up on the early Mincha and switched to a minyan further away so he got a little extra walking in. In addition, we built in a snack for when they woke up from their nap—a fruit and 12 nuts.  This kept them full without over-eating until the third meal.

I also suggested that they try to be sure to go for a 35 minute fast walk sometime after Shabbos was over.  After 3 weeks of making these changes, their weight began dropping again on a steady basis.  For the remainder of the summer, they will keep this plan in place.  When we revert back to a winter time clock, we will redo the Shabbos plan.

We all know that food is an integral part of Oneg Shabbos, but there is a fine line between enjoying special foods for Shabbos, and ending up feeling overfull and unwell after Shabbos.  My staff dieticians have come up with reasonable ways to be able to eat well on Shabbos, while keeping your food intake under control.

Here are some of their recommendations:
  • Plan your meals…all of them! Decide before you sit down to each meal what you are going to eat and how much.
  • Make sure you have plenty of nutritious side dishes, along with a healthy and lean main course.Enjoy Shabbos
  • Use fresh fruit and sorbets as opposed to cakes and cookies.
  • Watch your challah intake and try to use whole grains. Consider making/buying smaller challahs and/or individual rolls, and move the challah basket to the middle of the table—out of your reach.
  • If you eat out, consider eating lightly beforehand or having healthy food available to eat when you come home.
  • Exercise before and/or after Shabbos to help yourself both physically and mentally–going for a walk after each meal on Shabbos is very helpful for digestion. Falling asleep on a full stomach in not a good idea!
  • Emphasize other aspects of Shabbos rather than just the food.
  • Don’t let a beautiful gift like Shabbos ruin your health goals

Enjoy Shabbos, feel well during and after Shabbos, and don’t make Shabbos the day that undoes your health.  Keeping your food under control, even on Shabbos is another way to “add hours to your day, days to your year and years to your life.” 

2018-06-28T13:17:20+00:00

One Comment

  1. Zev Zions June 16, 2016 at 12:36 pm - Reply

    That was an excellent article. I have a rule about challah: One slice per meal. I may be generous on the size (not a ridiculous amount), but I stick to the rule.
    A Shabbos meal should have a plan. If you are invited out, bring along a small whole wheat roll. That way you can stay on your diet and your host won’t be offended. And stay away from the kosher & kugel. It’s not worth it!

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