Losing Weight - First steps

I've talked this week with three friends who are on a weight loss journey and having success. So naturally I asked each of them "how are you doing it? What are you doing different that is working?"

All three of them said that the most important change they made was to keep track of what they eat and write it down.

Now as a someone who wants to lose, you may be groaning, "I don't want to count calories! I don't want to write things down!"

But as a wellness educator, this is good news to me: because it confirms what I read in health promotion literature, have been taught and what our registered dietitian Jim Severino says too:  the most successful "losers" know what they are eating because they track it.

One of my friends who in just one week has lost five pounds, says that writing down her food choices has helped her stay away from soda and sweets because she doesn't want to write down the treats and their high calories. This technique can really help you budget your daily calorie allotment toward healthy choices.

I've recommended http://www.calorieking.com/ before as a website that lists the nutritional content of every food you can imagine, but there are fantastic websites that do even more  - like help you choose an eating plan and set up a food journal for you on-line, for free! You just type in the food you ate, and the website does all the calculations for you - even tells you how many calories you have left to spend during the day.

Check out http://www.fitclick.com/, http://www.livestrong.com/ and web.md for free interactive weight loss plans that include food trackers! And yes, there is an app for that! Iphone has many free ones, but you also may want to invest in an inexpensive paid app like that from Livestrong that has a few more bells and whistles....so whether you go online or keep track the old-fashioned way: with a pencil and little notebook - do write down what you eat. It can become the new habit that makes the difference in your weight, too!

You Are What You Eat

Problem is, most of us overestimate how healthy our food is and underestimate how much of it we eat.

This week, the CBS Evening News released a report from Consumer Reports Health, outlining some of the ways Americans demonstrate their confusion about healthy weight and healthy eating. It starts with how we approach weight in general: 79% of the adults interviewed said they never weigh themselves and 85% said they never count calories. 



Many people seem to believe that it's only sweet dessert-type foods that belong in the "unhealthy" category and that they will always be higher in calories and fat than a non-dessert item. In past blogs we've seen that's not always true: overload a green salad with meats, croutons, cheese and too much dressing and you have a meal that can top a Whopper in terms of fat and calories.  On a smaller scale, some containers of yogurt can be higher in calories and sugar than the same size portion of pudding or even ice cream. You really have to lose the assumptions, and  KNOW what you are putting in your mouth!

So if healthy eating and losing weight is on your New Year's list of things to accomplish, you have to start with facts: know what you are eating and know how much you should have as a serving size.  Know how much you should be consuming everyday in order to lose weight. In general, choose fresh, non-processed foods for most of your meals, and if you are wondering about the nutritional or caloric content of a specific food, websites like http://www.calorieking.com/ can give you the nutritional content of nearly every food choice you might want.

I'll be offering a workshop called Make 10 Changes to Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Weeks at Davis Memorial Hospital on January 15. In next week's blog and in the nine that follow, we'll be looking at those 10 changes. Tune in next week to start losing!

Successful Resolutions Start with Real “Resolve”

I love new beginnings, whether it be the start of a new project, the “first day of school”, seeing the “after” in a makeover show, or January first – the beginning of the new year.


The promise that a fresh start is possible – the idea that we really can change something about ourselves – the “new you in the new year” - is the appeal and the fuel for all New Year Resolutions.



Although we sometimes make a laundry list of resolutions, the most important step in having any or all of them be successful and *stick* is to resolve to be resolved. In other words, make the decision to stay committed.



Take quitting smoking. If you have just snubbed out a cigarette, you have quit smoking. If you resolve right now to not light up again, and you take steps to make that happen, you will quit smoking. The tricky part is staying resolved.



Your resolution to lose weight? Well, you have to be resolved to make it your highest priority. You may have to get help in finding out what you have to do to make that happen: change amounts of what you eat, change the types of food you buy, change the amount of exercise you get (or don’t get!); but change begins with making the decision to do it and then sticking with it.



Just do it – resolve to make your self and your health the highest priority of your day every day. My best advice? Have the resolve to change just ONE habit this year – just because you believe you will feel better and be healthier.



Some may think that I’m just talking about will power, but that’s a phrase I really stay away from. To me, “will power’ implies gutting it out, straining against the impossible, getting tough; and that sounds negative to me. But “resolve” - that implies you are in charge of your thoughts, your determination, and your future.



Many years ago, I undertook a habit change with this thought in mind: “if I attempt this every day for a year, I may change – or I may not change; but if I DON’T do it, I am guaranteed NOT to change.” That thought became my biggest motivator; it kept me resolved to stay on track or get back on when I veered off course. I maintained my resolve and reached my goal in 3 months – much less than a year. So my challenge to you is to resolve to be resolved when it comes to making your new year, new you resolution! And best wishes, whatever wellness goal you set for yourself.

Extreme Makeover: Breakfast

Good old Mom was still right when she said "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To maintain a healthy weight and jump-start your metabolism, breakfast is a 'must do',  so don't think cutting out that meal will help  you cut calories and lose weight faster. Studies have proven that skipping breakfast triggers our bodies to fight "starvation" by holding on to its fat; and really, many us us just overeat later in the day when we skip breakfast.

But, what we choose as our breakfast can make an enormous difference in how we feel and how we lose - or don't lose - weight.

This used to be my typical breakfast:

a small container of yogurt, a banana and orange juice.  I thought I was making good choices; after all I was getting protein, vitamin C, calcium, and potassium, right?

Well, yes. But I was also getting very hungry an hour later, and I felt tired too.
Why? Well my "healthy breakfast" had almost 300 calories - which isn't bad - but the kind of calories I was consuming had no filling or "staying power". Here's why:

Banana = 72 calories, 18 grams carbohydrate ( 10 grams sugar) and 2 grams fiber
Orange Juice = 110 calories, 26 grams carbohydrate (22 grams sugar)
Activia yogurt = 110 calories, 19 grams carbohydrate (17 grams sugar) and 4 grams protein

So my 300 calories served me 63 grams of carbohydrates - nearly 50 of them sugars! Note that the fiber content is a measly 2 grams from the banana.  Basically the meal I chose to start my day - started it all right  - but put me on a fast blood sugar high, that soon plummeted leaving me feeling hungry and tired, and often craving something sweet!

I have spent quite a bit of time as the facilitator of  the diabetes support group and know a little bit about carb counting as a means of keeping blood glucose levels steady, so I realized my high sugar breakfast choices - even though I wasn't adding sugar from the sugar bowl to anything -were probably doing me harm.

I set out to make over my breakfast to give me the results I really wanted.  I wanted more energy, nutrition per calorie, low sugar content and higher fiber. Fiber is a power nutrient for many reasons: it fills you up, it digests slowly, promotes a healthy digestive tract, and can help lower cholesterol and weight! Protein fuels muscles and provides energy.

So now I alternate between two breakfasts:
Some days I have an egg with low-fat cheddar cheese on a whole wheat English muffin.
Other days I eat a very high-fiber cereal like Fiber One with unsweetened Almond Breeze milk.
I may add an orange, apple or raspberries, but I now only have whole fruit instead of juice.

Here's the difference nutritionally:

Egg sandwich + orange day:  258 calories, 36 grams carbohydrate ( 11 sugar), 9 grams protein ( 1 gram saturated fat) and 6 grams fiber
Fiber One and raspberries day:  150 calories,  28 grams carbohydrate ( about 1 gram sugar), 2 grams protein, 16 grams fiber

Quite a change!

My new breakfasts are lower in calories, and could easily be adjusted up to 400 calories - and in fact, I may add a spoonful of low-sugar peanut butter to make sure I get enough protein on the cereal day, but now I am full and feel satisfied for several hours after eating breakfast; I can tell my blood sugar is behaving in a normal way, my weight and waist are easier to maintain and my energy level is better. I usually have a snack mid-morning of either nuts or string cheese, and then I am fine until lunch. 

My old breakfast had foods that are good ones by themselves. But combined, they gave me more sugars at one meal than I normally had in a day.  My "extreme makeover" has worked for me, and my hope is that it will prompt you to take a look at how you are starting your day.

4 Last Minute Holiday Dinner Survival Tips

1. Eat breakfast!
Starting the day with a healthy meal rich in fiber and protein will help "normalize" your appetite for the day. Peanut butter on whole wheat toast with orange slices on the side is a quick easy way to fortify yourself for the busy day ahead. Please don't "starve" yourself in preparation for the main meal of the day. You are more likely to load up on snacks and drinks before dinner if you haven't eaten all day.

2. Take a walk....while the bird is in the oven or after the big dinner - or both! Getting out in the fresh air even for 10 minutes will make you feel like you have "done something healthy" on a day full of indulgences - and you will be right! If you are someone who has a regular exercise daily exercise routine, try to stick to it.

3. Plan in advance!  This is the key to every single wellness success:  plan what choice you will make before you are faced with something that tempts you to veer from your healthy lifestyle program.  Thanksgiving Day Dinner may not be the time or place to try to lose weight, but it can certainly be a time when you follow a strategy for making wise choices: eat small portions of the foods you really love...sit back and relax... and then decide if you really want seconds or can be content to wait for leftovers at the next meal.  Practice saying "no thank you " if you know you will be around someone who may push tempting foods your way.  And finally, plan to go back to "normal" eating the next day because it's very easy to let this first holiday meal turn into a season of binging on high calorie, high fat treats.

4. Enjoy!   Celebrate whatever the day brings to you in terms of family or  friends or solitude -  give thanks for the good things in your life. Conversation, play, sharing, creating memories or reflecting on them - these are the calorie-free things that we can all focus on at Thanksgiving !

Need more ideas?  Click here for more tips for holiday survival from WebMD.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And the Holiday Food Season Begins!

There is no question that the next six weeks will be focused on people's favorite foods more than at any other time of year. It can be a season that destroys the healthy eating plan of even the most conscientious among us.

Ever wonder how many calories are consumed in the traditional Thanksgiving dinner? Well - making allowances for food choices and preferences - more than 2000 is average for Americans. Yes, that's in one meal - not the whole day! And that's with good old "healthy" turkey as the centerpiece of the meal.
 

                                     

Click here to find out how far you'd have to walk to burn off the calories in your Thanksgiving meal - I did and found out my meal of choice weighed in at 2130 calories: requiring about 20 miles of walking to burn it all off! As you can imagine, I am not likely to do that after cooking, and consuming the feast.

Remembering that 2000 calories is the daily recommendation for young healthy weight adults (and 1600-1800 is the recommendation if you are older, a middle aged woman or overweight), the trick is to figure out how to enjoy the flavors and goodies that we love during the holidays without taking in twice the calories, fat, and sugar that we want to.

Simple swaps and changes to lighten up the turkey dinner include:

• Choose white meat instead of dark and save almost 200 calories.
• Make stuffing with whole wheat bread and olive oil instead of butter.
• use fat-free mushroom soup to make your green bean casserole and sauteed onions instead of the canned fried ones.
• Make gravy with canned fat-free broth instead of the drippings from the bird.
• If you are having bread stuffing, skip the dinner rolls.
• For dessert, have a slice of pumpkin pie instead of pecan pie and save 140 calories.
• Watch portion sizes! Having a small serving of  your very favorite dishes instead of heaping your plate with everything offered will leave you  feeling unstuffed, but satisfied at the end of the meal.

MSNBC has even more ideas in this video http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21870864/ns/today-today_holiday_guide

Mom Was Right...Most of the Time

The other day I saw an ad that had a large stalk of broccoli with the phrase "Mom Was Right" printed across it. An effective ad for getting the message across that we need to eat green vegetables!  Moms have always told their kids "Eat Your Vegetables" and sure enough, Mom was right  about that. The FDA, the American Cancer Society, and nearly every other health agency urges us to EAT 5 A DAY  - at least 5 servings of colorful vegetables and fruits for good health.  Can I stress that 5 really should be a minimum? And that because a serving is usually 1/2 to 1 cup , it's really not hard to get more than that in one day.

Benefits of eating more veggies are numerous:  they should be the primary source for most of our vitamins and minerals - especially trace ones - rather than relying on vitamin-fortified juices and packaged foods. Vegetables, especially the dark leafy ones are literally "brain food" - that's how important they are to our development. In addition, most vegetables add valuable fiber to our diets - fiber that keeps our digestive tract operating smoothly.

Now let me get on my fast food soapbox for a minute and stress that the limp piece of iceberg lettuce on your fast food burger, hardly counts as one of your servings of vegetables.  Nor do the french fries. In this blog-o-sphere, french fries ( and yes, I love them too) are a "once in while snack" - like carnival food....not be counted on as a nutrient.

Your "five a day" should be real food munched raw, or cooked with a minimum of alteration: steam, bake or microwave - even stir fry - carrots, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, chard, green beans, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and squash to your heart's content. What you get in return is vitality, weight control, and lowered risk for diabetes and several  forms of cancer.

Now the one "mom-ism" I take exception too is "Clean Your Plate".  After all, this blog is focused on healthy weight. Many of us grew up around dinner tables where starchy foods were piled on our plates and we weren't permitted to leave the table until every bit was gone. (OK, I admit, this is also the reason some people think they don't like vegetables: I remember pushing peas around the rim of my plate for what felt like hours!) However, the best rule for finishing your meal in a healthy way is to pay attention to your hunger cues. Eat slowly and notice when you are starting to feel full. If you are full, you are finished..even if there is still food on the plate. That's the healthy weight way to monitor exercise portion control.