Overview
One of the benefits of getting enough exercise is supposed to be that it gives you more energy to get through your day, but sometimes that just isn't the case. When working out leaves you more tired than you were before you started, that can be an indicator that something is wrong. There are a few reasons why working out can leave you so worn out, and finding out the reason behind your post-workout fatigue may just help you to overcome it and get the energy boost you need from your exercise session.
Start Out Slowly
It can be tempting to go all in when you decide to start working out, but this may not be the best idea. Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D. of iVillage.com suggests that this is one of the worst things you can do if you are worried about fatigue. "Don't try to jog 5 miles, when the most you've done before is walk 2 miles," she says. Consider walking at first, and then when you get used to that, build that up to a short run. Over time, add more distance or time to your run until you get where you want to be. Doing too much too soon can make you feel more tired than usual after your workout is complete.
Examining Your Fuel Quality
In theory, eating less should go hand-in-hand with a workout regimen designed to help you lose weight. While this is a common misconception, the truth is that exercise actually increases your body's need for food. The more fuel you burn, the more fuel you will need to keep going. If you haven't eaten enough of the right things before your workout, you are bound to feel wiped out after you exercise. You may even feel sick. The Young Women's Health website suggests you eat a variety of foods, as different foods bring different nutrients to the table. Lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains are essential to a healthy body. Healthy bodies are capable of doing more exercise.
The Importance of Hydration
Hydration is one thing that many people fail to consider. Not only is it important during and after your workout, but it is important before your workout, as well. Water makes up 60 percent of your body's total weight, and every bodily system depends on it. A lack of water can lead to dehydration, which can be very draining on your energy. If you find that you are extra tired after your workout, try to drink more before, during and after you exercise.
Rest Is Important
While intense training may leave you feeling weak, rest can make you strong. Don't overdo it when it comes to exercise, as this is a surefire way to end up exhausted when all is said and done. While it may feel like you are pushing your body in a good way, you may be over-exhausting yourself. When you do an extremely intensive workout, give your body time to rest up and refuel the next day. If you must exercise, do something light to give your body time to recuperate.
Medical Issues
If improved nutrition, rest and hydration don't do the trick, consult your doctor for more information. He may be able to identify a nutrient deficiency or other medical issue that is preventing you from having enough energy, getting you back on track in no time.
www.livestrong.com
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup
High-fructose corn syrup is used in many different foods and drinks that you can find at your local grocery store. According to the Mayo Clinic, high-fructose corn syrup is made by changing the sugar or glucose in sugar to fructose. This change causes the high-fructose corn syrup to have a longer shelf life, but it can have some serious side effects on our health.
Weight Gain and Obesity
In the past, weight gain and obesity was thought to be linked with high-fructose corn syrup. It is believed that high-fructose corn syrup is harder for the body to break down and causes weight to gradually be packed on. More and more food and beverage manufacturers are using high-fructose corn syrup in their products. This rise is thought to be related to the adult and child obesity problem in the United States. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, there needs to be more research done on this subject before making a final determination because recent research has yielded conflicting reports.
Diabetes
According to the Diabetes Health website, fructose consumption is tied to insulin resistance in rodents that have been studied. This research suggests that consuming too much fructose can lead to an exacerbation of their diabetes, and this can lead to other serious complications related to diabetes. For example, it is well known that complications of diabetes can cause heart problems, circulation problems, loss of limbs, blindness, and even death. Juvenile diabetes may also be at a higher rate because of the number of children in today's society that are obese, and eating and drinking too many products with high-fructose corn syrup.
Effects on Heart and Liver
Although it may be a secondary effect, high-fructose corn syrup can have a detrimental effect on a person's heart and liver. More and more cases of heart disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure are present today than any of the years passed. In a recent study reported by The American Heart Association, a high-fructose diet raises blood pressure in men. This can essentially lead to cases of heart failure and heart disease. In addition, a diet high in fat and high-fructose corn syrup can lead to a fatty liver and liver disease.
www.livestrong.com
Weight Gain and Obesity
In the past, weight gain and obesity was thought to be linked with high-fructose corn syrup. It is believed that high-fructose corn syrup is harder for the body to break down and causes weight to gradually be packed on. More and more food and beverage manufacturers are using high-fructose corn syrup in their products. This rise is thought to be related to the adult and child obesity problem in the United States. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, there needs to be more research done on this subject before making a final determination because recent research has yielded conflicting reports.
Diabetes
According to the Diabetes Health website, fructose consumption is tied to insulin resistance in rodents that have been studied. This research suggests that consuming too much fructose can lead to an exacerbation of their diabetes, and this can lead to other serious complications related to diabetes. For example, it is well known that complications of diabetes can cause heart problems, circulation problems, loss of limbs, blindness, and even death. Juvenile diabetes may also be at a higher rate because of the number of children in today's society that are obese, and eating and drinking too many products with high-fructose corn syrup.
Effects on Heart and Liver
Although it may be a secondary effect, high-fructose corn syrup can have a detrimental effect on a person's heart and liver. More and more cases of heart disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure are present today than any of the years passed. In a recent study reported by The American Heart Association, a high-fructose diet raises blood pressure in men. This can essentially lead to cases of heart failure and heart disease. In addition, a diet high in fat and high-fructose corn syrup can lead to a fatty liver and liver disease.
www.livestrong.com
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas
Eat Right, Even When There's No Time
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 937 times: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why? You just spent eight hours with no food or water. You’re dehydrated, your blood sugar is low and you have little energy. And now it’s time to hurry the kids off to school before the eight-hour workday. More than any other point in the day, you need nourishment. Right now.
Besides, eating breakfast actually helps you lose weight. Those who skip the meal tend to snack before lunch and throughout the day, usually on unhealthy, high-calorie foods. Breakfast eaters typically cruise until lunch, while beaming with energy.
So what are some breakfast ideas? Scratch that--healthy and quick ideas? Here are some of our favorites:
* Prepare a casserole the night before. Pop it in the microwave when you wake up and it will be ready to go when you are.
* Incorporate complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat toast and bagels. Spread peanut butter and raisins on top of either for added flavor.
* Bake bran muffins early in the week, then grab one or two each morning. Or check out a local bakery for healthy varieties.
* Make waffles Sunday morning and freeze the leftovers. You can pop ‘em in the toaster for a homemade breakfast. Also, grocery stores sell frozen whole grain selections.
* Have you ever tried a tortilla for breakfast? Wrap up cold turkey and cheese, grab an apple and you’re on your way.
* Don’t forget cold cereal. We’re not talking about those covered with sugar, but the healthy variety. Items such as Wheaties and Cheerios are always good choices.
* Whole-egg or egg white omelets with fresh or frozen veggies (carrots, broccoli, celery, peppers, onions and even black beans make great additions).
* Make a shake or a smoothie. Blend fruit and yogurt and then drink it in the car. A side option is a small bag of finger foods, such as a mixture of granola and grapes.
-- By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer, SparkPeople
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 937 times: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why? You just spent eight hours with no food or water. You’re dehydrated, your blood sugar is low and you have little energy. And now it’s time to hurry the kids off to school before the eight-hour workday. More than any other point in the day, you need nourishment. Right now.
Besides, eating breakfast actually helps you lose weight. Those who skip the meal tend to snack before lunch and throughout the day, usually on unhealthy, high-calorie foods. Breakfast eaters typically cruise until lunch, while beaming with energy.
So what are some breakfast ideas? Scratch that--healthy and quick ideas? Here are some of our favorites:
* Prepare a casserole the night before. Pop it in the microwave when you wake up and it will be ready to go when you are.
* Incorporate complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat toast and bagels. Spread peanut butter and raisins on top of either for added flavor.
* Bake bran muffins early in the week, then grab one or two each morning. Or check out a local bakery for healthy varieties.
* Make waffles Sunday morning and freeze the leftovers. You can pop ‘em in the toaster for a homemade breakfast. Also, grocery stores sell frozen whole grain selections.
* Have you ever tried a tortilla for breakfast? Wrap up cold turkey and cheese, grab an apple and you’re on your way.
* Don’t forget cold cereal. We’re not talking about those covered with sugar, but the healthy variety. Items such as Wheaties and Cheerios are always good choices.
* Whole-egg or egg white omelets with fresh or frozen veggies (carrots, broccoli, celery, peppers, onions and even black beans make great additions).
* Make a shake or a smoothie. Blend fruit and yogurt and then drink it in the car. A side option is a small bag of finger foods, such as a mixture of granola and grapes.
-- By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer, SparkPeople
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
From Kitchen Cabinet to Medicine Cabinet...
9 Beauty Substitutes You Already Have
Honey and sugar and mint, oh my! Author and beauty expert Barbara Hannah Grufferman shares how pantry staples could stand in for your beauty standy-bys.
White Sugar:
According to Dr. Patricia Wexler, exfoliating is one of the most important things we can do for the health of our skin. Best-selling author and makeup artist Carmindy reveals that plain old white sugar is one of the best exfoliators around. Keep a jar of it in your shower. Take a handful and gently massage your entire body with it, using a soft washcloth. Rinse and the sugar crystals simply melt away down the drain. So much better than eating it!
Olive Oil:
The ancient Romans knew what they were doing when they slathered olive oil on every part of their bodies, saving a little for their hair. Keep a plastic ketchup bottle (the kind you see in old diners) filled with olive oil in your bathroom. Add a few drops of lavender oil (or whatever fragrance you prefer). After exfoliating, pat your skin until it’s almost dry, then massage a small amount of oil all over your body. Result? Skin like velvet. After your hair is dry, massage a few drops of oil in your palms and, bending over, scrunch a bit of it into the ends.
Honey
Who knew that honey is equally effective for treating colds and improving your looks? Applying honey all over your face is beneficial, since it contains vitamins and moisturizes. It's also a natural antibiotic that can kill bacteria. Add a little white sugar and exfoliate with it in the shower, too.
Lemon Juice:
There are so many things you can do with lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed). Soak your nails in them (without polish) to reduce yellowing, and brush your teeth with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice for whiter teeth. And best of all, take a tablespoon or two of freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix into a tall glass of warm water. Drink it before ingesting anything else, first thing in the morning. It’s a great way to hydrate and jump-start your system.
Crisco (or some other vegetable shortening):
Crisco is a surprisingly effective makeup remover, and it’s also highly effective in treating eczema. Apply the shortening to infected areas, and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse, and apply a little olive oil.
Yogurt:
Yogurt is a highly effective treatment for the common skin condition rosacea. It has the ability to soften the skin while calming the redness — especially after eating something spicy or enjoying a little too much heart-healthy red wine. Simply apply it as a mask, and leave on for about 15 minutes. Rinse, and apply a light layer of olive oil.
Parsley and Mint:
Bad breath is common, and usually avoidable. Steer clear of the store-bought mouth rinses and gargles, as they tend to make matters worse. Simply brush your tongue when you brush your teeth, drink lots of water to keep your mouth hydrated and chew on a few sprigs of parsley or mint, since studies have shown that these freshen breath instantly. Keep a plastic bag filled with the sprigs in your purse at all times.
Green Tea Bags:
Green tea is one of the best things you can drink (along with lots of water, and red wine in moderation). For a great de-puffing eye treatment, try soaking a few bags in water and sticking them in the freezer. Place on your eyes, lower the lights and ... relax.
Apple Cider Vinegar:
Exfoliating is one of the best things we can do for our skin. Chemical peels done at your dermatologist's office are highly effective, though often expensive. But a simple application of apple cider vinegar works, too. Soak a cotton ball in it and apply all over the face, keeping away from the eyes; leave on for at least 45 minutes. After you rinse, follow with a light application of olive oil.
Honey and sugar and mint, oh my! Author and beauty expert Barbara Hannah Grufferman shares how pantry staples could stand in for your beauty standy-bys.
White Sugar:
According to Dr. Patricia Wexler, exfoliating is one of the most important things we can do for the health of our skin. Best-selling author and makeup artist Carmindy reveals that plain old white sugar is one of the best exfoliators around. Keep a jar of it in your shower. Take a handful and gently massage your entire body with it, using a soft washcloth. Rinse and the sugar crystals simply melt away down the drain. So much better than eating it!
Olive Oil:
The ancient Romans knew what they were doing when they slathered olive oil on every part of their bodies, saving a little for their hair. Keep a plastic ketchup bottle (the kind you see in old diners) filled with olive oil in your bathroom. Add a few drops of lavender oil (or whatever fragrance you prefer). After exfoliating, pat your skin until it’s almost dry, then massage a small amount of oil all over your body. Result? Skin like velvet. After your hair is dry, massage a few drops of oil in your palms and, bending over, scrunch a bit of it into the ends.
Honey
Who knew that honey is equally effective for treating colds and improving your looks? Applying honey all over your face is beneficial, since it contains vitamins and moisturizes. It's also a natural antibiotic that can kill bacteria. Add a little white sugar and exfoliate with it in the shower, too.
Lemon Juice:
There are so many things you can do with lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed). Soak your nails in them (without polish) to reduce yellowing, and brush your teeth with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice for whiter teeth. And best of all, take a tablespoon or two of freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix into a tall glass of warm water. Drink it before ingesting anything else, first thing in the morning. It’s a great way to hydrate and jump-start your system.
Crisco (or some other vegetable shortening):
Crisco is a surprisingly effective makeup remover, and it’s also highly effective in treating eczema. Apply the shortening to infected areas, and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse, and apply a little olive oil.
Yogurt:
Yogurt is a highly effective treatment for the common skin condition rosacea. It has the ability to soften the skin while calming the redness — especially after eating something spicy or enjoying a little too much heart-healthy red wine. Simply apply it as a mask, and leave on for about 15 minutes. Rinse, and apply a light layer of olive oil.
Parsley and Mint:
Bad breath is common, and usually avoidable. Steer clear of the store-bought mouth rinses and gargles, as they tend to make matters worse. Simply brush your tongue when you brush your teeth, drink lots of water to keep your mouth hydrated and chew on a few sprigs of parsley or mint, since studies have shown that these freshen breath instantly. Keep a plastic bag filled with the sprigs in your purse at all times.
Green Tea Bags:
Green tea is one of the best things you can drink (along with lots of water, and red wine in moderation). For a great de-puffing eye treatment, try soaking a few bags in water and sticking them in the freezer. Place on your eyes, lower the lights and ... relax.
Apple Cider Vinegar:
Exfoliating is one of the best things we can do for our skin. Chemical peels done at your dermatologist's office are highly effective, though often expensive. But a simple application of apple cider vinegar works, too. Soak a cotton ball in it and apply all over the face, keeping away from the eyes; leave on for at least 45 minutes. After you rinse, follow with a light application of olive oil.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Best & Worst Breakfasts
McDonald's: Worst Choices
Pass on the Deluxe Breakfast with a regular or large biscuit and the Big Breakfast because they can set you back a minimum of 790 calories, 51 g fat, and 18 g saturated fat.
McDonald's: Better Bet
Your better alternative under the golden arches is the Egg McMuffin (300 calories, 12 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 2 g fiber, 820 mg sodium). To help make the healthiest choices at McDonald's or any other fast-food chain, ask for a nutrition information brochure at the counter or check out the web site. Look for items that contain some fiber and protein that will keep you feeling satisfied for hours and don't have too much sugar, sodium, or saturated or total fat.
Burger King: Worst Choice
Skip the Enormous Omelet Sandwich (730 calories, 45 g fat, 16 g saturated fat, and 1,949 mg sodium) containing an omelet on a specialty bun topped with bacon, sausage, and cheese -- a high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium sandwich containing almost a day's worth of fat and sodium.
Burger King: Better Bet
Choose the Ham Omelet Sandwich (290 calories, 13 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 870 mg sodium, and 1 g fiber) for a breakfast that will help keep you feeling full until lunch
Jack in the Box: Worst Choice
Even though it sounds healthy, the Sirloin Steak & Egg Burrito with Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa has a whopping 790 calories, 48 g fat, and 5 g saturated fat along with 6 g fiber.
Jack in the Box: Better Bets
Take your pick and enjoy a Breakfast Jack (290 calories, 12 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 760 mg sodium and 1 g fiber) sandwich with a slice of ham, cheese and an egg, or for a few more fat calories, make it a Bacon Breakfast Jack (300 calories, 14 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 728 mg sodium, and 1 g fiber).
Skip Carl's Junior for Breakfast
French Toast Dips with syrup are the better bet but hardly healthy. Worst bets include the Breakfast Burger loaded with a burger, egg, bacon, cheese, and hash brown nuggets (830 calories, 47 g fat, 15 g saturated fat, 1,580 mg sodium, and 3 g fiber) or the hard-to-hold Loaded
Breakfast Burrito bursting with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, 2 cheeses, and salsa wrapped in a tortilla (820 calories, 51 g fat, 16 g saturated fat, 1,530 mg sodium, and 2 grams fiber).
Dunkin' Donuts: Worst Choices
Stay away from the decadent, more like over-the-top desserts, Triple Chocolate Muffin (660 calories, 33 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 4 g fiber) or Peanut Butter Cup Cookie (590 calories, 29 g fat, 13 g saturated fat, and 3 g fiber).
Dunkin' Donuts: Better Bets
Pair your favorite coffee with a wheat bagel (330 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 12 g protein, 4 g fiber) or a multigrain bagel (380 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 14 g protein, 5 g fiber) high in satisfying fiber and protein that will keep you going strong. Or eat half of a high-fiber
Honey Bran Raisin Muffin.
Starbucks: Worst Choices
Worst bets on the Starbucks menu include pretty much all the other high-fat, high-sugar options that won't keep you full until lunch. This includes Starbucks Classic Coffee Cake (570 calories, 28 g fat, 10 g sat fat, 7 g protein).
Starbucks: Better Bets
Starbucks is a popular morning stop for coffee and a quick treat. Breakfast items vary by region, featuring both indulgent and healthy choices. Better bets include the Spinach Roasted Tomato, Feta & Egg Wrap (240 calories, 10 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 13 g protein, 7 g fiber), the fruit and cheese platter, and any of the low-fat bran muffins, scones, and coffee cake.
Subway: Worst Choice
You won't lose weight if you opt for our pick for the worst choice, the 6 inch Chipotle Steak & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (600 calories, 32 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 1,470 mg sodium, 6 g fiber).
Subway: Better Bets
Enjoy a Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (410 calories, 18 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 23 g protein, 1,010 mg sodium, 5 g fiber) on a 6 inch whole grain roll piled high with veggies for a healthy high-protein, high-fiber portable meal.
Benefits of a Healthy Morning Meal
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day -- it gives you energy to start the day and is linked to many health benefits. Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast can help give you a nutritionally complete diet, higher in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals; better weight control; improved concentration and performance in the classroom or the boardroom; more strength and energy to engage in physical activity; and lower cholesterol levels.
Pass on the Deluxe Breakfast with a regular or large biscuit and the Big Breakfast because they can set you back a minimum of 790 calories, 51 g fat, and 18 g saturated fat.
McDonald's: Better Bet
Your better alternative under the golden arches is the Egg McMuffin (300 calories, 12 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 2 g fiber, 820 mg sodium). To help make the healthiest choices at McDonald's or any other fast-food chain, ask for a nutrition information brochure at the counter or check out the web site. Look for items that contain some fiber and protein that will keep you feeling satisfied for hours and don't have too much sugar, sodium, or saturated or total fat.
Burger King: Worst Choice
Skip the Enormous Omelet Sandwich (730 calories, 45 g fat, 16 g saturated fat, and 1,949 mg sodium) containing an omelet on a specialty bun topped with bacon, sausage, and cheese -- a high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium sandwich containing almost a day's worth of fat and sodium.
Burger King: Better Bet
Choose the Ham Omelet Sandwich (290 calories, 13 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 870 mg sodium, and 1 g fiber) for a breakfast that will help keep you feeling full until lunch
Jack in the Box: Worst Choice
Even though it sounds healthy, the Sirloin Steak & Egg Burrito with Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa has a whopping 790 calories, 48 g fat, and 5 g saturated fat along with 6 g fiber.
Jack in the Box: Better Bets
Take your pick and enjoy a Breakfast Jack (290 calories, 12 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 760 mg sodium and 1 g fiber) sandwich with a slice of ham, cheese and an egg, or for a few more fat calories, make it a Bacon Breakfast Jack (300 calories, 14 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 728 mg sodium, and 1 g fiber).
Skip Carl's Junior for Breakfast
French Toast Dips with syrup are the better bet but hardly healthy. Worst bets include the Breakfast Burger loaded with a burger, egg, bacon, cheese, and hash brown nuggets (830 calories, 47 g fat, 15 g saturated fat, 1,580 mg sodium, and 3 g fiber) or the hard-to-hold Loaded
Breakfast Burrito bursting with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, 2 cheeses, and salsa wrapped in a tortilla (820 calories, 51 g fat, 16 g saturated fat, 1,530 mg sodium, and 2 grams fiber).
Dunkin' Donuts: Worst Choices
Stay away from the decadent, more like over-the-top desserts, Triple Chocolate Muffin (660 calories, 33 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 4 g fiber) or Peanut Butter Cup Cookie (590 calories, 29 g fat, 13 g saturated fat, and 3 g fiber).
Dunkin' Donuts: Better Bets
Pair your favorite coffee with a wheat bagel (330 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 12 g protein, 4 g fiber) or a multigrain bagel (380 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 14 g protein, 5 g fiber) high in satisfying fiber and protein that will keep you going strong. Or eat half of a high-fiber
Honey Bran Raisin Muffin.
Starbucks: Worst Choices
Worst bets on the Starbucks menu include pretty much all the other high-fat, high-sugar options that won't keep you full until lunch. This includes Starbucks Classic Coffee Cake (570 calories, 28 g fat, 10 g sat fat, 7 g protein).
Starbucks: Better Bets
Starbucks is a popular morning stop for coffee and a quick treat. Breakfast items vary by region, featuring both indulgent and healthy choices. Better bets include the Spinach Roasted Tomato, Feta & Egg Wrap (240 calories, 10 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 13 g protein, 7 g fiber), the fruit and cheese platter, and any of the low-fat bran muffins, scones, and coffee cake.
Subway: Worst Choice
You won't lose weight if you opt for our pick for the worst choice, the 6 inch Chipotle Steak & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (600 calories, 32 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 1,470 mg sodium, 6 g fiber).
Subway: Better Bets
Enjoy a Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (410 calories, 18 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 23 g protein, 1,010 mg sodium, 5 g fiber) on a 6 inch whole grain roll piled high with veggies for a healthy high-protein, high-fiber portable meal.
Benefits of a Healthy Morning Meal
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day -- it gives you energy to start the day and is linked to many health benefits. Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast can help give you a nutritionally complete diet, higher in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals; better weight control; improved concentration and performance in the classroom or the boardroom; more strength and energy to engage in physical activity; and lower cholesterol levels.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Top 10 Diet Myths
According to Health.com, about 80 million Americans each year go on a diet, spending $40 billion annually on weight-loss aids and programs. Since dieting takes up so much of our collective consciousness, you'd think we would know everything there is to know about the facts of weight loss. Unfortunately, this isn't true--myths about dieting abound in magazines, weight-loss books and online diet sites and are interwoven into society's conventional wisdom. One of the best ways you can get on the path to real, lasting weight loss is to identify and understand the myths and misconceptions about dieting that can keep you from getting the pounds off and keeping them off.
Skipping Meals
Ask most people and they will tell you that the key to losing weight for good--and the reason why they fail at dieting again and again--is to skip as many meals as possible. Eating fewer meals is good, right? Wrong. The National Institutes of Health's Weight-Control Information Network reports that skipping meals--particularly breakfast--and eating fewer meals in the day is linked to heavier weight than people who eat small meals four or five times a day, including breakfast
Water Will Help You Lose Weight
While drinking plenty of water daily keeps you adequately hydrated, it doesn't take the place of the nutrients in food, boost your metabolism or flush out fat. If you try to lose weight simply by drinking lots of water, your body is still going to need the energy it receives from food and you won't be able to hold that need off for long.
Never Eat After 8 p.m.
Many people firmly believe that calories consumed late in the evening turn to fat during the night while you are sleeping. According to dietitians, however, this is incorrect: your body's digestion of food and calorie usage remains the same at any time of the day or night, and energy that is stored in the evening is simply used the next day. It isn't when you eat, but what, how much and how many of the stored calories are burned off with physical activity during the day that determines weight gain or loss.
Some Foods Burn Fat
There is no food that, just by you eating it, can burn fat and magically melt away pounds. Throughout the years, dieting gurus have exalted everything from grapefruit to celery to eggs to cabbage soup as the one thing you need to eat to lose all the weight you want. While all these foods are full of essential vitamins and minerals and should have a place in every healthy diet, none of them can speed up your metabolism to the point that you will lose weight.
Exercising While Hungry
According to the That's Fit website, exercising when you're hungry not only doesn't cause your body to burn fat exclusively, if it lacks enough available carbohydrates to burn for fuel, your body will begin to use muscle tissue instead. Burning muscle decreases your metabolism and makes weight loss less, not more, likely.
Small Meals Boost Metabolism
While the idea that simply eating a series of small meals throughout the day instead of two or three large meals can make your body burn calories faster is appealing, Real Simple reports that how you consume your daily calories has practically no effect on your metabolism. The key to upping your metabolism isn't eating a bunch of times a day, but increasing your muscle mass: a pound of muscle tissue burns seven times as many calories in a day as a pound of fat tissue.
Eat High-Protein, Low-Carb
According to the National Institutes of Health, a diet that focuses on high-protein foods and strictly reduces the number of grains, fruits and vegetables consumed provides unbalanced nutrition that may yield results in the short-term only because of restricted food choices, but may end up contributing to a number of health conditions, including high cholesterol, increased heart disease risk, kidney stones and gout. Additionally, That's Fit reports that, when compared to low-fat dieters, low-carb dieters lose weight quicker, but gain it back in six months and end up no thinner than their low-fat counterparts. It is also untrue that eating starchy carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes or bread is instantly turned into sugar, then stored as fat. It's extra calories that cause weight gain, not carbohydrates, which should be an essential part of every healthy diet.
Fad Diets Work
Going on any short-term diet that requires you to make extreme changes in your regular eating patterns or cuts your calories below recommended daily levels is not only going to be difficult to keep up over the long run, but can possibly affect your health and make you upset when the weight you lost at the beginning of the diet creeps inevitably back. There aren't any quick fixes when it comes to permanent, sustainable weight loss. The best way to get the weight off and keep it off is to make healthy changes that you can maintain for a lifetime.
Eating Certain Foods Makes You Fat
Just as consuming certain wonder foods won't magically melt fat off your thighs, eating other "bad" foods like nuts, red meat or dairy products aren't a guarantee that you will instantly gain weight. Nuts, lean red meat and dairy products all provide vitamins and minerals needed by your body and, in moderation, can certainly be a part of a healthy lifestyle.
Go Vegetarian to Lose Weight
While vegetarians overall do tend to consume fewer calories and less fat than non-vegetarians, it is not true that simply switching to a vegetarian diet will cause you to lose weight. There are as many ways to eat high-calorie, high-fat foods and exceed the number of calories your body needs while eating vegetarian as there are eating a more traditional diet. As with every aspect of weight loss, focus on what you eat, how much you eat of it and how much physical activity you engage in regularly.
by livestrong.com
Skipping Meals
Ask most people and they will tell you that the key to losing weight for good--and the reason why they fail at dieting again and again--is to skip as many meals as possible. Eating fewer meals is good, right? Wrong. The National Institutes of Health's Weight-Control Information Network reports that skipping meals--particularly breakfast--and eating fewer meals in the day is linked to heavier weight than people who eat small meals four or five times a day, including breakfast
Water Will Help You Lose Weight
While drinking plenty of water daily keeps you adequately hydrated, it doesn't take the place of the nutrients in food, boost your metabolism or flush out fat. If you try to lose weight simply by drinking lots of water, your body is still going to need the energy it receives from food and you won't be able to hold that need off for long.
Never Eat After 8 p.m.
Many people firmly believe that calories consumed late in the evening turn to fat during the night while you are sleeping. According to dietitians, however, this is incorrect: your body's digestion of food and calorie usage remains the same at any time of the day or night, and energy that is stored in the evening is simply used the next day. It isn't when you eat, but what, how much and how many of the stored calories are burned off with physical activity during the day that determines weight gain or loss.
Some Foods Burn Fat
There is no food that, just by you eating it, can burn fat and magically melt away pounds. Throughout the years, dieting gurus have exalted everything from grapefruit to celery to eggs to cabbage soup as the one thing you need to eat to lose all the weight you want. While all these foods are full of essential vitamins and minerals and should have a place in every healthy diet, none of them can speed up your metabolism to the point that you will lose weight.
Exercising While Hungry
According to the That's Fit website, exercising when you're hungry not only doesn't cause your body to burn fat exclusively, if it lacks enough available carbohydrates to burn for fuel, your body will begin to use muscle tissue instead. Burning muscle decreases your metabolism and makes weight loss less, not more, likely.
Small Meals Boost Metabolism
While the idea that simply eating a series of small meals throughout the day instead of two or three large meals can make your body burn calories faster is appealing, Real Simple reports that how you consume your daily calories has practically no effect on your metabolism. The key to upping your metabolism isn't eating a bunch of times a day, but increasing your muscle mass: a pound of muscle tissue burns seven times as many calories in a day as a pound of fat tissue.
Eat High-Protein, Low-Carb
According to the National Institutes of Health, a diet that focuses on high-protein foods and strictly reduces the number of grains, fruits and vegetables consumed provides unbalanced nutrition that may yield results in the short-term only because of restricted food choices, but may end up contributing to a number of health conditions, including high cholesterol, increased heart disease risk, kidney stones and gout. Additionally, That's Fit reports that, when compared to low-fat dieters, low-carb dieters lose weight quicker, but gain it back in six months and end up no thinner than their low-fat counterparts. It is also untrue that eating starchy carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes or bread is instantly turned into sugar, then stored as fat. It's extra calories that cause weight gain, not carbohydrates, which should be an essential part of every healthy diet.
Fad Diets Work
Going on any short-term diet that requires you to make extreme changes in your regular eating patterns or cuts your calories below recommended daily levels is not only going to be difficult to keep up over the long run, but can possibly affect your health and make you upset when the weight you lost at the beginning of the diet creeps inevitably back. There aren't any quick fixes when it comes to permanent, sustainable weight loss. The best way to get the weight off and keep it off is to make healthy changes that you can maintain for a lifetime.
Eating Certain Foods Makes You Fat
Just as consuming certain wonder foods won't magically melt fat off your thighs, eating other "bad" foods like nuts, red meat or dairy products aren't a guarantee that you will instantly gain weight. Nuts, lean red meat and dairy products all provide vitamins and minerals needed by your body and, in moderation, can certainly be a part of a healthy lifestyle.
Go Vegetarian to Lose Weight
While vegetarians overall do tend to consume fewer calories and less fat than non-vegetarians, it is not true that simply switching to a vegetarian diet will cause you to lose weight. There are as many ways to eat high-calorie, high-fat foods and exceed the number of calories your body needs while eating vegetarian as there are eating a more traditional diet. As with every aspect of weight loss, focus on what you eat, how much you eat of it and how much physical activity you engage in regularly.
by livestrong.com
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Eggs are Egg-cellent
Healthy or Not? We Crack the Case!
Having fallen in and out of favor with nutrition experts, you’d think the fragile egg would be broken and beaten by now. Luckily, its ego isn’t nearly as vulnerable as its shell. Oblivious to the attempts to separate the egg from its well-deserved title of "best source of complete protein on the planet," the egg has managed to remain a nutritious, inexpensive, and popular food.
For awhile, nutrition experts hypothesized that the high cholesterol content of eggs raised blood cholesterol levels, which can increase a person's risk of heart disease. But this hypothesis was never proven. In fact, several studies have shown that the consumption of eggs is not associated with higher cholesterol levels but is associated with higher nutrient intake.
In 2000, researchers set out to assess the nutritional significance of eggs in the American diet and to estimate the degree of association between egg consumption and cholesterol levels. Their straightforward results were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition: Eggs make important nutritional contributions to the American diet and their consumption is not associated with high cholesterol levels. Specifically, the study showed that egg consumers had a higher intake of important nutrients like vitamins B12, A, E, and C than non-egg eaters, and that people who reported eating four or more eggs per week actually had significantly lower average cholesterol levels than those who reported eating zero to one eggs per week.
Here are four more ways eggs can enhance your health:
Eggs are an excellent source of low-cost, high-quality protein. One large egg provides more than 6 grams of protein, yet contains only 75 calories. And the protein is "complete," providing all nine of the body's essential amino acids.
Eggs are one of the best sources of choline. Found primarily in the egg yolk, one large egg provides 30% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of this essential nutrient, which plays an important role in brain health and the reduction of inflammation. Many people are deficient in choline, which is found in trace amounts of many different foods.
Eggs are a great food for those trying to lose weight. Because of the high amount of quality protein in eggs, they make a very satisfying breakfast, which is especially useful for people trying to lose weight. In one study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (2007), subjects following low-fat, calorie-restricted diets were randomly assigned to one of two breakfasts: a bagel or two eggs. After eight weeks, the egg eaters experienced 65% greater weight loss, 83% greater decrease in waist circumference, and a greater improvement in energy levels compared to the bagel-eating group. Also worth mentioning is that changes in plasma cholesterol and triglycerides did not differ significantly between the two groups. Researchers postulated that eating eggs for breakfast enhanced weight loss by increasing satiety, resulting in better adherence to a reduced-calorie diet.
Eggs protect eyesight. Egg yolks contain a highly absorbable form of vision-protective carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin, which help to prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Studies published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that eggs increased blood levels of these nutrients without increasing cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
So how many eggs should you eat? Just because something is good for you doesn't always mean that more of it is necessarily better. In a 2007 study published in the journal Medical Science Monitor, no significant difference in cardiovascular diseases (like stroke and heart attack) were observed between people who consumed more than six eggs per week and those who consumed one or fewer eggs per week. So a couple of eggs a day, a few days a week, should be safe and health for most people.
According to Becky Hand, a Licensed and Registered Dietitian for SparkPeople, "One egg daily can easily be a part of a well-balanced, nutritious diet for healthy adults." An important exception is for diabetics, who experienced an increased risk of coronary artery disease when consuming greater than six eggs per week. If you have a medical condition such as heart disease or diabetes, Hand suggests checking with your physician (or dietitian) regarding egg consumption and dietary restrictions.
"Designer" Eggs: Are They Worth the Money? When you go to stock up on eggs, be prepared for an onslaught of choices. Beyond just white and brown, you’ll see a whole new world of choices in the refrigerator case. Are these “designer” eggs worth the extra money? It depends on the designer.
Cage Free, Free Range, Pastured, and Pasture Raised: You may feel like you're doing a good deed by purchasing eggs with one or more of these terms on the package. But in truth, these labels really don’t mean a whole lot, as there are no rules or regulations about using these terms.
Certified Organic: They hens who lay these eggs are cage-free, have outdoor access, and eat a 100% organic and vegetarian diet that is free of antibiotics and pesticides. Third-party auditors enforce these standards.
Grade AA, A and B: Eggs in the US are classified according to quality and freshness standards established by the USDA. AA is the most superior in quality, followed by A and B.
Omega-3 Enhanced eggs: When is an egg not just an egg? When it's engineered to contain Omega-3s. The hens that lay these eggs eat a diet rich in Omega-3s, which includes algae or flaxseed. The eggs they lay contain higher Omega-3 content but taste like regular eggs. These eggs may help contribute to your intake of essential fatty acids, but they don’t contain enough to make up for a diet that is otherwise low in Omega-3s.
No matter what kind of eggs you choose to eat, be sure to follow proper handling and preparation guidelines to ensure that your eggs are safe to eat. Raw or improperly handled eggs can be a source of disease.
* Avoid raw eggs, and foods made with raw eggs (Caesar dressing, homemade mayonnaise, eggnog, and cookie dough). These foods are safe if a pasteurized egg product is used.
* Check the carton to be sure that the eggs you are buying are clean and free of cracks.
Store eggs in the coldest part of the refrigerator (not in the door), and use within three to five weeks, or by the expiration date on the carton. Hardboiled eggs should also be stored in the refrigerator and used within one week.
* When cooking with eggs, don’t leave the carton on the counter during prep time. Take out the eggs you will use and return the carton to the refrigerator.
* Wash all surfaces, cooking utensils, and skin with warm, soapy water before and after handling eggs.
* Cook eggs until yolks are firm.
* Cook egg-containing dishes to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy any bacteria safely.
Give yourself a break! Poached, scrambled, baked or fried—you can rely on the inexpensive and high-quality protein of eggs as part of a varied, healthy diet. "Do be careful with whom your eggs hang out," says Hand. "Bacon, sausage, and high-fat cheeses can be troublesome characters!"
-- By Liza Barnes, Health Educator
Having fallen in and out of favor with nutrition experts, you’d think the fragile egg would be broken and beaten by now. Luckily, its ego isn’t nearly as vulnerable as its shell. Oblivious to the attempts to separate the egg from its well-deserved title of "best source of complete protein on the planet," the egg has managed to remain a nutritious, inexpensive, and popular food.
For awhile, nutrition experts hypothesized that the high cholesterol content of eggs raised blood cholesterol levels, which can increase a person's risk of heart disease. But this hypothesis was never proven. In fact, several studies have shown that the consumption of eggs is not associated with higher cholesterol levels but is associated with higher nutrient intake.
In 2000, researchers set out to assess the nutritional significance of eggs in the American diet and to estimate the degree of association between egg consumption and cholesterol levels. Their straightforward results were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition: Eggs make important nutritional contributions to the American diet and their consumption is not associated with high cholesterol levels. Specifically, the study showed that egg consumers had a higher intake of important nutrients like vitamins B12, A, E, and C than non-egg eaters, and that people who reported eating four or more eggs per week actually had significantly lower average cholesterol levels than those who reported eating zero to one eggs per week.
Here are four more ways eggs can enhance your health:
Eggs are an excellent source of low-cost, high-quality protein. One large egg provides more than 6 grams of protein, yet contains only 75 calories. And the protein is "complete," providing all nine of the body's essential amino acids.
Eggs are one of the best sources of choline. Found primarily in the egg yolk, one large egg provides 30% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of this essential nutrient, which plays an important role in brain health and the reduction of inflammation. Many people are deficient in choline, which is found in trace amounts of many different foods.
Eggs are a great food for those trying to lose weight. Because of the high amount of quality protein in eggs, they make a very satisfying breakfast, which is especially useful for people trying to lose weight. In one study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (2007), subjects following low-fat, calorie-restricted diets were randomly assigned to one of two breakfasts: a bagel or two eggs. After eight weeks, the egg eaters experienced 65% greater weight loss, 83% greater decrease in waist circumference, and a greater improvement in energy levels compared to the bagel-eating group. Also worth mentioning is that changes in plasma cholesterol and triglycerides did not differ significantly between the two groups. Researchers postulated that eating eggs for breakfast enhanced weight loss by increasing satiety, resulting in better adherence to a reduced-calorie diet.
Eggs protect eyesight. Egg yolks contain a highly absorbable form of vision-protective carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin, which help to prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Studies published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that eggs increased blood levels of these nutrients without increasing cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
So how many eggs should you eat? Just because something is good for you doesn't always mean that more of it is necessarily better. In a 2007 study published in the journal Medical Science Monitor, no significant difference in cardiovascular diseases (like stroke and heart attack) were observed between people who consumed more than six eggs per week and those who consumed one or fewer eggs per week. So a couple of eggs a day, a few days a week, should be safe and health for most people.
According to Becky Hand, a Licensed and Registered Dietitian for SparkPeople, "One egg daily can easily be a part of a well-balanced, nutritious diet for healthy adults." An important exception is for diabetics, who experienced an increased risk of coronary artery disease when consuming greater than six eggs per week. If you have a medical condition such as heart disease or diabetes, Hand suggests checking with your physician (or dietitian) regarding egg consumption and dietary restrictions.
"Designer" Eggs: Are They Worth the Money? When you go to stock up on eggs, be prepared for an onslaught of choices. Beyond just white and brown, you’ll see a whole new world of choices in the refrigerator case. Are these “designer” eggs worth the extra money? It depends on the designer.
Cage Free, Free Range, Pastured, and Pasture Raised: You may feel like you're doing a good deed by purchasing eggs with one or more of these terms on the package. But in truth, these labels really don’t mean a whole lot, as there are no rules or regulations about using these terms.
Certified Organic: They hens who lay these eggs are cage-free, have outdoor access, and eat a 100% organic and vegetarian diet that is free of antibiotics and pesticides. Third-party auditors enforce these standards.
Grade AA, A and B: Eggs in the US are classified according to quality and freshness standards established by the USDA. AA is the most superior in quality, followed by A and B.
Omega-3 Enhanced eggs: When is an egg not just an egg? When it's engineered to contain Omega-3s. The hens that lay these eggs eat a diet rich in Omega-3s, which includes algae or flaxseed. The eggs they lay contain higher Omega-3 content but taste like regular eggs. These eggs may help contribute to your intake of essential fatty acids, but they don’t contain enough to make up for a diet that is otherwise low in Omega-3s.
No matter what kind of eggs you choose to eat, be sure to follow proper handling and preparation guidelines to ensure that your eggs are safe to eat. Raw or improperly handled eggs can be a source of disease.
* Avoid raw eggs, and foods made with raw eggs (Caesar dressing, homemade mayonnaise, eggnog, and cookie dough). These foods are safe if a pasteurized egg product is used.
* Check the carton to be sure that the eggs you are buying are clean and free of cracks.
Store eggs in the coldest part of the refrigerator (not in the door), and use within three to five weeks, or by the expiration date on the carton. Hardboiled eggs should also be stored in the refrigerator and used within one week.
* When cooking with eggs, don’t leave the carton on the counter during prep time. Take out the eggs you will use and return the carton to the refrigerator.
* Wash all surfaces, cooking utensils, and skin with warm, soapy water before and after handling eggs.
* Cook eggs until yolks are firm.
* Cook egg-containing dishes to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy any bacteria safely.
Give yourself a break! Poached, scrambled, baked or fried—you can rely on the inexpensive and high-quality protein of eggs as part of a varied, healthy diet. "Do be careful with whom your eggs hang out," says Hand. "Bacon, sausage, and high-fat cheeses can be troublesome characters!"
-- By Liza Barnes, Health Educator
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Delicious Ways to Boost Fiber!
It's Easier (and Tastier) Than You Think!
Fiber is one of the easiest nutrients to incorporate into your diet, and one of the most important. However, many Americans don’t get the much needed 25 to 30 grams recommended daily for a healthy diet. Insufficient fiber intake can increase your risk for many health problems, including constipation, high cholesterol, weight gain, irritable bowel syndrome, and even cancer of the colon.
What is Fiber?
Fiber is the fibrous part of a plant food that your body cannot digest. Therefore, when it passes through the digestive system, it acts as a broom, sweeping out all unnecessary waste leftovers from digestible food. Fiber can be found naturally in many foods, and in supplement form. Here are some easy ways to add fiber to your diet:
Replace your white bread with whole wheat bread.
Many breads are packed with fiber—after all, just ½ cup of whole wheat flour packs more than 7 grams. Look for the words "whole wheat" at the top of the ingredients list, but remember to read those nutritional labels carefully. Just because a loaf of bread claims to be "whole grain" or "wheat" doesn’t mean it includes a healthy dose of fiber in the package. Many of those eye-catching labels will reveal only 1 gram of dietary fiber, meaning that the bread is made mostly from white flour, not whole wheat.
Leave the sugary cereals on the shelves.
Whole grain cereals and bran flakes are usually jam-packed with fiber—about 5 grams in one ¾ cup serving! Fiber One cereal by General Mills is a great choice, packing 14 grams of fiber in each serving! If you’re having a hard time swallowing these healthier varieties, try adding a little sweetness with fresh fruit, vanilla soy milk, a touch of honey, or a sugar-free sweetener.
Pass the beans, please.
Beans and legumes are always a healthy choice, usually containing 6-7 grams of fiber per ½ cup serving (cooked). Plus, you can easily add them to just about any meal. Heated as a side, in soups or chili, added to salads, or in place of meat in a main dish, beans have a healthy combination of fiber, protein, and healthy fat that keeps you feeling fuller longer.
Sweeten with fruit; add volume with vegetables.
Fruits and vegetables are notorious "diet" foods, but should be must-eat staples of everyone’s diet. These tasty wonders are high in volume, low in calories, and high in fiber—a great combination for any dieter who wants to fill up without breaking his calorie budget.
One cup of fresh red raspberries holds a whopping 8 grams of fiber and blackberries are close behind at about 7.5 grams. Pears, prunes, and apples all measure up at about 4 grams of fiber per serving.
Vegetables are a little lower on the totem pole for fiber, but still a great source. Acorn squash (1/2 cup baked) and artichoke hearts (1/2 cup cooked) provide about 4.5 grams of fiber, and a baked potato (with the skin) comes in at just fewer than 4 grams. Get 2 grams of fiber in a serving of broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, carrots, green beans, spinach, lettuce, or tomatoes.
More Fiber-Rich Tips
* Choose fresh fruit and/or vegetables over juice.
* To get more fiber and nutrients, eat the skin of cleaned fruits and vegetables.
* Include bran and whole grain breads daily.
* Drink more water to accommodate your increased fiber intake to reduce indigestion.
* Eat less processed foods and more whole foods.
* Try to meet your fiber requirements with foods rather than supplements.
* A large increase in fiber over a short period of time could result in bloating, diarrhea, gas, and all-around discomfort. It is better to add fiber to your diet gradually over a recommended period of about three weeks, to avoid abdominal problems.
by Christina Seymour, Health & Fitness writer
Fiber is one of the easiest nutrients to incorporate into your diet, and one of the most important. However, many Americans don’t get the much needed 25 to 30 grams recommended daily for a healthy diet. Insufficient fiber intake can increase your risk for many health problems, including constipation, high cholesterol, weight gain, irritable bowel syndrome, and even cancer of the colon.
What is Fiber?
Fiber is the fibrous part of a plant food that your body cannot digest. Therefore, when it passes through the digestive system, it acts as a broom, sweeping out all unnecessary waste leftovers from digestible food. Fiber can be found naturally in many foods, and in supplement form. Here are some easy ways to add fiber to your diet:
Replace your white bread with whole wheat bread.
Many breads are packed with fiber—after all, just ½ cup of whole wheat flour packs more than 7 grams. Look for the words "whole wheat" at the top of the ingredients list, but remember to read those nutritional labels carefully. Just because a loaf of bread claims to be "whole grain" or "wheat" doesn’t mean it includes a healthy dose of fiber in the package. Many of those eye-catching labels will reveal only 1 gram of dietary fiber, meaning that the bread is made mostly from white flour, not whole wheat.
Leave the sugary cereals on the shelves.
Whole grain cereals and bran flakes are usually jam-packed with fiber—about 5 grams in one ¾ cup serving! Fiber One cereal by General Mills is a great choice, packing 14 grams of fiber in each serving! If you’re having a hard time swallowing these healthier varieties, try adding a little sweetness with fresh fruit, vanilla soy milk, a touch of honey, or a sugar-free sweetener.
Pass the beans, please.
Beans and legumes are always a healthy choice, usually containing 6-7 grams of fiber per ½ cup serving (cooked). Plus, you can easily add them to just about any meal. Heated as a side, in soups or chili, added to salads, or in place of meat in a main dish, beans have a healthy combination of fiber, protein, and healthy fat that keeps you feeling fuller longer.
Sweeten with fruit; add volume with vegetables.
Fruits and vegetables are notorious "diet" foods, but should be must-eat staples of everyone’s diet. These tasty wonders are high in volume, low in calories, and high in fiber—a great combination for any dieter who wants to fill up without breaking his calorie budget.
One cup of fresh red raspberries holds a whopping 8 grams of fiber and blackberries are close behind at about 7.5 grams. Pears, prunes, and apples all measure up at about 4 grams of fiber per serving.
Vegetables are a little lower on the totem pole for fiber, but still a great source. Acorn squash (1/2 cup baked) and artichoke hearts (1/2 cup cooked) provide about 4.5 grams of fiber, and a baked potato (with the skin) comes in at just fewer than 4 grams. Get 2 grams of fiber in a serving of broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, carrots, green beans, spinach, lettuce, or tomatoes.
More Fiber-Rich Tips
* Choose fresh fruit and/or vegetables over juice.
* To get more fiber and nutrients, eat the skin of cleaned fruits and vegetables.
* Include bran and whole grain breads daily.
* Drink more water to accommodate your increased fiber intake to reduce indigestion.
* Eat less processed foods and more whole foods.
* Try to meet your fiber requirements with foods rather than supplements.
* A large increase in fiber over a short period of time could result in bloating, diarrhea, gas, and all-around discomfort. It is better to add fiber to your diet gradually over a recommended period of about three weeks, to avoid abdominal problems.
by Christina Seymour, Health & Fitness writer
Monday, October 18, 2010
7 Ways to Work Out at the Office
Burn Fat All Day Long
Stuck at the office all day? Squeeze in a workout with these calorie-burning tips
You’ve heard that a desk job leads to weight gain, but this bad rap can be beat, says James Levine, MD, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. In a recent study, more on-the-job standing and walking led workers to lose an average of 9 pounds and to lower triglyceride levels by nearly 40% in 6 months. Lose weight at the office with these 7 sneaky fat-burning tips.
1. Plan walk-and-talk meetings
Instead of sitting down at a table, take a brainstorming stroll with a colleague. If you need to keep notes, book a distant conference room.
2. Get fit on the phone
Stand up to double your calories burned while you chat. Pace or march in place and you can blast about 225 calories for every hour you rack up throughout the day
3. Use a small water glass
You’ll boost your step count getting up for refills and bathroom breaks. Bonus plateau-breaker: Use the facilities on a different floor.
4. Buy a desk stepper
Burn around 91 calories in 20 minutes (without standing up!) with an under-the-desk cardio machine that works like a mini stair-stepper. Most cost less than $50 and are available at big box chains, like Walmart.
5. Ditch your trash can
Use trash and recycling bins on the other side of the building to increase your step count and fat burning potential.
6. Start “e-mail-free Fridays”
Walk messages to colleagues as much as possible. The habit may stick the rest of the week, helping you lose weight faster.
7. Find fitness buddies
Challenge coworkers to a friendly step-count competition. Wear pedometers to see how much you walk in a week—winner gets a coffee.
By: Jessica Cassity, Prevention magazine
Stuck at the office all day? Squeeze in a workout with these calorie-burning tips
You’ve heard that a desk job leads to weight gain, but this bad rap can be beat, says James Levine, MD, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. In a recent study, more on-the-job standing and walking led workers to lose an average of 9 pounds and to lower triglyceride levels by nearly 40% in 6 months. Lose weight at the office with these 7 sneaky fat-burning tips.
1. Plan walk-and-talk meetings
Instead of sitting down at a table, take a brainstorming stroll with a colleague. If you need to keep notes, book a distant conference room.
2. Get fit on the phone
Stand up to double your calories burned while you chat. Pace or march in place and you can blast about 225 calories for every hour you rack up throughout the day
3. Use a small water glass
You’ll boost your step count getting up for refills and bathroom breaks. Bonus plateau-breaker: Use the facilities on a different floor.
4. Buy a desk stepper
Burn around 91 calories in 20 minutes (without standing up!) with an under-the-desk cardio machine that works like a mini stair-stepper. Most cost less than $50 and are available at big box chains, like Walmart.
5. Ditch your trash can
Use trash and recycling bins on the other side of the building to increase your step count and fat burning potential.
6. Start “e-mail-free Fridays”
Walk messages to colleagues as much as possible. The habit may stick the rest of the week, helping you lose weight faster.
7. Find fitness buddies
Challenge coworkers to a friendly step-count competition. Wear pedometers to see how much you walk in a week—winner gets a coffee.
By: Jessica Cassity, Prevention magazine
Friday, October 15, 2010
45 easy ways to loose 1 lb a week
Customize your perfect weight-loss plan with our mix-and-match diet and exercise tips.
Here are a few quick facts about losing a pound: It will make your jeans feel a smidge looser, it's the equivalent of four sticks of butter (picture that for a second!), and it requires that you burn and/or cut a total of 3,500 calories. Sound like a lot? It adds up faster than you think.
To lose one pound in seven days you need to reduce your net calories by 500 every day. The easiest way to do that is a 250 split: Cut half from your diet and burn the other half through exercise. To come up with easy ways to do this, we enlisted trainer Heather Rider, founder and director of Rider Fitness Consulting in Los Angeles, and nutritionist Lauren Slayton, RD, of Foodtrainers in New York City.
Choose one strategy from the diet and exercise columns each day (feel free to mix and match) and after seven days you will have cut out 3,500 calories. Losing four sticks of butter has never been such a cinch!
Diet Strategies
___ Replace your morning bagel and cream cheese with an English muffin and cottage cheese.
___ Skip the large bakery muffin in favor of 1 slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.
___ Swap your large bran muffin for 3/4 cup of bran flakes.
___ Replace eggs and cheese with scrambled egg whites.
___ Replace your 450-calorie lunch with a 200-calorie protein shake.
___ Replace large french fries with a yogurt-and-fruit parfait.
___ Modify your lunch: Skip the cheese on your salad or sandwich, substitute mustard for mayo, and replace potato chips with soy chips.
___ Have half a tuna salad sandwich instead of a whole, plus two cups of raw vegetables.
___ Skip the cheese in an omelet and a lunchtime sandwich.
___ Switch from cream soup to vegetable-based soup at lunch and dinner.
___ Switch from one cup premium to light ice cream.
___ Skip your afternoon frozen yogurt with ground nuts.
___ Resist the handful of M&M's at the receptionist's desk.
___ Cut out 1 biscotti and 1 large mocha.
___ Switch from a chai tea latte to lemon tea.
___ Have 1 ounce of soy nuts instead of 3 ounces of roasted almonds.
___ Substitute a serving of beef with shrimp or a white flaky fish like cod at two meals.
___ Leave behind one-fourth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
___ Have 1 cup of strawberries instead of a whole banana, and cauliflower instead of a baked potato with sour cream.
___ Replace ranch or blue cheese dressing with low-fat vinaigrette at lunch and dinner.
___ Have a vodka and soda instead of a margarita at happy hour.
Exercise Strategies
___ Jog at a 10-minute-mile pace for 20 minutes.
___ Alternate sprinting and walking for 20 minutes.
___ Walk briskly for 30 minutes.
___ Spin for 30 minutes at a moderate pace.
___ Go for a 20-minute trail run.
___ Do 1 hour of housework.
___ Walk 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile in the evening.
___ Do 35 minutes of power yoga.
___ Do 35 minutes of Pilates.
___ Practice tai chi for 45 minutes.
___ Perfect your swing at the driving range for 60 minutes.
___ Practice capoeira (a Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance) for 30 minutes.
___ Hit a punching bag for 30 minutes.
___ Go in-line skating for 15 minutes.
___ Shovel snow for 30 minutes.
___ Ice-skate vigorously for 30 minutes.
___ Run up stairs for 15 minutes.
___ Jump rope for 20 minutes.
___ Do 25 minutes of circuit training.
___ Dance for 40 minutes.
___ Play Frisbee for 1 hour.
___ Wash windows for 1 hour.
___ Use a pedometer and log an extra 3,600 steps.
How to Lose 2 Pounds in a Week
Just switch to our amped-up plan, choosing one 500-calorie-zapping strategy from each column per day, and you'll burn a total of 7,000 calories -- or two pounds -- in seven days.
Diet Strategies
___ Instead of an egg salad sandwich on a kaiser roll, have a ham sandwich with 3 ounces of sliced lean ham and mustard on light bread.
___ Swap kung pao chicken takeout for this homemade dinner: 3 to 4 cups of steamed veggies and 4 ounces of tofu with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
___ Cut out all sugar for one day: Have a single serving of cereal such as Fiber One instead of a frosted variety, and skip the teaspoon of sugar on top. Leave the sugar out of your coffee and honey out of your tea; trade your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for two pieces of toast with sugar-free jam and skip the brownie for dessert.
___ Have breakfast for dinner. Replace a hearty meal of pasta with sauce, one piece of French bread and salad with vinaigrette with a bowl of low-fat cereal such as Special K with nonfat milk and 1 cup of blueberries.
___ Eliminate between-meal snacking. Skip your 10 a.m. cereal bar, your 3 p.m. yogurt with nuts, and the late-night ice cream.
___ Go halfsies: At breakfast have half of a bakery bagel or a mini bagel instead of a regular-size whole bagel. At lunch, have a half sandwich. At dinner, have one-half cup of rice or half a baked potato.
___ Hold all the bread. At breakfast, forgo the bagel with your fruit and cereal. At lunch, have the insides of your sandwich only. At dinner, skip the roll and any spread.
Exercise Strategies
___ Do 1 hour of intense cardio (elliptical trainer, rowing, ski machine).
___ Do 70 minutes of power yoga.
___ Take a 30-minute walk in the morning, a 15-minute walk at lunchtime, and a 30-minute walk in the evening.
___ Swim laps for 45 minutes.
___ Do this 60-minute workout: Walk for 15 minutes at 4 mph on the treadmill, then jump rope for 5 minutes; repeat 2 more times.
___ Mountain bike for 45 minutes.
___ Play singles tennis for 1 hour.
By Tracy Teare, Fitness mag
Here are a few quick facts about losing a pound: It will make your jeans feel a smidge looser, it's the equivalent of four sticks of butter (picture that for a second!), and it requires that you burn and/or cut a total of 3,500 calories. Sound like a lot? It adds up faster than you think.
To lose one pound in seven days you need to reduce your net calories by 500 every day. The easiest way to do that is a 250 split: Cut half from your diet and burn the other half through exercise. To come up with easy ways to do this, we enlisted trainer Heather Rider, founder and director of Rider Fitness Consulting in Los Angeles, and nutritionist Lauren Slayton, RD, of Foodtrainers in New York City.
Choose one strategy from the diet and exercise columns each day (feel free to mix and match) and after seven days you will have cut out 3,500 calories. Losing four sticks of butter has never been such a cinch!
Diet Strategies
___ Replace your morning bagel and cream cheese with an English muffin and cottage cheese.
___ Skip the large bakery muffin in favor of 1 slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.
___ Swap your large bran muffin for 3/4 cup of bran flakes.
___ Replace eggs and cheese with scrambled egg whites.
___ Replace your 450-calorie lunch with a 200-calorie protein shake.
___ Replace large french fries with a yogurt-and-fruit parfait.
___ Modify your lunch: Skip the cheese on your salad or sandwich, substitute mustard for mayo, and replace potato chips with soy chips.
___ Have half a tuna salad sandwich instead of a whole, plus two cups of raw vegetables.
___ Skip the cheese in an omelet and a lunchtime sandwich.
___ Switch from cream soup to vegetable-based soup at lunch and dinner.
___ Switch from one cup premium to light ice cream.
___ Skip your afternoon frozen yogurt with ground nuts.
___ Resist the handful of M&M's at the receptionist's desk.
___ Cut out 1 biscotti and 1 large mocha.
___ Switch from a chai tea latte to lemon tea.
___ Have 1 ounce of soy nuts instead of 3 ounces of roasted almonds.
___ Substitute a serving of beef with shrimp or a white flaky fish like cod at two meals.
___ Leave behind one-fourth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
___ Have 1 cup of strawberries instead of a whole banana, and cauliflower instead of a baked potato with sour cream.
___ Replace ranch or blue cheese dressing with low-fat vinaigrette at lunch and dinner.
___ Have a vodka and soda instead of a margarita at happy hour.
Exercise Strategies
___ Jog at a 10-minute-mile pace for 20 minutes.
___ Alternate sprinting and walking for 20 minutes.
___ Walk briskly for 30 minutes.
___ Spin for 30 minutes at a moderate pace.
___ Go for a 20-minute trail run.
___ Do 1 hour of housework.
___ Walk 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile in the evening.
___ Do 35 minutes of power yoga.
___ Do 35 minutes of Pilates.
___ Practice tai chi for 45 minutes.
___ Perfect your swing at the driving range for 60 minutes.
___ Practice capoeira (a Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance) for 30 minutes.
___ Hit a punching bag for 30 minutes.
___ Go in-line skating for 15 minutes.
___ Shovel snow for 30 minutes.
___ Ice-skate vigorously for 30 minutes.
___ Run up stairs for 15 minutes.
___ Jump rope for 20 minutes.
___ Do 25 minutes of circuit training.
___ Dance for 40 minutes.
___ Play Frisbee for 1 hour.
___ Wash windows for 1 hour.
___ Use a pedometer and log an extra 3,600 steps.
How to Lose 2 Pounds in a Week
Just switch to our amped-up plan, choosing one 500-calorie-zapping strategy from each column per day, and you'll burn a total of 7,000 calories -- or two pounds -- in seven days.
Diet Strategies
___ Instead of an egg salad sandwich on a kaiser roll, have a ham sandwich with 3 ounces of sliced lean ham and mustard on light bread.
___ Swap kung pao chicken takeout for this homemade dinner: 3 to 4 cups of steamed veggies and 4 ounces of tofu with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
___ Cut out all sugar for one day: Have a single serving of cereal such as Fiber One instead of a frosted variety, and skip the teaspoon of sugar on top. Leave the sugar out of your coffee and honey out of your tea; trade your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for two pieces of toast with sugar-free jam and skip the brownie for dessert.
___ Have breakfast for dinner. Replace a hearty meal of pasta with sauce, one piece of French bread and salad with vinaigrette with a bowl of low-fat cereal such as Special K with nonfat milk and 1 cup of blueberries.
___ Eliminate between-meal snacking. Skip your 10 a.m. cereal bar, your 3 p.m. yogurt with nuts, and the late-night ice cream.
___ Go halfsies: At breakfast have half of a bakery bagel or a mini bagel instead of a regular-size whole bagel. At lunch, have a half sandwich. At dinner, have one-half cup of rice or half a baked potato.
___ Hold all the bread. At breakfast, forgo the bagel with your fruit and cereal. At lunch, have the insides of your sandwich only. At dinner, skip the roll and any spread.
Exercise Strategies
___ Do 1 hour of intense cardio (elliptical trainer, rowing, ski machine).
___ Do 70 minutes of power yoga.
___ Take a 30-minute walk in the morning, a 15-minute walk at lunchtime, and a 30-minute walk in the evening.
___ Swim laps for 45 minutes.
___ Do this 60-minute workout: Walk for 15 minutes at 4 mph on the treadmill, then jump rope for 5 minutes; repeat 2 more times.
___ Mountain bike for 45 minutes.
___ Play singles tennis for 1 hour.
By Tracy Teare, Fitness mag
Thursday, October 14, 2010
No excuses !!
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.– Samuel Johnson, Author, 1709-1784
You’re so busy you have absolutely no time to work out, right? Wrong. It’s important that you make the time, and I’m here to help you do it. In this busy world filled with work, family and stress, we sometimes have to use a lot of creativity to sneak in workout time.
I’ve constructed some quick tips to keep you moving, your muscles stimulated and your blood flowing in minimal time. Now, you have no excuse.
Here are my 10 fat-burning tips for people on the go:
1. When you first wake up, commit to 10 minutes of continuous exercise. Choose only three movements and perform each in succession without stopping for 10 minutes. For example, Monday you can perform modified push-ups, followed by crunches for your abs followed by stationary lunges. On Tuesday, you can perform free-standing squats with hands on hips, double crunch for abs and close grip modified push-ups (hands 3 inches apart) for your triceps. Just 10 minutes! Just take a quick breather when you need it.
2. Perform timed interval walking in your neighborhood or at lunch. If it takes 10 minutes to walk to a certain destination near your office or in your neighborhood, try to make it in eight minutes. You can also do this first thing in the morning before work as well as on your lunch break.
3. If you have stairs in your home or in your work place, commit to taking the stairs a specific number of times. Tell yourself that you’ll take the stairs six or eight times (no matter what).
4. While seated, perform some isometric exercise to help strengthen and tighten your muscles. For example, while in a seated position, simply contract the abdominals for 30 seconds while breathing naturally. You can also tighten and contract your legs for 60 seconds. Perform about three sets per area. You’ll feel your muscles get tighter in just three weeks if you do this a few times per week.
Here’s a video to help show you how:
5. For about $15, you can invest in a pedometer. It’s a small device you can carry that records the amount of miles you walk per day. Each week, simply try to add just a bit more to the mileage. For example, let’s say you walk one mile total during the day in the normal course of activities. Simply try to make it two miles total the following week. Just make a game of it. You’ll burn more calories.
6. Tired at night and just want to sit in front of the TV? Try this technique: Take periodic five-minute exercise breaks and perform some muscle-stimulating and calorie-burning exercise. For example, take five minutes and perform only ab crunches. Then, when it’s time for another five-minute exercise break, perform modified push-ups for five minutes. Then for a final five-minute break, perform stationary lunges. Try to do as many as possible in five minutes and try to beat your amount of reps during each subsequent break. It won’t seem daunting because it’s only five minutes at a time, split over a 30- or 60-minute timeframe. Instead of rest breaks, you’ll take exercise breaks. You don’t really need to watch that commercial, do you?
7. How about performing one exercise movement per day for seven to 10 minutes? For example, Monday: free-standing squats for seven minutes. Tuesday: chair dips for seven minutes. Wednesday: crunches and hip lifts off the floor for seven minutes. Thursday: modified push-up for seven minutes. Friday: stationary lunges for seven minutes. It’s quick, simple and teaches consistency.
8. Want things even simpler? Take the longest route every time you have to walk somewhere — even if it’s to a co-worker’s office.
9. Double-up the stairs. Every time you take the stairs, simply take a double step, or every other stair. It will be just like lunges and the Stairmaster combined — great for the legs and butt.
10. Perform any of the above with your spouse or a friend. I’m sure you can find someone who is in the same situation. The support will give you more motivation and you just may find that you can create even more workout time for yourself.
Hey, I know this won’t make you an Olympic athlete or give you six-pack abs, but that’s not the goal. I just want to see you making an effort to improve. If you take two to three of your favorite tips above, it will be the beginning of something great.
Fitness magazine
You’re so busy you have absolutely no time to work out, right? Wrong. It’s important that you make the time, and I’m here to help you do it. In this busy world filled with work, family and stress, we sometimes have to use a lot of creativity to sneak in workout time.
I’ve constructed some quick tips to keep you moving, your muscles stimulated and your blood flowing in minimal time. Now, you have no excuse.
Here are my 10 fat-burning tips for people on the go:
1. When you first wake up, commit to 10 minutes of continuous exercise. Choose only three movements and perform each in succession without stopping for 10 minutes. For example, Monday you can perform modified push-ups, followed by crunches for your abs followed by stationary lunges. On Tuesday, you can perform free-standing squats with hands on hips, double crunch for abs and close grip modified push-ups (hands 3 inches apart) for your triceps. Just 10 minutes! Just take a quick breather when you need it.
2. Perform timed interval walking in your neighborhood or at lunch. If it takes 10 minutes to walk to a certain destination near your office or in your neighborhood, try to make it in eight minutes. You can also do this first thing in the morning before work as well as on your lunch break.
3. If you have stairs in your home or in your work place, commit to taking the stairs a specific number of times. Tell yourself that you’ll take the stairs six or eight times (no matter what).
4. While seated, perform some isometric exercise to help strengthen and tighten your muscles. For example, while in a seated position, simply contract the abdominals for 30 seconds while breathing naturally. You can also tighten and contract your legs for 60 seconds. Perform about three sets per area. You’ll feel your muscles get tighter in just three weeks if you do this a few times per week.
Here’s a video to help show you how:
5. For about $15, you can invest in a pedometer. It’s a small device you can carry that records the amount of miles you walk per day. Each week, simply try to add just a bit more to the mileage. For example, let’s say you walk one mile total during the day in the normal course of activities. Simply try to make it two miles total the following week. Just make a game of it. You’ll burn more calories.
6. Tired at night and just want to sit in front of the TV? Try this technique: Take periodic five-minute exercise breaks and perform some muscle-stimulating and calorie-burning exercise. For example, take five minutes and perform only ab crunches. Then, when it’s time for another five-minute exercise break, perform modified push-ups for five minutes. Then for a final five-minute break, perform stationary lunges. Try to do as many as possible in five minutes and try to beat your amount of reps during each subsequent break. It won’t seem daunting because it’s only five minutes at a time, split over a 30- or 60-minute timeframe. Instead of rest breaks, you’ll take exercise breaks. You don’t really need to watch that commercial, do you?
7. How about performing one exercise movement per day for seven to 10 minutes? For example, Monday: free-standing squats for seven minutes. Tuesday: chair dips for seven minutes. Wednesday: crunches and hip lifts off the floor for seven minutes. Thursday: modified push-up for seven minutes. Friday: stationary lunges for seven minutes. It’s quick, simple and teaches consistency.
8. Want things even simpler? Take the longest route every time you have to walk somewhere — even if it’s to a co-worker’s office.
9. Double-up the stairs. Every time you take the stairs, simply take a double step, or every other stair. It will be just like lunges and the Stairmaster combined — great for the legs and butt.
10. Perform any of the above with your spouse or a friend. I’m sure you can find someone who is in the same situation. The support will give you more motivation and you just may find that you can create even more workout time for yourself.
Hey, I know this won’t make you an Olympic athlete or give you six-pack abs, but that’s not the goal. I just want to see you making an effort to improve. If you take two to three of your favorite tips above, it will be the beginning of something great.
Fitness magazine
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Use Measurements Instead of the Scale
What's So Motivating About Numbers Anyway?
Pretend for a minute that gravity doesn’t exist. Everything is weightless, including your aunt Sophie, yet it all manages to stay on the ground. You don’t know how much you weigh because scales have never been invented. How would you define your state of health? After all, you wouldn’t be able to say "I need to lose 10 pounds" or "I weigh 150 pounds, so I must be overweight.
"What would be your benchmark? You might still not like how you look. You might be tired of being tired all the time. You might need to trim down and take care of that blood pressure problem. You might want to avoid diabetes.
In a gravity-free world, those are all still good reasons to create healthy diet and fitness habits. Who knows, you might decide "Hey, I feel all right, I look all right, and I’m healthy. If I can just maintain the habits I have, I should be okay.
"The point is, you can decide for yourself what shape you’re in. You don’t need the scale to tell you. Unfortunately, many times we get down on ourselves simply because something as trivial as gravity tells us we’re out of shape. Some people feel and look fantastic in every respect, but if the number on the scale doesn’t match expectations, they’re miserable. This doesn’t make sense. Gravity should not be able to wield that kind of power.
In this gravity-rich reality we live in, we have a fascination with the scale. While it’s good for giving you a general idea of your health, this can be the most discouraging and frustrating part of a diet. Your weight can fluctuate all the time and reasons why are never completely known. Time of day, temperature, the day’s activities, water level – all can skew the numbers one way or the other. In reality, you could be getting discouraged over something that’s not really accurate.
To stay motivated, try finding other ways to measure your progress instead of stepping on the scale. Try some benchmarks that actually matter. Some may be tougher to measure than others, some are more subjective. But we think you’ll find that these measurements can still be a lot more meaningful and motivating.
Take some of these regular measurements to stay motivated, even if the scale isn’t moving:
Body Measures – dress size, waist, hips, neck, arms, fitting into favorite clothes
Performance – more endurance during exercise, doing them at a higher level, jumping higher, walking longer, running faster, playing a sport better
General Feeling – rate energy level, rate attitude and outlook, track how often you feel very sleepy during the day, rate your confidence level
Health – blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar levelIntangibles – how you look, compliments you receive, how others respond to you.
-- By Mike Kramer, SparkPeople Contributor
Pretend for a minute that gravity doesn’t exist. Everything is weightless, including your aunt Sophie, yet it all manages to stay on the ground. You don’t know how much you weigh because scales have never been invented. How would you define your state of health? After all, you wouldn’t be able to say "I need to lose 10 pounds" or "I weigh 150 pounds, so I must be overweight.
"What would be your benchmark? You might still not like how you look. You might be tired of being tired all the time. You might need to trim down and take care of that blood pressure problem. You might want to avoid diabetes.
In a gravity-free world, those are all still good reasons to create healthy diet and fitness habits. Who knows, you might decide "Hey, I feel all right, I look all right, and I’m healthy. If I can just maintain the habits I have, I should be okay.
"The point is, you can decide for yourself what shape you’re in. You don’t need the scale to tell you. Unfortunately, many times we get down on ourselves simply because something as trivial as gravity tells us we’re out of shape. Some people feel and look fantastic in every respect, but if the number on the scale doesn’t match expectations, they’re miserable. This doesn’t make sense. Gravity should not be able to wield that kind of power.
In this gravity-rich reality we live in, we have a fascination with the scale. While it’s good for giving you a general idea of your health, this can be the most discouraging and frustrating part of a diet. Your weight can fluctuate all the time and reasons why are never completely known. Time of day, temperature, the day’s activities, water level – all can skew the numbers one way or the other. In reality, you could be getting discouraged over something that’s not really accurate.
To stay motivated, try finding other ways to measure your progress instead of stepping on the scale. Try some benchmarks that actually matter. Some may be tougher to measure than others, some are more subjective. But we think you’ll find that these measurements can still be a lot more meaningful and motivating.
Take some of these regular measurements to stay motivated, even if the scale isn’t moving:
Body Measures – dress size, waist, hips, neck, arms, fitting into favorite clothes
Performance – more endurance during exercise, doing them at a higher level, jumping higher, walking longer, running faster, playing a sport better
General Feeling – rate energy level, rate attitude and outlook, track how often you feel very sleepy during the day, rate your confidence level
Health – blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar levelIntangibles – how you look, compliments you receive, how others respond to you.
-- By Mike Kramer, SparkPeople Contributor
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
10 Diet Foods That Make You Fat
Some of your favorite diet foods -- turkey burgers, granola, yogurt, and more -- are shockingly high in calories and fat.
Here's how to recognize 10 common fat traps.
Diet Traps 1-4
The Sugar-Packed Snack: Yogurt
Brace yourself for culture shock. Plain yogurt naturally contains about 16 grams of sugar per cup. But if you eat flavored yogurt, you could be downing 15 or more additional grams of sugar, which is like shoveling in four extra teaspoonfuls.
Slim Strategy
Choose plain, low-fat yogurt and stir in a teaspoon of honey, maple syrup, or all-fruit spread for a hint of sweetness. Or opt for fat-free Greek yogurt, which is lower in sugar than even regular plain yogurt but often has double the protein to keep you satisfied longer.
The Tricky Treat: Sugar-Free Cookies and Candy
Don't fall for the no-sugar scam: When manufacturers remove the sweet stuff, they often add fat. One popular brand offers chocolate-chip cookies that each contain 160 calories and 9 grams of fat, so why not eat the real thing? You might save calories with sugar-free candy, but many contain sorbitol, which can cause bloating and diarrhea.
Slim Strategy
Get your cookie fix with graham crackers, which have almost a teaspoon less sugar per serving than many other packaged cookies. Or find a 100-calorie snack pack of your favorite (try Keebler Fudge Shoppe Mini Fudge Stripes). Taking a trip to candy land? Grab a 60-calorie Tootsie Pop or a York Peppermint Pattie (140 calories and 2.5 grams of fat).
The Backpack Bad Guy: Trail Mix
Store-bought versions of this hiking staple should take a hike. A 1-ounce handful of banana chips packs 10 grams of fat (they're usually deep-fried), and yogurt-covered raisins are coated with partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, which contains saturated and trans fats.
Slim Strategy
Toss your own trail mix with nuts, dried fruit (raisins or chopped apricots), whole-grain cereal, mini pretzels, and a few chocolate chips. Limit your portion to one cup.
The Mediocre Munchie: Veggie Chips
The rainbow-hued chips are no better than their potato counterparts. While both may boast a little vitamin A or C, your hips won't know the difference: The salty snacks have about 150 calories and 9 or 10 grams of fat per handful. And that bag may contain plain old chips in disguise; sometimes manufacturers simply add food coloring to potato flour.
Slim Strategy
Be sure your chips list a vegetable, not potato flour or corn flour, as the first ingredient (we like Terra Chips) and stick with just one portion. Or skip them in favor of baked tortilla chips: Pair a serving (about 12 chips) with 1/2 cup of salsa; you'll quell your crunch craving and get a full serving of veggies with only 153 nearly fat-free calories.
Diet Traps 5-10
The Cereal Saboteur: Granola
Pancakes drowned in syrup, eggs swimming in hollandaise sauce -- is there a healthy option on the brunch menu? Granola seems harmless, but it's no breakfast of champions. One cup contains up to 560 calories and 28 grams of fat before you add milk.
Slim Strategy
Reluctant to give up that sweet, nutty taste? Skip granola at restaurants, where you can't control your portion. Enjoy it at home by mixing a quarter cup into a cup of low-cal, whole-grain cereal, such as All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes, or sprinkle a tablespoon on oatmeal.
The Fishy Take-Out: Sushi
Say sayonara to the trendy American-style sushi rolls. They're stuffed with high-cal ingredients like cream cheese, mayo, and shredded cheese. And remember that tempura is simply another way of saying "'battered and fried."' One shrimp tempura roll (just six pieces of sushi) contains about 500 calories and 20 grams of fat.
Slim Strategy
Look for the basics -- fish, rice, seaweed, vegetables -- and skip creamy sauces. Sashimi (sliced raw fish, no rice) and nigiri (raw fish with rice) are safe, as are cucumber rolls. Order a side of protein-rich edamame to fill you up.
The Liquid Lunch: Smoothies
Sure, you'll get your fruit servings. You'll also fit in a meal's worth of calories, and in some cases, way more fat than you think (17 grams in one popular chain's 16-ounce chunky strawberry smoothie). Even if you substitute one for breakfast, you're pushing your calorie limit: Some smoothies weigh in at 500 calories.
Slim Strategy
Pick the smallest size available, and avoid high-cal mixers like frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet, and especially peanut butter and granola. One good bet at Jamba Juice: the Berry Fulfilling (150 calories). Pair it with a low-fat cheese stick or a hard-boiled egg for an on-the-go breakfast or midafternoon snack.
The Sneaky Sip: Diet Drinks
That can of zero-calorie soda glued to your palm may be your waistline's worst enemy: Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that people who drink artificially sweetened beverages gained more weight than those who didn't, possibly because the sweet flavor may trigger cravings for the real thing. In another study, soda sippers were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure and ab fat that raises heart-disease risk.
Slim Strategy
Reserve diet soda for an occasional treat. Get your fizz fix from seltzer or sparkling mineral water, such as San Pellegrino.
The Villainous Vinaigrette: Fat-Free Salad Dressing
Without fat, your salad is dressed for diet success, right? Wrong. Your body needs fat to absorb certain nutrients in veggies. In a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who used fat-free dressings didn't absorb any lycopene or beta-carotene, two health-boosting antioxidants.
Slim Strategy
Get an oil-based, reduced-fat dressing (usually 2 to 4 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons) that contains heart-healthy oils like olive and canola. Or make your own by whisking together 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a pinch of minced garlic.
The Foul Fowl: Ground Turkey
It seems like a no-brainer for burgers and lasagna, but ground turkey often includes fat and skin. A 3-ounce serving can contain 13 grams of fat -- almost triple the amount in lean ground beef. With 40-plus percent of your day's worth of cholesterol, regular ground chicken is no better.
Slim Strategy
Look closely at labels. Extra-lean turkey is your best bet, with 1 gram of fat and no saturated fat per serving. Can't find it? Buy at least 92 percent lean ground beef
By Sally Kuzemchak, RD, Fitness
Here's how to recognize 10 common fat traps.
Diet Traps 1-4
The Sugar-Packed Snack: Yogurt
Brace yourself for culture shock. Plain yogurt naturally contains about 16 grams of sugar per cup. But if you eat flavored yogurt, you could be downing 15 or more additional grams of sugar, which is like shoveling in four extra teaspoonfuls.
Slim Strategy
Choose plain, low-fat yogurt and stir in a teaspoon of honey, maple syrup, or all-fruit spread for a hint of sweetness. Or opt for fat-free Greek yogurt, which is lower in sugar than even regular plain yogurt but often has double the protein to keep you satisfied longer.
The Tricky Treat: Sugar-Free Cookies and Candy
Don't fall for the no-sugar scam: When manufacturers remove the sweet stuff, they often add fat. One popular brand offers chocolate-chip cookies that each contain 160 calories and 9 grams of fat, so why not eat the real thing? You might save calories with sugar-free candy, but many contain sorbitol, which can cause bloating and diarrhea.
Slim Strategy
Get your cookie fix with graham crackers, which have almost a teaspoon less sugar per serving than many other packaged cookies. Or find a 100-calorie snack pack of your favorite (try Keebler Fudge Shoppe Mini Fudge Stripes). Taking a trip to candy land? Grab a 60-calorie Tootsie Pop or a York Peppermint Pattie (140 calories and 2.5 grams of fat).
The Backpack Bad Guy: Trail Mix
Store-bought versions of this hiking staple should take a hike. A 1-ounce handful of banana chips packs 10 grams of fat (they're usually deep-fried), and yogurt-covered raisins are coated with partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, which contains saturated and trans fats.
Slim Strategy
Toss your own trail mix with nuts, dried fruit (raisins or chopped apricots), whole-grain cereal, mini pretzels, and a few chocolate chips. Limit your portion to one cup.
The Mediocre Munchie: Veggie Chips
The rainbow-hued chips are no better than their potato counterparts. While both may boast a little vitamin A or C, your hips won't know the difference: The salty snacks have about 150 calories and 9 or 10 grams of fat per handful. And that bag may contain plain old chips in disguise; sometimes manufacturers simply add food coloring to potato flour.
Slim Strategy
Be sure your chips list a vegetable, not potato flour or corn flour, as the first ingredient (we like Terra Chips) and stick with just one portion. Or skip them in favor of baked tortilla chips: Pair a serving (about 12 chips) with 1/2 cup of salsa; you'll quell your crunch craving and get a full serving of veggies with only 153 nearly fat-free calories.
Diet Traps 5-10
The Cereal Saboteur: Granola
Pancakes drowned in syrup, eggs swimming in hollandaise sauce -- is there a healthy option on the brunch menu? Granola seems harmless, but it's no breakfast of champions. One cup contains up to 560 calories and 28 grams of fat before you add milk.
Slim Strategy
Reluctant to give up that sweet, nutty taste? Skip granola at restaurants, where you can't control your portion. Enjoy it at home by mixing a quarter cup into a cup of low-cal, whole-grain cereal, such as All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes, or sprinkle a tablespoon on oatmeal.
The Fishy Take-Out: Sushi
Say sayonara to the trendy American-style sushi rolls. They're stuffed with high-cal ingredients like cream cheese, mayo, and shredded cheese. And remember that tempura is simply another way of saying "'battered and fried."' One shrimp tempura roll (just six pieces of sushi) contains about 500 calories and 20 grams of fat.
Slim Strategy
Look for the basics -- fish, rice, seaweed, vegetables -- and skip creamy sauces. Sashimi (sliced raw fish, no rice) and nigiri (raw fish with rice) are safe, as are cucumber rolls. Order a side of protein-rich edamame to fill you up.
The Liquid Lunch: Smoothies
Sure, you'll get your fruit servings. You'll also fit in a meal's worth of calories, and in some cases, way more fat than you think (17 grams in one popular chain's 16-ounce chunky strawberry smoothie). Even if you substitute one for breakfast, you're pushing your calorie limit: Some smoothies weigh in at 500 calories.
Slim Strategy
Pick the smallest size available, and avoid high-cal mixers like frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet, and especially peanut butter and granola. One good bet at Jamba Juice: the Berry Fulfilling (150 calories). Pair it with a low-fat cheese stick or a hard-boiled egg for an on-the-go breakfast or midafternoon snack.
The Sneaky Sip: Diet Drinks
That can of zero-calorie soda glued to your palm may be your waistline's worst enemy: Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that people who drink artificially sweetened beverages gained more weight than those who didn't, possibly because the sweet flavor may trigger cravings for the real thing. In another study, soda sippers were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure and ab fat that raises heart-disease risk.
Slim Strategy
Reserve diet soda for an occasional treat. Get your fizz fix from seltzer or sparkling mineral water, such as San Pellegrino.
The Villainous Vinaigrette: Fat-Free Salad Dressing
Without fat, your salad is dressed for diet success, right? Wrong. Your body needs fat to absorb certain nutrients in veggies. In a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who used fat-free dressings didn't absorb any lycopene or beta-carotene, two health-boosting antioxidants.
Slim Strategy
Get an oil-based, reduced-fat dressing (usually 2 to 4 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons) that contains heart-healthy oils like olive and canola. Or make your own by whisking together 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a pinch of minced garlic.
The Foul Fowl: Ground Turkey
It seems like a no-brainer for burgers and lasagna, but ground turkey often includes fat and skin. A 3-ounce serving can contain 13 grams of fat -- almost triple the amount in lean ground beef. With 40-plus percent of your day's worth of cholesterol, regular ground chicken is no better.
Slim Strategy
Look closely at labels. Extra-lean turkey is your best bet, with 1 gram of fat and no saturated fat per serving. Can't find it? Buy at least 92 percent lean ground beef
By Sally Kuzemchak, RD, Fitness
Monday, October 11, 2010
6 Risks of Eating a Low-Fat Diet
How Low Can You Go? The Big Fat Truth about Low-Fat Diets
The all-or-nothing mentality prevails in our society. Here at SparkPeople though, we know better. Moderation is our mantra, and we repeat it so often that most of us understand the importance of applying it to exercise, eating and setting goals. Still, there's one thing that many of us fear so much that we forgo moderation and head to extremes: fat. The residual effects of the low-fat craze of the 1990s linger, causing many people to believe that less is more when it comes to fat.
Being conscious of your dietary fat intake is definitely a good thing, especially when you're trying to reduce your risk of heart disease or lose weight. But if you take it too far, you could be putting your health in jeopardy.
So how much fat do you need?
For healthy adults, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 20% to 35% of your daily calories come from fat. The American Heart Association take a middle of the road approach, advocating a 30% fat intake. Use the following chart to see your estimated daily fat recommendations based on these ranges.
Recommended Daily Fat Intake Based on Calorie Needs
Daily Calories Ideal Fat Intake* Too Low Too High+
1,200 27-47 g <> 47 g
1,300 28-51 g <> 51 g
1,400 31-54 g <> 54 g
1,500 33-58 g <> 58 g
1,600 36-62 g <> 62 g
1,700 38-66 g <> 66 g
1,800 40-70 g <> 70 g
1,900 42-74 g <> 74 g
2,000 44-78 g <> 78 g
2,100 47-82 g <> 82 g
2,200 49-86 g <> 86 g
2,300 51-89 g <> 89 g
2,400 53-93 g <> 93 g
*20%-35% of daily calories
^Less than 20% of daily calories
+Greater than 35% of daily calories
Lower fat isn't necessarily better. Regularly consuming fewer than 20% of your daily calories from fat (see "Too Low" on the chart above) will put your health at risk in many ways as discussed above. A diet too high in fat (see "Too High" on the chart above) can also lead to problems—heart disease, diabetes, cancer and weight gain. Here are six health risks you're taking when you restrict your fat intake too far.
1. Poor Vitamin Absorption
Eating a diet too low in fat can interfere with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Because these nutrients are fat soluble, your body needs dietary fat to utilize them. These vitamins are stored mostly in the liver and fat tissue and are important in bodily functions such as growth, immunity, cell repair and blood clotting. If you're not eating enough fat to bring these vitamins into your body, they will be excreted, and you may be at risk for a vitamin deficiency.
2. Depression
A diet that's too low in fat—especially essential fatty acids, which your body can only get from food—might hurt your mental health. Both omega-3s and omega-6s play roles in mood and behavior. They are the precursor to many hormones and chemicals produced in the brain. One study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders has linked low and abnormal essential fatty acid intake to depressive symptoms. Other research shows that, because fatty acids help to insulate nerve cells in the brain, allowing these nerve cells to better communicate with one another. People who are deficient in omega-3s may suffer from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and ADHD.
3. Increased Cancer Risk
Colon, breast, and prostate cancers have all been correlated with low intakes of essential fatty acids. Research has shown that a high intake of omega-3s slows prostate tumor and cancer cell growth, too. If your diet lacks healthy fats, you could be increasing your risk of cancer.
4. High Cholesterol and Heart Disease
Low-fat diets also play a role in cholesterol levels and heart disease. When your diet is too low in fat, your body's level of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) goes down. This is problematic because you want your HDL level to be high to help protect against heart disease. HDL collects "bad" cholesterol from the blood and transports it to the liver for excretion. When those ratios are out of balance—and when your LDL ("bad" cholesterol) level gets too high, you face cholesterol problems and an increased risk of heart disease. Essential fatty acids, especially Omega-3s, can elevate HDL, improve cholesterol levels and protect the heart.
5. Imbalance of Nutrients—Especially Carbs
If you're not eating enough fat, then you're likely getting too much of other things, namely carbs and/or protein. This affects the overall balance of your diet, which could lead to health problems. A carbohydrate-rich diet can inflate appetite and girth and increases your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. On the flip side, a high-protein diet taxes the kidneys and liver and can lead to osteoporosis. Both cases can result in nutrient deficiencies. The key is to balance all three macronutrients—fat, carbs and protein—to ensure optimal nutrition and disease prevention (more on that below).
6. Overeating
If you're always choosing low-fat or fat-free foods at the grocery store, you could be shortchanging your weight-loss efforts. Many of these processed foods contain added sugars to enhance taste; often they're similar in calories to the original full-fat product. Research has shown that people tend to believe these foods are "freebies" and will even overeat them, thinking they're healthy or low in calories when they're anything but. Plus, fat helps carry flavor in our foods. It leads to fullness and satiety, which means you can get by longer on a meal or snack that provides fat without feeling the need to eat again soon. When that fat is missing, your appetite may get the best of you.
Considering the health risks of not eating enough fat, it is definitely important to include enough in your diet daily. However, not all fats are created equal. Foods such as avocados, canola and olive oil, almonds, tuna, salmon and flaxseed are all excellent sources of healthy fats. High-fat meats and dairy products, trans fats (hydrogenated oils), and saturated fats should be limited.
Just as eating too few calories can hurt your weight-loss efforts, a diet too low in fat can hurt your health, too. Enjoy a moderate amount of fat daily with the peace of mind that you are protecting your heart, brain and your body with every bite.
by Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian, sparkpeople
The all-or-nothing mentality prevails in our society. Here at SparkPeople though, we know better. Moderation is our mantra, and we repeat it so often that most of us understand the importance of applying it to exercise, eating and setting goals. Still, there's one thing that many of us fear so much that we forgo moderation and head to extremes: fat. The residual effects of the low-fat craze of the 1990s linger, causing many people to believe that less is more when it comes to fat.
Being conscious of your dietary fat intake is definitely a good thing, especially when you're trying to reduce your risk of heart disease or lose weight. But if you take it too far, you could be putting your health in jeopardy.
So how much fat do you need?
For healthy adults, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 20% to 35% of your daily calories come from fat. The American Heart Association take a middle of the road approach, advocating a 30% fat intake. Use the following chart to see your estimated daily fat recommendations based on these ranges.
Recommended Daily Fat Intake Based on Calorie Needs
Daily Calories Ideal Fat Intake* Too Low Too High+
1,200 27-47 g <> 47 g
1,300 28-51 g <> 51 g
1,400 31-54 g <> 54 g
1,500 33-58 g <> 58 g
1,600 36-62 g <> 62 g
1,700 38-66 g <> 66 g
1,800 40-70 g <> 70 g
1,900 42-74 g <> 74 g
2,000 44-78 g <> 78 g
2,100 47-82 g <> 82 g
2,200 49-86 g <> 86 g
2,300 51-89 g <> 89 g
2,400 53-93 g <> 93 g
*20%-35% of daily calories
^Less than 20% of daily calories
+Greater than 35% of daily calories
Lower fat isn't necessarily better. Regularly consuming fewer than 20% of your daily calories from fat (see "Too Low" on the chart above) will put your health at risk in many ways as discussed above. A diet too high in fat (see "Too High" on the chart above) can also lead to problems—heart disease, diabetes, cancer and weight gain. Here are six health risks you're taking when you restrict your fat intake too far.
1. Poor Vitamin Absorption
Eating a diet too low in fat can interfere with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Because these nutrients are fat soluble, your body needs dietary fat to utilize them. These vitamins are stored mostly in the liver and fat tissue and are important in bodily functions such as growth, immunity, cell repair and blood clotting. If you're not eating enough fat to bring these vitamins into your body, they will be excreted, and you may be at risk for a vitamin deficiency.
2. Depression
A diet that's too low in fat—especially essential fatty acids, which your body can only get from food—might hurt your mental health. Both omega-3s and omega-6s play roles in mood and behavior. They are the precursor to many hormones and chemicals produced in the brain. One study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders has linked low and abnormal essential fatty acid intake to depressive symptoms. Other research shows that, because fatty acids help to insulate nerve cells in the brain, allowing these nerve cells to better communicate with one another. People who are deficient in omega-3s may suffer from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and ADHD.
3. Increased Cancer Risk
Colon, breast, and prostate cancers have all been correlated with low intakes of essential fatty acids. Research has shown that a high intake of omega-3s slows prostate tumor and cancer cell growth, too. If your diet lacks healthy fats, you could be increasing your risk of cancer.
4. High Cholesterol and Heart Disease
Low-fat diets also play a role in cholesterol levels and heart disease. When your diet is too low in fat, your body's level of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) goes down. This is problematic because you want your HDL level to be high to help protect against heart disease. HDL collects "bad" cholesterol from the blood and transports it to the liver for excretion. When those ratios are out of balance—and when your LDL ("bad" cholesterol) level gets too high, you face cholesterol problems and an increased risk of heart disease. Essential fatty acids, especially Omega-3s, can elevate HDL, improve cholesterol levels and protect the heart.
5. Imbalance of Nutrients—Especially Carbs
If you're not eating enough fat, then you're likely getting too much of other things, namely carbs and/or protein. This affects the overall balance of your diet, which could lead to health problems. A carbohydrate-rich diet can inflate appetite and girth and increases your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. On the flip side, a high-protein diet taxes the kidneys and liver and can lead to osteoporosis. Both cases can result in nutrient deficiencies. The key is to balance all three macronutrients—fat, carbs and protein—to ensure optimal nutrition and disease prevention (more on that below).
6. Overeating
If you're always choosing low-fat or fat-free foods at the grocery store, you could be shortchanging your weight-loss efforts. Many of these processed foods contain added sugars to enhance taste; often they're similar in calories to the original full-fat product. Research has shown that people tend to believe these foods are "freebies" and will even overeat them, thinking they're healthy or low in calories when they're anything but. Plus, fat helps carry flavor in our foods. It leads to fullness and satiety, which means you can get by longer on a meal or snack that provides fat without feeling the need to eat again soon. When that fat is missing, your appetite may get the best of you.
Considering the health risks of not eating enough fat, it is definitely important to include enough in your diet daily. However, not all fats are created equal. Foods such as avocados, canola and olive oil, almonds, tuna, salmon and flaxseed are all excellent sources of healthy fats. High-fat meats and dairy products, trans fats (hydrogenated oils), and saturated fats should be limited.
Just as eating too few calories can hurt your weight-loss efforts, a diet too low in fat can hurt your health, too. Enjoy a moderate amount of fat daily with the peace of mind that you are protecting your heart, brain and your body with every bite.
by Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian, sparkpeople
Friday, October 8, 2010
1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward
Don't Let a Setback Stop You from Pushing Ahead
"Fall seven times, get up eight." - Japanese Proverb
"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams
"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Chinese Proverb
"Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never." - Winston Churchill
"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson
These quotes all say the same thing. No matter how many obstacles you run into, what matters is that you’re able to overcome each of them, one at a time.
"Two steps forward, one step back" is usually a negative term to describe someone who is having trouble making progress. But switched around, "1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward" means that instead of grousing or feeling guilty about a misstep, you can still come out ahead if you put your head down and push forward.
Steps back can take many forms: a family vacation, breaks in your routine, personal tragedies, injuries, or that lost weekend in front of the tube. A big mistake people make when trying to get healthier is that when they fall off a bit or something happens, they think they "have to start over". Wrong! When missteps do happen, a better strategy is to simply take two steps forward. You’re still ahead of where you were before, far beyond the starting line.
In tennis, losing one point isn’t the end of the world. It happens to the best of them. In fact, if you can consistently win a few more points that you lose, you may end up in the hall of fame. With healthy eating and exercising, as long as you’re consistently out-stepping your steps back, you’re ahead of the game. If you expect perfection (and many of us do), you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and guilt.
Guilt can be debilitating to your healthy habits. When you mess up (or even when things are messed up for you), it’s natural to feel guilty. At that point, you have a choice: to let that guilt plummet you into a cycle that could spit you out worse off than before, or to accept the step back and say "where do I go from here?
"Of course, consistent success is still something to strive for. You don’t want to roller-coaster up and down. That’s an "old" habit, remember? And the 1Step/2Step strategy doesn’t lessen the need to do your best. You should still work hard to keep those steps back from happening. But it helps to be prepared with a plan and a positive attitude for when they do happen.
Many times, this means a rededication, a refocusing, and a recommitment. You might want to look at your program and see why it’s allowing those landmines to stick around. Use it as a learning process. Ask how you can keep that misstep from happening again.
* Take a walk in the woods to clear your head and regroup.
* Have a personal "bounce back" motto that will re-energize you. Put it everywhere.
* Take a break if you think you’re trying too hard.
* Return to the basics. Are you making it too complicated and tough on yourself?
* Plan ahead for irregularities in your schedule, call ahead to healthy restaurants, pack healthy snacks.
* Stay aware of what you’re doing. One meal mess up can turn into a one day mess up, a one week mess up if you’re not careful.
* Remind yourself of your success so far when you need a boost.
Unlike people who run 10 miles today because they should have run two yesterday, "2 Steps Forward" doesn’t necessarily mean doing a lot more to make up for a blunder. Just make a commitment to do things as right as possible as much as you can.
-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer, sparkpeople
"Fall seven times, get up eight." - Japanese Proverb
"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams
"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Chinese Proverb
"Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never." - Winston Churchill
"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson
These quotes all say the same thing. No matter how many obstacles you run into, what matters is that you’re able to overcome each of them, one at a time.
"Two steps forward, one step back" is usually a negative term to describe someone who is having trouble making progress. But switched around, "1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward" means that instead of grousing or feeling guilty about a misstep, you can still come out ahead if you put your head down and push forward.
Steps back can take many forms: a family vacation, breaks in your routine, personal tragedies, injuries, or that lost weekend in front of the tube. A big mistake people make when trying to get healthier is that when they fall off a bit or something happens, they think they "have to start over". Wrong! When missteps do happen, a better strategy is to simply take two steps forward. You’re still ahead of where you were before, far beyond the starting line.
In tennis, losing one point isn’t the end of the world. It happens to the best of them. In fact, if you can consistently win a few more points that you lose, you may end up in the hall of fame. With healthy eating and exercising, as long as you’re consistently out-stepping your steps back, you’re ahead of the game. If you expect perfection (and many of us do), you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and guilt.
Guilt can be debilitating to your healthy habits. When you mess up (or even when things are messed up for you), it’s natural to feel guilty. At that point, you have a choice: to let that guilt plummet you into a cycle that could spit you out worse off than before, or to accept the step back and say "where do I go from here?
"Of course, consistent success is still something to strive for. You don’t want to roller-coaster up and down. That’s an "old" habit, remember? And the 1Step/2Step strategy doesn’t lessen the need to do your best. You should still work hard to keep those steps back from happening. But it helps to be prepared with a plan and a positive attitude for when they do happen.
Many times, this means a rededication, a refocusing, and a recommitment. You might want to look at your program and see why it’s allowing those landmines to stick around. Use it as a learning process. Ask how you can keep that misstep from happening again.
* Take a walk in the woods to clear your head and regroup.
* Have a personal "bounce back" motto that will re-energize you. Put it everywhere.
* Take a break if you think you’re trying too hard.
* Return to the basics. Are you making it too complicated and tough on yourself?
* Plan ahead for irregularities in your schedule, call ahead to healthy restaurants, pack healthy snacks.
* Stay aware of what you’re doing. One meal mess up can turn into a one day mess up, a one week mess up if you’re not careful.
* Remind yourself of your success so far when you need a boost.
Unlike people who run 10 miles today because they should have run two yesterday, "2 Steps Forward" doesn’t necessarily mean doing a lot more to make up for a blunder. Just make a commitment to do things as right as possible as much as you can.
-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer, sparkpeople
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Snacking Healthy....
Add Snacks to Subtract Pounds
While some dieters happily accept when someone suggests a snack, others feel pangs of guilt when a nibble is merely suggested. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with a bite between meals. In fact, snacking might be the missing ingredient that will help you reach your weight loss goals.
But how can this make sense, since snacking theoretically adds calories?
Snacking doesn’t serve to replace a meal. In fact, you should spread meals and snacks out by an hour or two, and snacks should total a couple hundred calories or less.
Munching between meals can actually reduce your overall caloric intake by curbing overeating at your next meal. By controlling later binging, snacking can help you stay on track. You can actually use this to your advantage. If you know you are going out to a big dinner with friends later, for example, make sure you have a healthy snack before you head out so you’re less likely to order (and finish) a large entrée.
How You Snack Can Make or Break Your Diet
There is definitely a wrong way and a right way to snack. You should avoid sugary items like candy and soda, and shouldn’t be consuming enough calories to constitute a meal. Instead, steer towards foods that will satisfy you and keep you feeling fuller longer. Fruits and vegetables are always a safe bet because they are low in fat and calories. (Just be sure to avoid high-calorie dips.) Yogurt, fruit smoothies, even a slice of whole-wheat toast all make great snacks during the day. Combining lean protein, some healthy fat, and complex carbohydrates will help you feel fuller longer.
Mini Meals
Many experts are recommending several smaller meals throughout the day instead of the usual three. By eating at regular intervals, your blood sugar levels (and therefore your energy levels) remain stable. So, instead of that mid-afternoon crash, you’ll be full of vigor through dinnertime! Eating every few hours (especially if you chew on fruits and veggies) can also help add extra nutrition that might be missing from other meals.
Snacking Isn’t Grazing
Mindless eating is often the downfall of many snackers. You may start with only a handful of your favorite crackers, only to finish the entire box, without even thinking about it. Obviously, this example isn’t the healthy snacking that can help you reach your weight loss goals.
To avoid grazing:
* Fill a small plate with your snack, and leave the kitchen. Just walk away. When your plate is empty, snack time is over.
* Never bring the entire container with you in front of the television or computer. Enjoy your snack without distraction and you won’t be tempted to reach for more.
* If you stand around the snack table chatting at a party, you may find yourself reaching for food when the conversation lulls. This can often lead to an unintentional binge because you simply aren’t paying attention to what you are eating.
* Limit yourself to a single serving.
* Plan out your snacks just like you would a meal. Is one cookie worth the calorie cost, when you could eat a plate of fresh fruit instead?
Practice Moderation
As with the rest of your diet, moderation is crucial when snacking. Make sure that you are adding every snack to your Nutrition Tracker, along with the larger meals you eat during the day. If you don’t keep track, you might add excess calories and fat to your diet without realizing it.
Don’t sabotage your diet with unhealthy nibbles throughout the day, like empty calories (candy for example); stick to nourishing foods whenever possible. If you know you have a weakness for junk food, do yourself a favor and don’t purchase these items next time you are at the grocery store. Then you won’t have to fight the temptation of ice cream or potato chips when hunger pangs hit.
-- By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer, Sparkpeople
While some dieters happily accept when someone suggests a snack, others feel pangs of guilt when a nibble is merely suggested. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with a bite between meals. In fact, snacking might be the missing ingredient that will help you reach your weight loss goals.
But how can this make sense, since snacking theoretically adds calories?
Snacking doesn’t serve to replace a meal. In fact, you should spread meals and snacks out by an hour or two, and snacks should total a couple hundred calories or less.
Munching between meals can actually reduce your overall caloric intake by curbing overeating at your next meal. By controlling later binging, snacking can help you stay on track. You can actually use this to your advantage. If you know you are going out to a big dinner with friends later, for example, make sure you have a healthy snack before you head out so you’re less likely to order (and finish) a large entrée.
How You Snack Can Make or Break Your Diet
There is definitely a wrong way and a right way to snack. You should avoid sugary items like candy and soda, and shouldn’t be consuming enough calories to constitute a meal. Instead, steer towards foods that will satisfy you and keep you feeling fuller longer. Fruits and vegetables are always a safe bet because they are low in fat and calories. (Just be sure to avoid high-calorie dips.) Yogurt, fruit smoothies, even a slice of whole-wheat toast all make great snacks during the day. Combining lean protein, some healthy fat, and complex carbohydrates will help you feel fuller longer.
Mini Meals
Many experts are recommending several smaller meals throughout the day instead of the usual three. By eating at regular intervals, your blood sugar levels (and therefore your energy levels) remain stable. So, instead of that mid-afternoon crash, you’ll be full of vigor through dinnertime! Eating every few hours (especially if you chew on fruits and veggies) can also help add extra nutrition that might be missing from other meals.
Snacking Isn’t Grazing
Mindless eating is often the downfall of many snackers. You may start with only a handful of your favorite crackers, only to finish the entire box, without even thinking about it. Obviously, this example isn’t the healthy snacking that can help you reach your weight loss goals.
To avoid grazing:
* Fill a small plate with your snack, and leave the kitchen. Just walk away. When your plate is empty, snack time is over.
* Never bring the entire container with you in front of the television or computer. Enjoy your snack without distraction and you won’t be tempted to reach for more.
* If you stand around the snack table chatting at a party, you may find yourself reaching for food when the conversation lulls. This can often lead to an unintentional binge because you simply aren’t paying attention to what you are eating.
* Limit yourself to a single serving.
* Plan out your snacks just like you would a meal. Is one cookie worth the calorie cost, when you could eat a plate of fresh fruit instead?
Practice Moderation
As with the rest of your diet, moderation is crucial when snacking. Make sure that you are adding every snack to your Nutrition Tracker, along with the larger meals you eat during the day. If you don’t keep track, you might add excess calories and fat to your diet without realizing it.
Don’t sabotage your diet with unhealthy nibbles throughout the day, like empty calories (candy for example); stick to nourishing foods whenever possible. If you know you have a weakness for junk food, do yourself a favor and don’t purchase these items next time you are at the grocery store. Then you won’t have to fight the temptation of ice cream or potato chips when hunger pangs hit.
-- By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer, Sparkpeople
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Which Are the Cardio Workouts to Lose a Lot of Weight?
If you need to lose weight you are not alone. Over 2/3 of Americans are classified as medically obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Losing weight takes a commitment to eating fewer calories and exercising regularly. Choose an effective cardiovascular exercise like running, bicycling or walking to burn calories and lose weight.
Running
Running burns a lot of calories and requires little equipment. Begin a running program slowly and plan on exercising three to four days per week. At the beginning of each session, spend five minutes walking to slowly warm up, then alternate jogging with walking until you build your cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Once you are able to run for 30 minutes at a time, you will be burning between 250 and 350 calories, depending on your body weight.
Bicycling
A publication from the Harvard Medical school shows that bicycling at a rate of 14 to 15.9 mph for 30 minutes burns between 300 and 444 calories. Ride a bicycle outside, or use a recumbent stationary bicycle. As with running, begin slowly and work hard to increase your distance and speed as your fitness level improves. Remember to combine your cardio exercises with healthy food choices to lose weight.
High Intensity Interval Training
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a high calorie-burn workout that is effective whether you are a runner, a swimmer, a walker or a biker. A HIIT workout alternates periods of high and regular intensity effort to burn extra calories and improve your cardiovascular fitness faster. When running for exercise, sprint for 60 seconds, then run at your regular pace for five minutes. Repeat the intervals for the duration of your workout, making sure to cool-down after you are done. You should do HIIT one to two times per week.
Walking
You may not associate walking with a cardio workout to lose a lot of weight, but according to a publication by the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, "mile for mile, running and walking burn approximately the same number of calories. But minute for minute, the faster your speed, the more calories you burn, giving running the calorie-burning edge." Running burns calories more quickly, but brisk walking for the same distance will give you the same calorie burn with little stress on your joints. Practice walking faster by walking tall, swinging your arms and rotating your lower body slightly as your walk.
Livestrong.com
Running
Running burns a lot of calories and requires little equipment. Begin a running program slowly and plan on exercising three to four days per week. At the beginning of each session, spend five minutes walking to slowly warm up, then alternate jogging with walking until you build your cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Once you are able to run for 30 minutes at a time, you will be burning between 250 and 350 calories, depending on your body weight.
Bicycling
A publication from the Harvard Medical school shows that bicycling at a rate of 14 to 15.9 mph for 30 minutes burns between 300 and 444 calories. Ride a bicycle outside, or use a recumbent stationary bicycle. As with running, begin slowly and work hard to increase your distance and speed as your fitness level improves. Remember to combine your cardio exercises with healthy food choices to lose weight.
High Intensity Interval Training
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a high calorie-burn workout that is effective whether you are a runner, a swimmer, a walker or a biker. A HIIT workout alternates periods of high and regular intensity effort to burn extra calories and improve your cardiovascular fitness faster. When running for exercise, sprint for 60 seconds, then run at your regular pace for five minutes. Repeat the intervals for the duration of your workout, making sure to cool-down after you are done. You should do HIIT one to two times per week.
Walking
You may not associate walking with a cardio workout to lose a lot of weight, but according to a publication by the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, "mile for mile, running and walking burn approximately the same number of calories. But minute for minute, the faster your speed, the more calories you burn, giving running the calorie-burning edge." Running burns calories more quickly, but brisk walking for the same distance will give you the same calorie burn with little stress on your joints. Practice walking faster by walking tall, swinging your arms and rotating your lower body slightly as your walk.
Livestrong.com
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
How Many Calories Are You Drinking?
Sneaky Calories in Beverages Really Add Up!
They go down easily and can be found anywhere and everywhere. Water, tea, milk, juice, soda, flavored waters, coffee, energy drinks, smoothies. This list touches just a few of the many categories of beverages but doesn’t even delve into the different brands, sizes, flavors and varieties. Plus, with the billions of dollars spent to make drinks look, like, way cool, it’s hard to resist them! You probably couldn't avoid them even if you tried; they are everywhere you turn, tempting you at gas stations, schools, doctor's offices, malls, movie theaters, airports, bus stops, street corners, your workplace—even at the gym! For time’s sake, let’s skip counting the dollars spent on marketing these drinks and go straight to the number that matters most if you're watching your weight: 400.
That's the average number of calories Americans drink on a daily basis, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which showed that around 37 percent of our total daily liquid calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks. So where are all of these calories coming from? Here is a sampling of the calories hiding in your cup.
Soda is the most-discussed beverage that sneaks calories into your day. Soda and fruit-flavored drinks can rack up to 250 calories per 12 ounces. Ginger ale and dark cola are the lowest in calorie at about 120 calories per 12 ounces, and cream soda is the highest with about 200 calories per 12 ounces. Portion size does really say it all! When these sugary liquids are sold in 20 ounce, 48 ounce, 1 liter and 2 liter bottles, it would be easy to work up to 800 calories in drinks a day if you're not being conscious of your choices. (Big) gulp!
"Juice" drinks (flavored, sugar-sweetened juice) can rack up more calories per ounce than soda! Orange, grape and cranberry juice drinks have about 216 calories per 12 ounces. But they seem so healthy! Don't let the fact that a portion of the ingredients in those bottles come from fruit fool you. The calories in these beverages should not be overlooked. Thankfully, food labels make it easy to check out the calorie content prior to purchasing a drink. Flip over labels before buying anything, and, of course, check the portion size!
Even 100% fruit juice, be it orange, apple, grape, pomegranate, cranberry or another flavor, can contribute calories to your diet. It’s great that all the sugar in fruit juice is natural and direct from the fruit, but unlike a whole piece of fruit, fruit juice is very concentrated in sugar, which makes it high in calories. Juice can also count as a serving of fruit if you’re getting about 6 ounces, but if you’re filling a big 24 ounce cup, you could be pouring about 320 calories of OJ with your breakfast. Go for grape juice or pineapple juice and the numbers are even higher. The key here is to stick to a 4 to 6 ounce serving of juice with your breakfast, and enjoy a large glass of water to hydrate yourself! If you’re worried about getting in your vitamins, grab a whole piece of fruit for a snack or add some berries or sliced fruit to your yogurt or cereal in the morning. Anytime you can eat fruit or vegetables rather than drinking them, you'll be better off.
Milk, including non-dairy milk alternatives, is often overlooked when it comes to calories. Although the beverage tastes great and is great for you, it does still contribute calories. A single serving of milk is 8 ounces, which is probably less than what many people pour at meals or on a big bowl of cereal in the morning. A tall dinner glass is about 12 to 16 ounces, which provides 132-168 calories if you choose skim. Fill your glass with 2% milk and that number jumps to 240 calories. These facts don’t discount the key nutrients found in milk that are healthful, but they hopefully encourage a proper serving size.
Many of us can’t function before 11 a.m. without our coffee. The brewed beverage is, by itself, calorie free, which makes it seem innocent. But with all the enticing additives offered by java joints, the numbers rise sharply. An 8 ounce latte made with whole milk is about 130 calories, but add flavored syrup, sugar and whipped cream on top and your drink now tops 200 calories. But when was the last time you ordered a latte that small? Once we bring up the tall, grande and venti sizes it’s a whole new ball game. A venti gingerbread latte with whole milk and whipped cream packs 440 calories into the cup. Granted, this is a large size, fully loaded, but it does a fine job of painting the picture of how many calories you could be drinking if you don't look up the facts beforehand.
Those who don’t drink coffee may turn to energy drinks to put pep in their step. Exercisers may also tend to favor energy drinks and sports drinks pre- or post-workout. These drinks may look tiny and taste light, but they can have up to 112 calories per cup. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade come in at about half that, around 60 calories per cup. But watch out: the bottles they come in can contain up to 32 ounces—not 8 ounces—which adds up to 240 calories per bottle.
Considering how cheap, accessible and delicious sweetened and caloric beverages are, it's easy to see how the average person consumes hundreds of calories per day from drinks alone. Those liquid calories add up fast for another reason, too: It's so easy to mindlessly drink beverages. If you’re sitting at your desk, driving your car, or watching a movie, it’s not hard to suck down a supersize beverage in 5 minutes without even feeling full or satisfied. Couple this with free refills, and you’ve completed an equation for calorie over-consumption!
So often, we focus on what we're eating when we want to lose weight or get healthier, but don't forget about liquid calories. You don't have to swear off soda or your morning latte to reach your goals. Just be aware of how much you're drinking, and follow these beverage guidelines to fit your favorite tasty drinks into your healthy eating plan.
-- By Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian
They go down easily and can be found anywhere and everywhere. Water, tea, milk, juice, soda, flavored waters, coffee, energy drinks, smoothies. This list touches just a few of the many categories of beverages but doesn’t even delve into the different brands, sizes, flavors and varieties. Plus, with the billions of dollars spent to make drinks look, like, way cool, it’s hard to resist them! You probably couldn't avoid them even if you tried; they are everywhere you turn, tempting you at gas stations, schools, doctor's offices, malls, movie theaters, airports, bus stops, street corners, your workplace—even at the gym! For time’s sake, let’s skip counting the dollars spent on marketing these drinks and go straight to the number that matters most if you're watching your weight: 400.
That's the average number of calories Americans drink on a daily basis, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which showed that around 37 percent of our total daily liquid calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks. So where are all of these calories coming from? Here is a sampling of the calories hiding in your cup.
Soda is the most-discussed beverage that sneaks calories into your day. Soda and fruit-flavored drinks can rack up to 250 calories per 12 ounces. Ginger ale and dark cola are the lowest in calorie at about 120 calories per 12 ounces, and cream soda is the highest with about 200 calories per 12 ounces. Portion size does really say it all! When these sugary liquids are sold in 20 ounce, 48 ounce, 1 liter and 2 liter bottles, it would be easy to work up to 800 calories in drinks a day if you're not being conscious of your choices. (Big) gulp!
"Juice" drinks (flavored, sugar-sweetened juice) can rack up more calories per ounce than soda! Orange, grape and cranberry juice drinks have about 216 calories per 12 ounces. But they seem so healthy! Don't let the fact that a portion of the ingredients in those bottles come from fruit fool you. The calories in these beverages should not be overlooked. Thankfully, food labels make it easy to check out the calorie content prior to purchasing a drink. Flip over labels before buying anything, and, of course, check the portion size!
Even 100% fruit juice, be it orange, apple, grape, pomegranate, cranberry or another flavor, can contribute calories to your diet. It’s great that all the sugar in fruit juice is natural and direct from the fruit, but unlike a whole piece of fruit, fruit juice is very concentrated in sugar, which makes it high in calories. Juice can also count as a serving of fruit if you’re getting about 6 ounces, but if you’re filling a big 24 ounce cup, you could be pouring about 320 calories of OJ with your breakfast. Go for grape juice or pineapple juice and the numbers are even higher. The key here is to stick to a 4 to 6 ounce serving of juice with your breakfast, and enjoy a large glass of water to hydrate yourself! If you’re worried about getting in your vitamins, grab a whole piece of fruit for a snack or add some berries or sliced fruit to your yogurt or cereal in the morning. Anytime you can eat fruit or vegetables rather than drinking them, you'll be better off.
Milk, including non-dairy milk alternatives, is often overlooked when it comes to calories. Although the beverage tastes great and is great for you, it does still contribute calories. A single serving of milk is 8 ounces, which is probably less than what many people pour at meals or on a big bowl of cereal in the morning. A tall dinner glass is about 12 to 16 ounces, which provides 132-168 calories if you choose skim. Fill your glass with 2% milk and that number jumps to 240 calories. These facts don’t discount the key nutrients found in milk that are healthful, but they hopefully encourage a proper serving size.
Many of us can’t function before 11 a.m. without our coffee. The brewed beverage is, by itself, calorie free, which makes it seem innocent. But with all the enticing additives offered by java joints, the numbers rise sharply. An 8 ounce latte made with whole milk is about 130 calories, but add flavored syrup, sugar and whipped cream on top and your drink now tops 200 calories. But when was the last time you ordered a latte that small? Once we bring up the tall, grande and venti sizes it’s a whole new ball game. A venti gingerbread latte with whole milk and whipped cream packs 440 calories into the cup. Granted, this is a large size, fully loaded, but it does a fine job of painting the picture of how many calories you could be drinking if you don't look up the facts beforehand.
Those who don’t drink coffee may turn to energy drinks to put pep in their step. Exercisers may also tend to favor energy drinks and sports drinks pre- or post-workout. These drinks may look tiny and taste light, but they can have up to 112 calories per cup. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade come in at about half that, around 60 calories per cup. But watch out: the bottles they come in can contain up to 32 ounces—not 8 ounces—which adds up to 240 calories per bottle.
Considering how cheap, accessible and delicious sweetened and caloric beverages are, it's easy to see how the average person consumes hundreds of calories per day from drinks alone. Those liquid calories add up fast for another reason, too: It's so easy to mindlessly drink beverages. If you’re sitting at your desk, driving your car, or watching a movie, it’s not hard to suck down a supersize beverage in 5 minutes without even feeling full or satisfied. Couple this with free refills, and you’ve completed an equation for calorie over-consumption!
So often, we focus on what we're eating when we want to lose weight or get healthier, but don't forget about liquid calories. You don't have to swear off soda or your morning latte to reach your goals. Just be aware of how much you're drinking, and follow these beverage guidelines to fit your favorite tasty drinks into your healthy eating plan.
-- By Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian
Monday, October 4, 2010
28 Small Changes.....
Hey, slow down! Weight loss is no sprint, it's a marathon. So abruptly and drastically changing your routine is only going to leave you breathless and worn out. A more realistic approach to weight loss is to take it one step at a time, one day at a time. Little by little, it'll make a big difference.
Do Sweat the Small Stuff"Making small changes one at a time is a great strategy," agrees Howard Rankin, PhD, a South Carolina psychologist. "It's not overwhelming, and it results in a slower, steadier weight loss." Think of it this way, maybe cutting the cream out of your coffee seems like a small feat to you. But once you've got that down you can add another small feat, then another.
So, we asked people just like you what small steps they've taken in order to make their way toward their weight goals. Here's what they had to say:
… About Small Eating Changes
- Water, water, water, water. (Your skin will look great, too!)
- Order half portions at restaurants, or share a full portion with somebody. Or ask for a "to-go" container when you order your food, and pack up half the portion before you even start eating.
- Cut back on butter and mayo.
- Limit fried foods to once or twice per week.
- Use less or no sugar in your coffee or tea.
- Replace ground beef with "Boca" products or ground turkey.
- Try at least one new food every week. If you're bored with what you're eating, you're more likely to give up.
- Eat fresh, raw veggies with sandwiches instead of chips.
- Measure your portions until you're sure you know what a cup, a half-cup, and a tablespoon look like. This will help you practice portion control, an essential key to weight-loss success.
- Try not to drink high-calorie beverages.
- Dip your fork in a side of salad dressing before each bite, instead of pouring it directly on your salad. You'll find that you are satisfied with much less than you usually put on.
- Find healthy alternatives to all your favorite foods.
- If you don't really love it, don't eat it.
- Never eat out of a bag or box. Take out a measured/counted quantity of food and put it in a bowl. This way, you know exactly how much you're having.
- Always eat something for breakfast.
- Read food labels. Check serving sizes.
- Add vegetables to everything, even sandwiches, like baby spinach leaves.
- Plan meals in advance; use that information to make out a complete shopping list.
- Give food to guests to take home.
- Write down everything you eat and drink, without fail.
- Plan ahead for special occasions by accounting for higher-calorie foods before you eat them.
… About Small Exercise Changes
- Take the stairs every single time they're an option. No more elevators or escalators.
- Make exercise a priority, not an inconvenience.
- Park far from your destination, so you're forced to walk — this works at the supermarket, the mall, wherever. (This also helps you waste less time looking for a parking space!)
- View tiring chores (shoveling snow, cleaning the house, weeding the garden, taking the garbage out, grocery shopping) as a chance to get in some activity.
- Take the grocery cart back to the store when you're done loading your bags into your car.
- If you take public transportation, get off one stop early.
- Work out with a buddy.
Do Sweat the Small Stuff"Making small changes one at a time is a great strategy," agrees Howard Rankin, PhD, a South Carolina psychologist. "It's not overwhelming, and it results in a slower, steadier weight loss." Think of it this way, maybe cutting the cream out of your coffee seems like a small feat to you. But once you've got that down you can add another small feat, then another.
So, we asked people just like you what small steps they've taken in order to make their way toward their weight goals. Here's what they had to say:
… About Small Eating Changes
- Water, water, water, water. (Your skin will look great, too!)
- Order half portions at restaurants, or share a full portion with somebody. Or ask for a "to-go" container when you order your food, and pack up half the portion before you even start eating.
- Cut back on butter and mayo.
- Limit fried foods to once or twice per week.
- Use less or no sugar in your coffee or tea.
- Replace ground beef with "Boca" products or ground turkey.
- Try at least one new food every week. If you're bored with what you're eating, you're more likely to give up.
- Eat fresh, raw veggies with sandwiches instead of chips.
- Measure your portions until you're sure you know what a cup, a half-cup, and a tablespoon look like. This will help you practice portion control, an essential key to weight-loss success.
- Try not to drink high-calorie beverages.
- Dip your fork in a side of salad dressing before each bite, instead of pouring it directly on your salad. You'll find that you are satisfied with much less than you usually put on.
- Find healthy alternatives to all your favorite foods.
- If you don't really love it, don't eat it.
- Never eat out of a bag or box. Take out a measured/counted quantity of food and put it in a bowl. This way, you know exactly how much you're having.
- Always eat something for breakfast.
- Read food labels. Check serving sizes.
- Add vegetables to everything, even sandwiches, like baby spinach leaves.
- Plan meals in advance; use that information to make out a complete shopping list.
- Give food to guests to take home.
- Write down everything you eat and drink, without fail.
- Plan ahead for special occasions by accounting for higher-calorie foods before you eat them.
… About Small Exercise Changes
- Take the stairs every single time they're an option. No more elevators or escalators.
- Make exercise a priority, not an inconvenience.
- Park far from your destination, so you're forced to walk — this works at the supermarket, the mall, wherever. (This also helps you waste less time looking for a parking space!)
- View tiring chores (shoveling snow, cleaning the house, weeding the garden, taking the garbage out, grocery shopping) as a chance to get in some activity.
- Take the grocery cart back to the store when you're done loading your bags into your car.
- If you take public transportation, get off one stop early.
- Work out with a buddy.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Top 10 Exercises You can't Live Without !
The American Council o Exercise (ACE) has compiled a list of 10 essential moves to continue doing (with different variations, of course) until your days of training are over. If these aren't already a staple in your fitness regimen, plug 'em in immediately!
1. Push-up - Push-ups strengthen your chest and triceps and stabilize your core as you hold your body in a plant position. To up the intensity of this exercise, place your fee or hands on the stability ball or step.
2. Squat - The squat toughens all the large muscles of the lower body, including your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. Add dumbbells or a barbell to increase the intensity of your workout.
3. Lunge - Like the squat, the lunge works the muscles of your lower half, as well as your stabilizer muscles, which help keep you balanced as you move in and out of the lunge position.
4. Pull-up - Done with or without assistance, pull-ups are a great way to strengthen the muscles of your upper body-particularly the latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids and biceps.
5. Shoulder Press - The overhead shoulder press. which effectively targets the anterior deltoids, can be performed while sitting or standing, with either dumbbells, elastic tubing or a barbell.
6. Triceps dip - For this move, all you need is a bench or the edge of a chair. Triceps dips are the perfect exercise to work not only your triceps but also your chest and anterior deltoids.
7. Seated row - The seated row - which can be done with elastic tubing, a seated row machine or a cable and pulley - is a great exercise for your upper back, including the lastissimus dorsi and rhomboids, and biceps.
8. Abdominal exercise - Strong abdominals are the key to maintaining a strong core. While there are many variations of abdominal exercises, research has shown that crunches on a stability ball may be the most effective.
9. Walking - Slip on a pair of supportive crosstrainers and head out the door for a stroll. Walking is a great low-impact cardio workout for people of all fitness levels. Start out slowly and gradually increase both your speed and your distance over time. Add hills for a n extra challenge.
10. Running - When it comes to improving your cardiovascular fitness and burning calories, running is both effective and efficient. But it can also be hard of the joints, so it's best to ease into running and avoid doing too much too soon.
by Fitness
1. Push-up - Push-ups strengthen your chest and triceps and stabilize your core as you hold your body in a plant position. To up the intensity of this exercise, place your fee or hands on the stability ball or step.
2. Squat - The squat toughens all the large muscles of the lower body, including your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. Add dumbbells or a barbell to increase the intensity of your workout.
3. Lunge - Like the squat, the lunge works the muscles of your lower half, as well as your stabilizer muscles, which help keep you balanced as you move in and out of the lunge position.
4. Pull-up - Done with or without assistance, pull-ups are a great way to strengthen the muscles of your upper body-particularly the latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids and biceps.
5. Shoulder Press - The overhead shoulder press. which effectively targets the anterior deltoids, can be performed while sitting or standing, with either dumbbells, elastic tubing or a barbell.
6. Triceps dip - For this move, all you need is a bench or the edge of a chair. Triceps dips are the perfect exercise to work not only your triceps but also your chest and anterior deltoids.
7. Seated row - The seated row - which can be done with elastic tubing, a seated row machine or a cable and pulley - is a great exercise for your upper back, including the lastissimus dorsi and rhomboids, and biceps.
8. Abdominal exercise - Strong abdominals are the key to maintaining a strong core. While there are many variations of abdominal exercises, research has shown that crunches on a stability ball may be the most effective.
9. Walking - Slip on a pair of supportive crosstrainers and head out the door for a stroll. Walking is a great low-impact cardio workout for people of all fitness levels. Start out slowly and gradually increase both your speed and your distance over time. Add hills for a n extra challenge.
10. Running - When it comes to improving your cardiovascular fitness and burning calories, running is both effective and efficient. But it can also be hard of the joints, so it's best to ease into running and avoid doing too much too soon.
by Fitness
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