Every year about this time, I hear the same holiday songs. I hear people “sing” the old refrain of overindulgence — “I have to have it.” Whether it’s for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other seasonal celebrations, people have a hard time with holidays and overeating. Some throw up their hands and give in to temptation; others rationalize the holidays as a time in which they are destined to put on pounds.
Myth 1. Everyone gains at least 5 pounds over the holidays, so I may as well accept it.
Well, the good news is the average American gains from 1/2 pound to 1 pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. The bad news is they don’t ever lose it. It’s not as dramatic as 7 to 10 pounds that was formerly thought to be the norm, but even if you gain just 1 pound over the holidays, you may also gain another pound over the winter, and maybe one more during the summer holidays. Pretty soon you’re on the next pant size and a new wardrobe.
Myth 2. I can take a “vacation” from my diet, because come January, I’ll go right back on it.
Don’t do it, because you may never come back! I went to a Thanksgiving dinner last year, and saw someone I’d not seen in a year. I congratulated her on her significant weight loss over the previous year, and when she told me she was “taking a vacation” from her diet for the holidays, I cringed. I told her that you can’t vacation from your healthy diet and expect to stay at your goal weight. Extra calories are just what your fat cells are looking for. Unless you’ve built up a good amount of lean muscle mass by exercising with resistance bands or light weights, you’re going to regain the weight as quick as you can say “I’ll have seconds of pumpkin pie.”
Myth 3. I’m going to fast all day, so I can eat all I want at the holiday party this year.
Wrong. Don’t do it. Don’t put your body in starvation mode. Starving yourself usually backfires, and you wind up overeating at the party. The best strategy for weight control is to eat lower calorie, higher fiber foods such as crunchy vegetables like broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. Eat smaller meals more frequently, and when you get to the party, continue to think small. Have a small portion of everything so you’re satisfied, but not stuffed.
Myth 4. I can’t diet when I go to someone’s house for dinner.
Give yourself the power to say no tactfully. Say “no” in creative ways. You can say to your host, “Oh, I’m sorry, my plan doesn’t include (name the food), but I surely thank you!” Or “Oh, thank you so much, I’m sure it’s wonderful! I’m too full right now, but thanks for asking.”
Myth 5. My family would miss it if I didn’t make the traditional favorites.
Make this a healthy holiday season and change your traditional fatty favorites into delicious, healthy meals. Santa is roly-poly for a reason. “Living large” is not my New Year’s resolution. Living lean is. Don’t be a Scrooge with taste, but be frugal with calories — that’s how you eat delicious foods without guilt.
Top Tips for making your holiday recipes healthy ones:–Low-fat cooking techniques should be used. Bake, broil, grill, poach and saute foods in a very little bit of fat in a non-stick pan.
Use nonstick pans for grilling, baking breads and cookies, for sauteing and even for soup. Nonstick is one of life’s little pleasures — you need to just lightly spray with cooking oil.
–Reduce the fat in the recipes. One of the simplest methods of making all your recipes healthier is reducing the amount of fat in a recipe. If the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of oil, use 1/4 cup, plus 1/4-cup fruit puree or unsweetened applesauce. This is good for any quick bread, cookie or cake. Yeast breads and piecrusts need a precise balance of ingredients, but experiment to see if you get acceptable results.
–Don’t add fat to your food, especially unhealthy, saturated fats. Instead of basting the turkey with butter, try flavorful vegetable broth, white wine or orange juice (my personal favorite).
–Buy low-fat and nonfat varieties of milk, sour cream, yogurt and cheese. You’ll lower the fat and calories effortlessly.
–Substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of canola oil for 1 ounce of baking chocolate, and lower the saturated fat.
–Two egg whites can substitute one whole egg, depending on the size. All the fat, cholesterol and most of the calories from eggs are in the yolk.
–Substitute crunchy cereal for bread crumbs. I like to use crushed corn flakes or nuggets like Grape Nuts.
–Cut servings smaller! Make that cake serve 12 instead of eight.
–Buy the leanest cuts of meat, and substitute 1/3 ground turkey breast. Don’t buy ground turkey because it also contains skin and dark meat, making it just as caloric as ground meat or more.
Susan L. Burke eDiets Contributor
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
25 Ways to Get Back on Track Today
Don't Give Up on Your Goals!
Not long ago, you were energetic and determined to start your healthy lifestyle. Starting with enthusiasm and hope, you watched your food intake diligently, exercised like it was going out of style, and even avoided the temptation that seemed to lurk around every corner. You were confident that you were going to reach your goals once and for all!
Then certain tragedy struck! You ate an extra piece of birthday cake. Realizing you had “blown” your diet, you ate another and another and couldn’t get it together the next day either. Or worse, you missed one workout, and that turned into a whole week away from the gym. After that, your momentum to start over again was gone, and your gym bag hasn’t left the closet since.
Every time you misstep on your healthy journey, you have two choices: to keep walking backwards, which will surely take you even further away from your goals; or to accept your lack of perfection as normal and forgivable, and take not one, but two positive steps down the path that brings your closer to the future you want.
If you’re reading this, you might have been walking backwards for a while. But instead of waiting for the next day, week, month or even year to overhaul your habits, start TODAY. And start small. You can’t go from the recliner to running or from burgers to Brussels sprouts in an afternoon. But you can do one, two or even a handful of small things that will help you regain your momentum for healthy living.
When you feel like getting back on track is overwhelming, try one (or more) of these small steps each day.
1. Try a short workout. Even five minutes is better than nothing. For ideas browse our video library or workout generator.
2. Try a new recipe. Cooking healthy foods can be fun and it never has to be bland.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your morning meal sets the stage for the rest of your day, so start if off right! Get lots of breakfast ideas here.
4. Drink your water. Try to aim for 8 cups each day and you’ll feel the difference!
5. Look at Motivational SparkPages. Seeing how others overcome similar struggles and obstacles can be a great source of motivation.
6. Track your food today. No matter how it adds up, you’ll learn from it.
7. Update your journal. It’s a visual way to track your ups and downs, but also your progress.
8. Share your goals. Whether you post them on the Message Boards or share them with a friend, you’ll be more accountable.
9. Exercise for 10 minutes. Jump rope, march in place, or do some crunches. Small amounts do add up to something big!
10. Find a buddy. Get support from friends, whether you need someone to listen or a mentor to give you ideas and encouragement.
11. Take a walk. Don’t worry about how long or far you go—just get out there!
12. Create a motivational collage. Include pictures of your goal and reasons why you want to get there.
13. Go shopping for some healthy foods. Use this shopping list for ideas.
14. Check the nutrition facts before you go out to eat. That way, you can make an informed choice.
15. Ride your bike. Even a leisurely ride has benefits for your body and mind.
16. Work in the yard. Gardening and yard work is a great way to add activity to your day.
17. Take the stairs. Even if this is the only thing you do all day, you’ll feel stronger for it.
18. Rack up those SparkPoints! You earn them for every healthy task you do on the site—talk about motivating! Aim for a certain milestone, such as 100 points, and then reward yourself with a SparkGoodie!
19. Listen to an inspirational song. Better yet, make a playlist of them so you can turn to it whenever you need a boost.
20. Re-start your program. Sometimes it’s easier to get back on track when you have a clean slate.
21. Measure your portions. It’s a simple way to learn how much you’re eating.
22. Eat a piece of fruit. Even if 5-9 servings of fruit and vegetables sounds impossible to you, one is doable.
23. Slow down during meals. You’ll be less likely to overeat and more likely to enjoy your meal.
24. Play! What kids call “play,” we often call “exercise.” Play a sport, a game, or use the playground equipment to bring the fun back into fitness.
25. Learn something new. Sometimes simply taking a quiz or reading an article about nutrition, fitness, or health can change your mindset and get you back on track.
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.
You CAN get back on track today. Even if you’re moving slowly, you’ll be moving in the right direction!
-- By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor & Health Educator
Not long ago, you were energetic and determined to start your healthy lifestyle. Starting with enthusiasm and hope, you watched your food intake diligently, exercised like it was going out of style, and even avoided the temptation that seemed to lurk around every corner. You were confident that you were going to reach your goals once and for all!
Then certain tragedy struck! You ate an extra piece of birthday cake. Realizing you had “blown” your diet, you ate another and another and couldn’t get it together the next day either. Or worse, you missed one workout, and that turned into a whole week away from the gym. After that, your momentum to start over again was gone, and your gym bag hasn’t left the closet since.
Every time you misstep on your healthy journey, you have two choices: to keep walking backwards, which will surely take you even further away from your goals; or to accept your lack of perfection as normal and forgivable, and take not one, but two positive steps down the path that brings your closer to the future you want.
If you’re reading this, you might have been walking backwards for a while. But instead of waiting for the next day, week, month or even year to overhaul your habits, start TODAY. And start small. You can’t go from the recliner to running or from burgers to Brussels sprouts in an afternoon. But you can do one, two or even a handful of small things that will help you regain your momentum for healthy living.
When you feel like getting back on track is overwhelming, try one (or more) of these small steps each day.
1. Try a short workout. Even five minutes is better than nothing. For ideas browse our video library or workout generator.
2. Try a new recipe. Cooking healthy foods can be fun and it never has to be bland.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your morning meal sets the stage for the rest of your day, so start if off right! Get lots of breakfast ideas here.
4. Drink your water. Try to aim for 8 cups each day and you’ll feel the difference!
5. Look at Motivational SparkPages. Seeing how others overcome similar struggles and obstacles can be a great source of motivation.
6. Track your food today. No matter how it adds up, you’ll learn from it.
7. Update your journal. It’s a visual way to track your ups and downs, but also your progress.
8. Share your goals. Whether you post them on the Message Boards or share them with a friend, you’ll be more accountable.
9. Exercise for 10 minutes. Jump rope, march in place, or do some crunches. Small amounts do add up to something big!
10. Find a buddy. Get support from friends, whether you need someone to listen or a mentor to give you ideas and encouragement.
11. Take a walk. Don’t worry about how long or far you go—just get out there!
12. Create a motivational collage. Include pictures of your goal and reasons why you want to get there.
13. Go shopping for some healthy foods. Use this shopping list for ideas.
14. Check the nutrition facts before you go out to eat. That way, you can make an informed choice.
15. Ride your bike. Even a leisurely ride has benefits for your body and mind.
16. Work in the yard. Gardening and yard work is a great way to add activity to your day.
17. Take the stairs. Even if this is the only thing you do all day, you’ll feel stronger for it.
18. Rack up those SparkPoints! You earn them for every healthy task you do on the site—talk about motivating! Aim for a certain milestone, such as 100 points, and then reward yourself with a SparkGoodie!
19. Listen to an inspirational song. Better yet, make a playlist of them so you can turn to it whenever you need a boost.
20. Re-start your program. Sometimes it’s easier to get back on track when you have a clean slate.
21. Measure your portions. It’s a simple way to learn how much you’re eating.
22. Eat a piece of fruit. Even if 5-9 servings of fruit and vegetables sounds impossible to you, one is doable.
23. Slow down during meals. You’ll be less likely to overeat and more likely to enjoy your meal.
24. Play! What kids call “play,” we often call “exercise.” Play a sport, a game, or use the playground equipment to bring the fun back into fitness.
25. Learn something new. Sometimes simply taking a quiz or reading an article about nutrition, fitness, or health can change your mindset and get you back on track.
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.
You CAN get back on track today. Even if you’re moving slowly, you’ll be moving in the right direction!
-- By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor & Health Educator
Monday, November 22, 2010
Whole Grains are the Whole Package
These Natural Grains Pack a Nutritional Punch
Health experts agree that we need to eat more whole grains for optimal health. But most people don’t know what whole grains are. They have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity, but knowing the health benefits doesn't help you find them in your local grocery store or learn how to cook with them.
The Definition of Whole Grain
Every grain starts as a whole grain when it grows from the earth. This whole grain (actually the seed or kernel of the plant) has three parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
1. The bran is the outer skin of the seed that contains antioxidants, B vitamins and fiber. (You may have heard of wheat bran or oat bran, which are available in stores and are common ingredients in certain cereals.)
2. The germ is the “baby” of the seed, which grows into a new plant when pollinated. It contains many vitamins, along with protein, minerals and healthy fats. (You may have seen jars of toasted wheat germ in stores, which can be added to a variety of foods to boost nutritional content.)
3. The endosperm is the seed’s food supply that provides the energy needed for the young plant to grow. The largest portion of the seed contains carbohydrates, and smaller amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals.
So a whole grain is one that contains all three parts of the kernel.
When grains are processed and refined (the most common practice for making breads, cereals, pastas and flours), the bran and germ are removed, leaving behind the white endosperm. During this process, grains become less nutritious, losing 25% of their original protein content and 17 other essential nutrients. While manufacturers then "enrich" the flour with some vitamins and minerals, a naturally whole grain is still a healthier choice. Compared to refined grains (white bread, white rice, white flour), whole grains pack more protein, fiber, vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin E), and minerals (magnesium and iron), as well as some antioxidants not found in other foods.
Types of Whole Grains
Common types of whole grains include:
Wild rice, which is actually a seed
* Brown rice
* Whole wheat
* Oatmeal and whole oats
* Barley
* Whole rye
* Bulgur
* Popcorn
Less common types include: amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum and triticale (a hybrid of rye and wheat).
Adding Whole Grains to Your Diet
New dietary guidelines established by the U.S. government in 2005 recommend that half of your daily grains servings should be whole grains. That's at least three servings of whole grains per day.
The easiest way to increase the amount of whole grains you consume is to substitute some processed grain products with their whole grain equivalent. This is as simple as having a slice of whole grain toast in the morning instead of using white bread, or using whole wheat flour in pancakes instead of white flour. If you’re making homemade soup, toss in a handful of brown rice or barley for added fiber. Make your dessert a healthy one, such as oatmeal cookies, and you won't have to feel guilty—you’re eating whole grains!
While at the grocery store, be extra careful reading food labels. Words such as multigrain, stone-ground cracked wheat or seven grain don’t necessarily mean the product is made with whole grains. And color doesn’t mean a whole grain either—some brown breads are simply white bread with added caramel coloring. The Whole Grain Council created an official packaging symbol in 2005 called the Whole Grain Stamp to help consumers find whole grain products. But until use of the stamp is used widespread, look for the word "whole" near the top of the ingredients list. (For example, the first ingredient of whole grain bread or cracker should be "whole wheat flour".)
Besides switching to whole wheat bread, you can easily add whole wheat pasta and brown rice to the menu to increase your consumption of whole grains. Whole wheat pasta comes in all shapes and sizes and appears to be a darker beige color than regular pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of both natural food and regular grocery stores. If you’re not going to eat it right away, you can store an unopened package for six to eight months in a cool, dry cupboard. Whole wheat pasta is prepared the same way as regular pasta (but usually takes a couple extra minutes to cook). To ensure that the pasta isn’t mushy, rinse it off under cool water to stop the cooking process. One cup of cooked whole wheat pasta has about 200 calories and 4 grams of fiber.
Brown rice is healthier than white rice and has significantly more nutrients. The refining process that transforms brown rice into polished, white rice strips away most of the vitamins and minerals and completely removes all of the fiber and essential fatty acids—basically leaving only the starch behind. White rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3 and iron, but at least eleven lost nutrients are not replaced at all. Brown rice is a concentrated source of fiber, which speeds up the removal of cancer-causing substances from our bodies. It is also an excellent source of selenium, which has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer. You can find quick-cooking "instant" brown rice, which are parboiled to speed cooking time. Because of this pre-cooked process, they are slightly lower in nutrients than regular, slow-cooking brown rice, which can take up to an hour to cook. However, look for microwavable pouches of brown rice on the shelf and in the freezer section. These are still high in nutrients and cook in minutes!
Studies Prove the Benefits of Whole Grains
A 2006 study by Tufts University showed that people who consume the most whole grains are 42 percent less likely to develop diabetes. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people with a diet high in whole grains showed a lower risk of both diabetes and heart disease. In 1997, the FDA authorized the claim that the soluble fiber in oats reduced the risk of coronary heart disease; this approval was extended in 2005 to include the fiber in barley as well.
Whether you want to reduce your risk of disease or you simply want to eat fewer processed foods, adding whole grains to your diet makes sense. So the next time you sit down to watch a movie, bring along a bowl of popcorn and snack with a clear conscious. Whole grains couldn’t be tastier!
-- By Leanne Beattie, Health & Fitness Writer
Health experts agree that we need to eat more whole grains for optimal health. But most people don’t know what whole grains are. They have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity, but knowing the health benefits doesn't help you find them in your local grocery store or learn how to cook with them.
The Definition of Whole Grain
Every grain starts as a whole grain when it grows from the earth. This whole grain (actually the seed or kernel of the plant) has three parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
1. The bran is the outer skin of the seed that contains antioxidants, B vitamins and fiber. (You may have heard of wheat bran or oat bran, which are available in stores and are common ingredients in certain cereals.)
2. The germ is the “baby” of the seed, which grows into a new plant when pollinated. It contains many vitamins, along with protein, minerals and healthy fats. (You may have seen jars of toasted wheat germ in stores, which can be added to a variety of foods to boost nutritional content.)
3. The endosperm is the seed’s food supply that provides the energy needed for the young plant to grow. The largest portion of the seed contains carbohydrates, and smaller amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals.
So a whole grain is one that contains all three parts of the kernel.
When grains are processed and refined (the most common practice for making breads, cereals, pastas and flours), the bran and germ are removed, leaving behind the white endosperm. During this process, grains become less nutritious, losing 25% of their original protein content and 17 other essential nutrients. While manufacturers then "enrich" the flour with some vitamins and minerals, a naturally whole grain is still a healthier choice. Compared to refined grains (white bread, white rice, white flour), whole grains pack more protein, fiber, vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin E), and minerals (magnesium and iron), as well as some antioxidants not found in other foods.
Types of Whole Grains
Common types of whole grains include:
Wild rice, which is actually a seed
* Brown rice
* Whole wheat
* Oatmeal and whole oats
* Barley
* Whole rye
* Bulgur
* Popcorn
Less common types include: amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum and triticale (a hybrid of rye and wheat).
Adding Whole Grains to Your Diet
New dietary guidelines established by the U.S. government in 2005 recommend that half of your daily grains servings should be whole grains. That's at least three servings of whole grains per day.
The easiest way to increase the amount of whole grains you consume is to substitute some processed grain products with their whole grain equivalent. This is as simple as having a slice of whole grain toast in the morning instead of using white bread, or using whole wheat flour in pancakes instead of white flour. If you’re making homemade soup, toss in a handful of brown rice or barley for added fiber. Make your dessert a healthy one, such as oatmeal cookies, and you won't have to feel guilty—you’re eating whole grains!
While at the grocery store, be extra careful reading food labels. Words such as multigrain, stone-ground cracked wheat or seven grain don’t necessarily mean the product is made with whole grains. And color doesn’t mean a whole grain either—some brown breads are simply white bread with added caramel coloring. The Whole Grain Council created an official packaging symbol in 2005 called the Whole Grain Stamp to help consumers find whole grain products. But until use of the stamp is used widespread, look for the word "whole" near the top of the ingredients list. (For example, the first ingredient of whole grain bread or cracker should be "whole wheat flour".)
Besides switching to whole wheat bread, you can easily add whole wheat pasta and brown rice to the menu to increase your consumption of whole grains. Whole wheat pasta comes in all shapes and sizes and appears to be a darker beige color than regular pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of both natural food and regular grocery stores. If you’re not going to eat it right away, you can store an unopened package for six to eight months in a cool, dry cupboard. Whole wheat pasta is prepared the same way as regular pasta (but usually takes a couple extra minutes to cook). To ensure that the pasta isn’t mushy, rinse it off under cool water to stop the cooking process. One cup of cooked whole wheat pasta has about 200 calories and 4 grams of fiber.
Brown rice is healthier than white rice and has significantly more nutrients. The refining process that transforms brown rice into polished, white rice strips away most of the vitamins and minerals and completely removes all of the fiber and essential fatty acids—basically leaving only the starch behind. White rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3 and iron, but at least eleven lost nutrients are not replaced at all. Brown rice is a concentrated source of fiber, which speeds up the removal of cancer-causing substances from our bodies. It is also an excellent source of selenium, which has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer. You can find quick-cooking "instant" brown rice, which are parboiled to speed cooking time. Because of this pre-cooked process, they are slightly lower in nutrients than regular, slow-cooking brown rice, which can take up to an hour to cook. However, look for microwavable pouches of brown rice on the shelf and in the freezer section. These are still high in nutrients and cook in minutes!
Studies Prove the Benefits of Whole Grains
A 2006 study by Tufts University showed that people who consume the most whole grains are 42 percent less likely to develop diabetes. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people with a diet high in whole grains showed a lower risk of both diabetes and heart disease. In 1997, the FDA authorized the claim that the soluble fiber in oats reduced the risk of coronary heart disease; this approval was extended in 2005 to include the fiber in barley as well.
Whether you want to reduce your risk of disease or you simply want to eat fewer processed foods, adding whole grains to your diet makes sense. So the next time you sit down to watch a movie, bring along a bowl of popcorn and snack with a clear conscious. Whole grains couldn’t be tastier!
-- By Leanne Beattie, Health & Fitness Writer
Friday, November 19, 2010
8 Tips for Avoiding the Holiday Pounds
It's that time of year. The leaves turn majestic hues of red and gold. The air becomes fresh and crisp. We can finally put an extra blanket on the bed and cuddle up with a cup of hot tea. Yes, it's fall. We just spent 8 months killing ourselves to get into that bathing suit, but now we've replaced it with a worn pair of jeans and a much more relaxed attitude towards food. After all, it's the holiday season, and no one'll notice a few extra pounds under layers of clothes. A little extra weight just gives us a New Year's resolution to focus on, right?
Wrong. According to a recent study by researchers at Sweden's Linköping University, those 4 weeks of celebrating can actually lead to long-term weight gain.
Essentially, the researchers took a group of healthy young people, increased their caloric intake by 70 percent, and lowered their exercise levels. They also had a control group whose diets weren't altered. At 4 weeks, the participants in the test group had gained an average of 14 pounds. After 6 months, and no longer on an increased-calorie diet, only a third of these participants had returned to their original weight. After 1 year, the test group members were each still an average of 3.3 pounds heavier. After 2.5 years, the "gluttonous" group continued to gain, while the control group still maintained a stable weight.
Now, most of us don't increase our calories that drastically for 30 days straight. Sure, there's Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving leftovers, Hanukkah, the work Christmas party, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, not to mention the extra sweets, cocktails, and (ahem) fruitcake. But according to the New England Journal of Medicine, the actual average weight gain over the holidays is only 1 pound. (They obviously didn't poll my family or friends.) So what's the big deal? The problem is, a year later, the vast majority of people have not removed that pound. Continue this pattern over 30 or 40 holiday seasons and the problem becomes—quite literally—huge.
So how are we supposed to get through the holidays without causing weight gain? Here are eight effective ways to get yourself ready to beat the holiday bulge.
Buy clothes that fit right now. This first tip might be a bit pricy, but it's a great motivational aid in staving off weight gain. A new addition to your wardrobe in a size that shows off your summer body can be all you need to prevent those extra pounds from creeping on. Imagine that beautiful holiday dress or great pair of pants, then imagine being unable to zip them up thanks to sugar cookies. Yeah, no one wants that. So before you begin the festivities, go buy yourself something perfect to wear to your parties and hang it someplace visible, so it serves as a constant reminder. Perhaps on the TV where you play your DVDS, or in front of that treadmill that might be starting to collect a little dust in the corner, or on your refrigerator door . . . that way, if it doesn't fit quite the same way the next time you try to slip into it, you know it's time to get back to work.
Write it down. We try to write down everything we eat, right? We spend hours each month staring at a food diary, adding up our calories, and seeing if we got the correct balance of macronutrients. And then the holidays happen, and our little book ends up in the bottom drawer. It's almost like we're hoping that if we didn't write it down, it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the scale doesn't fit in that bottom drawer. The truth is, if we would write down the not-so-perfect meals and treats, we could find a way to compensate for it, at least a bit. For example, you have a peppermint brownie in the break room at work, which you know is carbohydrates and fat. Eat one less portion of carbohydrate and one less portion of fat for your dinner. It's not ideal, but it'll help. Or perhaps you couldn't resist Mom's homemade scones for breakfast. You could plan on an extra 20 or 30 minutes of your workout tonight. The point is, if we write it down, and do the math, we can lessen the damage. It isn't a good long-term plan, but to help compensate for a few slip-ups, it can help.
Keep exercising. Most fitness trainers will tell you the slowest point of their year is between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Sure, their clients schedule workouts with the best of intentions, but then they cancel them for parties and gift shopping. It's hard to remain balanced when you have a million things to do and gifts to buy. Yet the greatest gift you can give yourself is to stay focused on your fitness goals and get your workout in. Shopping getting in the way? Do it online and save some time. Parties getting in the way? Just show up later. Who cares if everyone else is a couple of cocktails ahead of you? You'll be healthier, and you won't have to worry about the embarrassing YouTube® videos in the morning. Just stay consistent, even if it's inconvenient. You'll be much less likely to look like Santa (both belly-wise and red-nose-wise) at the end of the month.
Eat before parties. Most holiday parties don't focus on low-fat, low-calorie refreshments, so unless you're organizing the event, the best damage control is to show up with a full tummy. Make sure you eat your meals and snacks throughout the day, and try to eat a healthy meal before attending any party. If you're going straight from work, prepare a healthy and filling snack to eat on the way. You'll be a lot less likely to swim in mayonnaise dips and pigs in blankets if you're full.
Get junk out of the house. The majority of people don't get into the car at midnight, drive to the store, buy the ingredients for cookies, bake them, and then stay up to eat them. But if those homemade cookies that Linda in accounting made for you are already on your kitchen counter, you better believe you'll find a way to justify it. Frankly, at 12:30 AM, after a rotten day, for most of us there's nothing like a few cookies to drown our sorrows. The secret is to get the enticements out of the house. Send them to work with your significant other, donate them to a bake sale, regift them to your 100-pound friend with the perfect metabolism, or just dump them in the trash. Linda will never know. If you have holiday dinner leftovers, box them up for your guests individually and send them home with them. If your family still sends you that Pepperidge Farm® cookie assortment, invite a bunch of people over for a pre-party party and serve 'em up before the drinks. Don't be more wasteful than you have to, but get the less-than-healthy temptations out of your reach.
Offer to prepare healthy fare. This suggestion won't be well received by those of us who'd rather spend Thanksgiving sitting around watching football than toiling in the kitchen, but if you do the cooking, you have the control. Your family could have a tasty and satisfying meal without ingesting thousands of calories and fat grams. The way the turkey is prepared, the type of stuffing, how vegetables are made, whether the cranberries are real, and countless other things can make or break the healthiness of a meal. There are tons of cookbooks out there, plus recipes on various websites, that can help you out. Yes, it does require a bit of work. But you work out with Beachbody® fitness programs. You can do anything.
Choose wisely and proportionally. Something occurs during a holiday meal. It's like a Las Vegas buffet—we feel like we have to eat some of everything. We feel almost like those foods will never exist again, and this is our last meal on the planet. This year, why not try to eat only your favorites, as in two or three items, and keep the portions to the size of your palm? If you're still hungry, try to fill up on veggies (preferably ones that aren't drowned in butter or cream-of-mushroom soup). If you want dessert, lean toward a small slice of pumpkin pie (220 calories) as opposed to pecan (a heftier 543), leaving out the hydrogenated nondairy whipped topping if possible. If you're going to have an alcoholic beverage, go with a flute of champagne (100 calories) as opposed to that rum-laced eggnog (with more than four times more calories, at 420). Just a few wise choices will save you a ton of calories, and probably a significant amount of heartburn as well.
Don't beat yourself up. Quite possibly the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up over a bit of holiday indulgence. Yes, it does stink to backslide after working your tail off. But sometimes it doesn't stink as much as dealing with your mother when you turn down her brisket and potato pancakes. Sometimes, we don't have time to go to work, buy a Christmas tree, decorate it with our kids, make dinner, oversee homework, tuck kids in bed, and spend an hour doing a workout. We can only do our very best. Mentally berating yourself will only make you feel worse, which never helped anyone get back to their fitness program. So if you happen to gain that one extra pound this holiday season, be part of the rare group who actually follows through with their New Year's resolution and manages to shed it again. A week of hard work and a slight calorie deficit should do the trick. Resolutions don't come easier than that!
Stephanie S. Saunders, Beachbody.com
Wrong. According to a recent study by researchers at Sweden's Linköping University, those 4 weeks of celebrating can actually lead to long-term weight gain.
Essentially, the researchers took a group of healthy young people, increased their caloric intake by 70 percent, and lowered their exercise levels. They also had a control group whose diets weren't altered. At 4 weeks, the participants in the test group had gained an average of 14 pounds. After 6 months, and no longer on an increased-calorie diet, only a third of these participants had returned to their original weight. After 1 year, the test group members were each still an average of 3.3 pounds heavier. After 2.5 years, the "gluttonous" group continued to gain, while the control group still maintained a stable weight.
Now, most of us don't increase our calories that drastically for 30 days straight. Sure, there's Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving leftovers, Hanukkah, the work Christmas party, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, not to mention the extra sweets, cocktails, and (ahem) fruitcake. But according to the New England Journal of Medicine, the actual average weight gain over the holidays is only 1 pound. (They obviously didn't poll my family or friends.) So what's the big deal? The problem is, a year later, the vast majority of people have not removed that pound. Continue this pattern over 30 or 40 holiday seasons and the problem becomes—quite literally—huge.
So how are we supposed to get through the holidays without causing weight gain? Here are eight effective ways to get yourself ready to beat the holiday bulge.
Buy clothes that fit right now. This first tip might be a bit pricy, but it's a great motivational aid in staving off weight gain. A new addition to your wardrobe in a size that shows off your summer body can be all you need to prevent those extra pounds from creeping on. Imagine that beautiful holiday dress or great pair of pants, then imagine being unable to zip them up thanks to sugar cookies. Yeah, no one wants that. So before you begin the festivities, go buy yourself something perfect to wear to your parties and hang it someplace visible, so it serves as a constant reminder. Perhaps on the TV where you play your DVDS, or in front of that treadmill that might be starting to collect a little dust in the corner, or on your refrigerator door . . . that way, if it doesn't fit quite the same way the next time you try to slip into it, you know it's time to get back to work.
Write it down. We try to write down everything we eat, right? We spend hours each month staring at a food diary, adding up our calories, and seeing if we got the correct balance of macronutrients. And then the holidays happen, and our little book ends up in the bottom drawer. It's almost like we're hoping that if we didn't write it down, it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the scale doesn't fit in that bottom drawer. The truth is, if we would write down the not-so-perfect meals and treats, we could find a way to compensate for it, at least a bit. For example, you have a peppermint brownie in the break room at work, which you know is carbohydrates and fat. Eat one less portion of carbohydrate and one less portion of fat for your dinner. It's not ideal, but it'll help. Or perhaps you couldn't resist Mom's homemade scones for breakfast. You could plan on an extra 20 or 30 minutes of your workout tonight. The point is, if we write it down, and do the math, we can lessen the damage. It isn't a good long-term plan, but to help compensate for a few slip-ups, it can help.
Keep exercising. Most fitness trainers will tell you the slowest point of their year is between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Sure, their clients schedule workouts with the best of intentions, but then they cancel them for parties and gift shopping. It's hard to remain balanced when you have a million things to do and gifts to buy. Yet the greatest gift you can give yourself is to stay focused on your fitness goals and get your workout in. Shopping getting in the way? Do it online and save some time. Parties getting in the way? Just show up later. Who cares if everyone else is a couple of cocktails ahead of you? You'll be healthier, and you won't have to worry about the embarrassing YouTube® videos in the morning. Just stay consistent, even if it's inconvenient. You'll be much less likely to look like Santa (both belly-wise and red-nose-wise) at the end of the month.
Eat before parties. Most holiday parties don't focus on low-fat, low-calorie refreshments, so unless you're organizing the event, the best damage control is to show up with a full tummy. Make sure you eat your meals and snacks throughout the day, and try to eat a healthy meal before attending any party. If you're going straight from work, prepare a healthy and filling snack to eat on the way. You'll be a lot less likely to swim in mayonnaise dips and pigs in blankets if you're full.
Get junk out of the house. The majority of people don't get into the car at midnight, drive to the store, buy the ingredients for cookies, bake them, and then stay up to eat them. But if those homemade cookies that Linda in accounting made for you are already on your kitchen counter, you better believe you'll find a way to justify it. Frankly, at 12:30 AM, after a rotten day, for most of us there's nothing like a few cookies to drown our sorrows. The secret is to get the enticements out of the house. Send them to work with your significant other, donate them to a bake sale, regift them to your 100-pound friend with the perfect metabolism, or just dump them in the trash. Linda will never know. If you have holiday dinner leftovers, box them up for your guests individually and send them home with them. If your family still sends you that Pepperidge Farm® cookie assortment, invite a bunch of people over for a pre-party party and serve 'em up before the drinks. Don't be more wasteful than you have to, but get the less-than-healthy temptations out of your reach.
Offer to prepare healthy fare. This suggestion won't be well received by those of us who'd rather spend Thanksgiving sitting around watching football than toiling in the kitchen, but if you do the cooking, you have the control. Your family could have a tasty and satisfying meal without ingesting thousands of calories and fat grams. The way the turkey is prepared, the type of stuffing, how vegetables are made, whether the cranberries are real, and countless other things can make or break the healthiness of a meal. There are tons of cookbooks out there, plus recipes on various websites, that can help you out. Yes, it does require a bit of work. But you work out with Beachbody® fitness programs. You can do anything.
Choose wisely and proportionally. Something occurs during a holiday meal. It's like a Las Vegas buffet—we feel like we have to eat some of everything. We feel almost like those foods will never exist again, and this is our last meal on the planet. This year, why not try to eat only your favorites, as in two or three items, and keep the portions to the size of your palm? If you're still hungry, try to fill up on veggies (preferably ones that aren't drowned in butter or cream-of-mushroom soup). If you want dessert, lean toward a small slice of pumpkin pie (220 calories) as opposed to pecan (a heftier 543), leaving out the hydrogenated nondairy whipped topping if possible. If you're going to have an alcoholic beverage, go with a flute of champagne (100 calories) as opposed to that rum-laced eggnog (with more than four times more calories, at 420). Just a few wise choices will save you a ton of calories, and probably a significant amount of heartburn as well.
Don't beat yourself up. Quite possibly the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up over a bit of holiday indulgence. Yes, it does stink to backslide after working your tail off. But sometimes it doesn't stink as much as dealing with your mother when you turn down her brisket and potato pancakes. Sometimes, we don't have time to go to work, buy a Christmas tree, decorate it with our kids, make dinner, oversee homework, tuck kids in bed, and spend an hour doing a workout. We can only do our very best. Mentally berating yourself will only make you feel worse, which never helped anyone get back to their fitness program. So if you happen to gain that one extra pound this holiday season, be part of the rare group who actually follows through with their New Year's resolution and manages to shed it again. A week of hard work and a slight calorie deficit should do the trick. Resolutions don't come easier than that!
Stephanie S. Saunders, Beachbody.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Dieting Gone Awry: When Food is Foe
"I'm 'good' at breakfast and lunch, but after I get home from the gym at night, I end up devouring everything in sight. On weekends, my eating is even crazier." Sound familiar?
I should be pencil-thin for all the exercise I do.
I don’t keep cookies in the house. If they are there, I eat way too many of them.I’m afraid if I start eating, I won’t stop…
The Athlete's Kitchen
Too many athletes are at war with food and their bodies. In their quest to attain the “perfect body” that is leaner, lighter and presumably faster and better, they have developed atypical eating patterns that are far from peaceful. As one client reported, “I'm trying so hard to lose five pounds but I'm getting nowhere. In fact, I'm even gaining weight. I'm “good” at breakfast and lunch, but after I get home from the gym at night, I end up devouring everything in sight. On weekends, my eating is even crazier.” Sound familiar?
The problems with dieting
The first three letters of diet are D-I-E. Dieting conjures up feelings of deprivation and denial. Dieting is unsustainable, no fun. Few dieters win the war against hunger. Even 50% of people who had gastric bypass surgery regained weight within two years (1).
Why does this happen? Because the body perceives a diet as a famine and strives to protect itself from starving to death by signaling hunger. Hunger leads to the overwhelming urge to binge-eat. Research with healthy, normal-weight men who cut their food intake in half (similar to what many dieting athletes try to do) reports most regained the weight they'd lost—plus 10% more—within three months (2). Another study with middle school kids who were followed through high school indicates all efforts to lose weight resulted in disordered eating patterns five years later—but not leaner bodies (3). Dieting tends to create more long-term problems than it solves.
How to find peace with food
Let's take a look at some ways to transform blown diets into appropriate fueling (while you chip away at losing undesired body fat). A first step is to remember food is fuel, not the fattening enemy. Food not only enhances athletic performance but also prevents hunger and out-of-control food binges.
As a human, you are supposed to eat, even if you are over fat. If you restrict your food intake, you also restrict protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals and other bio-active food compounds that contribute to good health and high energy. Bad idea. Your body needs those nutrients.
Calories: Current research suggests a sustainable way to lose undesired body fat is to knock off about 200 calories a day (4), such as 10 ounces of wine, 20 tortilla chips or one roll with butter. By knocking off the calories at the end of the day, you can lose weight when you are sleeping (as opposed to when you are trying to train and function during the day).
Carbs: Bread, bagel, pasta, rice, crackers—all those dreaded carbs—are not fattening. Your body does not readily convert carbs into body fat. Rather, your body preferentially burns carbs to fuel your workouts. If your muscles become carb (glycogen) depleted, you will feel an incessant, niggling hunger that can lead to non-stop snacking. You may believe you are eating because you are just bored, but your muscles are telling you they want carbs to recover and refuel. Do not try to “stay away from carbs.” Egg whites for breakfast, salad for lunch, and fish + broccoli for dinner leave muscles unfueled and your body unable to train and compete at its best. Oatmeal, whole grain breads, brown rice, and sweet potatoes are just a few wholesome suggestions. Enjoy them as the foundation of each sports meal.
Protein: Dieters need to consume a strong protein intake to help protect their muscles. That is, when you restrict calories, you burn not just body fat but also muscle tissue. Enjoy a protein-rich food (in combination with carbs) at each meal and snack. Protein is satiating; it helps keep you feeling fed and can curb your appetite. Dieters who eat protein (eggs) at breakfast stay full longer than those who eat just carbs (bagel, fruit, granola bar). By eating and enjoying a satiating breakfast, you’ll be less likely to crave sweets and succumb to donuts or candy bars.
Fat: Fat (preferably healthful fat such as in nuts, olive oil, salmon, peanut butter) is an essential part of a sports diet. It's required to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. A little fat gets stored right within the muscle cells and gets used during long workouts. It enhances endurance. Runners who switched from a low (16%) fat diet to a moderate (30%) fat diet improved their performance by 14% (5). That's a lot! And, they did not gain body fat. The mantra “Eat fat, get fat” is false. Overeat calories and you will get fat, particularly if you overeat calories from fatty foods. Excess dietary fat easily converts into body fat.
Vitamins: The less fuel you ingest, the fewer vitamins you consume. Taking a vitamin pill might replace some of those losses, but a pill does not provide other bio-active compounds in foods that protect your good health. Strive to enjoy colorful vegetables and/or fruits at each meal. By satisfying your hunger with wholesome sports foods at daytime meals, you will ruin your appetite for the evening “junk food” that contributes to fat-gain. You feel better during the day, have better workouts, be in a better mood—and be able to knock off 200+ calories of evening snacks so you can lose weight easily when you are sleeping. Experiment for just one day with front-loading your calories; the benefits will be obvious!
Easier said than done? While food-binges can simply be the backlash from unrealistic efforts to lose a few pounds, they sometimes also serve the important job of distracting people from thinking about painful relationships and feelings of inadequacy. That is, if you incessantly think about food, you are not thinking about how sad, depressed or lonely you might be feeling. You’d rather focus on losing five pounds, believing weight loss will make you happy. Doubtful.
Instead of trying to find happiness from a number on the scale, the better bet is to appreciate your body for all the good it does. Do not compare your body to others. To compare is to despair. Practice eating mindfully and ask yourself before you eat “Does my body need this fuel?” Eat mechanically, on a time schedule, with even-sized meals that truly satisfy you, so you don't just stop eating because you think you should.
Rather than struggle with food and weight issues on your own, consult with a sports dietitian who can help you create a positive food plan. Use the referral network at SCANdpg.org to find your local RD CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in SportsDietetics).
Life is too short to spend it fighting with food.
I should be pencil-thin for all the exercise I do.
I don’t keep cookies in the house. If they are there, I eat way too many of them.I’m afraid if I start eating, I won’t stop…
The Athlete's Kitchen
Too many athletes are at war with food and their bodies. In their quest to attain the “perfect body” that is leaner, lighter and presumably faster and better, they have developed atypical eating patterns that are far from peaceful. As one client reported, “I'm trying so hard to lose five pounds but I'm getting nowhere. In fact, I'm even gaining weight. I'm “good” at breakfast and lunch, but after I get home from the gym at night, I end up devouring everything in sight. On weekends, my eating is even crazier.” Sound familiar?
The problems with dieting
The first three letters of diet are D-I-E. Dieting conjures up feelings of deprivation and denial. Dieting is unsustainable, no fun. Few dieters win the war against hunger. Even 50% of people who had gastric bypass surgery regained weight within two years (1).
Why does this happen? Because the body perceives a diet as a famine and strives to protect itself from starving to death by signaling hunger. Hunger leads to the overwhelming urge to binge-eat. Research with healthy, normal-weight men who cut their food intake in half (similar to what many dieting athletes try to do) reports most regained the weight they'd lost—plus 10% more—within three months (2). Another study with middle school kids who were followed through high school indicates all efforts to lose weight resulted in disordered eating patterns five years later—but not leaner bodies (3). Dieting tends to create more long-term problems than it solves.
How to find peace with food
Let's take a look at some ways to transform blown diets into appropriate fueling (while you chip away at losing undesired body fat). A first step is to remember food is fuel, not the fattening enemy. Food not only enhances athletic performance but also prevents hunger and out-of-control food binges.
As a human, you are supposed to eat, even if you are over fat. If you restrict your food intake, you also restrict protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals and other bio-active food compounds that contribute to good health and high energy. Bad idea. Your body needs those nutrients.
Calories: Current research suggests a sustainable way to lose undesired body fat is to knock off about 200 calories a day (4), such as 10 ounces of wine, 20 tortilla chips or one roll with butter. By knocking off the calories at the end of the day, you can lose weight when you are sleeping (as opposed to when you are trying to train and function during the day).
Carbs: Bread, bagel, pasta, rice, crackers—all those dreaded carbs—are not fattening. Your body does not readily convert carbs into body fat. Rather, your body preferentially burns carbs to fuel your workouts. If your muscles become carb (glycogen) depleted, you will feel an incessant, niggling hunger that can lead to non-stop snacking. You may believe you are eating because you are just bored, but your muscles are telling you they want carbs to recover and refuel. Do not try to “stay away from carbs.” Egg whites for breakfast, salad for lunch, and fish + broccoli for dinner leave muscles unfueled and your body unable to train and compete at its best. Oatmeal, whole grain breads, brown rice, and sweet potatoes are just a few wholesome suggestions. Enjoy them as the foundation of each sports meal.
Protein: Dieters need to consume a strong protein intake to help protect their muscles. That is, when you restrict calories, you burn not just body fat but also muscle tissue. Enjoy a protein-rich food (in combination with carbs) at each meal and snack. Protein is satiating; it helps keep you feeling fed and can curb your appetite. Dieters who eat protein (eggs) at breakfast stay full longer than those who eat just carbs (bagel, fruit, granola bar). By eating and enjoying a satiating breakfast, you’ll be less likely to crave sweets and succumb to donuts or candy bars.
Fat: Fat (preferably healthful fat such as in nuts, olive oil, salmon, peanut butter) is an essential part of a sports diet. It's required to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. A little fat gets stored right within the muscle cells and gets used during long workouts. It enhances endurance. Runners who switched from a low (16%) fat diet to a moderate (30%) fat diet improved their performance by 14% (5). That's a lot! And, they did not gain body fat. The mantra “Eat fat, get fat” is false. Overeat calories and you will get fat, particularly if you overeat calories from fatty foods. Excess dietary fat easily converts into body fat.
Vitamins: The less fuel you ingest, the fewer vitamins you consume. Taking a vitamin pill might replace some of those losses, but a pill does not provide other bio-active compounds in foods that protect your good health. Strive to enjoy colorful vegetables and/or fruits at each meal. By satisfying your hunger with wholesome sports foods at daytime meals, you will ruin your appetite for the evening “junk food” that contributes to fat-gain. You feel better during the day, have better workouts, be in a better mood—and be able to knock off 200+ calories of evening snacks so you can lose weight easily when you are sleeping. Experiment for just one day with front-loading your calories; the benefits will be obvious!
Easier said than done? While food-binges can simply be the backlash from unrealistic efforts to lose a few pounds, they sometimes also serve the important job of distracting people from thinking about painful relationships and feelings of inadequacy. That is, if you incessantly think about food, you are not thinking about how sad, depressed or lonely you might be feeling. You’d rather focus on losing five pounds, believing weight loss will make you happy. Doubtful.
Instead of trying to find happiness from a number on the scale, the better bet is to appreciate your body for all the good it does. Do not compare your body to others. To compare is to despair. Practice eating mindfully and ask yourself before you eat “Does my body need this fuel?” Eat mechanically, on a time schedule, with even-sized meals that truly satisfy you, so you don't just stop eating because you think you should.
Rather than struggle with food and weight issues on your own, consult with a sports dietitian who can help you create a positive food plan. Use the referral network at SCANdpg.org to find your local RD CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in SportsDietetics).
Life is too short to spend it fighting with food.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
7 Good Reasons to Try Interval Training
What if I told you there was an exercise technique that could burn more calories—and fat—in less time that was also fun? You may think that I was hawking some fitness gadget in an infomercial, or simply lying to you, but neither of those theories hold true. The amazing workout is called interval training. During interval training, exercisers alternate between high-intensity efforts and low-intensity recovery efforts during a single cardio (aerobic) workout session. It can be as simple as sprinting between two telephone poles and then walking for the next two, or a regimented plan using a stopwatch and specific training schedule. Either way, adding just a couple sessions of interval training to your workouts each week is sure to boost your fitness level, accelerate your fat loss and help you beat boredom.
Here are 7 reasons to try interval training yourself, plus tips and workouts to get you started.
Interval training burn more calories. Most of us exercise at a continuous intensity during our cardio workouts. This is called "continuous training." While continuous training is the most common way to exercise and still offers ample benefits, such as burning calories, "Interval training burns calories quicker," Kerri O'Brien of Life Fitness recently told Reuters. "If you're doing interval training for 20 minutes it can burn as many calories you would in 40 minutes," of steady-state training, she explained.
Interval training burns more fat. Doing short bursts of higher-intensity exercise encourages your body to burn body fat as fuel. A small study from 2007 had eight women in their 20s cycle for 10 sets of intervals (four minutes higher intensity, followed by two minutes of rest). After the interval training, the women burned 36% more fat during an hour of continuous training (moderate cycling). The results were published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Other studies have found that even when the workout is over, exercisers have a higher post-workout calorie burn (their metabolism remains elevated) after interval training than after continuous training.
Interval training works for all fitness levels. According to the American Council on Exercise, everyone from beginner exercisers to elite athletes can perform (and benefit from) interval training. Beginners, for example, can use interval training to slowly work their way up to higher intensity exercise, such as walk-jog intervals, which can help one work up to running continuously. Advanced exercisers can use high intensity intervals to improve speed, power and performance.
Interval training can boost your fitness level. The same study mentioned above also found that subjects who performed interval training improved their cardiovascular fitness by 13%. Another study, also published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (in 2005), found that college-age men and women doubled their exercise endurance after just two weeks of interval training. The control group who did not perform interval training, showed no improvements in their endurance.
Interval training works for the tortoise and the hare. Sometimes you feel like doing a hard workout. Sometimes, you feel like taking it easy. Interval training is a great alternative to both scenarios, and perfect for people who need to force themselves to change up their programs. I tend to turn to interval training on days that I'm feeling a little lazy since I know I won't have to force myself to do a tough workout, and that I'll get to enjoy the low-intensity exercise I'm craving. In this sense, interval training is a great way to cross train, too. If your usual routine is to run at a steady pace, or pick one level on the elliptical and stick it out for 30 minutes, you'll be doing your body a favor by changing up the speed and intensity of your workouts. You don't even have to change what you do to work out. Interval training can be applied to almost any type of exercise: walking, running, biking, cardio machines, indoor cycling, swimming, dancing—even strength training. Interval training can combat boredom. Probably one of the greatest benefits of interval training is that it really passes the time, which can make your workouts seem more fun. Rather than drudging away at the same boring intensity, interval training keeps your mind engaged and helps your workouts go by faster by breaking down one long workout into smaller, more manageable chunks of time. Each interval you complete is another notch closer to your cool down.
Interval training means less time in the gym. Since you're working harder (for a short period), you can get away with shorter workouts when you perform interval training—and the benefits are essentially the same in terms of endurance and calorie burn. This is a great option when you're short on time but want to squeeze in an effective workout, or when you have a hard time committing to exercise in general. The shorter your workouts are, the more likely you'll be to stick with them.
www.livestrong.com
Here are 7 reasons to try interval training yourself, plus tips and workouts to get you started.
Interval training burn more calories. Most of us exercise at a continuous intensity during our cardio workouts. This is called "continuous training." While continuous training is the most common way to exercise and still offers ample benefits, such as burning calories, "Interval training burns calories quicker," Kerri O'Brien of Life Fitness recently told Reuters. "If you're doing interval training for 20 minutes it can burn as many calories you would in 40 minutes," of steady-state training, she explained.
Interval training burns more fat. Doing short bursts of higher-intensity exercise encourages your body to burn body fat as fuel. A small study from 2007 had eight women in their 20s cycle for 10 sets of intervals (four minutes higher intensity, followed by two minutes of rest). After the interval training, the women burned 36% more fat during an hour of continuous training (moderate cycling). The results were published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Other studies have found that even when the workout is over, exercisers have a higher post-workout calorie burn (their metabolism remains elevated) after interval training than after continuous training.
Interval training works for all fitness levels. According to the American Council on Exercise, everyone from beginner exercisers to elite athletes can perform (and benefit from) interval training. Beginners, for example, can use interval training to slowly work their way up to higher intensity exercise, such as walk-jog intervals, which can help one work up to running continuously. Advanced exercisers can use high intensity intervals to improve speed, power and performance.
Interval training can boost your fitness level. The same study mentioned above also found that subjects who performed interval training improved their cardiovascular fitness by 13%. Another study, also published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (in 2005), found that college-age men and women doubled their exercise endurance after just two weeks of interval training. The control group who did not perform interval training, showed no improvements in their endurance.
Interval training works for the tortoise and the hare. Sometimes you feel like doing a hard workout. Sometimes, you feel like taking it easy. Interval training is a great alternative to both scenarios, and perfect for people who need to force themselves to change up their programs. I tend to turn to interval training on days that I'm feeling a little lazy since I know I won't have to force myself to do a tough workout, and that I'll get to enjoy the low-intensity exercise I'm craving. In this sense, interval training is a great way to cross train, too. If your usual routine is to run at a steady pace, or pick one level on the elliptical and stick it out for 30 minutes, you'll be doing your body a favor by changing up the speed and intensity of your workouts. You don't even have to change what you do to work out. Interval training can be applied to almost any type of exercise: walking, running, biking, cardio machines, indoor cycling, swimming, dancing—even strength training. Interval training can combat boredom. Probably one of the greatest benefits of interval training is that it really passes the time, which can make your workouts seem more fun. Rather than drudging away at the same boring intensity, interval training keeps your mind engaged and helps your workouts go by faster by breaking down one long workout into smaller, more manageable chunks of time. Each interval you complete is another notch closer to your cool down.
Interval training means less time in the gym. Since you're working harder (for a short period), you can get away with shorter workouts when you perform interval training—and the benefits are essentially the same in terms of endurance and calorie burn. This is a great option when you're short on time but want to squeeze in an effective workout, or when you have a hard time committing to exercise in general. The shorter your workouts are, the more likely you'll be to stick with them.
www.livestrong.com
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Daily Carb Intake for Weight Loss
Overview
The number of calories you eat, not the type, determine whether you will lose weight. With any weight-loss plan, however, you'll want to consider the percentage of your calories that come from carbohydrates, protein and fat, to create a well-balanced eating plan. You can use recommendations for daily carbohydrate intake from the USDA and other health organizations to create a healthy weight-loss program.
Types
You can divide your carbohydrates into three categories: whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Whole grains and vegetables provide complex carbohydrates, while fruits give you simple sugars. Whole grains include foods such as bread, cereal, pasta, rice. Along with potatoes, these foods are often called white, or starchy, vegetables. Plants that grown on vines, above ground, such as tomatoes, squash, zucchini and pumpkins, are actually fruits.
Considerations
As you plan your diet, consider any health issues you have, such as high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels, diabetes or risk of heart disease. Different carbohydrates provide different amounts of vitamins and minerals, and you should choose your carbs based on the nutrients they provide you.
Carb Amounts by Type
The USDA recommends that whole grains make up the base of your daily calories, followed by fruits and vegetables, while the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight pyramid recommends you eat more fruits and vegetables than whole grains. The South Beach Diet also recommends eating fewer starchy carbohydrates and more fruits and vegetables as part of its weight-loss plan. No peer-reviewed medical research has shown that high-protein diets offer more weight-loss than diets that recommend more carbohydrates.
Carb Servings
The USDA recommends six to 11 servings daily of whole grains, while the Mayo Clinic pyramid recommends four to eight servings. The USDA recommends three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit, while MayoClinic.com suggests a minimum of three servings of fruit each day and four servings of vegetables. The USDA pyramid recommends three to seven servings of protein from sources such as nuts, beans, meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy, while MayoClinic.com recommends four to six servings. The USDA suggests you eat fats sparingly, while MayoClinic.com recommends three to five servings of fats daily. Most of your fats should come in the form of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that come from sources, such as olive oil, nuts and fish.
Weight Loss
To lose 1 lb. of weight, you'll need to burn 3,500 calories. This translates into burning 500 calories more per day than you eat. If you wish to decrease your calories as your only means of weight loss, or use a combination of fewer calories and more exercise, spread your calorie reduction evenly among carbohydrates, proteins and fats to ensure you receive the correct balance of vitamins and minerals you need for good health each day.
www.livestrong.com
The number of calories you eat, not the type, determine whether you will lose weight. With any weight-loss plan, however, you'll want to consider the percentage of your calories that come from carbohydrates, protein and fat, to create a well-balanced eating plan. You can use recommendations for daily carbohydrate intake from the USDA and other health organizations to create a healthy weight-loss program.
Types
You can divide your carbohydrates into three categories: whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Whole grains and vegetables provide complex carbohydrates, while fruits give you simple sugars. Whole grains include foods such as bread, cereal, pasta, rice. Along with potatoes, these foods are often called white, or starchy, vegetables. Plants that grown on vines, above ground, such as tomatoes, squash, zucchini and pumpkins, are actually fruits.
Considerations
As you plan your diet, consider any health issues you have, such as high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels, diabetes or risk of heart disease. Different carbohydrates provide different amounts of vitamins and minerals, and you should choose your carbs based on the nutrients they provide you.
Carb Amounts by Type
The USDA recommends that whole grains make up the base of your daily calories, followed by fruits and vegetables, while the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight pyramid recommends you eat more fruits and vegetables than whole grains. The South Beach Diet also recommends eating fewer starchy carbohydrates and more fruits and vegetables as part of its weight-loss plan. No peer-reviewed medical research has shown that high-protein diets offer more weight-loss than diets that recommend more carbohydrates.
Carb Servings
The USDA recommends six to 11 servings daily of whole grains, while the Mayo Clinic pyramid recommends four to eight servings. The USDA recommends three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit, while MayoClinic.com suggests a minimum of three servings of fruit each day and four servings of vegetables. The USDA pyramid recommends three to seven servings of protein from sources such as nuts, beans, meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy, while MayoClinic.com recommends four to six servings. The USDA suggests you eat fats sparingly, while MayoClinic.com recommends three to five servings of fats daily. Most of your fats should come in the form of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that come from sources, such as olive oil, nuts and fish.
Weight Loss
To lose 1 lb. of weight, you'll need to burn 3,500 calories. This translates into burning 500 calories more per day than you eat. If you wish to decrease your calories as your only means of weight loss, or use a combination of fewer calories and more exercise, spread your calorie reduction evenly among carbohydrates, proteins and fats to ensure you receive the correct balance of vitamins and minerals you need for good health each day.
www.livestrong.com
Monday, November 15, 2010
Do You Suffer from Diet Rage?
Rules of the Road to Help You Reach Your Destination
After slowing down to an unexplained stop for the 147th time in the space of 2 miles, I decided that I hated the world. Surrounding me were an ocean of maddening brake lights, rain pelting the windshield and thousands of tons of steel and fiberglass flung around by a clueless pack of selfish morons who obviously didn’t know the first thing about driving!!
It was in serious danger of ruining my whole day.
Is there anything more frustrating than being ogged down in traffic? Most all of us have been there before. That discouraged, fed up feeling that just makes us want to throw up our hands in surrender or lay them on the horn.
Thankfully, I stopped muttering helplessly and started thinking instead. And I realized that I often witness another type of "road rage" – the frustration that builds on the road to weight loss: Diet Rage.
Think about your dieting history. Does it give you the same feeling as an exasperating traffic jam? You never quite get where you want to go as fast as you want to get there. You get aggravated, yell (usually at yourself), and see people in other lanes going faster than you (how do they DO that?!), and it usually ends up ruining your day.
Here’s the lesson: Getting frustrated with your diet does no more good than getting frustrated in traffic. It just makes you unhappy, unsuccessful and tense.
By the time I got to work (it was a long commute), I noticed a lot of things that we, as weight loss veterans, can learn from traffic jams. Next time you start to feel frustrated with your weight loss progress, keep these "lessons of the road" in mind:
* Pay less attention to how much further you have to travel. Stop asking yourself "are we there yet?" You’ll get there when you get there. Instead, look at the scenery, think about life, carry on a conversation, sing along with the radio, or simply be thankful for how far you’ve come.
* The journey is always more fun with a passenger. Have you asked anyone along for the ride?
* You know the route you need to take to reach your weight loss goals. It’s already mapped out. As long as you stay pointed in the right direction, you’ll get there. Even in the worst traffic jams, you still get to your destination at some point. It’s the same way with dieting – just a matter of time. It may take longer than you first expected, but you will get there.
* There will always be periods of stopping and starting. It’s something that you should just anticipate and allow for. No use getting upset or stressed about not making progress. It’s a normal part of the journey.
* Sometimes, you’ve just gotta go with the flow of what’s going on around you. Life can present some situations that you really can’t do anything about. When that happens, staying straight and steady – doing the best that you can – will keep you on track and sane. In traffic, impatient people stop, change lanes, weave in and out of other cars, driving themselves and everyone else crazy – and in the end, usually don’t get any farther along than you do by staying put and going with the flow.
* Shortcuts never work.
* Driving too fast is dangerous. That’s why they call it "crash" dieting. Slow down, take what life gives you, and make sure you arrive at your destination in good health.
I finally did get to my destination after all. Hands were pried away from the steering wheel, teeth were unclenched, and a few aspirin were popped. Of course, people in the cars around me probably had a good laugh at my arm-waving and soundless yelling. Funny how we can lose our senses when faced with something that frustrates us, whether it’s traffic or our diets.
Thanks to these insights, my story had a happy ending. Hopefully, remembering these rules will help you reach your destination sooner – and more content – than you expected.
-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer
After slowing down to an unexplained stop for the 147th time in the space of 2 miles, I decided that I hated the world. Surrounding me were an ocean of maddening brake lights, rain pelting the windshield and thousands of tons of steel and fiberglass flung around by a clueless pack of selfish morons who obviously didn’t know the first thing about driving!!
It was in serious danger of ruining my whole day.
Is there anything more frustrating than being ogged down in traffic? Most all of us have been there before. That discouraged, fed up feeling that just makes us want to throw up our hands in surrender or lay them on the horn.
Thankfully, I stopped muttering helplessly and started thinking instead. And I realized that I often witness another type of "road rage" – the frustration that builds on the road to weight loss: Diet Rage.
Think about your dieting history. Does it give you the same feeling as an exasperating traffic jam? You never quite get where you want to go as fast as you want to get there. You get aggravated, yell (usually at yourself), and see people in other lanes going faster than you (how do they DO that?!), and it usually ends up ruining your day.
Here’s the lesson: Getting frustrated with your diet does no more good than getting frustrated in traffic. It just makes you unhappy, unsuccessful and tense.
By the time I got to work (it was a long commute), I noticed a lot of things that we, as weight loss veterans, can learn from traffic jams. Next time you start to feel frustrated with your weight loss progress, keep these "lessons of the road" in mind:
* Pay less attention to how much further you have to travel. Stop asking yourself "are we there yet?" You’ll get there when you get there. Instead, look at the scenery, think about life, carry on a conversation, sing along with the radio, or simply be thankful for how far you’ve come.
* The journey is always more fun with a passenger. Have you asked anyone along for the ride?
* You know the route you need to take to reach your weight loss goals. It’s already mapped out. As long as you stay pointed in the right direction, you’ll get there. Even in the worst traffic jams, you still get to your destination at some point. It’s the same way with dieting – just a matter of time. It may take longer than you first expected, but you will get there.
* There will always be periods of stopping and starting. It’s something that you should just anticipate and allow for. No use getting upset or stressed about not making progress. It’s a normal part of the journey.
* Sometimes, you’ve just gotta go with the flow of what’s going on around you. Life can present some situations that you really can’t do anything about. When that happens, staying straight and steady – doing the best that you can – will keep you on track and sane. In traffic, impatient people stop, change lanes, weave in and out of other cars, driving themselves and everyone else crazy – and in the end, usually don’t get any farther along than you do by staying put and going with the flow.
* Shortcuts never work.
* Driving too fast is dangerous. That’s why they call it "crash" dieting. Slow down, take what life gives you, and make sure you arrive at your destination in good health.
I finally did get to my destination after all. Hands were pried away from the steering wheel, teeth were unclenched, and a few aspirin were popped. Of course, people in the cars around me probably had a good laugh at my arm-waving and soundless yelling. Funny how we can lose our senses when faced with something that frustrates us, whether it’s traffic or our diets.
Thanks to these insights, my story had a happy ending. Hopefully, remembering these rules will help you reach your destination sooner – and more content – than you expected.
-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer
Friday, November 12, 2010
Whole Grains are the Whole Product
These Natural Grains Pack a Nutritional Punch
Health experts agree that we need to eat more whole grains for optimal health. But most people don’t know what whole grains are. They have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity, but knowing the health benefits doesn't help you find them in your local grocery store or learn how to cook with them.
The Definition of Whole Grain
Every grain starts as a whole grain when it grows from the earth. This whole grain (actually the seed or kernel of the plant) has three parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
When grains are processed and refined (the most common practice for making breads, cereals, pastas and flours), the bran and germ are removed, leaving behind the white endosperm. During this process, grains become less nutritious, losing 25% of their original protein content and 17 other essential nutrients. While manufacturers then "enrich" the flour with some vitamins and minerals, a naturally whole grain is still a healthier choice. Compared to refined grains (white bread, white rice, white flour), whole grains pack more protein, fiber, vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin E), and minerals (magnesium and iron), as well as some antioxidants not found in other foods.
Types of Whole Grains
Common types of whole grains include:
* Wild rice, which is actually a seed
* Brown rice
* Whole wheat
* Oatmeal and whole oats
* Barley
* Whole rye
* Bulgur
* Popcorn
Less common types include: amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum and triticale (a hybrid of rye and wheat).
Adding Whole Grains to Your Diet
New dietary guidelines established by the U.S. government in 2005 recommend that half of your daily grains servings should be whole grains. That's at least three servings of whole grains per day.
The easiest way to increase the amount of whole grains you consume is to substitute some processed grain products with their whole grain equivalent. This is as simple as having a slice of whole grain toast in the morning instead of using white bread, or using whole wheat flour in pancakes instead of white flour. If you’re making homemade soup, toss in a handful of brown rice or barley for added fiber. Make your dessert a healthy one, such as oatmeal cookies, and you won't have to feel guilty—you’re eating whole grains!
While at the grocery store, be extra careful reading food labels. Words such as multigrain, stone-ground cracked wheat or seven grain don’t necessarily mean the product is made with whole grains. And color doesn’t mean a whole grain either—some brown breads are simply white bread with added caramel coloring. The Whole Grain Council created an official packaging symbol in 2005 called the Whole Grain Stamp to help consumers find whole grain products. But until use of the stamp is used widespread, look for the word "whole" near the top of the ingredients list. (For example, the first ingredient of whole grain bread or cracker should be "whole wheat flour".)
Besides switching to whole wheat bread, you can easily add whole wheat pasta and brown rice to the menu to increase your consumption of whole grains. Whole wheat pasta comes in all shapes and sizes and appears to be a darker beige color than regular pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of both natural food and regular grocery stores. If you’re not going to eat it right away, you can store an unopened package for six to eight months in a cool, dry cupboard. Whole wheat pasta is prepared the same way as regular pasta (but usually takes a couple extra minutes to cook). To ensure that the pasta isn’t mushy, rinse it off under cool water to stop the cooking process. One cup of cooked whole wheat pasta has about 200 calories and 4 grams of fiber.
Brown rice is healthier than white rice and has significantly more nutrients. The refining process that transforms brown rice into polished, white rice strips away most of the vitamins and minerals and completely removes all of the fiber and essential fatty acids—basically leaving only the starch behind. White rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3 and iron, but at least eleven lost nutrients are not replaced at all. Brown rice is a concentrated source of fiber, which speeds up the removal of cancer-causing substances from our bodies. It is also an excellent source of selenium, which has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer. You can find quick-cooking "instant" brown rice, which are parboiled to speed cooking time. Because of this pre-cooked process, they are slightly lower in nutrients than regular, slow-cooking brown rice, which can take up to an hour to cook. However, look for microwavable pouches of brown rice on the shelf and in the freezer section. These are still high in nutrients and cook in minutes!
Studies Prove the Benefits of Whole Grains
A 2006 study by Tufts University showed that people who consume the most whole grains are 42 percent less likely to develop diabetes. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people with a diet high in whole grains showed a lower risk of both diabetes and heart disease. In 1997, the FDA authorized the claim that the soluble fiber in oats reduced the risk of coronary heart disease; this approval was extended in 2005 to include the fiber in barley as well.
Whether you want to reduce your risk of disease or you simply want to eat fewer processed foods, adding whole grains to your diet makes sense. So the next time you sit down to watch a movie, bring along a bowl of popcorn and snack with a clear conscious. Whole grains couldn’t be tastier!
-- By Leanne Beattie, Health & Fitness Writer
Health experts agree that we need to eat more whole grains for optimal health. But most people don’t know what whole grains are. They have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity, but knowing the health benefits doesn't help you find them in your local grocery store or learn how to cook with them.
The Definition of Whole Grain
Every grain starts as a whole grain when it grows from the earth. This whole grain (actually the seed or kernel of the plant) has three parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
1. The bran is the outer skin of the seed that contains antioxidants, B vitamins and fiber. (You may have heard of wheat bran or oat bran, which are available in stores and are common ingredients in certain cereals.)
2. The germ is the “baby” of the seed, which grows into a new plant when pollinated. It contains many vitamins, along with protein, minerals and healthy fats. (You may have seen jars of toasted wheat germ in stores, which can be added to a variety of foods to boost nutritional content.)
3. The endosperm is the seed’s food supply that provides the energy needed for the young plant to grow. The largest portion of the seed contains carbohydrates, and smaller amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals.
When grains are processed and refined (the most common practice for making breads, cereals, pastas and flours), the bran and germ are removed, leaving behind the white endosperm. During this process, grains become less nutritious, losing 25% of their original protein content and 17 other essential nutrients. While manufacturers then "enrich" the flour with some vitamins and minerals, a naturally whole grain is still a healthier choice. Compared to refined grains (white bread, white rice, white flour), whole grains pack more protein, fiber, vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin E), and minerals (magnesium and iron), as well as some antioxidants not found in other foods.
Types of Whole Grains
Common types of whole grains include:
* Wild rice, which is actually a seed
* Brown rice
* Whole wheat
* Oatmeal and whole oats
* Barley
* Whole rye
* Bulgur
* Popcorn
Less common types include: amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum and triticale (a hybrid of rye and wheat).
Adding Whole Grains to Your Diet
New dietary guidelines established by the U.S. government in 2005 recommend that half of your daily grains servings should be whole grains. That's at least three servings of whole grains per day.
The easiest way to increase the amount of whole grains you consume is to substitute some processed grain products with their whole grain equivalent. This is as simple as having a slice of whole grain toast in the morning instead of using white bread, or using whole wheat flour in pancakes instead of white flour. If you’re making homemade soup, toss in a handful of brown rice or barley for added fiber. Make your dessert a healthy one, such as oatmeal cookies, and you won't have to feel guilty—you’re eating whole grains!
While at the grocery store, be extra careful reading food labels. Words such as multigrain, stone-ground cracked wheat or seven grain don’t necessarily mean the product is made with whole grains. And color doesn’t mean a whole grain either—some brown breads are simply white bread with added caramel coloring. The Whole Grain Council created an official packaging symbol in 2005 called the Whole Grain Stamp to help consumers find whole grain products. But until use of the stamp is used widespread, look for the word "whole" near the top of the ingredients list. (For example, the first ingredient of whole grain bread or cracker should be "whole wheat flour".)
Besides switching to whole wheat bread, you can easily add whole wheat pasta and brown rice to the menu to increase your consumption of whole grains. Whole wheat pasta comes in all shapes and sizes and appears to be a darker beige color than regular pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of both natural food and regular grocery stores. If you’re not going to eat it right away, you can store an unopened package for six to eight months in a cool, dry cupboard. Whole wheat pasta is prepared the same way as regular pasta (but usually takes a couple extra minutes to cook). To ensure that the pasta isn’t mushy, rinse it off under cool water to stop the cooking process. One cup of cooked whole wheat pasta has about 200 calories and 4 grams of fiber.
Brown rice is healthier than white rice and has significantly more nutrients. The refining process that transforms brown rice into polished, white rice strips away most of the vitamins and minerals and completely removes all of the fiber and essential fatty acids—basically leaving only the starch behind. White rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3 and iron, but at least eleven lost nutrients are not replaced at all. Brown rice is a concentrated source of fiber, which speeds up the removal of cancer-causing substances from our bodies. It is also an excellent source of selenium, which has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer. You can find quick-cooking "instant" brown rice, which are parboiled to speed cooking time. Because of this pre-cooked process, they are slightly lower in nutrients than regular, slow-cooking brown rice, which can take up to an hour to cook. However, look for microwavable pouches of brown rice on the shelf and in the freezer section. These are still high in nutrients and cook in minutes!
Studies Prove the Benefits of Whole Grains
A 2006 study by Tufts University showed that people who consume the most whole grains are 42 percent less likely to develop diabetes. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people with a diet high in whole grains showed a lower risk of both diabetes and heart disease. In 1997, the FDA authorized the claim that the soluble fiber in oats reduced the risk of coronary heart disease; this approval was extended in 2005 to include the fiber in barley as well.
Whether you want to reduce your risk of disease or you simply want to eat fewer processed foods, adding whole grains to your diet makes sense. So the next time you sit down to watch a movie, bring along a bowl of popcorn and snack with a clear conscious. Whole grains couldn’t be tastier!
-- By Leanne Beattie, Health & Fitness Writer
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Stop Emotional Eating Before it Starts!
De-Stress in 3 Minutes or Less
What is the single, most common problem that most dieters face when trying to lose weight? Will power? Nah. Temptation? Sometimes. Emotional eating? Bingo! That’s why it takes so much more than good intentions and information about nutrition and exercise to be successful. The ability to manage difficult situations and feelings effectively—without turning to food and eating—is a necessary foundation for a successful weight loss plan and healthy lifestyle.
Fortunately, there are many proactive steps you can take to keep functioning on all your mental cylinders during tough times. These steps range widely from basic relaxation techniques to the development of a reliable support network. Other options include:
- Keeping a food journal to help you identify your emotional eating triggers
- Cultivating mental and emotional well-being through practices like meditation, mindfulness, massage, and yoga
- Developing good problem solving skills
- Turning to the Message Boards for help and support when you need it; offering help to others as a way to get your mind off your own troubles and gain a little perspective on things
But all of these things take time, and there are many instances when you need something you can do right now, to keep yourself grounded, focused and able to make good decisions. After all, you don’t always have time to take a walk, relax in a hot bath or call a friend to talk things over. That’s what we’ll be talking about here—a 3-minute trick for handling stressful situations in the moment.
Minute 1: Stay Grounded
Emotional eating happens when you lose your connection to your grounded self. Stress itself is not what makes you reach for something to eat. In fact, stress is often a good thing and your grounded self knows this! We need the physical stress of exercise to keep our bodies in good shape just as we need the stress of intellectual and emotional challenges to keep our minds healthy.
Nine times out of ten, what really leads to emotional eating is getting caught in a "mind storm" of worst-case scenarios, projections, misinterpretations, and all the emotional overreactions that come with these thoughts. This "storm" turns a manageable challenge into something that makes you feel helpless, overwhelmed, ashamed or afraid—and sends you to the kitchen to find something to stuff those extreme feelings. When you can stay grounded in the moment of stress, you have many more options.
Here are some simple ideas to keep you grounded when something (or someone) pushes your buttons and your feelings start to spiral out of control:
* Take a few deep breaths. (You can also count to 10, if that helps.) If the stressful situation involves someone else, take a timeout and agree to continue the discussion in a few minutes.
* Remind yourself where you are. Take a look around, noticing and naming the colors and shapes in the space around you.
* Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing. Whether it's a sinking feeling, turmoil in your stomach, tension in your hands or jaw, restricted breathing, or heat on the back of your neck, try to name the feelings that go with the sensation. Is that sinking feeling fear, or dread? Is the heat a symptom of anger?
The idea here is to stay in your body and in the moment—with what’s real—instead of going inside your mind where all those unreal scenarios are just waiting to get spun out-of-control.
Minute 2: Reality Check
Once you’re calm enough to start thinking productively, put all those thoughts that are clamoring for attention inside your head through a quick reality check. Here are several very common thought patterns that have no place in reality. Do any of these apply to you?
All or nothing thinking
Example: You go over your calorie limit or eat something on your “forbidden” list, and then decide to keep eating because you’ve already “blown it” for today. Reality: Weight loss is not a one-day event. If you stop overeating now, you’ll gain less and have less to re-lose later. That’s something to feel good about!
Reading your own thoughts into someone else’s words
Example: Someone made a mildly critical or unsupportive remark to you, and you feel completely devastated. Reality: The more bothered you are by such remarks, the more likely it is that you are being overly critical of yourself. When you treat yourself with respect, what others say won’t matter nearly so much.
Either-Or thinking
Example: You make a mistake or have a bad day and feel like a complete and hopeless failure. Reality: No one does well all the time. Mistakes are a necessary and valuable opportunity to learn—if you don’t waste them by getting down on yourself.
Taking care of other people’s business
Example: Something is going badly for someone you care about, and you feel responsible, or pressured to fix it. Reality: People need to learn from their own problems. You aren’t doing anyone a favor by trying to fix things just to make yourself feel better.
Minute 3: Putting Things in Perspective
Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to handle when you keep them in perspective and avoid making mountains out of molehills. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make sure you aren’t in the mountain-making business:
* How big a deal is this, anyway? If I knew I was going to die in a week, would this be something I would want to spend this minute of my remaining time on?
* Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I have more time to figure things out?
* Do I have all the information I need to decide how to respond to this? Do I really know what’s going on here, or am I making assumptions? Am I worrying about things that might not even happen? What do I need to check out before taking action?
* Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this situation?
* Am I trying to control something I can't, like what other people think, say, or do?
* Have I really thought through this problem, and broken it down into manageable pieces I can handle one-at-a-time?
Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel overwhelming, and you'll quickly find that the mountains that seem impossible at first can quickly morph into what they really are—manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb. All it takes is three little minutes of your time.
-- By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert
What is the single, most common problem that most dieters face when trying to lose weight? Will power? Nah. Temptation? Sometimes. Emotional eating? Bingo! That’s why it takes so much more than good intentions and information about nutrition and exercise to be successful. The ability to manage difficult situations and feelings effectively—without turning to food and eating—is a necessary foundation for a successful weight loss plan and healthy lifestyle.
Fortunately, there are many proactive steps you can take to keep functioning on all your mental cylinders during tough times. These steps range widely from basic relaxation techniques to the development of a reliable support network. Other options include:
- Keeping a food journal to help you identify your emotional eating triggers
- Cultivating mental and emotional well-being through practices like meditation, mindfulness, massage, and yoga
- Developing good problem solving skills
- Turning to the Message Boards for help and support when you need it; offering help to others as a way to get your mind off your own troubles and gain a little perspective on things
But all of these things take time, and there are many instances when you need something you can do right now, to keep yourself grounded, focused and able to make good decisions. After all, you don’t always have time to take a walk, relax in a hot bath or call a friend to talk things over. That’s what we’ll be talking about here—a 3-minute trick for handling stressful situations in the moment.
Minute 1: Stay Grounded
Emotional eating happens when you lose your connection to your grounded self. Stress itself is not what makes you reach for something to eat. In fact, stress is often a good thing and your grounded self knows this! We need the physical stress of exercise to keep our bodies in good shape just as we need the stress of intellectual and emotional challenges to keep our minds healthy.
Nine times out of ten, what really leads to emotional eating is getting caught in a "mind storm" of worst-case scenarios, projections, misinterpretations, and all the emotional overreactions that come with these thoughts. This "storm" turns a manageable challenge into something that makes you feel helpless, overwhelmed, ashamed or afraid—and sends you to the kitchen to find something to stuff those extreme feelings. When you can stay grounded in the moment of stress, you have many more options.
Here are some simple ideas to keep you grounded when something (or someone) pushes your buttons and your feelings start to spiral out of control:
* Take a few deep breaths. (You can also count to 10, if that helps.) If the stressful situation involves someone else, take a timeout and agree to continue the discussion in a few minutes.
* Remind yourself where you are. Take a look around, noticing and naming the colors and shapes in the space around you.
* Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing. Whether it's a sinking feeling, turmoil in your stomach, tension in your hands or jaw, restricted breathing, or heat on the back of your neck, try to name the feelings that go with the sensation. Is that sinking feeling fear, or dread? Is the heat a symptom of anger?
The idea here is to stay in your body and in the moment—with what’s real—instead of going inside your mind where all those unreal scenarios are just waiting to get spun out-of-control.
Minute 2: Reality Check
Once you’re calm enough to start thinking productively, put all those thoughts that are clamoring for attention inside your head through a quick reality check. Here are several very common thought patterns that have no place in reality. Do any of these apply to you?
All or nothing thinking
Example: You go over your calorie limit or eat something on your “forbidden” list, and then decide to keep eating because you’ve already “blown it” for today. Reality: Weight loss is not a one-day event. If you stop overeating now, you’ll gain less and have less to re-lose later. That’s something to feel good about!
Reading your own thoughts into someone else’s words
Example: Someone made a mildly critical or unsupportive remark to you, and you feel completely devastated. Reality: The more bothered you are by such remarks, the more likely it is that you are being overly critical of yourself. When you treat yourself with respect, what others say won’t matter nearly so much.
Either-Or thinking
Example: You make a mistake or have a bad day and feel like a complete and hopeless failure. Reality: No one does well all the time. Mistakes are a necessary and valuable opportunity to learn—if you don’t waste them by getting down on yourself.
Taking care of other people’s business
Example: Something is going badly for someone you care about, and you feel responsible, or pressured to fix it. Reality: People need to learn from their own problems. You aren’t doing anyone a favor by trying to fix things just to make yourself feel better.
Minute 3: Putting Things in Perspective
Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to handle when you keep them in perspective and avoid making mountains out of molehills. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make sure you aren’t in the mountain-making business:
* How big a deal is this, anyway? If I knew I was going to die in a week, would this be something I would want to spend this minute of my remaining time on?
* Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I have more time to figure things out?
* Do I have all the information I need to decide how to respond to this? Do I really know what’s going on here, or am I making assumptions? Am I worrying about things that might not even happen? What do I need to check out before taking action?
* Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this situation?
* Am I trying to control something I can't, like what other people think, say, or do?
* Have I really thought through this problem, and broken it down into manageable pieces I can handle one-at-a-time?
Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel overwhelming, and you'll quickly find that the mountains that seem impossible at first can quickly morph into what they really are—manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb. All it takes is three little minutes of your time.
-- By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Power Surge: The Hidden Benefits of Exercise
Exercise does your body good almost instantly, research shows. Here's mega motivation to get slimmer, stronger, healthier -- fast!
Instant Benefits of Exercise
We've got some happy news that will rev up your workout routine: The moment you head out on your run, launch into your Spinning class, or start your Pilates session, the benefits of exercise kick in. "We see changes in the body within seconds," says FITNESS advisory board member Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise physiology at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. Your heart rate increases, and blood is delivered to your muscles. You start burning calories for fuel. And you get an almost immediate mood boost.
As little as 30 minutes of cardio three to five days a week will add six years to your life, according to research at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. Do that plus a couple of days of resistance training and you'll not only live longer but also look younger, feel happier, have more energy, and stay slim. Ready for some inspiration for getting your move on? Keep reading for our timeline on the quick and long-lasting benefits of regular exercise.
As You Work Out...
Your lungs are getting stronger. When you do cardio, your brain sends signals to them to help you breathe faster and deeper, delivering extra oxygen to your muscles.
Your motivation is at its peak. Thanks to a flood of endorphins, which trigger the classic runner's high, you feel psyched and energized.
You're fighting flab. "During typical cardio exercise, your body taps mainly fat for fuel," Olson says.
FIT TIP: Push yourself to go harder. The more intensely you do aerobic activity and the longer you do it, the more efficiently your body uses oxygen, and this boosts its fat-blasting power throughout your workout, Olson says.
Within One Hour of Exercise...
You're protecting yourself against colds, flu, you name it. Exercise elevates your level of immunoglobulins, which are proteins that help bolster your immune system and ward off infection. "Every sweat session you do can help strengthen your immune function for about 24 hours," says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.
You're feeling zen. Mood-enhancing chemicals, like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, flood your brain for a couple of hours post-exercise and for up to a day if you've competed in an endurance event, like a marathon. Stress? What stress?
FIT TIP: Do intervals, on the elliptical or the treadmill or while running outdoors, and you may feel even happier. Women who did interval training in a recent study by Olson had a bigger boost in mood immediately following their workout than those who worked out at a steady pace.
You're blasting calories, even at rest. "For every 100 calories you burn during your workout, you can expect to burn 15 calories after," Bryant says. If you went on a three-mile run, you would torch about 300 calories, which could mean zapping an extra 45 later.
FIT TIP: To turbo-charge your calorie-incinerating quotient, strength-train at least twice a week. It will charge your metabolism so that you'll continue to burn calories for up to 38 hours, according to a study from Ohio University in Athens.
You're hungry. Now that you've burned through your energy stores, your blood sugar levels are dropping. Just how low they go depends on how much you ate or drank before your workout and how long and intensely you exercised, says Kristine Clark, PhD, RD, director of sports nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.
FIT TIP: If you exercised on an empty or almost-empty stomach, you're probably feeling light-headed or even nauseated or headachy. Your immediate food fix: A high-carb nosh, like a banana or half a bagel, will refuel you and kick-start your recovery. And don't forget to drink plenty of water with your snack. Intense or long workouts can leave you dehydrated.
Fitness magazine
Instant Benefits of Exercise
We've got some happy news that will rev up your workout routine: The moment you head out on your run, launch into your Spinning class, or start your Pilates session, the benefits of exercise kick in. "We see changes in the body within seconds," says FITNESS advisory board member Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise physiology at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. Your heart rate increases, and blood is delivered to your muscles. You start burning calories for fuel. And you get an almost immediate mood boost.
As little as 30 minutes of cardio three to five days a week will add six years to your life, according to research at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. Do that plus a couple of days of resistance training and you'll not only live longer but also look younger, feel happier, have more energy, and stay slim. Ready for some inspiration for getting your move on? Keep reading for our timeline on the quick and long-lasting benefits of regular exercise.
As You Work Out...
Your lungs are getting stronger. When you do cardio, your brain sends signals to them to help you breathe faster and deeper, delivering extra oxygen to your muscles.
Your motivation is at its peak. Thanks to a flood of endorphins, which trigger the classic runner's high, you feel psyched and energized.
You're fighting flab. "During typical cardio exercise, your body taps mainly fat for fuel," Olson says.
FIT TIP: Push yourself to go harder. The more intensely you do aerobic activity and the longer you do it, the more efficiently your body uses oxygen, and this boosts its fat-blasting power throughout your workout, Olson says.
Within One Hour of Exercise...
You're protecting yourself against colds, flu, you name it. Exercise elevates your level of immunoglobulins, which are proteins that help bolster your immune system and ward off infection. "Every sweat session you do can help strengthen your immune function for about 24 hours," says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.
You're feeling zen. Mood-enhancing chemicals, like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, flood your brain for a couple of hours post-exercise and for up to a day if you've competed in an endurance event, like a marathon. Stress? What stress?
FIT TIP: Do intervals, on the elliptical or the treadmill or while running outdoors, and you may feel even happier. Women who did interval training in a recent study by Olson had a bigger boost in mood immediately following their workout than those who worked out at a steady pace.
You're blasting calories, even at rest. "For every 100 calories you burn during your workout, you can expect to burn 15 calories after," Bryant says. If you went on a three-mile run, you would torch about 300 calories, which could mean zapping an extra 45 later.
FIT TIP: To turbo-charge your calorie-incinerating quotient, strength-train at least twice a week. It will charge your metabolism so that you'll continue to burn calories for up to 38 hours, according to a study from Ohio University in Athens.
You're hungry. Now that you've burned through your energy stores, your blood sugar levels are dropping. Just how low they go depends on how much you ate or drank before your workout and how long and intensely you exercised, says Kristine Clark, PhD, RD, director of sports nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.
FIT TIP: If you exercised on an empty or almost-empty stomach, you're probably feeling light-headed or even nauseated or headachy. Your immediate food fix: A high-carb nosh, like a banana or half a bagel, will refuel you and kick-start your recovery. And don't forget to drink plenty of water with your snack. Intense or long workouts can leave you dehydrated.
Fitness magazine
Monday, November 8, 2010
Don't Neglect Your Body as You Develop Your Mind
Establish Life-Long Habits at a Young Age
For college and high school students, fall brings a lot of activity. Between fun stuff (like football games, parties, dances) and much harder things (like midterms and research papers), it may seem like there is not much time left to exercise and eat right. It is not uncommon for students to let their health slide. Before you know it, it's January 1 and you're trying to figure out how to lose 20 pounds before going on Spring Break!
There is a better way to do this. By establishing some simple, healthy nutrition and fitness habits, you can avoid gaining weight and even have more energy for school and everything else.
On the nutrition side, focus simply on making the right choices. This can make all the difference.
For example:
* Eating a good breakfast will give you energy well into the day and will cut down on cravings later.
* For late-night study snacks, try fruit or nuts instead of pizza or potato chips. By preparing ahead of time, you’re less likely to resort to unhealthy fast food when you’re in a pinch, and the healthier foods you eat will stabilize your energy levels throughout the day (and night).
* Drink plenty of water. Water helps your body remove waste and even helps you lose weight by metabolizing fat. It also helps reduce hunger. Try to keep a water bottle with you all day and drink that in class instead of high-calorie drinks like soda.
It can be hard to find time for fitness. Some options include:
* Use your school’s facilities with a friend. Most schools now have comprehensive fitness centers, so you might as well take advantage of them while they’re free (or close to it). Finding someone to go with will make you accountable so you’ll be more likely to keep going. Also, the gym can be a great place to meet new people.
* Walk as much as you can. If you're on your way to lunch or class and have the time, walk instead of driving. Even if you’re running late, increase your speed. Not only will you make it to class on time, you’ll also be getting aerobic benefit.
* Take breaks from studying to do some quick exercises for refreshment. Jumping jacks, crunches, push-ups, lunges, climbing stairs, or walking around the building can all be done in just a few minutes. Exercise breaks will also make your mind more alert and your studying more effective.
* Play a sport. You don't have to be part of the school's team. Anyone can play pick-up games or participate in intramurals or club sports.
Remember, don't get down on yourself if you miss a week of exercising or need to eat pizza a few nights in a row. School may be a stressful time, but it can also be the best time of your life—and one of your healthiest. Just try to remember the good habits presented here and other ones you learn along the way.
As you practice them more, you’ll be more consistent. Plus you’ll have plenty of energy and reduce the stress that comes with school. High school and college are times when healthy habits are made, so put forth the effort now and reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life.
-- By Dave Heilmann, Staff Writer, SparkPeople
For college and high school students, fall brings a lot of activity. Between fun stuff (like football games, parties, dances) and much harder things (like midterms and research papers), it may seem like there is not much time left to exercise and eat right. It is not uncommon for students to let their health slide. Before you know it, it's January 1 and you're trying to figure out how to lose 20 pounds before going on Spring Break!
There is a better way to do this. By establishing some simple, healthy nutrition and fitness habits, you can avoid gaining weight and even have more energy for school and everything else.
On the nutrition side, focus simply on making the right choices. This can make all the difference.
For example:
* Eating a good breakfast will give you energy well into the day and will cut down on cravings later.
* For late-night study snacks, try fruit or nuts instead of pizza or potato chips. By preparing ahead of time, you’re less likely to resort to unhealthy fast food when you’re in a pinch, and the healthier foods you eat will stabilize your energy levels throughout the day (and night).
* Drink plenty of water. Water helps your body remove waste and even helps you lose weight by metabolizing fat. It also helps reduce hunger. Try to keep a water bottle with you all day and drink that in class instead of high-calorie drinks like soda.
It can be hard to find time for fitness. Some options include:
* Use your school’s facilities with a friend. Most schools now have comprehensive fitness centers, so you might as well take advantage of them while they’re free (or close to it). Finding someone to go with will make you accountable so you’ll be more likely to keep going. Also, the gym can be a great place to meet new people.
* Walk as much as you can. If you're on your way to lunch or class and have the time, walk instead of driving. Even if you’re running late, increase your speed. Not only will you make it to class on time, you’ll also be getting aerobic benefit.
* Take breaks from studying to do some quick exercises for refreshment. Jumping jacks, crunches, push-ups, lunges, climbing stairs, or walking around the building can all be done in just a few minutes. Exercise breaks will also make your mind more alert and your studying more effective.
* Play a sport. You don't have to be part of the school's team. Anyone can play pick-up games or participate in intramurals or club sports.
Remember, don't get down on yourself if you miss a week of exercising or need to eat pizza a few nights in a row. School may be a stressful time, but it can also be the best time of your life—and one of your healthiest. Just try to remember the good habits presented here and other ones you learn along the way.
As you practice them more, you’ll be more consistent. Plus you’ll have plenty of energy and reduce the stress that comes with school. High school and college are times when healthy habits are made, so put forth the effort now and reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life.
-- By Dave Heilmann, Staff Writer, SparkPeople
Friday, November 5, 2010
How Many Carbs Am I Really Eating?
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in many foods, from cookies to cantaloupes.
If you have diabetes, planning your carb intake—and sticking to the plan—is critical to keep blood sugar on an even keel and to cut your risk of diabetes-related problems like heart disease and stroke.
Whether or not you have diabetes, you should aim to get about half your calories from complex carbohydrates (which are high in fiber), 20-25% from protein, and no more than 30% from fat, says Lalita Kaul, PhD, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
How to read a food label
The Nutrition Facts label lists the total amount of carbohydrates per serving, including carbs from fiber, sugar, and sugar alcohols. (If you're counting carbs in your diet, be aware that 15 grams of carbohydrates count as one serving.)
Sugar alcohols are often used in sugar-free foods, although they still deliver calories and carbs. Sugar alcohols and fiber don't affect blood sugar as much as other carbs, because they're not completely absorbed. If food contains sugar alcohol or 5 or more grams of fiber, you can subtract half of the grams of these ingredients from the number of total carbs. (See more details at the American Diabetes Association and University of California, San Francisco.)
How many carbs per day?
If you eat 2,000 calories a day, you should consume about 250 grams of complex carbohydrates per day.
A good starting place for people with diabetes is to have roughly 45 to 60 grams of carbs per meal and 15 to 30 grams for snacks. While snacks are key for people with diabetes who use insulin or pills that increase insulin production (otherwise, they run the risk of low blood sugar), they aren’t essential for non-insulin users.
The goal for anyone with diabetes, whether or not they use insulin, is to keep their blood sugar as steady as possible and to maximize their intake of nutritious carbs and minimize consumption of less healthy ones.
Fine-tune your intake
You may need to work with a nutritionist or diabetes educator to fine-tune your carb requirements, based on your activity level, whether you want to lose weight, and whether or not you use insulin.
Checking your blood sugar before and after meals is also important as you test-drive your carb-counting plan. If certain foods—like fruit juice or pasta—cause your blood sugar to spike, you’ll need to consume these in smaller portions.
Here’s a rough guide to figuring out the amount of carbs that can be found in 10 everyday foods. Get your measuring cup and scale ready!
Bread
1 slice of bread = 15 grams or 1 serving of carbohydrate
Although white and wheat bread have similar carb content (check the food label for details), whole-wheat bread is your best bet; it typically has more than twice as much fiber as white bread, meaning you digest it more slowly and your blood sugar will rise more gradually after you eat it.People with diabetes should aim to consume 30 grams of fiber daily, even though this can be hard on the digestive system for some people, says Kaul, a professor at Howard University College of Medicine, in Washington, D.C. She also suggests trying extra-thin bread, which can slice your calorie intake in half.
Cooked pasta
One-third cup of pasta = 15 grams or 1 serving
Again, opting for whole-wheat noodles rather than pasta made with white flour is a healthier choice. But it’s important to remember—and easy to forget—portion size.Just one-third of a cup, which is about half the size of a baseball, contains 15 grams of carbohydrate. If you overload your pasta bowl, you could easily get a day’s worth of carbs in a single meal.
Cereal
3/4 cup of dry cereal = 15 grams or 1 serving
Eating breakfast is important for all of us, but especially so for people with diabetes; a balanced morning meal helps you start the day healthy and energized.A bowl of cereal with skim milk is a great choice for the first meal of the day, says Kaul, but you should avoid sugary, low-fiber cereals like corn flakes.Oat bran cereal is a better option, the nutritionist says. Try it, and if you don’t like it, choose something else.
Crackers
4-6 Saltines = 15 grams or 1 serving
When you snack on crackers, checking the label for trans fat and sodium is just as important as looking out for carb content, Kaul notes. Even relatively low-carb crackers may be packing lots of this unhealthy fat and too much salt.Choose crackers with no more than 200 milligrams of sodium per serving of carbs, and leave the ones that contain trans fat on the supermarket shelf.
Fruit
One small piece = 15 grams or 1 serving
You really can’t go wrong with fruit, says Kaul, as long as you keep an eye on portion size. However, if you have diabetes, fruits like apples, bananas, berries, cantaloupes, strawberries, and peaches are the best choices. Pears and grapes can have too much sugar, she explains.A medium banana has about 15 grams of carbs, plus it is filling and chock-full of potassium. Berries are rich in fiber and antioxidants. But just remember how much fruit you’re eating. One serving of berries is just 3/4 of a cup, but it’s easy to eat three times this much—or more—if you’re not careful.
Fruit juice
1/2 cup fruit juice = 15 grams or 1 serving
Kaul tells her clients to choose fruit instead of fruit juice, because fruit contains fiber. And juice—even the unsweetened, natural kind—is high in calories. “Three glasses will give you 300 to 400 calories,” she says.People who don’t want to give up their OJ should have a small glass with breakfast, she says. And instead of consuming giant-size bottles of sweetened drinks, drink water or unsweetened tea.
Milk
1 cup nonfat skim milk = 15 grams or 1 serving
Dairy foods provide calcium, protein, vitamin D, and other key nutrients, so if you like them, definitely include them in your diet.But skip full-fat milk for skim, and choose low- or no-fat dairy products.People with diabetes frequently have high cholesterol and high triglycerides, and weight is often a concern, hence avoiding dairy fats is important, Kaul explains.
Yogurt
1 cup of light or plain yogurt = 15 grams or 1 serving
Yogurt is a great, healthy choice, as long as you go the nonfat route.Flavored yogurt is frequently full of sugar, so check the carb content. You may want to skip it and make your own by adding chopped-up fruit and nuts to plain, nonfat yogurt (which is also likely to be less expensive if you buy a quart-size tub).
Cookies
2 cookies = 15 grams or 1 serving
Being diabetic used to mean being told to kiss tasty treats—like cookies—good-bye.But these days, says Kaul, diabetes experts agree that indulging in sweets now and then is okay, as long as you consume them in small portions, and with meals.
Ice cream
1/2 cup of ice cream = 15 grams or 1 serving
Kaul advises her clients to stay away from ice cream—if they can—and try low-fat alternatives like frozen yogurt, sherbet, and even sugar-free popsicles.Because ice cream contains so much fat, it should only be an occasional treat, enjoyed in small portions, she adds.
Health.com
Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in many foods, from cookies to cantaloupes.
If you have diabetes, planning your carb intake—and sticking to the plan—is critical to keep blood sugar on an even keel and to cut your risk of diabetes-related problems like heart disease and stroke.
Whether or not you have diabetes, you should aim to get about half your calories from complex carbohydrates (which are high in fiber), 20-25% from protein, and no more than 30% from fat, says Lalita Kaul, PhD, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
How to read a food label
The Nutrition Facts label lists the total amount of carbohydrates per serving, including carbs from fiber, sugar, and sugar alcohols. (If you're counting carbs in your diet, be aware that 15 grams of carbohydrates count as one serving.)
Sugar alcohols are often used in sugar-free foods, although they still deliver calories and carbs. Sugar alcohols and fiber don't affect blood sugar as much as other carbs, because they're not completely absorbed. If food contains sugar alcohol or 5 or more grams of fiber, you can subtract half of the grams of these ingredients from the number of total carbs. (See more details at the American Diabetes Association and University of California, San Francisco.)
How many carbs per day?
If you eat 2,000 calories a day, you should consume about 250 grams of complex carbohydrates per day.
A good starting place for people with diabetes is to have roughly 45 to 60 grams of carbs per meal and 15 to 30 grams for snacks. While snacks are key for people with diabetes who use insulin or pills that increase insulin production (otherwise, they run the risk of low blood sugar), they aren’t essential for non-insulin users.
The goal for anyone with diabetes, whether or not they use insulin, is to keep their blood sugar as steady as possible and to maximize their intake of nutritious carbs and minimize consumption of less healthy ones.
Fine-tune your intake
You may need to work with a nutritionist or diabetes educator to fine-tune your carb requirements, based on your activity level, whether you want to lose weight, and whether or not you use insulin.
Checking your blood sugar before and after meals is also important as you test-drive your carb-counting plan. If certain foods—like fruit juice or pasta—cause your blood sugar to spike, you’ll need to consume these in smaller portions.
Here’s a rough guide to figuring out the amount of carbs that can be found in 10 everyday foods. Get your measuring cup and scale ready!
Bread
1 slice of bread = 15 grams or 1 serving of carbohydrate
Although white and wheat bread have similar carb content (check the food label for details), whole-wheat bread is your best bet; it typically has more than twice as much fiber as white bread, meaning you digest it more slowly and your blood sugar will rise more gradually after you eat it.People with diabetes should aim to consume 30 grams of fiber daily, even though this can be hard on the digestive system for some people, says Kaul, a professor at Howard University College of Medicine, in Washington, D.C. She also suggests trying extra-thin bread, which can slice your calorie intake in half.
Cooked pasta
One-third cup of pasta = 15 grams or 1 serving
Again, opting for whole-wheat noodles rather than pasta made with white flour is a healthier choice. But it’s important to remember—and easy to forget—portion size.Just one-third of a cup, which is about half the size of a baseball, contains 15 grams of carbohydrate. If you overload your pasta bowl, you could easily get a day’s worth of carbs in a single meal.
Cereal
3/4 cup of dry cereal = 15 grams or 1 serving
Eating breakfast is important for all of us, but especially so for people with diabetes; a balanced morning meal helps you start the day healthy and energized.A bowl of cereal with skim milk is a great choice for the first meal of the day, says Kaul, but you should avoid sugary, low-fiber cereals like corn flakes.Oat bran cereal is a better option, the nutritionist says. Try it, and if you don’t like it, choose something else.
Crackers
4-6 Saltines = 15 grams or 1 serving
When you snack on crackers, checking the label for trans fat and sodium is just as important as looking out for carb content, Kaul notes. Even relatively low-carb crackers may be packing lots of this unhealthy fat and too much salt.Choose crackers with no more than 200 milligrams of sodium per serving of carbs, and leave the ones that contain trans fat on the supermarket shelf.
Fruit
One small piece = 15 grams or 1 serving
You really can’t go wrong with fruit, says Kaul, as long as you keep an eye on portion size. However, if you have diabetes, fruits like apples, bananas, berries, cantaloupes, strawberries, and peaches are the best choices. Pears and grapes can have too much sugar, she explains.A medium banana has about 15 grams of carbs, plus it is filling and chock-full of potassium. Berries are rich in fiber and antioxidants. But just remember how much fruit you’re eating. One serving of berries is just 3/4 of a cup, but it’s easy to eat three times this much—or more—if you’re not careful.
Fruit juice
1/2 cup fruit juice = 15 grams or 1 serving
Kaul tells her clients to choose fruit instead of fruit juice, because fruit contains fiber. And juice—even the unsweetened, natural kind—is high in calories. “Three glasses will give you 300 to 400 calories,” she says.People who don’t want to give up their OJ should have a small glass with breakfast, she says. And instead of consuming giant-size bottles of sweetened drinks, drink water or unsweetened tea.
Milk
1 cup nonfat skim milk = 15 grams or 1 serving
Dairy foods provide calcium, protein, vitamin D, and other key nutrients, so if you like them, definitely include them in your diet.But skip full-fat milk for skim, and choose low- or no-fat dairy products.People with diabetes frequently have high cholesterol and high triglycerides, and weight is often a concern, hence avoiding dairy fats is important, Kaul explains.
Yogurt
1 cup of light or plain yogurt = 15 grams or 1 serving
Yogurt is a great, healthy choice, as long as you go the nonfat route.Flavored yogurt is frequently full of sugar, so check the carb content. You may want to skip it and make your own by adding chopped-up fruit and nuts to plain, nonfat yogurt (which is also likely to be less expensive if you buy a quart-size tub).
Cookies
2 cookies = 15 grams or 1 serving
Being diabetic used to mean being told to kiss tasty treats—like cookies—good-bye.But these days, says Kaul, diabetes experts agree that indulging in sweets now and then is okay, as long as you consume them in small portions, and with meals.
Ice cream
1/2 cup of ice cream = 15 grams or 1 serving
Kaul advises her clients to stay away from ice cream—if they can—and try low-fat alternatives like frozen yogurt, sherbet, and even sugar-free popsicles.Because ice cream contains so much fat, it should only be an occasional treat, enjoyed in small portions, she adds.
Health.com
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Beating Restaurants at Their Own Game!
Over a Dozen Dining Out Tips
Does your favorite restaurant serve piles of tempting foods on platters rather than plates? Are the biggie-sized meals at fast food restaurants trapping you into overeating? How do you deal with a bountiful breadbasket? Eating out is fun and relaxing, but you can make it healthier. Use these tried and true suggestions the next time you lock up the kitchen and step out for a meal:
* Never go out while hungry. You’ll find yourself nibbling on everything that comes your way.
* Foods that are grilled, baked, steamed or broiled provide healthy, flavorful alternatives. Ask how an entrée is prepared to ensure that your selection is not swimming in butter or other fattening sauce.
* For pasta selections, choose a marinara sauce instead of a white cream sauce.
* Order a healthy appetizer, salad, or small-sized entrée for your meal.
* Select white chicken or turkey meat rather than dark meat, and have the skin removed.
* Avoid the "all you can eat" and buffet-style restaurants.
* Split a meal with a friend.
* Get a doggie bag before the meal and put in a portion of the food when it is first served.
* Avoid foods that have been prepared in heavy cream.
* Eat slowly! Put your fork down between bites. It takes the stomach about 20 minutes to realize that it is full.
* Order your salad or potato with the dressing, butter, sour cream, gravy and other extras on the side.
* Trim all visible fat from meat.
* Select fresh fruit, sorbet or frozen yogurt for dessert.
* Watch the alcohol… it is loaded with calories and can lower your defenses against food, causing you to eat more.
* Beware of the breadbasket. It comes early and can be refilled several times. Ask that it be brought with the meal and limit yourself to one serving.
* Water is your best beverage choice. Order diet pop, tea, and coffee with artificial sweetener.
* Go light on the sugar and cream.
* Don’t be afraid to special order menu items.
* The key is to plan what to order in advance and stick to it. Decide on your priorities before going to the restaurant and avoid looking at the entire menu. Find what you had decided on and close the issue. Then, simply do the best you can with some smart choices. If you came for the burritos, then avoid the beans and rice. If you are there for the cheesecake, order a light meal or salad, with dressing on the side. With a few simple strategies, dining out does not have to totally destroy your dieting efforts.
-- By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian
Does your favorite restaurant serve piles of tempting foods on platters rather than plates? Are the biggie-sized meals at fast food restaurants trapping you into overeating? How do you deal with a bountiful breadbasket? Eating out is fun and relaxing, but you can make it healthier. Use these tried and true suggestions the next time you lock up the kitchen and step out for a meal:
* Never go out while hungry. You’ll find yourself nibbling on everything that comes your way.
* Foods that are grilled, baked, steamed or broiled provide healthy, flavorful alternatives. Ask how an entrée is prepared to ensure that your selection is not swimming in butter or other fattening sauce.
* For pasta selections, choose a marinara sauce instead of a white cream sauce.
* Order a healthy appetizer, salad, or small-sized entrée for your meal.
* Select white chicken or turkey meat rather than dark meat, and have the skin removed.
* Avoid the "all you can eat" and buffet-style restaurants.
* Split a meal with a friend.
* Get a doggie bag before the meal and put in a portion of the food when it is first served.
* Avoid foods that have been prepared in heavy cream.
* Eat slowly! Put your fork down between bites. It takes the stomach about 20 minutes to realize that it is full.
* Order your salad or potato with the dressing, butter, sour cream, gravy and other extras on the side.
* Trim all visible fat from meat.
* Select fresh fruit, sorbet or frozen yogurt for dessert.
* Watch the alcohol… it is loaded with calories and can lower your defenses against food, causing you to eat more.
* Beware of the breadbasket. It comes early and can be refilled several times. Ask that it be brought with the meal and limit yourself to one serving.
* Water is your best beverage choice. Order diet pop, tea, and coffee with artificial sweetener.
* Go light on the sugar and cream.
* Don’t be afraid to special order menu items.
* The key is to plan what to order in advance and stick to it. Decide on your priorities before going to the restaurant and avoid looking at the entire menu. Find what you had decided on and close the issue. Then, simply do the best you can with some smart choices. If you came for the burritos, then avoid the beans and rice. If you are there for the cheesecake, order a light meal or salad, with dressing on the side. With a few simple strategies, dining out does not have to totally destroy your dieting efforts.
-- By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
6 Foods that Prevent Sickness
What to eat when you're sick? Beat illness with these healthy snacks that fight colds and the flu.
Cold season is upon us, bringing its runny noses, congested chests, achy bodies, and too-tired feelings with it. Your best defense? Try to prevent yourself from catching a cold by washing your hands frequently, getting enough rest, drinking lots of fluids, and staying active. But when you catch a cold, you need more immediate relief. That's where these snacks come in. Each of them is packed with cold-fighting vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that may help make your cold less severe. Read on for our six feel-better snack picks:
Vegetarian Chili
A spicy veggie chili made with onions, garlic, kidney beans, and tomato paste not only warms up a cold-afflicted body, it may also have medicinal properties! Onions and garlic have antiviral effects, beans have good-for-the-immune-system B vitamins, and the spices can actually help clear sinuses!
Recommended serving size: 1 cup canned vegetarian chili
Calories: 160
Fresh Clementines
Despite all the controversy surrounding vitamin C's effect on colds, recent research shows that while this powerhouse antioxidant can't prevent them, it can help cut down on the duration and severity of colds. Clementines are a great source of vitamin C -- two fulfill 100 percent of your RDA. What's more, clementines are easy to pack and eat (no sticky fingers, since their skins peel off effortlessly).
Recommended serving size: 2 clementines
Calories: 138
Half a Roast Beef Sandwich
Another mineral that can help stop a cold: Zinc. It plays a big role in immune system functioning and has been shown to stop the growth of microorganisms in the body, including some bacteria and viruses (and a virus is what causes colds). Both roast beef and whole grain bread are great sources of zinc; put them together, and you've got a powerful cold-fighting snack.
Recommended serving size: 2 ounces lean roast beef on 1 slice whole wheat bread
Calories: about 210
Chicken Soup
Believe it or not, your grandmother was right: Chicken soup is the perfect snack when you've got a cold! Not only is the warm broth comforting and soothing (essential when you're feeling run down and uncomfortable), research at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha showed that chicken soup helps control the production and spread of inflammation and congestion-causing neutrophils (white blood cells). A cup of this soup gives you the perfect "dose."
Recommended serving size: 1 cup
Calories: about 190
Tuna Salad
Packed with glutamine, an amino acid that helps step up your immune system's efficiency, tuna is a great pick when you're sick. Research at the University of Oxford showed that athletes who ingested glutamine after workouts were less likely to get an upper respiratory infection than those who didn't; for regular folk, glutamine could have the same beneficial effects. Mix your tuna with a tablespoon of low-fat mayonnaise and serve it on 6 whole-grain crackers for a healthy mini-meal.
Recommended serving size: 1 6-ounce can of tuna packed in water with 1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise and 6 whole-grain crackers
Calories: 290
Ginger Tea with Gingersnaps
Ginger helps relieve congestion and has a soothing, spicy taste. To make a throat-calming, congestion-busting tea, steep chopped raw ginger in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Make your teatime a little sweeter by adding a teaspoon of honey to the brew and two crunchy gingersnap cookies on the side.
Recommended serving size: 1 cup of tea with 1 teaspoon honey and 2 gingersnaps
Calories: about 85
Fitness magazine
Cold season is upon us, bringing its runny noses, congested chests, achy bodies, and too-tired feelings with it. Your best defense? Try to prevent yourself from catching a cold by washing your hands frequently, getting enough rest, drinking lots of fluids, and staying active. But when you catch a cold, you need more immediate relief. That's where these snacks come in. Each of them is packed with cold-fighting vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that may help make your cold less severe. Read on for our six feel-better snack picks:
Vegetarian Chili
A spicy veggie chili made with onions, garlic, kidney beans, and tomato paste not only warms up a cold-afflicted body, it may also have medicinal properties! Onions and garlic have antiviral effects, beans have good-for-the-immune-system B vitamins, and the spices can actually help clear sinuses!
Recommended serving size: 1 cup canned vegetarian chili
Calories: 160
Fresh Clementines
Despite all the controversy surrounding vitamin C's effect on colds, recent research shows that while this powerhouse antioxidant can't prevent them, it can help cut down on the duration and severity of colds. Clementines are a great source of vitamin C -- two fulfill 100 percent of your RDA. What's more, clementines are easy to pack and eat (no sticky fingers, since their skins peel off effortlessly).
Recommended serving size: 2 clementines
Calories: 138
Half a Roast Beef Sandwich
Another mineral that can help stop a cold: Zinc. It plays a big role in immune system functioning and has been shown to stop the growth of microorganisms in the body, including some bacteria and viruses (and a virus is what causes colds). Both roast beef and whole grain bread are great sources of zinc; put them together, and you've got a powerful cold-fighting snack.
Recommended serving size: 2 ounces lean roast beef on 1 slice whole wheat bread
Calories: about 210
Chicken Soup
Believe it or not, your grandmother was right: Chicken soup is the perfect snack when you've got a cold! Not only is the warm broth comforting and soothing (essential when you're feeling run down and uncomfortable), research at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha showed that chicken soup helps control the production and spread of inflammation and congestion-causing neutrophils (white blood cells). A cup of this soup gives you the perfect "dose."
Recommended serving size: 1 cup
Calories: about 190
Tuna Salad
Packed with glutamine, an amino acid that helps step up your immune system's efficiency, tuna is a great pick when you're sick. Research at the University of Oxford showed that athletes who ingested glutamine after workouts were less likely to get an upper respiratory infection than those who didn't; for regular folk, glutamine could have the same beneficial effects. Mix your tuna with a tablespoon of low-fat mayonnaise and serve it on 6 whole-grain crackers for a healthy mini-meal.
Recommended serving size: 1 6-ounce can of tuna packed in water with 1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise and 6 whole-grain crackers
Calories: 290
Ginger Tea with Gingersnaps
Ginger helps relieve congestion and has a soothing, spicy taste. To make a throat-calming, congestion-busting tea, steep chopped raw ginger in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Make your teatime a little sweeter by adding a teaspoon of honey to the brew and two crunchy gingersnap cookies on the side.
Recommended serving size: 1 cup of tea with 1 teaspoon honey and 2 gingersnaps
Calories: about 85
Fitness magazine
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
10 Ways to Walk Off Fat Faster
Burn more with each step
Here’s how to boost your calorie-burn big time—without much extra effort. Use your armsVigorously pumping your bent arms helps you go faster—and burn more calories, says Lee Scott, walking coach and director of WoW Power Walking in Toronto.
Take smaller steps
The best way to boost your speed—and thus your burn—is to take shorter, faster steps, Scott explains. Time yourself walking 100 steps, then recover for one minute. Count another 100 steps, and try to shave five seconds off your time. Repeat 12 times.
Get some poles
Using Nordic poles torches an average 20 percent more calories by engaging the muscles in your upper body and torso, says Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking. Plant the pole firmly at a 45-degree angle behind you, then push back forcefully against the ground to propel yourself forward.
Set goals you can see
Choose markers (stop sign, park bench, etc.) and speed up until you reach them, suggests Therese Iknoian, author of Fitness Walking. Slow down for the same distance.
Wipe the pavement
Roll through from heel to toe. When you get to the ball of your foot, push off as if wiping gum off your sole, Iknoian says. This will get your calf, hamstring, and glute muscles involved—and the more muscle you use, the more calories you burn.
Go shoe shopping
To get the most power from your push-off, opt for a shoe with minimum cushioning and maximum flexibility in the front of the shoe, Fenton says.
Stand straight
When your body’s aligned, your back and butt muscles are able to work more powerfully, so you walk faster and torch more calories. Stand tall with a straight spine, keeping your ears and shoulders aligned over your hips.
Skip killer hills
Don’t assume the biggest inclines are the best for burning fat. “It’s better to maintain your speed on a moderate hill than to slow down substantially on a steeper one,” Fenton says.
Raise your rate
Wearing a heart-rate monitor is like having your own coach keeping you at optimal fat-torching pace. “It’ll give you a push if you’re slowing down too much, but also get you to ease up if you’re pushing too hard,” Iknoian says.
Add strength
Simple moves like push-ups and lunges get more muscles involved for major burn, reveals Harley Pasternak, who trains many celebs, including our November cover celeb Hilary Duff. When you walk, stop every five minutes and do one minute of moves. This will help up your metabolism over the long-term, too. What’s better than burning more calories while you walk? Blasting them off while you sleep, of course.
Health magazine
Here’s how to boost your calorie-burn big time—without much extra effort. Use your armsVigorously pumping your bent arms helps you go faster—and burn more calories, says Lee Scott, walking coach and director of WoW Power Walking in Toronto.
Take smaller steps
The best way to boost your speed—and thus your burn—is to take shorter, faster steps, Scott explains. Time yourself walking 100 steps, then recover for one minute. Count another 100 steps, and try to shave five seconds off your time. Repeat 12 times.
Get some poles
Using Nordic poles torches an average 20 percent more calories by engaging the muscles in your upper body and torso, says Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking. Plant the pole firmly at a 45-degree angle behind you, then push back forcefully against the ground to propel yourself forward.
Set goals you can see
Choose markers (stop sign, park bench, etc.) and speed up until you reach them, suggests Therese Iknoian, author of Fitness Walking. Slow down for the same distance.
Wipe the pavement
Roll through from heel to toe. When you get to the ball of your foot, push off as if wiping gum off your sole, Iknoian says. This will get your calf, hamstring, and glute muscles involved—and the more muscle you use, the more calories you burn.
Go shoe shopping
To get the most power from your push-off, opt for a shoe with minimum cushioning and maximum flexibility in the front of the shoe, Fenton says.
Stand straight
When your body’s aligned, your back and butt muscles are able to work more powerfully, so you walk faster and torch more calories. Stand tall with a straight spine, keeping your ears and shoulders aligned over your hips.
Skip killer hills
Don’t assume the biggest inclines are the best for burning fat. “It’s better to maintain your speed on a moderate hill than to slow down substantially on a steeper one,” Fenton says.
Raise your rate
Wearing a heart-rate monitor is like having your own coach keeping you at optimal fat-torching pace. “It’ll give you a push if you’re slowing down too much, but also get you to ease up if you’re pushing too hard,” Iknoian says.
Add strength
Simple moves like push-ups and lunges get more muscles involved for major burn, reveals Harley Pasternak, who trains many celebs, including our November cover celeb Hilary Duff. When you walk, stop every five minutes and do one minute of moves. This will help up your metabolism over the long-term, too. What’s better than burning more calories while you walk? Blasting them off while you sleep, of course.
Health magazine
Monday, November 1, 2010
Lower Coffee Calories
Seemingly small indulgences can really add up. Coffee, for example, can add extra calories to your day before your brain is even awake enough to realize what’s happening. It’s all about making tiny changes, let’s learn to start the day right by cutting unwanted calories from our morning indulgence.
Now, I need coffee every morning, so simply switching to something else is not an option. Plus, studies have shown that drinking coffee can lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer and heart disease. That’s good news for something I do daily, anyway.
So let me reiterate: Every morning, I need coffee. Without it, I can’t function before 10 a.m. Recently, at our favorite corporate neighborhood coffee shop, a friend of mine ordered a cookie-candy-caramel-sugar-whipped-mocha-choco-latte. It was dessert in a cup — for breakfast.
This morning monstrosity weighed in at 400 calories, plus whipped topping, according to the company’s Web site. I had a regular coffee. Three sugars, one cream — roughly 100 calories.
Upon further investigation, we found that both of us were brewing up potential weight gain with our morning caffeine kick. So how can you enjoy your cup o’ joe and avoid unwanted calories?
Black and Brew
Taking your coffee black is the best way to get the caffeine without the calories. A cup of coffee contains 5-15 calories per cup — next to nothing. If you can get used to your coffee sans sugar and cream, you can drink it regularly without any guilt.
If you take your coffee with sugar, however, add 16 calories per teaspoon; small sugar packets are about one teaspoon of sugar. Try using sugar substitutes if you want to save even more calories. The fat in your morning mug comes not from the sugar, but from the cream.
One tablespoon of nondairy creamer has a mere 20 calories and 1 gram of fat. And since it doesn’t require refrigeration, you can keep it on hand just about anywhere. Switching to fat-free milk is another easy option to lighten up your java. You’ll save 8 grams of fat per cup and get even more calcium.
To make the change even less noticeable, follow the advice of registered dietitian Nicole Bengtson, LD/N: “If you’re used to using regular milk or half and half in your coffee drinks, switch to 2 percent milk for a few weeks before changing to fat-free milk or nondairy creamer. It’ll be such a gradual change that you won’t even miss the extra calories and fat.”
Desserts don’t belong at the breakfast table, so skip the chocolate, caramel, cookie crumbles and whipped cream with your coffee. A tablespoon of whipped cream will tack on an additional 50 calories and 6 grams of fat to your drink.
Sweet syrups like hazelnut, French vanilla and Irish cream can tack on 80 calories to an already high-calorie morning pick-me-up. If sugar-free flavored syrups aren’t available, don’t worry. You can still jazz up your coffee by sprinkling in some cinnamon. The mild sweetness of this spice complements the rich coffee flavor and makes ordinary coffee taste gourmet. Now that’s a great way to start your day!
www.ediets.com
Now, I need coffee every morning, so simply switching to something else is not an option. Plus, studies have shown that drinking coffee can lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer and heart disease. That’s good news for something I do daily, anyway.
So let me reiterate: Every morning, I need coffee. Without it, I can’t function before 10 a.m. Recently, at our favorite corporate neighborhood coffee shop, a friend of mine ordered a cookie-candy-caramel-sugar-whipped-mocha-choco-latte. It was dessert in a cup — for breakfast.
This morning monstrosity weighed in at 400 calories, plus whipped topping, according to the company’s Web site. I had a regular coffee. Three sugars, one cream — roughly 100 calories.
Upon further investigation, we found that both of us were brewing up potential weight gain with our morning caffeine kick. So how can you enjoy your cup o’ joe and avoid unwanted calories?
Black and Brew
Taking your coffee black is the best way to get the caffeine without the calories. A cup of coffee contains 5-15 calories per cup — next to nothing. If you can get used to your coffee sans sugar and cream, you can drink it regularly without any guilt.
If you take your coffee with sugar, however, add 16 calories per teaspoon; small sugar packets are about one teaspoon of sugar. Try using sugar substitutes if you want to save even more calories. The fat in your morning mug comes not from the sugar, but from the cream.
One tablespoon of nondairy creamer has a mere 20 calories and 1 gram of fat. And since it doesn’t require refrigeration, you can keep it on hand just about anywhere. Switching to fat-free milk is another easy option to lighten up your java. You’ll save 8 grams of fat per cup and get even more calcium.
To make the change even less noticeable, follow the advice of registered dietitian Nicole Bengtson, LD/N: “If you’re used to using regular milk or half and half in your coffee drinks, switch to 2 percent milk for a few weeks before changing to fat-free milk or nondairy creamer. It’ll be such a gradual change that you won’t even miss the extra calories and fat.”
Desserts don’t belong at the breakfast table, so skip the chocolate, caramel, cookie crumbles and whipped cream with your coffee. A tablespoon of whipped cream will tack on an additional 50 calories and 6 grams of fat to your drink.
Sweet syrups like hazelnut, French vanilla and Irish cream can tack on 80 calories to an already high-calorie morning pick-me-up. If sugar-free flavored syrups aren’t available, don’t worry. You can still jazz up your coffee by sprinkling in some cinnamon. The mild sweetness of this spice complements the rich coffee flavor and makes ordinary coffee taste gourmet. Now that’s a great way to start your day!
www.ediets.com
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