One of the toughest times of the year for those trying to lose weight is the holiday season. While the holidays are a time to rejoice, celebrate and share fond memories, it also a time for eating, eating and more eating. Wherever you go, whatever you do, food always seems to be the central focus. Cookies, chocolates, fruit cake, eggnog, holiday breads and a myriad of other ‘goodies’ can been seen in the kitchen, on the coffee table, at the office, grocery store, drugstore, gas station, friend’s house… even your doctor’s office! How can you try to maintain your weight and heart-health during such a tempting time? We’ve conjured up 8-steps to surviving the holiday hoop-la that is sure-fire success – this season and in the future ones to come.
1. Get moving
One of the most effective ways to maintain or lose body weight is to engage in regular, sustained aerobic activity (*). I suggest aiming for 200-minutes aerobic activity per week. But any length of time is still better than no time at all. Exercise is a great way to burn those extra calories you may be taking in this time of year (remember those iced reindeer cookies you had with lunch?). Here are some ideas to get you moving:
If you have a stationery bicycle or treadmill at home, dust it off and put it in front of the television or radio for some background entertainment while you’re exercising. Why not watch your favorite television show and exercise at the same time?
Go to the library and get a book on tape or CD, listen to it and read (so-to-speak) as you exercise.
Haven’t used your gym-pass in awhile? Hire a personal trainer to teach you effective calorie-burning techniques, or join that kick boxing class you’ve always wanted to try.
Go for a morning or evening walk alone or with a friend.
Have bad knees or other joints? Don’t worry – water aerobics or swimming is your answer! The water prevents your weight bearing down on the joints and is an effective way to burn calories.
(*) If you haven’t exercised in at least 6-months, check with your doctor first before starting.
2. Aim for five-a-day
Making sure you eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day is a great way to help fill-up your stomach but not your calorie level. When compared to other snack foods like chips, crackers and cookies, gram for gram, fruits and vegetables contain fewer calories and tons more nutrients. What’s more – the fiber in fruits and vegetables fill you up faster than traditional snack foods. Pack your refrigerator with bags of cut-up vegetables and whole or cut-up fruits. Grab a bag while on the go or at work. Make a pact with yourself that you’ll eat your five-a-day before you snack on any cookies or other holiday treats. You’re sure to take in fewer calories overall.
3. Control the risk for temptation
Controlling even the slightest chance of coming in contact with ‘tempting’ foods is one way to effectively reduce your intake. While you won’t be able to control all situations, focus on the many ones you can. For example, do you keep candy or cookies at your desk or workspace? Do you frequent the dining room table or pantry where you store all your holiday goodies? How many times do you pass the break room in your office to grab a chocolate?
Make a mental note of tempting places and try to control them. For example, make a pact with co-workers that goodies will be kept solely in the break room, not at the front desk or in various offices. Then, plan to go into the break room only once a day to take a small treat. Store your cookies in a pantry or in sealed containers. Only go near them when you are ready to take them out for a party or to give as gifts. When going grocery shopping or to the drugstore, avoid the candy or cookie isle and read a magazine while waiting at the checkout instead of eyeballing all of the sweets by the registers.
Mentally plan out how you will avoid tempting situations. If you can’t avoid them entirely, see number 4.
4. Limit to one-a-day
While you can’t control every situation, you can control how much food goes into your mouth. If you are constantly bombarded with holiday parties and displays of desserts or candies you can still effectively help prevent overeating and weight gain. One way is the one-a-day method. Allow yourself one small serving of a cookie or piece of candy each day during the holiday season. Remember that you may have to compensate for it later in the day by reducing your total caloric intake or by burning a few extra calories while exercising. If you aren’t confronted with holiday foods that day, just skip your one-a-day – but don’t compensate and double-up on your serving the next day.
5. Never go to a party hungry
One of the worst things you can do is skip eating all day to ‘save up’ for some type of binge-eating episode at a party. Have a nutritious snack like a low-fat trail mix, a piece of fruit, cut-up vegetables, yogurt, whole grain crackers with peanut butter or even a glass of skim milk before the party. This way you’ll be satisfied when entering the party and enjoy small portions of foods without overeating.
6. Plan ahead and bring a low-calorie dish with you
Offer to bring a dish with you to a holiday party. Whatever you bring, make sure it’s low in calories such as fresh fruits, vegetables or low-calorie dips. At least you’ll know you have at least one good dish to choose from.
If bringing a dish isn’t an option, choose the plan ahead method. Before the party, see if you can find out what is being served. If you don’t know ahead of time, peruse the room for foods being served at the table or buffet when you arrive. Make a mental note of healthy dishes, such as a fruit or vegetable platter, lean meats without cream sauces or broth-based soup. Plan to fill your plate with these foods first and then (if there’s room on the plate) sample a few of the other high calorie dishes. Once you fill your plate, walk away, sit down and enjoy the food. Wait twenty to thirty minutes before going for seconds. After that, if you still feel hungry, go back and enjoy a second helping of a low calorie dish. Planning what you will eat and how much you’ll eat ahead of time is a great way to cut back on calories while still enjoying the event.
7. Say No Politely
Many times you feel forced to eat foods because people keep putting it in front of you. Learn to say no politely, such as "No thank you, I’ve had enough. Everything was delicious", or "I couldn’t eat another bite. Everything tasted wonderful". You’ll find saying no isn’t so hard to do after all.
8. Focus on socializing
Don’t stand around the food table when you are at a party – focus your energies on making conversation with others instead of focusing on foods. Conversation is calorie-free.
Remember, the holidays are meant to celebrate good times with family and friends. Enjoy the holidays and plan effective strategies to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Achieving what you sought out for will give you one more good reason for holiday cheer! Happy Holidays!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Maintain Weight During Holidays Lose weight after they're over
The holiday season is upon us. Other than trying to figure out what to buy for their loved ones, nothing weighs more on the minds of many people than how to avoid gaining weight during the holiday season.
Depending on which expert or study you read, the amount of weight gain from Thanksgiving to New Years can range from 1-10 pounds. In one study, researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) concluded that Americans who are of average weight gain about one pound during the winter holiday season. That is the good news. The bad news is that this modest increase in weight tends to “stick” around and may accumulate over a lifetime. So this one pound increase becomes like the unwanted, un-returnable gift that keeps on giving. In terms of those who are already overweight, research suggests they tend to gain even more weight (on average 5 lbs.) during the holiday season. Hence, those who are overweight are at greater risk of gaining weight at this festive time of year.
Calories Count
While experts may debate about how many pounds on average are gained during the holiday season, one thing is certain. Compared to other times of the year the amount of calories consumed during the winter holidays increases dramatically. Make no mistake about it, calories can add up unsuspectingly fast. All other factors contributing to weight gain were equal (e.g., type-quality of food, physical activity, stress levels, thyroid function, genetics, hormones, etc.), caloric intake is at the center of putting on unwanted, excess pounds, whether that be during the holiday season or any other time of year.
Whether or not you gain weight distills down to one fundamental principle. That is, despite the nutritional, bio-chemical, physiologic, genetic or behavioral-psychological reason, if you consume more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight, no matter if those calories come from carbohydrates, fats or protein. It is a myth that only eating fat will make a person fat. At the end of the nutritional day, managing your weight becomes balancing the number of calories you eat each day, with the number of calories you burn. For example, one pound of body fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. If you were interested in losing one pound of fat in a week, then you would have to burn 3500 calories more than what you typically consume in seven days.
Calories count. Hence, it is more nutritionally prudent to be mindful of how many calories you are consuming at any given meal, despite the touted advice of those who say counting calories is ineffective. Weight management is in large measure about counting the calories.
Nutritional Strategies To Manage Your Weight
There are a number of scientifically based and expert-oriented recommendations you can use as nutritional strategies to control your caloric intake, thereby, managing your weight and preventing the gaining of unwanted holiday pounds. The recommendations are intended to help you manage your weight. They do not necessarily represent a diet program designed to lose weight. Rather, the recommendations are nutritional strategies to help you maintain your current weight. It is possible that if you put all of the recommended nutritional strategies into practice, you may lose some weight. If you do manage to lose some weight, then this is so much the better. Consider the weight loss a gift to yourself.
Furthermore, some of the recommendations given below may seem obvious and ordinary. However, do not be misled because their effectiveness in managing weight is supported by scientific research and sound advice from nutritional and health experts. If taken together, the recommendations will increase your chances of maintaining your current weight, while enjoying the holidays.
There is no one nutritional strategy that will serve as a silver bullet to keep you from gaining weight. The holiday goal of maintaining your current weight is more likely to be achieved if you make a plan that includes more than one nutritional strategy. The recommendations are designed to introduce balance, variety, moderation and common sense into your daily holiday diet.
Avoid Starting A New Diet
One of the biggest mistakes people make is to start a weight-loss diet during the holiday season, a time when food is in abundance and the opportunities to eat are many. Wait until after the holidays to start any new diet program. You may even be able to use the other recommended nutritional strategies discussed below to lose weight in the coming year, making them part of your healthy lifestyle.
Remember, it is easier to manage weight than to lose it. Set yourself up for success and not failure. Common sense dictates that it is better to wait to start a new diet until the holidays are over. Even if you are overweight, the holiday season is not a good time to begin a diet program. The better strategy is to maintain your present weight and not to attempt to lose weight.
Drink Lots of Water
One of the most important things you can do to manage your weight during the holidays is to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water a day. There are at least four good reasons to make drinking lots of water part of your weight-management program. First, water is heavily implicated with the body’s metabolism in that it speeds up or powers the metabolism’s bio-chemical processes, thereby, burning calories. If your metabolism is allowed to slow down, then you will burn fewer calories, making it more difficult to prevent weight gain.
Second, water is the most natural appetite suppressant you can put into your body. It creates a feeling satiety or fullness, making you less inclined to eat. One way to maximize appetite suppressant effect of water is to drink eight ounces of water right before a meal.
Third, not drinking enough water can result in dehydration, which causes fatigue and the desire to eat in order to get some energy, which in turn results in consuming unnecessary calories to become stored as fat. Dehydration also slows down your metabolism causing you to burn fewer calories. If you are concerned about weight gain due to drinking too much water, you should not be. It is the dehydration that causes water retention and not the consumption of water. When your body is dehydrated, it will tend to hold on to whatever water it has.
Fourth, an insufficient amount of water impedes the digestion, absorption and assimilation of food and its nutrients. This leads to cravings and hunger pangs, which leads to eating and the consumption of unnecessary calories and ultimately contributes to weight gain.
In short, drinking water throughout the day, especially before a meal, will assist you greatly in eating less, burning more calories and preventing weight gain.
Practice Portion Control
Portion control (i.e., reducing serving size) is one of the most effective and proven nutritional strategies to either maintain or lose weight. In a study reported in 2004 in the journal, Obesity Research, portion control accounted for the most weight lost than increasing planned exercise, increasing regular physical activity, cutting back on dietary fat or eating more fruits and vegetables. This is not to say that these other weight management strategies are not effective. Rather, it is to say, that portion control is a frontline nutritional strategy in maintaining or losing weight.
I recommend that you go to the web site of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health for examples of visual equivalents of what constitutes one serving size of particular foods in the categories of grain products, vegetables and fruits, dairy and cheese products and meat and alternatives. It is a useful government web site providing extensive and practical information on portion control.
Here are some examples of visual equivalents from the web site to help you determine what constitutes one serving size for a particular food:
One cup of cereal flakes is equivalent to a fist.
One cup of salad greens is equivalent to a baseball.
One-half ounce of cheese is equivalent to four stacked dice or two cheese slices.
Three ounces of meat, fish and poultry is equivalent to a deck of cards.
Other examples are given at the web site, along with cards on which there are different food categories and visual examples of what constitutes one serving for a particular type of food. The cards can be cut out, laminated and put into a wallet or purse.
Portion control is about practicing moderation and putting the concept in the forefront of your mind. If you are not accustomed to practicing portion control, it might take several attempts to change the behavior of piling food on a plate and digging into it. Also, eat slowly to help you moderate your food intake and wait a few minutes before giving into the temptation to go back for seconds. It takes a little bit of time for the brain to send the signal or create the feeling that you are satiated or full. Engage in mindful eating instead of the mindless consumption of calories.
Eat Small Meals Throughout The Day
Avoid falling into the trap of starving yourself, especially on those days when you will be attending some sort of holiday festivity. It is a myth that skipping meals will bring about weight loss. You are better off in the long run to eat at least three and preferably four to five small meals during the day. This will keep your metabolic rate up (thereby burning calories) and create a feeling of satiety or otherwise feeling full. Skipping meals is a sure way to gain weight because it can trigger an increase in appetite, binge eating and feeling “flat” or as if you do not have any energy. In short, it is nutritionally smarter to eat less and more often throughout the day. If by chance you get hungry between meals, try eating what I call “squirrel food,” that is, raw fruits, berries and vegetables, along with some nuts. My motto is, “If it’s good enough for the squirrels, its good enough for me.” You can also include the reliable in-between snack of plain yogurt or a low-carbohydrate version of yogurt.
In addition to not starving yourself, eating smaller meals throughout the day will allow the opportunity to practice portion control. Remember, you can still gain weight by eating a lot of healthy, nutritious food. While quality of food is an important nutritional issue and you want to avoid eating unhealthy foods because they can accelerate putting on the pounds, weight gain ultimately remains a function of consuming more calories than you burn, whether or not those calories come from healthy or unhealthy food.
Avoid Eating “Bad” Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates in and of themselves are not bad. In fact, carbohydrates are essential to a healthful diet. They are the master fuel for the body. Carbohydrates provide the necessary “good” calories, vitamins, minerals and fiber needed to meet the energy demands of the physical activities of our day-to-day lives and to perform those activities in a vigorous and energetic way. The nutritional trick is to eat the “good” carbohydrates derived from fruits and vegetables. The “bad” carbohydrates are found in foods made from highly processed white sugar and white flour. Highly refined white flour and white sugar in the form of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are found in many of the foods served during the holiday season such as cakes, cookies, candy, crackers, soft drinks, pastries, potatoes and white rice to name a few. These refined carbohydrate foods contain lots of empty, non-nutritional calories and are high on the glycemic index (GI) scale. Eating foods with a high GI index rating will cause a rapid spike in your insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels leads to the body storing more fat than it normally would, resulting in weight gain.
If you want to maintain your weight during the holidays, resist the temptation of eating those calorie-loaded, high-glycemic “bad carbohydrates.” If you eat them, then there is a good chance you will not be able to maintain your current weight. Hence, it is a nutritional sin you want to avoid committing.
Eat A Balance of Carbohydrates, Fats & Protein
Eating a balanced diet consisting of carbohydrates, fats and protein is fundamental to weight management. Diets high or low in one or the other of these macronutrients over extended periods of time eventually leads to all sorts of health problems and nutritional imbalances and deficiencies. For example, eating a diet high in carbohydrates will trigger insulin release. High insulin levels tend to result in the body storing fat. Eating complex carbohydrates and “good: fats will serve to counterbalance or otherwise offset the carb-insulin get fat effect. Eating a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates and fat results in other potential problems, from of which one of which are low energy levels and feeling lethargic, constipation from an adequate amount of dietary fiber, an overworking of the liver and kidneys and diminished cognitive functioning from lack of proper nourishment (i.e., glucose & essential fatty acids) to the brain.
Use common sense and follow the old adage of eating a balanced diet. Following the guidelines set by The USDA has set the following guidelines for the consumption of macronutrients:
45%-65% of calories derived from carbohydrates
20%-35% of calories derived from fats
10%-35% of calories derived from protein
If you would like more information on the USDA’s recommendations dietary guidelines, click here.
Avoid Those “Lethal” Liquid Calories
Another nutritional trap people fall into during the holidays is to assume that it is better to substitute liquid calories for calories from solid food. Liquid calories are stealth calories in that they add up without you knowing it. Going to a holiday party and just drinking alcohol, soft drinks, juices or other liquids loaded with calories will rack up the calories and make it more difficult for you to manage your weight. Moreover, it is important to understand that the bio-chemical mechanisms controlling hunger and thirst are different. As it turns out, liquid calories do not cause the brain to send the signal that you are full. Hence, you will more than likely end up eating anyway and maybe even overeating, leading to the consumption of calories above and beyond the liquid calories you already consumed.
Liquid candy (e.g., soft drinks, juices, etc.) and liquid pleasure (i.e., alcohol) will make you gain weight. Again, it is recommended to remain mindful about what you are consuming in terms of calories during the holidays and know that liquid calories are lethal.
Include A Lot of Fiber In Your Diet
Including fiber rich foods (i.e., grains, fruits, vegetables & legumes) or supplemental forms of fiber in your diet during the holidays will increase the odds of maintaining your current weight. It is well documented in the literature that eating fiber will assist in short and long term weight management. Dietary fiber has fewer calories per serving, decreases hunger and creates a sense of satiety between meals by slowing down digestion, balances blood sugar and insulin levels, improves the absorption, digestion, and assimilation of food and supports maintaining normal levels of C-reactive protein, glucose, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides. It is recommended that you included 25-35 grams of fiber in your diet per day. Be sure to drink plenty of water when eating fiber to prevent constipation and improve digestion and elimination.
Take Supplements for Weight Control
It is important to take nutritional supplements during the holidays so that you can provide your body the nutrients its needs to stay healthy. At a minimum, it is recommended that you take a good multiple vitamin and mineral formula. Use the multiple as the foundation of your supplement protocol. Augment the multiple vitamin and mineral formula with the taking of probiotics, digestive enzymes, essential fatty acids, antioxidants (e.g., Alpha lipoic acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium), aged garlic and co-enzyme Q 10. All of these nutritional compounds taken in combination with a multiple vitamin and mineral formula will help keep your digestive and immune system healthy.
In addition to keeping your body healthy, you can take nutritional supplements to help you maintain your current weight. These supplements will help to burn excess fat, moderate your appetite and speed up your metabolism, all of which will assist you in controlling the amount of calories you consume.
Some compounds that can help in the burning of fat include: conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), green tea, acetyl-L-carnitine, 7-Keto DHEA and citrus aurantium.
A standardized extract, made from white kidney beans that can block the absorption of starchy foods (e.g., pasta, potatoes, bread, rice & baked goods) is Phase 2.
Some products that can assist in suppressing the appetite include, Gena Slim by Country Life, Hoodia 24 by Vitalogic and Relacore by Basic Research.
Other products that have a thermogenic effect or otherwise can increase metabolism include, Xenadrine EFX by Cytodyne , Hydroxycut by MuscleTech, Thermo DynamX by EAS and Thermonex by BSN.
Maintain Your Healthy Eating Habits
You may already practice many of the nutritional recommendations outlined above. If you do, then keep on practicing them this holiday season. Remember, it is easier to manage weight than to lose it. If your diet and approach to eating do not include the recommended nutritional strategies, then it would be of great benefit to try and include as many of them as you can into your day-to-day nutritional life. Instead of trying to implement all of them at once, you might consider trying one or two at a time. Managing weight is in great part behavioral in nature because eating habits are just that, ways of behaving. It is good to have a positive attitude about managing and losing weight. However, attitudes and beliefs about diet and food have to be put into action in order to either maintain or lose weight. You just cannot think the excess pounds away or think your body into staying at its current weight. You can lay a foundation for success by being patient and knowing that it takes time to change eating habits. Practice makes perfect. I learned as a musician that if you do not practice, you lose interest. This principle applies to managing weight as it does to playing a musical instrument.
Conclusion
Given all of the food temptations during the holiday season, it is a more realistic goal to maintain your current weight than it would be to try and lose weight. Maintaining your weight during the holidays is an achievable goal, provided you keep a balance between calories consumed and calories burned and provided you use more than one nutritional strategy.
Drink water, practice portion control, eat “good” carbohydrates, eat a balanced diet of carbohydrates, fats and protein, moderate your intake of high caloric beverages, including alcohol, introduce more fiber into your diet, take supplements, continue any cardiovascular exercise (even moderate walking for a half hour) and do not abandon your existing healthy eating habits. Don't forget, always consult your physician if you have any medical conditions. All ten of these nutritional strategies in combination will increase your chances of maintaining your current weight during the holiday season, while keeping you healthy at the same time.
The best of health to your and families during this holiday season.
Depending on which expert or study you read, the amount of weight gain from Thanksgiving to New Years can range from 1-10 pounds. In one study, researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) concluded that Americans who are of average weight gain about one pound during the winter holiday season. That is the good news. The bad news is that this modest increase in weight tends to “stick” around and may accumulate over a lifetime. So this one pound increase becomes like the unwanted, un-returnable gift that keeps on giving. In terms of those who are already overweight, research suggests they tend to gain even more weight (on average 5 lbs.) during the holiday season. Hence, those who are overweight are at greater risk of gaining weight at this festive time of year.
Calories Count
While experts may debate about how many pounds on average are gained during the holiday season, one thing is certain. Compared to other times of the year the amount of calories consumed during the winter holidays increases dramatically. Make no mistake about it, calories can add up unsuspectingly fast. All other factors contributing to weight gain were equal (e.g., type-quality of food, physical activity, stress levels, thyroid function, genetics, hormones, etc.), caloric intake is at the center of putting on unwanted, excess pounds, whether that be during the holiday season or any other time of year.
Whether or not you gain weight distills down to one fundamental principle. That is, despite the nutritional, bio-chemical, physiologic, genetic or behavioral-psychological reason, if you consume more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight, no matter if those calories come from carbohydrates, fats or protein. It is a myth that only eating fat will make a person fat. At the end of the nutritional day, managing your weight becomes balancing the number of calories you eat each day, with the number of calories you burn. For example, one pound of body fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. If you were interested in losing one pound of fat in a week, then you would have to burn 3500 calories more than what you typically consume in seven days.
Calories count. Hence, it is more nutritionally prudent to be mindful of how many calories you are consuming at any given meal, despite the touted advice of those who say counting calories is ineffective. Weight management is in large measure about counting the calories.
Nutritional Strategies To Manage Your Weight
There are a number of scientifically based and expert-oriented recommendations you can use as nutritional strategies to control your caloric intake, thereby, managing your weight and preventing the gaining of unwanted holiday pounds. The recommendations are intended to help you manage your weight. They do not necessarily represent a diet program designed to lose weight. Rather, the recommendations are nutritional strategies to help you maintain your current weight. It is possible that if you put all of the recommended nutritional strategies into practice, you may lose some weight. If you do manage to lose some weight, then this is so much the better. Consider the weight loss a gift to yourself.
Furthermore, some of the recommendations given below may seem obvious and ordinary. However, do not be misled because their effectiveness in managing weight is supported by scientific research and sound advice from nutritional and health experts. If taken together, the recommendations will increase your chances of maintaining your current weight, while enjoying the holidays.
There is no one nutritional strategy that will serve as a silver bullet to keep you from gaining weight. The holiday goal of maintaining your current weight is more likely to be achieved if you make a plan that includes more than one nutritional strategy. The recommendations are designed to introduce balance, variety, moderation and common sense into your daily holiday diet.
Avoid Starting A New Diet
One of the biggest mistakes people make is to start a weight-loss diet during the holiday season, a time when food is in abundance and the opportunities to eat are many. Wait until after the holidays to start any new diet program. You may even be able to use the other recommended nutritional strategies discussed below to lose weight in the coming year, making them part of your healthy lifestyle.
Remember, it is easier to manage weight than to lose it. Set yourself up for success and not failure. Common sense dictates that it is better to wait to start a new diet until the holidays are over. Even if you are overweight, the holiday season is not a good time to begin a diet program. The better strategy is to maintain your present weight and not to attempt to lose weight.
Drink Lots of Water
One of the most important things you can do to manage your weight during the holidays is to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water a day. There are at least four good reasons to make drinking lots of water part of your weight-management program. First, water is heavily implicated with the body’s metabolism in that it speeds up or powers the metabolism’s bio-chemical processes, thereby, burning calories. If your metabolism is allowed to slow down, then you will burn fewer calories, making it more difficult to prevent weight gain.
Second, water is the most natural appetite suppressant you can put into your body. It creates a feeling satiety or fullness, making you less inclined to eat. One way to maximize appetite suppressant effect of water is to drink eight ounces of water right before a meal.
Third, not drinking enough water can result in dehydration, which causes fatigue and the desire to eat in order to get some energy, which in turn results in consuming unnecessary calories to become stored as fat. Dehydration also slows down your metabolism causing you to burn fewer calories. If you are concerned about weight gain due to drinking too much water, you should not be. It is the dehydration that causes water retention and not the consumption of water. When your body is dehydrated, it will tend to hold on to whatever water it has.
Fourth, an insufficient amount of water impedes the digestion, absorption and assimilation of food and its nutrients. This leads to cravings and hunger pangs, which leads to eating and the consumption of unnecessary calories and ultimately contributes to weight gain.
In short, drinking water throughout the day, especially before a meal, will assist you greatly in eating less, burning more calories and preventing weight gain.
Practice Portion Control
Portion control (i.e., reducing serving size) is one of the most effective and proven nutritional strategies to either maintain or lose weight. In a study reported in 2004 in the journal, Obesity Research, portion control accounted for the most weight lost than increasing planned exercise, increasing regular physical activity, cutting back on dietary fat or eating more fruits and vegetables. This is not to say that these other weight management strategies are not effective. Rather, it is to say, that portion control is a frontline nutritional strategy in maintaining or losing weight.
I recommend that you go to the web site of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health for examples of visual equivalents of what constitutes one serving size of particular foods in the categories of grain products, vegetables and fruits, dairy and cheese products and meat and alternatives. It is a useful government web site providing extensive and practical information on portion control.
Here are some examples of visual equivalents from the web site to help you determine what constitutes one serving size for a particular food:
One cup of cereal flakes is equivalent to a fist.
One cup of salad greens is equivalent to a baseball.
One-half ounce of cheese is equivalent to four stacked dice or two cheese slices.
Three ounces of meat, fish and poultry is equivalent to a deck of cards.
Other examples are given at the web site, along with cards on which there are different food categories and visual examples of what constitutes one serving for a particular type of food. The cards can be cut out, laminated and put into a wallet or purse.
Portion control is about practicing moderation and putting the concept in the forefront of your mind. If you are not accustomed to practicing portion control, it might take several attempts to change the behavior of piling food on a plate and digging into it. Also, eat slowly to help you moderate your food intake and wait a few minutes before giving into the temptation to go back for seconds. It takes a little bit of time for the brain to send the signal or create the feeling that you are satiated or full. Engage in mindful eating instead of the mindless consumption of calories.
Eat Small Meals Throughout The Day
Avoid falling into the trap of starving yourself, especially on those days when you will be attending some sort of holiday festivity. It is a myth that skipping meals will bring about weight loss. You are better off in the long run to eat at least three and preferably four to five small meals during the day. This will keep your metabolic rate up (thereby burning calories) and create a feeling of satiety or otherwise feeling full. Skipping meals is a sure way to gain weight because it can trigger an increase in appetite, binge eating and feeling “flat” or as if you do not have any energy. In short, it is nutritionally smarter to eat less and more often throughout the day. If by chance you get hungry between meals, try eating what I call “squirrel food,” that is, raw fruits, berries and vegetables, along with some nuts. My motto is, “If it’s good enough for the squirrels, its good enough for me.” You can also include the reliable in-between snack of plain yogurt or a low-carbohydrate version of yogurt.
In addition to not starving yourself, eating smaller meals throughout the day will allow the opportunity to practice portion control. Remember, you can still gain weight by eating a lot of healthy, nutritious food. While quality of food is an important nutritional issue and you want to avoid eating unhealthy foods because they can accelerate putting on the pounds, weight gain ultimately remains a function of consuming more calories than you burn, whether or not those calories come from healthy or unhealthy food.
Avoid Eating “Bad” Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates in and of themselves are not bad. In fact, carbohydrates are essential to a healthful diet. They are the master fuel for the body. Carbohydrates provide the necessary “good” calories, vitamins, minerals and fiber needed to meet the energy demands of the physical activities of our day-to-day lives and to perform those activities in a vigorous and energetic way. The nutritional trick is to eat the “good” carbohydrates derived from fruits and vegetables. The “bad” carbohydrates are found in foods made from highly processed white sugar and white flour. Highly refined white flour and white sugar in the form of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are found in many of the foods served during the holiday season such as cakes, cookies, candy, crackers, soft drinks, pastries, potatoes and white rice to name a few. These refined carbohydrate foods contain lots of empty, non-nutritional calories and are high on the glycemic index (GI) scale. Eating foods with a high GI index rating will cause a rapid spike in your insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels leads to the body storing more fat than it normally would, resulting in weight gain.
If you want to maintain your weight during the holidays, resist the temptation of eating those calorie-loaded, high-glycemic “bad carbohydrates.” If you eat them, then there is a good chance you will not be able to maintain your current weight. Hence, it is a nutritional sin you want to avoid committing.
Eat A Balance of Carbohydrates, Fats & Protein
Eating a balanced diet consisting of carbohydrates, fats and protein is fundamental to weight management. Diets high or low in one or the other of these macronutrients over extended periods of time eventually leads to all sorts of health problems and nutritional imbalances and deficiencies. For example, eating a diet high in carbohydrates will trigger insulin release. High insulin levels tend to result in the body storing fat. Eating complex carbohydrates and “good: fats will serve to counterbalance or otherwise offset the carb-insulin get fat effect. Eating a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates and fat results in other potential problems, from of which one of which are low energy levels and feeling lethargic, constipation from an adequate amount of dietary fiber, an overworking of the liver and kidneys and diminished cognitive functioning from lack of proper nourishment (i.e., glucose & essential fatty acids) to the brain.
Use common sense and follow the old adage of eating a balanced diet. Following the guidelines set by The USDA has set the following guidelines for the consumption of macronutrients:
45%-65% of calories derived from carbohydrates
20%-35% of calories derived from fats
10%-35% of calories derived from protein
If you would like more information on the USDA’s recommendations dietary guidelines, click here.
Avoid Those “Lethal” Liquid Calories
Another nutritional trap people fall into during the holidays is to assume that it is better to substitute liquid calories for calories from solid food. Liquid calories are stealth calories in that they add up without you knowing it. Going to a holiday party and just drinking alcohol, soft drinks, juices or other liquids loaded with calories will rack up the calories and make it more difficult for you to manage your weight. Moreover, it is important to understand that the bio-chemical mechanisms controlling hunger and thirst are different. As it turns out, liquid calories do not cause the brain to send the signal that you are full. Hence, you will more than likely end up eating anyway and maybe even overeating, leading to the consumption of calories above and beyond the liquid calories you already consumed.
Liquid candy (e.g., soft drinks, juices, etc.) and liquid pleasure (i.e., alcohol) will make you gain weight. Again, it is recommended to remain mindful about what you are consuming in terms of calories during the holidays and know that liquid calories are lethal.
Include A Lot of Fiber In Your Diet
Including fiber rich foods (i.e., grains, fruits, vegetables & legumes) or supplemental forms of fiber in your diet during the holidays will increase the odds of maintaining your current weight. It is well documented in the literature that eating fiber will assist in short and long term weight management. Dietary fiber has fewer calories per serving, decreases hunger and creates a sense of satiety between meals by slowing down digestion, balances blood sugar and insulin levels, improves the absorption, digestion, and assimilation of food and supports maintaining normal levels of C-reactive protein, glucose, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides. It is recommended that you included 25-35 grams of fiber in your diet per day. Be sure to drink plenty of water when eating fiber to prevent constipation and improve digestion and elimination.
Take Supplements for Weight Control
It is important to take nutritional supplements during the holidays so that you can provide your body the nutrients its needs to stay healthy. At a minimum, it is recommended that you take a good multiple vitamin and mineral formula. Use the multiple as the foundation of your supplement protocol. Augment the multiple vitamin and mineral formula with the taking of probiotics, digestive enzymes, essential fatty acids, antioxidants (e.g., Alpha lipoic acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium), aged garlic and co-enzyme Q 10. All of these nutritional compounds taken in combination with a multiple vitamin and mineral formula will help keep your digestive and immune system healthy.
In addition to keeping your body healthy, you can take nutritional supplements to help you maintain your current weight. These supplements will help to burn excess fat, moderate your appetite and speed up your metabolism, all of which will assist you in controlling the amount of calories you consume.
Some compounds that can help in the burning of fat include: conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), green tea, acetyl-L-carnitine, 7-Keto DHEA and citrus aurantium.
A standardized extract, made from white kidney beans that can block the absorption of starchy foods (e.g., pasta, potatoes, bread, rice & baked goods) is Phase 2.
Some products that can assist in suppressing the appetite include, Gena Slim by Country Life, Hoodia 24 by Vitalogic and Relacore by Basic Research.
Other products that have a thermogenic effect or otherwise can increase metabolism include, Xenadrine EFX by Cytodyne , Hydroxycut by MuscleTech, Thermo DynamX by EAS and Thermonex by BSN.
Maintain Your Healthy Eating Habits
You may already practice many of the nutritional recommendations outlined above. If you do, then keep on practicing them this holiday season. Remember, it is easier to manage weight than to lose it. If your diet and approach to eating do not include the recommended nutritional strategies, then it would be of great benefit to try and include as many of them as you can into your day-to-day nutritional life. Instead of trying to implement all of them at once, you might consider trying one or two at a time. Managing weight is in great part behavioral in nature because eating habits are just that, ways of behaving. It is good to have a positive attitude about managing and losing weight. However, attitudes and beliefs about diet and food have to be put into action in order to either maintain or lose weight. You just cannot think the excess pounds away or think your body into staying at its current weight. You can lay a foundation for success by being patient and knowing that it takes time to change eating habits. Practice makes perfect. I learned as a musician that if you do not practice, you lose interest. This principle applies to managing weight as it does to playing a musical instrument.
Conclusion
Given all of the food temptations during the holiday season, it is a more realistic goal to maintain your current weight than it would be to try and lose weight. Maintaining your weight during the holidays is an achievable goal, provided you keep a balance between calories consumed and calories burned and provided you use more than one nutritional strategy.
Drink water, practice portion control, eat “good” carbohydrates, eat a balanced diet of carbohydrates, fats and protein, moderate your intake of high caloric beverages, including alcohol, introduce more fiber into your diet, take supplements, continue any cardiovascular exercise (even moderate walking for a half hour) and do not abandon your existing healthy eating habits. Don't forget, always consult your physician if you have any medical conditions. All ten of these nutritional strategies in combination will increase your chances of maintaining your current weight during the holiday season, while keeping you healthy at the same time.
The best of health to your and families during this holiday season.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Control Your Weight, Control Type Two Diabetes
Whey improves insulin response in type 2 diabetics In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers evaluated whether supplementation of high-glycemic meals (GI) with whey proteins would increase insulin secretion and improve blood glucose control in type 2 diabetics. Subjects with type 2 diabetes were served a high-GI breakfast and lunch supplemented with whey on one day, and lean ham and lactose on another day. When whey was included in the meal, insulin responses were significantly higher for both breakfast and lunch than when it was not included. In addition, blood glucose response was significantly reduced after lunch with the inclusion of whey. In type 2 diabetics, whey added to high-GI meals may increase insulin secretion and improve blood glucose clearance after a meal. This can be of significant benefit to those with reduced insulin secretion and/or compromised blood glucose regulation.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 82, No. 1, 69-75, July 2005
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 82, No. 1, 69-75, July 2005
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Health Nugget
When you look at all the causes of inflammation of your arteries, they all can be significantly decreased, if not eliminated, by firmly establishing healthy lifestyles. When you combine a healthy diet, modest exercise, and nutritional supplementation, you can see the following health benefits:
Improve Insulin Sensititivity
Decrease Oxidized LDL Cholesterol
Lower High Blood Pressure
Improve Cholesterol Levels
Decrease Risk of Diabetes
Lower Homocysteine Levels
Establish a Healthy Weight
Healthy lifestyles and becoming proactive in protecting your health is your best option to decrease your risk of heart disease or even reverse hardening of your arteries.
Improve Insulin Sensititivity
Decrease Oxidized LDL Cholesterol
Lower High Blood Pressure
Improve Cholesterol Levels
Decrease Risk of Diabetes
Lower Homocysteine Levels
Establish a Healthy Weight
Healthy lifestyles and becoming proactive in protecting your health is your best option to decrease your risk of heart disease or even reverse hardening of your arteries.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Breast Cancer and Weight Loss
Did you know that maintaing a healthy weight reduces your risk of breast cancer? Why is it that we will take chemo(medicine so strong it kills our cells) when we have cancer, but we won't do things to prevent cancer?
Doctors tell us that a eating right and staying fit will help prevent diseases yet we still come up with excuses of busy etc...
Check out breast cancer statistics in your area.
As breast cancer awareness month comes to an end what better way to honor a loved one touched by the disease than to take control of your weight and possibly prevent breast cancer from happening to you.
Doctors tell us that a eating right and staying fit will help prevent diseases yet we still come up with excuses of busy etc...
Check out breast cancer statistics in your area.
As breast cancer awareness month comes to an end what better way to honor a loved one touched by the disease than to take control of your weight and possibly prevent breast cancer from happening to you.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Diet Foods Don't Taste Good
The third reason we fail at dieting is that diet foods don't taste good or if they allow us to eat real foods the rules are so difficult a nutritionists couldn't even follow them.
I don't know about you but I don't have time for diets like that. I just want something quick, easy, and affordable. It has to taste good and fill me up...just saying the word diet makes me hungry...But that was before I found the right supplements for me. Now I have a simple shake for breakfast and sometimes lunch and that's it. It passes the KISS test....I'm a mother of two toddlers everything in my life has to pass the KISS test. KEEP IT SIMPLE.
I've lost the weight and now I just use the shakes for the health benefits and to maintain.
You are just one choice away from reaching your goals....the only bad choice is to be undecided.
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