Category: Diet

Start with food!

Summer’s coming! Summer means fewer clothes, and less material to hide in. I said it before – I hate those rolls over my waistband. And when I’m just wearing a T-shirt and jeans, those rolls can be highly visible. So now is the time to do something about it! Before it’s tank top and shorts season!

Nutrition and fitness experts all say that abs are made in the kitchen. That means that to look good we have to focus on what we eat. And nutrition experts agree that fruits and veggies are the focal point of those abs. (Not that looking good should be the main reason you lose weight! It’s certainly a factor, but health is my motivator.)

Jennifer McDaniel, RDN, nutritionist and owner of McDaniel Nutrition Therapy in St. Louis, says that we should up our intake of those fruits and lower-carb vegetables to about 10 servings a day. Figure that a serving is about a cup. Start with those first, and by the time you’re done with the fruits and veggies you won’t want many carbs or sweets.

Half of each meal should be predominantly vegetables, then fruits, and whatever’s left protein. Carbs are an afterthought.

Same for snacks. Half fruit or veggies, and perhaps a little nut butter on the apple slice.

And don’t forget to hydrate! Hardly anyone drinks enough water! I recently read a couple of sources that agree that we should each drink 1/2 to 1 ounce of water for every pound we weigh. So a 150-pound person should drink at least 75 ounces of water every day. Start early and drink all day! It sounds tough, but it’s easier as the temperature gets warmer. So, start now and by summer you’ll be used to it!

Water also has the added benefit of making you feel more full. Start every meal with a chug of water.

Studies have found that people who focus on drinking more water and eating more fruits and vegetables without counting calories lose more weight and keep it off!

There’s incentive!

What’s the hardest thing about losing weight?

We’ve all done it – tried to lose weight. Sometimes we’re successful. Sometimes not so much.

Some of us have done it lots of times! I’ve done it! Lose weight, gain some, lose it again, gain it back. And every time it seems that much harder.

It’s hard to get up the commitment, courage, gumption, whatever you call it, to start a “diet” plan. It’s really hard to start an exercise program.

I think starting may be the hardest part of losing weight. Because, to “start,” you have to “end” something. And change is extremely difficult.

Leaving the tried and true behind. Leaving the comfortable routine and trying something new is really hard.

And yet, we know that our comfortable routine is what’s making us unhappy. I’m not happy in my clothes. I’m not happy with how I feel. I’m tired all the time.

There usually comes a sticking point. We just can’t take it any more. We’re fed up. We’re sick of ourselves. As a friend put it, “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

And that’s when change happens. We get off the couch and walk around the block. We think twice about that ice cream. At the salad bar we bypass the macaroni and add a few walnuts. We choose the grilled chicken rather than the fried.

That’s hard. Making the decision to actually do something about your situation is difficult. You know that there will be difficult times ahead on your journey to fitness.

Take it one decision at a time. I’ll work out today. I’ll have a boiled egg and not a fried egg. I’ll walk the dog and not watch TV. I’m really not hungry, so I’ll have a drink of water and not a snack.

In coming days I’ll explore other hard things about losing weight, and we’ll try to work through them together.

What’s the hardest thing for you about losing weight?

Should you weigh yourself every day?

I never weigh myself. Maybe that’s a bad thing. I have absolutely no idea what I weigh. My pants fit, so I’m happy. When my pants start to get tight then I start to restrict sweets and carbs a little more, and maybe step up the intensity of my workouts.

But I know that’s not how many people operate. When my sister was losing weight, she used the scale as a tool. She would measure her progress by the scale.

It used to be that people on “diets” or weight-loss programs were taught to only weigh themselves once a week, if that. So often women, especially, can gain a pound or two of water in a day. That pound is extremely disheartening! We work so hard to lose weight that seeing the scale creep up can make all that hard work seem for nothing. Then we think, “What’s the use? I can’t lose the weight. I might as well have those chips.” I did that. It was depressing to me to weigh myself every day. It was only seeing the weekly or even biweekly numbers that motivated me to keep going.

But now a Cornell University study has found that participants who weighed themselves daily and charted their results lost significantly more weight than those who did not. They were also able to keep the weight off.

Daily self-weighing and tracking “forces you to be aware of the connection between your eating and your weight,” lead study author David Levitsky said. “It used to be taught that you shouldn’t weigh yourself daily, and this is just the reverse.”

The researchers found that self-weighing and tracking are simple ways to reinforce and strengthen positive behaviors such as eating less and maintaining regular exercise.

“You just need a bathroom scale and an Excel spreadsheet, or even a piece of graph paper,” said Levitsky.

Even after the weight-loss goal was achieved, if you follow this program, you should continue to track your weight.

Do you think this makes sense? Will tracking your weight every day work for you?

More reasons to exercise!

I hate working out. I do not like to exercise. You know that – I’ve told you often enough. But I like to do active things. I like to eat. So I exercise. And here are some more reasons why we need to exercise:

Exercise reduces bad moods and depression. That “exercise high” is not a myth! Regular exercise helps the brain produce a protein that seems to fortify parts of the hippocampus susceptible to depression, neuroscience has revealed. And Swedish researchers have found that exercise helps to keep your brain safe from harmful substances (one is called kynurenine) that build up during stress. Exercise produce changes in skeletal muscle that can purge the blood of kynurenine before it has a chance to cause the brain inflammation that is linked to depression. Some doctors have even begun prescribing exercise to their patients!

Exercise also helps your muscle memory stick! Try that new skill then do some aerobic exercise for 15 minutes right afterward. A test at the University of Copenhagen showed that people who exercised right after practicing a new skill did better the following week than those who did not exercise. That same brain protein (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF) improves muscle memory as well!

Aerobic exercise also increases memory power! A six-month study at the University of British Columbia showed that older women who power-walked twice a week for 40-minutes each had better recall than those who just lifted weights or did not exercise. The power walking raised the study subjects’ heart rates to 70 – 80% of their target heart rates.

Still not convinced? Exercise can also reverse the mental decline – the effect of a long-term fatty diet. Now this shouldn’t be a license to go crazy and eat spaghetti and pizza like crazy, but there is hope! At least in rats – a University of Minnesota study found that when rats on the equivalent of a burger-stuffed-pizza diet exercised daily, their mental deterioration reversed itself after four months. At four months, these fat-fed mice who ran had better memory function than non-exercisers on a low-fat diet. And if you like the occasional adult beverage, exercise can help you there too! A new study published in Alcoholism showed that drinkers who worked out had far more white matter than their sedentary peers.

So, I guess I’ll be working out regularly for the foreseeable future. How about you?

We need fat!

Healthy fat, that is!

We’ve believed that a diet extremely low in fat must be good for us – the lower the fat, the healthier the food and the lower in calories, so we’ll lose more weight, right?

Not so fast …

While we should limit the amount of some fats, like trans-fats that are unhealthy, other fats are actually good for us. You’re thinking, “I know – omega-3 fatty acids like in some fish.”

Well, yes, but there are others too!

Poly – and mono-unsaturated fats are also good. These, along with omega-3 fatty acids can keep you feeling fuller longer, and can even make your metabolism work harder in order to break them down in your system. Some healthy fats have even been known to improve cognitive function, lessen belly fat and improve heart health.

So, where can I find these?

Egg yolks contain healthy fats as well as vitamin A, some B vitamins, choline, vitamin D and antioxidants. The picture above is one I took of my breakfast not long ago – a whole hard-boiled egg, wilted spinach and quinoa. Delicious and filling!

Cocoa butter is sweet tasting, and is also high in antioxidants and omega-9 fatty acids. Added it coffee drinks (no more high-fat lattes!), smoothies and even homemade fiber/power bars.

Avocado is high in omega-9 fats as well as high in fiber. Avocado is great for healthy skin and digestion. Avocados can also be good for post-workout recovery, since they contain electrolytes.

Dark chocolate is high in the same fats as cocoa butter, as long as the dark chocolate is all natural. Dark chocolate also contains antioxidants and is good for the heart. Yay!

Flax and chia seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids. They are an easy additive to any smoothie or bowl of oatmeal.

Eat more fat! Just make sure it’s the right kind of fat!

Pay attention!

Fitness and mindfulness go hand in hand.

I saw so many examples the other day. I was at an agility trial where hundreds of people and their dogs compete. There’s a lot of down time at agility trials, so it’s a great opportunity to catch up with friends and people you see frequently at trials.

It was before 8:00 in the morning and people were pouring coffee and grabbing pastries, cake, and cookies without thinking about what they were doing. Many had gotten up before 5, and already had breakfast. It was like they were on automatic pilot. When I talk to my agility friends I eat pastries.

And that made me think about other friends.

If snacks are out, they’ll eat them. Cookies, nuts, cheese. It doesn’t matter. If munchies are laid out, they go in the face.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love cake and nuts and cheese as much as the next person.

But, do I really need it?

It’s easy to get caught up in mindlessness. You see others engaging in mindless behavior – whether it’s eating junk food, staring at a screen or engaging in gossip.

Let’s start being mindful!

No, I do not need that piece of cake at 9:00 in the morning. I do not need to be scrolling my Facebook newsfeed for hours on end. I can do better.

Now, that’s not to say that every second of every day must be productive. We all need down time.

But pay attention to what you’re doing. Make a decision. It’s OK to say “For the next 15 minutes I’m going to play a stupid game,” as long as you’re aware of what you’re doing!

And about that cake … I do love cake. I do eat dessert. But, I’m not going to waste calories on a white cake when I don’t love it. If it were chocolate, though…

Quinoa? Why?

I love quinoa. It’s nutty, it’s easy and it goes with practically everything. It picks up the flavor of whatever you’re mixing it with and doesn’t impose its own flavor.

I recently made a batch and had it over several days for breakfast. You see a picture here, mixed with fresh spinach and a hard-boiled egg. Just a touch of seasoning and – delish! I mixed the spinach when the quinoa was still warm, so the greens wilted just a little.

I made the quinoa according to package directions – 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water, let it come to a boil and then simmer for about 18 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and it’s done. But if you use chicken, beef or vegetable stock instead of water, that adds its own flavor and is particularly yummy. If you use stock, lessen the amount of seasoning you add.

Have quinoa for any meal! If we have any left over, sometimes I’ll bring it for lunch mixed with leftover chicken or turkey and lettuce or other greens. It has staying power and will keep me until dinner. You know I hate being hungry. (I’m not a nice person when I’m hungry.) But I also hate taking time to eat something in the middle of the afternoon when I’m busy doing other things.

Aside from the flavor, why do I love quinoa so much? It’s gluten-free (not a big selling point for me, since I also love bread…), and it’s also high in protein. Quinoa also has about twice as much fiber as just about any other grain. It’s also high in Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and manganese. It’s rich in magnesium and also contains lysine, iron, Vitamin E and all 9 essential amino acids!

So quinoa is more than a fad. I think it’s here to stay! I know there will be a place for it in my pantry.

Hydration – good for everything!

Drink water! Lots of water. It’s too easy to put your head down and do what you need to do without coming up for air. But, we all need to drink water during the day. Not the 64 ounces that we were once told, but a substantial amount!

It’s good for your skin, good for your digestion, good for your brain!

When I don’t drink enough water during the day, I find that my thoughts become fuzzy. Sometimes I even become disoriented. (And that’s not an easy thing to do, since I’ve lived in the same house for lots and lots of years…) That’s a sure sign of dehydration. And it’s easy enough to fix, provided that you don’t let it go for too long. Just take a drink of water.

I keep a thermos at work and bring it with me if I know I’ll be out for a couple of hours or more during the day. And we have a big jug of drinking water at the shop so that I can refill my thermos. (The tap water is not the greatest, and a big jug is better than many small plastic bottles.)

And if I’m really into a project and know that I’ll be engrossed in it, I don’t hesitate to set a timer for 20 minutes so that I can get up, walk around and get a drink of water.

And to brighten the taste, sometimes I’ll add a drop of lemon essential oil. It’s got that great fresh lemon taste without the acid of actual lemon juice!

Exercising in an hour? Have a cup of coffee!

It’s not just for breakfast any more! Coffee can improve your workout, researchers have shown. Researchers conducted a study in which a sample of inactive men were monitored biking with and without caffeine. While the men said they put forth the same amount of energy whether or not they had consumed caffeine, the results revealed faster cycling rates after caffeine consumption. Another set of researchers conducted a study and found participants who had caffeine before a workout had an easier time holding back cravings. In fact, those who had caffeine ate 72 calories less after the workout than those who hadn’t consumed the stimulant.

I don’t think it’s surprising. The caffeine in a cup of coffee will boost your energy and help you stay awake, so it’ll give your workout a boost too. You don’t even realize that you’re working harder. If you’re not sleepy, then you can pedal (or run) faster. The caffeine also boosts your stamina – letting you work longer, getting in that extra mile (or half-mile for me!)

Heidi Skolnik, a sports nutritionist, also says that coffee also increases the release of dopamine and other feel-good neurotransmitters. So you can work past what you might otherwise perceive as pain or weakness. The benefit of coffee to your workout starts about an hour after you drink it.

Now, don’t go crazy! Putting in lots of cream and sugar or other calorie-laden additions might taste really good, but the extra calories will outweigh any benefits the caffeine will give you. A little milk is good though – the protein and carbohydrates it adds will help kick-start your brain!

And remember to drink water while you’re exercising. It’s important to stay hydrated, and coffee alone won’t do that! Get a good night’s sleep, and drink plenty of water and you’ll get the most benefit from your workout.

Overstuffed?

We’ve all been there. But the pizza looked so good! I couldn’t resist the Alfredo! Just one more piece of apple pie? Munchies during the game! Mindless munchies watching a movie.

And now, even a day later, you still feel stuffed.

Don’t beat yourself up about it now. What’s done is done. You can’t go back in time and not eat all that (no matter how much you might want to!).

And you can’t starve yourself today! Your body still needs the fuel to carry on today!

What do you do?

Do your regular workout, perhaps with a little more intensity. Walk a few more blocks. Drink a little more water.

If you have watercress in your crisper, put some in your salad – it protects your cells against free radicals, and is a natural diuretic.

Squeeze some lemon in your water – the Vitamin C helps detox your body and burn fat. Plus it helps with digestion and it’s delicious.

Eat more dark leafy greens – in your salad, in your soup, or saute them with a little olive oil. Dark leafy greens boost chlorophyll levels in your digestive tract which helps to eliminate environmental toxins.

Have an apple (or another fruit) – fruit is full of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber.

Eat some cabbage, artichokes or beets – they’re great for cleansing the liver.

Ginger and garlic help eliminate free radicals.

There you have it. Go eat some healthy stuff. But don’t overdo it!