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May 11, 2010
Losing weight is as much about what you eat as it is about exercising. The most significant step you can take towards a healthy lifestyle change is to educate yourself about the foods you eat and what you feed your family.
We are fortunate enough to live in a country where every food manufacturer is required to disclose the ingredients and nutritional information of their products to us, the general public. This very fact gives us power! As long as we know what to look for, we can steer clear of toxic ingredients and feed our bodies real, nutritious food. To start, begin looking at the nutrition facts of the foods you buy – paying special attention to the items listed below. You’ll be a nutrition expert in no time!
Total Calories: Take note of exactly how many calories you are consuming because when you’re trying to lose weight, every calorie counts!
Total Fat: Don’t be scared of this number! You should consume fat in your diet; in fact, you need it! The important thing is to choose the right types of fat. You will usually find these broken down underneath Total Fat on the label. Here is what you should look at:
Saturated Fat: You want as little of this as possible! Look for 5g or less on packaged foods. Also, compare this number to Total Fat. If the numbers are close in value, then the food item contains mostly saturated fat and you should put it back on the shelf!
Trans Fat: Trans fats are toxic to the body – even worse than saturated fats! This value should be zero in ALL cases.
Unsaturated Fats: These are the healthiest fats, so don’t worry about the amounts. They provide many essential fatty acids to our diets.
Total Carbohydrates: The carbohydrate group includes both sugars and fiber, which are always broken down underneath Carbohydrates on the nutrition label. You should pay special attention to each of these, but for different reasons…
Fiber: The daily recommendation for fiber is 25g (for everyone!), yet most of us barely make it to 10g each day. Fiber helps maintain a healthy digestive tract while slowing down the digestive process. That means you’ll stay fuller for longer! You want this number to be as high as possible – anything over 5g per serving would be admirable.
Sugar: Your worst enemy. Period! Eating foods high in sugar will not only put you on the fast track to diabetes, but you will have a significantly harder time losing weight and keeping it off. With this in mind, keep your sugar content as low as possible. On packaged goods, aim for 10g or less.
Total Protein: Protein is just as important to your diet as carbohydrates and fat, yet it often gets overlooked. Protein consumption is a vital component of a regular exercise program because it helps rebuild muscles after a grueling workout. This means that as you lose weight, you can be sure you are losing 100% body fat – not lean muscle. Look for items that contain at least 7g protein per serving; or combine a low-protein food with a high-protein item such as low-fat cheese, chicken, turkey, or eggs.
March 5, 2010
The extra time commitment and tedious nature of food journaling are a deal breaker for many. Yet the benefits of taking the time to really pay attention to your food choices far outweigh the time involved. Not only will you learn more about the foods you commonly eat and their nutritional content, you are more likely to stay on track and be successful with your weight loss goals.
Continue reading for four big ways a food journal can help you shed pounds, as well as information on what to record. I’ve also included tips on how to get set up immediately, so get started journaling your way to a slimmer body today!
1. Education
Tracking your food intake forces you to pay closer attention to the foods you eat, when you eat them, and how you prepare them. If you are calculating portion sizes and counting calories, you must look up each food and record its statistics (however scary they may be!). You’re also more likely to look at the nutrition facts for the food item and weigh the cost v. benefit of eating it… and thus having to record it. Reading nutrition labels helps you discover what nutrients you over- or under-consume, and which you should avoid completely. Just be careful not to believe every claim you read on the packaging… unfortunately these “health benefits” are often inflated to help sell the product. Stick to reading the ingredient list and nutrition facts and you’ll get all the information you need to stay healthy.
2. Accountability
Recording your meals for others to see (or just for yourself!) can actually help you consume fewer calories. Being held accountable to your weight loss endeavor (or whatever goal you’re aiming for) gives you less leeway to slip up or backtrack. Giving yourself a deadline can do the same thing. Either way, you are eliminating the chance for excuses and setting yourself up for “punishment” if you don’t follow through (having to show your slip-ups to someone else, missing a deadline, etc).
Accountability also means you’re more likely to rethink the impulse chocolate bar purchases at the grocery store – there’s no hiding from a food journal! Not only does this practice make you think twice about the food you eat, it demands you take a greater responsibility for your eating habits. So think before you chew!
3. Analysis
Keeping a food journal is the best way to recognize trends in your eating habits – both for better and for worse. You can choose to analyze why a certain food combination helped you lose a few pounds, while others made you raid the fridge at midnight. Or observe what you might have done differently the week you lost three pounds, so that you can repeat those practices with similar results. Examining your food habits allows you to pinpoint exactly what you’re doing right and where you need improvement, which ultimately brings you closer to your weight loss goals!
4. Mathematics
My clients are always amazed how one pound of fat can equal a shocking 3,500 calories. Based on this, a weight loss of one pound per week means a deficit of 3,500 calories ( basically cutting about 500 calories/day). The math is really quite simple; weight loss never is. Counting your calories is the best way to keep track of how much food you are actually consuming in a day. Food journals make calorie counting easy – half the information is already there! Just look up your food item and portion size in a caloric database and record in your journal.
One of the trickier parts of weight loss (from a nutrition standpoint) is the way “little” food items can wreck havoc on your eating plan. Things like butter on toast, oil on a salad, mayonnaise on a sandwich, sugar in coffee, or a glass of wine with dinner can add a disproportionately large number of calories to your day. When you record everything you eat (and I mean everything), you are able to see first-hand just how much the sugar in your coffee will cost you.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Journaling
What to Record:
It’s important that you be as specific as possible in your journal – list portion sizes and exact quantities when you can, even brand names if available. And don’t forget about beverages! Drinks are often forgotten when I ask clients about nutrition. Recording them in a food journal makes their caloric significance glaringly obvious.
Recording when you eat is equally significant. I’ve had clients who simply weren’t aware of how uneven their eating schedule was – consuming nothing until well into the afternoon, then binging on everything once they started eating. This is not a healthy eating practice. You should try to fit in food throughout your day, regardless of how busy your schedule is.
And lastly, it’s important to make note of how you feel after eating. Are you stuffed or still hungry? Do you feel tired or energized? Do you have a headache? Are you hungry 30 minutes after the meal? Your answers to these questions will help you identify which food choices work for you and which do not. If you feel tired or lethargic after eating, you either ate too much or consumed too many carbohydrates. If you’re hungry again only 30 minutes later, you didn’t choose foods that would sustain you. Adding protein to your meal will keep you satisfied longer.
What to Record In:
The nice thing about a journal is that you can record it on anything – a piece of scrap paper, a tiny notebook in your purse, an application on your phone or typed on your computer. You don’t need to spend money to start one! If you want something a little more organized or if you’d like access to a nutritional database, you can also record your food log online. There are, I’m sure, thousands of great websites that offer this feature. I’ve listed a few of the more popular sites below with their links:
Diet Tracking Websites:
Daily Burn
The Daily Plate
Spark People
My Calorie Counter
My Fitness Pal
Fit Day
However you decide to record it all, your food journal will bring you one step closer to your health goals with its reliability, (sometimes brutal) honesty, and accountability. Bon appétit!
April 20, 2009
Staying hydrated isn’t necessarily a “weight loss” strategy, but it is important for overall health & longevity – especially when you are involved in a consistent exercise regime. And since 50-75% of the body is water, I feel obligated to mention it as one of my 10 best strategies for losing weight.
The average person loses about 2,500ml of water per day – without exercise. This is completely normal and necessary; water aids us in flushing toxins out of our bodies and promotes normal body functions. With heavy exercise, though, this figure can increase to 6 or 7 liters per day of water loss!
For these reasons, it is vital that your fluid losses are replaced constantly during the day. This is usually accomplished through a combination of:
- Beverages (preferably not sugary juices or soda)
- Food (many fruits and vegetables are a surprisingly great source of water)
- Metabolic reactions (these take place at the cellular level; water is a natural byproduct)
It is especially important to hydrate before, during, and after your workouts, as this is where you lose a lot of fluids through perspiration. The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) recommends consuming eight to ten ounces of water prior to exercise, three to four ounces every 20 minutes during exercise, and about 16 ounces for every pound of weight lost as a result of exercise. Cool water is best because it can be absorbed more quickly from the stomach than warm water can. Remember, if you wait until you feel thirsty you are already slightly dehydrated. So make sure to drink throughout the day!
Did You Know? The reason you sweat when you exercise is to minimize the natural increase in your core temperature. As you exercise, the work being done by your muscles, joints, neurons, etc. creates a large amount of heat energy. The process of sweating expels water from inside your body to your surface area where it evaporates into the air and cools your skin. If you were unable to dissipate that heat energy by the evaporation of sweat, your body would overheat. Drinking water during your workout can also help to minimize the increase in your core temperature.
Exercising in a hot, humid environment can be dangerous for these same reasons. The already saturated air would make evaporation of your sweat extremely difficult, and you wouldn’t be able to cool your escalating core temperature.
For more on weight loss, try “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”
Resources:
Gladwin, Laura A., ed. Fitness Theory & Practice, 4th ed. Sherman Oaks, CA: The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, 2002.
Powers, Scott K., and Edward T. Howley. Exercise Physiology, 3rd ed. Guilford, CT: Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1997.
March 26, 2009
 Eating in moderation is – by far – one of the biggest challenges people face. This is especially the case when you’re trying to lose weight.
Here in America, going out to eat requires serious self-control, as dishes are usually served with 2-4x more food than what is deemed a proper serving. Just take a look at the following examples (and I chose the healthier items on the menus!):
If you were to eat at Applebee’s, for example, and you chose a healthy-sounding dish like the Fiesta Lime Chicken, you’d be consuming over 1200 calories and nearly 50g fat!
Over at Chili’s, a simple grilled chicken sandwich (without fries or any other sides) is 810 calories and 43g fat.
Stopping at Starbucks for your morning fix? Their Grande Tazo Green Tea Latte (with 2% milk) has 350 calories and 55g sugar. Add a piece of Reduced-Fat Blueberry Coffee Cake, and you’ve stacked on another 320 calories and 33g sugar.
When Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Stomach
Knowing how to cut down your portions is the key to keeping your calorie intake in check. Of course, the old standby is to cut your meal into quarters or thirds in the beginning, and ask for a take-out container or “doggie-bag.” You could also ask the waitstaff for a smaller plate, and move the portion you intend to eat onto the smaller dish. This way your meal at least begins to resemble a “normal” serving.
But what exactly is a “normal” serving and how can you make these judgments without secretly carrying a stash of measuring cups in your purse (or pocket – sorry guys)?
I actually debated with myself over how to answer this question. Coming from a nutrition background, my initial reaction is of course to reference the Food Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines for Americans, etc, etc. But telling you that ½ cup pasta is one serving size isn’t any more helpful than telling you to eat less – you already know that. And honestly, that’s not what helped me lose weight either. Hell, I came from a nutrition background and still struggled to drop pounds!
So… here are the tips they don’t include in the Food Pyramid:
Divide your plate (or bowl) into thirds. Cover 2/3 of it with veggies and some fruit – even mound up those veggies if you want. The more, the merrier! But pay attention to the following:
1. If you add dried fruit, keep the portion to only what you can fit in a handful (this is roughly ¼ cup). Use these sparingly though when you’re trying to lose weight because dried fruit are very calorie-dense.
2. One cup juice (fruit or veggie) is still considered one serving, yet you don’t get any of the benefits of the actual fruit such as fiber or phytonutrients. The sugar from the juice goes straight to your bloodstream, causing a rush in insulin. Try to avoid juices if possible; opt for real fruits and vegetables instead. They’ll fill you up faster with fewer calories.
3. If you want to add some whole grains, emphasis on whole, keep it to one Pyramid serving ( 1/2 cup cooked pasta, rice, or cereal, or 1 slice bread) per meal or snack. You can approximate ½ cup by thinking of a baseball. Slice the baseball in half – what you could fit inside would be about ½ cup. Fill up the rest of your plate with low-calorie vegetables and some lean protein.
You should definitely add some whole grains to your breakfast and lunch, since they are healthy and you’ll burn off the calories pretty fast. I would opt out of grains for dinner though unless you’ll be performing some strenuous exercise after. Fruits and vegetables will suffice as a carbohydrate source late in the day, when your activity level drops. Or as one of my favorite trainers, Amelia Burton, always says: “No bread before bed!”
After you’ve set up two-thirds of your plate with vegetables and maybe some whole grains, the last third of your plate should be lean protein. Women should try to keep this to three ounces per meal; men to four ounces. Three ounces equates to the size of a deck of cards (in width, height, and thickness). So men can add a little more to this.
Remember that “lean” protein is:
Chicken without skin
Turkey, white meat
Fish
Red meat that says 90% lean or less
Egg whites
Low-fat cheese
Low-fat cottage cheese
Soy products
NOTE: The “plate” I’m referring to is not the monster serving dishes you get at Olive Garden! This is a standard (i.e. small by American standards) 10-inch diameter plate.
You don’t need to resign yourself to constantly weighing your food or sneaking tablespoons to the salad bar in order to lose weight. Those options just don’t fit into real life! You need solutions that not only help you reach your goals, but help you stick with them during those lunch meetings, dinner dates, parties, etc. (Side Note: I will say that weighing your protein servings can be very educational to someone who is new to portion control… scales can be bought very cheap at stores like Target.)
What strategies do you use for managing your portions when eating at a restaurant or otherwise away from home?
For more on weight loss, try “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”
For more on meal strategies:
Switch Lunch With Dinner
Eat More (Often) to Weigh Less
Techniques For Controlling Your Cravings
Resources: Applebee’s Nutrition Facts, Chili’s Nutrition Facts, Starbucks’ Nutrition Facts
March 25, 2009
The Good Guys
Fats have gotten a bad reputation, but the truth is that unsaturated fats are excellent for you! Nuts, eggs, fish, flaxseed, and some plant oils are fantastic sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential in the diet.  Omega-3’s, in particular, help to reduce risk of heart disease, increase blood circulation, reduce joint pain, and reduce symptoms of depression. The American diet is typically low in essential omega-3 fatty acids, and we could definitely stand to increase our consumption of these powerful nutrients.
The Bad Boys
Saturated and trans fats, on the other hand, are very dangerous. Both types are major contributors to heart disease and strokes.
Saturated fats are usually associated with animal products: red meat, cheese, ice cream, etc. The nutrition label will always tell you the grams of saturated fat in the product you’re eating. Aim to keep saturated fats at 10% or less of your total fat consumption.
Trans fats are artificially-created saturated fats (naturally unsaturated fats that have been chemically altered to be solid at room temperature). Read more on trans fats. Trans fats can usually be found in packaged foods: Poptarts, crackers, chips, peanut butter, bread, and MANY common grocery store items. Aim to reduce your trans fat consumption to as little as possible. These fats are bad news, so if you can eliminate them from your diet, do so.
Did You Know?
If the Ingredients List says  “partially hydrogenated”, then the item contains trans fats.
Often, the nutrition label will say 0 grams while the ingredient list will say partially hydrogenated soybean oil (or another trans fat). Companies can do this if the amount of trans fat is less than 0.5g per serving. Tricky, I know.
Thus your best plan of action is to read the ingredient lists thoroughly, and be fully informed about what you’re eating. Healthy unsaturated fats can (and should!) make up 25-30% of your daily diet. Limit saturated fats to 10% of total fat consumption (10% of the 25-30% you consumed that day), and eliminate trans fats if possible.
For more on weight loss, try “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”
For more on fats:
Fat-Free: Too Good To Be True?
What to Eat: Fats
The Truth About Trans Fats
Resources:
FDA, Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements
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