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April 22, 2009
This is such a simple tip that it is hard to believe how effective it can be! Simply switch your lunch and dinner menus. Lunch choices are often soups, salads, and sandwiches – usually light food with a high concentration of fruits and vegetables. Dinners are usually heavier meals, focused around meat and pasta or potatoes. (This statement is obviously geared towards Americans – I realize that it is common elsewhere to have a large mid-day meal.)
I suggest switching lunch with dinner because all of your activity occurs during the day. You are running around, exercising, stressing, presenting…whatever your day consists of. By the time you get home at night and finish eating, it’s time to sit and relax. There is substantially less calorie-burning activity between dinner and bedtime then there is earlier in the day. Yet in contrast, we eat our lighter meal during the period where we’re burning the most calories, and our heaviest meal when we’re burning the least. Doesn’t seem to make sense, right?
Additionally, it’s important to look at the ways in which these foods are being used by your body. Fats and carbohydrates are major sources of energy for daily activities, while protein is primarily used to rebuild muscles, enzymes, and other necessary structures in the body. During the day you are more active so there is a need for high-energy food items. While you sleep, your body repairs and recovers from the day – activities that require protein. By switching dinner with lunch you are fueling your body with the right nutrients for the right activities, while at the same time reducing the overabundance of carbohydrates eaten before bed.
For this reason I try to eat grains at breakfast and lunch time (breads, potato, pasta, cereal, etc). Of course, I balance the meal with protein and vegetables too! But my point is that lunch should be the meal with the heavier carbohydrates because your body will have time to utilize them properly during the day. Dinner is best centered around vegetables (like a salad or grilled vegetables) and lean protein. I try to limit the amount of grains I eat at night – which helps maintain my weight and also makes for a lighter meal prior to bed.
Switching dinner with lunch is a simple strategy that is oh-so-effective for controlling weight. Try it and tell me what you think!
For more on weight loss: “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”
For more on meal strategies:
Strategies For Controlling Your Portion Sizes
Eat More (Often) to Weigh Less
Techniques For Controlling Your Cravings
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
March 24, 2009
The word “sugar” conjures up images of candy, cake, cookies… pretty much all the sweets that we try to avoid. For the most part, we know we need to avoid them. But do you know why it’s important to limit sugary foods? And can you name all the foods that contain high amounts of sugar?
Sugar v. Insulin and the Diabetes Connection
 Eating items high in sugar stresses your body, flooding your bloodstream with insulin on a regular basis. Simple carbohydrates don’t require much energy to be broken down into blood glucose (they’re already small glucose chains), and so they pass into the bloodstream pretty much as soon as you eat them. This causes a rapid spike in blood sugar levels, and an equal spike in the release of insulin in order to shuttle all that sugar where it needs to go throughout your body.
FACT: If you perpetuate this process by eating foods high in sugar on a weekly (or daily) basis, then over time this pattern will lead to insulin resistance and eventually type II diabetes. Read more on the relationship between sugar and insulin.
What Qualifies As Sugar?
Sugar doesn’t necessarily mean chocolate or candy either. Soda, granola bars, crackers, fruit, refined white bread, milk, and even yogurt contain a LOT of sugar.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat them – fruit, for example, has tons of vitamins and antioxidants that are important for overall health and longevity. Instead you should limit your portions of these sugary items and space them throughout the day.
Example:
My typical sugar intake looks like this:
½ cup skim milk with my oatmeal for breakfast
½ cup pineapple with cottage cheese for a mid-morning snack
Lots of veggies, lean protein, and some whole grains for lunch
6 oz. low-fat plain yogurt and ground flaxseeds for an afternoon snack
Lots of veggies and lean protein for dinner
You can see that I did eat sugar throughout the day, but I watched my portions. I also ate the sugary items in combination with other non-carbohydrate foods to help slow digestion and the rush of sugar into the bloodstream.
How Much Is Too Much?
I strive to look for items with 10g or less of sugar. This can be found by reading the nutrition facts on the food item. Once you start looking, you’ll be surprised how much sugar is in the foods you eat regularly!
For more on weight loss, try “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”
For more on carbohydrates and sugar:
Simple v. Complex Carbohydrates
What to Eat: Carbohydrates
Now I’ll ask you: What are your tricks for avoiding sugary foods?
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