October 11, 2009
Ingredients: Corn, Cellulose Gum, Mono- and Diglycerides, Lime, Chicken, Water, Green Bell Peppers, Onions, Zucchini, Carrots, Tomato Paste, Green Chilies, Citric Acid, Sour Cream Flavor, Maltodextrin, Red Bell Pepper [contain Citric Acid, Calcium Chloride, Water, Salt], Corn Starch, Chicken Base, Chicken Stock Flavor, Nusalt/Sodium Substitute, Salt, Seasoning, Cooked Rice, Water, Tomatillos, Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Skim Milk and Milk, Water, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Flavor, Enzymes, Artificial Color, Sorbic Acid [Preservative]Lactic Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate)Corn, Black Beans, contains 2% or less of Each of the Following: Green Chilies (contain Citric Acid)Dehydrated Sour Cream (Sour Cream Solids, Nonfat Milk Solids)Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Nonfat Pasteurized Processed Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Nonfat Milk, Cheese Cultures, Pasteurized Milk, Whey Protein Concentrate, Less Than 2% of Rice Starch, Salt, Cream, Sodium Phosphate, Whey, Lactic Acid, Flavors, Maltodextrin, Cellulose, Xanthan, Guar, Tara, and Carob Bean Gums, Artificial Color, Sodium Propionate [Preservative]Vitamin A Palmitate)Modified Food Starch, Condensed Skim Milk, Chicken Broth Powder (Maltodextrin, Chicken Broth, Salt, Flavors)Soybean Oil, Nonfat Buttermilk Powder, Salt, Mexican Rice Flour (Tomato Powder, Salt, Paprika, Sodium Diacetate, Whey, Spice, Flavor [including Spice Extractives]Gelatin, Beef Flavor, Smoke Flavor, Soybean Oil and Silicon Dioxide)Flavoring, Granulated Garlic, Chicken Stock Flavor (Chicken Broth, Flavors, Salt, Yeast Extract)Spices, Chili Powder (Chili Pepper, Spices, Salt, Garlic Powder, Silicon Dioxide, Ethoxyquin)…….
Hello, Hello! Please feel free to skip down here….
This is not the vocab list for a organic chemistry final, that’s the ingredients found in a commonly consumed food item that is, in fact, in my very own freezer. Even more disturbing, this item has the word “healthy” listed right in it’s name. There are 3,000 ingredients on the FDA’s generally-recognized as safe (GRAS) list, that are approved for us in everything from our breakfast cereal, to our ice cream, to our beverages to our supplements. 3,000 safe ingredients! The research on this safety of these ingredients can be sparse, confusing and misleading (often depending on the source of funding for said research), and the conditions under which they arrived on the GRAS list are often hotly contested.
I think it’s safe to say we all know consuming food and beverages with an ingredients list that requires a PhD is probably less than ideal for our health. We know that consuming foods with labels that read something more along the lines of “Ingredients: Apple” would probably do us a world of good. Yet, the lure to buy and consume processed and packaged foods, including many restaurant and fast food, despite their scary looking ingredients list is powerful and all too common.
In his exceptional book The End of Overeating, Dr. David Kessler, former head of the FDA, offers a suggestion for a new approach to looking at food, with a parallel to the cultural wide shift that was made around cigarettes. Forty years ago, cigarettes – while perhaps beginning to be recognized as harmful – were still commonly used and certainly not taboo. Today, I would guess that if we sat down around a table and I offered many of you a cigarette, the great majority would dismiss it, noses scrunching, brains reeling with the thought of “That’s gross. I can’t put that in my body.”
What would you say if I offered you a chocolate chip cookie, sitting at the same table?
Different story right? Even if that cookie’s ingredients list included more chemicals than farm-fresh eggs and butter, most of us would barely bat an eye before we’d take a nibble. We might be thinking of the calories, we might be thinking of our guilt, but we probably wouldn’t be thinking “This food might make me sick.” Yet that is, in fact, the very real story of MUCH of our American food products. And they are just that – products. They are produced, in a factory, a combination of molecules and chemicals coming together to be sold as a commodity that we ingest. It is very likely that the food industry is not going to change before the public demand changes. Which means, if we want keep shifting ourselves towards healthier beings, the burden is going to lie on us to make the choice about what we permit to go in our bodies.
Dr. Kessler’s proposal includes looking at some of these food products and literally declaring (aloud, or in your head, perhaps depending on your company) “This will make me sick. This food will make me feel …. This food is not edible.” Sometimes I even try to take it one step farther – for instance, a friend of mine is known for keeping Starbursts on hands at all time. In a mindless moment, I can find myself sitting in a pile of pink, red and orange paper wrappers before I even realize what I’m doing. Soon after, my teeth hurt, I’m buzzing on sugar and I’m wondering if I really wanted to take in 120 calories from Starbursts, when I probably could have enjoyed some really delicious food instead. My strategy came borne from Dr. Kessler’s suggestion. Each time I knew those colored wrappers were going to be in my presence, I began mentally chanting to myself “That is not food. That is not food. That is not food.” Overtime, the message seemed to sink in. That is not food, and for the most part, those little wads of sugar have lost their alluring grip on me. (I said for the most part, I’m only human, friends!)
This is not easy. I understand this. The lure of foods and beverages is as strong for me as nearly everyone I coach, and because I’ve fought my own weight struggles, I understand that food is more than just a combination of ingredients we put in our body. Food can be comfort, can be entertainment, can be celebration. Food can be mindless, it can be soothing, and most of all it can be addictive. Simple changes in thoughts are just a toe-hold on the radical shift that has to happen to create personal, and then public, changes in our health.
I’ve had a very compelling experience over the last two weeks that have made me think about the impact that food has our health in a very different light. About six years ago, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in remission for over three years, and for these last years, have barely given any consideration to the disease itself beyond my medical and mental well-being routines that I use to stay healthy. Ten days ago, I began to experience a flare. For me, the most immediate symptom of a colitis flare is the effect that almost all food and drink has on my digestive health. In the first couple days of my flare, I began to systemically cut out some of the more common culprits – coffee, pop, foods with a lot fiber (there goes my salads, apples, grapes…), and most animal products.
Three days into my flare, I was sitting on the couch with my husband, watching TV and I was staring longingly at his can of Fresca. “I want that,” I whined. “So have it?” he asked. “I can’t. It’ll make me sick,” I pouted.
The same thing happened a few days later. I was meeting a client at Starbucks, and the craving for a skinny vanilla latte hit me the moment I walked in. “I want one,” I whined again, internally. Again, a heartbeat later… “I can’t. It’ll make me sick.”
The week has trickled on like this. This past weekend I spent in Montauk with my girlfriends from college, at the wedding of our one of best friends. There were simple things that were triggers – all the bridesmaids gathered together at a nail salon on a rainy Long Island morning with cups of coffee huddled in hand. “I want one,” that voice chirped again. A bridesmaid luncheon with a beautiful tray laid out with baguettes, brie cheese, fig spread and strawberries. The presentation alone was incredible (and I of course, photo documented it) but the lure to dive in, just based on appearance alone, was absurd. Boston Creme Pie, passed around the reception? The champagne toast? Omelets and tall steamy mugs of coffee on our way back out of town the day after? Check, check, check. The “I want that” bug was in overdrive. Each time I’d be tempted to taste, nibble or sample, I’d be reminded “no, that will make me sick.”
This experience was, for me, an epiphany moment in understanding how even though we know there are many foods out there (perhaps even including my favorite vice, diet coke) that may make us sick, the lure to eat them is more than the knowledge of what they are. Our eating choices are intricately wrapped up in experiences (my Saturday morning at the hair salon), in habits (walking in to Starbucks), in presentation and social cues, and even in just visual cues – seeing someone else eat something. These factors are well documented and studied by those of us who study eating and weight loss behaviors, and they help explain why we continue to reach for foods that may, on some level, be making us sick.
So what can we do about it? If you feel strongly, as I do, that the ingredients in our foods are partially responsible for the diminishing health that we’re experiencing as a country, change will have to start with you, personally. Choose one food in your pantry – maybe the one with the longest ingredients list, or the one food that leaves you feeling horrible (the way my Starbursts did) and begin to systemically change your perception of it. Every time you look at that food product, practice your new thought “That will make me sick.” Sit down with the food product and start googling the ingredients in it. Men’s Health has produced a great resource called “Eat This, Not That” which includes a glossary of many different additives and preservatives and their known and suspected health links. Research a healthier swap – one with fewer ingredients, fresher ingredients, or a version you make at home.
You don’t have to go on a pantry overhaul in one day, and it is important to recognize that many of the choices we make are bundled up with those other factors – habits, experience, emotion, social cues – that will make change a journey of three steps forward, one steps backward. This step can be very challenging, but remember, being in charge of YOUR health means, ultimately, being in charge of YOUR food. Know what you’re putting in your body, and take the steps to protect the health you’ve been blessed with or that you deserve.
Ingredients? Just one.
July 1, 2009
I’m a HUUUGE fan of breakfast. You might have noticed – I talk about it a little bit. A few years back, I started upping my breakfast (sometimes having two a day) and gradually cutting back what I ate as the day goes on. I realized that once I stopped eating my biggest meal at the end of the day, I felt better, had more energy, less stomach pain, slept better, AND it helped with my weight loss.
Our culture has dictated that dinner be our biggest meal. Since we’re working or at school during the day, dinner is usually the hour we convene together. That has been the standard for, well, decades and it’s pretty much how all Americans eat. But think about how you expend your energy: for most people, we start moving as soon as we get up and slowly, slowly wind down towards the end of the day.
We refuel our cars at the start of the journey, not when we come home and park it in the garage. I didn’t come up with that analogy, and I wish I could remember where I heard it to give due credit – but nonetheless, it’s such a powerful image that I feel compelled to share it. So think about that: we need more fuel to go, and less as we slow down. It’s marvelously simple, but it takes a little bit of effort – in fact, it requires going completely against the grain of what we’re used to.
Picture an upside down triangle: spreading your calories out so you have more early on and tapering off towards the end of the day. This is the Upside Down Day. Summer is the perfect time to start practicing the Upside Down Day for many reasons. Typically in the winter months, we tend to crave starchier, heavier “comfort foods.” This isn’t so in summer, and many people find they’re satisfied with lighter meals in summer anyways. Also, with the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer, you can make a high VOLUME meal (read: looks really really big on your plate) out of produce with a little bit of protein and it will still be a very light meal, calorically speaking.
Small Plate Dinner
If you’re cooking for or eating with others, it doesn’t mean you have to make everyone else change their way of eating. Just select smaller portion sizes for yourself – if there are leftovers, then you have lunch ready for tomorrow!
If you eat out, choose a salad and something from the appetizer section. You’ll probably find that that is plenty of food!
One very important key to the Upside Down Day is you MUST eat enough throughout the day. This isn’t going to work if you come home at 5 pm ready to eat anything that isn’t nailed down. The greatest sabotage to eating this way is insufficient calories throughout the day.
If you work, pack a bag the night before with breakfast, lunch and ideally 2-3 snacks. 1 mid-morning, a 2nd if you eat a late lunch, and one to eat right as you’re heading home. Ideal snacks are fruit, vegetables, yogurt, ½ oz nuts or 1/2 Cliff or Odwalla bar. If you’re home during the day, aim for structure: rather than mindlessly grazing throughout the day, aim to eat a mini-meal every 3 hours. Have breakfast be the largest meal, and gradually taper off as you go. (See my video on a breakfast idea.)
And here’s one final hint: if you find yourself raiding the cupboards about 3-4 hours after dinner with a growling tummy: drink a glass of skim or 1% milk, or grab a piece of fruit and then…. Ready for this? GO TO BED. Sleep helps with weight loss too, remember?
I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.
June 12, 2009
A few weeks ago, my hubby and I went on vacation to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. In exchange for an hour of personal training in the gym, we had an all-access pass to as much sun, sand, seafood buffet and pina coladas we wanted. It was relaxing, peaceful, and way, way overdue. (Thus, the quiet blog these last 2 weeks!)
Sunset in Punta Cana, DR
Interestingly enough, the first question everyone asked me when I got home: “Did you gain any weight?” Okay now, granted, I work day-in and day-out with people trying to lose weight so that’s not that intrusive of a question in my line of work. However it was amusing to me (but not surprising) that for most people that is pretty much a given: Vacation = Weight Gain.
I hated to disappoint those hoping for a little misery loves company, but alas, the only scale I was really worried about was the luggage scale at the US Airways check-in counter. But, I promise you, I still had fun. I still indulged. I still acted as if I was on vacation. Because, I was! And I don’t take a lot of phone unplugged, endless pina coladas, SPF 50 vacations. So trust me, I was on vacation. Yet, I never felt as if my vacation was going to sabotage my healthy lifestyle, which I know, is really a common concern for many. So after I came back, I tried to reflect on what I did that really prevented most of the collateral damage that most vacays do to our weight loss goals. Here are my “vacay philosophies” that help me enjoy vacation without having to come back and do damage control.
1) Eat what you love: Especially true on vacations where food is plentiful, has a great variety and is free – like all-inclusive resorts and cruises. Cruises, especially, can be a weight conscious person’s worst nightmare. Just when you think you’re done eating after a 4 course dinner, they roll out the chocolate buffet at midnight! With food around 24/7, how can you still maintain a semblance of control? The key: portion and discretion. I love food – but I love some food more than others. So when I’m faced with an abundance of choice – like a buffet or a 4-course menu – I try to zone on what I really and truly love, eat those things, and disregard the rest. In case you didn’t pick up on this yet, I love me some coconut flavored, sugar-loaded, rum drinks. What I can live without? Any kind of potato, pasta, bread or rice dish. For me, that’s a no brainer trade. Seek out the foods you really love, and avoid putting calories in your mouth just because they’re there, they’re free and someone else is eating them next to you.
2) On that note, watch the alcohol intake. (And no I don’t mean watch it as the bartender fills up margarita # 5 and marvel at how lovely it looks in your glass with the little salt around the rim.) It’s easy on vacation to get carried away with drinking, because the alarm clock is not going to go off at 5 am, so why not? While I clearly don’t have a problem with spending calories on a mojito or two, I also recognize that too many of them and philosophy #1 goes out the window. Once your inhibitions are lowered, you will eat just because foods there, it’s free and someone else is eating it next to you. Also, know that alcohol is empty calories. It’s calories you consume without any fair trade off to your body – no vitamins, no minerals, no fiber, no omega-3’s… yea, I know red wine has antioxidants in it, but Jose Cuervo does not.
3) Which leads me to my next philosophy: treat your body as kindly as you’re treating your mind. You’re on vacation because you recognize that in order to be a happy, functioning, well-balanced member of society you need a little R&R from time to time. In other words, I assume you’re on vacation because you recognize that relaxing is good for you. Keep that motivation in mind – that you’re taking care of you – when it comes to food choices. Nourish your body with fruit and veggies, with whole wheat choices when available, and by drinking lots and lots of water. Your mind will feel even more refreshed when your body feels good too.
4) And the main reason vacation doesn’t blow my healthy living efforts out the window: this is a lifestyle. I plan to do all the things I do today to keep myself healthy for the rest of my life, God willing. One week, ten days, however long your vacation is – can’t undo everything you have learned and committed to for healthy living. I believe the reason vacation has earned such a Weight Loss Sabotage rep is that people come back from vacation, think “I BLEW IT!!!,” go into crisis mode, and fail to get back on track right away. A week later, you’re still panicking and telling yourself how bad you screwed up and now it feels like an even deeper hole to come out of it. If I had to give you one parting suggestion for how to survive vacation and stay maintain a healthy lifestyle, it would be to be conscious of the idea that no one week can take away any progress you’ve made or can deter you from continuing forward on your weight loss journey if you’ve committed to a lifestyle change. So if you forget strategies #1-3 (forget, ignore, whatever…), commit to #4. The day you arrive home and put down your suitcase, pick up immediately where you left off before going on vacation. Remind yourself that any changes on the scale are due to the change in your routine, and that once you resume your normal healthy lifestyle, the effects will be reversed. In other words: stay calm and get back on track.
Losing weight is not about putting your life on hold until you reach a certain goal. A successful weight loss strategy is one that will survive every event life offers – including, and especially, holidays, celebrations and vacations. With some “mental preparation” you can easily go on vacation and maintain the progress you are making towards your healthy goals.
Chocolate Coconut Mousse ... Definitely Vacation Food!
May 12, 2009
If you’ve ever felt guilty for hitting the snooze button and getting an extra 30 minutes of sleep instead of going to the gym, do I have some good news for you! Turns out your instincts for extra sleep may have not been a far cry off the radar for getting healthy. There’s been an increasing body of evidence that have pointed us more and more towards seeing there is a strong link between sufficient REM cycles and fitting into your skinny jeans. Good news for people who love pillow time.
The link is being explored in a number of different ways. The first is obvious: lifestyle choices. Think about the last time you stayed up way too late – maybe it was a late night for your final exams in law school, maybe it was to pick up a family member at the airport from a delayed flight, or maybe it was to catch the latest marathon of House Hunters. (Or yes, you work nights or have a small, helpless, hungry infant in your life who needs you at wee hours of the morning – slightly more legitimate than HGTV marathons.) Tell me, the next day, how raring and ready were you to get a great work out in? What types of foods did you crave? How positive was your mood?
It’s rare the person who thinks clearly, chooses wisely, and focuses well on 2-3 hours sleep less than what they need. Burn the oil til midnight with the alarm clock going off at 5 am, and you might find that pull towards an ooey gooey Cinnamon Crunch Panera bagel is a whole lot stronger than fixing yourself an egg white omelet with salsa and some whole wheat toast. It’s not that you need more carbs, but your sleep-deprived fuzzy brain is confusing it’s lack of energy and sending you on a manhunt for all things quick-boost-energy. Is the HOT NOW sign on, or am I just hallucinating?
We also experience a number of hormonal changes that drive the choices we make and can impede the weight loss we’re working towards. For starters, the hormone Ghrelin, which I like to affectionately refer to as the Gremlin in my tummy, revs up when we’re sleep deprived. A revved up Gremlin means a revved up appetite. Along with the increase of Ghrelin, sleep deprivation leads to an depression of leptin. Leptin’s job is to tell you when enough is enough. In other words, it signals then brain when to stop eating. Imagine, an increased appetite and a decreased signal of fullness. You get the picture!
The final piece of the hormonal puzzle is the increase in the hormone cortisol. I highlighted the role of cortisol here, and guess what folks? Not getting enough sleep provokes that same stressful response as the saber tooth tiger chase back in our caveman days. Yet, according to the National Sleep Foundation, 63% of people are sleep deprived. The normalcy of this behavior downplays the stressful impact it can take on our well-being. In fact, in many circles I’ve traveled in, being sleep deprived is a rite of passage, or even bragging rights! Forgive me for not understanding, but there’s few things that make me happier than not needing a drip line of Dunkin to get me running!
In all fairness, I’ll confess that I have a strong bias for this topic. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love sleep and I’ll go to some pretty great lengths to protect it. (Just ask my softball team where my loyalties lay when we were scheduled for a 10 pm play off game. I showed up only when my 6:15 am appointment the next day called and canceled.) I’ve learned this route the hard way, as a reformed “zombie.” Throughout most of my school years, I’d stay up as late as humanely possible, then wake up at the crack of day to get to the gym. I still look back with shame on the image of my sleeping head on a desk in many of my high school classes. (Most sincere apologies to Senor Balsch, Mr. P, and Mr. Boardman. I assure you it had nothing to do with your teaching style.) Like a reformed smoker, once I knew the errors of my way, I’ve been quick to get on the bullhorn and let the world know about the power and impact of sufficient sleep.
The research is there, and it’s even tapping into some of the hardest hit groups: new mommas. A 2008 study conducted by Kaiser Permanante found that 6 months after delivering, mothers who were sleeping less than 5 hours a day were more likely to be retaining at least 10 pounds of extra body weight than the lucky moms getting 5 or more. (Disclaimer: I don’t have babies, and I have no idea what it takes to get more than 5 hours of sleep as a mom. So don’t shoot the messenger, my blearly eyed mommas readers out there!)
In case you’re wondering, the NSF defines sleep deprivation as getting 8 hours of sleep or less. I tend to believe that we’re all hard-wired differently and most “well rested” people I know average between 6-8 hours a night. (Survey sample: close family and friends. Very scientific.) If you’re not getting that and you think it may be affecting your health, examine your night time habits to figure out how to get a few more REM cycles.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins recommend these other tried and true methods for increasing your Zzz’s:
- Limit caffeine use to before 3 pm and moderate alcohol after dinner. (You’ll fall asleep easier but as the buzz wears off, your sleep is less restful.)
- Avoid rigorous exercise in the late evening hours.
- Try to get up at the same time every morning, even if you go to sleep earlier.
(I don’t full abide by this rule, as most week days mornings I wake up at 4:50 am. On the weekends, I try to get up the first time my body wakes up naturally, whatever time that is.)
- Use your bedroom for bed-only related activities. And no, that does not include catching up on Jeopardy and having some cheese and crackers under the sheets.
- Lose weight. (Yes I know, that’s why we’re here!) Increased weight around the neck and chest can impair oxygen to the brain, a condition known as sleep apnea. As a survival mechanism, you actually wake up periodically throughout the night to jump start respiration. Frequent mini-wakes up can add up to big time sleep deprivation.
So the next time you find your arm snaking towards that snooze button, forget the guilt. Listen to the message from your body. If you truly need more sleep, take more sleep. (Just don’t forget to show up for work, or feed the dogs/children/spouse, meet your trainer, or go to your doctor’s appointment… or come to MY CLASS…whatever it is you’re doing that morning.) If you find that you’re constantly reaching for the snooze, re-evaluate your sleeping patterns on the other end.
An extra hour of sleep a night be the difference of ten pounds a year, according to research using the Nurses Health Study in 2006. Ten pounds? I’ll take it. And the extra sleep.
February 25, 2009
You’re trying hard. You’ve eaten great all day, bringing your brown bag lunch to work, having your fruit for a snack, skipping dessert at dinner. But it’s 9 pm, Ryan Seacrest is on the background, you’re snuggled up in your jammies…relaxing…. When all of a sudden it hits you: that craving for a little something something. Sweet or salty, creamy or crunchy, hot or cold… each person’s craving is different.
Like the tractor beam on the Starship Enterprise pulling you, you find yourself drawn to the pantry or freezer. Despite the “you shouldn’t do this” warning in your head, you find your hand reaching forward to grab….
Nothing.
Nothing? Wait a second, that’s not how this scene played out for the last few years. There was always something there – some chips, some ice cream, maybe that secret stash of chocolate you don’t think your spouse knows about. Why is there nothing now?
There’s nothing there now because you set yourself up for success. How did you do that? By saying no at the grocery store. By saying no at the grocery store, and not bringing your tempting foods into your house, you set up an environment that makes you successful in times that you would have otherwise struggled: when you’re tired, bored, relaxing, anxious, worried…. You reach for your comfort food only to find it’s not there.
You’re not really hungry. (If you were, you’d be reaching for a quick salad or a piece of fruit, not the jar of cashews.) There’s something else at play here, and until you deal with the root of the cravings, the quickest course to success is to Say No Once and make your environment a no-fail zone.
Like taking away a child’s security blanket, the absence of food will help you become more aware of what you’re using that food for. This may mean you have to feel those emotions – boredom, fatigue, worry – but allowing yourself to feel and endure those emotions is the first step in healing emotional eating. Say No Once, and succeed many times.
February 15, 2009
My parents were here today visiting and we got to talking about weight loss, nutrition and exercise. This wasn’t too out of the ordinary for me – give me an opening and I’ll talk weight loss til my audience has glazed eyes and boredom written all over their face. Being my parents, they naturally have a greater tolerance for my ramblings about my job/obsession with all things weight loss. We got to talking this morning about the role that exercise plays in weight loss.
Before I start, I should tell you I’m an exerciser. I love exercising and have reaped the benefits of running and strength training for years now. But, if I’m being honest, I’ve got some major, major beef with exercising. Mainly in that it tends to have a reputation of being a panacea for all our bad nutrition habits. As in, “oh I overindulged today? Well, I’ll just work it off tomorrow.”
Exercise has a tremendously important role in our health and I’ll continue to sing it’s praises. But in my experience, when we’re talking straight up weight loss, it’s only drives maybe 20-30% of the results. (Unless you’re doing Biggest Loser style marathon days in the gym. I know I’m not!) Cleaning up your eating habits is the KEY to long term weight loss. All the hours logged in at the gym can be quickly erased if they’re not coupled with good eating habits.
Here’s the why, at least in my own humble opinion.
1. We tend to overestimate our workouts. I’ll be the first to think that I’ve run my absolute hardest, longest run ever – I just know I broke new records… only to come home and realize that I ran it an eleven minute pace. Bummer. My favorite example of this? Recently I signed up to do a local walk that benefited arthritis. The walk was fairly short – a little over three miles. I wasn’t expecting hard core power walking, but the walk was merely a stroll through some (gorgeous) county park. When it was all over, Krispy Kreme donuts were passed out for all to enjoy. I saw people grab two or three donuts to go as the sentiment “Well, I earned this!” was tossed around with jovial relief. Not quite an equal give and take. Even the calculators on the machines at the gym tend to overestimate the caloric burn, especially those that don’t ask for your gender and age.
2. We tend to underestimate (and forget) our intake. Unless you’re measuring and weighing (and logging) all that you take in, it’s easy to underestimate portion sizes and forget about little nibbles here and there. (The BLTs, as Weight Watchers, call them. The “bites, licks, and tastes” that are each usually 25-30 calories. A couple of those a day quickly negate 20 minutes on the elliptical.)
3. The “reward” mentality. I often find that on days when I work out, I find myself thinking “I earned that” when it comes to sweets and treats I would probably normally pass up. Most interesting to me has been in the years I’ve worked with groups and individuals, there rarely is a vast difference between those who are exercising moderately and those who aren’t, in regards to weight loss. (Differences in many other health markers are found, but purely weight loss – nope.) My suspicion is the “I earned that” mentality comes into play with the exercising group, even subconsciously.
4. Yes, of course… I know which one you’re waiting for me to mention. You worked out, you are hungrier. It’s true – when you work out, you do feel hungrier afterwards. The key is knowing how much you worked out, so you can compare that to how much more you take in. It sort of defeats the purpose to go run 3 miles, and then on that runner’s high go grab a 300+ calorie bagel and a 180 calorie orange juice. Bye bye, exercise calorie deficit. Determining what foods are going to be filling and replenishing after a work out is a bit of an art and a science, but will help with those little extra hunger pangs you feel post work out.
So, should you exercise to lose weight? A hundred, thousand percent yes. But if you only exercise, will you lose weight? Not very likely. (Depends on how hard and consistently you work out.) Remember that exercise is just one piece of the puzzle, and a smaller one than it gets credit for. Overlooking the importance of eating well, or over inflating the saving grace of a good workout on our waistlines, is possibly one of the greatest weight loss blunders.
Keep working out, by all means. But when you’re giving 100% in the gym, remember that it has to be matched by 100% in the kitchen to get the best results you can get.
January 18, 2009
It’s January. The month of waiting in line for treadmills, Nutri-system commercials on all channels and half-price Lean Cuisines. The whole world seems to sit up and take notice that THIS month, and no other month of the year, is THE month to get skinny, people. So, I thought I would jump on the January Bandwagon and introduce my very own special, get it while it’s hot new years resolution weight loss tip.
Drum roll please?
My advice to all you motivated, determined folks out there signing up for discount gym memberships and filling up your cart with Progresso Light and is to learn, embrace and practice but one teensy little rule for weight loss: The Forever Rule.
The Forever Rule: If you aren’t willing to do it forever, don’t do it now.
Unless you just so happen to love the process of weight loss, and don’t mind going through it four, five, twenty times in your life… the one and only key to long-term weight loss and maintenance is to abide by the forever rule. Anything you do to lose weight: eating habits you change, foods you eat, exercises you implement: you must be willing to do for the rest of your life. That’s the only way the weight is going to stay off.
Find ways to implement changes through small, baby steps. Steps you can live with – forever. That’s they key to keeping the weight off – forever.
It’s January. The month of waiting in line for treadmills, Nutri-system commercials on all channels and half-price Lean Cuisines. The whole world seems to sit up and take notice that THIS month, and no other month of the year, is THE month to get skinny, people. So, I thought I would jump on the January Bandwagon and introduce my very own special, get it while it’s hot new years resolution weight loss tip.
Drum roll please?
My advice to all you motivated, determined folks out there signing up for discount gym memberships and filling up your cart with Progresso Light and is to learn, embrace and practice but one teensy little rule for weight loss: The Forever Rule.
The Forever Rule: If you aren’t willing to do it forever, don’t do it now.
Unless you just so happen to love the process of weight loss, and don’t mind going through it four, five, twenty times in your life… the one and only key to long-term weight loss and maintenance is to abide by the forever rule. Anything you do to lose weight: eating habits you change, foods you eat, exercises you implement: you must be willing to do for the rest of your life. That’s the only way the weight is going to stay off.
Find ways to implement changes through small, baby steps. Steps you can live with – forever. That’s they key to keeping the weight off – forever.
January 9, 2009
I’m busy.
I’m sooooo busy.
Busy, busy!
I’m so busy these days, I don’t know what to do.
I can’t do it, I’m too busy.
Said it lately? I know I have. Seems these days we’re a culture of Busy.
Most people I know are juggling a lot – jobs, families, social lives, taking care of children or parents, volunteering, running errands… When you get right down to it, the statement “I’m too busy” is really a declaration of our priorities. Sending out my survey this week, I was most curious to see how women especially (the usual caregivers) choose to spend their time when their priorities overlapped.
The good news is the majority of you, a whopping 95% of you, treat your doctor’s appointments as sacred and deftly juggled work appointments to keep them (and keep your bosses happy!). As one of you said, “I need to be healthy to work well.” Amen!
Friends and children also rated high on your priority list. Whether it was dragging yourself out of bed when you were feeling less than sunny-side up (65%) or staying up late to stir brownie batter (60%), seems like we’ll forsake sleep to make our friends and fam feel important to you.
What struck me as most interesting, of course, was how we choose when it comes to time for ourselves, specifically healthy eating and exercise. We had a tough time deciding between a scheduled exercise versus a dinner invitation from a friend: 40% skipped the workout for quality time with a friend, 35% held the workout sacred and 25% of you showed up sweaty to socialize. The jury was split 50/50 on whether t-ball practice or spinning class stayed in your appointment books, although 2 of you smartly added you’d just go find another spinning class!
Healthy eating – whether planning or follow through – was what got sacrificed the most. 75% left your brown bag in the office fridge and joined the crew at El Dorado. (This was a real life example for me!) Our best made intentions are often times forsaken in the day to day of real life – 80% of us bumped our grocery trip into the next day when a work deadline was pressing down, and just 3 people turned off the TV to write a meal plan. Fortunately the majority of us, 65%, still did some meal planning during the commercials. Hey, multi-tasking is better than no-tasking in this scenario!
In our day to day busy lives making time for all our priorities is no doubt a challenge. For women especially, taking care of other’s needs often comes before our own needs. Without health, we deprive ourselves the opportunity to live our best life. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we certainly can’t take care of other people.
Food For Thought: Whether it’s scheduling play time for yourself or blocking off your workouts in your Outlook as calendar, treating your time as sacred as those doctor’s appointments is key to maintaining those lifelong healthy habits. Many of us start January off with the best made intentions, only to find them lost a few weeks later in the day to day shuffle of our busy life. Choose one habit you’re trying to maintain, and take a look at your calendar. Find where it fits in and schedule it in – every week. When you’re choosing how to spend your time, the question you’re asking yourself is “Am I my own priority?” How could you not be?
January 6, 2009
You might be surprised if I told you one of the most common pieces of advice I give my clients. It is: Eat More, Please.
In my practice, I have encountered a surprising number of people trying to get by on 600-900 calories a day. Thanks to the diet-mindset that is pervasive in the world of weight loss, there is a serious misunderstanding about what the body needs for weight loss.
Now let me be clear…. There’s plenty of people eating too much. In fact, most people who are struggling to lose weight are simply taking in more calories than their body needs. But, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who are starving themselves in a failing effort to budge the scale.
Your metabolism is like a fire. Too little fuel (and too infrequent fuel) and the fire sputters. For years (centuries!), we had to expend a great deal of energy to obtain food. It hasn’t been until the last couple decades where food could be obtained with the press of a cell phone button and delivered right to your door – maybe even right to your outstretched hand if you’ve got an obliging family member! There’s no hunting and gathering anymore, but our metabolism still operates in caveman mode. Eat too little and the message your body gets is: “Food is scarce. Conserve, conserve!”
To give yourself a fighting chance for weight loss, you need to eat soon after waking and continue to eat about every 3 or 4 hours (in portions appropriate to your calorie needs.) This provides the constant source of fuel your metabolism needs to stay fired up.
A word to the wise: the only way to know with absolute certainly whether or not you are taking in too much, too little, or just the right amount of calories is to keep a food log. The person who eats one meal a day may take in twice the amount of calories they need, and the person eating six meals a day may be shorting themselves. So frequency of eating is not an accurate yardstick.
Food for Thought: As I’ve said before, you have to log to lose. But logging can also be a great means of determining if you’re not eating enough or eating too infrequently. If your weight loss has been frustratingly slow despite your best efforts to curb your eating, use this tool to determine how you can fire up your metabolism and get your weight loss efforts back on track.
