Holiday Recipe

Everyone has their favorite holiday recipes. Unfortunately, most of mine are in the not-so-healthy category. Here is a recipe of a different sort that you can use all year long.

By Michelle May, M.D. Taken from www.caloriecount.about.com

Recipe for Overeating

Ingredients:
1 batch, bag, box, or large plate of food
2 tablespoons of deprivation
1 heaping teaspoon of guilt
Sprinkle of shame
Optional: fatigue, stress, resentment, loneliness, boredom

Directions:

1. Run yourself down physically by not sleeping, exercising, eating when you’re hungry, or consuming nutritious foods. Alternatively, wear yourself out by working too hard, being all things to all people, and trying to make everything perfect.
2. Place emotions on medium-high. Cover and simmer; do not allow steam to escape.
3. When you crave something you love, remind yourself that it's bad, fattening, or high in carbs.
4. When your cravings grow stronger, tell yourself that you're bad for wanting bad food.
5. Wait until an influential person such as your grandmother or co-worker insists you eat that food anyway to please them. Alternatively, sneak the food when no one is watching.
6. Sit down in front of the T.V. or choose another activity to distract yourself while you eat.
7. Before eating, garnish the food with guilt. If it’s still enjoyable, stir in some shame to ensure that the food is completely ruined.
8. Eat as quickly as possible to avoid tasting or enjoying the food.
9. You're done when you feel sick and uncomfortable.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 until can't stand it anymore. Try the Recipe for Instinctive Eating.

Recipe for Instinctive Eating

Ingredients:
1 or 2 servings of food you love
2 tablespoons of hunger
1 heaping teaspoon each of intention and attention
Sprinkle of trust
Optional: pleasure, enjoyment, celebration, tradition

Directions:

1. Care for yourself physically by getting adequate sleep, exercise, and nutrition.
2. Create a self-care buffer zone by regularly nurturing your body, mind, heart, and spirit.
3. When you’re hungry, consider what you want, what you need, and what you have to eat before choosing food.
4. Decide how you want to feel when you're finished eating; serve yourself accordingly (or adjust the portion if someone else served you).
5. When the food you crave isn’t particularly healthful, omit all guilt and shame. Remind yourself that all foods fit when you practice balance, variety, and moderation.
6. Sit down to eat and minimize distractions.
7. Savor the appearance, aromas, textures, and flavors as you eat.
8. Eat slowly and mindfully for maximal enjoyment from every bite.
9. Stop when you feel content and energetic.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for the remainder of your life.

Picture This

A picture is worth a thousand words. We have all heard it and know it to be true. I recently heard about a site that shows pictures of what fast food really looks like. These are not the pictures in the advertisements that show plump juicy hamburgers and glistening golden fries. These pictures show the real thing...along with the number of grams of fat in the item. Looking at these pictures, I lost my appetite. Next time you are in the mood for a burger, take a look at this site: http://www.jonfeinstein.com/fastfood.html

Another great visual site is the visual BMI chart. For each height and weight on the chart, a picture is shown of someone who meets that criteria. Not sure what you would look like at a certain weight. Just look up your height on the chart and see pictures of people at that weight. Remember that everyone has a different body type so you will look somewhat different than the person on the chart. http://www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.shtml

Sensa Crystals

Every once in a while I hear about a new product which makes me shake my head and wonder "what will they think of next". A neurologist developed Sensa granules (crystal like substances) that you sprinkle on your food. They enhance the smell of the food. Since up to 90% of what we experience as taste is actually smell, the theory is that if the food smells better it will taste better. If it tastes better, you will be be satisfied earlier and eat less.

What a diet plan! Just sprinkle these crystals on your food, eat less and enjoy your food more. No special diets to follow. No need to eat healthy. No exercise to do. All this for only $59 per month. What a deal!

Personally, when something tastes good, I want more of it, not less of it. I think I will keep my $59 and eat my healthy food plain.

Eating After Dark

Ever hear someone say "I don't eat anything after 7:00 pm"? Oprah is a big proponent of this weight loss method. It is easy to follow. Eat a healthy diet during the day and stop eating by a certain time in the evening, which is usually 7 or 8 pm. Magically, weight loss happens. Or at least Oprah says it does. But does it really?

Researchers at Ohio State University conducted a study to see if the time of day you eat really does affect your weight. The scientists exposed three groups of mice to different lighting cycles. Group 1 was exposed to 16 hours of bright light and 8 hours of darkness (typical day). Group 2 was exposed to 24 hours of bright light with no darkness and Group 3 was exposed to 16 hours of bright light and 8 hours of dim light. The mice were given the same amount of the same food. The mice in Groups 2 & 3, with non-typical lighting cycles, gained 50% more weight. The researchers found that when exposed to this much light, much of the food the mice ate was eaten during normal dark hours.

In their next experiment, they used the same 3 lighting cycles and food rations but the mice could only eat during normal eating times. When the mice ate during normal eating and activity hours, they did not gain weight.

It is much too early to make recommendations based on this one experiment with mice but it is interesting that weight gain happened when they ate during non-activity times.

Personally, I think weight loss occurs when people stop eating after a certain time in the evening because they are eating less calories. The foods we tend to go to for that after dinner snack are not typically healthy. I, for one, do not crave celery sticks before going to bed. I'm much more likely to reach for cookies and milk or brownies, or peanut m&m's. Others may prefer potato chips or ice cream. None of these are low calorie items. Eliminating that snack could potentially save hundreds of calories.

Sleep & Weight Loss

According to a study in the American Journal of Public Health, adequate sleep is associated with more healthful food choices and may mediate the effects of workplace experiences. "Insufficient sleep duration and sleep disruption have been linked to weight gain, diabetes and early mortality in the long term," the researchers said.

Really? They had to do a study to determine this? I could have told the researchers this. I usually do not choose fast food, but when I am too tired to cook, fast food suddenly becomes a convenient alternative. My will power to choose healthy foods also tends to decrease as my tiredness level increases. When I'm wide awake, I will choose the apple every time but when I'm tired, chocolate wins hands down. Sound familiar? However, evidence has shown that it may not be these food choices when tired that cause weight gain.

A 16 year study, which included 70,000 middle aged women, by the Case Western Reserve University showed that women who slept 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to experience major weight gain (33 pounds or more) over the course of the study compared to those who slept 7 hours per night.

The women reported their weight at the beginning of the study and then every 2 years there after. At the start of the study, women who slept 5 hours or less per night weighed an average of 5.4 pounds more than those sleeping 7 hours per night. They also gained an average of 1.6 pounds per year over the course of the study. One and a half pounds per year may not sound like much, but over 16 years, it adds up to 16 pounds!

The researchers looked at activity levels and the amount of food the women were eating to determine what was causing the weight gain. Exercise levels were about the same for those sleeping less than 5 hours and at least 7 hours. Those sleeping less must have been eating more, right? Wrong. "Prior studies have shown that after just a few days of sleep restriction, the hormones that control appetite cause people to become hungrier, so we thought that women who slept less might eat more, but, in fact, they ate less. That suggests that appetite and diet are not accounting for the weight gain in women who sleep less" states lead researcher Sanjay Patel, M.D.

A small study at the University of Chicago found that dieters getting at least 8.5 hours of sleep lost more body fat than those sleeping only 5.5 hours per night. When getting less sleep, participants burned more lean muscle mass instead of body fat. They were also hungrier and expended less energy, most likely to make up for not getting enough sleep.

Researchers are not sure why the amount of sleep you get affects your weight and whether your body burns fat or muscle but they do have some theories:

• Sleeping less may affect changes in a person's basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn when you rest).
• It could be that if you sleep less, you are more tired and move less leading to less calories being burned. This is not exercise-type movement, this is involuntary activity such as fidgeting, tapping fingers, nervous twitching, etc. Those little movements throughout the day add up.
• Sleep affects cortisol levels. Not getting enough sleep can cause the release of additional cortisol (the stress hormone) which has been linked to weight gain.
• Inadequate sleep interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and causes high blood levels of glucose. This leads to higher insulin levels and greater body-fat storage.
• Too little sleep drives down leptin (controls hunger) levels, which causes the body to crave carbohydrates. Carbohydrates themselves do not cause weight gain but if you are craving them, and eat too much, weight gain may happen.

I don't know about you, but I think I need to go to bed...

Overweight and Obesity and Disease

We restarted the Weight Loss Support Group on October 12 with a well attended meeting. Marcia, our RN in residence, provided some information about how being overweight or obese can increase our risk of several disease and/or adverse health conditions such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon), high blood pressure, high lipid levels, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, osteoarthritis and gynecological problems. After Marcia's presentation, Cathy, a USAG community member, discussed the health problems she has suffered due to being overweight and how she has lost weight. This blog will review some of the topics Marcia discussed in her presentation.



A common misconception is that fat is just extra skin. It just hangs there and takes up more space. If only this were true. Fat cells need oxygen and nutrients too so your body needs to build more blood vessels to get these things to all parts of the body. Because there is more area to pump the blood too, the heart has to work harder. This can cause left ventricular hypertrophy which is thickening of the wall of the heart's left ventricle. When this wall is thickened, the heart can not work as efficiently stressing the heart. Blood vessels also thicken making them less elastic. Both of these changes can contribute to coronary heart disease.



Fat cells also produce hormones such as estrogen. Premenopausal women get estrogen from ovaries, postmenopausal women primarily get estrogen from fat tissue. Estrogen is linked to breast and endometrial cancer. Breast cancer in postmenopausal women is increased 30% in overweight women and 50% in obese women.



Although not yet proven, scientists theorize that the hormones and other chemical messengers the fat tissue produces causes inflammation which interferes with insulin receptors on cells. When this happens, sugar in the blood cannot get into the cells. It is forced to stay in the blood. This leads to high blood sugar and a diabetes diagnosis.


Studies have shown that you can stop or reverse some of these processes by losing as little as 5% of your body weight. As Cathy pointed out in her talk, she knew she was at a higher risk for diabetes due to her weight but until it actually happened, she was not very concerned about it. Unforetunately, it can happen to anyone. I hope these blogs will help you lose the weight you want to lose.

Cheat Days - Should You Have Them?

Cheat days - those days during a diet when you can eat whatever you want. They are incorporated into diet plans. Some people swear by them and say they could not stick to a diet without them. Others say cheat days are the downfall of a diet. So, which is it? Are cheat days good or bad?

Going on a "diet" typically involves restricting your food intake particularly the foods you really love but know are not good for you. One solution: Allow yourself to eat what every you want one or two days per week. While this may make those restricted days more tolerable, you may be sabotaging your weight loss.

As I have mentioned several times in this blog, weight loss involves burning more calories than you take in. For a healthy rate of weight loss (1 pound per week = 3,500 calories), you need to cut your daily caloric intake by 500 calories per day for a total reduction of 3,500 calories per week (500 calories per day x 7 days). If you decide to follow the diet Monday - Friday but eat whatever you want on the weekends, you will need to either plan for a slower weight loss or decrease your calories Monday - Friday by 700 calories per day to maintain the same rate of weight loss.

For this example, we will assume that you decide to cut your calories Monday - Friday by 700 calories per day which should lead to 1 pound per week weight loss. On Saturday and Sunday, you splurge on all your favorite foods that you deny yourself during the week. By the end of the weekend, you discover that you ate 500 calories each day above the calorie level you used to eat before the diet. By the end of the week, you only have a net decrease of 2,500 calories (3,500 calories during the week less the extra 1,000 calories you ate one the weekend). With all the hard work you put in during the week, do you really want to undo it all in two days?

One study in the International Journal of Obesity found that people who eat a similar number of calories over seven days are 50 percent more likely to maintain their weight than those who diet more strictly on weekdays.

How do you lose weight but not have cheat days? Instead of restricting the types of food you are eating, try restricting portion size. Think of calories like money. Each month you have an income in which you have to pay your mortgage, electricity, phone food, etc. Each day, you have so many calories that you can eat to maintain weight or lose weight. You can choose to spend a small portion of those calories on your favorite food. For example, instead of super sized fries, order a small size for a smaller portion of your calories. Better yet, order a side salad. If you can't live without soda, try just one per day and make sure you budget for it in your calories for the day. Personally, I can't live without chocolate. I know I will have 50-100 calories of chocolate every day after lunch. To do this, I know that I have to not spend those calories elsewhere such as on butter for my vegetables.

If cheat day work for you and still allow you to lose weight, keep doing them. Some people like or need the rigidity of following a very strict diet. Just be careful to not overdo those days. If everything in moderation works for you, do it. Weight loss is a very personal endeavor and what works for one may not work for another. Figure out what works best for you. This may take some experimenting but in the end will be worth it.

Inspiration

Normally I try to blog once a week but I came across a truly inspiring article I wanted to share with you. Ben Davis was overweight in January 2009. Since that time, he has lost 110 pounds with diet and exercise. Make sure to watch the video at the following site:

http://www.diet-blog.com/10/my_120lbs_weight_loss_journey_interview_with_ben_davis.php

Ben's blog site:
http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com/

Running may not be for everyone but as he states in the article, find something you enjoy doing, and DO it!

Protein Source for a Low-Carb Diet - Meat or Veggie?

The low-carb diet has been around for years. When it regained popularity several years ago, many dieters saw it as a green light to eat bacon and sausage to their heart's content. A couple of years into this trend, the South Beach diet came onto the scene. The South Beach diet recommends leaner protein sources such as chicken, turkey, fish, nuts and beans.



In a previous blog, I wrote that over the long term, low-carb and high-carb diets resulted in a similar amount of weight loss. Many people prefer a low-carb diet as it keeps them away from food in which they tend to indulge (pasta, rice, etc). One of the main concerns clinicians had with low-carb diets is the effect of the large amounts of protein on the kidneys. Those concerns have been unfounded. If low-carb diets work for some people and they are safe, which low-carb diet which is the best?



A new analysis of nearly 130,000 people from 2 large, long running studies found that low-carb diets relying more on meat for protein were associated with a 23% increased risk of death. Low-carb diets with more of the protein from plant sources were associated with a 20% lower risk of dying during the study period.



A recommendation to limit meat and increase plant protein sources can also be found in the food guide pyramid. High beef and pork intakes have been linked to higher cancer and cardiovascular levels.



Besides those on low-carb diets, plant protein sources are also important for vegetarians. Some good plant protein sources are beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Beans come in many varieties including kidney, black, white, navy and chickpeas. Nuts can be added to many vegetable or pasta dishes and nut butters can be added to sauces. Some grains are also great sources of protein including quinoa, bulgar, whole wheat and brown rice. Tofu and tempeh are versatile options and can be added to many dishes. Some dairy products are also a great source of protein, however, as they have their own food group, extra dairy items should only be used as a protein source as a last resort.

Can't due without meat? Have you tried any of meat alternatives such as products from Morning Star Farms and Amy's? If you tried them 10 years ago and thought "yuck", give them another try. Large improvements in taste and quality have been made over the years. If you do not like the meat substitutes and really want meat, just watch your portion sizes. A three ounce piece of meat is considered a serving. This is about the size of your palm or a deck of cards. You can also cut off all visible fat, drain fat off of meat, choose lean cuts of meat and take the skin off of turkey and fish. Another option is to consider meat a side dish, not the main course. Use vegetables as your main course to keep your carbohydrates down.

Protein sources come in all textures and tastes. On any kind of diet, don't limit your choices to just meat.

Support Group Meetings are starting up again!

The Weight Loss Support Group meetings will be starting again in October. We have changed the dates, time and location of the meetings. We will now be meeting the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm at the Ledward Library. The conference room is on the second floor in the back corner.

Our first meeting will be on October 12. Marcia will be discussing the effects of being overweight on your health. We will also be having a guest speaker from our community. After having some health problems related to her weight, she has lost over 40 pounds with diet and exercise.

At the November 9 meeting, we will be discussing strategies to avoid weight gain during the holidays. If you have a favorite recipe, bring it to the meeting and we can see if we can make it healthier!

We do not have an itinerary for the December 14 meeting. If you have a topic you would like to see us discuss, please let us know.

See you on October 12th!

Water Before Meals

Drinking a glass of water before eating a meal is a common weight loss method many people tell me they use. But does it work?



A new study from Virginia Tech found the middle-aged and older adults who drank two cups of water before each meal consumed fewer calories and lost more weight than those who skipped drinking water.



A group of overweight and obese men and women between the ages of 55-75 were divided into two groups. The first group was told to follow a low-fat, low-calorie diet while the other group was told to follow the same diet but to also drink two cups of water before each meal. After 12 weeks, the water drinkers lost 15.5 pounds while the non-drinkers lost 11 pounds.



The main purpose of this study was to see if people who drank water before meals would compensate by eating more later in the day. This study finds that this did not happen.

For many people, the problem is not losing the weight but keeping it off. To see if this water drinking plan helps in the long term, the study participants were followed up 12 months after the study. Preliminary data shows that those who continued to drink water before meals not only kept the weight off but continued to lose a little more weight.



Researchers do point out that this may only help those over age 35. As we age, our stomachs take longer to empty. The longer the water stays in the stomach, the longer you will feel full. In younger people, the water begins to leave the stomach almost immediately so it may not have the same effect.



This study was done using plain water. Not all waters are the same. Many now have added sugars for flavoring. This can add anywhere from a few calories to as much as in a soda. Filling up on sugary beverages before eating defeats the purpose of drinking the water in the first place!



Make sure you limit the before meal water to two cups per meal. More is not always better is this case. Water intoxication is very dangerous.



This is an easy, inexpensive and healthy way to try losing weight. Why not give it a try?

Meal Replacement Drinks

Last week, I received an email from a friend asking about a new meal replacement product she had seen advertised. She wanted to know what I thought of it as a way to lose weight.

Meal replacement drinks are nothing new. The most popular ones are SlimFast, Met-Rx and Atkins Nutritionals but a Google search of "meal replacement drinks" will supply you with an almost endless list of options. My friend was asking about a specific drink called Shakeology http://shakeology.com/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=ec8c9e06-5208-4177-8ed3-c43696462193&groupId=59860 which contains not only vitamins and minerals but also a powder blend of high antioxidant fruits, probiotics and enzymes. The drinks either come as a ready to drink beverage or as a powder you add to water. The typical meal replacement drink has approximately 200 calories. Most companies suggest replacing one or two meals per day with one of their drinks. These drinks are not intended to be used exclusively. They are not designed to supply complete nutrition.

Another option are drinks such as Ensure and Boost. These drinks started out in hospitals as a way to increase calories in patients with unintentional weight loss. As the market for meal replacement drinks took off a few years ago, Ensure and Boost were marketed as meal replacements to the general public. Ensure and Boost usually come in ready to drink cans or bottles and have approximately 250 calories per drink. Unlike the other meal replacement drinks mentioned above, Ensure and Boost are formulated to meet all nutritional requirements if several shakes are consumed per day. This should only be done if medically needed and under a doctors care.

Good news! Studies in which meal replacement drinks were substituted for one or two meals per day resulted in weight loss. Is it really surprising that weight loss happened when a 500 calorie meal was replaced with a 200 calorie drink? Of course, you will lose weight when you lower your calorie intake. These studies have been small and short term, however, results are promising. Only one study has been done over 10 years. After the participants were provided shakes in place of 2 meals per day for initial weight loss, those then using shakes for 1 meal/day for the rest of the study kept the weight off compared to those who went back to their usual diet and gained over 20 pounds over the length of the study.

Are meal replacements the way to go for weight loss? It depends on you. Here are some pros can cons of using meal replacements.

Pros:

• Meal replacement drinks are a great way to reduce portions and control calories.
• They are convenient for those who do not like to cook or are on the go.
• The drinks do contain some vitamins and minerals so are better than a soda or other sugary beverage.
• They come in a variety of flavors.

Cons:

• Using meal replacements does not teach you to eat healthy. What happens after you lose the weight and go back to eating three meals/day?
• Although they come in a variety of flavors, drinking them 1-2 times per day will quickly make the flavors boring.
• A drink will not fill you up causing hunger before the next meal. This may lead to "cheating" or "binging" on excess calories.
• They are expensive with the average drink costing around $2.00 per drink. Double that for 2 drinks a day. Think of all the fruit and vegetables you can get for $4.00/day.

Personally, I prefer to chew my food rather than drink it. If you do try meal replacements, add a small salad or a piece of fruit to help stave off hunger. Be sure you make your 1-2 food meals healthy. Splurging on a Big Mac super sized meal for dinner will negate the benefit of limiting calories earlier in the day. Make sure you do eat at least 1200 calories per day to prevent a slowing in your metabolism.

If you are looking for a meal replacement drink as simply a way to add vitamins and minerals to your diet, opt for a daily multivitamin. Not only will you save money, you will save your waistline an extra 200-500 calories per day.

Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Supplements

"I don't think they work but what do you think of weight loss pills?" This is one of my most frequently asked questions. Most people know they do not work but are hoping I may say "try xxx brand as it causes people to lose at least 10 pounds each week!" As much as we hope there is a magic pill, it does not exist especially for over-the-counter supplements.

A recent German study looked at the effects of nine over-the-counter weight loss supplements including L-Carnitine, Polyglucosamine, Cabbage powder, Guarana seed powder, Bean extract, Konjac extract, Fiber pills, Sodium alginate formulations, and selected plant extracts. Just under 200 people were given one of the previously listed supplements or a fake pill each week for eight weeks in the doses recommended by the manufacturers. Identical nutrition advice was given to each person. The weight loss across all the products and the fake pill were almost identical indicating that the supplements did not help the participants lose weight.

In the UK, a study was done looking at all the other studies previously done on the following weight loss supplements: Chromium picolinate, Ephedra, Bitter orange, Conjugated linoleic acid, Calcium, Guar gum, Glucomannan, Chitosan, Green tea. After analyzing the studies, the researcher concluded, "We found no evidence that any of these food supplements studied is an adequate treatment for reducing body weight."

Over-the-counter weight loss supplements are a $13 billion a year industry. Can you think of anything better to do with $13 billion?

A Word About Organic Foods and Weight Loss

I have had several people tell me that they try to eat healthy. When asked about their eating habits, they simply reply "I always try to buy organic". Organic foods are often thought to confer health benefits. Several studies have been done to see if organic produce really is healthier. Results have been mixed. Some studies show that organic fruits and vegetables have slightly more vitamins and minerals than conventionally grown produce while some studies show no difference. Many different factors affect the amount of nutrients in produce including the soil, growing conditions, genetic make up of the seed and variety of the plant. Simply not applying pesticides does not make the produce healthier for you, it just makes it safer as it does not have pesticides. For example, Potato chips made from organic potatoes are just as bad for you as chips made from conventionally grown potato chips.

Do organic foods help you lose weight? In a recent study, researchers showed 100 study participants nutrition information for a regular Oreo cookie and the nutrition information for a similar cookie made with organic flour and sugar. The label clearly showed a serving size of 160 calories for both cookies. Even after reading the label, 38% of participants thought that the organic cookie had few calories than non-organic brands.

Just as organic foods have the same nutrients as non-organic, they also have the same calories. Those organic potato chips or Oreo type cookies have the same calories as their non-organic counterparts. As mentioned before in this blog, weight loss is a matter of eating fewer calories than you burn off.

Are organic foods worth eating if they do not offer more nutrition or lower calories? Reducing pesticide intake is important but organic foods typically cost more than non-organic foods. Whether to buy organic or not is a personal decision. Many people feel it is worth the cost while many others do not. If you do choose to buy organic, understand that organic foods will not help you lose weight.

Vitamins Are Important Too

When we think of dieting, we think of limiting calories. But when we limit calories, we are also decreasing the amount of vitamins and minerals we are eating too. If you just stop drinking soda or stop eating candy, your intake of vitamins and minerals will stay the same. But if you eat the same foods and just limit portion sizes, you are also limiting everything that comes in that food including carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently reported on a study by Stanford University. The researchers placed 300 overweight or obese women on one of four diet plans (Atkins, Zone, LEARN or Ornish). Periodically, the women were asked what they were eating. The food was analyzed for 17 different nutrients. Not only did the women cut their daily caloric intake by 500 calories/day but they also cut their intake of 12 of those 17 nutrients. When cutting calories, it is very important that those calories you do eat are healthy calories so that you continue to receive the vitamins and minerals you need. If you are worried about not getting enough vitamins and minerals, you can take a multivitamin (choose one with 100% of most nutrients, stay away from those with very large doses.

An interesting note to this study is the intake of vitamins A, E, C and K went up on those on the Zone diet. This serves to show a diet with milk carbohydrate restriction which also includes beans and vegetables can still be healthy.

Meal Plans

When discussing weight loss, I am often asked for a meal plan for the person to follow. I really do not like meal plans. There are two kinds of meal plans. The first lists specific foods in specific quantities that you should eat. The other lists food groups in specific amounts such as 3 oz of protein and 1/2 cup of vegetables but you can choose the protein and the vegetable.


Yes, meal plans are easy as you are told exactly what to eat but they also have a number of drawbacks. First, the meal plan may include food you do not like. Do you really want to waste your calories eating food you do not enjoy? Also, there are many healthy foods that may not be listed on the meal plan. Just because it is not listed does not mean that you should not eat the food (if you like cherries which are very healthy but the meal plan does not list them, don't stop eating them!). Even 30 days worth of meal plans may not cover all of your favorite foods. What if the meal plan lists a food you cannot find? Do you know what you can substitute in its place? If you just use the meal plan for a guide (for instance, 3 oz of protein, 1/2 cup of vegetables rather than 3 oz of grilled salmon and 1/2 cup of broccoli), it can still be very limiting especially when you go out to eat. Restaurants meals will rarely follow your meal plan.


"But then", I'm asked, "how do I know what to eat?" I recommend you calculate the calories of everything you eat for at least three days (at least one day should be a Monday - Friday day and one day should be a weekend day). The easiest way to do this is to enter every bite of food that goes into your mouth into a program or website that will tabulate the calories. Some people enter the information throughout the day. Others will write down everything they eat and then enter it all at once. There are several sites that do this. I have used http://www.caloriecount.about.com/. Do not make any changes to your diet during this time.


Now that you have an analysis of what you typically eat, do you see any food that has a surprising amount of calories? Is there a particular meal of the day that has the most calories? Do more than 200 calories come from each snack? These are the parts of your diet that you need to work on.


For food that has a surprising amount of calories, try to find a healthier version or variety. It may be as simple as switching ingredients such as swapping low fat milk for whole milk or a lite mayo for regular mayo. You may just need to make a healthier food choice such as an apple in place of a cookie or a lite popcorn in place of chips. Does a large number of calories come from beverages such as soda or juice? Try sparkling water with a splash of juice or a flavored water (check the label for calories). You can even make your own refreshing water by adding lemons and cucumbers to water. If you really do not want to give up that food, try eating a smaller portion. You may need to add in some healthier food to fill you up. For example, one burrito with a vegetable rather than two burritos.


Do your dinners have twice the calories of your lunch? Try eating a little larger lunch or a healthy snack before dinner to reduce hunger at dinner time. If you are not as hungry, you should eat less.


Are your snacks too large? I usually recommend keeping snacks to less than 200 calories each. See a previous blog for some lower calorie snacks.


Go to http://www.mypyramid.gov/ to find out how many servings of each food group you should have per day. Do you meet the recommendations or exceed them? Are your vegetable or fruit servings low? Adding fruits and vegetables to the diet will help make you full so that you eat less of teh higher calorie food.

Once you are able to get your calorie intake to meet your recommended calorie level and have been able to meet your pyramid recommendations, you can try to tweak your food to make it more healthy. Substitute whole grain bread for "wheat" bread, try a whole grain cereal (ex Shredded Wheat) rather than a sugary cereal (ex Captain Crunch). Try to choose fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors (red, green, orange, purple/blue). Bake rather than fry. If you do fry, use a vegetable oil rather than butter.

In this way, you can keep many of your favorite foods and add foods that you like. Sticking to a "diet" of food you choose and like is much easier than adhering to a diet someone else chose for you.

Ever have one of those days where you feel that you cannot get enough to eat? Ever wonder why? Sometimes, we know we are extra hungry because we did not eat much the day before or because we did more physical activity than usual. Other times, there appears to be no reason for it. One possible explanation has to do not so much with how much we ate but with what we ate the day before.

A study was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation looking at the effects of different types of fat on appetite. Some mice were given palmitic fat for three days in a row. Palmitic fat is a saturated fat found in butter and beef. The rest of the mice were given oleic fat which is an unsaturated fat (healthier than saturated fat) normally found in nuts, olive oil and fish. After 3 days, the mice on the palmitic fat became resistant to the appetite suppressing hormones leptin and insulin. This means that the mice did not feel full and stop eating as early as they did before the palmitic fat. This led to increased calorie intake which will lead to weight gain if continued. Studies in humans have had similar results showing increased calorie intake the day after a fast food meal.

What to do? It would be easy to say, "don't eat saturated fats" but that is not always possible or desirable (ever have a craving for a cheeseburger and fries?). Now that we are aware of the effect of a high saturated fat meal, we can take steps to help prevent overeating.

• Keep this phenomena in mind and make a conscious effort to eat healthy the next day
• Do not let yourself become too hungry. Have a snack between meals.
• Start off the meal with a salad to help fill you up with minimal calories
• Eat slower than usual to allow your body the time to feel full.

No Weight Loss Support Group Meetings in July and August

We had our last weight loss support group last Tuesday. Unfortunately, our guest speaker was unable to make the group. Marcia did a great job reviewing the speaker's weight loss success story which consisted of eating healthy and exercising. We will try to arrange for other guest speakers when we resume the support group. If you know anyone who has lost weight on their own and kept it off, please pass them on to us!

We will be starting the weight loss support group again in either September or October. We will post the dates and times on this blog and in the Schweinfurt Dispatch. In the meantime, this blog will continue bringing you the latest on weight loss research and tips. If you click the "Followers" button, the blog will be delivered to your email so you do not have to remember to check this site.

We hope to see you in a couple of months!

Tips for Writing a Diet Book

One of the nutrition blogs I subscribe to had a great tongue-in-cheek article this week on how to write a diet book. http://www.diet-blog.com/10/write_your_own_diet_book_heres_how.php


Once you read the article, you realize how much all diet books are alike. It reminds me of a time several years ago when my best friend, also a dietitian, and I decided to write a diet book in which the diet is based on your hair color. We were going to make up a diet for each hair color and type (straight hair, curly hair). We also decided that a special diet would be needed for permed hair or color treated hair. There is absolutely no science behind this but my friend's husband, who has a masters degree is biochemistry, was going to write the science portion for us using enough scientific jargon to confuse even the most scholarly among us. Being dietitians, all of the diets were all going to be healthy but just slightly varied. This was all in fun due to the vast number of diet books that were popping up on the market at the time.


The article does bring up some very good points to watch out for when reading about any nutrition information. The most important point is the person giving the information. Just because the person is a celebrity or is a psychologist does not mean they know anything about nutrition. Beware of the term "nutritionist". This term does not have a legal definition. Anyone can call themselves a "nutritionist" whether or not they have studied nutrition. In order to use the term "dietitian", the person must have a degree in nutrition or dietetics, have completed an internship and passed a test. Doctors and nurses may or may not have nutrition knowledge. Marcia, the RN for our weight loss support group, has extensive nutrition knowledge but much of it was learned on her own time due to her own interest, not from nursing school.


Beware of any product that is "revolutionary", a "miracle", or something "your doctor won't tell you about". If it is that great because it really works, your doctor will tell you about it. Definitely watch out for supplements sold on the same site as weight loss information. Why do you need their supplements? Is their diet so unbalanced or restrictive that you are not getting some important nutrients from the food?

Speaking of unbalanced and restrictive, watch out for diets that limit your food choices either by cutting out specific foods or whole food groups or tell you to only eat "unprocessed" or organic food. Diets that have these "rules" can be very difficult, if not impossible, to follow. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you might have to follow this diet for months. Can you really not eat any grains for 10-12 months or longer? Can you afford to only eat organic foods? I have seen organic potato chips. Are they healthy just because they are organic? No, they have the same calories and fat as the non-organic varieties. Do you really want to restrict yourself to only unprocessed foods - fruits and vegetables? Even meat is minimally processed. Anything that has been changed even slightly or pasturized would not be considered unprocessed. Eggs are pasturized. Milk and cheese would have to be avoided. Think of all the vitamins and minerals you would be missing if you followed any of these "rules".


Another point that stood out to me is "there is a single or simple cause as to why you are fat." More than likely, there is more than one cause for being overweight and it is not the same for every person. It may be from eating too much junk food. Or eating too much food period. This is probably in combination with not burning enough calories. It may be genetic or a hormone disorder. Depending on the causes of the weight gain, the method to lose weight may be different.


"...tell people calories don't matter, and then design meal plans that are precisely 1200-1300 calories". Calories do matter per recent weight loss studies comparing different diet patterns. The Atkins diet is a great example of this. Although they do not count calories, their sample meal plans are lower calorie which is what causes the weight loss, not the "no carb" philosophy.


I hope this gives you some guidelines to follow when searching for nutrition information. Some great reliable sources of nutrition information include: the government (http://www.nutrition.gov/, http://www.mypyramid.gov/), the American Heart Association(http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/), the American Dietetic Association (http://www.eatright.org/), and the American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/).

Snacking

A few blogs ago, I mentioned that Americans are eating more calories now than 30 years ago. I recently found an article that gives more specific numbers on how our calroie intake has changed since the 1970's.


In the mid-1970's, the average American ate 2,090 calories per day which increased to 2,400 calories per day in the mid-1990's which increased again to 2,500 calories per day during the period of 2003-2006. That is over a 400 calorie increase per day.


Snacks went from 200 calories/day in the 1970's to 420 calories per day in the 1990's to a whopping 500 calories per day from 2003-2006. Five hundred calories is close to a small meal. Between eating more at meals and snacks, no wonder we are gaining weight. Snacks can be great tool to stave off hunger until our next meal. They can even prevent us from overeating at the meal but a snack should not be a meal itself. A snack should be just that - a snack. Merriam-Webster defines a snacks as "a light meal : food eaten between regular meals". I usually recommend not more than 200 calories for a snack.


Not only do we eat more, we eat more often than we used to. Time between eating occasions shrank by 1 hour. It follows logically that if we eat more often, we probably eat more calories. Another reason to watch your snacking calories.

Here are some 200 calorie or less snacking ideas:
8 oz nonfat fruited or plain yogurt8 oz nonfat yogurt with ½ cup mixed berries
8 oz nonfat yogurt with 1 Tbsp slivered almonds, ground flax or wheat germ
4 oz nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese with
½ cup canned fruit in own juice
4 oz nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese on 1 slice whole grain bread or English muffin
½ cup nonfat pudding
1 oz part-skim mozzarella string cheese and 1 medium apple
6 oz skim or reduced fat milk and 2 graham crackers
8 oz skim milk or reduced fat milk and 1 piece of fruit

1 oz nuts

2 Tbsp peanut butter on 2 celery sticks1 medium pear with 1 oz of cheese

2 oz smoked salmon with 1 oz of nonfat cream cheese on 1/2 medium bagel

1 trail mix bar

I'm sure you can make your own 200 calorie inventions to add to this list. If you have any ideas, please pass them along for others.

An Hour A Day

Summer is finally here. Now is a great time to get outside and get some exercise. With sunset coming after 9:00pm, we even have more hours in the day to be outside. Does exercising have to be running, biking, or basketball? No, of course not. Gardening is a great exercise. Walking is another very underestimated exercise. There is also hiking, swimming, golfing (walk, not drive, the course), playing with your kids, roller blading, walking your dog, and soccer to name a few.

How much is enough? The government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. This amounts to 30 minutes of exercise 5 days/week. But what if you are trying to lose weight or trying to prevent weight gain? A recent study originally published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that it may take an hour a day to avoid weight gain. Researchers tracked more than 34,000 women for 13 years. By the end of the study, the average woman had gained 6 pounds. The 4,540 women who gained less than 5 pounds during the study reported walking briskly or doing similar moderate exercise for roughly one hour a day throughout the study. Women who exercised for less than an hour a day were roughly 10 percent more likely to gain at least 5 pounds within about three years.

An important note: Exercise was not related to weight gain or loss in women who were overweight or obese when the study began. This suggests that preventing weight gain is critical.

Whether you are at a good weight, overweight or obese, and are in good medical condition, exercise can only help. If 30 minutes is too much, try 3 10 minutes walks spread throughout the day. Or do 20 minutes of exercise 7 days per week. One lap around Sennfeld lake is 1 mile (approximately 20 minutes). If you have several errands to run on Ledward, park your car in one spot and walk to each errand rather than drive. Make extra trips up and down the stairs. Exercise does not have to be a once a day shot. Just try to move more throughout the day.

For more information on the government's exercise recommendations, please go to http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

A great site to see how many calories you are burning is: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php. Click on activity calculator and then enter your weight and time and click on the activity. This site has more activities than any others I found.

Hope to see you outside!

Dieting for Dollars?

How much money would it take to get you to lose weight? $100? $1,000? Or does money not matter? Due to the increasing health care costs related to treating obesity and obesity related illnesses (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol), many companies are coming up with cash incentives to motivate overweight employees to lose weight.

These motivation strategies come in a variety of flavors. The first is providing dollars for weight lost. Some companies reward employees for simply having a health evaluation or enrolling in a weight loss or nutrition class. The reward is granted even if the person does not attend the class. Others require actual weight loss before providing a reward. Still other companies have tried a "Biggest Loser" type contest. Refunding the cost of a weight loss program such as "Weight Watchers" or "Jenny Craig" or reducing health insurance premiums for weight loss are another way employees may benefit attempting to lose weight.

For some, other people's money may not be enough of an incentive. A recent study found that employees lose more weight (okay, it was only a pound more on average, but it was still more) if they put their own money on the line. Either an employer or an independent contract provide refundable bond contracts. An individual will put up his own money into the bond and set a weight loss goal. If the person reaches the weight loss goal, the money is returned to him. If not, the company keeps the money. One company called StickK.com sends the money from those who fail to a company the person despises as an extra incentive.

Being a dietitian, I am interested in any program to motivate people to lose weight. For some, that motivating factor may be money and that is fine if it works for them. The part I do have an issue with is that some people may resort to unhealthy measures just to lose the weight . Some people may choose to starve themselves or go on an unhealthy weight loss diet such as the grapefruit diet or the maple syrup diet. These weight loss techniques are not only deficient in nutrients and calories, they are also impossible to continue which sets the person up for failure.

It does not have to be this way though. The program can be designed along with weight loss and/or fitness classes. Providing education for healthy lifestyle choices that one can continue for life is the key for weight loss.

I think a good example of this is the TV show "The Biggest Loser". Although I do have issues with this program, the participants are taught about nutrition and physical fitness. By the time they leave, they do have the tools they need to continue the program at home.

For more information on this topic, please see the article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100602/ap_on_he_me/us_med_dieting_for_dollars

How To Eat Better

In the last post, we looked at how our eating habits have changed over the past 30 years. How do we get back to where we used to be? How can we change our diets to be more healthy and not promote weight gain?

Her her book "The Strong Women's Guide to Total Health", Miriam E. Nelson points out that exactly which foods in which amounts does not really matter as long as your diet is somewhat balanced (some food from each food group). A variety of foods gives you a variety of nutrients. She has developed 3 basic rules to follow.
1. Eat real food. Have you ever tried to read the ingredient list on a box of hamburger helper? Can you even read the list? There are so many words in the list that I can not pronounce. If I can not read all or at least 90% of the ingredients, I do not eat it. Have you ever noticed that fruits and vegetables do not have an ingredient list? It is because you know exactly what you are getting.
Focus on whole foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, lean meats) and minimally processed foods (milk, bread, yogurt). I try to pick products with short, readable ingredient lists.
Buying locally grown foods helps the environment. Germany has a lot of farmer's markets. Schweinfurt's farmers market is Saturday mornings in the marktplatz.
2. Eat a little less. The Japanese has a saying "hara hachi bu" which literally means "8 parts out of 10 full". The Japanese mean eat until you are 80% full and then stop. This will remove hunger but prevent overeating. This concept has been mentioned by other experts in the nutrition realm.
There are other ways to eat a little less besides stopping when you are 80% full (which may be hard to know). Try putting a smaller portion on your plate, buy the child's or seniors portion, use a smaller plate, measure your food, split a meal with someone else, refuse to take a second helping. These are just a few ways to eat less.
3. Enjoy your meals. Focus on food quality, not quantity. Savor your food. Eat slowly. It is hard to taste, let along enjoy, food when you are eating in the car. It takes our bodies 20 minutes to register being full. When we eat our meal quickly, we may eat too much. Choose foods you really like and not what you don't.

It is interesting to note, that Ms. Nelson is not the only one to come up with these rules. Michael Pollen in his book "In Defense of Food" and Miriam Nestle in "What to Eat" offer the same advice in slightly different words. Most experts in the nutrition field would agree with this advice with slight variations. I cannot tell you how many times I have given similar suggestions to people either trying to lose weight, lower their cholesterol, control their blood sugar levels or decrease their weight. Same rules, different words.

What Are We Eating?

Ever wonder why people are gaining more weight these days? Why has weight gain only been on the rise since the 1970's? What were people eating back then and how does it compare to what we are eating now?

Miriam Nelson, PhD, director of Tuft's John Hancock Research Center on Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Prevention has authored a new book, "The Strong Women's Guide to Total Health". In it, she reviews the diet changes we have made over the past 30-40 years.

In the 1970's women ate about 1,600 calories per day. After the year 2000, we started eating more than 1,800 calories/day. An extra 200 calories per day equals an extra 73,000 calories per year which translates to an extra 21 pounds! No wonder we keep gaining weight! So where do those extra calories come from?

• More meat. Our meat intake has increased by 50 pounds per person per year. The average American eats 8.8 ounces per day while the recommended amount if 5-6 ounces. Extra meat adds extra saturated fat to our diets. Saturated fat is believed to lead to increased LDL (bad) cholesterol.
• Less milk but more cheese. We drink only 60% of the milk we drank 50 years ago. Why is milk important? It is our main source of calcium and vitamin D which are important for bone health. Milk comes in a variety of fat contents of which skim and 1% are the best. Cheese is high in saturated fat. The 400% increase of cheese in our diets is most likely due to higher intake of pizza, fast-food sandwiches and nachos.
• Women are only eating one half of the daily recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables. Fruit intake is mostly limited to apples, bananas and grapes while vegetables intake is mostly tomatoes, onions and leafy lettuce. Approximately 80% of tomato consumption is in the form of processed tomato products such as tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, tomato paste and ketchup.
• The availability of grains rose 41% over the last 35 years. The problem is that we are eating the wrong types of grains. Refined grains which includes cookies, cakes, bagels and other dessert foods make up the majority of the grains we eat. We need to eat whole grains such as whole grain breads, cereals, pastas and brown rice.
• Forty two percent of the added 300 calories per day we have added to our diets is from added fat. This is not entirely bad. Some fat, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are good for us. They are found in vegetable oils, fatty fish such as salmon, olives, nuts and seeds. Unfortunately, the 41% increase is mostly from saturated fats which lead to higher cholesterol levels. Foods high in saturated fats include french fries, snacks, desserts and baked goods.
• The average American now consumes 142 pounds of sweeteners per year. This includes sugar and corn syrup. This intake is mostly driven by the increase in the amount of soda, processed foods and baked goods that we now eat.

As you can see, it is not just an increase in one food product or food group that is causing weight gain. It is an increase in every food group. But not all increases are bad. By increasing fruits and vegetables, we tend to decrease intake in other areas. Fruits and vegetables have fewer calories leading to a decrease in overall caloric intake. Increasing whole grains would decrease the intake of refined grains. Many refined grains have added fats and sugars. By switching to whole grains, those additional calories would be eliminated.

The next blog will continue this article and discuss how to eat better.

Calories on Menus

If the calories for an item were listed on the menu, would it change the food you choose? In a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, knowing the calories does affect which foods parents would order for their children. Researchers surveyed 99 parents of 3- to 6- year olds about their fast-food dining habits. The parents were presented with sample McDonald's restaurant menus complete with current prices and pictures of the food items. One half of the parents were given menus that also listed the calorie information for each item. Parents given the calorie information chose 102 fewer calories on average for their children compared to the parents who did not have the calorie information on their menus.

New York City has the most stringent rules regarding calories on menus. All fast food restaurants with at least 15 outlets nationwide must list calories on the menu. Included in the new health care reform billed recently passed by both the senate and the house includes a provision for all restaurants with at least 20 outlets nationwide and all vending machines must list calorie content. When this will take effect is still unknown as lawmakers have until March 2011 to put the bill into law.

So, if Subway slapped a sticker on their cookie display that said "250 calories each", would it stop you from buying it?

Weekend Eating

A new study was published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. The study found that people tend to eat more on the weekends (100 extra calories per day) versus during the week. The greatest increases were found with people age 25 to 35 years of age or with those who are very overweight. Bigger breakfasts are usually the largest contributor to extra weekend calories. The study also found that people who eat a large meal tend to eat less at the next meal and vice versa. On the weekends, people tend to not balance their meals as well.

Weekends tend to give people more time to cook more. Kids do not have to go to school. Parents do not have to go to work. In our culture, family time tends to center around food. If you do make a special breakfast on the weekends, be sure to eat less later in the day.

Here are some more tips to help you through your weekend:

• If you are out running errands or traveling, try taking healthy snacks with you so you are not tempted to splurge on that pastry at the bakery.
• If possible, try to stick to the same eating pattern you have during the week.
• If you do make a large breakfast on the weekends, go ahead and try each item but limit your portion sizes especially with high calorie items such as bacon, sausage and syrup.
• Instead of the typical heavy American breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes, focus on oatmeal or yogurt with nuts and fruit.

By the way, if you think that 100 calories per day does not sound like much, consider this: There are approximately 100 weekend days per year. If you multiply 100 days x 100 calories, you are adding 10,000 extra calories to your intake over the course of a year. If you do not adjust for these calories, you will gain 3 pounds over the the year!

Do you tend to eat more on the weekends? If so, is it during meals or snacks?

When did a Whopper become small?

At our last weight loss support group meeting, we discussed portion sizes, how they have grown over the years and how many calories that extra portion adds to our intake. We saw that 20 years ago, a typical soda had 85 calories. Today, a typical soda has 250 calories. A difference of 165 calories and we probably didn't even notice the size was bigger!

I recently had my own personal experience with increase in portion sizes. Last Saturday, I was on a USO bus trip. We stopped for dinner at an autohof (of of those places on the autobahn that has a cafeteria style restaurant plus either a Burger King or McDonalds) around 9:00 pm. The cafeteria line was closed so our only option was Burger King. I'm standing in line staring at the picture menu when I suddenly realized that the Whopper was the smallest burger on the menu. I remember when the Whopper was introduced 25-30 years ago. It was unbelievable! Who would have thought there could be a burger bigger than the Big Mac? The Whopper was huge! Now it is the smallest item that the German Burger King! When did this happen? Burger King does offer a Whopper Jr. which is smaller than a regular Whopper but you will not find it on the menu. You have to know to ask for it.
So how do you control portion sizes? Here are a few suggestions:

When eating out...

• Ask for a doggy bag as soon as you get your food and put 1/2 of the meal in the container. This may be easier back in the states than here in Germany since take out containers are not as popular.
• Order a large appetizer instead of an entree. This only works if the restaurant actually has healthy appetizers. Many appetizers tend to be fried or high in fat.
• Order from the senior menu which tends to have smaller portions sizes.
• Split a meal between two people so you only eat half of the dish.
• If an item comes in different sizes, order the small size (small fries, Whopper Jr., etc).

When eating at home...

• Separate large containers of snack foods into smaller single size units. For example, split a box of crackers into smaller baggies or other food container.
• Never eat out of a bag. Take out the portion you would like to eat and put the rest away. This works when you want to eat in front of the TV. We tend not to pay attention to how much we are eating when we eat while watching TV.
• When making dinner, dish up the plates in the kitchen and then eat in the living room. The food you may take for seconds is not quite so tempting when it is not in front of you.
• When putting leftovers away, place in individual portion containers so that you will not overeat later.
• Measure your food before putting it on the plate. After a while you can "eyeball" your desired portion.
• Use smaller bowls and plates. This gives you the illusion you are eating more food than you actually are.

In general,

• Before eating, determine if you are really hungry, or are you just bored?
• Eat regularly. Skipping meals and becoming overly hungry makes portion control very hard.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to control portion sizes. Please feel free to add any ideas that you use that others may benefit from also. In the mean time, Happy Portioning!

More on Calories

In the last post, we looked at what one day on a 1200 or 1800 calorie diet looked like. I found a website that shows what a 300-400 calorie meal looks like. Since visual images are more helpful than just reading a list of food, I thought I would share this site with you. If you are trying to stick to 1200 calories per day, each meal should be between 300-400 calories. If you are aiming for a higher caloric intake, please be sure to add some food to each meal.

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2007/04/26/what_do_300_calorie_meals_look_like.php

What Does 1200 Calories Look Like?

At our first weight loss support group meeting, the following question was posed: "What does 12oo calories look like?" What a great question (and a great challenge to Marcia and I to find a 1200 calorie and an 1800 calorie meal plan to compare)!

The results surprised us both. The 1200 calorie plan was more food than we imagined it would be and the 1800 calorie plan was not that much more food. One of the reasons that the 1200 calorie meal plan offered such a quantity of food is that it contained mostly whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Processed foods tend to have more calories due to added fats and sugars. Below you will find the meal plans and pictures of the meals for comparison.

1200 Calorie Meal Plan

Breakfast:1 C oatmeal (cooked in 8 fl oz skim milk), topped with 2 Tbsp golden, seedless raisins and 2 Tbsp chopped pecans1 large hard-boiled egg, seasoned as desiredCalorie-free beverage of choice

Lunch: Tuna salad (mix 4-oz water-packed tuna with 2 Tbsp chopped white onion, 1 Tbsp light mayonnaise, and 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard; arrange 1 C shredded lettuce and 3 slices medium tomato on plate; top with tuna mixture)1 medium orangeCalorie-free beverage of choice

Dinner: 8 large shrimp, grilled1 C steamed broccoli florets, seasoned as desired1 C wild rice, prepared with 1 Tbsp butterCalorie-free beverage of choice

Snack: 10 large baby carrots, served with 2 Tbsp fat-free ranch dressing for dippingCalorie-free beverage of choice

1800 Calorie Meal Plan

Breakfast: 1¼ C oatmeal (cooked in 8 fl oz skim milk), topped with 2 Tbsp golden seedless raisins, 2 Tbsp unsweetened dried coconut, and 2 Tbsp chopped pecans
1 large hard-boiled egg, seasoned as desired
Calorie-free beverage of choice

Lunch: Tuna salad (mix 5-oz water-packed tuna with 2 Tbsp chopped white onion, 1 Tbsp light mayonnaise, and 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard; arrange 1 C shredded lettuce and 3 slices medium tomato on plate; top with tuna mixture)
10 unsalted, dry-roasted whole almonds
1 medium orange
Calorie-free beverage of choice

Dinner: 8 large shrimp, grilled
1 C steamed broccoli florets, topped with 1 tsp butter
1½ C wild rice, prepared with 1 Tbsp olive oil
¾ C fruit sorbet, favorite flavor
Calorie-free beverage of choice

Snack: 10 large baby carrots, served with 2 Tbsp fat-free ranch dressing for dipping
1 part-skim mozzarella string cheese snack
8 fl oz canned vegetable juice, low sodium

The first picture is the 1800 calorie meal plan. The second picture is the 1200 calorie plan.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Schweinfurt Weight Loss Support Group's blog site. We would like to use this site to provide additional information to you between meetings. Future posts may review what we discussed at the last meeting, answer questions from the last meeting or from emails or we may forward any interesting information we hear about weight loss or healthy nutrition.

The weight loss support group meets every second Thursday of the month at 6:00pm and every fourth Tuesday of the month at noon. Both meetings will be in the Yellow Ribbon Room. If we need to change the room for any reason, we will make every effort to contact you before the meeting.

We hope you've enjoyed this introduction to the Weight Loss Support Group's blog! In our sidebar, you'll find a way to subscribe to our blog (click on the "Follow" button), which will deliver new postings directly to your e-mail. Or you can bookmark our page for easy retrieval. We also want to hear from you, so feel free to click the comment button below to let us know what you think.

We're hoping to post a new blog entry at least once per week but this may vary depending on vacations and work schedules, so stay tuned for our next post.