110 Calories Towards Obesity

I was attending a workshop last year and a point was made that if a child would refrain from one soda/pop a day, they would be helping to prevent obesity. The statistic was that if a child consumed an extra 110 calories per day, they had a 22% greater risk of developing obesity later in life.

If you wanted to consume that extra calories, then you can make your child be active for an additional 1 hour per day to burn it off.

When I heard this I was a bit shocked! Growing up, we pretty much drank about anything, unless it was simply "cost effective" to do something else. I wish my parents had known this concept. I try to practice it in my own kids when they are choosing drinks.

Whether or not we have kids, we can be practicing it in our own lives to help in preventing obesity in ourselves.

Will you skip the extra 110 calories to go to preventing obesity in you or your child?

Here's a short, interesting video that shows sugar in drinks...after watching it, leave a comment and tell me your reaction.

More Equals Less and Less Equals More

There are times in life where the first half of the title holds true but there are other times that the second part holds true. It just depends on what is being discussed. Of course, we are going to talk about some health related areas.

More Equals Less

1. More Exercise Equals Less Weight ~ When you burn calories those calories are going to have to come from somewhere. This means it will come from your stored fuel supply and will attack the adipose tissue or fat cells primarily. The muscle cells can be consumed but that is an extreme situation.
2. More Exercise Equals Less Problems ~ I learned recently that when a person has arthritis one of the treatments is exercise. Also, related to the above scenario, when you have less weight you will have less wear-and-tear on your body due to the unneeded body weight.
3. More Sedentary Equals Less Life ~ Not only is this less for life expectancy, but it is less for one's quality of life. People that are sedentary are just as at-risk as those who smoke for life, one study said. That is scary!
4. More Quality of Life Equals Less Problems Later in Life ~ The better we take care of our self now, the less problems we are going to encounter later in life (aside from any genetic disorders).
5. What would you put in for the rest?

Less Equals More

1. Less Sugary Drinks Equals More Energy ~ The sugary drink we encounter intially will actually go through the "high-low" crash part of the sugary breakdown. We initially have the feel good feeling, but then when the crash comes we feel "blah." The same really goes for many of the carbohydrates that we consume.
2. Less Exercise Equals More Risks ~ The less exercising we do the more we are going to be at risk for other chronic diseases like hypertension, heart problems, weight problems, diabetes, etc.
3. Less Food Equals More Self Esteem ~ Since overweight and obesity are not positive attributes to a person, they often feel bad about themselves. If you can look in the mirror and feel better about yourself than about how much food you ate, you would feel better about yourself. A small disclaimer that we are talking about sensible eating, not starving, bulimia, or anorexia. By less I am talking about eating sensible and not consuming more and more.
4. What else would you add?

Please add comments as we put the two phrases to use to make healthier looks at life.

Stay Fresh and Colorful

We are often drawn to items that are flashy and colorful. Also, it doesn't help to have an item that is new. All these things will help draw the eye toward it. Once the eye is drawn the product, you are likely going to be buying the product. The eye is a powerful sensory organ that will take in lots of information. Sometimes that information will easily draw us in to the compulsion to purchase.

If you're like me, you will be drawn to the colors and flashiness of an item. Colors have a way of drawing us in, almost a "subliminal message" of advertising. We are drawn to the beauty of rainbows, animals, and other things of nature. Let's make our plates look similar.

In addition to smell, seeing color on your plate will help invite your taste buds in to the entree. Load your dinner plans with colorful foods. Look for reds, yellows, oranges, and greens to make your plate come alive with flavor.

This time of year is a great opportunity to see lots of color on your plate - fruits and vegetables are created with colors. Let's use them to our advantage and have some color. Keep in mind that color will draw us in and help us eat more healthy.

What colorful creation will you create today?

Lifestyle Eating and Diet - Part 4 - Calorie Reduction Rebound

So you feel you have some (or a lot of) pounds to shed. You know the logic "calories in versus calories out" and you want to lose a lot and lose them fast, so you decide to eat few calories. For discussion sake, we will use the 2000 calorie diet as our baseline. We will also presume your daily metabolism rate is where it needs to be for this lifestyle.

Knowing what you know about "calories in versus calories out" you will start to eat one piece of dried toast for breakfast, a small bowl of fruit for lunch, and a protein shake for supper. This total is going to be between 1/4 to 1/2 of a 2000 calorie diet - for your entire day! If you are averaging greater than 2000 calories per day, that reduction is even more.

You are starting to notice the pounds come off, which is making you happy. However, your appetite is not happy, after a few days of a diet that is drastically different than what you were accustomed to eating.

If it has been around the week mark and you go back to your normal way of eating, you have probably not altered your metabolic rate much. You will probably see a gradual weight gain if you haven't increased any in your exercise levels.

However, let's presume that you have begun this regimen and it has continued for a few months, and you are at or near your target weight. You can now fit into the clothes you wanted to wear or look the way you wanted to look. So you are going to return to that previous way of eating or at least increasing what you are currently eating significantly.

You have been training your body to be accustomed to a certain number of calories and have caused your metabolism to be reduced. Now that you are going back to the pre-diet diet, you are going to end up gaining the weight back and you are at a greater risk for being heavier than you were, depending on your calorie intake and your exercise regimen.

Metabolic rate will not alter much in a short amount of time; however, given a greater span of time, we can reduce that rate. Thus, when your diet is now given greater calories to burn, your body will have a high chance of not being able to function in a way to burn all of calories you are giving it. This will result in a likely weight gain. After buying your new wardrobe, you may not be able to fit into that wardrobe.

I have seen this exact scenario in people. Their bodies are trained in one lifestyle, they drastically reduce their calories, resulting in weight loss. Then they return to some or all of their previous calorie intake and gain the weight they were happy to lose.

There is a lot which goes into keeping weight off. Part of it is consistency, determination, commonsense, exercise, and proper diet.

For the normal lay person, 1-2 pounds per week is healthy to lose. If you have a high body mass index (BMI), you may see those pounds be higher in the first few months. But with everyone there will be a plateau period where you will not see the pounds come off like you would prefer. Be patient and look at what may be inhibiting the lack of weight loss. Outside factors, aside from "calories" do impact your body. Stress, for example, can inhibit the body from losing weight. For women, the menstrual portion of the month may also have an impact. Don't become too frustrated, just be patient and sensible.

Next time we will focus on weight loss inhibitors...such as stress.

Healthy Memorial Day Eating

It is Memorial Day weekend. Are you planning on a cookout or to have some time with friends, centered around food?

We have somewhat veered away from the idea of Memorial Day. It has gone from remembering soldiers and other loved ones who have passed, to firing up the grill in the backyard.

If you are planning on getting out and being a part of a backyard grilling feast, then let me suggest some ways to cut back on the calories and other unhealthy aspects of eating, without taking away from the taste.

Meat:

Use turkey dogs instead of normal hot dogs.
Use 96% lean meat instead of 73% or 85%

Bread/Buns:

Look for buns that are low on calories - they taste just as good

Beverages:

Instead of traditional lemonade or Kool-aid, use the sugar-free or Crystal Light variations
Drink unsweetened tea
Use small cups for sugary drinks - have to refill more
Drink water

Desserts:

If you have no control over who makes the desserts, try this - use small plates and not the one you had with your entree.
Engage in conversation and/or sit away from the desserts to elongate time to eat more
Sit with back to the desserts so you do not see them.

Side Items:

Vary the ingredients depending on the product with either sugar-free or low-fat content
If you find low-fat cheese is low on flavor, try using "sharp" cheddar for a replacement of "mild" cheddar, when available.
When using something uncooked that requires milk, use the skim version.

Don't forget to enjoy the fresh fruit and vegetable items!!!

The weekend looks to be very pleasant and it is a great time to be outside! Enjoy some activities...walking, talking, tossing a ball, riding, planting.

Lifestyle Eating and Diet - Part 3 - Skipping Meals

So you want to lose weight and you want to do it quickly. You know that if you reduce your calories you will lose weight. However, if you reduce too many calories you can cause your body to not lose weight or to lose it very slowly. Skipping meals will have negative effects in losing weights. I found a short, concise article that explains it well. So instead of "reinventing the wheel" I am simply going to copy this article in for you to utilize.

Our next article will be to focus on eating too few of calories. In other words, you are not skipping meals, but you are eating too few of calories.

Here's the article from "FitDay"

3 Reasons Skipping Meals is Unhealthy

Skipping meals is often seen as an attractive way to lose weight. Unfortunately, the side affects of skipping meals are much more serious than any potential benefits. Some consequences of skipping meals can include promoting the development of diabetes, inadequate nutrition, and drastically altering the way that your body digests food.

Blood Sugar Drops and Spikes

One of the most important reasons that skipping meals is unhealthy is due to the affect this has on your blood sugar. When you eat a meal, your body breaks up the food. Some of this food is stored as fat, while other parts of it enter your bloodstream as sugar, and work to provide you with energy throughout the day. When you skip a meal, your blood sugar drops dramatically. This not only can make you feel sluggish and tired, but it can also wreck havoc with insulin in your body. If you chronically skip meals, you can be setting yourself up for the development of diabetes later in life.

Inadequate Nutrition

Another important reason why skipping meals is unhealthy is due to the fact that you are more than likely not receiving adequate nutrition. Eating a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats helps not only to ensure that your body functions properly, but can also help in the treatment and prevention of a number of serious conditions. Some conditions that can be improved with proper nutrition include cardiovascular disease, strokes, and some types of cancer. You may believe that you can skip meals and still achieve optimal nutrition by supplementing your diet with multivitamins. And while multivitamins do have their place, research has shown that these pills aren't as effective as real food at providing your body with what it needs. For good health, try to eat as naturally as possible.

Altered Metabolism

You typically skip meals for two main reasons. One, you are ultra busy and don't have enough time to grab a quick snack, or two, you are trying to lose weight. If you are one of the people who are trying to lose weight, you may be actually sabotaging yourself by skipping meals. When you eat, your metabolism, which is one of your body's functions, works to break the food down into smaller, usable parts. When you skip a meal, your metabolism has nothing to do. In a way, your metabolism is like a muscle. You must use it, or you will "lose it." When your metabolism does not have to work to break down food, it begins to slow down. Then, the next time you do actually eat something, your metabolism is not able to break the food down as quickly, and as a result the food is stored as fat. Therefore, in order to maintain a healthy weight (or even lose weight), it is essential that you eat regularly throughout the day. Recent research has found that five to seven small, regularly timed meals eaten over the course of a day works best when trying to maintain a healthy weight.

Lifestyle Eating and Diet - Part 2 - Reducing, While Keeping the Palate Happy

So it is about summer time and you want to get to that certain amount of weight or you want to tone up the body by losing some extra weight.

One of your next steps will be to look for the "latest and greatest" or revert back to something you have tried in the past.

How many of you have tried the Atkin's Diet? Paleo Diet? South Beach Diet? How many are still on these? (The Paleo being newest, could have a few "yes" answers).

One of the issues with a diet, which is defined as "a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight," is that they tend to be temporary. One of the other issues is that people not only reduce what they eat, but also the foods they eat. The idea may be good but the effects are not.

Almost everyone who has tried to stop smoking "cold turkey" will either fight a huge battle or go back to smoking. Quitting something abruptly that your body is used to doing is a big challenge to maintain. People tend to have more success by "cutting back" on habits, versus cutting them out.

Similarly, when you want to cut out all carbohydrates and sugars from your normal lifestyle of eating, which you are already used to eating, is going to have a large rate of people reverting back. Additionally, when you all of a sudden introduce foods that your palate is not accustomed to having, but you eat it anyway, you likely will not stay with eating that food.

As many of our ancestors did not have the most healthy diet, they maintained a sense of fitness due to their lifestyles. The opportunities our modern society provides is likely even more unhealthy but there is a more sensible approach to "dieting" rather than cut out everything we're used to eating.

The short answer is portion control. This allows you to still have the foods you like, but not in the same proportion you had previously. This allows your palate to still enjoy the same foods but in smaller portions.

If your diet was full of a lot of unhealthy options, you will likely not lose a lot of weight. Plus, your overall health may not move into an "ideal" range. However, this is a place to start when you are needing to lose weight.

If you are used to eating at buffets, eat less of the foods you enjoy. If you are used to ordering the larger burgers, buy off the value menu or cut in half. If you are used to drinking sugary drinks, try drinking unsweetened tea or water, or only having one glass instead of 3 refills.

One negative thing you can do when you begin dieting is to skip meals. That is what we will talk about the next time.

For now, see what areas you can cut down on to help keep your palate happy but not enlarging your stomach. This will help you adopt a new lifestyle much easier.

Now it's your turn...what is one of your greatest dieting challenges?