Posted by Julie Kinney on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 @ 08:08 PM
Happy Heat Wave!
I am sitting here on vacation in Cary, North Carolina working on my mother's sun porch sweating to death! As I sit here with my feet propped up on a chair, trying to keep my eyes open as I listen to the frogs, crickets, neighbors' air conditioning units, and subtle snores of my 3 children in the background, I am filled with excitement about writing about my vacation topic!
So often, we mistake family vacation as vacation from all aspects of life, including our diets. While we try to relax as much as possible on vacation, myself included (although I think vacations are much harder for me than real life), we can't forget and deny the importance of our diets and our weight management. Why work so hard every day to throw it all away in a week. I have seen with my clients more damage done in one week than I ever thought possible. Lose 15 pounds in 3 weeks, only to gain it back in ONE WEEK ON VACATION? Doesn't seem logical to me!
My food for thought for you for this week as some of you are on summer vacation with your family, or summer itself may be a vacation, is to pick your battle. What is important to you on vacation? Is it spending time with your loved ones? Riding the rides at an amusement park? Sitting on a beach with a good book? Or eating yourself into oblivion and picking up the pieces next week when you get back to "real life".
I recently came across an article about vacation weight gain on MedicineNet.com. It describes just this situation. Going on vacation and abandoning everything only to not be able to button your pants when you get back! It gives some great tips on how to manage your weight on vacation while still having a great time. The following are the tips suggested. Click on the link above to read more in detail.
1. Plan ahead to fit in fitness: how many times have you heard us as personal coaches say it isn't enough to "want" to do your PA, but you have to plan it in. Same goes for vacation, and maybe even more so since you are out of your normal routine.
2. Be prepared: This could mean a slew of things, but most importantly expect the unexpected. Pack your snacks, eat your breakfast that you normally do, like a double HMR 120 shake with fruit!
3. Avoid dining out disasters: While you don't have a lot of control of the calories in the meals you AREN'T preparing, stay away from fried, fatty foods in restaurants. Go for the "safe" choices in lean protein and vegetables.
4. Indulge in moderation: Yes, you are on vacation, and I am not saying you can't have something, but instead of eating the whole thing, split a dessert with a family member or eat half of it and not the whole thing. It's important to learn you don't have to finish everything put in front of you, especially with serving sizes we are seeing these days.
5. Pare down the portions: I can't tell you how many clients tell me they could have done better on vacation had they eaten smaller portions. Unless you are at your own house in the woods or at the beach where you are controlling 100% of your foods like you would at home, chances are the portions are going to be large and in charge!! Do yourself a favor and cut them in half. You will be glad you did.
I hope you enjoy your vacations this summer and in the months to come and you come back victorious and even a few pounds lighter!
Posted by Natalie Deangelo on Fri, Mar 26, 2010 @ 04:55 PM
Happy Friday, Fighters! I hope you had a healthy and happy week! I must apologize for not posting last Friday - I was in Houston, Texas for my cousins wedding!!
The wedding was a great time with my family, but I was astounded by the amount of fast food chains in Houston. As soon as I landed at Houston Hobby Airport and drove to the hotel - every square inch of the city seemed to be covered in high fat, high calorie chain restaurants. Literally, I did not see one organic or fresh place to eat. And a friend told me that Houston has no zoning laws, which means they can build a BK right next to your house if they want to. It's no wonder that Texas hosts some of the fattest cities in the country, on record.
I also learned that eating BIG seems to be quite the hobby in Houston. Check out Houston's most famous food "challenges":
The Zellag
abetzky
Where: Mel's Country Cafe
The challenge: The Mega Mel Burger
What it is: You have two hours to eat 1.5 pounds of beef, 1 pound of bacon, .25 pound of American cheese and lots, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, onions & pickles.
The cost: $19.95
The reward: Your name on the restaurant's wall.
Where: Little Bitty Burger Barn
The challenge: The Double Dare
What it is: You have 45 minutes to finish eight ¼-pound patties, eight slices of cheese, bacon, jalapenos and barbecue sauce. Fries are optional.
The cost: $19.95
The reward: Your picture on the restaurant's wall and website.
Where: Kenny & Ziggy's
The challenge: The Zellagabetsky
What it is: You must finish eight-decker rye-bread sandwich with corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, salami, tongue, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, Russian dressing and red sweet peppers.
The cost: $38
The Reward: A free peice of cheesecake.
Now, I hate to bash Houston. The weather was great and the people were charming. Not to mention, Houston isn't the only city where consuming high fat food for fun is the latest trend. This is America folks and it's not getting any easier. In fact, our country is promoting the act of eating huge meals as a hilarious hobby instead of a health crisis.
My point here is to help us all realize what challenges surround us, and how we can plan ahead for our health. Each of us, as individuals, CAN take control of what we eat - no matter what or where we are. Yes, in many cases taking control of our environments means taking the harder route - making our own food at home, finding the fresh stores that my not be as convenient, and spending a bit more money. Unless that is, you're willing to spend $38.95 for a heart attack, your picture on the wall and a free peice of cheesecake?
As you head into your weekend fighters, don't give in to the "hilarious hobby" of eating massive meals. Because after all, in the end, the joke will be on you.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Wed, Dec 16, 2009 @ 12:15 PM
There are lots of low calorie products on the market designed to capture the calorie conscious consumer. None irk me more than the 100 calorie snack packs of your favorite high calorie cookies.
On the face of it, providing the consumer with a portion controlled calorie controlled option is not a bad idea. The problem with the snack packs is that no matter how you slice and dice it - 100 calories of oreos is still 100 empty calories - and it's easy to rationalize having another little bag because, after all, it's only another 100 calories.
Achieving Balance Weight Maintenance Tip #5 - Don't just count calories - make your calories count!
The key to making a healthy lifestyle change, and managing your weight more successfully, is changing your choices. Have fruit (around 16 calories per ounce) instead of cookies (around 100 calories per ounce), shakes instead of ice cream, potato wedges instead of potato chips... get more bang for your calorie buck by choosing more nutrition everytime.
Check out Full Life's Transition to Maintenance Guide for more tips, tools and strategies for long term, successful weight loss maintenance.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 @ 12:29 AM
Managing your weight successfully means balancing calories in and calories out every day. But days become weeks and weeks become months and so - not only do you need to find balance each day - but you need to balance out the days of the week and the weeks of the month.
Remember that the calories you overeat today will still be with you tomorrow - and it may take several deficit days to balance out your week. Don't eat the cheesecake and the brownie and the ice cream and the pie just because you are starting over tomorrow!
Keeping accurate records will help you achieve Weight Maintenance Tip #3 - SOONER is Better!
If you have a high calorie day (or weekend or week!), make a plan to have a calorie deficit day as soon as possible. You can achieve this by adding more PA, more Fruits and Veggies and more HMR meal replacements to your plan. The sooner you get back to your healthy lifestyle the better.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 @ 04:54 PM
Eating is entertainment in America - not the backdrop to a social gathering - but the main event.
The food industry banks on this. And is making record profits, too - selling us cheap calories as the new American pasttime. Food - especially high fat, high calorie food - is FUN. We buy it - gobs of it. And as a result, 67% of Americans are overweight and obese - and more than 30% of our children are, too.
Take this example from the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, California. "The Experience" is fat on sugar on fat on sugar with a nice ring of fatty sugar around the edge. Nevermind the ocean, the sand, the rides, games, colors, lights, sounds and people at the boardwalk. The FOOD (and I use the term loosely) is "The Experience".
Can you imagine anything better?
Well, there's fried Twinkies or fried Oreos, garlic fries, hot dogs, sausages, donuts the size of your head, funnel cake with every imaginable topping, slurpies, double dips, chocolate covered soft serve and of course, pizza, hamburgers, soda and...what...? Not a fruit to be found?!!! It's an endless feast of "Experiences" all designed to leave you wanting more - and (thank goodness) there's lots more for the taking.
Can you imagine anything better?
Of course you can (the question is clearly rhetorical) - but the message is clear. This is entertainment! This is your chance! Go for it! And all for $8.50! (about a half cent per calorie) Don't miss out on this exciting 1500 calorie "Experience"!
Enjoying an ice cream on a hot summer night can add to the festivities - food has long been a part of culture and celebration. But let's just get real about what it is and what it isn't. Food as entertainment is a marketing gimmick - it's a weight management trap with dire consequences. We have got to change our individual and cultural mindset. And the sooner we can imagine it - the better.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Mon, Jul 27, 2009 @ 02:01 PM
You may be on vacation, but your weight management isn't. Sure, you are out and about with the family, playing, swimming and doing some extra walking. All that PA is great!
Even so, you may find that your work clothes feel a little tight when that dreaded Monday back to the office finally comes. The likelihood that your PA has covered the fish n'chips, ice cream and hamburgers is pretty slim...
Instead of using your vacation time to indulge and pay for it later (kind of like putting the whole trip on your VISA card) why not create an opportunity to expand your healthy lifestyle skills instead. Vacation is a great time to try a new Physical Activity, or renew your interest in an old one. When was the last time you rode your bike around? - Try it - you'll feel like a kid again! Or go hiking, kayaking, roller blading...
Your HMR at Home Program can be taken on the road. Use the fruits of summer in cool low cal HMR recipes. Try some new vegetables from the local farmers' market.
HMR meal replacements are a great addition to any vacation plan. HMR shakes are perfect for a hot summer afternoon. My favorite these days is HMR 800V +HMR 120V plus tons (1-2 cups) of frozen blueberries and ice. I like it super thick like soft serve ice cream. And HMR entrees are portable and delicious at room temp (try HMR 5 Bean Casserole on a salad) so pack them up for a day at the beach - it will save you tons of time and calories.
Always have plenty of cold water - especially if you are running around on a hot summer day. Crystal Light mini flavor straws come in handy for instant ice tea or lemonade.
If you are serious about successful weight management, you have to start by changing your mind. Challenge your assumptions. Start thinking about what is possible instead of reverting to what you think is inevitable. Make a commitment to your weight and health.
If you want to be different, you have to be different.
What are you willing to change on vacation this year? Write down your goals and your plan. You can do it!
Wouldn't it be great to wrap up your vacation feeling energized, healthy, refreshed, and on track with your weight? You bet.
Oh, and - don't forget your sunscreen!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Wed, Jul 01, 2009 @ 08:54 PM
You know you have to do it when the shorts that fit last summer don't fit now and they have been sitting in the same drawer all winter. (Or... could it have been the hot laundry fairy who came in the middle of the night and ransacked the shorts drawer... again?...)
Right. Time to RESTART and get serious about getting back on track. Here's How:
#1 Check the stock of HMR Shakes, Entrees and Cereal - Join HMR at Home or Place an order if needed
#2 Check Fruits and Veggies - Go Shopping
#3 Get out the Record Book and Day and Date the pages
#4 Set Monthly Goal and Goals for the week # shakes, # entrees # V/F, PA
#5 Plan Strong Start Day
#6 Tell everyone you are planning a Restart and Enlist Support
Commit to your goals and your plan. Make sure you are as open to changing your behaviors as you were the first time. Make sure you are willing to try new things (after all, everything was new the first time). Don't get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing over and over. Experiment. Try new recipes. Try new shake formulas and combinations of those. (My new favorite is the HMR 120 Vanilla mixed with the HMR 800 Vanilla and frozen blueberries.) Try new Fruits and Veggies. Try new Physical Activities.
A client wrote to me about her restart, "These last three weeks my restart has been similar to a slow burn rather than a roaring fire. Like rekindling a relationship - tentative, cautious, slow to trust but forging ahead with the desire to 'make it work.' LOL"
That was about a month ago. Last night she was telling me about her goal to lose 30 more pounds so she can compete with a rowing team! The fire is roaring now!
Living a healthy lifestyle opens up a world of opportunities. But like most opportunities - a bit of luck meets preparation. Be ready, and willing to do what it takes to make it work. Don't put off 'til whenever... what you can do today!
If you have fallen off track - RESTART NOW! Right now. The next meal. Better yet, get out and go for a walk. I'm going out myself... right... after I squeeze... into... these... shorts!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 @ 03:18 PM
Do you have a piece of cake and then, (not wanting to have a second piece) find yourself cutting (and eating) a tiny slice of cake to make it even, then a corner here, maybe an edge there... just one more little...bite... In the presence of a tray of brownies I am likely to do this, even after having a second or third brownie - I will keep slicing off one bite at a time until I force myself to walk away.
I have learned over the years that I can only control my behavior (and my calorie intake) around brownies if I don't have the first bite. Not a small one, not a taste, not a nibble. In fact, it is much better for me to never be in the same room as brownies - but at times that is out of my hands. I do my best to avoid brownies at all costs... Why? - Because I will respond appropriately to brownies in my environment. I will eat them.
In Dr David Kessler's new book, The End of Overeating - Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, he quotes many research studies which show the powerful reinforcing qualities of certain types of foods. These studies show that animals are willing to work hard for those foods that are higher in sugar and fat, and hardest for those foods that combine the two. In one study, mice were rewarded with high sugar/high fat Chocolate Ensure after poking their noses into a hole a certain number of times. The sugar/fat combination in Ensure was so reinforcing to them that they poked their noses 77 times to receive their reward!
In fact, "The breaking point at which the animals will no longer work for the (sugar/fat) reward... is just slightly lower than the breaking point for cocaine."
In other words - when we are in the presence of foods which are reinforcing to us, foods which stimulate the pleasure centers of our brains, we are biologically driven to eat them. We will eat them even if we know we shouldn't. We cannot rely on willpower to overcome what is a natural and appropriate response to stimuli in our environment.
If you can't put the chips down and walk away from the bag, or you find yourself headed to the freezer for another bowl of ice cream even before you have finished the first one... you are not crazy, out of control, weak, or a failure. These are simply foods (often called trigger foods) that are so reinforcing to you that you are compelled to eat more of them.
The problem with the foods that are most reinforcing is that they are the same foods that are typically low in nutrition and high in calories. They are the foods that cause weight gain, or at the very least, make it more difficult to maintain your weight successfully. The solution is easy. Environmental control. To the best of your ability, keep those foods out of your environment. To the best of your ability, keep yourself out of those environments where those foods are readily available.
Here's a trick I use if I find myself contemplating having the box of _______________ in the house. I assume I will eat the whole box, figure out how many calories in the whole box and then decide if I really want to buy it. A box of brownie mix usually runs about 2400 calories... more than a week's worth of PA for me. (7 - 1 hour walks plus 4 yoga classes)
My trigger - brownies. I just have to walk away. Not a taste, not a nibble... not a bite. 'Cause I never met a tray of brownies I didn't like.
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 @ 07:26 PM
They say the best defense is a good offense and it's a motto that works when you are trying to be more successful managing your weight.
If you are like me, you come home, take off your coat, walk to the kitchen and open the fridge. Maybe I'm hungry maybe not...it's just a habit I've gotten into and it's one that can get me into trouble. I don't really expect to find anything I didn't put in there on the last shopping trip (but one hopes)... perhaps some forgotten leftover... a stray piece of something delicious hiding behind the broccoli...
I open the fridge a lot throughout the day, grab something and snack. Whatever is there... So what's there better be healthy, and low in calories - or my nibbles throughout the day will bust my calorie budget for sure.
Grapes are my must have - washed and chilled in my grandmother's berry bowl. (It makes me feel good just seeing it in there.) Baby carrots, too, fresh, cold and crisp. (I like them dipped in a little Walden Farms Ranch dressing.)
But sometimes only sweet and creamy will do, and so I''ve learned to keep a blender full of HMR 70+ pudding ready to go in the fridge at all times. The great thing about the HMR 70+ is that you can make it in the morning and keep it in the fridge for up to 36 hours - just replace the blender jar on the base - give it a quick whip and you've got a rich, thick, "in the box" treat.
It helps to have 2 blender jars - that way you still have a free blender for a full volume shake if you want it. Or - you can blend the HMR 70+ pudding and put it in Tupperware - then just give it a quick stir before you eat it.
If you already make your shakes in the morning, rinse out the blender and mix up some pudding right away... this will save time, and your after work snack will be waiting for you when you get home.
I usually mix 3 or 4 packets of HMR 70+ puddings at once, and have tried a variety of combinations that keep fresh over time. Avoid using fruit if you plan to keep the puddings longer than a couple of hours. Basic HMR 70+Vanilla with Fat Free Sugar Free Vanilla Jello Pudding is wonderful (you can always spoon it over fruit later). Also HMR 70+ Vanilla mixed with HMR 70+ Chocolate and Fat Free Sugar Free Butterscotch Jello... try 2:1 or 2:2 for more or less chocolate...
There are an endless variety of flavors you can achieve with extracts and Jello flavorings and spice. But most of all, HMR 70+ Pudding is your best defense against high calorie snacking. It will be there when you need it to keep running for the goal!
Posted by Alicia Leeds on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 @ 02:38 PM
Seems simple, really. And, if I had to pick one statement that would sum up years of clinical work as an HMR Health Educator it would be, "If it's there, you will eat it".
Had a couple of conversations with clients today. One was with a client who was struggling with her weight management this week because she had been eating too much candy. Candy is her downfall and occasionally she picks up a couple of bags of candy, brings it home, and then has trouble managing her calories because she eats the candy until it's gone. It might take a few days - and, if she's in a rut, she heads to the store for another bag to replace the one she's finished. We have worked on the candy eating for a long time.
In January she made a resolution to not buy bags of candy. She still ate candy occasionally, but she kept her not buying resolution for about 8 weeks and throughout that time she didn't gain any weight as a result of eating too much candy.
Another client had a breakthrough today - he actually lost weight while visiting his family for four days. Usually these visits are the perfect storm for overeating and underexercising - so he comes home discouraged, crabby and sluggish, usually having gained a pound or two. Family visits can be emotional, and he has blamed the emotional stress with his family for his struggle with his weight in the past.
"Wow! Great Job this week", I said - "What was different about this visit?"
"Well, the cabinets were empty when I got there, so I went out and bought fruits and veggies. Also, the dog was restless so I took her out about six times a day. One night we ordered chicken and steamed veggies form the Chinese Place, and my sister has been doing Weight Watchers so she didn't bring along her famous baked goods."
Which brings me to the logical negative of ,"If it's there you'll eat it"... "IF IT'S NOT THERE YOU CAN'T EAT IT!"
Client #1 eats candy because it is there. Client #2 stayed on track this week because the foods that he typically eats with his family were not there.
Dr. Kessler, former head of the FDA, has written a new book called, "The End of Overeating". One of his main messages is that overeating is not due to an absence of willpower, but a biological challenge made more difficult by the overstimulating food environment that surrounds us.
Control your environment if you want to succeed at weight management! Work on accepting the "If it's there...If it's not there..." rule, (which means stop kidding yourself that you are buying the goodies for the kids...) and you will make the changes necessary to be more successful managing your weight!