December 2nd, 2008 — activities, exercise, healthy eating, hormones
For years, many people have labored under the impression that middle aged weight gain is inescapable. Middle aged spread as it is commonly called is usually accepted as just hormonal, especially for women, and many people don't take the steps that can actually prevent it. While there are some factors that can make you more likely to keep weight on during this period in your life, there is nothing that says you have to get fat. Here are some easy ways that you can avoid middle aged weight gain. Can you tell I have been reading too many health, diet, and fitness books? 
1. Avoid empty nester weight gain.
When most of us reach middle age, our kids are just going off to college. For parents this means that you'll no longer be running around, doing laundry, going up the stairs five million times a day or cleaning as much. This sudden drop in activity can lead to weight gain if you don't modify your diet. Try this simple technique to help you stay on track. Purchase a pedometer and wear it for one day. If you're not taking 10,000 steps or at least close to it, you're not getting enough exercise. By wearing that pedometer, you'll be able to see just how close you are to that goal and you'll be able to stave off the battle of the bulge.
2. Don't let your hormones get the best of you.
It is true that as women age their hormone levels start to go a little bonkers. Too much or too little estrogen can lead to weight gain that is hard to control. If you're on HRT some of the side effects may include gaining some weight. Don't be a passive victim! If you're finding that you can't eat like you used to, take action before it's too late. Change your eating habits and try to exercise more. While hormones do play a role in where we store weight, the old equation of calories in - calories burned still applies.
3. Address physical issues that may be holding you back.
It's perfectly normal to get a bit stiff and sore as we age. However, if you're finding that your activity levels are taking a hit due to pain, you need to do something about it. Talk to your doctor and see what they prescribe for typical joint pain and stiffness. In most cases, it will be an over the counter pain relief pill or cream that will help you stay active. You may also need to modify your exercise plan a bit or start one that will be more joint friendly. For example, instead of jogging, try water aerobics. You'll be doing a lot less harm to your joints.
Middle aged weight gain does not have to be inevitable and you don't need to sit around hoping for the best. By meeting the problem head on and addressing it properly, you'll be able to stay slim, toned and healthy throughout your middle ages and well into your golden years.
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November 28th, 2008 — healthy eating, motivation, trigger food
Starting a diet can be a momentous event and most of us going into it with the best intentions. We want to lose weight and we want to look and feel better, at least for the first few days. Three days in however, and you may be ready to completely chuck your diet so that you can go back to eating real food again.
There are a few keys that will help you avoid cheating on your diet. You can employ any number of them to assist, but remember, even if you do end up cheating a little, it's not the end of the world. Call it a day and start your diet again. It's only a problem if you give up and lose focus. Let's go over a few of these keys that will help you avoid cheating.
1. Don't start a deprivation diet.
Strict diets usually get fast results initially, but these are usually wiped out if you cave to intense cravings. If you know that you have a hard time giving up your favorite foods, don't doom yourself to failure by starting a deprivation diet. Instead, find ways to simply eat less of these foods. You won't end up feeling as though your cravings are controlling your life.
2. Allow yourself a little wiggle room.
You'll need to have pretty good discipline for this to work, but your diet will be much more successful if you allow yourself a little freedom here or there. If you simply must have ice cream, than allow yourself to have one small portion every few days. Just make sure you can keep it to that portion or you will have sabotaged yourself.
3. Set up rewards.
One of the best ways to avoid cheating on your diet is to set up a rewards system with your goals. Just make sure that the rewards are not food related. For example, once you reach your first five pounds lost, go get a manicure, or do something that you really enjoy. This helps keep you motivated, even when the going is tough. It gives you something else to focus on and makes it easier to stay focused.
4. Stop kicking yourself.
You can preprogram yourself to fail if you believe that you cannot do something. Instead of saying that you can never stick to a diet and always end up cheating, tell yourself that you can do this. When the going gets tough, keep repeating "I can do this." If you do it often enough, you'll start to believe it and you'll be able to make it a reality.
5. Avoid known problem areas.
If you have a hard time sticking to your diet when you go out with friends, it's time to evaluate your activities. Stay away from restaurants where you know it's going to be tough to stay on your diet. Give up going to the bar every week. You'll be able to see results in less time and you'll be able to avoid the traps that always derail you.
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November 25th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, diet, food, goals, moderation, motivation, water
The most wonderful time of the year is almost here, but for thousands of dieters, this is no time for joy. This is a time of dreading holiday parties, of adding ten pounds or more to their frames and generally being miserable. The holidays don’t have to be synonymous with weight gain, and if you make some smart choices, you’ll be able to get through them joyfully – and you may even end up losing weight, instead of gaining it.
The best plan of attack is to make a list of the common holiday foods that you cannot resist. Whether it’s brownies, fudge, cake or any other confection, write it down. Target your danger foods and start making plans to meet them head on. When you are prepared to face them, your chances of successfully avoiding them will be much better. This is war, and you’re going to need to know all that you can about your enemy.
Once you have your list, you’ll be able to work on a plan of attack. Focusing on what those treats may do to your waistline may not be enough when push comes to shove. It is all too easy to justify “just one” or “just ten” when you are in the thick of battle. If you don’t start planning for these battles ahead of time, you may lose your head.
For many dieters, one of the easiest ways to avoid eating these foods is by filling up on good foods before you get to a party. This makes it easy to say, “No thank you,” since you won’t be physically hungry. Don’t make the mistake of saving up your calories before one of these parties by skipping all of your meals that day. You’ll end up over indulging and chances are, you may eat more than enough to last you all week.
Water is also a helpful friend when it comes to holiday parties. Not only are you faced with high calories treats, but mixed drinks can also pack a strong caloric punch. Stick with your water through the night and you’ll find it much easier to avoid falling prey to those foods later on.
Being on a diet doesn’t have to mean that you are a Debbie or a Daniel Downer at events. Nobody enjoys hanging around someone that is making pie eyes at the pies or griping about how much they want to eat the food but can’t. Instead of getting into this negative mindset, focus on what is really important and leave the food where it belongs – on the table.
Once you’re armed with the right game plan, getting through holiday parties and staying on your diet will be a breeze. If you happen to lose a battle and indulge on one treat, that doesn’t mean you have to lose the war by spending the rest of the night making up for lost time. Stick to your plan and remember that you can get through this!
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November 24th, 2008 — diet, exercise, goals, motivation, weight loss
The road to wellness is paved with potholes for many people and dieting mistakes are rampant. However, if you pay attention to the warning signs as you travel down that road you will know when to swerve and when to look out for danger spots. Here are the most common dieting mistakes that are waiting to derail your progress.
1. Allowing yourself to cheat.
We all get tripped up by this one. After all, what is a piece of cake in the grander scheme of life, right? Well, if that one piece of cake is the trigger that will throw you off of your diet, it should be avoided. We all have trigger foods that start the avalanche of other foods we shouldn’t eat. If you are aware of the foods that you simply cannot resist, get rid of them now and do your best to stay away from them. It won’t be easy, but in time, you’ll be able to overpower them.
This also works for exercise. How many times have you put off going to the gym one day, and then had that one day turn into a week, a month or a year? If you honestly can’t make it to the gym, that’s one thing. If you are justifying not going, that is something completely different. It’s going to take discipline to reach your goals and now is the best time to start working on that.
2. Justifying anything and everything.
It is only human nature to make excuses and justify eating the things that we enjoy. However, if the foods you enjoy are killing you (albeit slowly) it is not an option to justify them. Learn all that you can about nutrition and the foods you are eating. Once you know that your plate of fettuccini may send you to an early grave, you may rethink eating it.
3. Starving yourself.
This is by far the most common mistake and it’s responsible for thousands of diets failing every year. Starvation diets are not smart, and in fact, they may be dangerous. You may see some short term results, but in the long run, you are only damaging your metabolism and creating an unhealthy relationship with food. The best diets are the ones that limit calories the smart way, leaving you satisfied and giving your body enough fuel to function properly.
4. Putting off until tomorrow what you could get done today.
This old cliché certainly applies to dieting. How many times have you said, “My diet starts tomorrow?” Instead of putting it off, start right now – this second even. A diet is more than limiting the foods you eat. A good diet involves changing your mindset, your lifestyle and the way you view food.
Now that you are prepared to face these potholes, you’ll know how to combat them when they loom before you. A diet is a journey that may have a few setbacks, but if you keep on moving forward, you will be successful.
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November 18th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, healthy eating, motivation, weight loss
It is common knowledge that making lifestyle changes can have a big impact on how much weight you lose and your chances of keeping it off over the long term. What isn’t as clear is how to effect those changes, especially if you are trying to lose weight on your own. Lifestyle changes are vital, but if you don’t know where to start, they can be a little difficult to accomplish. However, by learning how to make small lifestyle changes now, you can get that foundation you need to start working towards permanent weight loss. Let’s look at just a few ways that you can make lifestyle changes, starting today.
First, you’ll need to figure out where you want to start. Whether it’s eating healthy, getting more exercise, or quitting bad habits, pick one area to focus on first. This will help you avoid getting overwhelmed and you can always add new lifestyle changes in once you master the first one. For many of us, it’s that first step that is the hardest, so pick a lifestyle change that you can easily stick to.
Once you have this decided, figure out how you are going to implement it. It sounds a bit analytical, but if you break everything down into easy to follow steps, those changes will not be as difficult to make. For example, let’s say that your first lifestyle change is to cut processed foods from your diet. You can start small, so that you don’t find yourself missing these meals, and gradually increase the amount of foods that you are cutting from your diet.
Stop eating out once a week, or put away that can of green beans and make some that are fresh. Each day, try to find new ways to cut that processed food out of your life and before you know it, you’ll be completely free. It doesn’t take very long to get to this point, once you get past that first step. Other examples would include walking around the block once a night, then gradually increasing that to twice, and before you know it, you’ll be doing ten laps in no time at all.
Lifestyle changes sound hard and they sound complicated. But, if you can change that mindset and find a way to make little changes, they will add up to big changes later on. Don’t let the specter of changing your entire way of life weigh you down and keep you from taking that first step. Find a way to start small and build up your efforts. This is probably the easiest way that you can start making changes right now – and keep making changes as you progress.
The key to lifestyle changes is knowing what you need to do, finding a way to implement that and sticking to it. By starting small, you’ll be much more likely to be able to stick to your plans and implementing them will be much less stressful.
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November 13th, 2008 — carbohydrates, fats, goals, healthy eating, proteins, sugar
By far, the most common reason that diets fail is due to the fact that people simply feel too deprived and they lose sight of their goals. While we all want to lose weight and feel better, the siren call of our favorite foods can be so powerful that we abandon these dreams and cave to our cravings. However, there are a few techniques that you can use to ensure that you'll be able to resist these calls and keep your diet on track.
The first key is to select a diet that contains the right balance of fats, proteins and carbs. Your body needs to have fuel to live and if you're depriving it of this necessary balance you're not only going to feel awful, but your body is going to start issuing some pretty strong demands. For example, if you attempt to completely cut sugar out of your life, your body, which has grown accustomed to this balance over the years is going to rebel.
This means that after a few days you may be so overwhelmed with cravings for sugar that you simply cannot help yourself. You can learn a very good lesson from a phenomenon that occurs when people adapt strict eating plans, such as fruitarianism. This is a type of vegetarianism where only fruit can be consumed. Over the first few weeks, most people who adopt this diet go through a period where they become so depleted and their bodies get so insistent that they binge without even realizing it.
The second key is to learn from these mistakes and adopt a natural regimen that will slowly train your body to accept your new food choices. Rome wasn't built in a day and you're not going to be able to suddenly start eating healthy and expect everything to go smoothly. You've got to take that time to retrain your body so that you can avoid falling off the wagon.
Let's use the example of giving up sugar soda entirely. This is a very easy way to instantly carve off ten pounds or more (or 300+ calories for 12oz if you dislike hyperbole), but it is very difficult to do. Instead of going cold turkey, start a gradual reduction. Cut back by one soda a day for the first week, then two sodas a day, until you get to the point where you are no longer drinking it. By slowing modifying your intake, your body has time to adjust and your cravings will not be so intense.
A commitment to weight loss requires more than just a week or too. It may take months or even years to achieve your goals. By taking it slow and listening to what your body needs, you can be assured that six months from now, you'll still be on track for your weight loss goals instead of being back where you started.
Losing weight is not easy, but you don't need to make it harder on yourself. Take the time that it takes and set realistic goals.
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November 7th, 2008 — Book Review
With a title this long, the book is bound to be either very interesting or full of hype. We found it was somewhere in between. While there is some good information in there, it didn’t quite make it to the level it could have. Despite all of the proven evidence to back up the author’s claims, it’s just difficult to get behind a book that relies totally on blaming hormones for fat, and avoids the question of the need to exercise.
That said, the book does a great job of bringing the topic of estrogen dominance to the forefront. This has been studied at length and many claim that having too much estrogen, both in men and women, leads to accumulating excess fat around your middle. As we age, this becomes an even bigger problem, and since stomach fat is the worst in many doctor’s eyes, it puts us at risk for many health problems down the road.
The author claims that as we age, we reach a point where our levels of progesterone decrease, and estrogen decreases. This leads to a natural accumulation of fat around the midsection. In order to stop that, the doctor recommends eating specific foods that will supposedly block estrogen and supplementing with more progesterone. This was probably our biggest concern with the book.
Progesterone creams are widely available and you don’t need a prescription. The bad news is, there is little regulation and many of the creams are not reliable when it comes to providing a reliable dose. You may get a small amount of progesterone one day, and a whopping big dose the next day.
If you are interested in supplementing progesterone in your diet, it is vital to speak with your doctor about it. There are health risks that come from getting too much of this hormone and you should never self medicate. While there is scientific data to back up the fact that increasing progesterone levels, decreasing estrogen levels and eating the right foods can help you lose weight, you should never attempt this without the help of a qualified physician. They can prescribe actual medicine that will have a verifiable dose of progesterone instead of the hit or miss amounts found in OTC creams.
We can’t wholeheartedly recommend the book, due to the lack of exercise advice and the concern over progesterone, but it is still worth the read. Just remember that there is no replacement for a healthy exercise plan. While you probably can lose some weight following the diet advice in the book, in order to get long term weight loss, lifestyle changes and a solid exercise plan are still much more reliable. The book does however raise some very good points and we found it to be well written.
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November 5th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, alternative ideas, food, goals, healthy eating, wellness
For many dieters, the biggest problem they face isn’t necessarily their own lifestyle change, but rather the fact that the people around them refuse to go along with the idea. It can be nearly impossible to focus on eating the right way when you eat out or are sitting across from other people that are relishing the food you can’t have. This is a frustrating issue that kills many diets, but it doesn’t have to. Here are some great tips to stay the course even when your own family won’t help you.
First, you may want to consider eating in another room.
It sounds horribly anti social, but if sitting in the living room will keep you from going off your diet, it is worth it. This works in two ways. First, you are giving yourself the help you need to keep eating the food you need to be eating. Second, by depriving your family of your companionship at meals, they’ll start to question their decision to eat the foods you can’t.
This kind of psychological ploy can actually work quite well, but it may take a week or two to have the full effect. When your family sees that you are committed enough to your diet to avoid them, they may start to question their own food choices. As a result, they may even decide to join you in the diet.
Next, you can try running through a list of the nasty diseases and problems that can occur by eating that food and keeping them at the forefront of your mind.
It’s a lot harder to drool over a cheeseburger when you’re thinking about what that cheese can do to your arteries. This technique will be most effective if you are truly committed to losing weight for the sake of your health, not just your appearance.
It may be impossible to get your family to switch their eating habits at first, but with time, if you can stick with it, you’ll be benefiting everyone. They’ll notice your increased energy and how good you look, and they may start to think twice about what they are putting into their own bodies. Again, it takes time, but you should start to see them get a little more interested in healthy food, a little bit at a time.
One word of caution. No one likes a food nazi!
If you are eating right, and your family isn’t there is no need to lord it over them. Simply state your case, stick to your diet and let your actions, your state of mind and your improved health do the talking. Everyone needs to find their own lifestyle changes on their own, and beating them up for food choices may backfire.
It’s not easy when you are trying to go it alone, but there are steps you can take to make sure that you do stick to your diet. Try to find at least one friend that supports you to make your journey easier.
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October 27th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, diet, food, healthy eating
It is a common practice, and many of us are guilty of it. We forgo eating all day long, because we know we’ll be eating out that night, or that there is a special event coming later in the day and we want to be able to eat whatever we want. However, is this type of planning actually derailing your diet? Let’s take a look at just a few reasons why this mindset is not healthy, and may actually be counterproductive.
1. You’ll end up eating more.
If you don’t eat all day, and are suddenly faced with plenty of food, it is all too easy to eat way more than your recommended amount of calories, and worse, you may never even realize how many calories you’ve had. Remember, 3500 extra calories equals one pound of fat. At some special events or dinners, it is all too easy to get more than 3500 calories on a single night.
Because you went hungry all day, your body’s blood sugar levels are off. This can also cause you to eat more, simply to get regulated. There is no point in starving yourself for a day, and then try to make up for it at night, it’s just too rough on your body.
2. It puts you in the wrong mindset.
Right off the bat, you’re preparing to cheat, and in a big way. Many people feel that it is all right to have that big dinner, especially if they didn’t have any calories all day. But once again, we go back to the point that you do end up eating more, usually much more than you intended.
By sticking with that “it’s ok to cheat” mindset, you may be hampering your future progress on your diet. If you’re not making those lifestyle changes that will stick with you, the chances of future success and being able to keep your weight off do decline dramatically.
3. You can end up in a bad cycle.
Once your body gets used to fasting during the day, and eating whatever you want at night, it’s all too easy to get into a bad cycle. You may find that you’re tempted to do this more than once, and before you know it, you’re back to making excuses and falling into the wrong mindset. A diet is much more than food control, it’s also about being able to control your mind, and your food cravings.
By allowing yourself this much wiggle room, and setting yourself up for behaviors that are hard to change, you’re making your diet needlessly complicated, and chances are, over time, you’ll be disappointed with your results.
Instead of fasting all day, even when you have a special event coming up, eat as you normally would. You may even want to have a healthy snack before you go. Your blood sugar won’t be sending off signals that will make you want to eat everything in sight and you’ll end up being able to successfully avoid even the dessert tray. A way to fight eating too little during the day is eating many small meals during the day.
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October 3rd, 2008 — Book Review, calories, carbohydrates
Good Calories, Bad Calories took the author five years to write, and it contains some groundbreaking information that will undoubtedly be the cause of much controversy. Whether or not you agree with Taubes assertions, the book is certainly well worth the read and it is obvious that he did put a lot of research into it as well as time.
The main assertion of the book is that we become fat due in a large part to the types of calories that we eat. By focusing on good calories and cutting out the bad calories in our lives, Taubes insists that it is much easier to lose weight and stay healthy. He is against, for an example, carbohydrates, stating that due to the fact they raise insulin levels, they make it impossible to lose weight. There is a lot of strong science to back that up, and to the author’s credit, he does mention good carbs.
Our main issue with the book was the author’s stance on exercise. He maintains that exercise can actually help you gain weight instead of losing it. The basic premise here is that because you are doing more, you are hungrier and will eat more. Again, it sounds good on paper, but there are many other reasons and scientific assertions that back up the fact that exercise is vital. Granted, it can make you hungrier, but if you are eating the right foods and making sure to fuel up before and after exercise, this can be prevented.
It’s difficult to wholeheartedly recommend a book that is so anti-exercise. While there is a lot of truth to what Taubes says, at the end of the day, there is no substitute for adding a healthy workout plan to your diet. With care, you can avoid falling into the trap of eating too much after exercising, and it just makes sense that burning calories will help you lose weight.
That said, the book is still a fascinating read, if for no other reason than it discusses the different types of foods that can actually promote weight loss, while bringing up the foods that you should avoid. Beginning dieters may be thrown off track by some of the advice however, but those interested in learning more about nutrition, or those that are well versed in dieting would be able to get quite a lot out of this book.
It has some flaws, but it is still an interesting take on the whole diet equation. If for no other reason, the book has value in that it exposes a lot of the diet industry foibles and poor research that is rampant in the industry. Read it if you’re looking for more information on health in general, or how to eat right, but don’t take it as gospel when it comes to finding an effective way to lose weight. If for nothing else, you’ll be able to learn a lot about the food you eat.
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