Tag: healthy-eating

February is here and with its arrival comes the opportunity to evaluate the success of health-related resolutions. If you’ve resolved to lose weight in 2012, and find yourself struggling, here are three tips to set you back on track.

Start a Food Diary

One of the tips you hear most often to help you change your nutritional lifestyle is to start a food diary. But what does that mean really? And why is it helpful?  Won’t it be depressing to see everything you’ve eaten? 

Allow me to de-mystify it for you. Here’s why you need to keep one:

1. You become accountable for what you are putting in your mouth. I don’t ask my clients to write a food diary just to yell at them about everything “bad” they ate.  It’s not about “bad” and “good.”  It’s being honest about what you’re eating and seeing where you can make small changes in your everyday nutrition that will add up big at the end of the month and year. 

2. You recognize emotional triggers or habits that you’ve created.  I like to see why my clients are eating what they are eating.  This may sound silly but we don’t always eat for energy.  Maybe we snack in front of the TV at night or always order dessert when we have lunch with our mom.  These are habits and triggers that affect our better judgment when it comes to nutrition.

3. You realize why you are starving  before dinner and snack on chips while you cook.  It’s important to note what time you wake, eat, and go to bed.  How soon you eat breakfast, how often you eat, and when your last meal is before you snooze are important.  If you wait too long to eat your next meal you’ll be starving and end up snacking on an entire meal before you sit down for dinner.  Or you’ll stop at a fast food drive thru. Both habits are not good.

Here’s an example of a thorough food diary:

7:30 a.m. – Woke up

8 a.m. – 1 apple, 2 tbsp. peanut butter, 1 glass water, 1 cup coffee w/1 tbsp. cream (breakfast, hungry)

10 a.m. – 1 Kashi bar and water (140 calories) (a little hungry before workout)

12 p.m. – sandwich w/2 slices of 35 cal bread, low-fat mayo and reduced sodium turkey lunchmeat (3oz.), 1 serving fat-free pretzels and ¼ cup hummus, water (lunch, hungry)

12:30 p.m. – 8 Hershey kisses, water (needed chocolate )

2 p.m. – 1 cup grapes, 2 slices provolone cheese, water (snack, hungry)

3 p.m. – 1 apple, small bottle Coke Zero (hungry)

5 p.m. – spinach salad w/craisins, blue cheese, mushrooms, candied walnuts & balsamic dressing, water (starving, had to go to Whole Foods)

8 p.m. – one glass red wine, one small 96% lean hamburger w/o bun, one handful M&M’s (wanted wine and chocolate, hubby made dinner)

10 p.m. – bed

This was my food diary for a day and I was totally honest!  Times, exactly what I ate, why I ate what I did, and when I went to bed.  So try one for a week, even better two weeks, and see how you do.

Include a Fruit or Vegetable in Every Meal and Snack

These pure and clean foods add more vitamins and minerals with the least amount of calories than any other food. With all of the fiber, water and nutrients that occur naturally in fruits and veggies, you’ll feel fuller longer and will have better health overall.  Pair them with lean protein for a well rounded meal or snack.  Apples and peanut butter, pears and walnuts, broccoli and low-fat cheese, or baked potatoes and salsa all add up to feeling satisfied without a ton of fat and calories.

Pay Attention to the Calories You Drink

The calories in fancy coffees, pop, juice, protein shakes, smoothies, and alcohol are all included in your calorie total at the end of the day.  You can eat great, sticking within your calorie limit, but a Starbucks frappucino and two glasses of wine can add over 350 calories to your total. Over a week’s time, that’s ¾ of a pound.  In a month’s time you have almost three pounds!  Yikes! 

So stick with water, black coffee and tea, and diet drinks, and count those special drinks as a meal to stay on track.

Which of these tips has worked best for you?

Do you have a dress or suit you want to fit into this weekend?  Are you sick of that bloated feeling? 

With some easy changes to your every day diet, you can lose those last few stubborn pounds.

Jenny Maloney, Registered Dietitian at Midtown Chicago,  shares her expertise.

Eat Small, Frequent Meals

Instead of two or three large meals, eat smaller portions throughout the day to keep your metabolism working. This will allow you to burn more calories. 

Focus on Portion Control

Try to eat no larger than about a fist-size of each type of food on your plate. 

Choose Natural Fiber

Enjoy fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and avoid sugar and white flour. When presented with a choice in grains, opt for the whole grain version, such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, beans, oatmeal, whole grain cereal, and whole grain crackers.  Fiber takes longer for your body to break down and will keep you satiated until your next meal or snack. 

Cut Out Processed Foods

Not only does processing take out the nutrients from many nutrient-rich foods, they often contain hidden sugar, salt, and fat. Try for all fresh foods instead. 

Limit Your Sodium Intake

Reducing sodium will eliminate bloating.  Sodium is found in most processed foods. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables cuts down on your salt intake.  Salt dehydrates and causes our body to retain water, giving you that bloated feeling.  Drink more water and less diet sodas and coffee, as these drinks dehydrate you. 

By following these nutrition tips, you’ll eat healthier, which can decrease bloating, give you more energy, and hopefully lose that extra water weight gained by eating heavy food and processed food.

When are you getting started?

Jenny Maloney is a Registered Dietician and NASM- and ACE-certified personal trainer for Midtown. An expert in improving health and fitness through proper nutrition, Jenny shares tips for eating wisely this holiday season.

Most people gain weight during the holidays.  If you don’t lose the added weight, you could gain 25-50 pounds in five years!  This weight gain is mainly due to the high-calorie, high-fat foods that traditionally go along with holiday meals — and too much of it. 

Why not try to make healthy and smart choices that will help you to maintain or even lose weight?

Here are some tips to keep weight gain to a minimum while still enjoying yourself this season:

• Look at all your options before making your final food choices; make sure all the calories you consume are worth it.
• Grab a small plate or even a napkin to prevent you from overeating
• Always put veggies on your plate if they’re available
• Eat a portion-controlled plate; you can always go back for seconds if you are still hungry
• Eat slowly
• Don’t starve yourself the day of the event; eat healthfully throughout the day so you don’t make bad choices
• Watch the alcohol consumption; 1 glass of wine or 1 beer can add an extra 120-150 calories to your total calorie intake for the day
• Exercise on the day of the event so you burn some extra calories
• When you are home, use measuring cups and tablespoons to portion out your foods; if you are out, use real life objects to figure out the right portions
  • 3 oz=deck of playing cards
  • 1 cup=fist or baseball
  • ½ cup=1/2 tennis ball
  • 1 teaspoon=1 dice
  • 2 tablespoons=1 whole walnut

What’s your tip for enjoying the holidays without overindulging?

It’s 2pm and you are three hours away from being done with your work day. 

If you’re hungry, low in energy, or feeling lethargic from a heavy lunch, then a healthy afternoon snack can give you that extra energy to finish your work day and avoid overeating at dinner. 

Snacking has had a bad rep in the past because the word “snack” conjures up images of  chips or candy bars. 

However, snacks can and should be healthy and one of the most important parts of your day. 

When choosing a snack, try to include carbohydrates, protein, and fat.  The carbohydrates will give you immediate energy while the protein and fat will satiate you.  Aim for about 100-to-200-calorie snacks to give just the right amount of energy without making you feel too full. 

Snacks are a good way to add more nutrients to your diet as well.  Fruits and veggies are hard to fit in throughout the day so incorporate them into your snacks. 

Here are some healthy, 200-calories-or-fewer snack ideas from Midtown’s own Registered Dietician, Jenny Maloney: 

• An apple with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
• 4-6 oz. yogurt with ½ cup berries
• light string cheese and an orange
• handful of trail mix (nuts, dried fruit, and dark chocolate chips)
• ¼ cup hummus with raw carrots
• ¼ avocado, tomato slices, and 4 whole wheat crackers

What’s your healthy go-to mid-day snack?

There is depressing news from the CDC this week. From 2007 to 2009, 2.4 million more people became obese. This means that 72.5 million Americans, or 26.7 percent of the population, now have this dangerous and costly medical condition.

In addition, nine states (concentrated in the South and Midwest) now have an obesity rate of 30% or more, as compared with just three states in 2005.

And then there are the results of the Nurses Health Study, which came out at the end of June. 18,000 women in their 30s and 40s answered questions about their medical, exercise, and living habits, and it was found that women gain an average of 20 pounds over 16 years, but that those who bike or walk briskly were able to better control their weight.

Doctors blame the usual suspects:

• Not enough exercise
• Poor food choices
• Lack of education about healthy living

Image courtesy of Super-Beader

I happen to think these startling obesity and weight-gain statistics can also find their causes in the recession.

Unhealthy food is cheaper than good food. McDonald’s “restaurants” are popping up in low-income neighborhoods across the country.

And with regard to the weight gain in women over a 16-year period spanning the study participants’ 30s and 40s, it’s no secret that this is the time when many women are getting married and more susceptible to the so-called “love chub.” Women in this age group are also busy raising young children.

Finding time to exercise and eat correctly while knee-deep in diapers and preschooler tantrums is no small feat.

But as someone who has spent years trying to convince a certain loved one that a healthy lifestyle change is needed, I can honestly say that when all things (education, socio-economic status, and physiological makeup) are equal, it basically comes down to one thing.

You have to want it.

I think a lot of Americans are simply okay with being overweight. They don’t exercise. They don’t belong to a gym. They choose to eat garbage food regularly. In many ways, they’ve just made a conscious choice not to make their health a priority.

But then their bodies begin to fail. They develop Type 2 diabetes or sleep apnia. They have strokes and heart attacks. Their doctors tell them that their behaviors are shaving years off their lifespan.

It’s only then that they begin to make the changes necessary to save themselves.

Don’t get me wrong. These people deserve credit too. It is hard work to lose weight. Hard when you have 10 pounds to lose. Even harder when you have 50 or more pounds that must come off. Choosing to take control of one’s life, even after health problems have surfaced, shows a willingness to stop the cycle that’s created the deterioration in the first place.

I know it’s not as simple as putting down the fork and picking up the free weights. I know mitigating factors make it supremely difficult for some people to get healthy.

Image courtesy of AnandaBlue

But I believe in many cases, it’s the drive that’s missing.

It’s the drive that motivates the athlete in marathon training to rise at 6am and run long for three hours. It’s the determination of the college student to take group exercise classes to look fabulous in her bridesmaid gown at her sister’s wedding. It’s the desire of the beer-and-chips-loving dad to drive himself to the gym after work so he can see his youngest child graduate from college.

And unfortunately, the way I see it, too few Americans have it.

I would love to know why.

What do you think about the latest obesity findings? Besides the usual culprits of poor diet, lack of exercise, and limited food education, why do you think Americans are so unhealthy?

I have a confession.

I used to order the Chicken Crispers meal at Chili’s on a regular basis.

Before we had children, my husband and I would eat out frequently. Chili’s was a favorite of ours, and given that my eating habits were once more like that of a five-year-old than the 20-something I was before I started running and eating more healthfully, chicken fingers were always a draw.

In case you’re not familiar with this “entree” at Chili’s, allow me to describe it for you: questionable chicken parts are  liberally coated with bread crumbs and then deep-fried in hot oil and placed atop a heaping helping of seasoned French fries. Half an ear of corn accompanies the dish, but blech, corn is a vegetable, so I never touched it.

I stopped eating Chicken Crispers over seven years ago, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t have eaten them at all had I known exactly how many calories, how much fat, and how many carbs were in the meal. A few year’s back, while doing research for an article on unhealthy restaurant meals, I came across this article in Men’s Health, which listed the Chicken Crispers meal as one of the “20 Worst Foods in America.”

2,040 calories

99 grams of fat

240 grams of carbs

(Incidentally, Men’s Health also named Chili’s “Pepper Pals Country-Fried Chicken Crispers with Ranch Dressing and Homestyle Fries” as their Worst Kids Meal of 2009: 1,110 calories, 82 grams of fat, and 56 grams of carbohydrates. To give you an idea of just how nutritionally unsound this meal is, the average preschooler needs between 1,200 and 1,600 calories a day. )

If I hadn’t been doing research, however, I never would have known exactly how unhealthy a meal I was actually eating. Of course, I had no delusions that my Chicken Crispers meal equated to an organic red leaf lettuce salad with sliced free-range, grass-fed chicken, but I can honestly say that if I had seen the nutritional information printed beside the meal on the Chili’s menu, I would have chosen something else.

And now, thanks to the new health reform law, it seems that we’ll actually have this information available to us when we dine out.

According to this article, chain restaurants with more than 20 outlets must print calorie counts on their menus, along with the recommended number of calories a person should take in each day. Vending machines will have calorie counts posted too.

Research done in test cities (New York and Seattle) has shown that menu labeling works in helping people make smarter choices when eating in restaurants. And that’s a good thing, considering the growing obesity problem we have in this country.

What do you think about menu labeling? Would it make you think twice before ordering a high-calorie meal, or do you think that any attempt to change health-related behavior in the U.S. is an impossibility?