Tag: nutrition

March is National Nutrition Month, and today is Registered Dietitian Day, which was created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to increase the awareness of registered dietitians as indispensable providers of food and nutrition services and to recognize them for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives.

To celebrate, Midtown Athletic Club in Rochester Nutritionist Sarah Guilbert is back to talk about how to properly fuel up for your workout, and what you should eat post-workout as well.

The Importance of Snack Planning

Pre-workout nutrition is important for ensuring that you have adequate energy stores (through carbohydrates) to fuel your workout. Consuming a moderate amount of protein  before your workout is thought to increase muscle mass and strength performance.

Post-workout nutrition is important for repleting your carbohydrate stores (glycogen) in your muscles,  repairing muscle damage, and helping to synthesize muscle mass through protein.

How Much Do I Need?

The number of carbohydrates that you’ll need will vary slightly depending on whether you are trying to lose/maintain weight (30g carbs/10-15g protein) or build more mass (40-50g carbs/15g protein). If you have a long workout day, try to get slightly higher carbohydrate repletion so that your glycogen stores are refueled optimally for the next workout.

Timing and Delivery

Pre-workout snacks should be eaten 30-60 minutes before you begin exercising.  Post-workout recovery eating is optimal within 30 minutes of exercise completion.  Note that liquid nutrition will get into your muscles faster than solid food because solid food has to be broken down more and has a longer transit time through the GI tract.

Which Type of Protein is Best?

Whey protein is quickly absorbed by muscles and has also been shown to have a greater effect on stimulating muscle protein synthesis than casein and soy.  However, slower-absorbed proteins do have their benefits for providing repletion to muscles for a longer period of time after a workout.

Snack Ideas

Here are some appropriate pre- and post-workout snack options, whether you like to add protein to your shakes, have cottage cheese and fruit, or go old-school with skim milk and fruit smoothie.  Try one and let us know what you think!

Strawberry protein shake

12 oz skim milk

1 cup strawberries

1 cup ice

177 calories, 13g protein, 30g carbs

Tropical fruit smoothie

4 oz vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup mixed tropical fruit (frozen)

4 oz vanilla almond milk

½ cup ice

195 calories, 10g protein, 38g carbs

Chunky Monkey*

½ large banana

8 oz chocolate soymilk

1 T peanut butter

1 cup ice

276 calories, 10g protein, 38g carbs

Berry Vanilla Smoothie

¾ cup blueberries

¾ cup blackberries

4 oz light vanilla soymilk

½ scoop vanilla protein powder

1 cup ice

193 calories, 15g protein, 34g carbs

6 oz flavored fat-free Greek yogurt + ½ banana

201 calories, 15g protein, 36g carbs

6 oz vanilla yogurt + ¼ cup granola

228 calories, 11g protein, 39g carbs

4 oz 1% cottage cheese + 1 cup mango

187 calories, 15g protein, 32g carbs

1/4 cup egg whites + 2 slices toast

187 calories, 12g protein, 30g carbs

*The fat in peanut butter will delay gastric emptying and may cause GI distress if you have a sensitive stomach.  This one is better to have post-workout.

References: Kleiner, S and Greenwood-Robinson, M.  Power Eating (3^rd Edition).  Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2006. Stuart M. Phillips & Luc J.C. Van Loon (2011): Dietary protein for athletes: From requirements to optimum adaptation. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29:sup1, S29-S38. Retrieved on March 11, 2013, from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02640414.2011.619204

If you spent the weeks leading up to the summer season getting “swimsuit-ready” only to realize that mid-way through the summer, you’ve put on a few pounds, you’re not alone. Experts agree that summer weight gain is common among both adults and children.

Check out some easy ways to avoid the pitfalls, so you can stay healthy, fit, and ready to put on those skinny jeans this fall.

1. Plan Meals and Snacks.

Summer’s laid-back feel and variable schedule can derail your motivation and ability to plan and prepare healthy meals and snacks. However, maintaining a healthy menu and eating schedule over the summer is key to controlling  your weight.

Schedule time during your day to shop for and prepare healthy foods. This might actually help you feel less stressed, because both your mind and body will appreciate a nutritious energy boost.

Courtesy of katrinalantznovelist.blogspot.com

2. Watch What You Eat at Summer Parties.

From your son’s graduation celebration, to your cousin’s wedding, to the family backyard BBQ, summer calendars are packed with events that include an unlimited amount of fatty, sugary foods.

To avoid overindulging, focus on catching up with family and friends. Don’t overload your plate, and avoid going back for seconds and thirds. You will have more time for conversation and ready to take on the next activity!

3. Limit Summer Treats.

It’s perfectly healthy to enjoy an ice cream cone once a week, but if that cone is accompanied by a frappuccino here and a margarita there (even one made from our healthy recipe), the extra calories can add up quickly. Less obvious, or seemingly “healthier” options, such as frozen yogurt, lemonade or Gatorade, and light beer, can also lead to weight gain.

With a little willpower and planning, you can decide for yourself when it’s okay to enjoy a refreshing summer treat, and when to say, “I’ll try it next time!”

4. Maintain Your Exercise Routine.

When regular schedules are thrown out of the window, as they often are during the summer, it’s easy to let your daily trip to the gym fall by the wayside. Staying active with regular exercise will ward off extra pounds and preserve your fitness.

Summer is a great time to enjoy a wide variety of fitness activities – from the pool, tennis court, and golf course, to regular classes and exercise equipment at the gym. The bonus? You can do many of these activities with friends and family who need to exercise too!

5. Have a Goal.

Spending the hot summer months inside a cool, air-conditioned house, moving from the couch to the computer with stops at the fridge in between is a quick way to gain weight. Avoid falling into this rut by aiming for specific goals.

Combine physical goals, such as training for a summer 5K or learning a new sport, with activity-based goals, such as volunteering, working a summer job, or taking a class. Keeping goals in mind may just be the motivation you need to stay energized, healthy, and slim this season.

What strategies keep you and your family healthy over the summer?

As the obesity epidemic grows in scope, so too does the “blame game.” Lack of exercise, over-consumption of food, sedentary work environments, lifestyle choices, biological predispositions, genes…the list of possible culprits for America’s fatness goes on.

Fast food is a common target. Earlier this month, an advocacy group launched a campaign petitioning 26 hospitals across the country to remove a major fast food restaurant from their cafeterias with the aim of sending a “better message” to consumers.

Some of the reasoning behind the group’s initiative comes from a 2006 study published in the journal Pediatrics that concluded that allowing fast food centers to operate in hospitals not only affects guests’ consumption of fast food on the day of their visit, but also unintentionally boosts the perception of the “healthfulness” of fast food in general. Here’s more research that supports the initiative:

• The prevalence of obesity-related diseases has risen sharply over the past thirty years, and the number of fast food restaurants in America has more than doubled over the same period (The National Bureau of Economic Research).
• Studies have shown that “consumption of fast food among children in the US seems to have an adverse effect on dietary quality in ways that plausibly could increase risk for obesity.”
• Studies have shown that increased proximity to fast food restaurants is linked to an increase in obesity.

Courtesy of wagnerfpa.wordpress.com.

So being near to fast food increases the likelihood of obesity, but will removing fast food from hospitals (and other institutions and neighborhoods) help solve the problem?

Consider this:

• The New York Times recently reported that studies have shown that “there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among its children and adolescents.”
• Restrictive “diets” and the “diet mentality” in general do not lead to long-term effective weight-loss. What does work, according to a recent study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, is eating less fat, exercising more, using prescription weight loss medications, or participating in commercial weight loss programs.
• Calling for removal of fast food from hospitals sends the message that fast food restaurants are “bad” and can be blamed for obesity, lessening personal responsibility for our own health.

Blaming fast food restaurants for obesity can place us on a slippery slope.  Should we remove buses from our streets to force people to choose the less convenient, but “healthier” walking or biking options?  After all, sitting for long periods of time is correlated with obesity, and most adults do not get the recommended level of exercise.

Similarly, while we should limit consumption of fast food, we can’t eliminate it from the American diet as long as there is a demand for convenient, inexpensive, and (arguably) tasty food.  We need to improve health through education and develop incentives that encourage healthy lifestyle decisions, proper nutrition, and exercise.

Perhaps a partnership between hospitals and Weight Watchers (or other proven commercial weight loss programs), or the establishment of walking groups or active events within hospital walls, could promote lasting change.

We won’t make any progress in the fight against obesity by playing the blame game at the expense of taking responsibility for our health into our own hands.

Courtesy of www.topnews.in.

What do you think? Will restricting fast food lead to a decrease in obesity? How can we as individuals, families, and institutions promote a healthier America?

Courtesy of eatright.org.

March is National Nutrition Month, and this year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is urging Americans to “Get Your Plate In Shape.” With the help of the “My Plate” model, which replaced the Food Pyramid in June 2011, the experts are giving us a reminder of the healthy nutrition goals we have heard before:

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Make at least half of your grains whole grains
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat dairy
• Vary your protein choices
• Cut back on sodium and empty calories from solid fats and added sugars
• Eat less
• Exercise more