Losing Weight and Feeling Great

I did a post about how fast food equals fat food a few weeks ago (read it here).  Now here’s part 2 of why eating out in a restaurant can be killing your diet…even if you think you’re ordering a healthy meal.

There was a book that came out in December 2007 called Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  It was a surprising look into what the restaurant industry doesn’t really want you to know, as far as the health of their meals.  Fast food isn’t the only kind of “fat food” out there!

 Low Fat?  Check the Calories!

Well, looks like a restaurant popular in my neck of the woods has gotten burned by their “low fat” dinners.  Applebee’s was promoting its low fat meals on its menu.  Sure, there wasn’t much in the way of fat, but calories?  That’s a whole ‘nother subject!   Diners who were thinking they were getting a healthy meal got served up quite a few calories and carbs in those dinners.  (And apparently the restaurant has removed them from their menus.)

What About High Fat and High Calories?

Then there’s a place like IHOP (of breakfast fame) that sells omlettes that provide more than enough calories, fat, etc. in one meal than you need in a day!  OK, let’s be fair; the Omlette Feast was discontinued (at a hefty 1,300+ calories), but there are still others hanging in there at 1,000 calories.  Do you really want to have eaten your whole day’s worth of food by 9 AM?

What’s in Your Smoothie?

Ah, fruit smoothies!  And when made with yogurt, a healthy meal, right?

Well, not if you’re slurping down that smoothie at Dunkin’ Donuts.   The fruit puree used in the fruit and yogurt smoothie is full of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) — really bad for your blood sugar!  How do you feel about dumping 60 grams of sugary carbs into your body?  (And that’s just the medium size.)

Is There Any Hope?

Well….not much, at any rate.  Salad bars are great if you steer towards the fresh veggies and away from the goodies like cole slaw, ambrosia, potato salad and the like.  Don’t forget to bring your own salad dressing; no guarantee what’s actually in that “low calorie” offering — not to mention the size of those ladles!

I encourage you to read the article where I got this info.  Think about it.  Now I’m not saying to never go out to eat — a meal out every now and then is so nice!  But you do need to be aware of what’s on the menu.  Low fat doesn’t mean low calories, and a “healthy” meal may send your blood sugar skyrocketing.

And just because you aren’t aware of the calories dosn’t mean that they aren’t there!

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I saw an interesting article on the obese American the other day.  The article makes the prediction that if we continue as we are, 86% of all adult Americans will be overweight or obese by the year 2030.

Before that, by 2022, 80% of Americans will be at the very least overweight (if not obese).

So, what is the definition of overweight and obese?  A body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more.  Overweight is considered at between 25 and 29.9 BMI.  Just as an example, a woman 5 foot 6 inches tall weighing 186 pounds has a BMI of 30.  (Naturally that can vary somewhat, depending on how muscular you are, but any way you look at it — at the very least you’re likely overweight at that weight and height.)

Want to calculate your BMI?

The Obese American — The Study

These figures come from a study published by the journal, Obesity, which was published online July 24 of this year.

The study was authored in part by Lan Liang, Ph.D., with the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and was led by Youfa Wang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of International Health and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

OK, credentials aside, are we doomed to be a nation of fat people?  What are some of the other numbers the study came up with?

In the Year 2048…

The possibility that 100% of Americans will be overweight or obese.  Now, researchers’ credentials aside, I find that extremely hard to believe.  There will always be people who are a normal weight, or underweight.  So the credibility of that number is far-fetched, to say the least.

But, could the 86% by 2030 be correct?  Hard to tell.  If we continue with our current habits, possibly so.  But that’s an awfully big “if”.  Anything can happen between now and then — we’re talking 22 years here.

Still, it’s a hard study to swallow (puns aside).  The fact is that unless we do decide to change our ways, more and more of us will either not lose or will gain weight in the coming years.  And what’s going to be doing to our health?  If we’re not doing great right now, what’s it going to be like once we reach 60?  70?  Do we really want to be confined to a wheelchair or bed because we didn’t take care of ourselves today?

At any rate, you can read more of the article here, and decide for yourself if you will be an obese American in 2030.  Me — I don’t intend to!

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It’s no secret that foods that raise blood sugar are the whites:  sugar, white bread, white rice, etc.  In fact, you’re pretty much safer staying away from anything white (cauliflower being an exception to the white rule).

But there are other foods that can raise blood sugar that aren’t white, and that may be good for you.  These can include sweet fruits like pineapple and potatoes (although potato skins are OK).  Raisins and many dried fruits also fall into that category.  Corn and peas are two other foods that can raise blood sugar more quickly than other healthy foods.

You need to be careful about yogurt.  If it’s low-fat or fat-free, there might be a great deal of sugar in that container.  Fruit on the bottom also has sugar, generally in a syrup.  Yes, yogurt can be healthy, but plain is best as far as sugar goes.  Otherwise…read labels carefully.

Foods That Raise Blood Sugar to Stay Away From

In addition to “the whites” as listed in the opening paragraph, what other foods fall into this category?

As expected, items like cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream show up in this category.  But also are chips and pretzels.  The chips and pretzels contain white flour or corn (both can raise the bloods’s sugar). 

Fruit juice can be counted among the foods that raise blood sugar — and quickly!  Part of it is that most fruit juices for sale include HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) that can send blood sugar skyrocketing.  Otherwise, juice tends not to have any pulp, present in fresh fruit — and the pulp (fiber) helps slow the release of sugar into the blood.  If you must have fruit juice, make it freshly squeezed.

Know Your Body

Some people are sensitive to wheat, even whole wheat, rye, pumpernickle, etc.  If that’s you, stay away from these as much as possible.

Others are sensitive to most fruits, due to the high fructose concentration.  If you’re ultra sensitive to fruit, eat extra veggies instead.

High blood sugar isn’t anything to laugh about, even if it’s not officially up to diabetic levels.  It can damage your body, not to mention help you gain weight (or have trouble keeping it off).  Hmmm, sounds like I’ll be needing a post on the damage high blood sugar can cause the body. 

But for now, be mindful of what you eat.  It’s perhaps unreasonable for most people to cut out high sugar foods in the cold turkey method.  But you can start gradually reducing and then eliminating the foods that raise blood sugar from your diet.

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Are you struggling with how to lose weight successfully?  Do you try to be good each day, only to turn to snacks at night…and the diet goes out the window?  Or even more frustrating…you do everything you’re supposed to and the weight stays the same on the scales?

Lose Weight Successfully (Keep it Off)

Losing weight is partly in the mind — you have to be committed to your new eating plan.  And by the way, “diet” should perhaps be banned from the vocabulary.  Why?

Because when you finish losing the weight, you “go off the diet”.  But unless you’ve changed your eating habits in the meanwhile, you’ll likely go back to bad habits.  I’ll bet you’re familiar with what happens next — you gain the weight back and then some!

But if you’ve exchanged your old bad habits for nwe good ones, you are far more likely to keep the weight off.  And incidentally, that’s one reason for a slow weight loss — it gives you the time to develop new habits.

Supplements or Pills?

How to lose weight successfully — can it include supplements?  It’s a mixed answer.

Some supplementation is probably appropriate if you’re taking it for health benefits more than weight loss (even if it has somewhat of a weight loss component).  An example is a green tea extract; good for its antioxidant properties, and with a mild thermogenic effect.

On the other hand, other weight loss supplements…the answer isn’t conclusive.  Some people are helped by the supplements, others aren’t.  However one thing is universally true — no supplement will work all by itself, without following a sensible eating program.  (And exercise as well.)

A Healthy Diet to Lose Weight

Yes, you can lose weight with a fad diet.  But the question of the day is…will you keep that weight off?  Or will you need the latest fad again in a few weeks or months?

A healthy diet to lose weight is one that you can follow for life.  One that has the amounts of proteins, fats and carbohydrates for your body metabolism.

How to lose weight successfully — how to keep the weight off — depends on your commitment to change.  If you keep following your old habits, the weight will just come back.

What are some of the bariatric surgery risks?  They range from annoying to life-threatening.

Fortunately, serious weight loss surgery complications are pretty rare; still, you need to know about them — before deciding on having bariatric surgery! 

Serious Bariatric Surgery Risks

These can include the biggie (death) through infection.  With the improvements to surgery, the death rate is now less than 1%, so it’s unlikely you’ll run across this complication.  Nevertheless, weight loss surgery is a major medical procedure, and not to be undertaken lightly.

What are some other complications to bariatric surgery?  They include:

• Pneumonia
• Thrombosis
• Infection; local or systemic
• Bleeding, possibly requiring additional surgery

Other Possible Complications

Some other complications may be just annoying or rather serious.  And they can also vary depending on the type of surgery performed.  Some possible complications arising from weight loss surgery include the following:

• Hernias
• Vitamin and mineral deficiency
• Dumping
• Ulcers

Now not all surgeries carry the same risks.  For example, in adjustable lap band surgery, there’s a chance that the band will erode the stomach exterior, or that the saline port will flip.  However, it is extremely rare for a lap band patient to experience dumping (common in gastric bypass and occasionally in duodenal switch patients).

Acid reflux and diarrhea are relatively common side effects, although they can normally be well-controlled by following the eating plan to a T.

If you want to know more about bariatric surgery risks, take a look at the page on the Obesity Help website (an excellent resource).

The best single thing you can do before deciding on whether or not to have bariatric surgery is to do your homework; look at the benefits, risks and what you can expect 5 or 10 years from now.  Then you’re in a better position to decide if it’s right for you

I just read something in The Diet Solutions Program that kind of woke me up.  It seemed incredible, so I ran to the cabinet to check it for myself.

Sure enough, my salt has sugar in it — it’s there, right on the label!

Now I try to keep salt out of our diets as much as I can.  I don’t use salt when cooking, try not to use any at the table except when absolutely necessary (I’ve become fond of Mrs. Dash).  But to learn that what salt I do take in also has sugar was a little difficult for me to bear.

Well, the book recommends using organic sea salt, and I was a wee bit on the skeptical side until I did go and read the ingredients on my table salt.  And while I may not be 100% convinced that organic sea salt is OK for the body while your average grocery-store table salt is poison….let’s just say that I am a whole lot more open now to that argument.

At any rate, I went online to check out the recommended organic sea salt (Celtic Sea Salt) and there’s a store near me that carries it.  While it’s not what I would call cheap (nothing organic is), given how long 8 ounces of salt lasts me, I don’t consider it too bad.  And I need to pick up some things at the health food store anyway.

Since I’ve been stalled on my weight loss far too long, I’ve decided to try this Diet Solutions Program.  I’ll be writing up a review, so you can see the pros and the cons.  But for right now, it looks to be a great way to get my weight loss moving again.  I’m tired of seeing the same number on my scale!

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When I learned about eating smarter, it was a kind of revelation for me.  I mean, I saw  so many of my eating habits in the list, and you know what?  They were contributing to my weight problem.

I then took a look at the way people have to eat after weight loss surgery, and that was another revelation.  Now I don’t plan on trying WLS, but I can certainly pick up some tips from there.

So here’s the list — anything sound familiar?

Do you save your favorite food for last? What I mean here is if you have a plate with 3 things on it, do you eat your favorite last?  Well, that may be part of the problem!

If you save your favorite food for last, you’re more likely to overeat.  Instead of heeding your stomach’s signal of "I’m full, you can stop eating now", you press on and continue — it’s your favorite!

So…eat your favorite first.  Then you’re more likely to stop eating when you feel the "I’m full" sensation.

Do you inhale your food?  I know we’re all busy and on-the-go these days, but do you gulp down your food without even really tasting it?  Well, that also contributes to overeating.  Before your stomach can send the "I’m full" signal, you’ve already eaten more than you should have.

Not to mention that this contributes to digestive problems and acid reflux, because you haven’t chewed thoroughly!

So the trick here is add time to your eating.  If a meal now take you 5 minutes to eat, stretch it to 6 minutes.  Then 7.  Work your way up to 15 or 20 minutes — even a half hour!  The benefit (besides better digestion) is that your stomach and brain get in synch for that "hey, stop eating" message.

Do you eat starches first, protein last?  While this may end up conflicting a bit with the "eat your favorite first", protein is the building block for our muscles.  It also helps to regulate our blood sugar.  Anyway, eating proteins first is a mainstay for people who have had weight loss surgery.  Part of it naturally is because they can’t eat as much, so they need to get the "best" food in first, healthy-wise.  At any rate, it’s something to try.

So, do you have any eating smarter tips?  That can help you curb your appetite, no matter if you are on a weight loss diet or not?  If so — let’s hear them!

The previous post was the first 20 ways that sugar affects our health.  Anyone up for 20 more reasons?

Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.  (This is called Syndrome X.)

Sugar can lower your Vitamin E levels.  (Do you get enough vitamin E in your daily diet?  Or should you take more?)

Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.  (As we get heavier, our blood pressures tend to go up…we don’t need help from sugar.)

Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.  (The is the flip side of the hyperactivity sugar can cause in children; this is the infamous “sugar slump”.)

High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)  (Sugar molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).

Sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein.  (Protein builds muscle, and it’s also important in slowing down the absorption of sugar into the blood.)

Sugar causes food allergies.  (I know it does in me!)

Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy. 

Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.  (Eczema is not only itchy, but it can be disfiguring if the patches show up on exposed body parts.)

Sugar can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.  (As our hearts and blood vessels age, they lose function — we don’t need extra help to hasten heart attacks and/or strokes.)

Sugar can impair the structure of your DNA.  (This can open us up to all kinds of diseases.)

Sugar can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in your body.  (This can be the pre-formation of cancer.)

Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen.  (We don’t need more wrinkles!)

Sugar can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.  (I wonder if this is part of the “aging eyes”?)

Sugar can cause emphysema.  (This is a terrible disease.)

High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in your body.

Sugar lowers the ability of enzymes to function.  (Enzymes are critical in the day-to-day  operation of your body.)

Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.  (Not a fun disease; we need to do everything we can to avoid it.)

Sugar can increase the size of your liver by making your liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.  (This can be a pre-cursor to cirrhosis and/or cancer.)

Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.  (If you’ve ever had a kidney stone, you know how terribly painful they are.)

So, that’s 20 more reasons to take a long, hard look at your diet today.  Now I’m not saying you should ban all sugar forevermore.  What you might want to do, however, is take steps daily (or weekly if you are severely addicted) to reduce the amount of sugar you eat on a day-to-day basis.

Sugar is sweet; a healthy life is sweeter.

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Eat more and lose weight.  We keep hearing it, but is it really real?  What’s the difference between eating the same amount of calories in one meal versus 3 or even 6 meals?  Does it really make a difference?

One Meal, One Snack

Have you ever done this to lose weight?  Have just coffee for breakfast, a soda for lunch, intending to cut out all those calories and just have dinner?  Yeah, me too.

But have you also had this happen:  about 2 or 3 in the afternoon you get soooo hungry that you have to have a nibble of something — a snack.  That snack turns into grazing, and by the time dinner comes, you’re not hungry.  Ahh, then about 8 or 9 PM you get hungry again.  You didn’t eat dinner, so why not have a snack.  And that snack turns into a binge.  Argh!

Enter the Mini-Meal

In the latest cycle of dieting, eat more and lose weight has been the battle cry.  But does it work?  If so, how?

The idea is that whenever you eat, your body has to rev up its metabolism sightly, in order to digest the food.  With small, frequent meals, your body has a chance to finish burning up one meal, then it’s time for another.

The book
The 3-Hour Diet (TM): How Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat and Timing Makes You Thin
talks about this subject, and insists that small, balanced, frequent meals are the ticket to losing the weight and keeping it off.  It’s not counting calories or cutting carbs or anything like that. 

For myself, eating 5 or 6 times a day helps me to lose the weight, because I don’t get ravenously hungry, so I’m more likely to eat sensibly.

What’s also nice is that I can eat a little more and still lose the weight, eating several small meals a day.  Not a ton more, but on 1,300-1,400 I can lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.  (In my book, that’s better than 3 meals a day and 1.200 calories.)

More Info on How to Eat More and Lose Weight

I found an article you might enjoy on SparkPeople, about this very subject.  Hopefully you’ll find it both interesting and informative.  Click here to check out the article.

Eat more and lose weight — for us all!

You know, it’s kind of scary that we have become so dependent on a five-letter word.

S-U-G-A-R

Just about everything we buy at the grocery store has some kind of sugar; certainly the vast majority of canned foods.  But have you considered fresh poultry?  Check the label next time you go to the store for chicken breasts; there’s a good chance you’ll find sugar.

Nancy Appelton, Ph.D. wrote a book called Lick the Sugar Habit.  In the book, she details numerous ways that sugar affects our bodies — and not for the better, I’m afraid.

Now this book was originally written in 1988, but you know what?  It could have been written yesterday, because we (as a nation) just aren’t listening to the message!

So without any further ado, here are…

…20 Ways Sugar Affects Your Health

Sugar…

Suppresses your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.

Upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.  (Not good news for ladies of a certain age who are struggling with getting enough calcium.)

Can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.  (I don’t guess that’s news to most mothers.)

Can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.

Causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.  (Once you hit 30, your skin really starts losing elasticity as it is…we don’t need to lose any more!)

Feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.

Can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.  (No news to anyone who has type 2 diabetes or suffers from Syndrome X.)

Can weaken eyesight.

Can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.

Can cause premature aging.  (We’re aging fast enough, thank you, without any help from sugar!)

Sugar can lead to alcoholism.  (Did you realize that alcohol is a sugar, chemically speaking?)

Can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.  (Drink green tea — minus the sugar — to help offset this effect.  Of course cutting out the sugar itself would be better…)

Contributes to obesity.  (No news here!)

Can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.

Greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).

Can cause gallstones.

Can cause appendicitis.

Can cause hemorrhoids.

Can cause varicose veins.  (Ugh!)

Can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.  (Oh-oh.)

Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.  (Not good at all…not only does it interfere with our calcium uptake, but also attacks our bones in other ways.)

Today I Will…

Look at the labels on food so I am aware of just how much hidden sugar I eat on a daily basis!

Once I know how much I eat, I can take steps to cut it back.  Way back.

What about you?

Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar Out of Any Diet
Price: —

31 used & new available from USD 4.65

Sugar Shock!: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life– and How YouCan Get Back on Track
Price: USD 10.17

77 used & new available from USD 4.75