Posts Tagged ‘Diet’

Weight Watchers

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Weight Watchers is a sensible low cost weight loss program. For those looking for a long-term weight loss solution, Weight Watchers may be the answer. Weight Watchers encorporates weekly weigh-ins and meetings for support. Most people attending these meetings like the accountability or the weekly weigh in and get great ideas and group support from other members.

The current Weight Watchers plan is is based on a “points” system. Fat grams, calories and dietary fiber are used to calculate the “points” allowed for each day. Most prepackaged foods have a nutritional guide that details all of the necessary information to caslculate serving sizes and points value. The points scale is based on weight. Those weighing under 150lbs are allowed 20 points per day. The scale goes up from there. Two points per 10 lbs up to a maximum of 30 points per day (anyone weighing over 200lbs.) The plan also includes 35 “flex points” which can be used at any time during the week between weigh-ins. They can be used to add an aditional 5 points per day to the daily points allowance or used to really “blow it” on a favorite dessert…etc.

Weight Watchers offers many tolls for support. There are food guide books available for purchase which detail name brand foods and their points values, as well as a dining out guide which lists many restaurants to help with the challenge of dieting and dining out. Applebees chain restaurants offer Weight Watchers points on a selection of their menu as well. Other helpful tools offered for purchase at meetings are measuring spoons and food scalse to make the point calculating a little easier, and fabulous cookbooks which take cooking to a new level. The Weight Watchers e-tools website is also helpful for support, recipes, chat rooms and point calculating. On this site, one can enter a favorite recipe and receive a point value for each serving.

Many people find Weight Watchers less limiting than most other diet plans. You can eat any type of food you like and you can even splurge when you want or need to. This plan helps to teach portion control as well as good healthy eating habits. It may not be as fast as some other plans, but learning a new lifestyle is a lifelong lesson and most WW members keep their weight off for longer periods of time.

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Healthy Cooking

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Healthy eating does not necessarily mean bland boring food. There are many ways to still enjoy your favorites and cut the fat and calories. For those who are dieting and watching their calories and fats there are many alternatives to starving and eating nothing but chicken or rice cakes.

Starting with the protein portion of your meal, don’t completely dismiss pork. There are some cuts that are as lean and low cal as chicken such as the tenderloin or any other loin cuts. Pork is more flavorful in many recipes than chicken and can be used in a variety of different ways. Ground pork is another great trick. Use ground lean pork instead of beef in your recipes to cut the fat and calories and add tremendous flavor. Sloppy Joe’s are great when prepared with pork.

Don’t sacrafice the flavor of your favorite foods. There are many flavor alternatives available that will help enhance the flavor of your food. The butter substitute sprays are low or zero cal and add a pretty good imitation flavor of butter. Do not mistake these for non-stick spray. These butter sprays are in the dairy case and packaged in a pump spray bottle. They are a great replacement for pan sauteing or on veggies.

As for cooking vegetables, to add flavor without adding fat or calories, try cooking all your vegetables in chicken broth. May sound strange, but it adds so much flavor to the veggies they rarely need butter/butter spray. You can use pre-made broth or just add bouillon to the water before you cook the vegetables.

There are many condiments that can be added to your food to keep them from getting bland. Parmesan cheese is a good one for full flavor and low impact on the calorie and fat intake.

When you are dieting, you may need to get a little creative, but it can be done. Substitute the full fat items for low fat. Eat whole grain pasta when you can, mix it with plain pasta to add volume without sacrifice. Read and compare labels of everything you purchase. Some brands are considerably less fattening than others.

There are so many ways to keep your diet interesting and still cut the fat and calories. It just takes a little creative thinking and a lot of substituting. You can lose weight without losing flavor.

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Effects of Food Dye

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Are you struggling with hyperactive behavior in your child, or in yourself? My recent research leads me to believe that food dye could be the cause of this behavior.  Red # 40 seems to get the most bad press, but yellow food dye is right up there on the undesirable list.  There is an epidemic of overly diagnosed and overly medicated children, being treated for ADHD, when they in fact may have a red dye allergy or a food dye allergy.

The “sugar rush” many parents fear after their child consumes a lot of sweets actually may be caused by the dyes found in a lot of the candies they consume.  While sugar may be the culprit, in many cases it it the effect of the food dye which causes this out of control behavior. Many of the children diagnosed with ADD or ADHD may just be on “dye overload”.

If your child is diagnosed with one of these conditions, try making dietary changes before you resort to prescription medications. Start by avoiding all foods with food dye.  Especially reds and yellows, starting with red #40 as it seems to be the leading cause of negative reactions in children. Within 3 days you will likely notice a dramatic difference in your child’s behavior.

As you begin the elimination process, you will notice that  food dyes can be found in all types of foods.  They are everywhere. They are found in “healthy” foods such as granola and even as an additive to some fruits to improve the appearance of the skins.  It’s best to avoid any processed foods.  Shop the perimeter aisles of the supermarket and read labels of EVERYTHING.

Food dyes are also known to cause other allergic reactions such as skin rash, and  anaphylactic responses.  They are becoming a hot topic overseas and banned from many popular foods in England. The dyes are only added for appearance, and are very harmful to many people.

Food dye reactions cause learning problems as well.  The fidgety behavior and inability to focus, (often diagnosed as ADHD), will certainly cause a child to fall behind in school. Many children begin to recognize the changes and know exactly what foods to avoid.  Some are even reported to recognize and dislike the way they feel after consuming the food dye.

It may be a bit inconvenient, but you will be doing your child, and yourself a big favor by removing it from their diet.

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Kids and Eating Healthy

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

It is said that our eating habits are formed when we are young.  If this is so then why do we feed our kids nuggets, fries and pizza on a regular basis? And why don’t adults eat these items daily as most kids do?  Either way, it is important to teach kids good healthy eating habits, and how to make good food choices.  But how in the world do you start with a 4 year old who is reluctant to try a new flavor of ice cream, let alone a new vegetable?

A few steps to get your child on the road to a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits are as follows;
* Start by being a good role model. Be sure you are in the habit of practicing the eating and exercise habits you’d like your children to have. The example you set is your child’s most powerful learning tool.
* Increase active time. Make physical activity a necessary part of your family’s daily life. Set time limits on your child’s daily inactive time. Give them a schedule for  TV and computer time to no more than 2 hours a day.
* Eat breakfast together as a family. Having breakfast with your child will  help them learn a lifelong habit of good eating. We all know you HAVE to eat breakfast in order to fuel your body.
* Involve your child in planning the family meals and grocery shopping. When your child is old enough, teach him or her about how to prepare food, cooking and food safety and, later, how to use and understand food label information. While allowing  your child to have a a role in the meal decision making, remember that you must still have the final say in food planning.
* Involve your child in the cooking. This is very important. Children enjoy helping their parents out, and they learn more easily with hands-on experience. They will also sharpen other skills, such as reading and math, when counting or measuring ingredients.

When attempting to have your child try new foods at a meal, you should also be sure to include a food that your child likes. Don’t be discouraged if it takes several tries before your child will actually accept and eat a new food. On average, it takes 8 to 12 tries for a child to accept a new food.  This is one of those tough lessons in life where you as a parent have to be strong.  This is one case where it IS worth the challenge to get your child to develop good habits for a healthy life and a long future.

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Low Carb Lifestyle

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

For me a low carb diet is best.  I have been eating a very healthy low carb diet for over a year and I have managed to lose 60+ pounds and keep it off.  Of course I also exercise regularly, but not strenuously. The low carb diet is relatively easy to understand and stick to.  Basically you just can’t eat anything with bleached flour or sugar.  No bread, no pasta, no sweets.  There are limitations and exceptions to these basic rules, but you have to be careful.  Once you reintroduce large amounts of carbs into your system, it can make you gain weight and cause a chemical change in how your body metabolizes fat and calories.

When you are on a low carb program, there are many different thoughts on exactly what is and is not allowed.  I prefer to eat mostly lean protein.  I’m actually watching calories and carbs, but not counting calories at all.  Just making the low carb selections that are low cal as well.  Some chose to go all out ant eat as much protein as they want.  Unlimited amounts of any food are not good for you, period.  Weight loss and healthy lifestyle are always about moderation.  So, for those who eat a pound of bacon with their tripple quarter pound burger, more power to them, but it’s not for me.

Occasionally, like everyone else, I just absolutely HAVE to have a bowl of pasta, a loaf of bread or a big ol’ piece of chocolate cake.  At this point, I do allow myself one full day of poor choices. However, the next day, I immediately go back to NO CARBS for 2-3 days then reintroduce the good carbs, like veggies, slowly. Honestly, I feel miserable when I am ingesting a lot of high sugar/high carb foods.  I get sluggish and tired.  I become moody and just awful to be around.  Carbs are not my friends and I try to remember this every time I want to binge on sweets.etc. It doesn’t always stick, but I do try to remind myself of how awful it makes me feel.

The decision to diet and lose weight is a personal one and there are many schools of thought out there on what works, and why.  I believe for me and my husband too, this is the best way for us to stay trim and feel healthy and remain active.  It changed our lives and we are such better partners and parents because of it.  I would recommend a low carb lifestyle to anyone considering weight loss.

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