Archive for March, 2009

Chocolate a Good Combination with Anything

I was reading something about food combining, and how this regimen for eating has been catching on amongst alternative health type folks, because of it’s teachings that the reason for many digestive problems and even obesity is that we combine our foods all wrong, and this kind of screws up the whole digestive and metabolic process.  Some of it does make sense if I were honest with myself, but some of it also sounds a little like pseudo science when it starts getting downright zealous about certain food combinations and what you need to do to get around eating certain combinations of foods.

It almost makes it sound like you have to be a vegan to avoid combining certain types of foods such as dairy and starch, meat and dairy, starch and meat and so on and so forth, since these foods are so prevalent as least as ingredients in other foods in today’s typical American diet.  One food though they say is combinable with any other type of food and shouldn’t put a kink in anything is chocolate, which I’m sure is music to chocaholic’s ears (like me).

Supposedly chocolate does not interfere with the digestion of any other type of food group, and it can therefore be eaten with any other type of meal.  Now, as far as the food combining theory goes, it basically gives you certain food groups that can be eaten together and certain food groups that should really be avoided eating together if at all possible.

Let’s just put it this way, a hawaiian pizza would be the ultimate faux pas if you were following this eating plan, because it combines bread (starch), cheese (dairy), meat (ham), a derivative of vegetable (the tomato sauce) and fruit (the pineapple).

The idea is to get your digestive system doing the least amount of work possible, so that everything keeps moving right along smootly in the digestive tract, and you can save your energy for other, more important things, like working out.  Also it is supposed to help with weight loss because you are not storing as many unused calories in your fat cells so your fat cells should, in theory, shrink.  You still have to be careful that you don’t eat too much on this type of diet, it defeats the purpose and still overloads the system with too much food.

Gene Responsible for Converting Carbs into Fat

Apparently most of us aren’t lucky enough to have a faulty gene when it comes to the gene that is responsible for us converting all our leftover carbohydrates into fat.  If we did all have the disabled version of this gene, we’d probably all be really thin, and able to pack in as many noodles, breads and pretzels as we wanted without all the fat storing up in our thighs, bellies, upper arms and other undesirable areas that we’ve identified all too well.

This lovely gene that we could all do without I’m sure is called the DNA-PK gene, and in research studies when this gene was made faulty, the mice who were studied with the disabled gene type were able to eat all the carbs they wanted without gaining any weight.  Their counterparts who had the gene intact on the other hand, gained weight in leaps and bounds when fed a diet rich in carbohydrates, just like the majority of us human folk do

Now, does this mean that there may be some sort of gene therapy that can help us to make sure we don’t gain weight from eating carbs and automatically store it as fat on our problem areas?  There may very well be something on the horizon to that effect, but time will tell.  It’s such a thin line with things like this, because you don’t want to mess with mother nature too much, it seems there’s always some sort of consequence to pay for that when we come out with new so called “miracle drugs” or therapies, and there are almost always side effects to any type of weight loss medication on the market.

The best bet for now is to try out a self hypnosis program for weight loss.  With this, you will be able to correct the root of your weight problem which begins with your subconscious conditioning and self imposed doubts about your abilities to lose weight and maintain a successful weight loss goal.  Hypnosis has worked for me and gotten me through spells when I gained a few pounds, effortlessly taking them off by using the power of the subconscious to tame my body and bend it to my will, which is ultimately to become the healthiest, most fit and fat free person I can be.

Is It OK to Pig Out Every Once in a While?

We all want to go a little crazy, a littly nuts, when it comes to what we eat.  I mean, who doesn’t crave a double fudge hot brownie sunday once in a while, right?  I know I certainly do, and believe me, I do indulge it when I have the overwhelming urge.  The key point here though is that if you ever want to hope to have a normal weight, and not be fluctuating constantly, falling off the wagon and getting back on constantly in a viscious circle, then you have to make sure that you climb right back on the wagon as soon as you get off of it instead of letting the occasional slip mount into  weeks or months of bingeing.

The problem is, a lot of us, including myself, fall into the mentality and the viscious circle, of pigging out and eating whatever we want, because it’s simply the easier thing to do and it gives us immediate comfort.  Why do you think they call it “comfort food”.  But the real joke of it all is that you are really not doing yourself any favors.  Sure, crappy food really tastes good in the short term, and many times is much more accessible and convenient than healthy food, but how long does it actually make you “feel good” for?

If you’re like me, it’s only a few minutes.  I mean, the guilt kicks in almost immediately, reducing the pleasure I’ve felt from indulging anyways, which diminishes that carnal pleasure that I felt. Yes, I call it carnal, because I believe the food and sex are very close in that you can get addicted to them because they present you with opportunities for short lived, intense pleasure, but both can be bad for you if you’re doing them the wrong way (ie, multiple partners, unsafe sex = bad for you food, too much of it).

I know it’s a weird analogy, but I often think of food like sex.  It’s great in the right ways, and you can enjoy it in a healthy way, but too much, or too much of a variety of the wrong kinds can be extremely damaging to the health and the psyche in the end.  One of the things I’ve learned to do is to tell myself that I need to stop treating a short term binge as a “give up and wave the flag” situation.  I can’t just go ahead and go all out just because I screwed up for lunch or breakfast, and have an all day food extravaganza.  If you can really get yourself in this mindset, you can definitely pig out and eat bad once in a while – just make it short – you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more that way anyways!

Fiber One Oats ‘n Chocolate Bars : Review

Well, it’s always nice to have something that you can “treat” yourself to when you’re dieting that doesn’t cost you a whole lot of calories and also happens to have a great deal of fiber in it, which ups it’s dietary value when you’re trying to lose weight since it helps keep things moving through you and also helps to keep your belly full instead of you feeling like you want to snack every hour.  You do have to be careful with food items like the Fiber One Oats ‘n Chocolate bars though, because although they are not harmful to your diet in moderation, they will add up and they’re not low in carbs if you decide you need to pig out on them, which is easy to do since they are so tasty.

Now, let’s talk about the nutrition facts on the Fiber One Oat bars, and discuss why they aren’t going to louse up your diet royally if you indulge in say, one a day or every other day.  First, they taste delicious, and they are a real chocolate fix for me, since they are covered in chocolate and they also have chocolate chips all through them.  I like the fact that they do not contain maltitol, which royally screws up my digestive system and gives a lot of people wicked gas and gas pains to go along with it.  However, I must warn you that due to the high fiber content of Fiber one snack bars, you may experience some sort of discomfort (gas) after eating them, as I do.

They have a whopping count of 9 grams of dietary fiber in them for one bar, and that is quite a lot.  I’m not exactly sure how they cram all that fiber into these tasty little things, but it does seem like any time you eat anything with a lot of fiber, especially something that is specially manufactured to have a lot of fiber in it like the Fiber one bars, you do get a little or a lot of discomfort.  You may not get any, but I’m really sensitive to this type of food, and I do know a few others who have said the same thing about these bars as well.

They have only 140 calories, so you are not over doing it on the calorie count if you have them, and they fit nicely into your diet regimen if you’re going for not intaking a lot of calories in a day, but like I said, stick to one.  They’re so tasty that I often feel like I’m jonesing for another one right afterwards, but I know that if I just wait for that good ol’ fiber to expand in my stomach, I’ll be full and wont’ want another one.  It usually takes about twenty to thirty minutes for the fiber to expand, just so you know, so don’t go back to the pantry to get yourself another one until you’ve exercised patience. Besides, two may really give you bad gas!

Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food?

Well, it appears there is yet another reason, in a longer laundry list that seems to grow every year, to avoid fast food.  The consumption of fast food has also now been linked to a substantial increase in stroke risk.  This comes as no surprise, since fast foods, which commonly include things like cheeseburgers, highly fattening sides like french fries, onion rings, fried mushrooms and other high fat and high sodium (albeit good tasting!) tidbits, are almost always a higher fat, higher sodium, higher calorie option when compared to more healthful options that you can make on your own at home.

The specific study that seems to implicate fast food in higher stroke risk is one which studied neighborhoods that happened to have a lot of fast food restaurants in them.  They found that when compared to other neighborhoods where the fast food joints were not as plentiful, stroke risk also happened to be statistically lower.  Again, this is no surprise since fast food contributes significantly to obesity, high blood pressure, and an out of whack metabolism, and only those that avoid fast food all together, as long as they eat healthy at home, will enjoy better health, a lower weight, better heart health, and of course better circulatory health and circulation, both of which contribute to fending off stroke risk.

The link isn’t totally clear though, because it’s not clear whether the cart comes before the horse or vice versa.  What I mean is that it’s not clear whether there are more fast food restaurants in these areas because they have populations which are demographically targeted because they have worse eating habits, or whether it’s the other way around, and the fact that there is an abundance of fast food restaurants in the neighborhood is actually the reason that people eat more unhealthy.  Remember that story a while back where some cities are trying to limit the number of fast food joints that are allowed?

Similiarly, fast food consumption, and we’re not talking the heart healthy types of fast food like say, a healthy low fat Subway sub or a nice big salad, but the typical stuff we correlate with fast food like burgers and fries and things like that, were also correlated with heart disease and obesity which is also not surprising.  I’d like to see the number of healthy fast food places increase, not just fast food places like McDonald’s offering healthier options, because they still offer that tempting bad stuff too and it’s hard for people to smell that and then order a salad or fruit and yogurt parfait.  That’s just my preference though, because I know how I am!

Losing Weight Without Starving Yourself

I think one of the reasons that people really hate and avoid losing weight is that they correlate it with basically self torture.  Most people look at dieting as eating boring, bland foods that leave you anything but satisfied, and I have to admit, there are some times that I felt like that.  That is, until I learned that eating right, and yes, even going through that painful phase of dieting to lose the excess weight in the first place, can be a very gratifying and tasty experience, as long as you know how to get the most bang for your buck out of your calorie consumption.

One of the first rules of thumb is to eat foods that have a high fiber content.  What this is going to mean for you is avoiding the foods that are processed, since most processed foods are devoid of any real fiber that fills you up and makes you regular.  Foods that are high in fiber are whole foods, that satisfy as well as stick to you for a while.  Foods that are an example would be leafy greens like spinach leaves (one of my favorites is making a spinach leaf salad to go with every dinner at night), apples, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, and a myriad of other foods, but you get the point – most of them are unprocessed, natural foods like fruits and veggies.

One of my favorite cooked veggies that gives a lot of bang for it’s buck is sauteed cabbage. It’s dirt cheap, high in fiber, and has very few calories, and you can make it very flavorful by cooking it right.  What I do is take cabbage, sliced julienne style, add a little bit of olive oil, pepper, paprika, sea salt, and garlic to a fry pan, then add the cabbage.  I sautee it til it’s soft, and it ends up being an orangeish color because of the paprika, with a wonderful, rich flavor to boot.

Another rule of thumb is to buy only low fat dairy. If you buy yogurt, make it low fat, if you like milk, make it skim.  Studies have shown that low fat dairy products may actually help you lose weight and burn fat off the body faster, although it’s not really clear why that is yet.  Always looks at food labels, and check the fat content, the portion sizing for the calories given per serving, and the fiber content, and if you’re not getting the most bang for your buck, pass it up for something else that’s comparable but has a better nutrition label.  Eating this way takes time to learn, but you will be satisfied and start to see the pounds come off in no time.

More on Healthy Fast Food Choices

Most Americans are very calorie conscious and are either trying to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight.   Even those of us who are at our optimum weight would like to keep our nutrition level up in our diet and keep our food intake balanced.

Too often, a quick trip to a fast food establishment throws all of those efforts out of balance.  The good news is that there is a trend now for fast food chains to start including some healthier, lower fat, lower calorie options to choose from.

Even McDonald’s has started offering some salad options as the main course or as a side dish.  In their kid’s meals, there are healthier choices instead of the fries and high fat foods.  Long John Silvers is jumping on the healthier food trend with some baked and broiled fish selections with a side of vegetables at a low 350 calories per meal.

Wendy’s now has some delicious salads as the main course and some tasty reasonably priced side salads to fill in with a sandwich or some chili instead of just fries.  Subway has many low fat selections and most of their sandwiches can be ordered as the salad version if you prefer.  Along with their many healthier options, Subway features a complete nutrition pamphlet to guide you in your food choices.

The nutrition pamphlet from Subway is very detailed and breaks down not only calories but the grams of fat, sodium content, fiber, protein and vitamins by percent of your daily recommended values.

It’s good to see this trend of informing the public of what you are getting nutritionally and how many calories for your money and your health.  This will help Americans battle the obesity epidemic for adults as well as children.  No longer does a trip to a fast food restaurant have to undo any dietary efforts we are making.

Calorie Reduction is Key to Success in Weight Loss

I know the fact that ultimately, calorie reduction is the key to successful weight loss, and subsequently, weight maintenance throughout our lives, may not be the thing that everyone wants to hear since this tends to be one of the hardest perceived pieces of weight loss by most people, including myself admittedly, but it doesn’t make it any less true.  I can attest to my own personal experiences with weight loss, and can tell you that it was always a serious and consistent calorie reduction that got me the results I wanted, as quickly as I wanted, and got me looking lean and mean in no time.

Because we are all still sort of in that mind set that 2,000 calories is what we should all eat every day, it’s created this idea that this calorie consumption is what is ideal for everyone, no matter what you sex and height is, but that’s  not the case.  In fact, most of the time men need a little more calories than women, and it does also depend on your height and your age as well, since this makes a difference in how your weight is distributed (height), and also your age makes a difference in your rate of metabolism, which means you burn calories faster or slower depending on your age.

Your calorie consumption also depends on what your goals are.  Is your goal to shed weight quickly?  To lose weight at a slow pace?  Or is it to simply maintain a weight that you have already achieved, and ensure that you will not breech this weight again?  A good rule of thumb for women who are trying to lose weight is to reduce their current calorie intake by at least 500 calories a day, if not more if the calorie count was way higher before, to start the weight loss process.

I usually try to stick to between 1200 to 1400 calories a day if I want my body to go into weight losing, fat burning mode.  I’m a five foor four female, and I currently weigh 132, but I’d like to get back down into what is my own personal comfort zone, which is 125 or maybe even a little lower if I continue to have success.  I do calorie count, and that has enabled me to lose about 7 pounds over the past 6 weeks, but I want to kick it into a higher gear over the next few weeks because it feels like I’ve hit a bit of a plateau, and feel like I need to start that process again and maybe make some more calorie adjustments, since I’m already working out pretty hard.

If you think you can’t cut calories dramatically to reduce your weight, try a natural appetite suppressant, as this can at least help you get into the habit of eating less, and developing a smaller stomach so you don’t need as much food to fill it eventually.  All in all, overall calorie reduction and eating a common sense diet is what’s going to get your the ultimate success and health as well, not fad diets or eating a very restrictive diet that claims to have all the benefits over others.  You know a diet’s not good if you have to cut out certain healthy foods totally.

Calorie Restriction : Part II

This is part two of the calorie intake discussion we started last time, by Danna Schneider.

Again, Atkins can work, but at the expense possibly of your colon health, and your blood sugar isn’t exactly stable all the time, with it plummeting every time you burn off the protein you just ate, which burns quickly.  Many people on these types of severely limiting diets find that they are sluggish, their bowel movements are irregular, and they are not getting the vitamins and nutrition they need.

Well, it turns out that everything your grandma taught you about “everything in moderation” is true.  The key to weight loss and continued weight maintenance, and many even think the key to longevity, is limiting your calorie intake every day.  When I say limiting calories, there are really no exclusions as to what you can eat, but in the interest of staying fuller longer and your continued health and energy levels, there are certain foods that you should concentrate on including in your diet more than others, because for the calories they add, they really fill you up and stabilize your appetite for hours and hours.

New studies have shown that it’s clear what results in weight loss and sustained weight loss, and that is the reduction of calories, whether you are on a diet like the Zone, or the South Beath Diet, or even Atkins or Pritikin diet, those that lost weight and kept it off had one thing in common, and that was a reduced calorie diet for a sustained period of time.

The smartest way to eat without taking in very many units of energy (aka, a calorie), is to make sure you load up on foods that are low cal and also very filling.  These include foods like salad, spinach, broccoli, pickles, cucumbers, some kinds of nuts, low fat dairy products, lean protein like chicken and tuna fish, and light whole grain bread products.  Because you are eating high quality, fiber rich foods, you are really eating that same amount of calories as you would in one tiny chocolate, but only you are enjoying a whole salad, or an entire piece of fresh fruit for the exact same amount of calories.

If you abide by the simple rule of choosing low cal foods with high fiber content, and limiting your intake to about 1400 to 1800 calories a day whether you are a man or woman, you will definitely lose weight and feel great, it’s only a matter of time before you get used to it and it becomes second nature.

Article Author : Danna Schneider

Why Calories Count More than Which Diet You Choose

Article by Danna Schneider, part 1 :

This is part one of a two parter that I felt was important to share, especially with all the new research studies that are coming out on the subject.  It’s about calorie consumption and the benefits of reducing caloric intake in the human diet.

It’s probably not something that a lot of Atkins devotees want to hear, but there is more and more mounting evidence that when it comes to weight loss, and long term success with keeping weight off, it’s not so much the type of diet you choose, but in the end, it’s the amount of calories you are taking in that matters the most.  In the past, we’ve had a myriad of “fad” diets telling us that calories don’t matter as much as excluding certain kinds of foods or eating at certain times of day, or maybe even eating only foods that, according to our blood type, are the foods that will allow us to remain thin.

With all of the different regimens out there claiming to be the gospel when it comes to being thin, it’s no wonder people are as confused as ever about what types of foods they should eat, or to which diet they should subscribe.  I’ll never forget my first foray into the world of dieting and weight management.  I was only 15 years old, just starting to lose my baby fat, and just starting to care about the way I looked (yes, a blooming interest in boys was the primary catalyst, I’ll admit).  I remember picking up a book at a used book sale for a quarter that looked interesting called “Fit for Life”.

This book essentially was about a way of eating that gained a large following in the seventies and eighties amongst health nuts, that involved food combining, which is actually still a principle that many follow today.  It seemed to have merit, the way they were describing that chemical reactions that occur in our bodies when we eat certain foods, such as a starch and meat, together, and why eating some foods together not only led to weight gain and obesity, but also conjured up a host of other health problems in it’s wake.

I did in fact lose weight on this diet regimen, however I noticed that eating the way they wanted me to was really hard sometimes, especially when I would go out to eat at a restaurant, since food combinations are common, even in one dish recipes.  Not only that, but half the time I still felt starving after eating a meal, and wanted more food.  I’m not saying the diet was bad, in fact I think it had many merits, but it was too stringent for me to last on, or to make a lifetime habit of it.

There are other diets like this as well, like the Atkins diet, which more so than calorie or fat intake restriction, wants you to radically reduce or cut out any sort of carbs.  The bad thing is, you are cutting a lot of healthy foods like fruits and veggies out of your diet, simply because their carb count is too high.

TO BE CONTINUED