Archive for December, 2009

Happy New Year, Almost!

It’s almost New Year’s Eve, and what do you have planned? I swear, the older I get, the more a lot of my friends just stay in for the night. Those days of going out at night til all hours are pretty much over. Lots of people have kids and want to stay home, or they may just spend a quiet evening at home with friends. This year, a couple we are friends with are actually having a small gathering, where everyone is bringing something to eat (I’m the appetizer person), and that is just fine with me. Ah, the quiet married life! 

But I digress, the reason I’m posting today is really to wish you all a Happy New Year and New Year’s eve since I won’t be able to post anything tomorrow or the day after. Wanted to make sure everyone is going to celebrate safely and have fun.  I also wanted to thank you for being loyal readers and contributors for the 4 years we’ve been online.

We have loved writing about our experiences with weight loss and weight management and eating in general, and we hope that 2010 brings a lot more opportunities for things to discuss as it relates to the diet, fitness and weight loss industry. After all, what would we talk about without this ever evolving industry?

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Stress Levels and Eating

Your levels of stress and stress hormones, the most notable and widely known of these “stress hormones” or chemicals being one called cortisol, definitely play a role in your appetite, there’s no doubt about that. However, research on how it impacts the appetite of different individuals varies.

While one person, like myself, will resort to eating more of the wrong food choices as a sort of comfort to help ward stress off (oh how wrong I am though), I choose to stuff my face a lot more during the day, and because I’m so preoccupied about other things other than what I’m eating or how my health is, I am much more likely to make the most wrong food choices I can.

Case in point, I had Five Guys Burgers and Fries one day for lunch when I was uber stressed ot the max.  While I may go to the end of the spectrum where my caloric intake goes through the roof when I’m stressed out, some people are the polar opposite, and they lose their appetite, or they almost “forget” to eat.  I know people like this too. On of my good girlfriends is like this. You can tell when she’s mega stressed because she drops pant sizes in a matter of a weeks.  It just depends on your body and how you personally handle being under a lot of stress.

While stress and grief or heartbreak might rank closely on the emotions scale, however, I am completely opposite with my eating patterns with these two emotions.  When I am either grieving or I’m heartbroken (this hasn’t happened in a while, thanks to me being married to a great guy now), or maybe even heartbroken about a family member or friend who has really let me down, I tend to subconsciously starve myself.

I have experienced this a few times, and it’s very unusual for me, because my appetite is usually extremely healthy, in fact I almost always want to eat everything but the kitchen table most of the time.  However, when I’m grieving or have had a big disappointment, I tend to lose my appetite, big time.  You have to figure out what emotions lead you to eat and not eat, and try to harness them better and figure out why they do this to you to be able to master your eating habits.  I think if you can do this, you can more artfully manipulate your body and your health.

Christmas is Coming..

‘Tis the night before Christmas, and I just wanted to wish all my Daily Diet Blog readers a lovely, warm, wonderful Christmas day tomorrow.  Let’s take a break from thinking about working out, watching what we eat and constantly obsessing over those last five pounds, and instead take a moment to think of what we are grateful for.  It might be anything, your job, your family, your health, your friends, a new love in your life, but just focus on that and I promise you’ll realize that everyone is truly blessed in some way, even if they don’t have everything they think they want.

I think that the current situation the world finds itself in has taught us that we should be thankful for what we have, and it has also taught us to take a bit more of a minimalist attitude towards life and belongings and materialism. I hope this marks a new era for America, where less is more (it would be nice if this translated into our supersize portion mentality too, but we won’t talk about that right now), and where we realize what’s really important in life.

Merry Christmas everyone, I feel truly special that you read with us and share in our experiences, and hope that you will continue to do so next year.

New Year, New Appetite?

With the new year, you know you are going to be seeing tons and tons of ads for diet pills and supplements.  Some of them which will help put a dent in the holiday weight you gained, some of which won’t do a darned thing for you. Well, realistically, no pill will “do it for you”, a large part of weight loss is up to you and what you choose to put in your mouth, however, a good appetite suppressant supplement will definitely kick your appetite into a lower gear, especially after it’s been heightened from all the holiday sugar and butter you’ve inevitably eaten!

You see, when we indulge in sweets and fats a lot, especially when it tends to be a month long trend as it is for many people around the holidays, your body develops a taste for the heavier foods like that, and it actually acts as a sort of drug in the body. You crave the foods that are bad for you, and you have to sort of “detox” to get those cravings out and help your body get back on track to not only shrinking your stomach so you eat less, but also to chemically craving the right foods.

The right foods taste somewhat bland and boring to a person who has been indulging their every wish with chocolate, salty snacks and fats, so it’s important to kick that first.  One way to do that is with a good all around appetite suppressing supplement that not only suppresses the appetite, but also facilitates cravings for foods that are not as flavorful and fatty, for natural sugars like fruits and veggies.

A good diet supplement that I really like is the hoodia plant-derived supplements.  Hoodia is the best, nonstimulant appetite suppressant I have ever used, and it helps me to regain my footing when it comes to shrinking that stomach and that appetite back down, and consequently shrinking my fat cells back down so I can fit into my jeans.

What works for you?  We’re open to suggestions if you’d like to post them here. Any natural tricks, tips or advice on reducing the appetite naturally are also greatly appreciated by all our readers (and me!)

Is DNA to Blame for Over Eating?

We all know that some of us naturally have smaller appetites than others.  I know my own for instance, tend to ebb and flow, especially depending on the day.  I think that my appetite has a lot to do with my hormones that day.  For instance, when I’m PMS’ing, about one week before my period, my appetite is so out of control that I feel like no amount of food will satisfy me, and I feel like I’m constantly stuffing my face, and it’s also really not the best stuff I’m stuffing it with.  But then, when my period actually comes and I’m on it (hormones drifting away), I feel like I could go hours without eating, or with eating very little, which is very unlike my normally voracious self.

Some people think that appetite has to do with your DNA. I happen to agree that this is part of your appetite, but a lot of it is also your upbringing, your particular eating habits and the foods you eat since the food you eat actually dictates your appetite in part iself, and also your moods (which is directly connected to your hormones).

All of it is interconnected. And now, there is evidence that there may be groups of people who are missing particular chunks of DNA which are a sort of appetite suppressant. In other words, these chunks of DNA are the switches which turn off our appetites when our bodies know that we’ve had enough to eat.

This is obviously an important function, and appetite is a huge function that is performed largely by the brain center called the hypothalamus.  The children who have been found to be lacking these particular chunks of DNA which we are talking about tend to get very obese early on in life because their appetite is literally always “on” and they have no off button. So they end up eating inordinate amounts of food all the time.

And although we all know that kids have naturally higher energy levels and also burn calories at a higher rate because their metabolisms are still naturally higher, these children don’t stand a fighting chance because they are consuming so many calories that their body could not possibly burn them off to keep them at a normal, healthy weight.  Also, obesity leads to sitting a lot, because larger people have a harder time performing activities since it’s harder on the body and heart, so you have a recipe for obesity disaster in these kids that are lacking this DNA.

The whole problem is that the elimination of this DNA creates a communication problem between the brain and the hormone leptin, which controls hunger and induces satiety so you stop eating. Without the particular chromosomes these kids are lacking, the brain cannot communicate with the leptin, and that is why these kids cannot shut off their appetites, and why they get obese.

Slim Fast Recall

It seems that a bacterium was dicovered in all Slim Fast drinks (it was not clear whether there were also other products besides their well known diet shakes) that has caused a recall of all products on the shelves, which is estimated at about ten million products.  The company, Unilever, recalled everything about one week ago after the company voluntarily recalled all products. They had discovered the contaminant during routine examinations, and wanted to get it off the shelves before it harmed anyone seriously.

They did, however, think that the possibility of serious illness was fairly unlikely. An udetermined amount of people reported feeling nauseous and throwing up several hours after consuming the drink, which is often a sign that one has gotten food poisoning by some pathogen if there are no other known health issues at play.  

The company who makes Slim Fast products, Unliver, which is a manufacturer of several other health food products as well as toiletries like soaps and the like, says that they believe the bacterial contamination happened somewhere in the manufacturing process. I often wonder in situations like these, do they have to bust butt and really churn these products out after they essentially wipe them all off the shelves? 

What are the set of protocol for these types of issues?  At any rate, if you have any cans of Slim Fast shakes, you probably want to pitch them, especially if you have purchased them in the past few weeks, as they may almost certainly be a part of the recalled products and could be contaminated with the pathogen that has caused these minor (yet definitely still a nuisance) illnesses. 

I tried Slim Fast years ago, I”m not sure if they’ve improved the formula at all, but what I do remember is that they did not fill me up as promised, and on top of that they gave me gas from drinking them. I always felt like I still needed some sort of substance other than liquid when I drank them. I wasn’t sure how it was possible for these shakes to really satisfy you in any real way. However that being said, I do have some friends who like these and think they fill them up, so maybe I’m just a big ol’ piggie!

Broth Based Soups a Great Filler

I go through phases with soup. Right now, I’m going through a soup phase where I have soup almost every single day. I’ll blame it on the colder, more blustery weather and an instinct to sort of burrow my head in the blankies and forget about the cold outside world.  And they happen to be great accompaniments to one of my all time lazy dinner favorites, the grilled cheese sandwich.

Not only that, but the broth based soups are truly one of the lowest calorie, most filling things you can eat and accompany with your dinner or lunch to help you eat less of the calorie-dense fattening stuff like breads, cheeses and so on and so forth.  Broth based soups basically act as a sort of natural appetite suppressant since they fill your belly with warm liquid, which creates a feeling of satiety.

I really love the line by Campbells that is in a larger can that you don’t water down, it’s the Naturals line, and occasionally they will go on sale for a dollar each at Giant Eagle. I’ll load up on the broth soups like their southwest style veggie soup and the french onion one, because they only have anywhere from 50-80 calories per serving, for a total of only about 100-160 calories per can. That’s quite filling too, so you’re getting a big bang for your buck with these soups as far as keeping you full and helping you consume less calories.

You can even make your own simple broth soup and save a little more money, plus you can put whatever veggies you want in it. Generally, you just need chicken broth, which you can purchase as low sodium if you need to, maybe some extra boullion cubes if you like extra flavor, and a few bags of frozen vegetables that you think might make a nice soup.  You can add your own seasonings as well, or maybe a few chunks of chicken breast too, for a cheap, home made, low calorie and fulfilling side or even a main course.

I love to add a soup to a Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice entree for lunch. Especially if that Lean Cuisine only consists of less than 300 calories, since I like to keep my lunches at about 500 calories so it keeps me full until dinner (at least almost until dinner).  It really helps make you feel fuller faster, because soup is hot or very warm when it’s served, so this has been proven to make you feel fuller since it’s all hot liquid, and veggies are all fiber.  Unless you are watching your sodium broth based soups are a diet staple!

Oatmeal, How I Love Thee – Now!

Did you ever really despise a certain food for most of your life, and then come to really enjoy it once you’ve learned that you were either eating it the wrong way, with the wrong combination of foods, maybe cooking it wrong, or buying bad brands or something of that nature? Well, my sudden turnaround with oatmeal may be a combination of all of those, plus add in a little bit of maturity and the desire to eat a hot, nutritious breakfast without having to do a lot of work, oh and the fact that we have one of those nifty insinkerator hot water machines at our newer house.

You wouldn’t believe how easy oatmeal is to make in the morning with a hot water dispenser. Shoot, it’s easy even without the hot water machine, it’s just way easier and almost ridiculously lazy to make once you have that too! Oh, and the best part is, we also have one of those insinkerator things where I work too, so it’s voila, instant hot breakfast at work as well. Cheap and nutritious, and filling too. Here’s the types of oatmeal that I have found a new love for, and how I prepare it so that it’s tasty, never bland.

I really enjoy the brand Quaker Oats, which is probably one of the biggest maker of the ready made packets they sell at most any grocery store. There’s that and then I’ve seen a few other brands like Kashi cashing in on the craze too. My current favorites are the reduced sugar Maple and Brown Sugar, the Banana Bread, Cinnamon Roll and Cinnamon and Brown Sugar flavors. They’re all excellent, and you totally forget you’re eating mushy oatmeal when you’re eating them because the flavoring is so good.

I add only the equivalent of a few tablespoons of hot water, since I’m not a fan of really soupy oatmeal. This gives it a thicker texture, although I also don’t like it too thick and pasty, so I often add a little water first, check it’s consistency, then keep adding it until it’s just right. I then add a couple tablespoons of chopped plain walnuts to the top of the oatmeal. I sometimes add a little extra sweetness by adding a half packet of stevia to the top as well.

I only eat one packet of oatmeal in the morning, so I’m pretty generous with the walnuts because they add the really filling fats and omega 3′s that get me through the morning and help suppress my appetite better throughout the day.

Oatmeal provides a filling, hot and nutritious breakfast that’s fiber filled and the walnuts add a lot of vitamins and nutrition as well, I wouldn’t recommend eating it without them. Sure, the plain stuff may be better for you, but when you’re eating such a small amount, it probably doesn’t matter.

Weight, Diabetes Huge Healthcare Burden

Reading about the projections for people who will probably have or be diagnosed with diabetes in the next several years – after 2030, specifically, really hammered home the point to me that we are dealing with a huge epidemic in not only this country, but worldwide, that hinges on people’s weight and their food choices.

Or perhaps you can look at it as a food supply problem, one which is only exacerbated by the fact that we have so many processed, highly salted and fatted and sugared food readily available to us on an increasing basis.  Sure, we always will have to exercise our willpower and choices for what we eat to be able to truly harness the power of what food can do for us, in a good way, but it definitely doesn’t help when you have bad foods shoved in your face every day which are both cheap and easily accessible.

It especially doesn’t help when the country is in a time of full on economic roughness, where processed, cheaply attained foods tend to be the cheapest foods that you can find. Obesity got dealt a winning hand when that happened.  Obesity is not just a disease of the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, but it is a problem without caste or class ranking that hits all types of people.  And so what comes with obesity often times?

Many times people are are considered obese also are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is often basically looked at as kind of a symptom of the obesity epidemic. Often times obese people make food choices that really whack their blood sugar out of balance, and this leads to insulin resistence, which leads to diabetes.  Diabetes increases the odds of all kinds of catastrophic health risks such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and the list goes on and on.

It’s no wonder the healthcare system i already greatly strained as it is. I hope that with this health care “reform”, we really start to see more aim taken at the causes of health problems and not so much on the back end treatment spectrum of the problem. If we can address these issues upfront, then we can dramatically cut the amount that the taxpayers end up paying in the end for treating these types of health problems, and we can also cut private health insurance premiums pretty dramatically as well, resulting in an overall benefit to everyone.

Regrouping After Pig Outs

Man, is it hard to get back into the swing of things after you go on vacation, when considering your diet. My now husband and I typically eat a pretty healthy diet, but we also enjoy a little gluttony in fattening, salty and sugary foods that are a diet no no as well. Hey, what can I say?

We love food in general, and we find that eating a variety of foods is fun and makes life more interesting instead of always denying yourself the pleasure of indulgence. While that may not be the best attitude for our waistlines, and admittedly we do tend to fluctuate between certain weights a lot, it’s a simple fact of life for us.

As long as you can always reign it back in after you have a bad day or a bad couple of days is the key to maintaining a somewhat healthy weight and maintaining that weight. If you start going on multi-week or month pig out periods though, that’s when you know, you have some serious recalibrations to do when it comes to your mental state and also to the foods that you’ve become chemically accustomed too.

After all, it’s not just all psychological, when you pig out for a period of time, your body becomes accustomed to heavier tastes, and when you begin to eat healthy again, it can naturally rebel against what tastes like more bland food, craving things that have more flavor, and resulting in a misstep or two.

One of the ways I like to get back in the groove is listen to one of the self hypnosis cd’s for weightloss that I have. These can really dig into your subconscious mind and help you to overcome those cravings and desires for fattening and weight gaining foods. They attack the desires at a level where you don’t even necessarily understand what’s happening.

After I listen to these cd’s, I have a renewed commitment to myself and to my body, and it makes me understand again, on a deeper level, that eating badly is actually an act of contrition against my body, which is my “temple” so to speak. It really reinforces being kind to yourself and treating your body right on a deep, subconscious level that cannot be easily altered.

I also like to try to focus on things in my life other than food. I try to laser focus on my outside interests and my job, for instance, so that food takes a backseat to the truly more important things in life, and I actually find myself being more productive. You’d be amazed with what just taking the focus off food can do for your creativity and productivity, that alone is a huge incentive to get off the pigout wagon and get back on the track of eating right for your body and mind.