Health & Fitness Tips

Children’s Dietary Guidelines

Food pyramids and dietary guidelines have always been something that you think of as outlines for adults.  Another belief we, as a society always held was that you’d outgrow your baby fat.  Neither of these beliefs hold true anymore.

There is a growing concern about the fact that one in five preschoolers, ages 2 to 5 years old, is overweight.  One of the changes taking place to combat this trend is education for parents to find out what quantity of food to feed their children as they outgrow baby food and switch to regular adult food.

In daycare, there is now  a proposed change to get children 15 minutes of activity for every hour spent in the daycare.  This is a good time in life to instill healthy habits and attitudes towards a beneficial amount of physical activity.  Another recommendation for daycare is to limit standing or sitting time for the children to no more than 30 minutes at a time.

Also, avoidance of taking away recess or physical activity time as a punishment is a recommendation.  For the babies in daycare, they should not be in equipment that limits movement, such as baby swings, for any extended periods of time.

Babies often know what’s best for them when it comes to portion control when they are very young.  They usually drink enough formula until they are full and then refuse to take any more.  When babies make the transition to solid food as toddlers, parents need to know what is a healthy portion size.

Parents may tend to give them more than they should eat and insist that they finish it.  Without meaning any harm, parents may be establishing a lifetime habit of overeating.  The national dietary recommendations are now going to include guidelines specifically for preschoolers.  For portion size, the recommendation for each food category is one tablespoon of that food per year of the child’s age.

When it comes to attitudes towards physical activity and eating and what the norm will be, parents have the largest influence on their children.  Daycare still is a good place to work on instilling norms of portion control and activity, since three-fourths of preschoolers spend some or all of their days there.

Recommendations here are to use portion control as it is age appropriate.  Also, daycare staff should be sensitive to a child’s cue that they are full.  For moms, breastfeeding is preferable because breastfed babies tend to be less likely to become obese adults.  Pediatricians need to be sensitive to the issue of preschool obesity.

Infants and children need to be weighed at each checkup.  If there is the beginning of an unhealthy weight increase, parents should be counseled and advised on steps to prevent obesity in their child.  Federal nutrition assistance programs are available so parents can afford healthful eating for their children.

Why Eating and Watching TV or a Computer is a Bad Idea

When you think back to all the random little dieting tips and tricks you’ve heard in the past, one of them that commonly probably comes up is to not eat in front of the tv.  Well, today is the digital age, and now people spend a lot of their time on computers. They’re on computers at work, home, and for leisure.

Shoot, people even watch tv ON their computers a lot today. So, needless to say, the same trick goes for eating in front of a computer.  Why is it so bad to eat in front of a television or a computer?

Well, for me, I know that I don’t really think about what I’m eating or how much of it I’m eating because my attention is diverted to something else other than what I’m taking in to my body.

Before I know it, sometimes I’m so stuffed that I wonder how I ate so much, because I was so involved in what I was watching on the television, and not on my food or the enjoyment and flavor I was getting out of it.

In fact, most of the really thin people I know do not eat dinner in front of the television. They make it it’s own event, and sit at the dining room table.

Another very interesting factor to the whole “don’t eat in front of the TV” mentality came up in a study recently. Apparently, eating in front of the television or a computer distracts you so much that your memory is not all that great about what you ate at that last meal.

When you can’t remember the satisfaction you derived from the last meal, or that it made you full, as well at least, you tend to make poor decisions about the following meal.

I never would have thought of that theory but it does make sense.  I can tell you that my husband and I do sometimes eat our dinners in front of the television.  And I can tell you that both of us do the whole thing where we totally gorge ourselves on food because we aren’t paying attention to our body’s full signals.

Instead, we are watching and trying to concentrate on some television show that we like. It’s human nature, our attention is very easily diverted into other things, and it’s difficult to multitask.  In this case, it’s hard to do the right thing and eat right when we are engaging in television of computer watching when we eat.

Eating Right at a Buffet

Buffets are known as being the ultimate enemy of the diet.  They make you face temptations to load up your plate with the most delectable of foods, with no limit, since you’re paying the same price no matter how much you pay.

Look around you at buffets – especially the kind which specialize in the worst food categories and load the fat into just about every recipe they use.

You will most likely see a lot of unhealthy, overweight people at these places. Of course, you will also see thin, healthy looking people peppered in there as well, as with anything else.

But notice how they eat. They may indulge in the dessert table and some of the fried, fatty fare as well, but they probably then do not go back for several helpings.

Or they may go back for several helpings, but only for the items they like, and not loading the plate to the max every time they go. I do go to buffets, but only occasionally.  Sometimes I over do it and leave a little too full, but there is one thing I really actually LIKE about buffets when I’m on a diet that is somewhat restrictive.

I really like that they have a wide array of choices. For example, I can load up at the salad station and then get myself a few helpings of various lower fat cuts of meat. Most buffets, say for instance something like a Golden Corral type of thing, have several different types of meats. You could go low carb if you wanted!

There are usually several vegetable choices as well, so you can actually go all vegetarian if you want to as well. You don’t HAVE to indulge in the pizza, the tacos, the desserts and the fried things. You do have choices that are actually quite delectable as well as healthy and low fat or low carb at these types of places.

The great part is, you can load up on as many of the veggies you want and not feel guilty, and also not leave the place feeling like you’re on the same boring diet again, not satisfied and stomach growling.

So, there are SOME benefits to buffets. One thing I notice is that a lot of people wolf down their plates so they can go try the next round of interesting looking food. Don’t do this, it’s an invitation to over eat and feel awful later on.

You’re not giving your brain enough time to register that it’s full, and by the time it does register, you’ll feel too stuffed and disgusting to even move.  Hey, if you have to, take a mild natural appetite suppressant before you go, that way you won’t be tempted to load down your plate with all the baddies at every turn, plus you won’t stuff yourself to the gills.

Naked Smoothies Provide a Quick Pick Me Up

I’ve recently become a huge fan of Naked fruit smoothies. You can find them in a lot of natural foods stores and also they are carried, I’ve found, in quite a few chain grocery stores as well.  They can be a bit pricey, but I’ve found that they go on sale quite often at the natural foods stores I frequent (actually the grocery store rarely has all flavors on sale, go figure), for 2 for five bucks (Whole Foods has had this sale a few times), so that’s not bad at all when you consider the high price of nutritionless sodas and “juice drinks”.

There is another brand too that has a similar concept, Odwalla, but I’ve foudn the Naked ones to have more flavors that I personally like – just a personal preference, nothing against Odwalla.

If you are a person who watched their calories, or even more so their carb intake, you may look at the back of one of these smoothies and think it’s really high in both. However, I’ve found that just a few swigs is a great tide over to dinner and lunch when you’re just starting to get hungry and need a quick natural blood sugar pick up.

I have never drank a whole one at one sitting, I’ve found them more beneficial when you keep them around for a little “snack” in between meals.  My two favorite blends are the Green Machine, which contains everything from apples, to broccoli, to spirulina for an even great energy boost.  And it tastes nothing like vegetables, and yet it’s got them in it.  That one is probably my all time favorite, plus there are tons of good nutritious ingredients in it.

The runner up for me is the mango flavor with beneficial probiotics added, for digestion and waste elimination efficiency. It helps you to be regular, since mango is filled with fiber, and also helps replenish your healthy intestinal flora that keeps things moving in that regard, if you know what I mean.

When I’m buying the smoothies, I try to really look at what’s in them, including their “boosts” and see if those vitamins and nutrients are something that I might be lacking in or not.  This way, I know I’m getting the right benefits from drinking them, in addition to the benefits I’m getting from drinking something that helps tide my appetite over for big meals.

Resolutions for a Thinner You by Summer

I’ve decided to put together a short, succinct list to help you on the way to getting your summer-perfect bikini (or swim trunks if you’re a guy) body.  Believe it or not, if you’re only a few pounds off your ideal summer goal weight and you just have to get a a little of that extra winter padding off, then it’s not all that hard to make a few habit changes to shrug off the weight in no time.

1.) Expose yourself to sunlight as often as you can. During the day, at your job, try to get outside a few times. I firmly believe that sunshine is a natural appetite suppressant, and I totally notice a difference in my appetite when I either lounge out in the sun or if I just go out and get a bit of the bright orange orb’s light in my eyes. There’s something about a bit of warmth and sunshine that makes you crave healthier foods like fruits (especially fruits!) and veggies.

2.)  Drink a TON of water.  Add some lemon juice, fresh squeezed if you can. Lemon juice helps to purify your body, and it also even helps to keep your appetite down. If you want to kill it even more, take a teaspoon of pure organic cinnamon as well, and this evens out your blood sugar so you have less hunger spikes throughout your day.

3.) Listen to a great hypnosis CD for weight loss. These can really kick your weight loss ambitions into high drive, even without you knowing what’s happening. It’s all on a subliminal level, so you actually eat less without even understanding why necessarily. Cool concept!

4.)  Foresake some of the salt.  Try to pass on salting your food. Extra sodium just makes you retain more water, which can add up to five pounds or more of water weight.

Avoid Pigging Out on Football Sundays

Now that the football season is here again, I know that I’m going to have to ramp up for having more willpower since we happen to be the gathering point of all our football watching friends and also we happen to always buy lots of chips, dips and appetizers, on top of a “meal” food like pizza or some other ridiculously fattening fare that makes you think of football sundays. 

Oh, and pile on the beer or other alcoholic beverages that are bound to be consumed and you have a recipe for unavoidable weight gain every start of the NFL season.  At least that’s how it works for me and my fiance. 

We almost always put on weight during the football season, however I’m determined to not do it this time.  It seems like that one little day of pigging out nonstop leads to a barrage of eating badly and wanting MORE MORE MORE.  More fat, more sugar and more heavy, stick to your thighs good.  Sure, it tastes great while you’re eating it, but it leads to a bigger overall appetite, a slower pace mentally and physically, and countless Mondays hung over from drinking on Sundays.  Not a good combo, my friend!

So, my strategy this time is to actually do what I always do, which is work at my “other job” for half the time on Sundays that people are here, which will inevitably keep little paws out of the cookie jar, so to speak. And by cookie jar, I mean keep it out of the endless bowls of chips, pretzels, fattening sour cream based dips, cheesy surprises, sauerkraut balls, mini pigs in a blanket, and all the other good, greasy fare that tends to go with those fun football sundays.  There’s a huge part of me that loves the whole ritual, but my body definitely does not appreciate it in the end. 

I looked at pictures of myself after football season last year, and my face looked puffy and unhealthy, and that made me really think about what I was putting into my body.  Not just on Sundays either, it’s because it’s a domino effect, and it always ends up trailing out into the whole week, or at least into Monday and Tuesday. 

That adds up to a lot of calories and a lot of careless meal choices that can’t be reversed except with a lot of discipline and dieting for the next several months.  If you’re a victim of football sunday overeating, take my advice, sit out at least one part of the day, and join the rest of the buffet in the evening, so at least you won’t be eating all day long and be able to stop the unstoppable inertia of overeating.

Make Your Breakfast Biggest Meal

Part of the reason that the US has so many problems with obesity is portion control.  If we could just grow out of this “bigger is better” mentality, then we would be able to shake a lot of the obesity epidemic as well as all the health problems that always seem to go in tandem with obesity once and for all. But alas, we don’t seem to learn, and we keep eating the wrong things and the wrong portions.  I’m really hoping that with all this new healthcare program talk going on that healthcare plans offer real incentives to eat right and stay at a healthy weight.

For example, my significant other’s company he works for  gives him so many dollars for every preventive program he goes to.  So, if he participates in a wellness program or a checkup of some sort, he gets money in a special account. Great idea and a great incentive for staying healthy!  One of the things we Americans get really wrong is the importance of making breakfast the biggest meal of the day.  Instead, we tend to load up our plates with fat and calories more so at the end of the day, and because of that, we experience weight gain and weight that is hard to take off due ot the fact that we aren’t really burning any of it off after we eat it.

Think about it, and it makes sense.  Why would you “fuel up” your body at night when all you’re going to do is go to bed in the next few hours, where that food does not get burned off and instead is much more likely to be stored as excess fat somewhere on your body?  I’ve tried to convert to this way of thinking, and I’ll admit, at first it seemed weird to me because I was used to eating more at night.  I think eating more at night was a big part of my relaxation routine though, and it was a way of rewarding myself after a long day’s work.

Now, I’m trying more to think of breakfast as being the time to indulge in a little more calorie intake.  Not only does it help me think more clearly at work and let me have a more productive morning, but it also provides me fuel right up to lunch, whereas before I would be starving by about ten o’clock in the morning for a snack because my breakfast was too small.  Oh, and a nice byproduct is weight loss and ease of weight maintenance too!

Eating with a Distraction?

It’s mind boggling when you think of how many Americans eat their dinner, lunch, snacks, breakfast and anything in between, when they are watching television. TV has become such a major distraction to us in our every day lives, and is such a “turn your mind off and relax” thing, that we look forward to doing it every night. Most of us at least, and by the way I’m not counting myself out of that circle because it is true for me as well.

You’ve probably heard before out of the thousands of little diet tips and how to be healthier and have a better relationship with your food, that eating with distractions of any kind, possibly even reading, is actually not good because it makes you lose your focus on how your food tastes, savoring your food and enjoying it for what it is, and also losing track of how much food you are actually stuffing down your gullet as you blindly watch that last episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

When I really think about how I eat when I watch television, it is sort of true that I don’t really enjoy my food as much as if I’m in a restaurant where there are no distractions, only good conversation, and how much more I focus on and enjoy my food, but also how much faster I’m tuned into the fact that I’m full and done eating, whereas when I’m watching TV, tend to want to eat more and more and more. You get the point. It gets to the point where you correlate watching TV with eating, and therefore you subconsciously want to eat the whole time you’re enjoying a movie or a TV show.

Sitting at the dinner table with your family, husband or partner, or just by yourself, actually may seem boring, and to some people it even sounds a bit scary. They’ve had the TV or some other distraction for years when they sit down to eat, and now that is being taken away and that does create some anxiety I suppose. However, when you realize how much less you might eat and how much quicker your appetite is satisfied, and how much more you become in touch with being full and actually savoring the textures, scents and flavors of your food, you just might always want to eat that way!

Can You Walk or Bike to Work?

If you are within a reasonable distance to walk or bike (faster than walking), then you by all means may want to examine the possibility. After all, you’ll not only contribute to a better environment by not emitting exhaust fumes from your car every day, but you’ll also save an immense amount of money on gasoline, and you’ll also give a significant boost to your metabolism for the day, simultaneously conditioning your leg muscles as well as your cardio fitness level.

I’d say that’s an allover win situation. Of course I’m overlooking the obvious in that it may take you a longer time to get to work this way, and thereby deprive you of a little bit of that precious shut eye, however, if you can get to work fairly fast without a car, then you may actually cut time off your commute, especially if you have a high traffic area with lots of stop lights.

When a study was done on whether those that commute to work via a bike or by walking, versus those that commute by vehicle, it was found that those that biked or walked performed much better on a treadmill and had better heart rate performances. So, if you think you have what it takes to bike or walk to work, it’s definitely worth it, so you can help the environment, save mileage on the car, save gas money and improve your cardiovascular health. You could be the next Ed Bagley Jr!

The Wonderful Walnut

Everyone always talks about one nut in particular that is so good for your health and is loaded with those omega 3 fatty acids that are so good for your heart, diet and well being, the almond, that it seems that another great nut has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. I used to be an almond devotee and only put those in my yogurt, until I discovered that walnuts have about the same calorie content, and also have some additional health benefits to the almond with in my opinion, more taste and texture, and seemingly more filling fiber content.

So, don’t walnuts have omega 3 fatty acids in them too? They sure do! In fact, their content of these healthy fats may rival that of the almond, it’s just not as widely used of a nut and may not be considered as portable and easy to snack on as the almond. Walnuts also have fiber in them, so you’re getting added dietary advantage of filling up faster when you eat them. In my opinion, they are superior to the almond this way, as I feel twice as satisfied after eating walnuts as I do almonds. It seems to take more almonds to make me feel like I’ve eaten enough. But that may just be my personal preference.

Walnuts also contains vitamin E, which is a great vitamin to incorporate into the diet, and often doesn’t get as much intake as it should in the American diet. It also has magnesium, another mineral that is hard to get in many processed foods and in such a pure, natural form. But the walnut is also an excellent source of plant derived protein, so you can eat it and get your protein content without eating the animal fat, so it’s a great nut for vegetarians and vegans to incorporate into their diet.

Walnuts also contain B vitamins, which are a great source of energy. You do want to be careful not to overeat walnuts, as they are caloric in nature, like most other nuts, but eating them in moderation is the best way to enjoy their healthy benefits and great, rich and satisfying taste. I like to snack on a few with an apple sometimes, or I also like to put them in my yogurt and fruit in the morning to add some crunch and interest in my breakfast, and also to add the additional protein and vitamins.