Daily Diet Blog

August 18, 2008

Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper and His Book “Are You Ready”

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 5:47 am

Bob Harper, who is a fitness and diet specialist who appears regularly on the Biggest Loser, one of the most popular shows still today on network TV (can you tell America is still obsessed with losing weight and weight in general?), has written a book entitled “Are You Ready?:, and from what I’ve seen so far, it looks like a novel approach at looking at weight loss and helping to psychologically counsel people through losing weight by addressing what’s inside their head first, so they can be prepared to eat right for a lifetime and not just “diet”. 

He says too often diets fail, and that people are really mentally ready for a life change by changing the way they view themselves and look at food, but they will try quick fix diets in hopes of getting a quick answer to their weight issues.  Bob Harper also says that he sees an “awakening” in the Biggest Loser contestants that happens after they get over the money winning factor and start to see that the show and the weight loss is going to awaken them in the way they live their lives also.

He talked also about how he has a part of the book that is an inner compass plan, where the person is held responsible for the food they eat as a starting awareness of where teh problem lies, because they have to keep a daily food journal and are essentially forced into looking at the reasons they are overweight and why their attempts at losing weight and keeping it off keep failing.

He also says that you have to accept who your are and forgive yourself for any failures.  It really helps you change the negative thought patterns that sabotage eating plans as well as weight loss and weight maintenance efforts.  He says you need to eat to lose weight, not starve yourself, like many people do.  He says skipping breakfast is one of the worst things you can do, which is what so many people do today, and they load up on the end of the day.

Bob Harper says that his book is about addressing the whole lifestyle, not a quick fix.  Amen to that!  Couldn’t agree more. 

July 6, 2008

Cleveland Clinic Offers Free Weight Watchers, More

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 5:32 pm

As the guidepost in the medical community, especially the most highly respected cardiac care provider, the Cleveland Clinic, which I happen to live fairly close to, all things considered, is offering their employees free health programs, including free Weight Watchers, for those who choose, as an effort to strive to be the epitome of the ultimate health institution by showing that they want their employees to be healthy so they can provide the best healthcare to their patients.

They stand by the credo that a happier and healthier employee provides the best healthcare possible to their patients, and not only do they offer free programs to help people lose weight and maintain healthy weights, but they also offer smoking cessation programs for those who want to quit smoking, and they actually do not hire smokers to begin with (I guess this means their smoking cessation programs are for people who started smoking after they started the job?)

At any rate, the Cleveland Clinic is definitely setting the standard in health care in so many fields and is world reknowned for being an excellent facility for those who are sick, need the best healthcare possible, and for experimentation and medical research.  This just goes to show that they have given a whole new level of commitment to their patients, by making sure their staff is well cared for so they in turn give their patients top notch care.

Hopefully other large companies, especially those in the service industries, will follow suit and start offering employees free wellness and health programs, and include weight loss in these curriculums, especially since obesity is still such a huge problem here in the US. 

June 24, 2008

Man Loses 80 Pounds From McDonald’s Food? Huh?

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 6:51 pm

Yeah, when I read this headline, I must say it was a little more than just a tad misleading, and thought, oh yeah he probably only ate their salads, and not what they’re known for which is their sinfully salty and fatty food that leaves you full for all of two hours, like french fries (admittedly one of my favorite naughty eats), double cheeseburgers and fried fish sandwiches to name a few.  And I was right, he ate the less fattening foods on the menu and lost 80 pounds eventually from doing that over a period of time.

Supposedly the man, named Chris Coleson, who hails from Virginia, ate almost every single meal at McDonalds to lose the weight, and chose Mickey D’s because of it’s convenience.  The fact that you can find a McDonalds everywhere made it an almost constant for him, and he was able to find foods on the menu that were less offensive and eat those.

His foods of choice for losing the 80 pounds on McDonalds were the salads, apple dippers without the sauce (what fun is that though), and the snack wraps, which I believe still contain deep fried chicken tenders but are still the lesser of many other evils that can be chosen from. 

June 22, 2008

Fill Up on Soup Before Your Meal

Filed under: Weight Loss, Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 3:27 pm

Another idea came to me that’s been out there for a long time about losing weight and using tricks to fill up on low calorie stuff so that you don’t totally go nuts when the main entree comes, and one of those long standing tips to help lose weight or stay on track with your diet when you go out to eat is to order a broth based soup to come before your meal.  It has to be broth based though, because the rich and thicker creamy ones are loaded with calories and fat (unfortunately the better soup tastes, the more fat it likely has, it’s that quandry mother nature put on us about fat and how bad it is for us, but how good it tastes).

So for example, if you are choosing between a fancy bisque soup, and a beef broth based vegetable soup, you definitely need to go for the lighter of the two, the broth based veggie soup.  The broth will help fill the stomach, because it is hot, and hot liquids make you feel fuller faster, and the saltiness and the veggies will also help you feel fuller so that you don’t fill up on bread or your main entree and eat too much.

A salad before your meal can also help, just make sure it’s not loaded with cheese, croutons and a lot of heavy dressing.  Try ordering an oil based dressing, or a light vinagrette and that will help you to curb your hunger and fill you up before you get your main entree so that you can eat less. 

The key is to make sure the “meal before the meal” is light and not loaded with fat or carbs.  Typically fattening pre-meal foods are bread with butter, creamy soups, deep fried appetizers and other fattening or cream-laden appetizers that just pile on the fat and don’t really do much as far as taking up space in your stomach to make you feel substantially satiated so that you don’t eat as much at your meal. 

It’s hard to stick to these rules, especially when you’re starving and are faced with a tempting, steaming basket of hot bread just waiting to be buttered and eaten, but if you can stick to these most of the time when you eat out, it adds up to lots of bonus points for maintaining that sleek physique you want.  The foods brought up here today act as a natural appetite suppressant so that you don’t go buckwild on the stuff that adds fat and pounds to your thighs and belly. 

June 18, 2008

Turbo Jam for Weight Loss

Filed under: Weight Loss, Exercise Equipment — EatingToLive @ 8:16 pm

After seeing an infomercial on television for Turbo Jam with Chalene Johnson, I had to look it up and find out more about it.  According to the infomercial, you could burn up to 700  calories in 45 minutes.
The Turbo Jam program is set to some of the latest dance music and is a combination of kickboxing and body sculpting.  The DVD’s offered include the Learn and Burn instructional video with the introduction to the “Elite 11″ moves and this one is 30 minutes long.
Another DVD is called the Turbo Sculpt which emphasizes toning and firming for reshaping and working on problem areas of your physique.   There’s a video that is shorter called the 20 Minute Workout so you can fit it into a busy schedule.
The Cardio Party is a dance style workout that lasts 45 minutes.  The Ab Jam is, of course, directed to tone and firm your abdomen muscles.  Also included in the weight loss and muscle toning program is a set of flash cards with Chalene’s “Elite 11″ moves.  Online support is available for diet support and live chats.  A book is included in the program with meal plans for weight loss, a workout calendar and tips for dining out while watching caloric intake.
Other tools provided to help you succeed in achieving weight loss and inches lost are turbo sculpting gloves with a video called Punch, Kick and Jam designed for use with the gloves that lasts for 50 minutes.  The Turbo Slim rapid results program is a meal plan and measuring guides to assist you further to attain your goals.
The Turbo Jam Maximum Results package is available online for 3 monthly payments of $19.95 plus shipping and handling charges of $12.95.  The program states that it has a money back guarantee if not satisfied within 30 days.
As with any exercise program, there is a recommendation to consult with your physician about your level of fitness before beginning this program.   Workout reviews, both positive and negative, are plentiful and available online to read to assess this program for possible use.

May 28, 2008

What are Slim Shots?

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 5:22 pm

Well, I have to admit, I’m just as curious about the latest and greatest findings in the diet pill world, including herbal weight loss pills, different natural types of appetite suppressants in various forms like liquid, pills, powders and even homeopathics ones that you hold under your tongue until they dissolve.  So this new Slim Shots appetite suppressing product that I saw in the middle aisles at Wal-mart just the other day - you know, the displays of items that they know are bound to get the attention of the dieters and summer conscious people?

I also noticed the steep price, which was around twenty five bucks for only a 21 day supply of the shots, which appeared to look like they were the size of coffee creamers you’d get at restaurants, or the kind of liquid creamer you get with your coffee at McDonalds and other fast food restaurants.  I was reading the labels, hoping to find some breakthrough or interesting information on why these might be worth the price, other than their novel approach at getting people to buy them by putting them in a one shot container and calling them “shots”, appealing to the novelty lover in all of us - including me! 

However, I couldn’t find anything out about the ingredients - at least not any that I thought were the active ingredients which made the appetite suppressing quality of them work, because it was called a “proprietary blend”, which means they did not disclose what was in that proprietary blend on the label, leaving the buyer to wonder what exactly it was they were ingesting.

However, the packaging did state that it was “clinically proven” to reduce appetite by about 30% when the product was taken in the morning.  I read some reviews online and couldn’t find much except that the product worked for some people, and that it tasted a lot like milk of magnesia, with not a lot of flavor but a thicker consistency.  If anyone has any reviews of the product or has tried it, please post them here so others can read them if they’re thinking of dropping a lot of money and want to get information before doing so. 

May 11, 2008

Diet Pills Don’t Work By Themselves

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 5:19 pm

Well, duh, right?  How many times have you tried a new diet pill, and lo and behold when it’s appetite suppressing effects or fat blocking effects, or whatever else in the diet pill claims to be the magic bullet to helping you lose weight, wears off, you return to your old eating habits, or you start to pile the weight back on because you don’t have that benefit of the pill at it’s fullest power like it was from day one on your side. 

Heck, sometimes even when I’m on a diet pill that suppresses my appetite naturally I know that I still need to use a lot of my own good old fashioned will power and desire to lose weight and fat because I’ll even keep eating after I’m stuffed - it’s just a psychological thing for a lot of us.  Take the new diet pill Alli for example, the very reason that many are afraid to take it may be the reason that it really gets people to lose weight, but they may put it back on when it’s off if they don’t use their own self control and desire to keep it off.

What I’m talking about with Alli is the side effect that has gotten so much press, and taht is that some people lose the control of their bowels when they use it, if they accidentally or on purpose consume too much fat, which Allie is designed to block a portion from absorbing into the blood stream (kind of like how carb blockers work, but only with fat).  The makers of Alli do suggest that if you use it, then try using it the first few days when you don’t have much going on, so you know how it may affect you, and then adjust accordingly.

It helps lots of people because they don’t want to have the embarrassment of diarrhea, so they really tend to watch what they eat, so they’re less likely to eat a whole pizza because they know what type of effect this will have on their system and they lose weight.  So guess what, you still have to use your own willpower and common sense, on any diet pill, for it to be effective. 

I’m and advocate of diet pills as long as they’re safe, because I think they do get you in the right mindset to jump start a diet to lose the weight you need to, I’m just saying that people think there may be a magic bullet to weight loss and of course there isn’t, you still have to eat right and be active, and that’s how it should be, otherwise our bodies wouldn’t be healthy. 

April 25, 2008

Ali Vincent Wins Biggest Loser

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 7:54 pm

I don’t watch the show, but have a friend who is an avid fan of “The Biggest Loser” television show where ordinary people compete against one another to see who can lose the most weight and the winner takes home a cash prize, as well as a new self esteem and health thanks to dramatic, needed weight loss. 

I’d say that’s a win/win situation, and while I’m generally not a huge fan of “exploitational” reality tv, I’d say this show has something special because not only do the contestants learn to eat right and exercise and get their bodies into the prime shape it should be in for their own happiness and longevity, but it also has inspired many others to do that same, and that’s what America needs right now at the peak of the obesity epidemic - inspiration to get back to basics and whip ourselves back into shape. 

We need to kick processed and fast foods to the curb to do that, and that takes a lot more work and discipline than many of us think, especially those of us with busy lives and lots of stress, who use food as a crutch.  Ali Vincent was  cute girl who had over hundred pounds to lose to become her healthiest self, and shed down to a good size and good body fat ratio to be in the best of health. 

Over a hundred pounds is a TON of weightloss, no matter how heavy you start off as, and Ali pulled through, reportedly with a great attitude that she WAS the winner from the beginning, and a great desire to become the first female contestant to win the weight loss reality show.  The show follows the contestants through eating, through their ups and downs, exercising, and mental support, and even with that, it’s still a relatively short time frame to be expected to lose almost half of your body weight.  I can’t even imagine losing that much, so kudos to Ali for becoming the first female victor! 

April 1, 2008

Resistant Carbohydrates

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 11:03 am

Is there such a thing as “good carbohydrates”?  According to registered dietitian, D. Milton Stokes in Prevention Magazine, resistant starch is.  Resistant starch is the dietary fiber found in carbohydrate rich foods such as potatoes, rice and slightly green bananas.
The resistant starch level of rice and potatoes increases when these foods are cooked and then cooled.  Cooking potatoes or rice and then slowly cooling them causes the starch to become crystallized.  The crystallized form resists digestion.  Sort of like a carb blocker would do, because it essentially slows the absorption of carbs and their conversion to sugar by the body. 

According to Cindy Moore, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic, a resistant starch passes through the small intestine intact.  Resistant starch, in the large intestine, ferments and turns to bytyrate, a fatty acid.  The bytyrate reduces the toxin levels and also stimulates hormones that make you feel fuller.  The latter quality is why resistant starch is helpful to weight loss.
Other sources of resistant starch are grains, corn and beans.  Resistant starch is being hailed as the latest natural fat burning breakthrough.
Studies are showing that consumption of resistant starches help to improve blood sugar control, can boost your immunity and may reduce risks of certain kinds of cancer.  The biggest benefit gaining attention is the impact resistant starches have for helping weight loss.
Recipes highlighting resistant starches are plentiful on the internet.  Products such as Hi-maize 260 can be blended in to make waffles, rolls and a host of other foods.  Hi-Maize 260  resistant starch is a natural ingredient made from corn that contains 55 to 60% insoluble dietary fiber.
With all the low carbohydrate craze, potatoes, corn and grains have been avoided as high carbohydrate fattening foods that will cause weight gain.  The newer theories on resistant starches may reverse that way of thinking.
 

 

March 25, 2008

Five Servings a Day for Weight Loss?

Filed under: Weight Loss — EatingToLive @ 8:51 am

Five servings of fruits and vegetables per day is the recommended daily consumption for a healthy diet.  This amount may sound excessive for someone who’s not accustomed to incorporating fruits and vegetables into their diet regularly.  The five servings don’t have to be consumed all at one mealtime.  You can start at breakfast time with a piece of fresh fruit with your toast or cereal and a glass of fruit or vegetable juice.
 At lunchtime, in addition to your sandwich, just pack some raw carrots or celery sticks or another selection of fresh or canned fruit.   At snacktime, in the middle of the afternoon or evening, focus on a fruit or vegetable item.  For your lunchtime, you can add a slice of tomato or two to your sandwich with some lettuce.

Dinnertime can consist of meat or fish for protein, a carbohydrate such as potatoes or pasta and a hot vegetable or a side salad.  By the end of the day, you will have eaten the five recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.

By adding consistently an abundance of fruits and vegetables, you will probably consume less calorie dense foods without officially going on a diet.  You will probably notice a slimmer waistline over time.  Fruits and vegetables have plenty of much needed nutrients for you also.  The fiber contained in this food group will keep your digestive tract running smoothly.  This may reduce your risk of colon cancer.

Certain vegetables, especially the dark leafy types are an excellent source of iron.  Iron is necessary for the health of our red blood cells to carry oxygen from our lungs to our body.  Vitamin A is found abundantly in dark orange and  green  vegetables.  Vitamin A is essential to our vision, especially at night and for the health of our skin, the lining of our mouth ,nose and throat and intestines. 

Vitamin C is much needed for healing cuts, wounds and burns.  Without enough vitamin C, we bruise easily and often have bleeding gums.  Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits and also in vegetables like brocolli and kale.  Calcium is necessary for the health of our bones and teeth.  There is calcium in large amounts in the dark leafy greens such as spinach or kale.

If you are not in the habit of including lots of fruits and veggies in your diet, today is a good time to start.  You can improve your overall health dramatically by developing this habit early on and carrying it throughout your life, making them your “staple”, instead of starches, meats or cheeses.

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