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Summer eating challenge

This past weekend, family was in town, and as a result, we ate out almost every meal.  My wife and I have never really been big on eating out, and after this weekend of eating, I'm glad we're not.  It's not that I didn't have fun going to different restaurants this weekend, or that I don't like restaurant food.  The problem is that sometimes I tend to like restaurant food too much.  I'm not going to lie, when a big juicy steak is sitting in front of me on a plate, I'm going to eat the whole thing.  My willpower isn't always the greatest because even though I know I should take some of my meal home for leftovers, I don't always do it.  I'm typically pretty good at taking Italian home in a doggy bag, but that's about it.

What's the point to all this?

This past weekend showed me why a lot of people struggle with weight loss.  As our society continues to become busier and busier, the amount of home-cooked meals around the dinner table keeps getting less and less.  It's no secret the portion sizes at restaurants are getting bigger ... way too much for one sitting. 

Your body can be seen as a funnel.  If you take a bucket of water and pour it into the funnel at one time, what happens?  The funnel can't process that much water at one time, and it overflows on the sides.  The same thing goes with our bodies.  If we eat too many calories at one time, our bodies can't process that many calories fast enough and there's an overflow with the overflow being the storage of excess body fat in our problem areas.  The way to prevent this overflow is to eat smaller, more frequent portions.  Or, in the case of the funnel, pour a little water in the funnel, let it process through, and pour a little more in.  Eating the majority of your calories in one sitting (eating at a restaurant) leads to the storage of excess body fat.  If you space your calories into smaller meals throughout the day, you help combat the storage of excess body fat.

My suggestion before has been that when you go out to eat, before you even start eating, put half of your meal into a box to take home.  I've realized this is easier said than done.  Many restaurants put endless warm rolls and butter, breadsticks, salads, or chips and dip in front of you, and it can be very hard to "box these up".  With many restaurants, you can eat over a 1000 calories as a result of all the "complimentary" food that comes before you actually get the meal you've ordered!  A poor willpower can get the best of anyone when all this great looking food is in front of you.

Here's the challenge.

Instead of trying to box your meals up at restaurants this summer, try increasing the number of meals you eat at home.  These should be good, old-fashioned home-cooked meals, not bringing a bucket of chicken home for the family to enjoy.  Grill some chicken on the grill, bake some fish, whatever it is, you will have a lot more control on the portion sizes because you're making it.  Willpower won't be as big of an issue, and as a result of smaller portions, you'll still have some great tasting food, you'll still be around the family, you'll still be full without feeling you're going to burst after the meal, but most importantly, you'll prevent yourself from consuming too many calories at one time.  

Want to reduce your risk of osteoporosis? Eat your fruits and veggies

I recently read a shocking statistic in The London Free Press that said North American women suffer hip fractures six times more often than women living in some Asian countries.  What's even more shocking is that North American women consume an average of 1,000 mg of calcium per day, as compared to less than 500 mg per day consumed by women in these Asian countries.

Osteoporosis plays a big role in these fractures because those who suffer from osteoporosis are plagued by fragile bones that are at an increased risk for fractures, especially in the hips, vertebrae, and hips.  The London Free Press also reported an estimated 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men older than 55 will be affected by this disease.

The problem is as you can see above, getting a lot of calcium isn't always a sufficient way for preventing osteoporosis.  Why is that?  Other than maintaining the structure of our body, our bones are also crucial in maintaining the correct pH level of our blood.  The pH level is what determines if our blood is acidic or basic.  A pH level of 7 is considered neutral, and our blood is a little on the basic side with a pH of 7.4.  (Less than 7 is more on the acidic side.) 

How does all this relate to osteoporosis?

For a person that eats a lot of red meat, the amino acids that make up the protein in the meat cause our blood to become more acidic.  Acidic blood leads to all kinds of problems, and to neutralize this problem as quick as possible, our bones release some of their calcium to reduce the acidity of the blood and bring it back to a pH of 7.4.  As with North American women who get 500 mg of calcium per day more than women in some Asian countries, getting more calcium in your diet doesn't always mean you're doing enough to prevent osteoporosis.  If you're blood is acidic, that calcium can still be used for neutralizing your blood as opposed to strengthening your bones.

Other than reducing your red meat intake, another step you can take to reduce your risk of osteoporosis is to eat your fruits and vegetables.  Fruits and vegetables have the opposite effect on blood as compared to red meat.  They actually help keep the blood at its slightly basic pH level.  This means they help reduce the excretion of calcium out of the bones because they step in and use themselves to neutralize acidic blood instead.  Another benefit of vegetables is that dark green, leafy choices are a good source of Vitamin K (promotes bone formation and integrity).  And while we're on this strong bones kick, regularly getting out in the sun for a little bit is a good thing because sunlight helps the body produce vitamin D.  Vitamin D helps maintain bone integrity by taking calcium out of the food we eat and absorbing it into the blood.

Hmm ... "Eat your fruits and vegetables."  It looks like mom was right after all ... .

My thoughts on a vegetarian diet

Though I'm not a vegetarian, there are still steps I take to watch the quality of meat I eat.  For one, my wife and I choose turkey over ground beef.  One thing you must be careful about with turkey is that just because it's turkey doesn't mean it's healthy.  Pay attention to the fat quality of the turkey.  For example, if you buy ground turkey at the store, make sure it's a lean option (85/15 is not a lean option).  Another choice my wife and I have made is to eat a lot of chicken.  Again, watch the fat content.  Trim the visible fat away from the chicken before eating it, and I know this is gross, but if you happen to eat a little fat, and notice it, spit it out!  There's no shame in not wanting to eat excess fat.  So turkey and chicken ... these two choices can be a big help in helping you avoid overeating red meat.

Now, for those of you who can't even dream of eating either of these, I'm assuming you're probably a vegetarian.  A vegetarian diet isn't something that should be looked at as strange, but realize they can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.  Striving to eat a salad everyday is not exactly a good vegetarian diet, but when planned right, a vegetarian diet can be a well-balanced diet.  A lot of times, vegetarian diets are high in fiber, low in cholesterol, and low in saturated fats.  Fiber is one problem a lot of non-vegetarian eaters struggle with.  Fiber helps you feel fuller, longer, and it also helps control blood sugar levels.  Both of these qualities are very important for maintaining a healthy weight.

Two important nutrients that can be a struggle to get in a vegetarian diet are protein and iron.  Both are found in meat, but cut that out, and you're left to figure out other sources.  Grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes are a great source of protein.  Fruits and vegetables can be another great source as well.  Since many vegetarian options don't have much iron, you most likely will need to get it from fortified cereals, breads, pastas, and rice.

Calcium is another nutrient to be aware of.  Leafy greens, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and navy beans are a great source to help prevent osteoporosis. 

The important thing is that if you're considering a vegetarian diet, don't just jump into it by thinking all you need to do is eat vegetables.  A healthy vegetarian diet takes a lot of research and effort to be a success, so make sure you do your due diligence before starting one.  If you do, your body will definitely thank you.

Stress-reducing foods

Since part of the discussion for our fitness seminar this week is on stress management, I thought this article was a pretty interesting find.  It contains some very practical ways to use what you eat to help curb your stress levels.  Enjoy!

Stress-Reducing Foods

Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Chains

Here's the actual healthy fast food article.

Are you on the fat diet? You might be surprised ...

"Diet", it's a word that has so many different meanings to it.  For some, it means months of borderline OCD behavior, eating flavorless foods, eating no food, or buying expensive "weight loss" bars and shakes.  For others, it means that they're setting themselves up for even more fat gain in the future.  Are you one of these "victims"?  First reaction would say, "Heck no!"  You might be surprised to learn, though, that what you thought was doing your body good is actually sending it down to crash and burn.  Let's go over a few different scenarios that you might have fallen into and see if we can't climb out before it's too late.

Number one, the "don't eat during the day and save up for a big dinner" diet.  Studies have shown that not eating breakfast leads to overeating throughout the day, so the idea that you will get everything you need with a big dinner never works.  The second part to this is that your body can only process and burn off so many calories at one time.  Eating 2000 calories in one meal will lead to an overflow of calories into your body, which ultimately leads to an enormous amount of insulin released to suppress your spike in blood sugar.  The result of this much insulin means fat storage.  Spacing meals throughout the day helps to control blood sugar spikes and the resulting storage of excess body fat.

Another bad "diet", the grazing diet.  Too many times, when I ask people how their eating habits are, they say, "Oh, I'm a very healthy eater.  I don't eat huge portions, but graze instead."  Again, bad idea.  Research shows that without structured times of when to eat, people who graze tend to overindulge.  Just because you eat a few potato chips here and a few there doesn't mean it's healthy.  Those little handfuls add up, and you would be surprised at how much they add up indeed. 

Bad "diet" number three, barely eating anything before a big event.  Here's the scenario, it's been 10 years since you last saw your college friends, and you want to look your best for them.  You go out and buy a killer outfit, and the only thing left to do is fit into that outfit.  You decide to bring your eating habits to a halt and take on the portion sizes of a bird.  The problem, you metabolism crashes and your ability to lose weight crashes with it.  Your body goes into starvation mode.  It stores fat and burns muscle.  Without muscle, your fat-burning potential dissolves, and not only does your "fat loss" come to a stand still, but your "fat loss" after the big event will be at a stand still as well.  "Diet" number three is the number three no-no.

Bad "diet" number four, "I can eat whatever I want because I'm eating healthy, organic food" diet. 

Big mistake. 

Here's a little secret.  Healthy food still has calories.  An interesting study that polled college students showed that when presented with a healthy food choices, they consistently underestimated the calorie counts.  Just because a food has a good amount of nutrients doesn't mean it doesn't have the calories.  Perfect example, nuts.  Healthy source of protein, but a handful can still add up to 200 calories or more.

Bad "diet" number four, the "low-fat" or "sugar-free" diet.  First off, the idea that low-fat means no fat stored on your body is ludicrous.  Fat equals tasty, so without the fat, how do you make foods tasty ... sugar, of course.  When you think about low-fat, do you think less calories?  If you do, go to the grocery store and compare a regular product to its low-fat buddy.  You'll be surprised to see there isn't much of a difference in calorie count.  What about sugar-free?  The jury is still out on whether artificial is better, some studies say yes, some say no.  Just because something is sugar-free doesn't necessarily mean it's calorie-free.  Always be conscious of the labels.

Last, but not least, the short-term diet.  Too many times, people become motivated to lose the weight, they start exercising and eating right, but as soon as they lose the weight, they start to slip back into old habits.  Weight control is a lifestyle change.  Start will small changes, work you way up to the lifestyle change, but once you get there, never look back. 

How to avoid the sick feeling you get with multivitamins

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Fast food has pulled a fast one

I heard this on the radio the other day, and it really got me thinking.  I think it's safe to say that we don't eat fast food because of the quality.  I know you've heard it before and have probably even told yourself this, but we don't eat fast food because the hamburgers are great.  Sure, fast food has added junk to it to make it more appealing to our taste buds, but most of us can make a better hamburger than one that's smashed together in a paper wrapper.  We also don't eat fast food because of it's health benefits ... does anyone really even know what's in fast food french fries anyway? 

What about this one?  Do we eat fast food because it's cheap?  This could be a big one, especially today.  Here's another one.  Do we eat fast food because it's ... fast?  You know ... it's convenient?  I'd say these are the two biggest reasons for subjecting our health to the effects of fast food.  After all, everything comes back to time and money, and that's exactly what these two reasons address.

This is where I find it interesting, though.  Let's start with the inexpensive reason first.  Let's pretend we order everything from a "dollar menu", a "value menu", whatever you want to call it.  OK, one cheeseburger, one thing of fries, and water ... a very basic order that's around $2 total.  I don't know how many of you are actually full with an order like this, but just run with me here.  So $2 for this lunch; well, let's compare that to a packed lunch of a tuna sandwich, an apple, some yogurt, and some pretzels.  

Based on a recent shopping list I had, a can of tuna costs $0.78, 2 slices of whole wheat bread cost $0.16, an medium sized Gala apple costs $0.50, a 6-oz cup of light yogurt costs $0.40, and a serving-size of pretzels (1 oz.) costs $0.09.  I also added the calories up for this meal and came up with approximately 502 calories.  So basically, you have a packed lunch of 502 calories that's a lot healthier and costs $1.93 vs. a fast food lunch that costs $2, you don't get as much to eat, it's not as healthy, and it has around 670 calories.

What about the convenience reason?  Is fast food really faster?  Well, for me to pack a lunch like the one above, it takes about 1-2 minutes.  Is it any faster at a fast food joint?  When's the last time you only waited for a minute or two in line, either drive-thru or inside?  I have to believe that it's kind of hard to ever remember that happening.  Just look at the drive-thru lines in the morning ... they wrap around the building!  So does it really save us time to choose fast food over packing a lunch before leaving the home?  I think you know the answer to that one.

So fast food isn't faster or less expensive than making the majority of our own meals.  Since that's the case, why again do we continue to eat at them?   

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How I survive the holiday season

I'm finally back; man, last week was crazy trying to get all these things with deadlines done before leaving for Thanksgiving.  My wife and I ended up going to my parents' house up in Wadsworth, Ohio.  For Thanksgiving day, we all drove over to the Pittsburgh area and hung out with grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles.  We really had a great time this past weekend, but I must say, my eating definitely wasn't the best.  Everything from pumpkin pie to pizza, there was all kinds of junk that I was constantly staring at these past few days.

Then it dawned on me as my wife and I were driving home.  This is why we don't have sweets and many other types of junk food in our home.  It's not because I don't like it; I love my share of sweets, just like a lot of people.  The reason I don't eat much of it during the week is because we simply don't have it staring at us from candy dishes, the counter, and the pantry.      

One suggestion I make to people during Thanksgiving and Christmas is to remember that each of these holidays is really only one day.  Turning these days into multiple days of eating poorly is where people run into trouble.  I still believe this approach to be a great approach to take to keep this time of year from destroying the results of hard work with exercise and eating right during the months leading up to now, but I also realize that it's very hard to limit the eating of pumpkin pie to one day.

So here's my suggestion.  You may have trouble eating right when you're around friends and family over Christmas, but leading up to Christmas and after Christmas, stay away from the junk food.  It's not very hard to limit the amount of junk food you eat when you don't have it to eat.  Try not to put out the red and green M&M's in a candy dish this year.  Instead of baking cookies and pies now, wait until the week of Christmas.  Just as an addict needs to stay away from what they're addicted to, keeping the junk food out of reach will help someone not eat it.  

That's what my big revelation was over this weekend.  It's not that I typically don't eat junk food because I don't like to; it's that I don't typically eat junk food because we don't have much of it in our home to tempt us.  It's kind of hard to eat M&M's or a cookie when you don't have any to eat. 

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Can I really eat chocolate for its health benefits?

I'm sure you've heard it before that medical professionals are now saying that chocolate is actually good for you.  For all you chocolate lovers, this is great news, but one thing you need to remember is that dark chocolate is the type that has health benefits, not milk chocolate like many candies out there.  The question is, is it true that chocolate is good for the body?

The support for the claim that chocolate is good for the body has to do with its antioxidant properties.  Remember talking about these with fruits and vegetables?  The idea is that the higher percentage of cocoa chocolate has in it, the higher the percentage of antioxidants in it.  So for example, the darker the chocolate, the higher the amount of cocoa in it.  Milk chocolate has so much other junk added into it to get rid of the bitter cocoa taste and have more of a sweet taste that its percentage of cocoa isn't very high, so it really doesn't have that much antioxidant power to it.  

Here's the problem, though.  A lot of the antioxidant benefits of chocolate are dependent on which cocoa bean is used and how it is processed.  These two factors can have a major effect on the quality of antioxidant benefits in the chocolate you eat, more specifically, the amount of flavonoids in the chocolate.  For example, just because one candy bar contains 50 percent cocoa doesn't mean that it is higher in antioxidants compared to a bar that is 40 percent cocoa.  Again, it's all dependent on the type of bean used and they way it was processed.¹  The general rule of thumb, though, is that the darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant power.  So does this mean that it's safe to say you can eat chocolate everyday?  My feeling is no.  Remember, it's still chocolate.  Just because it contains antioxidants doesn't mean that all the other stuff in chocolate is healthy for you.  When trying to get your antioxidants, why not eat your fruits and vegetables instead.  Not only do they have great antioxidant power, but they are loaded with a ton of vitamins and minerals.  For all you chocolate-lovers out there, I'm sure I won't be able to change your mind, but at least I tried.  If you do love chocolate, I would suggest raw chocolate or the cocoa beans themselves for the most amount of antioxidants.  You can find them both at any health food store. 

For more information on the benefits of chocolate, make sure you check out this website.

References:

¹Ursell, A. (2008, October 27). Nutrition Q&A: Is chocolate really good for you?. The Times. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/
diet_and_fitness/article5008739.ece

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