What’s New Summer 2009

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It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of the most recent research about weight loss or directed you to some fun and informative sites to help you in your effort to eat healthy low calorie food. So today I have some news, updates, and other info I think you’ll like. Fruits and Vegetables for Weight Loss and Better Health Summer is the season for fruits and vegetables. I hope you are taking advantage of the low calorie nutritious choices available at your grocery store or farmer’s market. Maybe you were ambitious this year and planted a garden for some homegrown treats. My husband and I have a small garden. However, a lot of our fruits and vegetables come from a local CSA (community supported agriculture). We did enjoy our own homegrown rhubarb and asparagus earlier in the season and now we have lots of ripe and delicious raspberries both red and golden. If you would like some creative ideas on ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet I encourage you to see what Alice Henneman, M.S., R.D. has shared on her University of Nebraska Extension website. 13 Fun Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables The article and slide show provided was posted on the site back in February so Alice shares ways to use frozen fruits and vegetables. I’m sure the suggestions will work equally well or better with fresh. Put your emphasis on fruits and vegetables and you will not only fill up and feel satisfied for longer with fewer calories than with energy dense foods (high calorie foods) but you will gain the benefits of all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber as well. Check it out! Natural Weight Loss Supplement that Actually Works?? Speaking of staying satisfied for longer, you might be interested to know that there will soon be a new and HOPEFULLY safe botanical product available that may enhance satiety after a meal. All too often we overeat because the part of the brain that signals when we have had enough is slow to receive the feedback it needs for proper regulation of energy intake. This new product is made from the bauhinia bush, which grows in the Amazon basin. Native people have long made medicinal products from this bush. Although the weight loss supplement is not yet available for sale in the United States, it could be on the market soon. If you have followed my blog posts for some time you probably know that I am not a fan of most dietary supplements. There are a few exceptions but most are simply not worth the money. I think this product may be an exception. However, I need to read some objective reviews to learn more. If it is as good as it sounds, I will keep you informed. New Service available with My Food Diary My favorite online food diary and nutrition calculator service MyFoodDiary has recently become even better! Not only can you search over 50,000 foods, add items to your food diary, record your exercise, and view reports BUT you can now do all of this from your cell phone! I think this has tremendous potential. Just imagine making use of the time you might have while waiting in line at a store, or waiting to board your flight at an airport, or waiting for your kids to finish a program or event. Use this time to record your meals and snacks. And do take advantage of the ability to look up the calorie count on a food item before making a purchase at a restaurant. You may not have access to the calorie and nutrient data for all restaurants but what is available could be a big help! This service works best with smart phones such as iPhone, Palm, and Blackberry but it can also work with most phones that are XHTML compliant. I would imagine if you can access the web with your phone than you are good to go. No extra charge for this service! I don’t have a smart phone but I was able to access MyFoodDiary with my Verizon cell phone to find the calorie counts for the sandwiches at Subway. Food Diary Review: MyFoodDiary.com Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) EFT is a system of realigning the energy in your body to release any kind of interfering blockage or energy disruption. Evidently this system can be used for weight loss, headaches, pain control, ADD, anxiety relief, trauma, and much more. The way in which it can help with weight loss is by changing your relationship with emotional or addictive overeating. If you have not heard of EFT I would imagine the procedure for practicing EFT will not be like anything you have encountered before. However, having said that, the procedures are endorsed by some well-respected health and wellness professionals such as Carole Solomon, PhD. an online psychologist who recommends this program to her weight loss clients. Carole provides excellent tips and strategies to combat stress-induced overeating. To learn more about Carole and what she offers you might enjoy a blog she started recently called StressEating.com If you would like to learn more about EFT including the specific techniques to practice this system, I encourage you to visit the Discover EFT website. You can download a free 87-page digital book (ebook) and learn all about it. Another program Carole recommends is the Heartmath emWave tool. By using this tool you can learn to better regulate your stress and emotions so that you can adhere to healthy intentions. I find this concept to be fascinating in light of some recent research results published in the May 1 issue of Science magazine (2009). Researchers discovered that there is a significant difference in the brain activity of those individuals who successfully resist eating unhealthy foods versus those who do not. There are two different regions of the brain that became active with study volunteers who resisted temptations to eat unhealthy food. However, the individuals who chose the unhealthy foods had brain activity in only one of these two regions. Fascinating. It makes me wonder why? Are those who make the better choice more well informed? And if not, what else is happening? I’ll share more information about the Heartmath program soon! Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! weight loss weight lossweight loss research news weight loss tips updates

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Day 5 Sample - 7 Day Diet Menu

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Day 5 of the 7 Day Sample Menu requires very little time to prepare. Although the menu does call for making a couple of new recipes for supper, you’ll find preparation will only take minutes for each. The Deviled Egg recipe makes use of the remaining hard-boiled eggs prepared on the evening of Day 3. It also calls for using a little low fat and low calorie plain yogurt instead of the typical higher fat mayonnaise in traditional deviled egg recipes. This keeps the calorie count for a serving of two egg halves to only 84 calories per serving. The easy to prepare Black Bean Salsa* and a side of hummus with tortilla chips helps to round out the meal for supper and balance the nutrients. The menu is designed for 1200 calories, however, I include tips on how you might increase the calorie count for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet. [*My apologies for not having the Black Bean Salsa recipe ready to provide for you this week. I am away from my home office in Iowa visiting with my mother who is in a Nursing home in Georgia. I managed to forget to bring the recipe with me on my trip. I should have it ready for you to access when I am back home next week!] Sample Menu Day 4 - 1200 Calories Breakfast 1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal (leftover from earlier in the week see Day 1) 1/8 cup almonds 1/2 cup Orange Juice 8 oz. Nonfat (skim) milk (Optional: Have the milk along with a cup of home-brewed coffee for Cafe au Lait.) Snack 1 6-oz. container low fat yogurt (Stonyfield Farms, 130 calories, your choice of flavor) Lunch 1 cup Chicken Tortilla Soup (122 calories WITHOUT the addition of tortilla chips to the soup) (leftover from Day 4) 1 medium apple Water, unsweetened coffee or tea Snack 1 piece Mini Babybel Light Cheese (50 calories) Supper 1 serving (2 egg halves) Low Calorie Deviled Eggs 1 serving Black Bean and Corn Salsa (recipe coming soon!) 4 Tbsp. Hummus 8 Tortilla chips (Tostitos, multigrain) Water, unsweetened tea or coffee (Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.) Total Calories = 1222 Total Fiber = 21.9 grams (The recommendation for women is to have 20-25 grams of fiber a day.) Fat = 25% Carbs = 57% Protein = 18% Calcium = 1023 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day.) Iron = 9.3 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg.) With low calorie diets, iron often comes up short for younger women and calcium can be short for women of all ages particularly older women. This menu is low in iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and in calcium for women 51+. Today might be a good day for a supplement. 1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs. If you are over 50 and needing a little more calcium you could add another one cup serving of nonfat milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). An additional serving of yogurt is another good choice for getting extra calcium (see Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet ) for some ideas on which yogurt to buy.) The iron count is low for women 19 to 50 years of age. Today would be a good day for an iron supplement. Other than these tips you can choose what you like for the additional 100-300 calories. I recommend supplementing with foods other than those set aside for the 7 Day Sample Diet Menu. On Day 6 and 7 you will have a good sense of how much extra food or leftovers you might have to supplement your diet and bring the calorie count up to 1300, 1400, or 1500 depending on your dietary needs. Till then you may need to purchase a little extra. Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories Health weight loss calories, Health, weight losssample menu 7 days 1200 calorie diet low calorie diet menu

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Day 4 Diet Sample Menu

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Today’s menu for 1200 calories on day 4 of the 7 Day Diet Menu is quite easy given the nutritious leftovers you have from earlier in the week. Supper calls for Chicken Tortilla Soup . Prep time for making the soup is only 15 minutes or so but the cooking time is considerably longer. If you would prefer to have supper ready to eat sooner rather than later after a busy day, you might want to prepare the soup the night before (the evening of Day 3 for the 7 Day Diet Menu). Image by crd! via Flickr Something else you will have hopefully prepared the day before are hard-boiled eggs. Cooked and ready to eat eggs can be a great source of low cal and filling nutrition for a midday snack or an addition to a meal. The menu for day 4 calls for having a hard-boiled egg for breakfast and on day 5 you will be making deviled eggs. Please note that the Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe includes an option to add crushed tortilla chips to the top of the prepared soup. For the 1200 calorie diet plan you will need to forgo adding chips to the soup and opt instead to have some tortilla chips with mashed avocado as noted in the menu if you want to keep your calorie count down. If on the other hand, you are on a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet then the additional chips could fit within your calorie allotment. Sample Menu Day 4 Breakfast 1 Hard-boiled egg 1 whole orange 1 Whole Wheat sandwich thin (Arnold, 100 calories) 1/2 tbsp. Light Butter with Canola (Land O’Lakes, 25 calories) Snack 1 6-oz. container low fat yogurt (Stonyfield Farms, your choice of flavor) Lunch 1 chicken wing (skin removed) 1 chicken leg (just the leg not the thigh meat, skin removed) 2 cups mixed salad greens 1/2 cup Tomatoes chopped 8 oz. nonfat (skim) milk (Optional: Make 1 cup of coffee with milk (cafe au lait) with the nonfat milk) Snack 1/4 cup Raisins - seedless 1 piece Mini Babybel Light Cheese (50 calories) Supper 1 cup Chicken Tortilla Soup (122 calories WITHOUT the addition of tortilla chips to the soup) 4 tbsp. Avocado (raw, mashed) 8 Tortilla chips (Tostitos, multigrain) Water, unsweetened tea or coffee (Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.) Total Calories = 1206 Total Fiber = 25 grams (The recommendation for women is to have 20-25 grams of fiber a day.) Fat = 30% Carbs = 48% Protein = 22% Calcium = 930 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day.) Iron = 11 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg.) The menu comes up a little short on iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and on calcium for women 51+. Today might be a good day for a supplement. 1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs. If you are over 50 and needing a little more calcium you may want to add another one cup serving of nonfat milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). Yogurt is another good choice for getting extra calcium (see Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet for some ideas on which yogurt to buy.) Given that the iron count is a little low, if you are between the ages of 19 and 50, today would be a good day for an iron supplement. Other than these tips you can choose what you like for the additional 100-300 calories. As I have noted on Day 1-3, the overall plan is designed for 1200 calories so there won’t be a lot of extra food on the first few days for having a second serving to up your calorie intake. (I recommend purchasing a little extra food of your choice for bringing the calorie count up to meet your needs.) However, you should have a little extra soup. The 7 Day Menu Plan calls for having another cup of soup on Day 5 and again on Day 7 that means you should have about 2 extra cups of soup. Day 5 of the 7 Day Diet Menu includes Deviled Eggs and Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Both can be prepared easily in just minutes with the ingredients you already have on hand. Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food! Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu Grocery Shopping for a 7 Day Diet Menu Day 1 Diet Sample Menu Day 2 Sample Diet Menu Day 3 Sample Diet Menu calories Health weight loss calories, Health, weight loss1200 calorie menu plan 7 day diet menu diet plan diet menu healthy low calorie nutritious

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Tea, Weight Loss, and Health

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Tea has been credited with being able to boost metabolism to burn more calories. I’ve also seen claims that it can “melt” belly fat. Are these claims true? Can tea really make a difference for weight loss? And what about the other health benefits? One of the best reasons for drinking tea might surprise you. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. (Wikipedia, 2009) Beyond the soothing comfort a warm cup of brewed tea can provide, there may indeed be good reasons to make tea a preferred beverage. Teas are a source of many healthful compounds including antioxidants. But you will want to know what to purchase and how to properly prepare tea to gain the greatest benefits. Image via Wikipedia Many products are marketed as tea; however, “true tea” comes only from the plant Camellia sinensis. There are a variety of forms. Some of the more commonly known in the United States are black, green, and white tea. Each of the teas differs in the way they are processed. Black tea is the most highly processed, green tea somewhat less, and white tea the least. (Herbal teas such as peppermint or ginger are not considered to be true teas. These teas may have antioxidant properties as well but there is little in the way of research results to compare or contrast the benefits of herbal tea with tea made from the plant Camellia sinensis.) There may be a link between the amount of tea a person drinks and reduced risk for heart disease, stroke, certain kinds of cancer, and osteoporosis. The caffeine in tea along with another compound called epigallocatechin (EGCG) may in fact slightly increase your metabolism. Tea may also reduce the secretion of cortisol and improve your immunity. But just how significant are these benefits? 1. Whereas there are a number of research results that support the theory that tea reduces risk for disease, there are other well-designed studies that do not. Only time and more research will tell. My opinion is that tea can provide significant health benefits. The benefits come from the antioxidants and other healthful compounds in tea. However, the specifics of who benefits and under what circumstances has yet to be clearly determined. The benefits are not necessarily the same for everyone. 2. Although the caffeine in tea and EGCG may elevate metabolism the effect is minimal and the number of extra calories burned is small. What’s more is that many people may unconsciously compensate for the additional calories burned by eating more food. Also, it is not clear if the effect of boosting metabolic rates persists over time with continued consumption of tea. 3. Keeping cortisol levels in check is beneficial. Tea has been shown to reduce cortisol levels but the mechanism by which tea influences these levels is not yet clear. Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands. This hormone plays an important role in protecting your body when it is released at the appropriate time (such as a temporary crisis either physical or emotional) by influencing your blood pressure and immune system. However, it can wreak havoc on your body if you are experiencing too much stress over a long period of time. Chronically raised levels of cortisol can have a negative impact on your immune system, cause sleep problems, affect blood sugar levels, and cause abdominal weight gain. 4. Tea is a source of an amino acid called theanine, which can promote a feeling of calmness. 5. As for abdominal body fat, in a recent Tufts University study (Journal of Nutrition, 2/09) overweight adults who engaged in moderate exercise (such as walking or biking) and consumed a beverage with green tea catechins (antioxidants) experienced significantly greater abdominal fat loss than those who exercised but did not consume the catechin containing beverage. Catechins are found in many plant foods but the best source of catechins is tea. Among the different forms of tea the highest concentration of catechins are found in green tea. An average cup of green tea has about 150 to 250 mg of these antioxidants. The study participants received a daily dose of 625 mg (the equivalent of about 3-4 cups of green tea). Keep in mind that exercise was an integral part of the study. The green tea catechins enhanced exercise-induced abdominal fat loss. Catechins may not have the same effect without exercise. 6. The best reason to drink tea is that it is a healthy, low calorie, and relatively low cost alternative to drinking plain water. Women need about 11 cups of water a day (read Water Wisdom! to learn more) with an average of 3 of those cups coming from food (such as fruits and vegetables). Beverages other than water can be a good source of the remaining 8 cups, without additional calories, if you choose wisely (see The Beverages you Drink May be Making You Fat! or Healthy Low Calorie Beverages) For several years or more, I had the intention of drinking 8 glasses a day of plain water. At some point I realized that I often forgot to drink the water. Plain water had lost its appeal. Then I switched to drinking 3-4 cups a day of tea in addition to plain water to help meet my needs. I’ve enjoyed exploring the many different flavors of tea and given that I like it, I have found I am more inclined to actually drink it! Here are some suggestions to help you get the most from the tea you drink: 1. Black tea is the most highly processed tea. To derive the most benefit from the antioxidants in black tea, pour boiling water over the tea leaves. 2. Both green and white teas are less processed and more fragile than black tea. Allow boiling water to cool for a minute or two before pouring it over green or white tea leaves. This will preserve more of the antioxidants. 3. Steep all teas for several minutes. Some experts suggest removing the tea leaves after 4-5 minutes to prevent the formation of a bitter flavor in the brewed tea. 4. Two to three tablespoons of citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit) added to a cup of tea may improve the stability of the antioxidants. Add the citrus juice after brewing the tea for 4-5 minutes to ensure the highest levels of antioxidants. 5. Adding milk to tea may interfere with antioxidant activity. 6. If you enjoy drinking iced tea, make the initial brew extra strong so you do not dilute the availability of the antioxidants when you add ice. 7. Think twice about purchasing bottled tea beverages. Research suggests commercially sold bottled tea has significantly lower levels of antioxidants than freshly brewed tea (10 to 100 times less). Tip: Carry a tea bag or two in your purse and you can easily make up a cup of tea with some hot water wherever you go. Plain tea without added sugar or other sweeteners is a healthy low calorie beverage. Whether or not drinking tea provides direct benefits for weight loss will require more research. In the meantime, there are many good reasons to choose tea. It can be an important source of fluid to meet your body’s need for water. It will help to fill you up and may reduce the tendency to snack too often or otherwise overeat. You may also derive other benefits for your health at the same time. Give it a try! Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! Health weight loss Health, weight losstea true tea weight loss dieting burn fat abdominal fat health tea benefits

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