It Must Be My Metabolism: Metabolism Part One

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Just exactly what is metabolism? And how does it influence your ability to manage your weight? If you’re not sure, you are not alone. The word metabolism is often misunderstood and misused. On the other hand, if you’ve ever thought “it must be my metabolism” keeping me from losing weight. You may be right and then again you may not. Metabolism is complex. It involves more than simply burning calories. You might think of it as the way in which your body gets the energy it needs to function from the food you eat. You need energy to keep your heart beating, lungs breathing, and nerves firing even when you are at rest. However, it also involves the processes by which your body fuels all of the chemical reactions needed to build, maintain, breakdown, and repair body tissues. The speed with which your body performs these functions is often referred to as metabolic rate. What Makes Your Metabolism Unique? Your metabolism is influenced by such things as your body composition and weight, gender, age, height, thyroid, and activity level. What you eat can also influence your metabolism. But the effect of food and other supplements is very small. Body Composition and Weight The rate or speed with which you burn calories when you are AT REST is primarily influenced by your body composition. The more fat-free mass you have relative to your total body weight the higher your metabolic rate. Fat free mass is commonly referred to as lean body mass or LBM. It includes tissue such as lean muscle, bones, and organs. The activity of lean body mass is much greater than that of fat tissue. Men typically have significantly more muscle mass than women. This is why the average man has a higher metabolic rate than the average woman by as much as 10 to 20 percent. Although lean body mass may be the primary determinant of metabolic rate for individuals with a healthy body weight, it is a different and more complicated story for those who are significantly overweight. The greater a person’s weight the harder the body must work to support tissue of all kinds, both fat and fat-free. A plus-sized woman could have a metabolic rate as much as 50 percent higher than a thin woman! Height As with weight, height influences body size. The taller you are the greater the distance that must be covered to provide your body with the energy and nutrients it needs. This increases metabolic rate. Gender As mentioned previously in the discussion on body composition, men usually have more muscle mass than women. This gives men a faster or higher metabolic rate. Temperature The colder or hotter the environment, the harder your body must work to regulate body temperature. This will raise metabolic rate. However, given that many people today live in temperature controlled environments, the effect of temperature on metabolism is minimal. Age The older a person’s age, the slower the metabolism. There are many reasons for this. There tends to be a loss in muscle tissue in part from the aging process itself and in part from a decrease in level of activity. Exercise can slow down but not stop this natural process. Thyroid The thyroid is a small gland that lies just below the skin under the Adam’s apple in the neck. The thyroid secretes hormones that influence metabolic rate (speed of metabolism). Certain medical conditions and medications can influence the functioning of the thyroid gland. If the thyroid is over stimulated it will speed up metabolism. If it is under stimulated, metabolism is slowed down. Heredity Some people are born with a metabolic rate that is faster than the average. For these individuals, eating enough food to avoid being too thin may be challenging. Other people with an inborn tendency for a slower metabolism struggle to avoid weight gain. Most people fall within the range of average. Activity Level You have no control over your height, gender, age, or heredity. The functioning of your thyroid gland, on the other hand, needs to be checked and, if necessary, managed with the assistance of your medical doctor. The one thing YOU CAN DO to positively impact your metabolism for weight loss is to engage in increased physical activity or exercise. If you’ve thought, it must be my metabolism, how do you feel now? Still convinced? I’ll cover how metabolic rate is determined and the ways in which increased physical activity or exercise can positively impact metabolism in parts two and three of this series. Till next time, watch your calorie intake, eat healthy food, and be active! Health weight loss Health, weight lossmetabolism weight loss height weight gender temperature thryoid activity level calories energy fuel

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Best Low Calorie Frozen Entrees

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My latest 7-Day Menu Plan for 1200 to 1500 calories is almost finished! This plan is based around the ease of heating up a frozen entree for supper each evening. With all the possible frozen entrees available in today’s supermarkets how do you know what makes a healthy choice? Today I’ll share some guidelines for you along with a few suggestions for specific products. When planning low calorie nutritious meals to help you look good, feel good, and be healthy as the pounds come off, you need lean protein, whole grains, and colorful veggies. The frozen entrees that I’m familiar with are not sufficiently well balanced to provide you with all you need. However, the right selections can give you a starting point to which you can add complementary and low calorie nutritious food. If you are on a low calorie diet of 1200 to 1300 calories choose frozen meals with no more than 350 calories. For 1400 to 1500 calorie diets your best bet are frozen meals with no more than 400 calories. Beyond calories, limit the fat grams to less than 15 with no more than 4 grams of saturated fat and no trans fats. Excess sodium from salt and other sources is a big problem with processed foods! Aim for fewer than 700 mg. Pick meals with 10 grams or more of protein. Lean protein plays an important role in keeping you healthy and satisfied on a low calorie diet! Also look for at least 4 grams of dietary fiber. Like protein, dietary fiber will go a long way to keep you filled up and satisfied from one meal or snack to the next. Last but not least check out how much vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron is available. The more the better unless you are postmenopausal, in which case the iron content will not be as important. All too often these nutrients are not well represented and that means you will need to supplement your meal with other food to balance it out. O.K. so what are some of the better choices for frozen entrees in grocery stores today? I’ve chosen 6 that meet or come close to meeting the guidelines I provided above for nutrition. In addition, I spent some time determining whether or not you might like the taste. How did I do that? I looked at the ratings provided on two food review sites. Zeer.com and HeatEatReview.com are two websites you might want to bookmark for future reference! [For quick and easy access to food review sites, 1200 calorie diet plans, menu plans,calorie and nutrient databases, and so much more whether you are following a 1200, 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet you might want to download my no cost toolbar to your web browser. Just go to my 1200 calorie diet page.] The frozen meals included here are not ranked or listed in any particular order by nutrition or taste: Amy’s Kitchen Stuffed Pasta Shells You gotta love Amy’s Kitchen products. This particular dish is made with organic pasta and vegetables. There are no GMO’s or bio-engineered ingredients. All the dairy ingredients are made with pasteurized hormone-free milk and do not contain animal enzymes or rennet. Nutrition: 310 calories, 19 g protein, 5 grams dietary fiber, 13 grams fat, plus 40% of vitamins A & D, and 40% calcium. It doesn’t meet my guidelines for sodium at 740 mg (Just keep your salt intake under control for the rest of the day). Reviews: No reviews on Zeer and 5 out of 5 stars on HeatEatReview. Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken This meal includes sliced roasted chicken, green beans, yellow pepper, red pepper, crimini mushrooms, onions, and edamame beans. It has only high quality all natural ingredients with no preservatives or artificial anything! Nutrition: 320 calories, 18 grams protein, 6 grams dietary fiber, 3.5 grams fat, and 380 mg sodium. Reviews: 4 stars out of 5 on Zeer and 5 out of 5 on HeatEatReview. Amy’s Garden Vegetable Lasagna (Note: Trader Joe’s Garden Vegetable Lasagna rates equally well.) This seemingly tasty dish is made with organic rice, pasta, and vegetables. It has 0 trans fat and no preservatives or bio-engineered ingredients. Nutrition: 290 calories, 13 grams protein, 5 grams of dietary fiber, 9 grams of fat, and 720 mg of sodium. As with the Stuffed Pasta Shells this Amy’s kitchen product has quite a bit of sodium, just over my recommendation but otherwise it rates well. Reviews: No reviews on Zeer. 4.5 out of 5 stars on HeatEatReview. Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake This dish is actually a vegan meal but don’t let that scare you away. It serves up a combination of plantains (a type of banana), black beans, sweet potato, and kale. I’ve tried it and have found it to be very tasty and nutritious although a little low in protein. Nutrition: 340 calories, 9 grams of protein, 8 grams of dietary fiber, 9 grams of fat, and 380 mg of sodium. Reviews: Unfortunately there are no reviews on either Zeer or HeatEatReview. So go ahead and give it a try and then leave a review to let other people know how good it really is! Amy’s Whole Wheat Cheese and Pesto Pizza This meal has all natural organic ingredients. It’s made with whole-wheat flour, pesto, tomatoes, and cheese. It’s so simple, from what I understand it appeals to even the pickiest of eaters – children. Nutrition: A serving of 1/3 of the pizza is 320 calories with 18 grams of protein, 6 grams dietary fiber, 3.5 grams fat, and 380 mg sodium. Reviews: No reviews on Zeer. 5 out of 5 stars on HeatEatReview. Lean Cuisine Three Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni Lean Cuisine says the dish is made with “zucchini, carrots, and red peppers in a fire roasted tomato sauce topped with mozzarella cheese.” I’d say that this product is a rare example in which the nutritional value comes close to matching the perceived value but don’t let that fool you. It is very low in calories so you will still need to supplement your meal with additional food to satisfy your caloric and nutritional needs. Nutrition: 230 calories, 13 grams protein, 4 grams dietary fiber, 6 grams fat, and 370 mg sodium. In addition, it has 60% of the dietary value for Vitamin A, 15% for Vitamin C, and 20% for calcium. Reviews: No reviews on Zeer. 5 stars out of 5 on HeatEatReview. If you’d like more suggestions, check back to see the 7 selections I share with my latest 7-Day Menu coming soon! Also, you might want to take a look at the top frozen meals rated by Consumer Reports Magazine as shared on HeatEatReview. Hope my suggestions for selecting the best frozen entrees make it a little easier for you when you need a nutritious meal in a hurry. Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories Health calories, Healthfrozen entrees low calorie low calorie frozen entrees frozen meal healthy nutritious tasty

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Top 5 Challenges for Weight Management this Year and Beyond

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Given my age and profession as a nutritionist you might think I have it all figured out with respect to staying healthy and managing weight. I know a lot but that doesn’t mean I always do what is best or that there isn’t something new to learn. Let me share my top 5 challenges with weight management that I will focus on improving this year. I hope it will inspire you to discover and acknowledge the top five challenges you face! All of my challenges relate to one simple truth. I need to do better with eating only when I am hungry and stopping when I am full. If only it were that easy! Getting a better handle on the situations that influence me to eat more than I need is a great place to start. How about you? [Note: There are many reasons why we don’t recognize when we are full but that’s an article for another day. I’m going to focus on the times when I’m aware of overeating but I do it anyway. (To learn more now about why we unconsciously eat more than we need, I would encourage you to read The Instinct Diet: A Review)] Here are my top challenges for this year: 1. The Clean Your Plate Club I would say my biggest challenge is to once and for all give up on my clean the plate philosophy! This is a big issue for me. I struggle with wasting food because I can’t let go of the image of the many people who are faced with hunger. How might I solve this? It all relates to the issue of stopping when I am full. Stuffing myself to clean my plate is certainly NOT helping anyone else and definitely not helping me. Next I need to do better with serving myself less food in the first place. If I have been served more food than I need by a family member or friend I have the right to stop when I’ve had enough. When at a restaurant I resolve to ask for a container for extra food at the same time the entree is served so I can immediately box up a third to a half. When I am in a place that I cannot bring leftovers home, I will need to simply let go of the fact that I cannot finish what is on my plate. This means I have to get better at accepting occasional waste. Sigh… Cleaning my plate is an issue for me but it may not be for you. Congratulations! Let me share other ways I slip up. 2. Justification for Eating More than Needed You can fill in the blank so that it might relevant to you. “I’m ____________ so I deserve to have a good time and eat whatever I want.” For me the blank might be filled in with “on vacation”, “enjoying time with family or friends that I don’t see very often”, “enjoying a special celebration”, etc. The problem for many Americans is that there is a reason to celebrate with food far too often! So I’m going to pick the holiday(s) or event(s) when I’m allowed to have a little more and resolve to watch my calorie count the rest of the time! How about you? 3. Hey, it’s free! My third challenge is to stop eating things just because it’s there and it’s free. Have you ever found yourself thinking you’ll help yourself to the cookies, candy, or other treats just because it’s being offered? I admit I sometimes rationalize that I don’t buy candy or donuts or whatever it might be, so if I have a little of what’s being offered it’s as if it won’t count. Yeah right! 4. Overestimating calories burned with exercise This is an issue for me because it isn’t easy to accurately assess the real calorie burn when I exercise. Like many people, when I’ve put in a significant effort I like to think I’ve burned far more calories than I actually have! Then I rationalize that I can eat more than I need. 5. Snacking Too Often Unlike some nutritionists, I am a firm believer in the value of snacks. However, research suggests that the more often a person eats the more total food they eat. At times I find myself eating too much because I can eat too many snacks! So how might someone avoid overeating with snacks? I suggest limiting snacks to two a day. One mid-morning and one mid-afternoon snack should be enough for women. In addition, limit the calories! One hundred to 150 calories or so should be plenty for a snack if you are eating an adequate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. [Note: See my 1200 calorie diet plan and 1500 calorie diet plan to get a sense of how you might divide up your calories each day between meals and snacks.] Guys need more calories as a general rule so having an evening snack and more calories with each snack is appropriate. O.K. that’s the list I am working on this year. Here are a few of the challenges I have dealt with in the past and am now handling better. I’m sharing this in the hope that you don’t take on too many challenges now. Tackling a few each year is enough! To begin with, my husband and I have pretty much stopped eating at the “All You Can Eat Buffets.” It’s just too hard to not overfill our plates. Another challenge I’ve dealt with is not succumbing to eating all of the goodies my dear husband and daughter like to bake. Keeping goodies out of sight goes a long way to stopping me from grazing every time I enter the kitchen. I’ve also taken to freezing these treats. It’s amazing how much slower a batch of cookies gets consumed when frozen. A third challenge I have had fun with is expanding my repertoire of healthy low calorie dishes I like to prepare. This has helped in a couple of ways. I am less inclined to eat out if I have recipes that are not only easy to prepare but also tasty and low calorie. I also find I am somewhat less inclined to overeat healthy food even when it’s very tasty! It must have something to do with having a greater awareness of when I am full. This is in great contrast to foods with lots of fat, sugar, or even worse, both. So I now make sure I eat healthy food first with each meal or snack. If I have had a successful day in burning LOTS of calories with exercise and I find myself still hungry, that’s when I get eat the treats! Works for me. I challenge you to take some time and list the challenges you face. In addition to facing these challenges, I’m currently working hard on my next weekly diet plan featuring HEALTHY frozen dinners from the grocery store. I may not eat frozen dinners very often but when I do I look for healthy. There are so many to pick from how can you know what is a good choice and what is not? I’ll give you some tips. And I am also preparing one or more articles on how you can boost your metabolism. For these tips and more check back soon! For my previous weekly diet menus see: Sample Menu Plan for 7 Days Week Long Low Calorie Menu Plan Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories weight loss calories, weight lossweight loss challenges weight loss challenges weight loss tips strategies issues

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