Why Do I Crave Chocolate?

The answer may surprise you... but the reason you crave chocolate is because it tastes good!  Besides something sweet on your tongue, something creamy in your mouth, and some calories and fat to ward off any hunger that may occur over the next few hours, it temporarily boosts your blood sugar, and even alters some chemicals in your brain that make you feel better.  The caffeine may help you become more alert, and at the same time the serotonin (a neurotransmitter) more calm.  Why wouldn't we crave chocolate constantly?  It does so much for us!

A better question may be "why do you give into the craving?"  or "Why are you constantly focusing on it?"

Let's look at the second scenario first:

If you are trying to lose weight or eat healthier, you may continue to remind yourself that chocolate is "not allowed" on your diet or it's "forbidden" or it's "bad".  When you tell yourself that something isn't good for you, even though you like it, you are making yourself want it more.  Think about things you were told you could not have as a child.  As soon as something was "forbidden" you wanted it more.  When you were allowed to have it, it lost some of its appeal.

Let chocolate lose some of it's forbidden appeal and let yourself have some.  Not a pound bar.  You might not even want to keep it around the house or your office.  What if you let yourself buy a tootsie roll every day or a peppermint patty?  Is there a reasonable amount of chocolate that you could savor, enjoy, not feel guilty about, and have your craving satisfied? 

Perhaps your answer is "no" because some people simply cannot have one piece.  "I'll eat the entire bag" they say, or "If I can't have a whole candy bar I don't want just one bite".

If you find a happy medium that works for you, like a few chocolate kisses in the afternoon, you may find your cravings aren't monopolozing your thoughts throughout the day.

Okay, then let's address the other question:  "Why are you allowing yourself to give in to the craving?"

Think of some of the impulses we deal with each and every day.  What are you craving that you just do not act upon because it's not socially acceptable?  What if you would just love to plant a big smooch on that new handsome guy at work?  Certainly, you aren't going to do it!

What if you would just love to smack that gum out of the mouth of your coworker who annoyingly insists on chewing as loud as a cow all day long?  Nope, you aren't going to give into that either.

If your friend got a brand new designer purse and you were just aching to take it home and make it your own, would you do it?  No.  Why not... You want it.

Think about other desires you have in your life that you don't act on even though it would feel good in the moment.  What stops you?  Consequences? 

The next time you crave chocolate think about what you really want, how you would feel if you had some, and what the consequences would be.  Not sure?  Let me give you a little tip:  If you eat a 300 calorie candy bar every day for a month, you'll gain three pounds.  Ouch.  Keep it up and you're looking at 36 pounds a year.  Not gaining weight?  This means you are eating the same number of calories your body burns, and on the flip side that would mean that giving up the daily chocolate bar would result in a weight loss of 36 pounds a year.  Some consequences, eh?

Why DO you crave chocolate.  More importantly, what are you going to do about it?

What is Your Payoff For Staying Overweight?

Are you someone who is overweight, wishing you could lose the extra pounds, but never being able to stick faithfully to a weight-loss plan that works?  Have you been overweight for a long time, or did the pounds come on at a certain point in your life, maybe after a major life change?  Consider the fact that perhaps having the extra weight is serving a purpose in your life.

People who carry extra pounds may benefit from sitting down and doing some serious thinking.  What is the reason the weight is not coming off?  What is the reason it came on in the first place?  It could just be as simple as "I lost control of my eating" or "food just tastes too good to resist".  Maybe you just hate to exercise or you have physical restrictions which keep you from being very active.

But maybe being overweight is serving a purpose in your life.  Consider the story of Ernie, a successful loser who tells his story in the book "Thin For Life" by Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD.  One of his payoffs was that he could avoid certain tasks he didn't want to complete: "I didn't have to mow the lawn on a hot day," he recalls, "because I might have a heart attack".  Do you use your weight to get out of doing something you can't just say you don't want to do?

Some overweight people use their weight as an excuse not to be sociable at times.  They don't want to go out in the evening because they enjoy relaxing at home.  They use their weight as an excuse, "I just don't want to go out as long as I'm overweight--I'm not comfortable dressing up".  Is it possible you could be a healthy weight and tell your friends, "I prefer to relax at home in the evening"?

Women in positions of authority have been reported to carry extra weight in order to appear more imposing and directorial.  They presume that if they were small and feminine, they wouldn't be regarded with as much power.  Perhaps it is the person, not the way the person looks, that commands respect.

Attractive, flirtatious women have been known to put on weight after they marry: In their mind this reduces the chance they will attract another man and have to deal with putting off unwanted advances, or deal with the possibility of entertaining an affair.

And sometimes being overweight just allows us to continue to be inattentive to our diet, exercise, and health in general.  "I can eat whatever I want if I'm fat anyway".  Being too heavy to exercise certainly carries the benefit of having an excuse not to exercise!

How is your extra weight serving you?  Does it allow you to easily avoid social situations; prevent  intimate relationships with the opposite sex; keep your sister from being jealous of your gorgeous figure; or give you another reason to eat whatever you like?

Ernie suggests finding a "less neurotic way to get what you want.  If you don't want to mow the lawn. . . hire a kid to do it".

My Diet Isn't Working: What Can I Try Now??

I am a 55 year old woman who has struggled with my weight most of my life.   Most recently I spent 2 1/2 years on Nutrisystem and I successfully lost a total of 40 pounds.  Now I have gained back 8 since I went off of it in January. I went back to Weight Watchers but have lost nothing -- not even the 8 pounds I gained back. It's been an "up 2, down 1; down 2 up one" kind of thing for months now. I also got a Wii Fit and exercise 30-40 minutes a day - have been doing that now for over 3 months, but no effect on weight. My MD tested my thyroid and she also ran some other blood tests and says that my metabolism is normal.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!  Barbara B.

Dear Barbara,
I can certainly appreciate your frustration with sticking to an exercise and diet regimen and not seeing the weight coming off.  It sounds like Weight Watchers has worked for you in the past, but it's just not working now.  Since Nutrisystem was what worked best for you more recently, what do you think about going back to that program again?  Sometimes the simplest answer is the one that works!

Just one other suggestion I have....I usually find that people are not sticking very strictly to their program when they are not seeing the scale move.  I always recommend keeping a diet and exercise diary.  Since we notice how restricted we feel most of the day and most days per week, we tend to let the diet slide a bit to reward ourselves.  Same with exercise: "since I do it almost every day, I'm going to take a few days off because I'm a little under the weather, I'm busy, the weather is bad" you name it!
If you are totally honest with yourself, have you been exercising literally every single day for three months?  Have you never gone over your points with weight watchers?

Every once in  a while we follow the plan to the letter without good results.  But much of the time it's when we follow it "most of the time" that the weight just isn't coming off.

Good luck!

Great ways to get exercise at home!

Do you think you need to join a gym to get enough exercise?  Wonder how you'll go for your long walks once the cold sets in?  Feel like you don't want to go out in public and get all sweaty?
My friend Gail has some great tips for working out inside the comfort of your own home.  Some of these are fun!  I especially love the idea of checking out a variety of work-out tapes from your library to keep mixing things up.  If you haven't tried Zumba, check it out--fun Latin dance moves with energetic music keep you from getting bored! 

Read Gail's full article here:  http://www.easy-weightloss-tips.com/exercise-indoors-without-special-equipment.html

Do You Save Room . . . Or Make Room?

When it comes to dessert, do you save room or make room?  Last night my husband and I were out to dinner with another couple.  We shared a couple of appetizers, a basket of bread, and then each dug into our own delicious meal.  I purposefully searched the menu for a lighter entree after all the "pre meal" calories I had eaten.  I ordered fish with a side of pasta.  The serving was large.  I was able to eat half of the food on the plate and have the waiter put the rest in a take-home container. 

By this time I noticed I was the only one at the table who hadn't cleaned my plate.  Well, sometimes it's difficult not to!  I mean there are dishes that just taste too good to stop eating.  Plus, the conversation was flowing, we were enjoying each other's company and the background live piano music in the restaurant.  There are times your plate is just cleaned before you know it, despite your best intentions.

But I was consciously saving room for dessert, because I knew the platter of sumptuous selections was going to be paraded by our table and I knew my husband and I were going to share one of them.  So when the other couple said, "none for us, thank you" and I explained that I had saved room for dessert by finishing only half my meal, my husband gave me a curious look.  "Saved room?" he asked. "I didn't 'save' room, but I can make room".

What about you?  If you are going to have dessert do you eat less at your meal?  Perhaps pass on an extra roll or go without a calorie-containing beverage? 
If you know you're going out to dinner, for that matter, do you eat lighter earlier in the day, knowing you are likely to be taking in a few hundred excess calories at a restaurant meal?

Splurging on a great meal--or a great dessert--can be a real treat.  And you don't have to tip the calorie balance that keeps you from your weight loss goal.  Eat lighter earlier in the day, or during the meal before dessert.  Save room and save calories.  If you're 'making' room for dessert your body may not need the extra calories!

Hear Coach Laurie Interviewed for Weight Loss Tips!

Here is a link to hear Raw Andrew interview me for some helpful weight loss tips: http://www.shedyourweight.com/interview_with_laurie_beebe_dietitian_and_weight_loss_coach.html
You can listen now and hear us talk about the major obstacles to weight loss and how to get past them; the truth about fad diets and if you should follow them; the importance of having a good mindset to stop sabotaging your own weight loss plans.

The best way to lose weight is by eating healthy nutritious food and exercising. And it seems that the best way to keep the weight off is by maintaining the healthy eating habits and continuing to exercise.

Laurie also explains why you should seek professional weight loss help, especially if you are having a hard time losing weight. A good weight loss coach will hold you accountable and will guide you, making sure that you will take the less resistance path for weight loss.

Feel free to comment on Andrew's page or leave your thoughts here!

Can I Eat In Any Restaurants On My Diet?

Now there's a website that can answer that question for you!
HealthyDiningFinder.com is a great find.  When you go to the website, you enter your zip code and any other criteria (like price ranges for meals) you want to specify.  They'll come back with restaurants in the area that participate in their program, and entrees or appetizers that you can choose that are healthy.

The calorie criteria is not very strict--a meal can have up to 700 calories to be considered 'healthy'--but that's not too bad for a dinner, depending on your daily calorie allowance.  (To give most of you a better idea, that equals nearly 14 weight watcher points).

Each restaurant will advise you how to order special requests to keep your meal within the healthy allowance.  For instance, they may specify you need to ask for the sauce on the side, ask for "no mayonnaise", ask for the meat to be broiled, or some other side to be left off, such as guacamole.
And many of the items are far less than 700 calories.  The calorie content is specified for each dish.

This can come in handy the next time you want to go out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, join your co-workers for a lunch out, or even if you're out of town and aren't familiar with the local fare.

Give it a shot and let me know what you find!

"Easy Diet Labels" Help You Follow Your Diet Regimen

Check out this new product I came across reading Gail Davis' "Quick and Easy Weight Loss Tips" blog.

They're called "Easy Diet Food Labels" and they come in four variety packs:
One set is used to label your foods based on calorie content (low, moderate, or high); another for heart healthy foods (lower in cholesterol, fat, or sodium); a third for carb content, and my favorite, "family eating habits" to help guide your family members in their food choices.  You choose the set you would most often use for your particular preferences.

Sure, someone has to read the label!  But once you know what category the food fits into you just slap the sticker on in a conspicuous place and then when your husband or kids go to grab the item, they are forewarned by a warning label (often designed like a caution or stop sign) or the go-ahead green sticker for the green light to enjoy!

The cost is quite reasonable, at $3.99 for a package of 125 stickers... however, the  cost of shipping was over $5 a package through Amazon and that changed my mind about ordering.  It was easy to place an order through the Amazon site, and there are other venues where you can purchase these stickers.
Check out the website at http://www.easydietlabels.com/ for more details.

Happy dieting :)

Six Creative Ways to a Thinner You

Doesn’t dieting get boring? Counting calories and feeling deprived, and dragging through day after day until you can go off your diet is no way to lose weight. Try these six creative ways to weight loss and eradicate the boredom from weight loss plans forever.

1. Switch the focus from taking things out of your diet to adding things in:
On most diets we make lists of foods to eliminate: “no chocolate”, “no desserts”, “no eating out” in order to reduce calorie intake and this leads to cravings and feelings of deprivation. Instead, plan on adding things into your diet that are good for you: more glasses of water, more fresh fruits, more vegetables, and more whole grains. If you actually succeed at eating and drinking more of these healthy and filling things, you
won’t be hungry for some of the empty calories you’re used to eating, and the result will be weight loss!

2. Keep a journal, and make it fun: If you know that writing down everything you eat helps you lose weight, but you hate the idea, switch things up a bit; keep a record of how many minutes you exercise each day, or how many fruits and vegetables you eat—go for a record!

I know one woman who likes to track her “calories saved” every time she craves something high-calorie but instead walks away…”saved 550 calories driving by DQ instead of going in and ordering a blizzard” might be one of her entries. Then you can see the cumulative results of your positive actions add up during the week with lots of calories that you passed up.

3. Establish a reward system just like one that worked for you when you were a kid! I like to use pretty little stickers of flowers or smiley faces and give myself one in the margin of my appointment book for every day that I walk more than 10,000 steps or eat fewer than 1600 calories, for instance. When I accumulate a certain number of stickers, say 20 in a month, I treat myself to something worth that many ‘points’ like a
massage or a pedicure or a new book. Be sure you know what you’re working towards to give yourself that extra motivation, and start burning more calories and eating fewer to help you get to your weight loss goal.

4. Pedometer challenges. There are several websites that host pedometer logs and goals, and most pedometers come with an insert of ideas for you to get walking! The suggested daily number of steps—10,000—is about 5 miles. This includes any walking you do during the day, so you can get more in by parking a little farther away, taking steps instead of the elevator (even going down stairs adds to your accumulated steps), or walking up and down the aisles at the grocery store. Start by logging your usual daily steps for a week so you get an idea of your starting point. Then strive to add another 1000 every week until you get to your own personal daily goal.

Here’s an FYI: You burn about 100 calories for every mile you walk, which equals about 2000 steps. This makes it fun to go out and aim to burn 100 calories during a run to the grocery store and feel good about all the walking you’re doing when you have to take those steps anyway!

5. Switch up the diets. You may have found that there is a diet plan that works for you, but you just can’t stay on it for more than a few weeks. If you can stay on Atkins or Weight Watchers or Medifast for nearly a month, but then can’t manage another day, set a goal of just a few weeks for each diet. Instead of going off the diet and back to your usual way of eating (which lead to your weight gain), you’ll continue to see weight loss results every week as you continue to eat fewer calories . . . it doesn’t really matter which plan you are on! You might set some other goals that work for you for short terms, like “pack your lunch every day for 2 weeks” or “eat vegetarian at dinner for 2 weeks” or “have 5 small meals a day for the next 2 weeks”. These are all steps that reduce calories for most people and will lead to weight loss even though it’s an unusual way to go about dieting.

6. Games and blogs: Some people write blogs to journal their journey of weight loss and this may give you motivation to keep going—especially if you dare to make it public! One journalist wrote daily dieting blurbs on twitter throughout the day. She said it worked well for her because it kept her accountable—she knew people were watching and, what’s more, they were rooting for her.

Another blogger asked for a sponsor each week during the 52 weeks of her diet—each seven days she lost weight for the follower who was cheering on her efforts and that kept her motivated.

Look for games to motivate you towards your weight loss goal. One game works on a bingo-like board, with a board of 16 squares for you to cover every time you perform a certain activity: it might be eating a fresh fruit or having a healthy breakfast; having 6 glasses of water in one day; or going for a 5,000 step walk (about 2-1/2 miles). Play with others in your family, make up new activities, or challenge yourself to going for a ‘blackout’ and cover every square on the board!  (see product listing here if you'd like to try the game).

Diets are dreary and exercise can be something we don’t look forward to. In order to lose weight through eating fewer calories and burning more calories, strive to make eating healthy and exercising fun any way you can. Then developing healthy eating and exercise habits will be something you can look forward to as you shed those unwanted pounds.

Please leave us your comments to let us know what creative ways you have for weight loss and if one of the ones mentioned above worked for you!

Stop Dieting and Start Losing Weight!

Chances are you've been on and off weight loss diets numerous times, but you probably weigh just as much now as you ever did. Do you get it? This means diets don't work. So stop going on diets and looking for the magic one that works for you. Here's why diets fail to help you lose weight and what you can do to get those pounds off for good.

1. Going on a diet implies you will go off it some day, right? You get this strict meal plan that outlines what you can eat, what you can't eat, and what times and how much. You resolve to stick to it strictly to get off a number of pounds for some special event coming up. And then, you can't wait to go off the diet! How is this going to help you keep the weight off? You're going to be looking for another diet a few months later when the weight comes back on. Meanwhile, eating something "not allowed" leads you to see yourself as being "off the diet". So you go and eat whatever you want until it's Monday, or some other appointed time to go back on the diet. See a pattern here?

2. Associating your self-worth with your diet adherance: I hear people talk about missteps on their diet, beating themselves up! "I really blew it this weekend" they say, or "I was so bad last night" or "I totally cheated when we went out". They are not pointing out that one choice was not good, or if they could do it over they would make a different decision. No, they are saying "I was a bad person" or "I failed at what I was trying to do". This just makes you feel worse and often people who are overweight turn to food to comfort themselves when they feel bad about themself. Not exactly helpful when trying to lose weight!

3. Feelings of Deprivation: How much do you want ice cream when you're on a diet that does not allow any? Pretty much, right?! As you plod along on your strict weight loss regimen, most of your focus is on foods you can't have: no cookies, no chocolate, no potato chips. On some diets it's even worse--maybe no pasta or other carbs or maybe it's no more than a few hundred calories per meal, leaving you hungry most of your waking hours. How long can a person be expected to stay on an eating plan that keeps them craving foods they are used to eating and that they love to eat? Not very long. So it's off the diet again and back to your old habits--habits that put the weight on in the first place.

4. Rewards of food: People who are overweight sometimes have the habit of using food for comfort, or a reward system, or a celebration. Heck, food is good for any emotion, isn't it?! Let's say you are going along, following a diet really well for a week and losing weight. Time to reward yourself and break out the cookies! Ooops, that doesn't help the weight loss plan. What if you "cheated" and "blew" your diet and ate what you weren't supposed to so you feel bad about it? I suppose eating some ice cream will make you feel better. Using food to soothe or celebrate may be what put some of the weight on in the first place, and until this changes, a long term weight loss will not be successful.

5. You can't live on a diet forever: The fact is, you can lose weight on a diet. For as long as you take in fewer calories than you burn, the weight will come off. But you can't stay on most diets for long. Eliminating food groups, counting daily calories, or eating pre-packaged meals isn't realistic to do on a daily basis in the long term. What works is establishing new habits, learning to eat lower calorie choices every time you eat, and working a healthy lifestyle into your every day life.

Dieting may get the weight off while you can adhere to a strict plan, but once you go off the diet the weight will return. Stop dieting and start living! Get into a healthy routine as a way of life, lose weight, and keep it off for good.

Pay Close Attention To the Food Label

I just returned from the grocery store where I was looking for some tasty munchies that weren't too high in calories. Most chips and snacks have 120-180 calories per serving. Some serving sizes are quite small!

So I found this new variety of chex mix (their sweet-n-salty variety) which contains 9 servings at 120 calories each. That sounded good, so I bought them.

Well, I started thinking when I got home--this looks almost like a 'big grab' bag of a snack that would realistically only be two or three servings. I started thinking that if anyone in the household opened the bag, they would easily eat half of it and not realize they had downed what I calculated to be 540 calories--an awful lot for a snack!

So I decided to portion the bag out into the 9 servings in little snack baggies.

Only I ran out of chex mix way before I got to the 9 baggies!

Here is what I managed, pictured on the right: Five--count 'em--FIVE little baggies. Now, I think the little ziploc bagful is okay for a snack, but I also think most people would probably easily eat two of the portions I ended up with if they weren't paying careful attention, or dishing out their snack serving before they sat down to eat it. Eating out of the bag would surely be a lost cause!

Meanwhile, if I eat one of these portions I just made, it comes out to about 215 calories. Not what I had in mind for a lower-calorie snack!

If you've been reading labels for portion sizes and calories, good for you! But my little experiment showcases how off we can be when thinking about an amount of a food we might realistically eat. Think about portioning out your snacks in a measured dish next time you count on having one with a reasonable number of calories!

Six Steps to Get to the Weight of Your Dreams

What habits have been keeping you the weight you are right now?
You really can lose a significant amount of weight by making only a few small lifestyle changes. Try one of these or shoot for them all, and see the weight melt off after a few short weeks.

1. Keep a diet diary: This is a simple step that requires no more than a pen or pencil and a small notebook. Yet it's been proven over and over again during the past few decades that recording a person's intake invariably results in their weight loss. It increases awareness of what is being eaten, and gives one a second thought before unconsciously eating something for a purpose other than hunger. You'll find yourself putting back all sorts of sweets and treats and walking away shaking your head, thinking, "I sure don't want to record that I ate that"!

2. Regular walks: Although vigorous cardiac exercise will certainly burn more calories, a regular walking routine helps millions of people lose weight and keep it off. Simply put, every mile walked burns an average of 100 calories, regardless of your speed, and this will add up to a pound of weight loss after approximately one month. Keep in mind, this adds up to 12 pounds of weight loss by the end of the year!

3. Feel good now, and envision yourself feeling better: Getting down on yourself about your weight, appearance, or eating habits doesn't do anything positive for you. Start learning to like yourself for who you are and remind yourself of all the positive attributes you possess. Feeling good about yourself may reduce the number of times you turn to food to feel better. Then envision who you want to be, and spend a great deal of the day feeling what's it's like to be in those shoes. Whenever you have time (while you're showering, driving, walking, or doing other tasks which you currently spend berating your last binge) practice being the person you want to become. Thinking positively is immensely powerful in getting you to where you want to be.

4. Know what you're eating: Read labels, comparison shop, look up restaurant menus on the internet, and collect fast food nutritional information. You can't know what is in a food (how many calories, grams of fat, grams of sugar, etc) without the nutritional label. Lots of websites have information on the foods that do not yet have labels, so seek these out and be an informed consumer. You may easily find ways to save hundreds of calories a day by choosing a different fast food entree or another brand of soup!

5. Eat healthy foods: You do not have to give up chocolate forever or go on a crazy fad diet in order to lose weight. Get in the habit of eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and while you're at it you can have a snack in between meals, and--yes--even before bed. Find snacks that contain fewer than 200 calories, like Skinny Cow Ice Cream Novelties, Weight Watcher bars, or granola-type bars which are abundantly available.
As for meals, try using smaller plates and take only one serving. Don't starve yourself--you can start eating like this and keep losing weight for a long time to come, and you won't feel like you're on a diet!

6. Hang out with healthy eaters: It's difficult to be around people who want to go out for pizza, ice cream, or buffets. Concentrate on socializing with others who like to eat healthy foods and take a cue from them.
Maybe you'll even take a walk together :)
Try starting some new healthy habits and see yourself shrink to your old healthy weight once again.

If you would like the assistance of a personal diet coach to get you on the road to weight loss, come on over to http://www.mycoachlaurie.com or email me at laurie@mycoachlaurie.com. We'll get you started right away!

The Five Worst Ways To Attempt Weight Loss (aside from cutting off a limb)

There are some pretty bad ideas out there to supposedly help people lose weight. Unfortunately there are more people who are desperate to lose weight. So they will try anything... things that are unbelievable, pills and potions that are unhealthy, and procedures that are downright dangerous. Have you been using one of these methods to lose weight? Let us know how they worked for you!

1. Diet pills, including over-the-counter and 'herbal' supplements

Do you really believe any claim that tells you, “eat whatever you like and no need to exercise!” or “lose weight while you sleep”? You must be kidding … do you think if such a magic pill or potion existed that Oprah would still be anything over a size 6?

Whatever is included in these pills may include stimulants similar to caffeine to simulate the speedy feeling you can get that blunts your hunger response. It can also increase your blood pressure and cause other serious side effects.

If the supplement is made from ‘herbs’ or other ‘natural’ ingredients, it’s likely not regulated by the FDA so you really don’t know what’s in it, or if it’s unsafe.

2. Crash Diets

Going on a diet plan that provides you with less than 1200 calories can help you lose weight very quickly—but that’s not all. You can’t possibly get the nutrition you need if you’re eating less than 1200 calories, so you’ll end up suffering in the long run. That is, if you can stay on the diet for more than a couple of days!

Chances are you’ll find yourself starving and miserable and give up in a short time. If you don’t, you may lose several pounds, but—I’m sure you know—you’ll gain it right back when you return to your usual eating habits.

3. Liposuction

Don’t get me wrong: liposuction does have its place. It’s designed to suck fat off of small body parts where fat can accumulate and cannot be lost by dieting: places like your chin.

It is not a procedure for sucking 15 extra pounds of fat off your midsection! Any plastic surgeon who agrees to this is likely not board-certified (check out his credentials) and is putting your health at risk to use this technique when a healthy diet and exercise plan would work just as well.

4. Colon Cleanses

Colon cleanses do not help you lose weight. Oh, sure, you may see a lower number on the scale when you step on, just as you would if you had an episode of food-poisoning induced diarrhea, or heavy sweating from spending too long in a sauna.

You can lose water-weight, along with water, electrolytes, and other essential nutrients that can leave you feeling downright weak and sick.

Colon cleanses are not regulated by any state licensing bureaus, so you never know what you’re in for … it’s just not a good idea. It’s not necessary either, since your body naturally cleanses your intestines regularly—it’s called having a bowel movement.

5. Fad Diets

These diets, like any other, work for as long as you can stay on them. Not to be confused with some of the popular diet-chain centers that provide you with group support, nutrition classes, and counseling (which can be very nutritious and simple to follow, and end up working for many people) fad diets aren’t typically ones you can stay on for long. Something like the Cookie Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, or the Beverly Hills Diet have set plans for each day, and warn you to ‘drink plenty of water’ and stay on the diet only for a limited period of time. That’s because these diets are incomplete sources of many nutrients and the promoters know you could get truly sick from eating like this for any length of time.

These are the bad ideas--how can you tell if a diet plan is good? The hallmark of a good diet is one that provides nutrition, but also gives you fewer calories than you burn. You can stay on it for any length of time. And there aren't any crazy promises like "lose up to 80 pounds this month (results not typical)". It is possible to lose weight while staying healthy, and not feel like you are starving and deprived. An optimal weight loss diet is one you can stay on indefinitely, as you see the pounds come off and feel satisfied at the same time. It actually becomes a way of life as you replace healthy new habits for older bad ones.

If you are ready to lose weight the healthy way, consider having your own diet coach. I can provide you with one-on-one counseling—short term or long term—or you can do-it-yourself with some aid from my e-course or e-books. Check them out on http://www.mycoachlaurie.com/productmenu.

You Can Lose Over 50 Pounds: Just Take Your Time

Losing a lot of weight can be extremely intimidating. Start with a few simple steps, see quick results, and stay motivated to continue on with your success.

1. The first step is acknowledging that you did not gain 50 pounds overnight, so you aren’t going to lose it that quickly either. Experts recommend aiming to lose 10% of your body weight over the next six months. This means losing 20 pounds in six months if you weigh 200 pounds.

Chances are, this is not the amount of time you had in mind to lose 20 pounds—many people want it off in a month or less. But once you recognize that slow and sure is the way to get it off and keep it off, you’ll be more comfortable making simple changes in your diet for lasting weight loss. You probably know from numerous crash diets in the past that losing eight pounds in a week doesn’t mean a thing when you gain it right back; nor is it pleasant to be starving for any length of time.

Eating a healthy diet means the weight will come off in time, and you won’t be suffering during the next several months while you lose weight.

2. Second, you can’t know what to change in your diet without knowing how you eat on a typical day. We don’t usually realize all that we eat during any given day: the Danish we hastily gulp down at the breakfast meeting; the quick drive-thru lunch to give us some energy before we get back to work; the leftovers we clean off our child’s plate; the munching we do while watching TV: these all add up to hundreds of calories a day without us even realizing we’ve eaten any of it! So it’s imperative you start keeping a food diary.

Just write down what you eat within 10 minutes of eating it (or selective memory will forget you ever ate it). This helps people lose weight by making us aware that we are going to eat something. You’ll find that very often you stop and think, “I don’t really want to eat this—I’ll have to write it down and add it to my intake list and it’s a lot of empty calories”.

Trust me on this: try it for two weeks. Numerous research studies have proven this as an effective weight loss technique that works without going on any crazy diet.

3. Finally, learn to eat reasonably. This doesn’t mean you can never eat chocolate again or you can never go out to eat again: Start with just trying to eat a basic, healthy diet. You know what good foods are and what crappy, high-calorie/empty nutrition foods are. Just eat more of the better ones (like fruits and whole grain and veggies and low-fat dairy) and less of the junky ones.

Schedule meals if you have to, like you would an appointment. Skipping breakfast invariably leads to making up for it later; same with lunch. Have a sensible breakfast (cereal or toast or yogurt and fruit) that doesn’t take up too much of your time if that’s an issue in the morning; find a lunch you like and try to stick with a consistent menu every day…. Maybe a frozen diet meal with less than 300 calories with a salad or fruit you can add to round it off, or a sandwich and some veggie sticks and a yogurt or string cheese.

Dinner should be a lean, broiled or baked meat portion of 6 ounces or less, a vegetable, and a cup of starch (such as pasta, rice, or potatoes). Plan a snack in the evening if you like to have one; just find one that has less than 200 calories and save yourself another few hundred over that bag of chips or pint of high-fat ice cream.

Including 30 minutes of walking a day will be a big help also. The more you move, the more calories you’ll burn.

The idea is to change your lifestyle for good. Try small and easy changes one step at a time so that you replace all the bad habits that led to gaining weight, with great habits that will keep you lean and healthy for the rest of your life.

Want more ideas on how to develop healthy habits that are simple? Choose from a selection of e-books to assure you will make the best choices for snacks, breakfast, fast food meals, and all-around lifestyle changes for weight loss at http://www.mycoachlaurie.com/products

Eat The Part You Like!

I happened upon a great method of weight loss a few years back, when I made friends with a woman at work and we started having our lunch together. We quickly discovered we liked different parts of the same dishes in many cases: she liked the chowder and I liked the clams; she liked the chocolate chips and I liked the cookie; she liked the apple pie filling and I liked the crust. We started to share certain foods, realizing we were only eating half as much as we would have been had we ordered the food by ourself! We would share a slice of layer cake at office birthday parties, she taking the chocolate layer and handing me the white which I preferred.

This is a great principle I have developed and used by myself in the years since: only eat the part you like! Even though I don't work with this woman any longer, I remember that I didn't miss the apple pie filling when we split a slice and I ended up with a plate of just apple-moistened crust. I now order hamburgers in restaurants without the bun (I don't care for the bread, but enjoy the meat patty) and salads without the cheese or croutons; I remove the crumbs from breaded fish and pick the meat and green beans out of beef stew, leaving the carrots and gravy behind.

I leave things on my plate that aren't my favorite instead of feeling compelled to eat the entire dish. And then I count the calories left behind, adding them all up in my head to calculate how much weight I won't gain this month because I didn't eat the part I didn't like!

What can you leave behind to save a hundred calories?

Make Friends With Snacks

Are you struggling to lose weight? Can't stick to your diet? Is one of your rules "No eating between meals?" Well toss that one right out the window! Snacks can be a nourishing contribution to your diet, as well as a great pick-me-up in the afternoon. The key, as you may have guessed, is choosing the right snacks.

Here are a few rules to follow to keep your snacks smart and healthy and prevent them from sabotaging your diet:

1. Plan snacks ahead of time. Know that you have one coming up can really help get you past a dessert craving or walk past a candy dish. Keep smart snacks in your desk at work or even in your handbag so their available whenever the hungries start to overwhelm you. I'm a big fan of granola-type bars like those pictured above. Look for those providing less than 150 calories, and containing some vitamins and fiber. Also try to compare labels and choose the lowest fat grams per serving. If you have the storage facilities, other healthy snacks are fresh fruits (canned fruits work, too), yogurt (again, look for those under 150 calories per serving), or a bowl of cereal.

2. Have that conversation with your inner child. When you hear that two-year-old having a tantrum in your head, screaming "I want a candy bar now", take a minute to address her instead of just trying to push her away with a loud 'NO'... after all, think about how that's worked for you in the past. Go ahead, even though it sounds silly, and ask her, "what is it you're looking for right now?". Chances are that part of you is stressed, or bored, or anxious, or--yes--maybe even hungry. If you're hungry, it's time for a healthy snack! If you're looking for something else, food won't really help. Consider taking a break from your desk, a quick walk, a drink of water, or emailing a friend to vent. Give yourself ten minutes to wait and see if the child settles down. Even if this works one or two times, you're getting some positive results!

3. Start living with healthy habits. Get a mantra to help you dedicate your behaviors to what really is important in your life. Whatever is meaningful to you (like, "I am nourishing my body and treating it right so it will treat me right when I'm older", or "garbage in, garbage out", or even "my body is my temple") write it down and post it everywhere until it becomes imbedded in your brain so it is a belief you don't even question! Challenge your inner child when she starts whining and convince yourself to avoid the vending machine: How much satisfaction will you get from that candy bar? Most people answer "about two minutes"--as long as it takes to eat it! How long will you be feeling good about skipping the candy bar? As soon as the craving passes you'll be patting yourself on the back for at least the rest of the day! And the results will be showing on you for the rest of your life, every time you choose the better option.

Decide what's really important to you, and if it's living healthy, that includes eating healthy! Make up your mind to develop new habits and eat right every day, every hour. (And if you mess up one hour, don't beat yourself up about it! Just get back on track the very next minute and don't wait until Monday!)
Now go out and buy some healthy snacks so you can start living right tomorrow, and throwing away your fat clothes in a few weeks!

If snacks are sabotaging YOUR diet, download my e-book "Smart Snacks", and learn how to start snacking healthier and see weight loss results right away! Find this book and others for under $10 at http://www.mycoachlaurie.com/products.html

Going Out For Ice Cream

Here's a great tip to save calories when you're taking the family out for an ice cream treat: Order the kiddie cone! That's right, most establishments offer a very small sized cone that's usually served to little kids. But adults may order them as well.

After all, when you go out for ice cream it's usually the taste of the ice cream and the experience you're after, and that can be achieved with a few bites and a little cake cone. How often do you go out and get ice cream because you're really starving? How many times have you finished a cone and gone back for another because it wasn't enough?

Here's what you can save by ordering the tot-sized serving:

McDonald's kiddie cone has 45 calories and a small cone has 150 calories

Dairy Queen tot sized cone has 150 calories and their small is 230 (their medium is 330 calories)

If you order a blizzard, go for the small size as well: it has a whopping 550 calories, but the medium (which most people order because, well, "small" just doesn't have the appeal) has an average of 775 calories.

Choose a small size when going for a treat, or share your calories with a friend! You can still treat yourself, but treat yourself well by saving a few hundred calories every time you do.

Let us know about the next time you order a small size instead of large or medium ... do you notice any difference in your satisfaction?

Do The Math and Lose It Now

A very common question I am asked is "How much weight can I lose in two weeks?" or "How long would it take me to lose 25 pounds?" The idea of losing a specific number of pounds in a set amount of time is how most people set out to lose weight.

My question for them is, "and then what?" What will you do after you lose 25 pounds and attend your high school reunion? What will you do after you go on a crazy diet for three weeks to fit into that little black dress?

Chances are you will go back to your usual eating habits (which, face it, probably aren't very healthy) and gain the weight right back. Then you'll be writing me six months later because it's time for holiday parties or beach season and you have 25 pounds to lose again.

What if your goal was not to lose a number of pounds by a certain date, but to adapt healthier eating habits? What if you could reduce your portions, substitute a candy bar for a piece of fruit or a granola bar, and go for a 20 minute walk each day? Well then you could lose two or three pounds a month. Most people would say that's not worth it, but lets take a look:

Ona scale from 1-10, how hard would it be to fit in a 20 minute walk on most days? This will lead to a pound loss each month.

On a scale from 1-10 how difficult would it be to check your portions at dinner and resist taking seconds and eating until your stuffed. You would probably feel much better well into the evening. This would lead to a pound loss at the end of the month.

On a scale from 1-10 how miserable would you really be to give up your afternoon candy bar? How much do you enjoy eating it, versus just looking forward to it? For how long after you eat the candy bar do you feel good? Substituting a healthier snack with more nutrients, including fiber, and less sugar and fat can lead you to yet another pound of weight loss at the end of the month.

Slowly, but surely, the weight will gradually come off as you adapt a few healthier habits. No crash diet, no giving up foods you like, no hours of exercise at the gym. Just a little walk, a little less food, a little smarter snacking. And one year from now--do the math--you'll have lost 36 pounds. Now how good does that sound?

Fat Acceptance

For several decades there has been a movement, and even an association--The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance--to influence our society to stop being prejudiced against fat people. Yes, they call themselves fat, and there's a carefully thought out reason for this: labeling a person as "overweight" or "obese" lends more credence to the condition because of the clinical and scientific sound of the title.

Now with over a full third of the American population obese (previously clinically defined as 20% above their ideal weight, and now as have a body mass index [BMI] of 30 or above) more and more are joining the movement. Many women claim that being fat--even weighing as much as 300 pounds--is not what makes them unhappy; dieting is what makes them unhappy. They want to stop obsessing about their weight and their eating and stop experiencing the prejudice and public gawking they suffer because of their size. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) works to have laws passed to prohibit discrimination in the work place and act to intervene when children who are overweight are bullied at school.

Indeed, these fat women assert that the number on the scale or the size of their clothing or the way that they look should not be what determines their acceptance in society, their happiness, or their self-worth. They point out that mental well-being is important just as physical health is, and that they suffer greatly from being singled out, stared at, and experiencing self-loathing because they don't meet society's ideal standard of weight.

For those who believe this is just an excuse for these fat people to eat what they please, most of them say they are concerned about their health and do keep up regular exercise and sensible eating. They go to their doctors for physicals and evaluations and many can honestly say that their blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels are normal. They also point out the dangers of yo yo dieting, which are well documented.

While the people who are part of the fat acceptance movement say they are happier accepting their weight as it is, feeling great in every aspect of their life--including dressing well and finding worth in their family, relationships, and career insteadof their size--health professionals still acknowledge there is no denying that extra weight will more than likely contribute to chronic illnesses as these people age. No one can say being one hundred pounds overweight is good for you.

Another stand I take issue with is the NAAFA's statement that "society believes fat people are at fault for their size". I believe people are at fault for their size. As long as an overweight person attributes their weight to an outside factor--whether it's their metabolism or genetics, the fast food industry, or their destiny--taking the responsibility away from themselves is being in denial. This greatly reduces the chance they they will ever assume responsibility and do something to take control of their situation.

Check The Portion Size!

Today's tip: When you read the food label to see how many calories are in the food you are contemplating eating, be sure to look at the portion size!

You'll be very surprised to find that after you see "180 calories" on the king sized candy bar, if you read a bit further you will find there are "3 servings" contained within the wrapper! That means you'll have eaten 540 calories by the time you finish off the candy bar (which, let's face it, is going to happen before we eat half--or 1/3--and wrap the rest up for later!)

Even a can of tuna or a can of soup, a small bag of chips or a bottle of iced tea--foods that very obviously appear to be contained as one serving--will tell you on the label there are 2 or more servings in that package. Don't stop at the "Calories" on the label . . . read on to see how many portions you will be consuming if you finish the contents.

10 things your nutritionist won't tell you

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/rip-offs/10-things-your-nutritionist-won-t-tell-you/

Hydroxycut Recall

One death and two cases of people requiring a liver transplant have been linked to taking the weight loss aid, Hydroxycut. The FDA issued a recall as of May 1, 2009 for over a dozen of the hydroxycut products. The manufacturers have agreed to withdraw these products from the market, citing their concern for safety. A few hydroxycut supplements are not involved with the reported incidents and do remain on the market. Recalled products include the following.

Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Capsules
Hydroxycut Max Liquid Capsules
Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
Hydroxycut Hardcore RTDs (Ready-to-Drink)
Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed
Hydroxycut 24
Hydroxycut Carb Control
Hydroxycut Natural

Although millions of customers have taken hydroxycut products over the past 10 years, recent reports of liver injury have prompted the Food and Drug Administration to go forth with the recall. Twenty three cases of elevated liver enzymes, jaundice, and seizures and cardiovascular incidents have been called in to the agency, which relies on self-reporting for products not regulated by the FDA. It is not known how many others may have health problems which they neither associated with the product, nor called in to the FDA to report.

A major roadblock to finding safe weight loss supplements is the fact that herbs and other compounds are not defined as either a "food" or a "drug" and thereby escape regulation by the federal agency that monitors tehse types of products for safety. Caution should be used when choosing dietary supplements not approved by the FDA or other reputable agencies, remembering that claims that sound too good to be true . . . probably are.

The Lighter Side of Weight Loss

You might as well find some humor in the process while you are on the journey to weight loss and the ultimate healthy lifestyle. Here's a cute quip from "Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat" and a link to all the other entertainment they have to offer!
http://tinyurl.com/dy7xx8

The Low Fat Diet: A good idea for weight loss?

Technically a low fat diet is one containing less than 50 grams of fat, and this can be useful for controlling certain conditions, such as gall bladder disorders. Keeping your fat intake to 50 grams or less can also help balance the energy-yielding nutrients that compose your calorie intake: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. On a typical weight loss diet of 1500 calories, 50 grams of fat would provide 450 calories and this is just under 30% of the calories; well within the recommendations of several health associations such as the American Heart Association, The American Diabetic Association, and of course the American Dietetic Association.

But, what if you try to follow a diet very low in fat? Will this help you lose weight?

Well, there are several drawbacks to trying this. Fat actually serves a few purposes in our diet!

1. It's the source of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Of course, you could take vitamin supplements for these, but it's always a good idea to get your vitamins from food.

2. There are nutrients called essential fatty acids that are only found in fats. If you lack these you will see symptoms such as a scaly rash and thinning hair. Fat are definitely necessary for certain body functions.

3. Fat helps you stay full longer after you eat. Go on a diet too low in fat, and you could end up so hungry a couple of hours later (think Chinese food) that you might end up overeating to satisfy that hunger.

A few guidelines to getting the right amount of fat in your diet:

- Don't try to avoid fat altogether. Choosing every food you can find in a fat-free form can end up sabotaging your weight loss efforts and even lead to certain deficiencies.

- Read labels and look for foods containing less than 30% of the calories from fat

- Certainly don't seek out fats to add to your diet. I hear about people using extra salad dressings and spreads, rationalizing "fat is necessary in the diet"... but it's easy to get plenty when you eat a healthy diet with some animal products (even fish contains some), dairy products (even low fat contains some), grains (there are breads, cereals and crackers with small amounts of fat in them--you don't have to go for donuts to get what you need!), and even vegetables (where do you think corn oil comes from?).

A very low fat diet might not give you the benefits you are looking for. If you plan to try a very low fat diet be sure to get at least 10% of your calories from fat, and do the research you need to do first to be sure you won't end up lacking any essential nutrients.

Gourmet Low Fat Snacking

Have you been looking for a great snack that won't break your calorie bank?

Here's one, but it might break your piggy bank!!

A while back I told you about the pineapple jerky that was just fabulous, nutritious, and fat free. Now the makers of the best variety of jerky have a new release: sasquatch jerky. As you can see, it's quite expensive and available only in limited quantities, so act fast if you want to be among the few to try it! Once they run out they aren't likely to get any more.

Please post your comments here if you can afford this rare, luxury food item to let us know how it tastes!

50 tips for weight loss

I was just sent a link for this great list of tips and tricks to support you in your weight loss efforts, "Lose Weight While You Are At Work". Thanks Kelly! I especially like all the resources available online that you can join for free--something people are always looking for. Be sure to try at least one of them every day this week. Let us know which you liked best by commenting below :)

http://www.mastersinhealthcare.com/blog/2009/50-easy-ways-to-lose-weight-while-you-are-at-work/

A Healthy New Twist on Cake Mix Recipes

I read about this recipe before, and finally had the chance to try it today! Take a regular box of cake mix, and instead of the oil, eggs, and water, just add a can (15 oz) of pumpkin, mix well, and bake as directed. Still have some of those cans leftover from the holidays? This is a great way to use them up.

Here I have pictured one regular-sized muffin (about 100 calories and no fat) and a few mini-muffins (with probably less than 50 calories a piece!) that I just took out of the oven.
The resulting recipe saves you about 100 calories a serving if you're making a regular cake, and reduces the calories of a regular sized muffin or mini-sized muffin as well. PLUS, it provides you with 50-75% of your daily value for vitamin A in the form of beta carotene from the pumpkin, plus an extra gram or two of fiber per serving.

You can make some tasty combinations when you add pumpkin to a spice cake (which I chose today), a white cake, a yellow cake, a pineapple cake, or an orange cake. I'm not sure how it would taste with chocolate or some of the other flavors, but do let us know if you try one and add your comment below!

The other alternative to substituting pumpkin is using a can of diet soda in place of the water, egg and oil, which makes the final product even lower in calories--but adds no vitamins or fiber.

"Low Fat" Does Not Always Mean "Low Calorie"

If you are trying to lose weight, looking at labels to find the lowest fat foods may actually be sabotaging your efforts. Food labels can be quite misleading in an attempt to try to sell more products: and it works! One of the most falsely held beliefs is that when you find a food that is fat free, it is also calorie-free. This leads you to believe you can eat all you want. And that's what the manufacturers want you to think.

In reality, when fat is taken out of a product, other additives must go in to take its place, enhancing the flavor and texture of the food. Carbohydrates are often added and these provide a substantial amount of calories; even artificial sweeteners provide a small number of calories and you can get the accurate information on the nutrition facts panel if you look closely.

Here are a few types of foods people look for in low fat varieties to enjoy guilt free... and why you can't have all you want without piling on the calories:

Candy: Candy bars containing nuts or chocolate have a significant portion of their calories provided by fat. But there are also calories from the sugar (and a small amount of protein). Candy that does not contain fat (like skittles, starburst, jelly beans, pixie stix, lollipops or marshmallows) provides calories from the sugar. Ironically these often advertise "no fat" on the label, implying that the original product did contain fat, but this particular brand does not. In fact, they--along with other products like some sodas--will advertise "fat free" to get you to buy theirs. There is not any difference, though, between one brand of sugary candy and another when it comes to fat and calories.

Salad dressings: Virtually all the calories in salad dressing come from the fat in them. So it may seem logical to assume that a low fat or fat free dressing would be much lower in calories. They are somewhat lower (and greatly depend on each variety and brand) but also have calories added back from the other ingredients to keep the flavor and texture in the dressing. A two-tablespoon serving of regular ranch dressing has 145 calories; the low-fat variety has 80, and the fat-free, 50. As the fat goes down, the calories drop significantly, but certainly not altogether. And people tend to pour more on, since it's lower in calories! If you aren't careful using this type of product you could be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

Snack foods: These are probably the biggest culprit. We all love to snack on cookies and chips, and are secretly hopeful we will find a way to enjoy all we want without adding hundreds of calories to our diet. But it just can't be done. Regular Lay's chips provide 150 calories per ounce, and although the Baked Lay's reduces the fat content from 10 grams to only 1.5, the calories are still at 130 per ounce. Not a significant difference--especially while people are eating more, figuring they are lower in calories to allow for a double serving!

Another example is the Low-Fat Oreo Cookie. At 50 calories a piece there is not much difference between this and the 54-calorie regular Oreo. Especially if you have an extra one.

The bottom line is, if you are watching your calorie intake you can't go by the 'low fat' advertisement on the front of the label--or even by the fat content of the food. You need to compare the actual calories provided, and by alll means be aware of what they call a serving size! The best way to reduce calories from fats is to cut back on your serving size, and eat dressings, candies, cookies and chips a little less often.

The Monster Iced Honey Bun

Fridays I work in our local food pantry to aid in dispensing food assistance and nutritional information to folks who could use a little help. We have a number of staple items we purchase from monetary donations, and we dispense eggs, milk, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and rice and other grain products. We get all sorts of food donations, too, and you never know what a group, a church, or a store will send over. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get loads of noodle soups, boxes of cereal, or cans of sweet potatoes just when we’ve run out.

Yesterday we received a delivery of a dozen cases of monster honey buns with 36 packages in each case. Not the ones pictured here: No, the ones we got were similar–except they were absolutely HUGE! The jumbo ones in the picture are only 4.75 ounces each and probably come in under 600 calories. The ones we got were 6 ounces each. I ventured a guess at the calorie and fat content–580 calories and 30 grams of fat? I was pretty far off. These babies provide 760 calories a piece and 43 grams of fat.

This opened up a topic of conversation among the volunteers at work. “What else could you eat for 760 calories?” (My entire dinner usually). ”Isn’t 43 grams of fat all you need in an entire day?” (Why, yes, for most people it is). “What if you just ate two of these in a day–you’d get 1520 calories and wouldn’t need to eat anything else at all!” (Except for the fact that the two honey buns would give a grand total of 4 grams of fiber for the day and absolutely no vitamin A, vitamin C or a number of other vitamins and minerals).

My biggest question is, “How many people who eat these take a look at the label?” Do you always look at the food label before you decide “yes” or “no”? What are you picking up for a snack during the day, oblivious to the number of calories, fat grams, and perhaps total lack of any nutritional value it provides? And if people knew the number of calories in one of these, what percentage of them would keep on choosing them despite the outrageous number of calories contained?

I urge you to take a look at the food labels on the choices you are putting into your body. Not that you are going to instantly change what you are eating, or give something up because it’s not “good for you”. But a little knowledge can go a long way. Do you have a cut-off point in mind? A number of calories at which you will put that down and walk away, realizing how far those calories would go towards an entire meal? Thinking about how many hours of exercise you’d have to work through to burn that food off?

In the case of the food product in question, one would have to jog about seven miles–would it be worth that to you in exchange for enjoying a Monster Iced Honey Bun?

Four Steps to Wellness

Today I was fortunate enough to meet a local massage therapist and hear a presentation she gave to our business group about maintaining wellness. She focused on four steps to incorporate into your day to keep you well:

1) Hydration
2) Movement
3) Relaxation
4) Better Nutrition

Please read a transcript of her presentation here http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhpjx59q_1cpvgmjg9

And if you are local to the St.Louis area, be sure to check out her website and make an appointment for a massage: she will even come to your office to provide chair massages for your staff! http://ww.kylarieger.massagetherapy.com

How To Set Goals To Motivate You for Weight Loss

Setting goals can be immensely helpful in getting us to reach our target weight. The idea of losing 40 or 50 pounds seems overwhelming moreso than motivating, and can leave us vulnerable to comforting ourselves with food, of all things!

Take some time before beginning your weight loss program to outline some specific interim goals you would like to reach. These will keep you feeling motivated and heighten the awareness of progress as you move towards the larger goal of losing a number of pounds. Here I share some very helpful examples from clients of mine to illustrate those that painted a colorful picture for me.

1. Emily wanted to be able to shop in the misses department instead of the women's sizes for clothing. Even though a size 14 is not her goal, it was a great moment for her when she realized she did not have to shop for larger sized clothing. She told me, "Now I go try on clothes even when I'm not buying, just because I love fitting into the smaller sizes!"

2. Sheila had a very specific picture of what she wanted to look like; she pictured herself walking along the beach carrying her sandals and wearing nice-fitting capri blue jeans with a crisp, white button-down shirt. Whenever she was tempted to give in to a craving, all she had to do was picture this look, and she new what was really important to her. She was able to pass on so many high-calorie foods over a few weeks that she reached her first goal quickly and easily.

3. Marjorie's goal was more about getting away from what she was currently experiencing; her thighs rubbed together when she walked and it irritated her, both physically and emotionally. She heard the sound of her pant legs swishing back and forth against each other whenever she walked down the quiet halls at work and was convinced everyone else did, too. More than anything, Marjorie wanted to lose enough weight to let her walk comfortably and quietly. This was enough to motivate her to keep her food diary and continue other actions that led to the weight loss she desired.

4. Pam had an idea of how she wanted her figure to change: She was always proud of her curvaceous physique, but recently as she had put weight on, she noticed her belly protruding far more than made her comfortable. "My goal," she told the group, "is to have my profile show my bust larger than my belly". We all nodded in agreement with Pam's idea. This was by no means her final goal, nor did it involve a number of pounds to lose, but it was a picture in her mind that was going to keep her motivated to get her sneakers on every day after work and hop on the treadmiill for 45 minutes---like she had been planning to do for the past 16 months.

5. Victoria's goal was to get off her cholesterol and blood pressure medications. "I don't want to be on these for the rest of my life!" She has a doctor's appointment coming up in four months and knows if she can lose weight by then, along with establishing a regular exercise regimen, her numbers will be good enough for her doctor to discontinue those medications.

How do you picture yourself in your dream life? Are you happy and healthy and fit and active? Start living the life you want now! Take actions to eat healthier, be more active, and work towards the goals that will keep you motivated as you help your body take the shape you want it to have.

The Pistachio Principle

"Imagine the possibilities," Eastern Illinois University professor and researcher Dr. James Painter proposes "if the restriction and deprivation were removed from the 'diet' picture...."

Research conducted on pistachios, of all things, will yield a new approach to weight loss if Dr. Painter (also a registered dietitian) has a say. His suggestion is for people to focus on changing their environment and behavior rather than restricting their food intake to lose weight, based on recent research using pistachios to study food cues.

Subjects in one study were given the choice of eating pistachios they had to shell, or eating those that were already shelled. Participants were allowed to eat until they were satisfied, and those in the group who took the time to remove their own shells ate 50% fewer calories than the others.

In another study two groups both ate nuts with shells; but in group A the shells were left out on the table. Group B had their shells--evidence of how much they had eaten--whisked away. The results: Group A consumed 35% fewer calories.

In both these studies people ate all they wanted, and were no longer hungry. So it appears your mind can convince you that you are full not just based on what you ate or how much, but on how much you see you have eaten, or how much time you spend eating.

Here are a few ways you can change your environment at home to get your mind off counting calories, and just letting it naturally signal you when you've had enough:

1) Keep high-calorie easy-to-munch foods out of sight: shelled nuts, chips, cookies and candy can go down too easily--you keep eating them because they taste good and they're convenient. Why would being full make you stop?

2) Take some time and energy to prepare your food: Instead of purchasing pre-made, pre-packaged and ready-to-eat varieties, put some more effort into making your own--we're talking sandwiches, cut-up fruit and vegetables... Come on, burn some calories when you eat!

3) Put your food on a plate--no more eating out of the box or bag: This will help you visualize how much you are going to eat. You can always go back for more. Eating out of the bag gives you no visual cue and, again--it tastes good so what will stop you? If you have a handful on your plate and the bag is put back in the pantry, you'll run out before you've eaten the entire bag.

4) Stop when you are no longer hungry: Pause and take a mini-inventory every so often. Are you hungry? Are you paying attention to enjoying what you are eating (or mindlessly munching down while watching TV?)

You don't have to eat until you are full. When you aren't hungry, stop. Figure out something else that can satisfy you instead of ingesting hundreds more calories!

Apply the Pistachio Principle to your eating habits for six weeks and see how you find this new approach working for you. Please leave your comments here and let us know :)

Impress Your Fellow Diners

"I don't want people knowing I'm on a diet," Lauren told me. This was her reason to ignore my suggestion to order sauces on the side. "I'm too embarrassed to ask the waiter not to bring the basket of rolls," said Brenda, as we were going through a list of ways to reduce calories when dining out.

I don't understand. Why is it alright with you to walk around 35 pounds overweight, 24 hours a day? You have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, but what stands out in your mind as a drawback is having attention called to the fact that you are trying to eat healthy?
Get your priorities in line: You want to be healthy. That should be number one. Normal blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels. Number two should be to get your BMI (Body Mass Index) into the ideal range: not obese, and not overweight. And third, if you can get to a healthy weight and an 'average' size, you will be impressing your clients and colleagues by being in good shape: When you look like you care about yourself and set forth a good image, you also feel good and project an even better image. The positives build upon each other.

People who are overweight are viewed with prejudice, unfair as it is. People who eat too much are seen as lacking in self-control and not caring about their image. What message does this send to the people you are trying to impress? Earn the respect of your clients by sharing with them and letting them know that your number one goal is your health. Take advantage of using the time at a restaurant meal to display this: Ask for salad dressing to be served on the side; ask for information from the waiter about what you are ordering (is there fat in the sauce?); ask for a take-out container with your meal so you can take part of it home without forgetting your intentions until your plate is cleaned. Demonstrate that you don't decide what you will do based on other people's judgement of you, but rather on what you know is the best decision!

Recently I met with a client who was trying to work exercise into her time away at a business conference. "We have meetings all day until 4:30 and then we go out for drinks at 6:00 and dinner at 7:00," Julia told me. "And how would you feel," I asked her, "If you told your colleagues at 4:30, 'I'll have to take a rain check on the drinks this afternoon: I'm going to run back to my room and get to the gym so I can get a quick workout in before dinner'". She thought for a moment and then answered, "I would feel good about that". It shows self-determination, dedication to priorities, and taking care of what's important before running off to socialize when you will have time for that at dinner as well. Visualize ahead of time how you will feel calling attention to the fact that you are concerned with what you put in your body. Will people think it's frivolous? Or will they take your cue and try to impress you with how cautious they can be about what they're consuming?

Several weeks ago I was at a networking dinner after a meeting and was impressed by a colleague I'll call Liz. We were all receiving our entrees and I saw the waiter bring Liz a styrofoam container that she started piling half her meal into before she began to eat. I looked around at the other diners. No one noticed Liz's actions because they were all excited, just having received their own meal and busy digging in to taste the first bite. "Aren't you embarrassed to be taking home half your meal in front of everyone," I asked her (with Lauren and Brenda fresh in my mind). "Of course not," she answered. "I don't care what they think--I've just lost 27 pounds and I have 12 more to lose and I'm not going to let anyone else get in my way!" Now that's impressive.

Walk Your Weight Off

A pedometer is a small instrument that clips onto the waist band of your skirt or slacks and tracks how many steps you take each day by sensing the small movement your hips make whenever you take a step. Contrary to popular belief, it does not really matter if your pedometer is totally accurate, or if it calibrates miles walked or calories burned. The part that really matters is that it is consistent. You can find one for less than six dollars at your local department store and it does not have to have any bells or whistles.

The first thing you need to do is find out how many steps you take on an average day. Wear the pedometer from morning till bed time for a few days, being sure to zero it at the beginning of each day. Write down how many steps you take each day. This tells you your baseline. You might walk 500 steps a day because you have a desk job and don't like to exercise or you might walk 5000 steps a day because you go for a walk every morning and are then on your feet all day at work. Maybe your steps fluctuate depending on whether it's a weekday or weekend. Get an idea of how many steps are usual for you and that's where you start.

Then, set a goal for how many steps you want to aim for on most days. The following facts will help you:
- Most people burn approximately 50 calories for every thousand steps.
- This means walking 2000 steps burns about 100 calories.

- For the average person, 2000 steps is about one mile.
- For every additional hundred calories you burn each day, you can lose nearly one pound a month.
- This means that for every mile (or every 2000 steps) you start adding to your daily walking, you can lose over 10 pounds this year. Decide to get out for a two mile walk each morning and lose 20 pounds this year; decide to take 6000 more steps than your baseline, and you can say so long to more than 30 pounds in twelve months.

Now be sure to plan how you are going to add these steps to your daily regimen. Can you take a two mile walk after dinner? This should only take 30 or 40 minutes if you walk briskly. Find ways to start adding steps to your day and get your pedometer climbing into the thousands: take the steps instead of the elevator (even going down stairs uses more steps than the elevator and these count too!); park a little bit farther away when you drive to work or the store; make a few extra trips in and out of the house when bringing in groceries instead of dragging in six sacks at a time; have fun by playing little games with yourself, like taking the silverware out of the dishwasher one piece at a time and walking over to the drawer to put it away. Go ahead, come up with some crazy ones!

You've probably heard that adding more steps during the day helps to burn calories, but with a pedometer you can actually see them adding up and you can know how many more calories you are burning with each activity. Notice how many steps you rack up by going just a little bit further, walking to a nearby friend's house or the store instead of driving, taking the long way instead of taking shortcuts. Have a contest with friends and see who can increase their steps the most. Have fun with it, and try to eventually get your steps up to the recommended ten thousand a day to lose the weight you need to and then keep it off!

Please share your fun ideas to get more steps in, and how many you got up to! My highest was 17,000 on a vacation in Philadelphia's center city with non-stop walking all day long... that's over eight miles :)