Diet, Nutrition and Exercise

Posted on | January 12, 2010 | No Comments

Diet, Exercise, Energy Deficits

Posted on | February 7, 2010 | No Comments

Anyone wanting to lose weight must deal with the fundamental laws of energy. You cannot lose weight if you are taking in more energy than what you are burning. Energy deficits must be created every day if you want to lose weight. As we discuss the details of this theory, it will get much more complicated, however you should remember that if your energy absorbed through food is greater than the energy burned through daily activities and exercise you are going to gain weight. By burning more energy than you take in, and creating an energy deficit, only then will you lose weight.

Fad Diets

There are lots of fad diets that are advertised on TV and the radio and in newspapers. Most of them are selling a product and that is how they make their money. They do not always deal with the larger issue of how exercise factors into the equation. Low carb diets, water melon diets, soup diets and on and on. These diets just do not deal with the need for a balanced diet with the proper vitamins that the body needs. Nor do they deal with the total number of calories that everyone needs to maintain a normal busy life style vs. what they need to take in and lose weight. Creating an energy deficit while eating properly will ensure that you lose weight.

Weight Watchers

Weight watchers appears to focus on portion control using a point system to manage your calories and intake. Consumers following the weight watchers diet must keep track of their food intake using a point system and also portion control. They can also bulk up on low calorie food to give them that full feeling that everyone wants. Consumers on weight watchers diets can even partake of deserts as long as they have not exceeded the number of points they need to consume for the day. Still for weight watchers to be successful, even weight watchers agrees that an energy deficit must be created if you are going to lose weight.

Add Exercise

If you maintain a normal daily routine i.e. going to work, household chores etc, then you will need to make sure that the calories you take in through meals and snacks is less than what you need for daily activity. As long as there is an  energy deficit, you will lose weight over time. Going for a walk, working out at the gym or exercising on your own will help you increase this energy deficit and help you lose weight. Paying attention to what you eat and how much is an important element of weight control. Exercise will burn calories and increase your energy deficit.

Building Muscle

One of the side effects of working out is that you will build muscle. You will lose fat content as well, however it is a well known fact that muscle weighs more than fat. Some consumers who are exercising regularly do not lose weight, but their body is changing, becoming more lean and less chubby. Consumers should not be concerned about this. Muscle is always better than fat, and will actually increase your metabolism which in turn burns more calories. Besides who does not want to look well toned and lean?

Eat Good Food

We all know that there are good calories and bad calories. Some dieters are even allowed to eat sweets, but there is a big difference between some sweets and others. Take a chocolate bar for example vs a piece of chocolate. A chocolate bar as a lot more in it besides chocolate. There is corn starch, trans fats and lots of sugar. This is an example of a not so good desert or snack. Eating a piece of pure chocolate does not contain all of these extra elements and is just as satisfying.

The same rule applies to many other foods. Fried foods, deep fried foods and precooked frozen foods lose much of their nutrient value during preparation, while at the same time picking up lots of trans fats and calories during the cooking and preparation processes. Stick to fresh foods that you cook yourself to avoid all of these extra calories and fats. Use low fat cooking techniques and avoid frying your food.

Read the Labels

All processed food is labeled with the number of calories and fat content. The first thing to remember is that the number of calories could be up to 20% higher than what the label says. Manufacturers are allowed to be 20% in error. If you must eat processed food , keep this fact in mind when you are planning your meals so that you do not ruin your energy deficit calculations.

If you are serious about losing weight, there are a number of steps you need to take to ensure that you lose weight. First of all you must create an energy deficit each and every day. An energy deficit can be created by dieting or exercise or a combination of both. Practice portion control to reduce the calories that you take in.

Snacks and Energy Deficits

Another huge area which can eliminate your energy deficit is snacks. Snacking by itself is not bad. It can actually be good to help increase your metabolism. The problem with snacks is that we do not have control over how much we eat while snacking. Before we realize it, the snacks we eat can eliminate our energy deficit and cause us to gain weight. If you cannot eliminate snacks, then practice portion control to manage how much food you actually take in. Secondly change to a low calorie type snack which cause you to bulk up give you that full feeling. However the best way is to avoid snacks all together.

Manage your energy deficit by managing your diet and adding exercise to increase you energy deficit.

Weight Loss Tips

Posted on | January 30, 2010 | No Comments

There are a number of weight loss tips that will benefit many people. However the major tip for consideration everyone needs to think about is whether you are ready or not. Each person regardless of their weight, have to first realize that they need to lose weight to gain a healthier life style and then they need to decide that they actually are going to lose weight.

Make a Decision and Stick With It

This statement may seem trivial, however unless you have the conviction to lose weight along with the perseverance, most people will go on a diet for a short period, lose a few pounds and then go off the diet. So the first major tip is recognize that you need to lose weight and the second is to decide with commitment that you are going to do what is needed to lose weight.

Change Your Life Style

Once you have decided to lose weight and are committed to losing weight the next step is to decide what attributes of your lifestyle that you need to change. Perhaps it is fast food, perhaps it is snacking in front of the TV at night, perhaps it is eating very large meals.  What ever it is you need to set up your environment so that you are not tempted to continue bad habits such as snacking.

Exercise Routine

Part of changing your lifestyle is to begin exercising. Even if it is a walk around the block, it is better than sitting in front of the television and snacking. If you have been a couch potato and this is the first time you decide to exercise start slowly and build up. If you are seriously unhealthy, talk to your doctor first. Even if you start by walking a short distance and build up over time this is a huge improvement.

Exercise will improve your circulation, help you lose weight when combined with a diet program, build your muscles including that of your heart, and increase your lung capacity. Exercise will also increase your metabolism which will burn more calories and help to burn off those pounds.

Fit Your Exercise into a Busy Life

Sometimes we are just so busy that we do not have time to go to the gym and exercise. There are various ways to get your daily exercise. For starters consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If it is only  a few floors, chances are you will save time since you can cover several floors before the elevator even arrives. Go for a walk at lunch. Park your car further away from the entrance to your office or shopping and walk the extra distance.

If you are waiting for the kids at an activity, don’t sit and wait, go for a little walk even if it is around the parking lot. There are numerous ways to get in that extra few steps every day while you are building up your endurance.

Walk 10,000 Steps a Day

You have probably seen or read about walking a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. I have personally tried this and found it quite hard to get all of the steps in. I bought a step counter and away I went walking around the mall to get my 10,000 steps in. I have to admit it gets a bit boring, so try to vary the routine, go for walks in your neighborhood or around your work place. Drive the car to a different location and walk. Before you know it you will be walking your 10,ooo steps every day.

Eating Habits

This is probably the most difficult thing to do and why we left this weight loss tip until the end. We are all used to fast food prepared quickly with lots of sauces and salt. The salt is bad for high blood pressure or hypertension and all of the fried food and sauces have thousands of calories in them.

Start cooking natural foods and make your own casseroles to be frozen. That way you manage the salt and the fat that goes into the meal and it is ready when you need it. Just a quick dethaw, heat it up and supper is ready. These are excellent meals when you are in a hurray and pressed for time.

Stay away from fast food restaurants or any restaurant were the food is cooked in oil of some kind. Try doing without all of the sauces such as ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and special sauces. Not only are they high in fat content, they are also high in calories and salt as well.

Snacking

Snacking is like a silent villain that sneaks up on you. We all love to snack, however the problem with snacking is that we lose track of how many calories we are actually eating. It is relatively easy to sit in front of the television and snack on a bowl of peanuts while watching our favorite program. Before we know it the bowl of peanuts is gone and we have consumed a thousand calories or more. While nuts are an excellent food type, we really do not need these extra calories unless you can burn them off in some way. Let’s face it most of us cannot burn them off easily.

If you must snack, have sticks of sugar free gum around to chew on. They have few calories and provide that chewing sensation that we need. Far better to chew several sticks of gum than to eat many different snacks.

In summary, make a conscience attempt to change your life style, exercise, change your eating habits and avoid snacking. You will find that the pounds will come off. The rate of losing pounds will depend on how well you do in sticking to your plan. Let us know if there are other ideas and tips that have helped you to lose weight and keep it off.

Common Sense Nutrition

Posted on | January 25, 2010 | 1 Comment

Taking a common sense approach to nutrition can significantly improve your lifestyle and overall health. But what do you need to do to follow a common sense approach to nutrition instead of all of the fads and diets that are out there, advertised on TV , the radio and newspapers?

Fads & Diets

There are numerous fads and diets that are advertised on TV and other venue’s. Some of them work and some do not, but how can you tell. Certainly some of the stars that are making pitches appear to have lost weight and are doing very well according to the advertisement. Valerie Bertinelli is a good example. She looks fabulous and has benefited from Jenny Craig. But is that the whole story?

The first thing to remember it that everyone who is making a pitch is getting paid in some manner to pitch a program or a product. Today, people will say what ever they need to say to sell a product, knowing that there is no repercussion if they misstate  or stretch some facts. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. There is no doubt in Valerie’s case that she has lost weight.

There are many other fads and diet programs, however most people either do not have the money to invest in these programs or they are looking for the quick fix to lose weight. Little attention is paid to the level of nutrition in these various diets. Even frozen foods such as lean cuisine have been reported to have 20% more calories in some of their meals than what is claimed on the box. In addition , look carefully at the sodium levels in each meal. Some will have as much as 30 to 40% of the sodium intake in one meal that you need all day.

It Pays to Read Labels for Nutrition Balance

Always read the labels when you are purchasing prepared food. Even cereal will have some elements that you may question such as sodium, fat content, and other elements that the body does not always need. Soups are notorious for high salt content. Frozen meals of all types are often high in fat content and high in sodium content. Fast food can also be a source of high fat and sodium with little nutritional value. Read the labels and make your own decision, before blindly following the advertisement on the box or on the TV. Often they conveniently forget to mention various factors that you may be interested in.

Follow the Food Guides

Both the United States and Canada have their own food guides which if followed will help to ensure that you meet your needs for the right vitamins,, minerals and other nutrients. Consumers can also reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and osteoporosis. A balance diet based on the food guide will contribute to your overall health and vitality.

Food Guide Basics for great Nutrition

Adults should eat seven to 10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day. Six to eight servings of grain products and two to three servings of milk products and two to three servings of meat products. Meeting these guidelines will generally give you all of the necessary food groups, minerals and vitamins that you need every day.

Serving sizes should be matched to your overall food intake required to maintain your ideal body weight. Over indulging in anything can have negative impacts including weight gain even if it is nutritional for you. Combine this with 6 to 8 liters of water to aid in hydration and digestion of your food. If you exercise, additional water is usually required based on the level of exercise you undergo.

If you would like more details about the food guides, search the internet for Canada’s food guide.

A Common Sense Approach to Nutrition

Take some time to really educate yourself on what is needed to provide the nutrition you need for your age and gender. Read the labels and look for low sodium content and low fat content, with a mix of minerals and vitamins. Cooked foods at home prepared from scratch are usually better than prepackaged prepared foods that have a lot of preservatives and additives included. Combine good nutritional intake with the proper amount of food and exercise. Getting one or all of these out of balance can contribute to weight gain and poor health.

Fast food restaurants are not the best place to go to get well balanced low calorie meals. Some have begun to introduce better meals , however you need to pick and chose those that provide the right nutritional value along with lower caloric intake. Many are deep fried, have lots of fat and sodium to make them taste better. Even splitting a meal is better than eating all of the meal yourself, but it is better to just not order a high calorie, high sodium high fat meal in the first place. some of the new salad meals at fast food outlets are great until you add the salad dressing. These high calorie, high fat dressings should be used lightly.

Multi Vitamins

If you feel that you might not be getting all of the necessary vitamins from your food intake, multi vitamin pills are often a great idea. However you should talk to your pharmacist first to get a recommendation on which vitamins to take based on your age and gender. Also if you are prone to osteoporosis, consider additional calcium tablets and vitamin D to help with the absorption of the calcium. Again your pharmacist can assist with the selection.

In summary think for yourself, ask questions, do some research and read the labels to ensure you are getting the necessary nutritional value you need from the food you eat. Talk to your pharmacist regarding vitamin and calcium supplements if needed.

Common Sense Exercise

Posted on | January 20, 2010 | No Comments

This post is all about the approach to common sense exercise. One of the biggest concerns everyone has is how will exercise affect me especially when I have not exercised in some time. Will my  heart be able to handle the increased workload? Will my joints withstand the stress of carrying all of the extra weight around while we exercise? Can I withstand the pain of exercise due to sore muscles?

No Pain , No Gain

We have all heard this statement over and over, applied to many different topics including weight loss. If you have watched the biggest loser, it is obvious that these people are going though significant pain as they work to reduce weight. They are working out a large number of hours every day, with sore muscles, stomach cramps and pushing themselves harder and harder. Although this has great entertainment value, the concern is can their hearts withstand this additional physical stress.

The contestants on the Biggest Loser have a team of doctors monitoring their every move, monitoring the food they take in and monitoring the medications that they need to take. We have seen some people on the biggest loser actually collapse.

From a common sense exercise point of view, by far the majority of people do not have this level of support when they begin to exercise. If you join a gym, you will always be asked to sign a document which absolves the gym of any blame should you have some sort of health issue while at the gym.

If you are concerned ask for a doctors assessment and recommendation regarding your exercise level. Start by walking around the block. Depending on the level of your health you may want to start slowly and build up to a more intense level of exercise. If you feel any discomfort other than sore muscles, take a break. Build up slowly and as you control your diet with the common sense diet approach and follow a common sense exercise  approach you will gradually get stronger and lose weight.

It Takes Time to Lose Weight

Contrary to the TV advertisements that suggest you can lose significant amounts of weight in a short time period and look like some of the hunks and beauties that advertise these products, no one can make that transition so fast. These people have practiced portion control and exercise programs all of their lives in order to look like the way they do on TV. It is just impossible to change your body to look like that in a short amount of time regardless of whether it is an exercise machine of some sort or a pill or liquid that is being advertised.

The message they are giving to you is that you should buy this product to look like the way these people do. It just will not happen, in the time frame they are suggesting. It takes hard work and focused effort on exercise as well as diet to get to look the way these people look.

Common Sense Exercise Programs

Note that we are not saying “Don’t buy these products”. We are saying that you should manage your expectations regarding these products. If you purchase some sort of weight bearing machine that slides under your bed when not in use, the machine could actually be an excellent addition to your exercise program.

Use the new exercise machine every day or at least 3 times a week and push yourself to your limit every time. Over time you will begin to see results. Add to these exercises to increase your level of fitness and as your strength builds you will be able to do more, exercise more and lift heavier weights.

Using this type of approach will vastly improve your chances of losing weight and keeping it off. One of the most important elements to keep in mind is that you must manage your own expectations. The TV advertisements build up unrealistic expectations and everyone gets disappointed when the results do not immediately come. Set some realistic guidelines and goals and then work towards achieving them over a reasonable amount of time.

Exercise is a Lifetime Challenge

For most of us, with the temptations we have, the life style we lead, exercise is becoming a lifetime activity. Whether you go to the gym, take the dog for a walk, bicycle or ski, everyone of us should know that we need to do some form of exercise all of our lives.

When we were kids, we participated in various sports and were always active. As adults we become more sedentary and burn less calories as a result. Most of us do not reduce the number of calories that we intake and as a result we tend to gain weight. Many people will gain a minimum of 10 pounds every decade, while those of us with eating problems may gain much more than that.

If you want to maintain your weight, the equation is pretty simple. Calories that you eat must be either burned off through daily activities, burned off through exercise or they will add to your bodies fat content. There is no getting around that fact. 2000 calories in less 1500 burned off by daily activities and exercise leaves 500 calories that your body will add on as fat! This is just a simple example to make a point. Individuals need to gauge your food intake with your activity level to assess how much exercise you need and how much you need to decrease your caloric intake.

In summary start slow and build up your exercise routine, stay with it, set up a program for yourself to follow and limit your caloric intake. Get a doctors assessment if you are at all concerned about your health level and your ability to exercise.

Common Sense Diet

Posted on | January 15, 2010 | No Comments

Many people are looking for the quick fix to their weight and diet problems. They see the advertisements on TV with young in shape good looking men and women who are pushing whatever product they have. It may be some sort of exercise equipment or diet or medical treatment or some sort of concoction that they should take to improve their weight problems. For the majority of people these gimmick just do not work because they do not deal with the underlying problems or the real work it takes to reduce weight and improve your overall life style.

The main message of this post is as follows : Develop a common sense plan around the food you eat, the nutrition you get from these foods and the amount of exercise that is right for you. Without a plan that you can focus on, most people will just not be able to  lose weight or improve their situation

Common Sense Diet

So what does it mean to follow a common sense diet? Without getting into how many calories you are eating or how many calories you are burning off, the common sense diet really means that you need to limit your intake of food and focus on good nutritional food.

More and more we are seeing that when we go to restaurants, that we are not satisfied unless there is a huge plate of food in front of us. Part of this satisfaction is getting value for money spent. We seem to equate the more food that we have in front of us vs. the amount we are spending is a good thing. Consumers love going to buffets were they can eat as much as they can put into their mouth or going to a restaurant where the restaurant offers large sides of vegetables, pasta’s or other high carb food.

Of course once we have this immense quantity of food in front of us, there is the feeling that we must consume all of this food. We ordered it and we have been taught since we were young to always finish our plate. So we order or receive large amounts of food and we consume all of it. Before we know it we are gaining weight at a rapid pace.

The message is to practice some self control and cut down on the quantity you are eating. Use whatever trick you need, but reduce the quantity of food that you take in every day. Use a smaller plate, stop snacking, snack on low calorie foods, split portions with a partner and avoid those places were you just cannot maintain your self control. It is the old adage, you cannot take a kid to a candy store and expect him or her to not ask for some of the candy in that store.

Split Portions

One common sense diet approach is to split portions between you and a partner when you go out to a restaurant. We have found that most restaurants support this request and will gladly give you another plate so that you and your partner can separate the portions any way you like.

Some restaurants have a minimum order requirement. If you really like this restaurant, then just order a salad for one person and have the other person order the main course. You can split the meal after the meal is delivered and reduce the number of calories that you are taking in.

A big advantage of this approach is that you also reduce the cost of eating out!

Foods You Eat

Anything that is deep fried, regardless of what it is should be avoided. The fat content from the oil that it was cooked in will contribute to many more calories that you can believe. Focus on foods that are not deep fried such as vegetables that are steamed, meat that is not breaded and fried and stay away from desert. If you really must have desert keep your portion small and split it with your partner. That way you will both benefit from less calories, save money and reduce your weight.

Common sense diet – Snacking

Snacking is one of the most difficult things to get control of and yet in some cases is the single biggest contributor of weight gain.

There are two problems with snacking that cause weight gain. The first one is that we lose control of how much we snack and how many calories that we actually consume. A bowl of peanuts, chips etc taste great, satisfy some inner urge and before we know it the entire bowl is gone. Repeated daily or several times a week will definitely contribute to weight gain. It really does not matter what you snack on, unless it is just fruits and vegetables with no salad dressing, everyone loses control of how much they eat and will gain weight.

The second problem with snacking is what we snack on. Many of us like salted peanuts, chips or sweet deserts. These kinds of snacks will contribute to weight gain as well as possibly high blood pressure from all of the salt intake. If you must snack, then cut these types of high calorie foods out of your diet and switch to other low calories types of foods. Fruits and vegetables are good examples.

Another common sense diet snack reducer is to chew low calories gum. Benefits to chewing low calorie gum include the lack of calories, the sensation of chewing you get which will contribute to the satisfaction of chewing on something and it gives you something to do instead of snacking.

In summary, reduce the amount of food you intake, split portions, avoid snack foods and desert and use common sense diet approach to everything you do. Use tricks such as smaller plates,  splitting portions, avoiding fried food and eating steamed vegetables with spice flavoring instead of salt.

We would appreciate your comments and positive contributions to this subject.

 

February 2010

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