Morning,
I wanted to remind you all of something very simple, and sometimes we needed to be reminded of the simple things, like sitting up straight, looking both ways before crossing the street and chewing with our mouth closed. The simple task I am going to remind everyone today is, chewing your bites of food 30 times before swallowing. Maybe you have heard this before, maybe you haven't.
The interesting point behind it not only has to do with better digestion, but better energy overall. Why is this you ask? Well, our body uses at least 10% of our body's energy to digest our food. You heard me right, at least 10% of our energy every day is taken up by eating. While eating and the energy to digest is important, why not take a little more time to chew it up properly so we use less energy to digest it? That way we might have the energy at the end of the day to get a little more cardio in. Plus chewing 30 times burns a few more calories than chewing how you normally chew. ;)
Digestion starts in the mouth, so the more we chew the more the enzymes in our saliva break the food up and the more nutrients we get with less work. Start counting the number of times you chew, you may realize you chew much less than you think and it becomes quite a bit of mush by chewing 30 times. Not only does this help you digest better but it slows you down and teaches you to focus on your eating, which will also give your body the full signal sooner and you will end up eating less at every meal. Give it a try and see how it works for you.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Amazon Products
Hi all,
I searched through Amazon to create some thumbs up products for health, relaxation and good information. If you want to know the cost of the product, just hold your mouse over the picture and an explanation and a price will show up. If you want it, just click on it and it will bring you to the checkout at Amazon. Pretty simple. Some of these items are great to package together to create a reward for your self or a day of love for good work done. More post to follow on that.
I searched through Amazon to create some thumbs up products for health, relaxation and good information. If you want to know the cost of the product, just hold your mouse over the picture and an explanation and a price will show up. If you want it, just click on it and it will bring you to the checkout at Amazon. Pretty simple. Some of these items are great to package together to create a reward for your self or a day of love for good work done. More post to follow on that.
Another Week
Another week another weigh in. Don't feel discouraged no matter what it is, if you are nervous about getting on the scale, step on it backwards and let Pezzulo just write down the numbers. Keep focused and keep plugging away. For those of us on the Dragon boat team, the practice has started up again so that will add to our cardio minutes. Keep up the good work. Feel free to post a win, or to just vent!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Serving Sizes
All the time we hear about serving sizes. Sometimes it is hard to picture what a true serving size is, so I am going to list some common every day items that might help you to picture a proper serving size. It is hard to keep in mind especially when going out to eat and the plates and the serving sizes are growing larger and larger. So even if you are being savey and split a meal with a friend it is still helpful to know what serving size you are eating.
For breads and pastas one serving size is 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of pasta or rice, or 1 oz of ready to eat cereal. To picture this the slice of bread should be the size of a standard 3G (or blackberry) cell phone, 1 cup (remember a serving is 1/2 cup) of rice or pasta is around the size of a tennis ball or ice cream scoop, cornbread is the size of a bar of soap.
For vegetables one serving size is, 1/2 cup of cooked or chopped veggies, 3/4 cup of veggie juice, or 1 cup of raw chopped veggies. To picture, 1 cup of raw salad greens is the size of a baseball, 3/4 cup is the size of a small child's serving cup at Starbucks, a 1/2 cup of chopped veggies is the size of an ice cream scoop. Also a 1/2 cup is 6-8 asparagus spears, or 7-8 baby carrots.
With fruit a serving size is 1 whole apple, banana, or orange, 3/4 cup for just juice, or 1/2 cup for chopped or canned fruit. To picture it, 1/2 cup of grapes or other chopped fruit is the size of a light bulb. A medium sized fruit is the size of a tennis ball.
For proteins a serving size is 2-3oz of animal meat, or 1/2 cup of cooked dried beans, 1 egg or 2 TBSP of peanut butter. To picture it, 1 serving of meat is generally the size of a deck of cards. With Chicken, 1 drum stick and one thigh or one breast is one serving of meat. With 2TBSP, that is generally the size of a ping pong ball.
Diary has it's own catagory here since it contains fat and protien. One serving size is 1 cup of milk or yogurt, or 1 and a 1/2 to 2 oz of cheeze. To picture it all yogurt would be the size of a tennis ball, and milk is the size of a full small (smaller than tall) kids cup at Starbucks, ice cream would be one scoop, and cheese in cube form 1 oz is the size of a pair of dice or a 9 volt battery.
Finally for fats one serving size is 1 Tsp of Butter or 2 TBSP of salad dressing. To picture these, 1 tsp is the size of a stamp and the thickness of a pencil. Typically 1 pad of butter has 2 Tsp. For 2 TBSP of salad dressing or oil picture the size of a ping pong ball. Most of the carafes that the dressings are served in at a restaurant are 3-4 TBSP.
Hopefully these are helpful to keep in mind even though there is quite a few of them. Once you get a general idea of what a serving size is.
For breads and pastas one serving size is 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of pasta or rice, or 1 oz of ready to eat cereal. To picture this the slice of bread should be the size of a standard 3G (or blackberry) cell phone, 1 cup (remember a serving is 1/2 cup) of rice or pasta is around the size of a tennis ball or ice cream scoop, cornbread is the size of a bar of soap.
For vegetables one serving size is, 1/2 cup of cooked or chopped veggies, 3/4 cup of veggie juice, or 1 cup of raw chopped veggies. To picture, 1 cup of raw salad greens is the size of a baseball, 3/4 cup is the size of a small child's serving cup at Starbucks, a 1/2 cup of chopped veggies is the size of an ice cream scoop. Also a 1/2 cup is 6-8 asparagus spears, or 7-8 baby carrots.
With fruit a serving size is 1 whole apple, banana, or orange, 3/4 cup for just juice, or 1/2 cup for chopped or canned fruit. To picture it, 1/2 cup of grapes or other chopped fruit is the size of a light bulb. A medium sized fruit is the size of a tennis ball.
For proteins a serving size is 2-3oz of animal meat, or 1/2 cup of cooked dried beans, 1 egg or 2 TBSP of peanut butter. To picture it, 1 serving of meat is generally the size of a deck of cards. With Chicken, 1 drum stick and one thigh or one breast is one serving of meat. With 2TBSP, that is generally the size of a ping pong ball.
Diary has it's own catagory here since it contains fat and protien. One serving size is 1 cup of milk or yogurt, or 1 and a 1/2 to 2 oz of cheeze. To picture it all yogurt would be the size of a tennis ball, and milk is the size of a full small (smaller than tall) kids cup at Starbucks, ice cream would be one scoop, and cheese in cube form 1 oz is the size of a pair of dice or a 9 volt battery.
Finally for fats one serving size is 1 Tsp of Butter or 2 TBSP of salad dressing. To picture these, 1 tsp is the size of a stamp and the thickness of a pencil. Typically 1 pad of butter has 2 Tsp. For 2 TBSP of salad dressing or oil picture the size of a ping pong ball. Most of the carafes that the dressings are served in at a restaurant are 3-4 TBSP.
Hopefully these are helpful to keep in mind even though there is quite a few of them. Once you get a general idea of what a serving size is.
The Skinny on Supplements
Many people debate if a supplement for weight loss would be helpful. Many people lose weight and keep it off with out the use of weight loss supplements. Weight loss supplements are a big business. When Ephedra was legal it was a multi-billion dollar business. It went off the market because the effects were generally like a mild form of speed and highly addictive. Many weight loss supplements have a high risk of addiction and return of weight once you stop taking the pills. If you feel you really need a little extra boost for now there are a few nutrients that will help you health wise and are not addictive.
Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) are quite helpful. MCFA's can be searched for by typing into google or knowing specific acids like CLA, Coccnut oil and Lauric acid are a few. Taking 2000-4000 mg a day will give the body the healthy fats that your body needs so it can burn the stored fat.
If you have worries about diabetes other helpful supplements are low doses of Chromium. Anytime you want to add supplements for weight loss or health, it is very important to talk to a health professional about what your concerns are, what you past health issues are and what is safe to take with any current medications. Also when you buy any products, make sure you buy high quality, essentially you get what you pay for. So the buy one get one free gallons of supplements that are sold at grocery outlets are not the best choice. If anyone is curious about some good brands please contact your doctor or even give me a call at my office.
Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) are quite helpful. MCFA's can be searched for by typing into google or knowing specific acids like CLA, Coccnut oil and Lauric acid are a few. Taking 2000-4000 mg a day will give the body the healthy fats that your body needs so it can burn the stored fat.
If you have worries about diabetes other helpful supplements are low doses of Chromium. Anytime you want to add supplements for weight loss or health, it is very important to talk to a health professional about what your concerns are, what you past health issues are and what is safe to take with any current medications. Also when you buy any products, make sure you buy high quality, essentially you get what you pay for. So the buy one get one free gallons of supplements that are sold at grocery outlets are not the best choice. If anyone is curious about some good brands please contact your doctor or even give me a call at my office.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Challenges
Christine posted some great information about the difficulties we experience as we try to lose weight.
While it is tempting to be the biggest loser and take the pot prize, it is also important we are creating healthy habits that we will keep up with once the contest is over. If you have a day where you fall off the wagon and binge a little, its ok, as long as you get back on the wagon. What you do six days a week is more important that what you do one day a week. So have you burger and fries on one day but keep with the healthy choices the rest of the week.
If you are starting to feel a challenge with losing weight, look at what is going on. Is it time to revisit the measuring cup? Many times we eyeball our serving sizes and the size starts to creep up over time. Lets check that we are still eating only one cup of cereal in the morning vs one and a half. Also are we being honest about what we are eating or are we forgetting about the chips we tried at lunch from a friends plate?
Other things that effect our weight loss, high stress. Is our job getting to us or other situations at home? Try to find some relaxing activities away from it all. Exercise is one of the best stress reducing things we can do. Otherwise try soaking in the tub with the ipod on so you don't have to hear anything else.
Make sure you are getting a full nights sleep if you can. Sometimes getting the right amount of sleep will get you back on track.
This challenge again is about creating sustainable habits that you will keep up with when money is no longer the prize. Think about what you are doing now and can you add a little more to it, or are you doing too much.
While it is tempting to be the biggest loser and take the pot prize, it is also important we are creating healthy habits that we will keep up with once the contest is over. If you have a day where you fall off the wagon and binge a little, its ok, as long as you get back on the wagon. What you do six days a week is more important that what you do one day a week. So have you burger and fries on one day but keep with the healthy choices the rest of the week.
If you are starting to feel a challenge with losing weight, look at what is going on. Is it time to revisit the measuring cup? Many times we eyeball our serving sizes and the size starts to creep up over time. Lets check that we are still eating only one cup of cereal in the morning vs one and a half. Also are we being honest about what we are eating or are we forgetting about the chips we tried at lunch from a friends plate?
Other things that effect our weight loss, high stress. Is our job getting to us or other situations at home? Try to find some relaxing activities away from it all. Exercise is one of the best stress reducing things we can do. Otherwise try soaking in the tub with the ipod on so you don't have to hear anything else.
Make sure you are getting a full nights sleep if you can. Sometimes getting the right amount of sleep will get you back on track.
This challenge again is about creating sustainable habits that you will keep up with when money is no longer the prize. Think about what you are doing now and can you add a little more to it, or are you doing too much.
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