Come Get Healthy With Me in 2013!

I am teaching a class at New Milford Adult Education in March. Come join me!
TEN PRINCIPLES OF A HEALTHY DIET
Resolve to be healthy in the New Year! Good nutrition is vital to a healthy life. With so much conflicting information, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Taught by a Certified Health Coach, this program simplifies eating healthfully. It is ideal for anyone who is tired of dieting and wants to establish a new and healthier relationship with food. Keep your New Year’s resolutions by learning how to feel better, have more energy, and even save money by getting and staying healthy in 2013.
5 Mondays: 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (4/1 class 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.) $90
Find more info and register here.

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40 Days of Fitness: Days 34 & 33

So I’m taking the 40 Days of Fitness challenge and have been doing some form of fitness activity each day. Yesterday was busy and it was 1:00 am (which was actually today, but details!) before I got to my fitness activity. So I did about 10 minutes of static squats against the wall. It burned so that is a good sign. I intended to do Dr. Oz’s 7-Minute Workout yesterday, but didn’t get to it until today. I must say I was a bit skeptical, even after I watched the video. But tonight I did the exercises (at 7:30 pm, not 1:00 am!) and it is a good workout. Heavy breathing, heart rate up, muscles fatigued (ok, maybe I’m just out of shape). But I like the workout (it is yoga-based) and I can’t really ever say I didn’t have time to do a 7-Minute Workout, so I think I will add it to my basket of fitness tips to keep. Try it out too!

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No pain, plenty of gain, from water workouts

My toddler and I are returning to swim classes tomorrow. She loves the water and will be happy to be in swim lessons again. Which got me thinking about all the great benefits of swimming as a form of exercise.

According to Tay Stratton, head swim coach at the Little Rock Athletic Club, who was interviewed for a WebMD article, “Swimming recruits all the major muscle groups, including the shoulders, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes, she says. And because water affords 12 times the resistance as air in every direction, it really helps to build strength.” In other words, swimming is unique because it is cardio and strength training simultaneously.

So how do you get started? The same as all new exercise routines: Start slowly. Try to swim for 10 minutes, then build up to a 30-minute workout, three to five times a week. And include a warm-up and a cool-down, just like you would on a treadmill or in another cardio workout. You can also join a swim club or work with a swim coach.

We’ll be in the pool tomorrow. How about you?

Source: WebMD article entitled “Fitness Basics: Swimming Is for Everyone“

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What’s the Right Kind of Food for You? Here’s How to Find Out: Food Diary Follow-Up #2

Two weeks ago, I posted on how you can figure out the right amount of food to eat. Simply speaking, it was about determining the correct amount of calories for you to reach your health and weight goals. That post was a follow-up to an earlier post on the importance of keeping a food diary. I hope you were able to experiment with your caloric intake, using your food diary, and that you were able to determine the right amount of food for you on a daily basis.

The next building block on your path to healthy eating and reaching your health and weight goals is this: determining the right kind of food. By this, I mean figuring out how carbohydrates, protein, fats, sugars, etc. make you feel.

Consider these examples:

One day, I made food choices that worked for me. For breakfast I had egg and cheese on an english muffin. I know that I need protein at every meal, or I am hungry about an hour later, so the egg and cheese sandwich fit the bill, and for 280 calories with protein, the sandwich was the “right” choice for me. About three hours later, I had a mid-morning snack of six medium-size strawberries, which was an excellent choice because I was planning to eat an early lunch around 11:30 a.m. I ate a sensible lunch of fish with mustard greens and sweet potatoes, which was approximately 400 calories, but was rich in protein and good fats, so it sustained me until around 4:00 p.m., when I needed a mid-afternoon snack. Then I ate a sensible dinner. All told, I came in with 1850 calories that day, never felt tired or hungry, and ate balanced meals and snacks.

The very next day was not a successful food day. I did well with breakfast, having an egg sandwich on whole wheat bread and then strawberries again for a snack. But I got lunch all wrong. I had a whole wheat wrap with only eggplant, tomato, and olive oil, and some cole slaw. Sounds healthy, but it was protein-deficient yet high in calories because of the fat in the oil (good fat, but still high in calories) and cole slaw.  An hour later, I was starving and went for a snack. Because I was famished and lacking energy due to my protein-deficient lunch, I ended up with a small piece of pecan pie for a quick-fix sugar rush! This was not the “right” choice for several reasons: one, it was loaded with calories and offered no nutritional value; second, it wasn’t sustaining because it was mostly sugar.  Ultimately, the pie compounded my problem since I had eaten, once again, high calorie/low protein foods that don’t sustain me for more than an hour or so. By my evening commute, I was sitting on the train, writing this article, and feeling very hungry even though I had consumed 1500 calories – before dinner! My target calorie consumption for that day, where the only exercise I got was the sprint to the train, was 1850 calories, so I had only 350 calories left for dinner. And I knew that was going to be difficult, not to mention disappointing and unfulfilling, given the state of my stomach (growl)!

Use these next two weeks to keep your food diary and experiment with the kinds of food that you are eating. Here is a Sample Food Diary Page.

See how they make you feel, whether they sustain you or leave you feeling drained, how long it is before you want to eat again, and what you want to eat at that time. Experimenting like this for two weeks will enable you to start taking control over your food and energy, rather than feeling at the mercy of your hunger.

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How Much Should You Eat? Food Diary Follow-Up #1

So how did you do with your food diary? I hope that you were able to learn something about what you eat, when you eat, why you eat (not just because you’re hungry, right?), and what you are doing well and where you could improve. Now that you are getting a grip on what you are eating, let’s talk a bit about how much you should be eating. This is the next step in any health and fitness goals supporting or sabatoged by food.

There is no magic quantity of food that is right for everyone.  While counting calories is not something that everyone will want to practice, it is the best, most straight-forward, and most accurate tool for determining the right quantity of food for each person.  The bad news is that it involves some math and actually counting every calorie that you consume. The good news is that you only need to do the math once, and you only need to count calories meticulously for about two weeks in order to gain a basic understanding of the amount of calories you need.  Plus, since our diets are generally repetitive, after a few weeks of counting, you will be able to accurately estimate the number of calories in most of your foods.

So how do you Estimate Your Caloric Needs?

Using the Harris-Benedict principle, you can estimate your BMR, or basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy that your body needs to function.  This number is influenced by the number of calories needed for basic bodily functions, and by height, weight, age, and gender.

Using this number, you can estimate your daily caloric needs in order to maintain your current weight.

Calculate your BMR

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

 Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

When I do this calculation, I get 1347.6 as my BMR.

Now Calculate Your Activity Number. 

If you are sedentary: BMR x 20 percent

If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent

If you are moderately active (exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent

If you are very active (exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent

If you are extra active (hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent

I do two calculations because some weeks and months I am lightly active and others I am moderately active.  My two numbers are 404.28 (1347.6 x 0.3) and 539.04 (1347.6 x 0.4).

Add this Activity Number to your BMR.  When I add these numbers to my BMR, I get approximately 1750 and 1885.

The result of this formula is the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight, then you will need to either reduce your caloric intake, or burn more calories by exercising, or both. So, for me, based upon the Harris-Benedict calculation, in order to maintain my weight, I want to eat between 1750 and 1885 calories per day.

Of course, this is only one method of calculating caloric intake.  There are many online calculators as well.  For example, there is a great, and simple, online calculator at www.shapefit.com.  When I enter my information (gender, height, weight, age, activity level), I get 1995 per day for weeks that I am moderately active and 1725 per day for weeks that I am lightly active. I can average those out to approximately 1850 calories per day and try to stay within 150 calories on either side of that number.

There is a similar online calculator at www.NutritionData.com that gives me a number of approximately 2100 calories.  And another one at www.CalorieKing.com that calculates my daily caloric intake at 1625.

Then Experiment! With all these differing numbers, how do you know which number is the right one for me?  Experimentation.  I have to try out the varying amount of calories over the course of a few weeks and see how it makes me feel, and if I gain, lose, or maintain weight.  I have done this and know that if I eat 2100 calories per day, I gain weight, but if I only eat 1625 calories, I am hungry, tired, and lose weight.  Between 1750 and 1900 calories per day works for me as a maintenance diet.

Experimentation is what you need to do as well. Use the Harris-Benedict calculation or the online calculators as a guide on where to start in determining the right quantity of food on a daily basis for your body, metabolism, and lifestyle. Keep up your experiments for two weeks. Then we’ll discuss how the kinds of foods you eat can help you reach your goals without feeling deprived or hungry!

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The best & worst girl scout cookies

So you may not really want to know the information in this blog post – sometimes ignorance is bliss! — but this post at the EatingWell blogs (which you know that I love) lets you know which girl scout cookies have the most calories, fat, sugar, and trans fat. I like this information because at least I know exactly what I am getting myself into, and I can change my behavior if I choose. Or I can eat the Samoas anyway, knowing that I need to spend some extra time on cardio and should only buy one box instead of two!

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6 Simple Strategies to Achieve and Maintain a Healthy Weight

Here are six simple strategies to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight:

1. Plan your meals in advance. Know what, when, and how much you will be eating. Then you don’t have to worry about making less-than-great decisions when you are pressed for time.

2. Cook. Find healthy recipes that are simple, with few ingredients, and that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. I like my crockpot. Fish is also quick and easy and delicious.

3. Eat slowly. Give your mind time to register your fullness. When you eat quickly, you eat more than you need to feel full.

4. Watch your portion size. For example, a portion size of meat is the size of the palm of your hand. For most men, that is 4 ounces of meat. For women, it is about 3 ounces.

5. Keep hydrated. We often confuse thirst for hunger so always drink a glass of water first if you feel hungry.

6. Get moving. Try to exercise regularly, whether that means going to the gym or going for a walk or running up and down the stairs at work. Just move!

Source: Stop and Shop

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Upcoming Event: Healthy Eating Tips for Busy People

I am a panelist for this upcoming event: Healthy Eating Tips for Busy Lawyers on Thursday, January 12, 2012 from 9:00 am-10:30 am at the New York City Bar Association. Because the seminar is being sponsored by the bar association, it is geared toward lawyers. However, you don’t have to be a lawyer to attend and the information will be useful for anyone who is busy and trying to eat healthy despite a hectic schedule. The cost is $15 for bar association members and $25 for non-members.

I will be discussing the Ten Principles of a Healthy Diet. My co-panelists will also have great information to share.

Find all the details and register here.

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The Last 10 Non-Diet Ways to Get Fit & Lose Weight

Here’s my last ten simple tips for losing weight and getting fit:

1. Eat your burger without the roll, or at least eat it on a whole grain roll.
2. Eat apple slices with your sandwich instead of chips.  Apple slices are also a good substitute for crackers when eating cheese or peanut butter.
3. Eat natural peanut butter.  It still has a lot of calories, and calories from fat, but at least it doesn’t have sugar and extra “crap” in it.  And, the best benefit?  It takes like real peanuts!
4. When having mixed drinks, use water or sparkling water for your mixer instead of juice or soda.  It’s not better for your health, but it has less calories.
5. If you are going out for a splurge dinner, lift weights, or participate in some other good, hard workout, about two hours before your splurge so your metabolism will be up and ready to burn those calories.  Your metabolism can stay high for up to four hours after a good workout.
6. Never supersize.  Never.  There are no exceptions to this one; no one needs that much food or beverage at one sitting.
7. Make lunch rather than dinner your largest meal of the day.
8. When you just don’t feel like working out, go for a leisurely walk.
9. Do 25 crunches in bed before you get up each morning.
10. If you drink coffee, don’t use sugar or cream.  If you like your coffee light and sweet, wean yourself off over several weeks.  First, cut the sugar by a little each day until you are no longer using sugar. Then switch cream, to whole milk, to 2% milk, to skim.  Think: if you need lots of sugar and cream in your coffee, perhaps you don’t really like coffee.

I hope you found those tips helpful!

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Even More Ways to Get Fit & Lose Weight

Here’s ten more ways to get fit and lose weight.

1. Never beat yourself up for not being perfect.
2. Remember that doing something – anything – to lose weight or get fit is always better than doing nothing.  Little things can add up to big things.
3. Don’t watch TV; you’re sitting and doing no physical activity, and oftentimes snacking.
4. If you are watching TV, do some other activity simultaneously.  For example, fold clothes, walk on the treadmill, do 50 crunches or jumping jacks, do your arm workout with hand weights, do lunges or squats, stretch, sit down and stand up repeatedly.  The point is to keep moving so that you are not sedentary.
5. Make love to your significant other – it burns lots of calories.
6. When you feel hungry, especially if you want a snack, first drink something, preferably water or herbal tea.  Oftentimes we mistake dehydration for hunger.
7. If you must eat candy occasionally, eat sugar-free candy.
8. Brush your teeth a lot.  No one wants to eat right after she brushes her teeth.
9. Stand up straight and sit up straight.  Good posture takes more energy and makes you look thinner.
10. Skip the potatoes and have green veggies instead.

This brings our total to 30. I have ten more I’ll share tomorrow!

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