Ready for Change?

Hundreds of fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. However, the foundation of every successful weight-loss program remains a healthy, calorie-controlled diet combined with exercise. For successful, long-term weight loss, you must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits.

How do you make those permanent changes? 

1. Make a commitment

Permanent weight loss takes time and effort — and a lifelong commitment. Make sure that you're ready to make permanent changes and that you do so for the right reasons.

To stay committed to your weight loss, you need to be focused. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to change your habits. So as you're planning new weight-loss-related lifestyle changes, make a plan to address other stresses in your life first, such as financial problems or relationship conflicts. While these stresses may never go away completely, managing them better should improve your ability to focus on achieving a healthier lifestyle. Then, once you're ready to launch your weight-loss plan, set a start date and then — start.

2. Find your inner motivation

No one else can make you lose weight. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself. What's going to give you the burning drive to stick to your weight-loss plan? Make a list of what's important to you to help stay motivated and focused, whether it's an upcoming beach vacation or better overall health. Then find a way to make sure that you can call on your motivational factors during moments of temptation. Perhaps you want to post an encouraging note to yourself on the pantry door, for instance.

While you have to take responsibility for your own behavior for successful weight loss, it helps to have support — of the right kind. Pick people to support you who will encourage you in positive ways, without shame, embarrassment or sabotage. Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you or creating healthy menus, and who will share the priority you've placed on developing a healthier lifestyle. Your support group can also offer accountability, which can be a strong motivation to stick to your weight-loss goals. If you prefer to keep your weight-loss plans private, be accountable to yourself by having regular weigh-ins and recording your diet and exercise progress in a journal.

3. Set realistic goals

It may seem obvious to set realistic weight-loss goals. But do you really know what's realistic? Over the long term, it's best to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week, although initially you might lose weight more quickly than that if you make significant changes — just be sure the changes are health supporting. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular exercise.

When you're setting goals, think about both process and outcome goals. "Exercise regularly" is an example of a process goal, while "Lose 30 pounds" is an example of an outcome goal. It isn't essential that you have an outcome goal, but you should set process goals because changing your processes — your habits — is a key to weight loss. Also make sure that your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-limited. An example of a SMART goal is aiming to walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week for the next three months, and logging your results.

4. Enjoy healthier foods

Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation. One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.

In particular, get your weight loss started by eating a healthy breakfast every day; eating at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits daily; and using healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils and nut butters. In addition, cut back on sugar, choose low-fat dairy products and keep meat consumption to a 3-ounce portion (about the size of a deck of cards).

5. Get active, stay active

The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

While you can lose weight without exercise, exercise plus calorie restriction can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn off the excess calories you can't cut through diet alone. Exercise also offers numerous health benefits, including boosting your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing your blood pressure. Exercise can also help in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that people who maintain their weight loss over the long term get regular physical activity.

How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as brisk walking — for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Any extra movement helps burn calories, though. Lifestyle activities may be easier to fit into your day. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day if you can't fit in formal exercise on a given day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot when shopping.

6. Change your perspective

It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even months if you want long-term, successful weight loss. These habits must become a way of life. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating patterns and daily routine. After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts. And you have to move beyond simply recognizing your challenges — you have to plan for how you'll deal with them if you're going to succeed in losing weight once and for all.

You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely after a setback, simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it.  – Mayo Clinic

Learn more...Join us for a meeting this week!!!  Hope to see you there!

Small Changes yield BIG Rewards

 If your goal is to lose weight and exercise more, forget the deprivation diet and marathon workouts. New research shows that taking baby steps--not giant leaps--is the best way to get lasting results. A study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that participants who made one small, potentially permanent change in their food choices and/or physical activity each week (such as drinking one fewer can of soda or walking 5 more minutes each day) lost more than twice as much belly fat, 2 1/2 more inches off their waistlines, and about 4 times more weight during a 4-month program, compared with those who followed traditional calorie-restriction and physical-activity guidelines.

"When you focus on just a couple of small changes at a time, you begin to ingrain some healthy habits that last for a lifetime, rather than trying an all-or-nothing approach that more often than not fails because it's too hard to follow," says Lesley Lutes, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at East Carolina University.  Once these healthy habits become second nature, they'll benefit you for a lifetime.  -WebMD

This week I challenge you to make the commitment of one small change for the next week.  Some options include:

1. Replace all refined carbs with whole grains (allow 100 free calories)
2. Drink 2 liters (64 oz) water everyday
3. Eat 5 servings of veggies each day
4. Try a new Veggie each day
5. Sleep 7-8 hours each night
6. Eat Breakfast (within 2 hours of waking up)
7. Bring your lunch from home
8. Take a 5 minute walk immediately following each meal
9. Eat 5 small meals every day (meals must consisted of a protein and a whole grain)
10. Write in : __________________________________________________

Which one will you choose?!?  note: this is an exercise to challenge yourself.  Please choose to a healthy habit that you haven't already integrated into your life :)

Join me for a meeting this week to learn more or take a look at this week’s flyer.

Shopping Survival Guide

The typical American consumer hits the grocery store at least twice a week. Why, then, does it feel like we never have anything to eat at home? Follow the advice below to make sure you not only have a well-stocked pantry for healthful eating, but are buying the right products at the right time in the right way.

 

1. Rule number one: Buy fresh food! There is no simpler, no easier, no plainer measure of the healthiness of your food than whether it comes in boxes and cans or is fresh from the farm or the fields. If more than half your groceries are prepared foods, then you need to go back to the healthy side by picking up more fresh vegetables, fruits, seafood, and dairy.

2. Shop the perimeter of the store. That’s where all the fresh foods are. The less you find yourself in the central aisles   of   the   grocery store, the healthier your shopping trip will be. Make it a habit — work the perimeter of the store   for   the   bulk   of your groceries, then dip into the aisles for staples that you know you need.

3. Shop with a list. Organize your shopping list based on what you need for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and snacks.

4.  Food-shop with a full stomach.  We’re sure you’ve heard this one before, but it’s worth repeating.

5. Buy frozen. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often flash frozen at the source, locking in nutrients in a way fresh or canned can’t compete with. Stock your freezer with bags of frozen vegetables and fruits. You can toss the veggies into soups and stews, microwave them for a side dish with dinners, or thaw them at room temperature and dip them into low-fat salad dressing for snacks. Use the fruits for desserts, smoothies, and ice cream/yogurt toppings.

6. Try some of the new whole grain alternatives.   To- day you can find wonderful whole grain pastas and couscous, instant brown rice that cooks up in 10 minutes in- stead of the old 50, even whole grain crackers.   While you’re at it, pick up a bag of whole wheat flour to re- place the white stuff in your canister.

7. Choose prepared foods with short ingredient lists. We don’t expect you to cut out prepared foods entirely. Just remember: The shorter the ingredient list, the healthier the food usually is. Of course, if the ingredients are sugar and butter, put the item back on the shelf.

8. Look for fiber. You want at least 1 to 2 grams of fiber for every 100 calories you consume.

9. If partially hydrogenated oil, or trans fats are listed on the label, step away from the box and nobody will get hurt.

10. Whenever you find yourself reaching for a package of ground meat, switch over to the poultry section in- stead and pick up ground turkey, ground chicken, or soy crumbles. It works just as well as ground beef for meat- balls, meat loaf, or chili. This little substitution can cut more than 30 percent of the calories and at least half of the fat and saturated fat in a three-ounce

Join us for a meeting or see this week's flyer for more tips.

Bag Your Lunch

Taking a healthy lunch to work is one of the simplest ways to trim your budget. Most people think nothing of spending $10 or so for a restaurant lunch, but over the course of a month ($200)--or a year ($2400) -- the expense can really add up.

Beyond the cost savings, most meals packed at home are healthier than foods at restaurants. When we eat out, we're often faced with whopper portions and fattening extras -- like the french fries that routinely come with sandwiches. But when you pack lunch at home, you can control your portions and choose healthier ingredients.

What Makes Up a Healthy Lunch?

First of all, make sure your lunch is balanced, experts recommend. Lunches that include some lean or low-fat protein along with carbohydrates will keep your body fueled for the afternoon.

"The combination of protein and fiber from whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables and/or fruit will give you the most satisfying and nutritious combination of foods that will keep you feeling full until dinner."

If you love sandwiches, use a variety of whole-grain breads, pitas, and wraps. Choose lean fillings like sliced eggs, tuna fish, cheese or lean meats. Then jazz up your sandwiches with assorted greens, fresh basil, sprouts, sliced cucumbers, onions, and/or tomatoes.

But sandwiches are far from your only option when you're brown-bagging it. Last night's dinner, hard boiled eggs, vegetarian wraps, cereal -- anything you enjoy at home can be packed up and eaten for lunch.  In fact, you might want to make extra food for dinner so you'll have leftovers to bring for lunch.  "Leftovers are the perfect food to pack and take for lunch because you can control the portions and calories in the meal to ensure it will be nutritious, filling and delicious."

To take this idea a bit further, try cooking in bulk. On the weekend, make a big pot of chili, soup, or rice and beans and freeze into individual portions that are ready to take to work in a flash.

Convenience foods can also make quick and easy lunches. Canned soups and frozen meals can be inexpensive, especially if you stock up when they're on sale, and all you have to do is grab one when you're running out the door. Pair these portion-controlled items with a side salad or piece of fruit to provide enough calories to keep you feeling full. - WebMD

Learn more by coming to this week's meeting.  We will discuss Stop and Swap options as well as a number of other stratigies.  If you can't make it; take a look at this week's flyer.

Balance your Diet

A balanced diet is extremely crucial for healthy and consistent weight loss and eventual weight maintenance. While a lot of people have heard this, not everyone knows what exactly a balanced diet means and how it is achieved. The problem is that with all the drastic, restrictive and eventually ineffective fad diets going around that promise to help you lose weight fast, correct dietary information often gets lost in the crowd. Well, here are a few suggestions.

The Meaning of a Balanced Diet

To begin with, you must understand that a healthy and balanced diet is a nutrient-rich diet, or, in other words, a diet consisting of food items that offer a relatively higher number of nutrients and fewer calories. It is also a varied diet, since every food item has its own nutritional limitations and ignoring any particular food group can cause serious nutritional deficiencies. When a diet is both nutrient-rich and varied, it is balanced. It is such a diet that will keep you feeling healthy for exercise, keep your metabolism high and lead to sustainable weight loss. Now, you might ask, if the problem of a good diet has such a simple and straightforward answer, why have complex fad diets become such a rage?

Why Fad Diets?

It is mostly because they offer a couple of irresistible attractions to most people. Firstly, they are short-term diets, so the sacrifices and trouble don’t last more than a few weeks at best. Secondly, these diets promise very fast weight loss. What you may lose in 10 months with exercise and a balanced diet, you can lose in 6 weeks with one of these diets. As usual, there are a lot of people who fall for the gimmick. The risks are dehydration, severe health problems and, almost always, rapid weight gain when you come back to a normal diet.

What should your balanced diet consist of??  Come to a meeting this week or take a look at this week's flyer to learn more.

Package Label - Tricks!!!

What's on the front of food packages does not always stack up to the nutritional facts on the back. Food labels are merely a secret code that needs deciphering. Many food manufacturers intentionally use miscalculation and confusion on food labels to make their otherwise unhealthy products appear to be healthy.

Here are a few nutritional labels warnings that everyone should beware of:

• “Enriched”,“fortified”, “added”, “extra”, and “plus” This means the product has been processed or changed in some way from it's natural form.
• “Made with wheat,” or “rye,” or “multi-grains” Leads you to believe that it is a quality source of whole grains, but usually do not give an actual number of the amount of whole grain in the product. Look for the word “whole” before the word grain to find actual 100% whole-grain products.
• “Natural” or “made from natural”  This just states that the manufacturer started with a natural source. Once the food was processed, the food may not contain anything “natural.”
• “Organically grown,” “organic,” “pesticide-free,” and “no artificial ingredients” This is not an official organic certification, and means very little. Look for genuine “certified organically grown” product labels.

Who knew?!?!  Be sure to come to a Healthbeat Meeting or check out this week's flyer to learn more.“Fruit drinks” Typically means there is very little, sometimes even less than 1% of real fruit and large amounts of sugar. Search for products that say 100% fruit juice on the label.

Nutrients - Are You Getting Enough?

“Americans consume far too many empty calories -- foods high in sugar or fat and not much else,” says Kathy McManus, PhD, head of nutrition at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. “And we're still not getting people to eat enough nutrient-rich foods, like vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and nuts.”

In 2010, the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans singled out 10 nutrients that Americans may be missing. Four are so low in many people's diets that deficiency poses a real public health risk. They include calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and fiber. Levels of six other key nutrients are “tenuous,” according to the guidelines, including vitamins A, C, E and K, along with choline and magnesium.  Below is an abreviated list...join us for a Healthbeat meeting to learn more about what you can do to make sure you are making the mark!

Calcium

Most of us know that calcium is essential for healthy bones. New evidence suggests that calcium also protects the heart and arteries. It appears to lower the risk of breast cancer and may guard against other forms of cancer, too. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans concluded that many children and most adults fall short on this essential mineral.

Vitamin D

The sunshine vitamin, D is produced by the skin when we're exposed to sunlight. Since many of us work inside, we may not get enough sun exposure to generate adequate vitamin D. Although recent research suggests that vitamin D may be important for a range of functions, the best evidence points to its essential role in building and maintaining strong bones.

Potassium

Most of us know that too much sodium in the form of salt can raise blood pressure. Less well known is that fact that too little potassium also contributes to blood pressure. Falling short on potassium may also increase the risk of kidney stones and osteoporosis. The latest nationwide survey shows that a whopping 97% of Americans don't hit the mark.

Fiber

Fiber is the indigestible part of plant foods. Researchers have long known that fiber helps keep digestion regular. Newer findings show that it protects against heart disease and type 2 diabetes and may help people maintain a healthy weight.

-WebMD

 Want to know more???  Join us for a meeting this week or see this week's flyer.