How important is your health?

Is your house more important than your body? How about your car or clothes? Many Americans put great emphasis on these things. They labor and toil to make the payments. Then when they see me, they have a million reasons why they don't have the time or motivation to exercise daily, or to start eating correctly. Well, to tell the truth, they are making a down payment on an early death by ignoring their health now. If this is you, there is no better time than the present to change. Why not make it your new year's resolution. By the way, this picture is Susan's favorite exercise personality.

A breakfast sandwich

Was at starbucks this am. They had a low fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich on display. It is a whole wheat english muffin, egg whites, turkey bacon, and low fat cheese. Here is the nutrition info. It is 50 calories more than an egg mcmuffin from mickey d's (300 cals). Both are much better choices than biscuits with fatty fried meats and cheese.

Nutrition FactsServing Size: 159g - I assume this is one sandwich?
Amount per Serving
Calories 350
Calories from Fat 100
(% Daily Value - the% figure under each gram figure listed)
Total Fat 10g
15%
Saturated Fat 4g
20%
Cholesterol 20mg
7%
Sodium 810mg
34%
Total Carbohydrate 41g
14%
Dietary Fiber 3g
12%
Sugars 5g
Protein 20g
40%
Vitamin A
20%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
45%
Iron
15%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 25.7% Carbs 46.9%
Protein 22.9%

How did you do during Christmas?

Did you mess it up, eat way too much and gain some weight? If you did, forgive yourself and move forward. Don't dwell on failure, but instead your ability to succeed. Leave the past in the past, get back on the wagon, and start dieting again right now.

A Word On Christmas

Well, today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I think many of my patients desire to be more Christ-like in their daily lives. So, my question for your thoughts - is it possible to honor God by the way you partake of food and drink? If it is possible, are you honoring Him now in this area of your life?

The Three Wise Men

So, I was reading the Bible this a.m. I was refreshing my memory of the birth of Jesus. I try to imagine what was going on in the stable with Mary and Joseph. I do feel certain that there was no christmas candy, egg nog, soda, or high calorie food or beverage of any kind. The three kings didn't bring any fruitcake, etc. Just "food for thought" as you approach today through Sunday.

Compensate

If you can't control your holiday circumstances - in other words, if everyone will offer you bad food - then try to compensate for it. If you take in extra calories, plan to burn more. How about walking or exercising 2 hours a day from Thursday to Sunday. This will burn off extra calories, and prevent weight gain. The included picture is to remind you to exercise. This is Susan's favorite exercise personality.

Nothing about Diet

I was at the Panthers vikings game last night. It was an emotional release for panthers fans who have put up with excessive poor performances this season. The attached video is from my cell phone. It is J. Stewart's 4th quarter TD that sealed the deal.

Important Holiday Reminder

Remember that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. We have no record in history that the celebration is about the act of eating and drinking excessively. If you give in and eat lots of candy, cookies, sausage balls, cheese, etc. you will have to wear those pounds yourself. The choice is yours. You don't have to do it. Make it about Jesus and not about abusing your body.

Whole grain Oats

So what is the deal on oatmeal? Oats are a whole grain. They are a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. They are also a good source of B vitamins. Most forms of instant oatmeal are ground up so fine that they digest far too quickly - in other words they don't fill you up for long. In addition many have added sugars which signal your body into a fat storage mode.

If you are looking for an instant oatmeal that is OK, try Quaker Weight Control. It has no added sugar but has added fiber and protein to slow digestion and increase sense of fullness. It is 160 calories per pack. The maple an brown sugar flavor is the best.

You could also use Quaker old fashioned oats or steel cut oats. Both digest slowly and keep you feeling full for hours. I like to add a teaspoon of smart balance buttery spread and some berries. Try a little honey if you would like. Many people like to add a dozen almonds or walnuts for additional texture and flavor.

Whole grains again

So, what are some common examples of whole grains?

Brown Rice

Popcorn

Triscuts

100% whole wheat bread

Kashi brand cereals

Oatmeal

Don't forget though - you still have to keep track of your calories. You can't overeat whole grains just because they are nutritious.

Whole grains

A whole grain product (like a bread, cereal, or cracker) has none of the grain removed during its processing. The grain contains three parts - the bran, the endosperm, and the germ. The bran is the fiber. The endosperm is carbohydrate that supplies energy to the growing grain. The germ is a powerhouse of vitamins and nutrients. It is the life of the grain. White bread is just ground up endosperm with the bran and germ removed. When you pick breads, crackers, etc, go for products that are 100% whole grain.

Get Your Game Plan

Many of you will be going to Christmas parties over the next 10 days. Make up your mind ahead of time how much you will consume. Role play in your mind the process of eating and drinking before you go. Invision your plate and glass. In other words - have a game plan. Then stick to the plan. If you over do it, you don't hurt anyone but yourself. If you over do it, you are the one who will have to wear it.

Don't Do This

From Hardees - 1200 calories! Bad, Bad mistake. Try McDonalds Egg McMuffin for 280 cals.

Is this worth my money and time?

Think losing weight is expensive? It may seem like it now. Stop and consider the price of being overweight for years. The price is diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, strokes, cancer, arthritis, depression, etc. That's a lot of doctors visits, hospitilizations, medicine, increased insurance rates, etc. How do you put a price on dying early because you are overweight?

Do you pay your mortgage and car payment every month? You take good care of the house and car. Is your body less important than these? The truth is that losing weight is an investment in yourself that pays rich dividends. It's a good thing - and when you consider the larger picture, it really isn't costing you as much as you think.

Order a Salad, right?

Many of my patients when they are at resturants order a salad. Seems logical - salads are lower in calories than hamburgers, etc, right? Not so fast! Check out the calories in your calorie counter before you order.

Example: Quesadilla Explosion Salad from Chilis(pictured here). Care to guess how many calories? How about 1260! That's right - 1260. Might as well order a big mouth burger. Don't fall into the high calorie salad trap.

Stress Eating

For those of you who say you have stress and it causes you to eat, I want to ask you this. Can you get a bucket and fill it up with stress? Of course the answer is no. Stress is something that cannot be seen, and you can't pick it up with your hands.

The real truth is that stress is in your mind. You create it by your reaction to situations. Your ticket to long term sucess with your weight will be deciding on how you will respond to situations. Worry and stress are conscious decisions. Turning that into the act of overeating unhealthy food compounds the problem.

Start working now on conciously deciding not to have worry or stress. Guard your thoughts and contemplations about what is going on in your life. If they are negative, you will have negative things manifesting themeselves in the physical realm.

Feeling Hungry?

There is a difference between feeling hungry and actually needing to eat. Many processed foods will cause you to feel hungry throughout the day. The real question you should ask yourself is this: is my blood sugar getting low? When your blood sugar is low you feel irritable, lightheaded, sweaty, and even nauseated. When your sugar is low you need to eat someting. However, if you watch yourself carefully, you will notice that in many cases you feel the sensation of hunger but you don't have the symptoms of low blood sugar. In this case, drink 16 ounces of water and wait an hour. In most cases the hunger subsides and it is not necessary to ingest calories. Using this strategy cuts down on calorie intake and speeds up your weight loss.

Need Help Starting?

Many of my patients find the idea of exercising for 1 hour daily intimidating. Well, there is help and it is not expensive. The Biggest Loser has a new DVD out called 30 day Jump Start. It is an exercise DVD with 10 minute workouts. Now be honest, I know most of you can at least do 10 minutes right? The DVD is about $12. You can do the workouts at home - no traveling to the gym, waiting for machines, etc. Give it a try, I think you will like it.

Better Alternative

Subway 6 inch Turkey on 9 grain wheat, no mayo or cheese. With mustard and all the veggies you wand is 270 calories. A much better alternative to the meal shown in yesterday's post.

Calorie Game

How many calories are in the burger and fries? The Quarter Pounder has 510 calories and 234 of those are from saturated fat. The large fries have 500 calories and 225 of those are from fat. 1010 calories total! This will ruin your attempt to lose weight. Stay away from this kind of food.

What Do I do Now?

First - Sorry about the lack of posts last week. Had a virus that caused a computer problem. It is now fixed. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Now, lets get down to brass tacks. Did you screw it up at thanksgiving? If you did, I want you to forget it about it right now. Start focusing on how you will control calorie intake this week, and how you can exercise some more. It is human to err. If you focus on failure you will have a hard time being sucessful.

Drinks

16 ounces of sweet tea is 300 calories

1 cup of egg nog is 450 calories

Turkey

Six ounces of mixed, untrimmed white and dark meat is 450 calories.

Thanksgiving Pie

Alright, are you ready for this? Have you had enough calories yet? A slice of pecan pie is 650 calories and pumkin pie 450 calories!!!! Cut only a very thin slice.

Thanksgiving Continued

1/2 cup of cranberry sauce is 200 calories.

2 small rolls with butter is 300 calories.

Are you starting to see how this all adds up? DO NOT THANK GOD BY OVEREATING UNHEALTHY FOOD!

Thanksgiving Gravy

Giblet gravy is 300 calories per cup.

Thanksgiving Potatoes

Continuing on our theme - 1 cup of mashed potatoes is 350 calories. So, 1 cup of stuffing, 1 cup of candied yams, and 1 cup mashed potatoes is 1100 calories!!! Tommorow, we will add on gravy.

Thanksgiving Candied Sweet Potatoes

Continuing on the Thanksgiving theme: 1 cup of candied sweet potatoes is 400 calories!!!!! Have this only in small amounts.

Thanksgiving Stuffing

Ok guys. One cup of home-made stuffing has 400 calories!!! I hope you remember this while dishing it up. For more info see the following site : http://www.dietbites.com/article1175.html

More About Chips

They aren't good for you anyway! You know that. I want to illustrate how many calories are in them. One handful is about 1 ounce. One ounce of chips is 150 calories. In the average 99 cents bag from a gas station, the serving size will be listed as one ounce. The number of servings per container will be 3.5 (most bags are 3.5 ounces). Now you do the math - 150x3.5 is 525!!!! 525 calories for a small bag of gas station chips. Now, purpose in your heart to stay away from this garbage!

What is the better choice?

How many calories is this? The answer is 150 for both.

Sweating!

Quit avoiding sweat! Every day in my practice, I come across patients who don't lose as much weight as they would like. They are losing alright, but not at the optimal rate. When I question them about their eating, they usally are restricting calories adequately. They take their meds as prescribed. Then they usually claim to be exercising. When I question them more closely, it is usually the case that they are taking slow strolls a couple times a week. In most cases they don't sweat much. They don't even need to take a shower when they are done!

Look - if you don't need a shower when you are done, your heart rate is never getting high enough to burn extra calories. Come on folks - wake up! Is your hair more important than your weight? I know it takes some time to wash it and fix it up. I have news for you - it is worth the effort!!!!! When you exercise hard and get a good sweat going your weight will drop more quickly, your inches go down faster, and your health improves dramatically. It makes you live longer and in better health. Is your hair more important than that?

Outside of your relationship with God, I want weight loss to be mission number one! Let's get on this job with great purpose and fervor.

Watch Portion Size

In this picture you see something you should not be eating - a Kit Kat bar. The sad part is that on the label it says a serving is 200 calories. Underneath this it says there are three servings per package!!!! THAT IS 600 CALORIES. Read the label carefully. Make sure you know the number of servings in a package.

Wrap UP

OK, We now know how to calculate the number of cals you burn daily! If you are keeping track of the number you burn, you can figure out the difference. When that difference adds up to 3500 cals, you lose 1 pound.
Lets use an example of a 200 pound man who is 5 foot 8 inches tall, and is 40 years old. He is moderately active

66 + (6.23x200) + (12.7x68)-(6.8x40) = 1904 calories
1904 is the amount he burns at rest for 24 hours
Now multiply this time the conversion factor for moderately active (1.55)
1904x1.55 = 2951

So, our example man burns 2951 calories daily. Let's assume he is eating 1500 calories daily. The difference is 1451 calories daily. That means that over a 7 day period he will burn 10,157 calories more than he takes in. Divide this number by 3500(the number of calories in a pound - discussed in monday's post). The answer is 2.9. That is how many pounds he will lose in 7 days.

Its all in the math my friends. You should know what your numbers are.

Multiply your result from the Harris-Benedict Equation by the "Conversion Factor" below that best applies to you. This gives you the actual number of calories you burn daily.

Conversion Factors

1.2
Sedentary
Little or no exercise and desk job

1.375
Lightly Active
Light exercise or sports 1-3 days a week

1.55
Moderately Active
Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days a week

1.725
Very Active
Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week

1.9
Extremely Active
Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job

Harris-Benedict Equation

( The young man pictured is using the equation to find out how to gain weight)


This is the Harris-Benedict Equation. You plug in your weight, height, and age. The resulting number is your Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories you burn in a day if you never got off the couch (completely physically inactive). Tommorow, I will give you a conversion factor - a number to multiply by the result of this equation. This final answer will tell you the actual number of calories you burn daily - not just the number you burn if you are physically inactive.





Equation:



Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )


Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

How Many Calories Do I Burn?

This pic is a pic of a pound of fat.

This week I am going to start a series of posts that deal with the numbers - how to figure calories burned, how many consumed, and how that relates to weight loss.

Before we start that discussion tommorow, there is one essential figure to know - 3500. If you want to lose a pound, you have to eat 3500 calories less than you burn - or burn 3500 calories more than you take in.

This week, you will learn how to figure how many cals you burn daily. If you keep a good diet log, you will know how many calories you are taking in. When the difference between calories burned and calories consumed is 3500 calories, you will be 1 pound down.

Serving Size Matters

Its true - the more food that is in front of you the more you eat. Smaller portions really are better.

Portion Size Increases

Check out this chart - it really speaks for itself. When it comes to food and drink smaller really is better.

Heart Rate While Exercising

Attached is a better pic of the DVD case covers that I talked about yesterday.

What should your heart rate be while exercising? The answer is that once warmed up you should be in a certain range. Take 220 and subract your age. We can use a 40 year old as an example. That would be 180. This is called "maximum heart rate." You should not go over this while exercising. Now take 2/3 of 180 and you have about 118. After warming up you should be above this figure but never higher than your max heart rate figure. This is the normal heart rate range while exercising. By staying in this range, you imporve heart and lung function and burn fat and calories.

Exercise DVD

The most inexpensive, yet the best bang for your buck - "Biggest Loser" exercise DVD's. They cost about $12 at places like Wal Mart, Best Buy, and Target. There are 6 total. My 2 favs are "Cardiomax" and "Bootcamp". Just start with level one which is 20 minutes. This is a great way to get going on exercise at home, and there is no big equipment or time demand. I promise that it will be very challenging, but you will burn lots of calories.

Final word on ideal plate

Now remember, it does you no good to eat a half plate of veggies if you cooke them in butter, add fat-back etc. In addition, you should not leave the skin on the chicken or fry it. No gravy, or butter on the starch.
I typically grill the chicken, and cook the veggies in a small amount of olive oil. I like to add dry seasoning like "Mrs Dash". I usually cook brown rice in 99% fat free chicken broth and I always add mushrooms.

Dinner Continued - healthy starches

What about the quarter of the plate that is a healthy starch? Brown or wild rice is a good example. Sweet potatoes or red-skinned new potatoes are a good example. Notice that the serving size here is 1/2 cup on the wild rice. Trust me, your instinct is to eat 1 cup or more. You don't need that much. Eat to live, don't live to eat.

Need a good online calorie counter for free? Try one of these:

www.nutritiondata.com

www.thedailyplate.com

www.sparkpeople.com

www.my-calorie-counter.com

Dinner "Ideal Plate" Rule

Let's talk about dinner. Don't want to count calories or have to think about it? No problem. Apply this rule: Half the plate veggies, quarter plate lean protein, and quarter plate healthy starch. I'll spend more time this week giving examples.

P.S. Charlotte and Jennifer - don't lose your mental focus while on the road. You can do this. For Linda - your efforts will pay off.

Sams Club

Went to Sam's this morning. Here is some of what I bought.

Encouragement

All right troops - I want you to stay encouraged today about keeping your calories down and getting more exercise. Over the long haul this does pay rich dividends. This morning I had a protein shake from our office. They come in a plastic container with the powder in the bottom. Just add cold water and shake well when you are ready. I also add a pack of benefiber which adds 3 grams of fiber. It is tastless and has no gritty charachter. It certaintly increaeses the sense of fullness. The whole thing is 85 calories, with no added sugar or fat and has 15 grams of protein. It tastes like chocolate milk to me. Makes a nice breakfast and pairs well with a peice of fruit. If you want to buy these shakes, we have them at the office for $10 per six pack.

Biggest Loser Wrap Up

last night was episode 4. What was the take home lesson? Something I have been teaching all of you! The contestants had to order out three times a day for a week. Using a strategy of figuring out the calories in each meal before they ordered led the contestants to another sucessful week. So, all you travelers out there - use your calorie counters to figure out the calories in your resturant food before you order it. Do not ignore this concept - it will sink you if you do. Another cool strategy was employed when the group went to a mexican resturant for dinner. They had the waiter remove the chips and salsa from the table - in other words, remove the temptation. Don't expose yourself to it. Who ever said you had to have chips and salsa with mexican anyway?

The Correct Lunch

Don't want to count the calories for luch? Just try this simple formula - large non-fat salad (that means fat free dressing like fat-free italian), 1 cup of vegetable soup (may have chicken or beef in it), and 1 piece of whole grain bread. Make sure that half the lunch is veggies. Total calories - 300.

Lunch

This week we will deal with lunch much like we did breakfast last week. Today we will start with a bad lunch. I have attatched 3 pictures of a sub sandwich and chips - 1200 cals! The first two show the components on 2 different plates. The last shows the finished product. No one needs this many calories for lunch - Do not make this mistake. Try the Subway turkey on 9 grain wheat with no mayo or cheese. Put all the veggies on it you would like. I also add vinegar and salt and pepper (avoid oil and vinegar). If you will get the 6 inch size (which is normal - not 12 inch) you are only in for 280 calories of nutritious food. Feel free to add a bag of their sliced apples as your dessert.

Lunges

Lunges are a great exercise to tone your thighs, hips, and buttocks. Because you work so many muscle cells, it is a great way to burn calories too - accelerating your rate of weight loss. You don't need equipment, and you can do them on the road or at home.

Exercise

As most of you know, I put a heavy empahsis on exercise. Anna and I do a lot of running and calasthenics at home. If we decide to try something different, it is usually a DVD. One of my favs is the Biggest Loser exercise series. The DVD's cost only about $12. Today Anna and I did Biggest Loser "Boot Camp" DVD. It has three sections on it. Wow! what a workout. If you want to try it, just start with level 1 - its only 20 minuites. When you have mastered level one, move on to level two.

Breakfast Continued

All right - I busted the large portion of fruit loops yesterday. This pic today represents 1 cup of shredded wheat with skim milk and a bannana. A much better choice. Again the thing to stress is portion size control - you have to know how much is in the bowl if you are to accurately measure the calories.

Check out the motivational video (in quicktime format)

Bad Breakfast

Yesterday I gave you the rule for picking a good breakfast. I posted a pic of the same. Today, I will give you an example of a bad breakfast - it exemplifies "portion distortion". The normal serving size for most cereals is 1 cup. The average number of calories is 175 before milk. The example here is fruit loops. In a normal bowl it looks like a reasonable amount. When measured it is 4 cups or 700 calories before the milk!!!! Don't make the mistake of not getting your portion sizes measured accurately.

Breakfast

A quick way to remember how much to eat for breakfast -

1 cup fruit

1 cup fat free milk or yogurt

1 serving of whole grain

This equals 250 calories and gets you off to a good start.