The wonderful problem you never knew you had

The secret is out, and if you haven’t heard it yet, hear it now- You do not have to starve yourself to lose weight!  In fact, if you do, it is going to hinder your success.  I used to see a lot of people that had troubles losing weight because they loved double cheese burgers and chocolate shakes, but now I am seeing a lot more of people having difficulty because they are not eating enough.  When someone hears this, they are sometimes frustrated, but look at it like this, what a great problem to have! Now, you actually get to eat MORE and LOSE weight- wahoo! J

Not eating enough shows up in different ways.  Some people try to restrict too much throughout the day.  They will have a 100 calorie protein shake for breakfast, some deli turkey slices on a low calorie roll for lunch, and a small serving of vegetables and chicken for dinner.  For some people, that is all they have for the day, and for others, they are ravishing by the evening and overdo night time snacking.  Other people eat sensibly, but exercise often and are not compensating for the calories burned during their exercise sessions.  All are frustrated because they feel they have such strong willpower, make healthy choices, and the scale still won’t budge.

If you are constantly coming in significantly under your 411fit goals, or are only at half way to goal by the evening time, then you need to rethink your weight loss strategy.  Many people make dinner their largest meal, but your body needs the bulk of those calories earlier in the day to help you be at the top of your game at work, at play and everything in between.  Start by planning and balancing your calories more evenly throughout the day.  This is especially important for those who exercise in the morning.  You need to make sure your body is properly fueled before your workout and that you eat something afterwards as well.

The idea of eating more often scares people, but if you are eating healthy foods (which I know you are!), it can take a larger quantity to get you at your proper calorie intake level.  We’ve always been told that it’s simple: calories in vs calories out, but unfortunately this is not always the case.  If you cut calories by too much, then your body will begin to conserve energy, which overtime will decrease your resting energy expenditure (your metabolism) and cause a slowdown in weight loss, and eventually even weight gain.

So if you are sticking to your workout routine, and being honest with the facts you tell 411fit, then make sure you are getting in all the calories it tells you to eat.  Spread them throughout the day, and try to make each meal/snack a healthy balance of carb/protein/healthy fat, while staying at your calorie limit.  If you have a story of success from learning to eat more, instead of less, please share it! This is the latest trend I have seen in people’s weight loss struggles and I want everyone to know that being hungry isn’t the way to lose weight… now isn’t that what you’ve always wanted to hear?! J

Fat… not such a bad word after all.

Thank goodness the days of extremely low/no fat diets are behind us! Let’s be honest, did anyone lose weight by following that regimen?   According to several studies, the answer is no.  In the 1960s, Americans ate 45% of their calories from fat – and only 13% of us were obese. Now, while most of us get only about 33% of our calories from fat, and 34% of us qualify as obese! Even though many people have moved on to making carbs the enemy (which they aren’t, FYI), some people still fear eating foods with fat.  My goal is to inform you of why you shouldn’t be afraid to drizzle a little olive oil or add some avocado to your sandwich…

First, let’s take a look at what fat does for your body… Fat make up 60% of your brain and is essential to brain function, including learning abilities, memory retention and moods. Fat helps keep your body’s cells flexible, and is responsible for building cell membranes.  As for your heart, certain fats are used to help keep the heart beating in a regular rhythm. Fats also compose the material that insulates and protects your nerves.  Fats help cushion your organs, and ease inflammation.  Eating fat with your meal will also slow down the digestion process and leave you feeling fuller and satisfied for longer.  And did you know that vitamins A, D, E and K can only be absorbed by your body in the presence of fat? 

Often when people try low fat diets, they swap cookies for fat free cookies and salad dressing for fat free salad dressing.  This is when the problems start.  When companies remove the fat from their products, they usually substitute the lack of fat with sugar, resulting in a product that is going to leave you less satisfied and send your blood sugars through the roof… not a good combination.  I am not suggesting that you stick with the your original diet of full fat cookies and chips, but instead, cut down on those processed foods and add in more natural, healthy fats in moderation.

How to choose the healthy fats… First the “good fats”

Monounsaturated fats lower bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, while increasing good cholesterol (HDL). Example of monounsaturated fats are: vegetable oils (olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and sesame oil), avocados, peanut butter, and many nuts and seeds.

Polyunsaturated fats can also lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides and fight inflammation.  Examples of polyunsaturated fats include: vegetable oils (soybean oil, corn oil and safflower oil), fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring and trout), some nuts and seeds such as walnuts and sunflower seeds. Those wonderful OMEGA-3 fatty acids you hear so much about are in this group!

On the “bad” side of fats…

Saturated fat can raise your total blood cholesterol and you bad (LDL) cholesterol. Saturated fats usually occur in animal products, like meat, eggs and dairy.  Try and limit saturated fats to less than 7% of you’re your daily calories (says the American Heart Association).  When you do have meat or dairy, choose the lower fat options.

Trans fats are the worst. They can not only raise your bad LDL cholesterol, but also lower the good HDL cholesterol.  Transfats are manmade and are put in processed foods to help extend their shelf life. Look out for these in baked goods, crackers, processed anything, etc.  Important! Even though companies are required by law to list transfats on their nutrition labels, there is a loop hole.  If there is less than .5g/serving, they can list it as 0 transfat.  To be sure, make sure the ingredients “partially hydrogenated” or “shortening” (yes, shortening can contain some transfat) do not appear on the label.  Contrary to what you may think, if a label says it has “fully” or “completely” hydrogenated oils, it doesn’t have transfats. Counterintuitive, right? But if the label just says hydrogenated oil, stay away because you don’t know if they are partially or fully hydrogenated. 

Phew, this blog is getting a little long, so I‘m going to go ahead and sum things up.  Yes, even though all fats (including healthy fats) are the most calorie dense nutrient (9 calories/ gram), eating healthy fats as part of your balanced diet will not make you fat; in fact, it will help improve your health.  Just be aware and choose mono and poly unsaturated fats instead of attaining your daily fat allowance through chips and onion dip.  Any questions? 

The Scoop on the new Subway Scoop!

Some people may already be utilizing the new lingo “Scoop It!” at their local Subway, but for those you aren’t or haven’t even heard of it (I know I’ve seen it on the Biggest Loser), I’m sure you will soon. 

What is it? The “Scoop It” campaign refers to having the bottom half of your subway bread “scooped” out- basically the Subway employee will hollow out your bottom piece of bread, lowering the calories, carbs, sodium and fat in your chosen sandwich.  But before you order a bag of chips to subsidize that calorie deficit, take a closer look at what you’re really scooping out…

*All sandwich comparisons are calculated using 9-grain bread, lettuce, tomato, green peppers and onion

                                              

                                      Regular                     Scooped!

6” Turkey Sub

                Calories           280                                 250

                Carbs                48                                   40

                Fat                   3.6                                     3

                Sodium            920                                 840

6” Roast Beef Sub

            Calories             310                                  280

            Carbs                   46                                   39

            Fat                      4.5                                  4.5

            Sodium              840                                 770

There are the facts… on average, a scooped sandwich is about 30 less calories, 7-8 less grams of carbs. And about 70-80 mg less of sodium. Better? Yes, but marginally.  I thought the fat statistic was interesting, because on each sandwich you are changing the same thing- scooping out the bread. So how does that translate into decreasing the fat in the turkey sandwich by .6 g, but not altering the roast beef sandwich? I can’t figure that one out…

Right now the Scoop It campaign is being tested in the Kansas City metro area.  It is part of the Diabetes Friendlier meal choices (I thought it was interesting they used diabetes “friendlier” instead of friendly), and have the scooped sandwiches paired with a new drink – Vitazest Water (which with 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 everything, is also “diabetes friendly”)  Check out the info at http://subwayscoopit.com/index.html. 

I foresee the campaign being successful, but it worries me a little that people will overestimate their calorie savings and “make up for it” elsewhere.  What do you think? Will you have your sandwiched scooped?

Through my Husband’s Eyes

When most people find out what I do, their first reaction is to look at my husband with sympathetic eyes, because surely all he gets to eat is wheat germ and sprouts.  I have a great time trying to convince them we eat more than just “rabbit” food, but somehow no one is convinced that David actually enjoys whatever I “make” him eat.  So this past Saturday, over a delicious lunch at Jason’s Deli, I asked him what his thoughts were on his eating habits, and I found his point of view very interesting…

My husband is an average guy… well, I think he is fantastically above average, but in a nutrition/health sense, he is like the typical man.  Before we got together, his single man meals were like so many others, consisting of skipping breakfast, heating up frozen lasagna for lunch and adding extra pepperoni on store bought pizzas for dinner. And he liked it.

Once we began dating, I refused to be part of a statistic (the one that shows how women gain weight once they get in a committed relationship and start adopting the man’s eating habits), so I stuck to my own healthy habits.  However, not wanting to be a nag, I didn’t try to change David’s routine, so he stuck to no breakfast, a large lunch, and nachos for dinner.  As time passed, we ate together more often.  We tried new places and new meals: customized salads, veggies and hummus, sushi, and he began making healthier choices at times, simply because he had tried and liked a wider variety of foods.

Once we were engaged, married and living together, I took over preparing most meals (because I really enjoy it!).  I started making him breakfast as I made mine, and dinners at home consisted of healthier versions of our favorite foods (chicken fajitas, homemade pizza, etc).   In David’s mind, we were still eating Mexican and pizza… not much different that he had been eating BB (Before Brittany). I didn’t buy sodas, but there was water, lemonade, tea and other options available.   David (like a lot of men I’ve worked with) was fine eating and drinking whatever was available.  Since I only had healthy options available at home, that’s what he ate. 

This past Saturday as we talked about these changes, David filled me in on his thoughts… he said that over the past few years, his eating habits changed, but they changed so slowly that he didn’t really notice.  Since we started dating, he is down about 40 pounds… each pound has slowly dropped off over the past 3-4 years.  He weighed in this past weekend at the lowest weight he’s been since high school. He attained these results without even trying (crazy, isn’t it?), and he feels good.  Now he simply has healthier habits; he orders a 6 inch instead of a foot long at Subway, he asks for no mayo on his Arby’s market fresh sandwich, he orders the buffalo chicken sandwich grilled instead of fried (he is in sales and eats out a lot), and actually puts vegetables (as opposed to all pasta and pepperoni) in his salad at the salad bar… but he still drinks “real” beer (Magic Hat #9s), sometimes let’s 6-7 hours go by in between meals, orders nachos when he wants them, but in his own words, he never feels restricted or deprived. 

I found his story to be a perfect example of what a lifestyle change is really all about: not perfection, but slow changes over time that adds up to big success.  As you look back over the past few years, what stands out in your mind as small things you’ve changed that now contribute to your healthier life? Do you take the stairs instead of the elevator? Do you snack on almonds instead of potato chips? Have you given yourself credit for the small changes you’ve made? Maybe today is the day to introduce a new small change that will yield results down the line. Please share which changes you have made to your lifestyle and the results you’ve seen from doing so!