How To Eat.... The Cliff's Notes Version

I've literally read thousands and thousands of pages on nutrition over the past two years. Recently I added a couple more very informative pages to my tally when I finished reading an interesting article by Michael Pollen in the New York Times Magazine.

If you have the time and inclination to read it, please do yourself a favor and do so. If you barely have time to get through my blog (and you skip the longer entries), here's a simplified version (it's going to sound familiar, but there's a reason for that...).

• A healthy diet is one that focuses on tons of leafy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein.
  
• Whole foods (unprocessed foods like .... fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains) contain nutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, and healthy phytochemicals that have complicated interactions which science is still struggling to understand. (Think of how we know that we need vitamin D to properly absorb calcium. It's taken science a while to understand that. Consider how many vitamins and minerals are in one tomato: we are far from understanding how every single vitamin compliments or interacts with all the other vitamins, but we DO know that tomatoes are good for us. You can take a lycopene supplement and hope that your body has the right balance of nutrients to take advantage of the lycopene-or-(god forbid) eat a fresh tomato.)
  
• A healthy diet is a varied diet. Don't just eat the same four or five vegetables, grains, or fruits every week. Eat lots of different plant matter.
  

Your challenge this week: eat more foods. (NOTE: I did not say eat more food. ) Make a list and see how many foods you eat. Next week try and add some new fruits and vegetables to the list.

Please read the article. I recommend it. If you like it and want to read more, Pollan also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma. If you'd like other book recommendations, just ask. I've read close to a dozen on nutrition this past year.

Healthy Recipe: Texas Caviar

The first time I tried a variation of this popular bean dish, I was in Austin, TX. I was surprised by how simple and tasty it was. It is a great as a side dish or snack. Fat free, high fiber, and packed with vitamins--you can't go wrong. You can omit or add vegetables for tasty variations.

Ingredients:
1 can black eyed peas, rinsed
1 small onion diced
1/2 - 1 pepper, diced (go for red, yellow, or orange for added vitamins)
1/2 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
cilantro (or parsley), chopped (about a handful)
champagne or white wine vinegar to taste (I like 2-3 tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: So easy.... mix all of that stuff together in a tupperware. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight so the flavors can meld.

Serving size:
1/2 cup as side dish or snack
Servings: about 3.5

Calories per serving: approximately 110kcal
Protein: 8g
Fat: 0
Fiber: 3g
Iron: 15% DV

Model Behavior: Establishing Healthy Habit for Our Children

New Harvard Study and My Observations

The answers to a happy, healthy life are all out there, but sometimes the world just gives you an extra nudge to recognize them. That's what happened to me today.

One of my clients brought his 2-year old with him to our session. Due to an unexpected and unpreventable emergency, he was in charge of childcare. While I do not advise bringing a child to a gym that hasn't been specifically designed for that purpose, this child was incredibly well behaved so we decided to try and see if we could safely workout. We told the boy to sit on a large mat where he'd be out of harm's way, occupied him with a light ball for him to play with, and kept a sharp eye on him. What impressed me more than the boy's good behavior (I didn't even know that 2-year olds could be so calm), was the way the boy watched his father workout. His eyes grew wide when he watched his father do a crunch called a ball pass (my clients all know this one). He wanted to do one himself, so we held a small 2lb ball while he could approximate the movement--just like dad. He also wanted to do triceps dips holding on to a weight bench, just like dad. Holding and the supporting the boy we helped him mimic the exercise. At one point, the boy saw a weight bag hanging, and he tried to punch it. I know my client studies martial arts so I asked if the boy watched his father hitting the bag at home. Of course he did.

Children are impressionable. They learn from adults, especially adults they love and admire. At 2-years old, this little boy is already learning that it is normal to be active and to care about being fit. So what I saw was a little boy who would one day be playing outside, joining a sports team, climbing trees, and growing up fit and strong. He has the foundation to establish a healthy lifestyle and avoid childhood (and then adult) obesity and all of the health issues associated with it. Not only is it important to set a good example for the sake of the children that may be watching, those good examples are also going to help us become more healthy for our own sakes.

With those thoughts still fresh in my mind, I came across the following article concerning a new Harvard Study that (not surprisingly) found a correlation between children's weight and the amount of time they spend watching television (ie. inactivity). While not explicitly stated, a child drinking excess juice while watching TV can be seen as an early form of mindless snacking.

Heavy television viewing makes young kids fat
The more three-year-olds watch television, the more sugary drinks they consume, and the extra calories turn into extra weight, a US study published Wednesday showed.
Harvard Medical School researchers presented the results of the study of 1,203 children at the American Heart Association's annual conference on cardiovascular disease and prevention, in Orlando, Florida.
For every one-hour increase in television viewing per day, the children consumed an additional 46 calories, Sonia Miller, the lead author of the study and a Harvard medical student, said in a statement.
"Although 46 calories a day doesn't sound like much, it can make a difference in weight over time," said Matthew Gillman, a senior author of the study and director of Harvard's obesity prevention program.
"Studies estimate that you can explain the amount of excess weight gain in the US adolescent population over the past 10 years or so with the addition of only 150 calories a day," Gillman said in the statement.
"If this 'energy gap' also applies to younger children, then each hour of daily TV or video watching could explain about one-third of that increase," he said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against television or video viewing by children under age two. Above that age, it recommends no more than two hours of screen viewing per day.
"The most important thing to note is that the obesity epidemic in this country involves not just adults, not just adolescents, not just school-age children, but all the way down to infants," Gillman said.
"And once a child is obese, it is very hard to treat. So obesity prevention is the way to go."
Of the 1,203 children studied, 87 percent came from families with incomes greater than 40,000 dollars a year and 72 percent of their mothers had at least a college degree.
The American Heart Association recommends that children not be allowed to have a television set in their bedrooms and encourages an hour of moderate-to-vigorous play or physical activity a day.

The Age Old Question Answered...

The Question: Does Muscle Turn to Fat When You Stop Working Out

The Facts: As summer heats up and Americans flock to the shores to bear their beach muscles, those of us whose gym memberships collected dust last winter or expired months ago may be left with physiques that went from firm to flabby.

So did all those muscles simply melt to fat from more time on the couch and less at the sports club?

That might be the popular explanation, experts say, but it's not exactly true. When people stop exercising and shift into couch potato mode, their muscles begin to shrink, clearing the way for adipose tissue, or fat, to slowly replace them. At the same time, many people who stop exercising often continue to consume the same amount of calories they took in during their more active days, despite the fact that their energy expenditure is no longer nearly what it once was.

All of this can create the illusion that a lean six-pack and bulging set of biceps turned to fat, said Dr. Gerard P. Varlotta, an associate professor of rehabilitation medicine at New york University, but muscle and fat are two distinct tissues that never convert to the other.

"What happens is that the ratio of fat to muscle has changed," he said. "If you have atrophy of the muscle, then other tissue can move in and take its place."

The Bottom Line: Muscles might shrink when you stop working out, but they never turn to fat.

from NY Times 7/26/06

Beating the Side Stitch

3 Ways to Beat a Side Cramp Fast

You're in the midst of a calorie-torching workout when--bam!--a pinch in your side stops you mid-stride. Three experts share their tried-and-true remedies to make the pain go away.

1.Stretch. "Reach your arms overhead for 20 seconds," says Thomas J. Rice, M.D., medical director of the Pritkin Longevity Center in Aventura, Florida. "Keeping arms raised, lean toward the side that's not cramping, and hold for 20 seconds." Repeat until you feel relief.

2. Add Salt. "Sprinkle a packet of salt on your tongue, than take a sip of water," says Felicia D. Stoler, R.D, a nutrition coordinator for New York Road Runners. Sodium helps muscles absorb water, which should alleviate cramping.

3. Breathe. "Decrease your pace and inhale through your mouth for six seconds," says Jonathan Urla, a Pilates and yoga instructor at Reebok Sports Club in New York. Repeat until cramp subsides. Exhaling slowly helps release tension in your diaphragm.

-Sara Bodnar from Shape Magazine, March 2007

Pumping Iron

If you hope to get pregnant any time soon, you might want to increase your intake of iron from veggies, grains, and supplements, a new study from Harvard suggests. Using information from the Nurses' Health Study II (the large, ongoing study of women aged 24 to 42 sponsored by the National Institutes of Health), researchers analyzed nutrition and fertility data of 18,555 subjects who tried to become pregnant between 1991 and 1999. Specifically, they looked at ovulation infertility--meaning an inability to become pregnant due to poor or no ovulation--and iron intake. women with the highest intake of nonheme iron (which comes fro nonanimal sources such as spinach, legumes, or vitamin supplements)--on average, 76mg per day--had a 40 percent lower risk of ovulatory infertility compared with women with the lowest intake. (The RDA for iron in women is 18g, and 27 during pregnancy.) Intake of heme iron did not have this effect. "It's not clear right now how iron affects ovulation," says study author Jorge Chavarro, MD, ScD, research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard's School of Public Health, "although some studies suggest that it is important for the development of the egg prior to ovulation."
from Elle, February 2007.

Hit List of Weight-Gaining Behaviors

This list is a great eye-opener to see how small changes in your behavior can add up in a big way!


Eating second helpings (200 kcal per helping) 3x per week
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 600
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 31,200
Potential Weight Gain per Year 9 lbs

Habitual overeating, every day, 380 extra kcal per day
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 2,660
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 138,320
Potential Weight Gain per Year 40lbs

Eating a large bagel (4.5” diameter, 323kcal) 3x per week rather than a small bagel (3” diameter, 156kcal)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 500
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 26,000
Potential Weight Gain per Year 8lbs

Eating Big Macs (or equivalent, 570kcal) twice a week rather than choosing a small sized hamburger (260kcal)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 620
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 32,240
Potential Weight Gain per Year 9lbs

Eating one glazed doughnut (290kcal) every day at work during your coffee break
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 1,450
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 75,400
Potential Weight Gain per Year 21lbs

Drinking a cup of whole mile (150kcal) twice a day rather than having skim milk (86kcal)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 896
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 46,600
Potential Weight Gain per Year 13lbs

Drinking one regular soda a day (144kcal) rather than diet soda
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 1,008
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 52,400
Potential Weight Gain per Year 15lbs

One small Starbucks nonfat Mocha without whipped cream (170kcal) every day at work rather than black coffee
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 850
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 44,200
Potential Weight Gain per Year 13lbs

Snacking on 15-20 potato chips a day (150 kcal)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 1,050
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 54,600
Potential Weight Gain per Year 16lbs

Eating a bowl of regular ice cream (280kcal) 5x per week rather than having a bowl of nonfat frozen yogurt (160kcal)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 600
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 31,200
Potential Weight Gain per Year 9lbs

Binging twice a week (1000-3000kcal per binge)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 2,000-6,000
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 104,000-312,000
Potential Weight Gain per Year 30-90lbs

Snacking while watching TV 5 hrs a week (136 per snack)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 680
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 35,360
Potential Weight Gain per Year 10lbs

Nighttime eating, five episodes per week (270kcal per episode)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 1,350
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 70,200
Potential Weight Gain per Year 20lbs

Drinking 3 beers at happy hour once a week (146kcal per beer)
Weekly Caloric Cost (extra kcal per week) 438
Annual Caloric Cost (extra kcal per year) 22,776
Potential Weight Gain per Year 6.5lbs



The list and note above were taken from The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom by Dr. Phil McGraw. I endorse this book as a way to understand the emotional and psychological aspects to overeating, developing a healthy relationship with food, and achieving a positive mental state while losing weight and improving one’s fitness level. I have read the book and have bought it for friends and family.