Today I want to get into some information about fluids.  I spend a lot of time talking about solid foods… because they are DELICIOUS!

But making sure you get the right amount of fluid is just as important!

((Cough, cough)) Put down the wine… we’re chatting about water today.

There are a lot of different beverage choices out there: coffee, tea, juice, popsicles, Gatorade, seltzer… etc.  I like to focus on just water because sometimes people skip over just how important water actually is.

So why do we even need water?  What does it do?

One function of water is to help us regulate our body temperature.  Think about what happens when you get too hot.  You sweat.  This is the body’s way of helping bring your temperature back down so you don’t overheat.  You are losing water when that happens, and you need water to make it happen and to replace what you lose.

Water also helps to protect the tissues and joints in your body.  It provides lubrication and cushioning for all the body’s movements.

Another function of water is helping the body to remove waste.  It plays a huge part in helping the kidneys to function well!  When there isn’t enough water filtering through the kidneys, we can actually do harm to our kidneys and possibly end up needing IV fluids to help get back to normal function. YIKES!

Water helps us to absorb vitamins and minerals from the foods we eat.

Staying well hydrated can also help us achieve and maintain a healthy weight.  I had mentioned in a previous blog post that sometimes when we’re thirsty, our brain misinterprets that feeling and thinks we’re hungry instead.  When that happens, we tend to grab a snack thinking that will help us move past the craving.  We end up in this loop of over-eating, trying to feel better, when it’s really water that our body needs.  And yes, there is a small amount of water in solid foods, but it is not enough to keep us well-hydrated for all the things our body uses water for every day.

When you’re not drinking enough, here are some concerns and signs of dehydration:

• Impaired physical performance
• Nausea
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dizziness/weakness
• Failure to regulate body temperature
• Electrolyte imbalances

Severe dehydration can cause:

• Muscle spasms
• Delirium
• Kidney failure

So, drink all the water, right??!

Well …

Not all the water.

Dehydration is definitely pretty serious!  So is water toxicity, or water intoxication.  This is the opposite of dehydration and it happens when you drink excessive amounts of water.  The kidneys are not able to keep up with such a high amount and the water has to go somewhere.  It ends up flooding the different compartments and cells in the body and causes confusion, convulsions, coma, or even death!

We don’t hear about water intoxication as much as dehydration, so some people don’t even know it exists.  I think more people started educating on the dangers of excessive water intakes after a lady ended up dying from a water drinking contest:  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/#.XQaFHOmWwUc

Just like anything else, moderation is key!  Not too much … not too little.  So how do we know?  What’s the magic amount?

Do you use pounds & ounces?  Let’s say you weigh 150lbs.  Divide that by 2.2.  The answer is 68, and that is how many ounces of water you should aim for every day.   

Example #2: 190lbs

190/2.2 = 86

You need about 86oz of water a day.

Do you use kilograms & liters?  Let’s say you weigh 65kg.  Divide that by 30.  The answer is 2.1.  You need about 2 liters of water every day. 

Example #2: 75kg

75/30 = 2.5

You need about 2.5 liter of water a day.

Those calculations are a great base to start with.  Keep in mind some things DO change a person’s fluid needs.  Some of those include living in a hot climate, exercise, high protein diets, pregnancy, breast feeding, illness.  The calculations above are for baseline needs and meant for a healthy population.  If you’re not sure, it’s ALWAYS a good idea to check with your Dr. or a dietitian.

One of the things I hear often is that people don’t remember to drink water.  If you find that’s something you struggle with as well, here are some suggestions to increase your water intake:

1.  Eat more fruits & veggies!  Remember I mentioned that foods do contain some water?  Fruit and veggies have a higher water content than other food groups.

2.  Keep a water bottle on hand and in eye sight!  What’s that saying?  “Out of sight, out of mind!”  If you have a bottle of water near you all day, you are much more likely to drink it.

3.  If having water near you doesn’t help, don’t be afraid to set reminders!  If your phone or watch buzzes every hour, even when you’re busy, you will get the reminder.

4.   Maybe you are not a fan of plain water.  I hear that often!  It takes a long time to build new habits.  If you aren’t used to drinking water, and then try and drink 8-10 cups a day … yeah … it seems impossible!  Get creative with flavors and find what you love.  You can slice fresh fruit & let it sit in the water to take on the fruit flavor.  My favorite is water infused with either oranges or strawberries!

5.  Once you find a fruit infused flavor you like … you can make popsicles out of it!  Freeze just the flavored water, or even throw in pieces of fruit too.  This is a really fun and tasty way to stay hydrated in the summer, and if you have kids, they usually enjoy making these just as much as eating them!

So stay hydrated!

Just not too hydrated!

One of the great nutrition debates that has been following us through the years is all about fats.  Do I eat more fat or less fat?  Is saturated fat good or bad?  Do I need to eat less cholesterol?  Should I be fat-free?  Is fat in my diet going to add fat to my body?

 

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

 

 

Fat actually has a lot of necessary roles for us to be able to function well and be healthy.  Fats provide us with insulation & protection for our organs, they are major parts of our cell structure, have roles in nerve transmission,  regulate our hormone production, and allow us to absorb certain vitamins.

When you hear people talking about fat in the body, referring to extra body weight, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because they ate too much fat in their diet!  Fat in the body is a way for us to store extra energy.  When we eat, we get our energy from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.  Whenever we eat more than what our body needs, the extra is stored as fat… and that can be extra from any of the nutrients that give us our energy: fats, carbs, or protein!

So that’s a good thing, right?  We need fat… there’s fat in food… case closed?

Not quite…

Not all fats are created equal!  We have saturated fat & cholesterol, trans fat, monounsaturated fat, & polyunsaturated fat.

Of these fats, the evil-doer of the year award (or 60 years really… this stuff has been around since the 1950’s) is going to go to trans fat.  People found a way to take liquid fats like oil and add ingredients to change the chemical structure of the oil and make it more solid.  It’s cheap, tasty, and gives the food a longer shelf life.  Unfortunately, trans fat also raises your blood cholesterol levels, increases your chances for heart disease, increases your chances of having a stroke, and also increases your chances for developing type 2 diabetes!

The good news is that the use of trans fat has been cut WAY down!  Some places have even banned the use of them since the discovery of their effect on our health.  We also have labeling requirements through the FDA so food manufacturers have to include trans fats on the nutrition label.  The only downside there, is that the label only has to include trans fats if there are more 0.5grams per serving.  The only way to know for sure, is by checking the ingredients!  Here’s an example:

There’s 0g of trans fat listed here.  But if you look toward the bottom at the ingredient list, it includes “hydrogenated vegetable oil.”  This product has less than 0.5g trans fat, but eating multiple items containing just a little trans fat every day…  adds up.  Look for  “hydrogenated oils” or “partially hydrogenated oils” when checking for trans fat.

If you were going to find these types of fats in food, the foods you want to look at would be fried foods, baked goods, frozen or processed meals, & stick margarine.  The photo example I uploaded was from a jar of peanut butter!  Not all peanut butter has this… but this particular one happened to be more processed; as you can see, there’s more ingredients in this food than just “peanuts.”  The FDA even said trans fat is no longer “generally recognized as safe.” & “a probable significant health risk.”  So, when we see “trans fat” on the nutrition label, or “hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oil”, that’s our flag to steer clear!

I think the effects of trans fats are [mostly] clear.  I say that with a light heart as anyone even remotely interested in nutrition knows there’s very little that’s just black and white!

It’s the land of gray… All us crazy nutrition folk live in a giant gray house in the middle of Grayville surrounded by a vast gray universe!  🙂

And our gray topic of today is….(insert drumroll…)

SATURATED FATS AND CHOLESTEROL!!

Saturated fats are fats that are solid at room temperature.  You can find them in foods like meat (and definitely meat w/ skin), butter, higher fat dairy products, and tropical oils (such as coconut or palm oil.)  Cholesterol is a type of fat that is found in animal products.  You can find cholesterol in meats, butter, higher fat dairy products, & eggs.

I’m not going to dissect the different studies on these topics.  There have been quite a few over the years and I think it would be more beneficial to get right to discussing current recommendations.

The newest guidelines have actually removed the cholesterol limitation for dietary intake.  That doesn’t mean cholesterol isn’t important anymore!  High cholesterol in your blood is definitely still an issue, however, cholesterol that we eat in our food isn’t the biggest factor in raising the cholesterol in our blood.  Research has been supporting the idea that saturated fat and trans fat effects our cholesterol more than dietary cholesterol does.

Well we already know what we do with trans fat, so what about saturated fat now?  Some research says it increases risk of heart disease, and some research says it doesn’t!  So….  ??

You want to limit your saturated fat intake to less than 10% of your total calories every day. But wait!  There’s a little more work to be done….

Even though there’s mixed results on saturated fat and heart health, there IS support that if you replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats, you are decreasing your risk for heart disease.  The total amount of overall fat you should eat every day is 20-35% of total calories.

This is where the rest of our fats come in… mono and polyunsaturated fats.  These are the types of fats that are liquid at room temperature.  You can find them in foods like nuts, seeds, fatty fish like salmon & trout, oils such as olive or canola, and avocado.

When you hear the term “good fats” or “heart healthy fats”, it’s referring to mono and polyunsaturated fats.  These are the types of fats that have been linked to regulating inflammation, reducing blood pressure, and lowering cholesterol.

I threw a lot of information in here about what the different types of fats are, where you can find them, what they do, and how much you should eat.  It might seem like too much to remember, but here are some tips you can follow for a healthy eating pattern that helps puts all of that information together when you’re grocery shopping:

• Read nutrition labels and avoid foods with trans fat
• Substitute liquid fats (like olive or safflower oil) in recipes that call for butter, margarine, or shortening
• Limit baked products, fried foods, and frozen/processed meals
• Choose lean cuts of meat without skin and eat a variety of other protein foods such as legumes, nuts, & fish
• Choose lower fat dairy products

 

 

I’m sure you’ve noticed the “GLUTEN FREE” advertising popping up more and more as you go through your shopping trips.  There’s been a huge market for gluten free foods in recent years as a higher percentage of people are starting to eat this way.  What I want to do is explain what gluten is, where you can find it, and talk about some of the benefits and drawbacks of this type of diet.

So let’s get right into it!  What exactly is “gluten“?  It’s the name of a protein that can be found in foods, cosmetics, medications, and supplements. It tends to act like a glue and it holds other ingredients together to help items take on a specific texture or shape.

Now comes the really tricky part!  Where would you find gluten?

The answer to this is a list longer than any blog post should be… so I’m going to modify things a little to give an idea what you’re looking for.  You may have recalled that I’ve mentioned sometimes carbohydrates get a bad rap?  Gluten doesn’t help their reputation!  The foods that stand out and are absolutely a must-avoid on a gluten free diet include: wheat, rye, and barely.  GRAINS!  Some of the foods you need to avoid are:

• pasta
• breads (including pancakes, biscuits, muffins…etc.)
• baked goods/pies/cakes
• crackers
• cream of wheat
• most cold cereals
• most foods with flour such as sauces, gravy, salad dressings
• oatmeal – oats don’t actually have gluten, but unless your oatmeal specifically says “gluten free”, it’s probably made in the same plant as foods with gluten, so cross-contamination is likely.
• beer
• most soups

There are ingredients made from wheat, rye, or barley that aren’t going to directly jump out as having gluten… but they do!  Some of those hidden ingredients to scan labels for are items such as:

• modified food starch
• lecithin
• semolina
• triticale
• MSG/soy sauce
• malt

That’s a lot of restrictions…. but if you have to follow them, it’s for a good reason!  There are conditions where combing through the labels is more than worth it!  Have you ever heard of Celiac Disease or Celia Sprue?  Those are 2 different names that mean someone has an allergy to gluten.  It’s rare, so you may not have heard those terms.  Celiac Disease affects just under 1% of the population.  Some people may also have a wheat allergy, or they may be gluten sensitive, which is a little more common to hear.  Being gluten sensitive means that when a person eats foods with gluten, they have symptoms like bloating, stomach pains, or sudden changes to bowel habits… but they test negative for an allergy.  That’s a very important difference to keep in mind!  Sensitivities to food range from mildly to extremely uncomfortable and can seriously effect quality of life.  When a person has an allergy, the immune system is attacking and that can create danger and be life threatening.  When a person with Celiac Disease does not follow a gluten free diet, they are causing continued damage to their small intestine.  Because of this damage, they’re susceptible to malabsorption, vitamin & mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis,  anemia, & cancer.  Another condition that causes some people to be gluten free is IBS (irritable bowel syndrome.)  There is research that has shown some relief of symptoms for people with IBS when they reduce sources of gluten from their diet.

So if there’s such a small portion of the population who have these diseases, why do we hear about it all the time?

For years now, there have been movies and media coverage that even people without Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivities should avoid foods that contain gluten.  Some of the reasons that initially came out against gluten included information that gluten caused inflammation reactions, “leaky gut” syndrome, bloating and weight gain.  There were also arguments made that humans hadn’t evolved to properly digest wheat because it is not a grain of our ancestors.

Well that all sounds terrible!  Of course you want to avoid that!  But like any new research… results need to be consistently replicated to really be able to make a case one way or the other.

As a response to the negative information being discussed about gluten, there were arguments being made for the other side of the debate. One rebuttal concluded that the study showing inflammation occurred was not done in live test subjects, so could not be used to determine human reaction.  Information was also put out there that there are other proteins and starches in wheat, rye, and barely; so gluten may be wrongly isolated.  There was a professor in 2011 who published a study showing people without Celiac Disease had a negative response to gluten.  He later found inconsistencies in his own research.  He tightened up the method for a new study, and then produced results that had the opposite effect and ended up withdrawing his original statement.

The idea that turning to a gluten free diet can aid in weight loss efforts isn’t necessarily specific to the gluten protein.  Take another look at the list I wrote for gluten-containing foods in the beginning of the blog!  That’s pretty significant!  And since a lot of those foods do make up a good portion of our western diet choices… just think about what’s happening when you eliminate them!  Elimination of large amounts of foods can result in taking in less calories overall.  So even if you’re not counting calories, it makes sense that getting rid of so much food would result in less calories.

On the opposite end of the weight spectrum… there are other people who reported GAINING weight on a gluten free diet!  Wait a second… If I JUST said it makes sense that taking food away would result in less calories, how is that even possible?

Taking away foods would result in less calories… but what if some people took foods away and replaced them with higher calorie items?  Supply and demand made this possible!  There are entire sections of stores dedicated to gluten free items now to help those with restrictions to enjoy the same types of foods as everyone else.  There are gluten free flours, pastas, breads, cake mixes, beers, etc.  Removing the gluten protein from foods often results in the addition of higher amounts of fat, sugar, and salt to make up for taste & texture differences.  So when you take away the foods you feel are unhealthy for you, just because there’s a similar item labeled “gluten free”, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily more healthy just because the gluten is gone.

Another issue that’s been raised has to do with nutrient deficiencies.  Wheat, rye, and barely are pretty significant sources of fiber & B vitamins!  Fiber is my carbohydrate super hero… it’s definitely not something you want to skip out on!

As always, there’s no single study out there that has completely obliterated the idea that gluten is absolutely wonderful vs. something out of the next major horror movie hit!

It’s the job of health professionals, scientists, and research teams, to produce the best information possible with their knowledge & expertise.  What we as consumers tend to do with that information is where craziness can set in!  When studies are published, we absolutely should check them out.  We should also read them, carefully and objectively.  Let’s add the information to what we already know and keep on learning more!

Some of the dietary recommendations I teach about grains come from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020.  The recommendations are updated every 5 years taking into account not just one study, but a collection of information from years of current & past research.  Based on a 2000 calorie diet, a person should aim for 6 servings of grains per day, with half of those grains coming from whole grains. That recommendation recognizes the benefits of different nutrients and that these foods provide adequate energy, iron, fiber, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, copper & selenium.  A diet with adequate whole grains is also linked to improved heart health, reduced risk of some cancers, reduced risk of digestive diseases such as diverticular disease, and an increase in beneficial gut bacteria.

I like to take information from the recommendations that are tried and true and have been producing consistent results for years.  When new information comes out, I like to keep up to date, but I don’t necessarily overhaul my entire eating routine at that time.  As far as the gluten-free diets go, if you have to be gluten free… there’s a reason!  So pay close attention to the details and labels, and double check everything!  But before you do that, I would suggest talking your doctor about getting an allergy test.  I realize gluten sensitivity is subjective and there’s no test for it.  But I would still suggest changing your diet under the direction of a doctor and/or a registered dietitian.  If you’re trying to make changes in a healthier direction, you definitely want to make sure you’re not missing key nutrients, eating excess fat and sugar with all the eliminations or substitutions, or missing out on disease protecting properties that you don’t need to avoid!

If you want to learn a little more about Celiac Disease or grains, here are two wonderful and credible internet sources you can check out:

• The Celiac Disease Foundation
• The Whole Grains Coucil

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve all seen the nutritional chaos that throws different diets all over the place.  Some of the newer diets that people have started reaching for are diets like “gluten free”, “paleo”, “keto.”  And no worries…. I’ll certainly be back around to share my research & thoughts on all of those!  But for today, I want to share the results from a study that came out of Chicago & was published in 2015 on the MIND diet.

What exactly is this new diet?  Could it be…. is it for… (the mind?!)

Amazingly enough, as the name suggests; YES, it is for the mind.  MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.  In less of a mouthful: it’s meant to help reduce the risk of developing or in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is the leading cause of dementia.  If you’re not familiar with dementia, it’s the process of losing your ability to think, remember, and reason. In 2015, the statistics for dementia were pretty scary!  47 million people around the world had dementia, the cost was around $818 BILLION, and the number of people affected was projected to triple by 2050!

Like any disease, there are certain factors that can increase or decrease your risk of being affected.  With dementia, there are both uncontrollable & controllable risk factors.  Things we cannot control would be risk factors such as advancing age, or genetics.  However, the factors that we do have some control over are lifestyle and diet related.  Some of these factors that increase your risk for dementia are

• leaving school prior to age 16
• smoking
• high blood pressure
• diabetes
• high total cholesterol
• obesity
• depression
• physical activity
• excessive alcohol intake
• social isolation
• unhealthy diet

Diets and nutrition have been studied for a long time to try and find links between what we’re eating and better overall brain function.  There are two diets that are still very popular:

1. The Mediterranean Diet, which has shown to help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. This diet tend to be high in healthy fats, lots of fish, & whole grains. 2. The DASH diet, which has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure & stroke.  This diet is high in fruits & veggies & low fat dairy products.

 

People noticed that these diets seemed to really help slow down mental decline, but didn’t really do much for prevention.  So a team of scientists at Rush University Medical Center started a project.  It was the Rush Memory & Aging Project and the purpose was to study the aging process and evaluate nutrition in seniors following the MIND, Mediterranean, and DASH diets.  Parts of the Mediterranean & DASH diets were picked through to find the foods best known for having protective properties for the brain.

Here’s what the diet consisted of:

10 brain healthy foods to increase:

1. Green leafy veggies – at least 6 servings per week
2. Other veggies besides green leafy – at least 1 per day
3. Increased intake of nuts – at least 5 servings per week
4. Berries – at least 2 servings per week
5. Olive oil – make this the primary oil used
6.  Whole grains – at least 3 servings per day
7.  Beans – at least 3 servings per week
8. Poultry – at least 2 meals per week
9. Fish – at least 1 serving per week
10. Wine – 1 glass per day (So I’ll go ahead and point out here that a serving of wine is generally about 5oz.)

The other part of the MIND diet is to decrease/limit other foods.

1. Red meat – less than 4 meals per week
2. Butter & stick margarine – less than 1 tablespoon per day
3. Cheese – less than 1 serving per week
4. Fast food/Fried food – less than 1 time per week
5. Sweets – less than 5 per week

This study started out with 1,545 people enrolled.  These participants were all senior citizens in Chicago and were evaluated from February 2004-2013.  Over time, some people were no longer eligible to complete the study for various reasons.  In the end, the results were calculated from 960 people.  Scientists took this time to study the relationship of their diet and how it related to Alzheimer’s. The results were really promising!  It showed that people following the MIND diet did in fact have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s by as much as 53%!  And for the people who only followed the diet a little, it STILL showed a reduced risk of 35%.  This was great data because until that point, the studies on the Mediterranean & the DASH diet showed benefits only if people stuck to the diet closely.

So we have this new study & this new diet…. what exactly are we supposed to do with it now?

I want you to use it to look at your own diet and lifestyle factors.  Keep in mind, this was one study.  People get frustrated with nutrition when recommendations change, but as new information and new research is available… it WILL change!  It takes a very long time to get solid, consistent, reliable data.  However, we can look at some of the recommendations that have been consistent and start to see patterns.  Recommendations to increase your vegetables & eat whole grains & less fried foods have been around for a long time!  Even this study pointed out the benefits, only this time it was specific to brain function.  There definitely will be more to come on this topic!  But this study was a pretty great introduction & the results were amazing.  I think it shows that we have a lot more control over our future and just how important nutrition can be in making choices that will affect us down the road.

 

If any of you guys want to see the study, I’ll link it below along with some other sites on the topic:

• The study
• Article from Rush University
• Article from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

 

 

 

How many of you guys are eating a balanced meal?  When you hear the words, “balanced meal,” what does that make you think?

Part of my job at the hospital is to teach nutrition guidelines for soon-to-be-moms.  One of the first things that I ask people when we’re talking about creating a balanced meal is, “Are you familiar with the food groups?”  I always start there because it’s kind of silly to tell someone to eat protein with their meals if they don’t know which foods contain protein.

There is a wonderful interactive resource available for everyone that’s called MyPlate.

I grew up with the food pyramid… that model changed a few times over the years.  Then in 2011, MyPlate was created.  I like MyPlate because it’s literally just a plate split up to show you how much of a food group should be on that plate during your meal.  Of course it’s important to know how much of each group you should aim for, but you also have to know what foods are even part of those groups!  Let’s take a look at dairy, fruits, veggies, grains, & protein foods:

DAIRY:                                                                                                                                         Usually milk is the first food that pops up in the dairy conversation!  And if you’re lactose intolerant… that’s OK!  Soymilk & lactaid are counted too!  Other foods that are considered good dairy sources are yogurt & cheese.  Aged cheeses are lower in lactose and the live cultures in yogurt help break down the lactose and help promote a healthy GI tract.

FRUITS:                                                                                                                                       There’s a lot of different fruit out there!  Some of the ones you may see all the time are apples, grapes, pears, peaches, bananas, melon, oranges or berries.

GRAINS:                                                                                                                                      The common grains you’re probably most familiar with are foods made from wheat, rice, rye, barley, and oats.  These include foods such as breads, rice, hot & cold cereal, crackers, and pasta.  A food that can belong to more than one group is corn.  I knew we tend to treat corn as just a vegetable, and fresh corn is often counted as a starchy vegetable…. but dried corn is part of the grains group.  Items you might see that are made from dried corn are cornmeal, which is used to make a more common dish called polenta, grits, & tortillas.

VEGETABLES:                                                                                                                          Similar to fruits, there are definitely quite a few vegetables to list everything!  Some of the more common veggies include green peas, broccoli, corn, potatoes, cauliflower, squash, plantains, peppers, carrots, and beets.

We should talk about “beans & peas” here for a minute.  Sometimes we have different types of foods that have similar names & it makes people turn into a zombie & swear off all nutrition information forever because it’s so confusing!  It’s important to know the differences though, because it helps you plan a more balanced meal.  I like to think that saying the words “beans & peas” would be like using just the last name to refer to every member of the same family.  Our family members are: green beans, italian beans, wax beans, kidney beans, black beans, lima beans, garbanzo beans (also called chick peas), lentils (sorry lentils… you don’t get 2 names…. but you’re still part of the family!), navy beans, soy beans, mung beans, edamame (another name soloist!), split peas, and green peas.

So… any zombies yet?

That giant family will have two sides: vegetables & legumes.  The legumes are in the vegetable group, but they get to be in the protein group as well.  Because, just like the group name tells us… they contain good sources of plant protein!  Here’s a little chart I made so you guys can tell the difference with all the “beans & peas:”

LEGUMES                                   VEGETABLES:                                                                  (VEGGIES & PROTEIN):           -italian beans                                                            -lentils                                         -wax beans                                                                      -navy beans                               -green beans                                                                  -peas                                                                                                      -soybeans                                                                                                                              -edamame                                                                                                                         -kidney beans                                                                                                                   -garbanzo beans (chick peas)                                                                                     -pinto beans                                                                                                                   -lima beans                                                                                                                          -black beans                                                                                                                   -mung beans

PROTEIN FOODS:                                                                                                               Foods in this group include meats, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts & seeds, beans & peas (deja vu!), and soy products.

And those are the food groups!  If you look at the MyPlate recommendation, it shows that half of your plate should be fruit and veggies, a little heavier on the veggie side of things!  The other half of your plate will be split between a grain and a protein food.  And dairy is sitting off to the side as milk, yogurt, or cheese.

There are other things you want to keep in mind as well when you’re trying to plan a balanced meal:

When you go shopping, look for items that are lower in fat.  It doesn’t have to be fat free, we need fat in our diet!  (Yes… I am definitely plotting a future blog post that will be dedicated to fats…) But for now, just keep in mind that choosing foods like lean cuts of meat or low fat dairy can help keep our heart healthy.

We also should choose whole grains more often!  Foods like whole wheat breads, brown rice, whole grain pasta, or oatmeal has a lot of nutrients packed into a single serving.  And they have FIBER… one of my favorite carbohydrates as you may recall from a previous blog….

Another component of eating a balanced meal is limiting foods that have added sugar in them.  There’s not a lot of nutrition in those types of foods, so we end up with more calories and not much else!

Variety is also a key player.  If you like broccoli and you eat it every day, you’re only getting the nutrients that broccoli has to offer.  Different foods have different types of nutrients.  When we mix up our choices & eat a variety of different foods, we can be more confident that our diet is giving us what we need to stay healthy.

When you read all the steps I have typed out, it might seem like eating a balanced meal is some complicated Rubik’s cube.  (Who am I kidding??… they were ALL complicated… I will never solve those things!)  But eating well is much less stressful than that evil cube. (It is… I promise!) If you’re reading this and thinking your diet doesn’t sound like anything in this blog and your plate never matches the MyPlate recommendation… hey… that’s ok!  I pointed out before that new habits take a long time.  Pick ONE thing, and focus on that.  If you look at your plate and notice you never have anything with dairy in it, make a point to include dairy.  Do that until it feels normal and then focus on the next thing.

 

 

 

I have a lot of topics I want to cover, but “how to lose weight” seems to be one of the most popular issues people talk to me about.  I thought I’d jump right in and go over some tips for safe & effective strategies.

Keep in mind, there are different stages of weight loss that people are going through.  Maybe you’re just starting your journey.  Maybe you only have a few extra pounds hanging on for dear life.  Maybe you’ve hit the infamous “plateau”…. the arch nemesis of dieters since the beginning of time.  This particular blog is going to address how to lose weight if you’re just starting out and have more than 20 pounds to lose.

I think the most daunting question that haunts new beginnings of any journey, is “where do I start?”  Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-answer-fits-all response.  EVERYONE has a different, personal, starting place.  My suggestion to steer you in the right direction is something called a food diary.  This is a really popular, and incredibly effective tool that nutrition professionals use to gather data to make their suggestions.  It’s exactly what it sounds like!  You keep a diary and write down the food you ate, and how much of it you ate, throughout the day.  Everything!  You can’t get a good idea of where extra calories are coming from if you cheat on this project.  There are so many times we get super busy and it feels like we haven’t eaten anything…. but those tiny snacks and drinks we grab on the go are often PACKED with more calories than we think, and many times, more than we need.  Try and do this for a minimum of 3 days.  If you can do it longer, you should! You want to be able to see patterns.  It’s hard to pick apart problem areas when we’re used to our own routines.  But when you see everything condensed for the day, you start to get a better understanding of what your diet really looks like.  It makes it easier to find that starting point when you’re making a plan and learning how to lose weight.

Now… if the very idea of carrying around a notebook to write things down all day cripples your soul and tramples all over your newfound motivation… you’re not alone!  Guess what?  There are apps that will do this for you!  The most popular is MyFitnessPal.  I use this STILL, DAILY… and I love it!  There’s even an option for mobile apps to scan bar codes and it will automatically upload the nutrition information for that food!!  How easy, right?  Two others I know of are: Sparkpeople, and FatSecret.

So now that you have days of food information staring at you, what do you do with it?  How do you know what the problem areas even are?  How does any of it help you learn how to lose weight?  I’m going to give you 4 different areas to try and rein in all that data you’ve been collecting.

1. PORTION CONTROL

You want to know what a portion size is, & you want to know how to figure that out from the nutrition label.  We live in a world where getting more for less is necessary for budgeting!  But when you have more available, it doesn’t mean you should always put more on your plate.  There are specific measurements for portion sizes for each of the different food groups.  If you’re just starting out, that may be a good second step that I’ll get into on another blog.  For now, lets just talk about that very top portion of the nutrition label & how it tells you how much you’re eating.

 

This is a label from a box of whole wheat elbow pasta.  It says a serving size of this food is only a 1/2 cup of pasta.  The calories in that serving are 210 calories.

 

 

 

What about this one?  This label is from a jar of peanut butter.  You might have heard some pretty great things about peanut butter!  It contains protein, it has fiber… and it also has the heart healthy fats everyone talks about!  What a perfect food, right??!  Well, yeah… it does have all that great nutrition!  It’s also a very high calorie food.  Look at the serving size.  That label is telling us that in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter there are 180 calories.  Just think how fast that adds up if you’re not paying attention!

Let’s check out one more.

I find that iced coffee and flavored creamers are everywhere!  This nutrition label tells us there are 35 calories in one serving of flavored creamer.  Not too bad, right?  What else does it tell you though?  One serving = 1 tablespoon!  It’s pretty unlikely that anyone is using just 1 tbsp.  So add that up…. do you use 3? 4?  more?  Do you have multiple cups of coffee everyday?  I often hear people tell me they don’t understand why they can’t lose weight when they mostly just drink coffee all day.  When I hear that… it really sounds like they’re eating nothing!  But if you do the math… it’s a lot easier to drink your calories away and not realize it because you never feel full at the end.

The point I want you to take away from this is not that you should only be using 1 tbsp of creamer because that’s what a portion is, or only eating 1/2 cup of pasta because that’s one serving.  You can have the coffee the way you like it, or a plate of pasta… but just be aware that you are having multiple servings in that one meal or drink.  That’s important when you look back at your food diary.  If you have “bowl of pasta & cup of coffee” listed on there for lunch, you have to know what that means.  Did you have a bowl of pasta that was 420 calories, or a bowl that was 840 calories?  Did your coffee have 105 calories or 210 calories?

You don’t have to drive yourself crazy doing math all day either (that’s my job!)  Your job is to be aware of what you’re eating so you know where you might be able to make some changes and cut back.

So you can see how critical portion sizes are when you’re learning how to lose weight!  Spend some time getting familiar with the nutrition labels on your favorite foods.  Learn what their portion sizes are, and then actually measure that out when you’re doing your food diary.

2. AVOID ADDED SUGAR

Now we’re going to chat about sugar.  I’m not talking about natural sugar, like what you might find in whole fruit.  Please don’t avoid whole fruit!  🙂  I’m talking about sugar that’s added into your food that isn’t normally part of that food.  The trouble with added sugar is that you’re not getting nutritional benefits from it, but you ARE getting extra calories.  Added sugar does make food taste sweet.  So if you have a sweet tooth, this may seem like a wonderful ingredient!  However, if you’re trying to learn how to lose weight, this could be the reason you’re having trouble.  Added sugars are absorbed quickly in your body & will make you feel hungry a lot sooner!

Here’s a list of some common foods with added sugars that you may want to cut back on, or avoid altogether:

• candy
• cakes/pies (that means cupcakes too!!)
• muffins
• jams & jellies
• soda!!!  *** This is a biggie for a lot of people!
• flavored coffee/tea drinks
• ice cream
• sports drinks/energy drinks
• fruit juice *** (WHAT?!)

It’s true that fruit juice CAN be considered a serving of fruit.  It’s also true that it may contain only 100% fruit juice with no added sugars.  And didn’t I JUST tell you not to avoid fruit?  I did!  But fruit JUICE is a little bit different.  It’s a very concentrated beverage that has a LOT of sugar, even if it’s a natural sugar.  It also lacks the fiber you find in real fruit.  If you don’t eat fruit, it’s a good way to include some vitamins & minerals.  But it will not help you stay full & it’s packing about 120 calories in a single 8oz serving.

And that leads me to my next strategy:

3. DRINK MORE WATER

Drinking your calories is a great way to lose track of how much you’re actually eating & may give you trouble when trying to lose weight.  There are a few big culprits here that I will pick on: soda, flavored coffee/tea drinks, & juice.

And I think we’ve already covered all those drinks in my tip to avoid added sugars.  So check your food diary.  If your day is sprinkled with these types of drinks, that could be a great starting point for you!

Or maybe you look at your diary and notice that you don’t have much listed for drinks at all!  That’s another huge issue.  We have to stay hydrated!  Sometimes the signals in our body get scrambled.  We have signals bouncing all around that tell us when we’re hungry, when we’re full, and when we’re thirsty.  Sometimes, when we’re thirsty, our body is craving something and we mistake that signal for being hungry.  And what do we do when we think we’re hungry?  We eat!  Have you ever said to yourself, “I don’t know why I’m hungry, I just ate a little while ago….”?  Thirst may be the answer to that question!  Next time you feel that way, try drinking a glass of water and waiting for little while.

4. MAKING A MEAL FROM AT LEAST 3 DIFFERENT FOOD GROUPS

Why is that even important?  Each of the food groups offers nutrients that reacts a little differently in your body.  When you’re eating a variety of different foods, our body is getting the nutrients it needs and doesn’t tell us to keep eating and looking for what it’s missing.

A good rule of thumb is to use 3 different food groups when eating a meal.  If it’s just a snack you’re after, 2 food groups should keep you satisfied until mealtime.

Below, I’m going to list the food groups & a few examples to get you thinking about what you may like to eat in that group:

FRUITS: apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, peaches

VEGETABLES: green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, carrots, beans & peas

GRAINS: rice, oats, breads, pasta, wheat, grits.  It’s recommended to make 1/2 of the grains you eat come from whole grain sources.  Examples of that would be whole wheat bread, brown rice, or oatmeal.

PROTEIN FOODS: meat, poultry, fish, beans & peas, nuts & seeds, eggs

DAIRY: milk, yogurt, cheese

One more you may hear about are “oils.”  It’s not a food group, but oils do have some important nutrients that we need.  Oils are fats that are high in calories, so you want to limit the amount you eat every day.  Some examples are olive oil, canola oil, corn oil.  Some common foods that contain oils are fish, avocados, olives, & nuts.

You should refer to your food diary and count how many food groups you see in your meals and snacks.

So there you have it!  These are my top strategies for how to lose weight.

Are there other strategies?  SURE!  But I think some of them are a little more detailed & may be frustrating if you’re just starting to look at your diet plan with the intention of making changes.

 

One thing I’ll point out though that may get overlooked in your efforts: Make a realistic goal, and only start with one or two goals!

A lot of diets fail because people throw themselves into changes that they don’t really like and aren’t realistically going to keep doing.  It takes a long time to build a habit, and not only is your body adjusting, but you’re mentally adjusting to these changes too.  If you look at your diary and notice you’re drinking soda all day, making unbalanced meals, & eating too many servings of a particular food, do not try to change all of that in one day!  That is not how to lose weight.  That is a great way to get frustrated, feel like you’re missing out on things you love, & abandon your efforts.  My advice is to pick ONE!  Pick ONE thing & make a plan for how you want to change it.  Keep doing that one thing until it doesn’t feel difficult anymore and then move on to the next thing.  It gets easier!  You got this!