Sandee Health Newz

2010 : Losing Weight the EZ Way

2010-01-08T18:20:00.000-05:00

Place anything you are tempted to pop into your mouth on a plate first!

Losing weight the EZ way :: here are some fresh approaches. A few food swaps, a bit more movement, and some easy behavioral changes can make a BIG difference.

#1 Make the conscious effort to make more 'moves' on a daily basis :: N.E.A.T. (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is more important than formal exercise when it comes to losing weight. (according to Researchers at the Mayo Clinic)

#2 Try EZ food swaps :: Try lower calorie food substitutions that mimic the originals' taste.

At lunch, nix the roll and mayo in favor of sandwiches made with whole wheat bread and mustard :: cuts at least 130 calories.

Snack on baked potato chips instead of fried and you will shave off 45 calories per ounce!

Indulge in half a cup of chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla topped with hot fudge for a 140 calorie deficit.

#3 Study the habits of successful Losers ::

According to The National Weight Control Registry, who have collected data on people who accomplished significant weight loss and kept it off; the following are a few of the weight loss secrets:

*78% eat breakfast every day. This means eatng a healthy meal like an egg-white omelet and whole wheat toast, NOT grabbing a donut on the run.

* 62% Watch less than 10 hours of TV per week

* 90% exercise about one hour per day

* 75% weigh themselves at least once a week It a bad weigh-in sends you to the 'cookie jar' instead of the gym for 'revenge', skip the scale and keep an eye on 'how your clothes fit'.

#4 Ban the Mindless Nibbling ::

Break the nibble habit with this technique ::

"Plate it, Sit with it, Own it" !!

Anything you are tempted to pop into your mouth, whether the dregs of a child's PBJ, or a single kernel of popcorn must first be put on a plate and eaten while sitting down. Do this for a day or two and your nibbling habit will be a thing of the past.

Fitness, according to the American Council on Exercise......

2008-12-15T23:06:00.011-05:00

Here’s top 10 fitness trend rundown for 2009 :

1. Boot camp-style fitness programs.

2. Workout plans that are less expensive.

3. Specialty classes like Zumba, Bollywood, Afro-Cuban, and ballroom dancing. These classes are set to rhythmic music and aim to increase cardiovascular fitness while folks have fun.

4. The basics. Fitness professionals believe that people will want to return to basic fitness programs.

5. Circuit training. Circuit training blends strength training and cardiovascular activity at different intensities. Another plus: gyms can set up their own circuit for members to follow.

6. Kettlebell training. These iron weights, traditionally used in Russia, aim to develop whole body fitness and core strength.

7. Boomer fitness. A focus on fitness led by people 50 and older.

8. Technology-based fitness. Using high-tech gadgets like iPods to help keep workouts engaging, plus an increase in interactive fitness video games.

9. Event or sports-specific exercises. A focus on the simple things, like basketball or volleyball games, or day bike rides.

10. Mixing it up. Low-intensity cardio or weight training on one day, followed by a high-intensity workout on another day.

10 Tips for Cancer Prevention

2008-11-10T15:14:00.008-05:00

From the 2008 annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), here's a list of 10 diet and activity recommendations:

~~ Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
~~ Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
~~ Avoid sugary drinks, and limit consumption of high-calorie foods, especially those low in fiber and rich in fat or added sugar.
~~ Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes (such as beans).
~~ Limit consumption of red meats (including beef, pork, and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
~~ If you drink alcohol, limit your daily intake to two drinks for men and one drink for women.
~~ Limit consumption of salty foods and food processed with salt (sodium).
~~ Don't use supplements to try to protect against cancer.
~~ It's best for mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies for up to six months and then add other liquids and foods.

After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.

At the ADA meeting, Willett said the first recommendation -- to be as lean as possible within the healthy weight range -- is "the most important, by far."
But there was one recommendation that Willett says may be a "mistake" -- the one about not taking supplements. Vitamin D supplements may lower risk of colorectal cancer and perhaps other cancers, notes Willett. He predicts that that recommendation will be a top priority for review.

How to Follow the Recommendations
Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN, is the nutritional advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research. She reviewed the recommendations before they were issued last year, and she joined Willett in talking to ADA members.

Collins provides these tips for each of the recommendations:

~ Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight: Don't just look at the scale; check your waist measurement as a crude measurement of your abdominal fat, Collins says. She recommends that men's waists be no larger than 37 inches and women's waists be 31.5 inches or less.
~ Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day: You can break that into 10- to 15-minute blocks, and even more activity may be better, notes Collins.
~ Avoid sugary drinks and limit consumption of energy-dense foods: It's not that those foods directly cause cancer, but they could blow your calorie budget if you often overindulge, notes Collins, who suggests filling up on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
~ Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes such as beans: Go for a variety of colors (like deep greens of spinach, deep blues of blueberries, whites of onions and garlic, and so on). Most Americans, says Collins, are stuck in a rut of eating the same three vegetables over and over.
~ If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to two for men and one for women per day: Watch your portion size; drinks are often poured liberally, notes Collins. Willett adds that the pros and cons of moderate drinking is something that women may particularly need to consider, weighing the heart benefits and increased breast cancer risk from drinking.
~ Limit red meats (beef, pork, lamb) and avoid processed meats: Limit red meats to 18 ounces per week, says Collins, who suggests using chicken, seafood, or legumes in place of red meat. Collins isn't saying to never eat red meat, just do so in moderation.
~ Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with sodium: Don't go over 2,400 milligrams per day, and use herbs and spices instead, says Collins. She adds that processed foods account for most sodium intake nowadays -- not salt you add when cooking or eating.
~ Don't use supplements to protect against cancer: It's not that supplements are bad -- they may be "valuable" apart from cancer prevention, but there isn't evidence that they protect against cancer, except for vitamin D, says Collins.
~ It's best for mothers to breastfeed babies exclusively for up to six months and then add other foods and liquids: Hospitals could encourage this more, Collins says.

After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention. Survivors include people undergoing cancer treatment, as well as people who have finished their cancer treatment.

Making Cancer Prevention Simpler Overwhelmed? Collins boiled the 10 recommendations down to these four:
~ Choose mostly plant foods.
~ Limit red meat and avoid processed meat.
~ Be physically active every day in any way for 30 minutes or more.
~ Aim to be a healthy weight throughout life.
Keep in mind that these tips are about reducing -- but not eliminating -- cancer risk. Many factors, including genes and environmental factors, affect cancer risk; diet and exercise aren't the whole story, but they're within your power to change.

Top Nutrition Trends for 2008

2008-10-29T21:41:00.004-04:00

via WebMD Health on 10/26/08

Whole grains are hot, trans fat is not, and more Americans say they're doing all they can to eat right, according to a new survey from the American Dietetic Association.