Archive for the ‘weight loss’ Category

Size Matters

Friday, July 30th, 2010

I’m re-running this post in honor of one of my clients who’s doing fantastic things. In a short period of time, she’s learned to listen to her body when it comes to what and when to eat. She’s crystal clear on how much she’s eating at any given time. And after a lifetime of letting the scale control how she feels about herself, she’s banished it from the house and feels good because she’s well-nourished, her clothes fit well and she has lots of energy. She’s truly an inspiration.

Size Matters

Or does it? The answer is: sometimes.

I was clothes-shopping with a friend this past weekend and, once again, we were struck by how wildly womens’ clothing sizes vary. One brand’s medium is nothing like another brand’s. Same goes for actual number sizes. And don’t get me started on the difference between one size and the next one up in the same brand. Maybe I’m “in-between”: I found the smaller size was too small and the next size up was far too big.

Same thing happening in my own closet. After our shopping trip, I took a look at the labels of the clothes I already own. It’s like the United Nations of sizes: everything from extra-small to extra-large is represented. And they all fit me!

So does size matter? In this case, I say NO. Here’s why:

For many people, clothing size is part of their identity. Same with the number on the scale. So much so that even when they’re eating all the right foods and doing all the right exercise, they’re absolutely deflated when the scale doesn’t immediately reflect this. Suddenly, all that hard work is for nothing, so why bother? Believe me, I’ve been there and it’s for that very reason that I stopped weighing myself.

Funny thing: once I shunned the scale, people started saying things like “Wow, you look great! How much weight have you lost?” A girl could get used to that.

When I work with my clients, we set aside the weekly weigh-ins and focus on the behavior. Here’s where size matters: understanding how much a portion is. Much of our country’s weight issues can be directly linked to the fact that most people have no idea how much they’re eating.  One client summed it up nicely this week: “Since it fit in my bowl, I thought it was one serving.” (It was 4 servings).

So pull out your measuring cups/spoons and get yourself a food scale. Do a little experiment: assemble your typical breakfast and guess how much of each food is represented. Then measure what’s actually on your plate. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

How’d you do? If you’re like most people, you were probably way, way off on some of the estimates. It’s easy to get on track, just measure and weigh for a week and your eyes will learn what a serving looks like. This is a lifelong skill that will help you wherever, whenever you’re eating.

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Preventing Diabetes: You Have the Power

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

The statistics of diabetes are stunning. According to the American Diabetes Association:

  • 23.6 million people in the United States (almost 8% of the population) have diabetes.
  • Almost 6 million of those people don’t know they have it.
  • There are 57 million people on deck in the pre-diabetes stage (elevated blood sugar, but not quite diabetic).

Holy cow.

If the word “diabetes” alone doesn’t scare you into assessing your risk, take a trip to the American Diabetes Association’s website to learn more about the complications (warning: they use words like blindness, stroke, amputation and death).

There’s good news for the 57 million people in the pre-diabetes group thanks to the Diabetes Prevention Program. The results of this study show that weight loss from dietary changes and increased physical activity is more effective at preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes than taking the oral diabetes drug metformin. Sounds like Prevention Not Prescriptions to me!

Highlights of the results:

  • Participants in the lifestyle intervention group reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 58%, compared to 31% for the group taking metformin.
  • Participants aged 60 and older who made lifestyle changes reduced their risk by 71%.
  • This was the first study to show that lifestyle changes can effectively delay diabetes in a diverse population of adults at high risk (Tufts University). It’s an important distinction when we consider that some ethnic groups (such as African American) are more affected by diabetes than others.

Try one of this simple changes to get you on your way to losing weight and saying “I don’t think so!” to diabetes:

  • Have oatmeal with blueberries and a couple of walnuts for breakfast.
  • Snack on an apple with a little peanut butter (my very wise mother served us this way back when).
  • Ditch the diet soda and try sparkling water.
  • Fire up the grill for that chicken rather than firing up the fry pan.

And if you have diabetes already, know that dietary changes are beneficial to you too. We all have the power.

A Moment in a Busy Life is a proud participant in Prevention Not Prescriptions.

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Posted in Disease prevention, Wellness, weight loss | 3 Comments »

Start Your Day in a Better Way

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Building a Better Breakfast

Have you ever taken a good look at the word “breakfast”? It’s made of up two words that tell you exactly what breakfast is: “break”-ing the “fast”. The “fast” is the period of time you’ve slept, hopefully for several hours in a row.

You’re not eating during this time, unlike during your waking hours when you’re eating meals and snacks. Think about the last time you ate yesterday and when you first ate today – it could be a period of 12 to 15 hours. If you skip breakfast, that time period stretches out even longer.  Upon waking, your body needs a boost of fuel to jumpstart your metabolism, raise your blood sugar, and get you ready for your day. When you eat, you “break” the “fast”.

You should eat breakfast because:

  • You’re more likely to lose weight or be at a healthy weight. The National Weight Control Registry reports that 78% of their “successful losers” eat breakfast every day, with 90% of them eating breakfast five days per week.
  • You’re less likely to overeat at other meals. If you skip breakfast and don’t eat until lunch, that lunch is much more likely to contain high fat/calorie choices because you’re starving.
  • It gets your metabolism going. You don’t expect your car to run on an empty tank; why would you expect your body to do so?

Many people skip breakfast for a number of reasons. There’s a solution to every roadblock:

Excuse #1: I’m not hungry.
Well, you should be. You’ve gone far too many hours without food. This is the only time I recommend to people that they eat something, even if they’re not hungry. Try something very small like a kid-sized yogurt, handful of dry cereal or a piece of fruit.

Excuse #2: I don’t have time.
Find the time. You make time to brush your teeth every morning (don’t you?), so you can find the time to eat breakfast. Make your preparations the day before by pouring cereal in your bowl, laying out your fruit, filling snack bags of cereal or low-fat granola to take with you.

Excuse #3: I don’t like breakfast.
Who says you have to eat breakfast for breakfast? As long as it’s a healthy choice, eat whatever you like: vegetable soup, black bean burritos with salsa, a chicken sandwich, etc.

Make this week better by eating breakfast at least five times. Drop me a line to tell me how much better you feel at the end of the week.

Visit Prevention Not Prescriptions to read more great wellness advice.

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Building a Better Soda

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Three Soda BottlesOne of our main sources of sugar and sugar-like substances is soda, both regular and diet. Neither one is something I recommend as a regular part of your diet, for a few reasons:

  • Regular soda is full of completely empty calories. One 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 150 calories, and no nutritional value.
  • Cutting out one can of regular soda per day, and doing nothing else, can help you lose about 15 pounds in a year.
  • Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners, which our bodies do not recognize as food. As I result, I find that those who drink diet soda wind up eating more sugary foods because they crave them.
  • Studies link soda consumption to increased risk of metabolic syndrome, obesity, depleted calcium stores in bones, and more.
  • One new study indicates that drinking two or more cans of diet soda daily (and how hard is that, really?) doubles your chances of accelerated kidney decline. P.S.: We need our kidneys.

So what’s a soda drinker to do? The simple answer is to cut soda out of your life. As a former 3-can-a-day drinker (I’m a Pepper!), I know that the simple answer is not always the easy answer. Coming up with an acceptable substitute really helps.

For many people, the appeal of soda is in the bubbles. So try these steps:

  • Wean yourself off soda and onto sparkling water or seltzer (any type that doesn’t have any calories or sweeteners of any kind is acceptable).
  • Mix a little juice or iced tea in with your water to give it some flavor and color. While you’re at it, add a slice of fresh lime, orange or lemon.
  • Drink your newly improved drink from the same glass you used for soda. If you drink soda from the can, notice that your new drink doesn’t have that tinny, metallic taste.

Others feel that they need the caffeine boost of soda for a pick-me-up, especially in the afternoon. I promise you that staying well-hydrated with water will increase your energy far more than soda ever could.

Finally: don’t buy it at the grocery store. This is not as hard as it seems. Identify the number of the soda aisle, and skip it altogether the next time you shop. Rinse and repeat.

If you follow these steps, your bones will be stronger, you’ll eat fewer calories from sugar and you’ll feel much more energetic. Try it and let us know how you’re feeling.

Learn more great ways to care for yourself at Prevention Not Prescriptions .

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Posted in Disease prevention, Weight Management, weight loss | 4 Comments »

You’re Doing It!

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Many of my clients don’t just want to lose weight, they must lose weight in order to improve their health. Often the amount of weight the client should lose is daunting: 40, 50, 100 pounds or more.success

We all know that this weight is not coming off very quickly, nor should it. Weight loss stimulated by steady lifestyle changes is the most sustainable and healthy. But the slow & steady weight loss of a couple of pounds a week can be frustrating, especially when there’s so much further to go.

This is when I find I have to yell out a reminder: Hey! Pay attention! You’re doing it!

When clients get bogged down in how far off the finish line is, I like to remind them of how far they’ve come.

  • I have one client who’s lost over 40 pounds so far. At his last appointment, he was frustrated with losing ‘only’ two pounds that week. This was my opportunity to ask “So what was your starting weight? And what’s your weight now?” Doing the math was a great way to remind himself of how far he’s come.
  • Another client lost 5 1/2 pounds in just a few weeks. Rather than being pleased with her progress, she was bogged down in thinking of how much weight she’d gained over the past couple of years and how much further she had to go. She said “I have to do something.” My response? “You are doing something and you’re doing it right now!”

What progress are you making that you could more fully appreciate?

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