Too much weight during pregnancy = more weight 15 years later

Well, it seems that all women tend to gain weight over time, but those who gain too much weight during pregnancy keep even more pounds on. A study out of Sweden showed that women who gained more than the recommended 25-35 pounds (healthy pre-pregnancy weight) or 15-25 pounds (overweight pre-pregnancy) had higher weights 15 years later than those who gained either the recommended amount or less. On average they weighed 22 pounds more than they did prior to pregnancy even 15 years later; those who gained the right amount during pregnancy still weighed about 15 pounds more 15 years later compared to pre-pregnancy weight.
It sounds bleak, but it doesn't have to be. During both of my pregnancies, I was concerned about gaining too much. So, I made a pretty big effort to eat close to the way I ate before I was pregnant. I would have an extra snack or two when I got hungry, but stuck to lowfat yogurt, nuts or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I also made sure to keep exercising, at a bit lower intensity. I gained about 20 pounds during each pregnancy and took it off within a month of giving birth. My boys were both a healthy 7 pounds 10 oz so for me it was the right amount to gain. I'm a big proponent of keeping the weight gain closer to the lower end of the range as much as you can. The key is to continue eating a good diet, exercising and listening to your body. Those are my tips. What worked for you?

Avoid packing on pounds when traveling

Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer travel season. Whether driving, flying or taking the train, keeping your weight loss "on track" while on vacation can be a challenge. Here's a good article from a well seasoned travel writer who just lost 42 pounds with lots of tips on eating light and fitting in exercise when you're away from home. Happy trails!

Good article -- Which diet is best?

I just saw an article that is really good. I cannot link to it but you can find it in the May 22 issue of the Harvard Health free HealthBeat Newsletter called Which Diet Works Best? -- it explains and compares the different popular diets, low carb, high protein and low fat diets. Their bottom line -- all diets will work as long as you decrease calories. So, good news - pick the diet that works for you ( just remember to choose the good carbs, good sources of protein and healthy fats in whichever diet you choose).

Breast feeding and weight loss after pregnancy

I've had several recent conversations with moms of young children about the topic of breast feeding and weight loss. Since breast fed infants are provided about 600 calories through breast milk, logically, breast feeding would help with weight loss in the mother if she doesn't increase her intake by as much. It's also a notion supported by scientific research as well as nutrition guidelines for lactating women, who are told to consume 500 calories more per day than non lactating women. In my own experience, breast feeding helped to take off the weight I gained during both of my pregnancies.
But, recently two women I spoke with on separate occasions, told me that for them, breast feeding actually kept the pounds on and they didn't lose the weight until they stopped nursing at about a year. I wonder if psychologically they continued to "eat for two" until they stopped nursing or if their body adapted to the increased needs and "hung on to the weight" during this time? Have you had this same experience? I'm curious how many people have a tough time losing weight while breast feeding - perhaps because of a stoked appetite - but then take off the weight once they wean.

"Default" Dinner For the Inevitable Busy Day

Last night around 6:30 it hit me that I needed to make dinner. I had such a busy day with work, dropping off the kids at school, more work, a short work-out for me, more work, picking up the kids and t-ball practice -- that I completely forgot that the kids needed to eat something (And, oh yes, I needed to eat too). My husband was coming home late from work, so I could not ask him to get dinner started for me. At this point, it would have been easy to go to a drive through window and just pick something up. I did not, however, give in to my children's pleas for McDonald's, instead, I went home and made one of my "default" dinners. My "default" dinners are not alway completely healthy but last night the one I chose did not include chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese -- it was just as easy, but much healthier. During dinner I started thinking about the nutritional value of our meal -- remember, I am a dietitian, so I cannot help it -- and decided to run a nutritional analysis on my "default" dinner. So, here is the dinner and the results of the analysis --
-- Sam's Club frozen chicken breasts without skin (I add soy sauce and my kids eat it with ketchup) -- microwave for less than 10 minutes
--Canned black beans (we sprinkle reduced fat feta cheese on top) -- microwave for less than 2 minutes
--Uncle Ben's whole grain 90 sec pouch (we add spray butter and soy sauce) -- microwave for 90 seconds
--Canned green beans -- microwave for less than 2 minutes
--Whole wheat bread slice (with spray butter)
--Skim Milk
The analysis showed a very low-fat meal, less than 10% a good amount of carbohydrates and an excellent amount of protein at 115% DV. Additionally, we ate 34% of the recommended amount of fiber, over 50% of the recommended amounts of most vitamins and 20%-50% of all minerals. The down-side was that folate, vit C and the omega-3 fats were low -- but remember this was just one meal. These nutrients could be made up in other meals. I would love to hear about any of your quick and healthy "default" meal tips.

Cooking simple

Do I cook? Sort of. I manage to throw together dinner most nights of the week using lots of easy, ready-to-go ingredients. The menu gets pretty repetitive, however. Looking for recipes and then grocery shopping are major drains on my precious time. So I love this new-to-me concept popping up across the country that my friend just introduced me to. The place we went was called Simply Cook It and for a pretty reasonable fee you go and prep up to 12 meals (each serves 4-6 people) in under 2 hours. She and I went for the first time last night and now my freezer is stocked with 12 ready-to-cook dinners. You don't actually cook the food until you're ready to eat it, so everything will taste really fresh and homemade. We had a fun time catching up on girl-stuff and getting a much needed break from the kids, while prepping food that our families will get to enjoy. It's a win-win for everyone. In some cases I deviated from the recipe a bit and cut back on fat or salt to make it a little healthier. Now getting a meal on the table will be much easier and give us a break from the dinner doldrums. Great. I can use the time for something better, like going for a jog in this gorgeous spring weather!

Celebrity baby boom - follow up

Following up on a posting from last week re:celebrities in a baby boom and Tori Spelling's post-baby weight loss efforts...Check out the nearly 30 celebrities that either just had a baby or are expecting shortly. Keep in mind photos can and often are touched up, so looks may be deceiving. A good takeaway? Every new mom or mom-to-be deserves a little pampering to keep her spirits up, so give yourself the star treatment every now and then - get your hair done, get dressed up and definitely capture the moment with some photos! As a bonus, seeing how good you look all spiffed up may be motivating for getting your diet back on track.

Breakfast for Weight Loss

Mornings are tough -- they were hard in high school, college, post-college and still today. Not only do we have to get ourselves ready to go but introduce little ones and the tough mornings get even tougher. If I knew then what I know now, I would have enjoyed my quiet mornings at my pace -- it was a luxury! So, what are some of the things that go out the door so that we can get out the door -- one of them is typically breakfast. I am here to warn you -- do not give up breakfast. Aside from modeling good behavior to your children, breakfast can help you lose weight and keep it off. According to a study published using information from the National Weight Control Registry, 78% of successful weight loss individuals ate breakfast consistently every day of the week. Impressively, on average, these people lost 70 lbs and have kept it off for 6 years. Now, breakfast does not have to be time consuming. I typically pick up a banana and my favorite energy bar, which right now is the kids' bar by Cliff, the Z bar (I like the wholesome ingredient deck) and I fill my coffee mug with my beverage of choice for that morning. My breakfast begins as soon as the kids have their seat belts on and we are out of the neighborhood.

Good tip for reducing tv-time snacking

Here's a good tip for reducing snacking at night when you're vegging in front of the tv...paint your fingernails. You wouldn't want to risk a smudge by reaching your hand into the fridge or the cookie jar. Besides, this is probably the only down time you have all day to yourself, sans children, when you could possibly pamper yourself a bit. If that won't work for you (maybe you don't like doing your nails), take up another activity that keeps your hands busy like knitting or scrapbooking. There's nothing sweeter than a baby wearing a hand knit hat; and I'd be willing to bet you have a million beautiful family photos either sitting on your computer or in boxes that could use a good showcase.