Oprah going vegan

Did you hear that Oprah announced she's going vegan? For 21 days, that is. This means she's cutting out all meat, eggs, dairy -- any animal foods or foods associated with animals for three weeks. Interestingly, a vegan diet can be very healthy if it's done properly -- meaning you get all the necessary nutrients from plant sources. There are certainly some vitamins and minerals that can be in short supply (B12, iron, calcium) on a diet like this if not careful. Oprah, of course, has a chef preparing all the meals - many of which are based on soy and tofu with an abundance of fruits, vegetables and grains. Check out what she's eating -- it seems pretty time-consuming to make all of the foods everyday if you're doing it yourself, although I admit I didn't try the recipes yet. But, even without going fully vegan, adding a few meatless recipes to your repertoire is beneficial both to your health and to the environment's, so it's worth checking out.

I'm glad to see that Oprah is interested and gets her tremendous audience interested in following a healthy lifestyle. I just hope anyone out there thinking of jumping on the bandwagon (longterm, especially) thinks to consult a dietitian before trying a diet that could potentially cut out many important nutrients.

Find the fiber to take off the weight

I've been noticing a significant lack of fiber in client's diets lately, which surprises me because of the prevalence of so many new products that have fiber and whole grains added to them. (Fiber One seems to come out with a new product every week - have you tried the yogurt?) Fiber is a very important part of weight control and overall health since it makes you feel full and keeps things moving nicely through the digestive system. The problem is with all the great new products out there, restaurants haven't been as quick to get on board. Eating out or taking in too often leaves a significant shortfall in the fiber arena. If you can find these choices at your local eateries, take advantage:
- whole grain pizza crust
- whole wheat buns or sub rolls
- whole wheat pasta
- spinach and other dark green leafy veggies (iceberg lettuce has very little fiber)
- brown rice or beans
I ran across this article that has some other good suggestions.
In the meanwhile, when you're at the store here are some of our high fiber favorites:
- Plumsweet cherry essence dried plums (store in the fridge, they taste much better cold)
- All Bran multigrain crackers
- Fiber One granola bars
- Roman Meal cereal bars
- Kashi Good Friends cereal
- Kashi GoLean frozen waffles
- Martin's whole wheat potato bread

Healthy snacking idea for you and the kids

I love my pediatrician! He was mine as a child and now he takes care of my children. The other day we were discussing healthy snacking for the kids and he had a great idea -- put several healthy snacks in a plastic container with each child's name on it and after school let them go and choose their snack from their container. I love it! My kids are always trying to be more independent (they are 7 and 4), so this is right up their alley. Now, I have taken this a step further -- in an effort to increase my (and my husband's) fruit and nut consumption, we now also have a container in the fridge. Believe it or not, this little trick has increased my fruit consumption by two fruits a day. By the way, here is what is currently in our containers - it changes each week.
Baggies of pistachios, almonds with semi-sweet chocolate chips, apple slices, strawberries, cherries, and whole wheat crackers with all natural peanut butter.
Next week I will probably include, pretzels with hummus, banana slices with choco syrup, high fiber cereal trail mix (I just mix all bran with low fat granola, honey roasted sunflower seeds and dried cranberries or raisins), watermelon slices and (for the kids) whole wheat crackers with cheese slices.
Try it and let me know how it goes.

Healthy Fish Sticks

A friend asked me to include more healthy fish recipes and this one immediately came to mind. Most kids love fish sticks, and I must admit, I like them too. So, I decided to find a way to make healthier fish sticks. Here are two versions of my fish sticks recipe that stuck.
The amounts that I will share are approximate, I actually think I make it a little different every time -- you may have to tweak it until you find what works for your family.
1st version --
1-1.5 pounds tilapia
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup flax meal
1/2 tsp salt (you can also add garlic salt, onion powder, etc for flavor)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tbsp skim milk
Slice the tilapia (to a fish stick size). Then lightly beat the two eggs with the milk. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Now just dip the tilapia slices in the eggs mixture, then coat with the dry mixture and put on an olive oil sprayed pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees (I try not to preheat for too long, so I typically turn on the oven when I am almost done). When all the fish sticks are on the pan, I lightly spray then with olive oil -- I love the Mazola Olive oil spray. Then cook for about 15-20 minutes -- keep an eye on them and when they turn golden, they should be done.
2nd version --
Everything above just add sweet potato puree to the egg mixture. I guess I typically add about 1 cup. Poke a few holes in 1-2 sweet potatoes (depending on their size) and microwave until mushy. Remove peel and put in food processor until smooth. Then add to the egg mixture above and dip away! I love this recipe with the sweet potato it not only add nutrition but it adds sweetness to the fish sticks. They are a big hit with my kids and my husband. Try it!

The psychology of weight loss: Finding the middle ground

I was recently talking to a patient who needs to take off a significant amount of weight. He was contemplating having the LapBand surgery but wanted to give good old fashioned diet and exercise one more try first. He's yo-yoed for years, trying various diets that have worked for short periods of time but always regained the weight and more. Each time, his efforts involved a weight loss program where you have to buy prepackaged meals or cut out whole food groups and he said it just got boring after a while so he always went back to old eating habits. Once we started delving into why he gravitated toward those programs and talked about why they haven't worked over the long haul, it became clear that his underlying state of mind plays a huge role in his weight. While it wasn't that surprising to me, as psychology plays a huge role in just about anyone's weight problem, it was certainly an aha moment for him. Talking it out for over an hour and half I came to understand what might be going on and how we might start to address his issues. He's very much an all or nothing kind of dieter. He either eats bacon double cheeseburgers with fries or he has a salad with no dressing. There's really no middle ground in his eating habits. And over the past several years, he has just decided, consciously or subconsciously, that he'll eat what he wants and worry about it another day. But the added pounds have been weighing on his mind and he's starting to physically feel the effects of the weight. So, we started talking about finding that middle ground -- you know, the place where you can be comfortable eating for the long haul and take care of your health without feeling deprived. After a number of suggestions, such as ordering the grilled chicken sandwich with barbecue sauce rather than the one with melted cheese and bacon, he seemed confident that he could make some healthy changes that he could live with for the long term. I'm anxious to see his food diary next week. Hopefully we've taken a baby step toward the middle ground. I'll keep you posted.

Get your partner on board to take off pounds

If you want to successfully take off the baby fat, you've got to get your hubby on board. We know that it's easier to lose weight when you have support for your efforts and you make healthy lifestyle changes for the entire household. In other words, clean out your cupboards of the junk and stock up on fruits and veggies (that means for everyone)!
Interestingly, a new study finds that the amount of support a significant other provides when the partner is trying to lose weight may be a reflection of the strength of the relationship. Researchers from Ryerson University in Toronto asked couples whether their non-dieting spouse was supportive of their efforts to follow a healthy diet and not surprisingly, those who described their relationship as supportive felt that the spouse was, in fact, helpful. Supporting a healthy lifestyle change isn't just about encouragement but really needs to include sharing in changes in shopping and eating habits. The researchers found that partners who put up obstacles - eating junk foods or making negative comments - for the well-intentioned healthy eater were often unaware that they were doing so.
Bottomline: Speak up and get your spouse on board with making changes toward a healthy lifestyle. Chances are, he could stand to take off a few too!

Sleep to lose weight

Are you getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night? If not, here is your excuse to get more zzz's. Studies show that people who sleep at least 8 hours tend to weigh less. Why? Because, sleeping actually helps your body produce less of the hunger hormone ghrelin and produce more of the fullness hormone leptin. Also, not sleeping enough may cause cortisol levels to go up which increase appetite and may even help add belly fat. In fact, a study from the University of Chicago showed that it only took a few sleepless nights to drop leptin levels by 18% and increase ghrelin by 28% causing cravings for starchy foods and sweets to jump by as much as 45%. So, mom's, for the sake of your figure...go to sleep.

Nutrition bars are convenient but whole foods still best

I was recently talking to a couple of new patients interested in eating healthier, feeling more energetic and taking off a few pounds. Both had the issue of little time and a constant eating on the run situation. (We moms tend to have the lack of time problem as well.) As with most people, I first discussed the need to eat small amounts every few hours to avoid a binge once the starving signals do kick in. The obvious response to me was, "what am I supposed to eat since I'm always on the go?" I mentioned a bunch of different ideas, including nutrition bars, and they were on their way. (Bellybars were a favorite to throw in my carry-on when I was pregnant and had to fly for work.) The next week when I got their food diaries back, a slew of nutrition and energy bars showed up on their logs, sometimes twice a day!
Whoa, Nelly. While eating nutrition bars is certainly acceptable as a few-times-a-week fill in, one for every snack will leave a gaping hole in a well-rounded diet. Study after study shows that foods, especially whole plant foods, contain nutrients that work together to promote good health and just cannot be accounted for with the fortification in an energy bar. I had to remind my patients that nature makes some pretty convenient foods: apples, bananas, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines. Adding a cheese stick and a bag of nuts makes that snack well-balanced (carbs, protein and healthy fat) and chock full of natural nutrients. It took a tiny bit more planning for them than grabbing a prepackaged energy bar but the benefits make it well worth it. Luckily the next week I saw a lot more whole foods on their food records and just an occasional bar here and there. Next time I'll clarify the frequency for my snack suggestions!