Baby Fat Diet

New Blog Location

2008-11-19T15:37:00.006-05:00

We have moved the Baby Fat Diet blog to our website for the Baby Fat Diet. To go to this new site, click here or go to www.babyfatdiet.com/blog

Please be sure to update your bookmarks.

Thank you and we hope we see you soon!

Fiber for Weight Loss

2008-11-18T09:06:00.004-05:00

Chances are you are missing out on a great (and easy) way to lose weight or maintain your healthy weight. On average, women only get about 50% of their recommended fiber intake (25 grams a day). We just do not eat enough fiber-rich foods on a daily basis. While many think of fiber in terms of digestive health or cholesterol reduction, fiber is also a great weight loss and healthy weight maintenance aid. In one study, researchers found that not only were fiber-rich whole grain foods related to a lower weight in women, but that the women who ate higher fiber diets gained half the weight of those eating mostly refined carbs over a 12 year period. Also, overweight and obese women benefited the most from eating fiber-rich whole grains. Fiber increases satiety, so you stay satisfied longer and it decreases the amount of sugar and insulin released into the blood stream. This helps decrease fat storage in your body. Here is the good news, it is easy to eat more fiber. A new study shows just how easy it is to increase your daily fiber significantly by eating a couple bowls of cereal. In the study they used All Bran as one of the test cereals, just 1/2 cup has 10 grams of fiber. Here are some recommendations for starting off the day in a fiber-rich way:
-Try eating a high fiber cereal like All Bran with low-fat (or non-fat) milk -- you may like it.
-If high fiber (at least 5 grams) cereals are not your style, pick a whole grain cereal and sprinkle in a higher fiber cereal such as All Bran Bran Buds (1/3 cup has 13 g fiber) with low-fat milk.
- Now add an apple (3 more grams of fiber) and you are now almost half way there (depending on which cereal you picked, you may be over half way to meeting your goal of 25 g of fiber).
Let's complete the day to get you to your fiber goal. After having your fiber-rich breakfast, eating the following foods throughout the day will help you reach 25 g.
- eat a medium sized pear with lunch for 5 grams and a slice of whole wheat bread 2 grams
- eat 1/2 cup beans or lentils with dinner for another 5-10 grams depending on the bean or lentil
- eat another high fiber bowl of cereal with low-fat milk as a snack if you are hungry after dinner for another 5 grams.
Total fiber -- 25 grams or more

Mom's diet may make for fat babies

2008-11-14T15:45:00.005-05:00

A new study from the Journal of Neuroscience found that what you eat while pregnant can result in overeating and obesity in the child. The study was done on rats, however, it does seem to make sense that exposure to a high-fat diet in utero can lead to changes in brain development in the fetus, which create an appetite for fat. The offspring from those fed the high fat diet ate more throughout life, began puberty earlier (a common issue with overweight children as well) and weighed more as compared to those offspring from animals fed a balanced diet.
Bottomline eating a balanced, healthy diet during pregnancy offers advantages to you and your children:

it will help you gain the right amount of weight so taking it off post-pregnancy is easier
it helps to keep your child's weight down and him healthy throughout his life

While I would be the last person to tell you not to enjoy a some indulgences during pregnancy - chocolate was part of my diet everyday for all of my pregnancies - just make sure you balance it out with lots of nutritious fruits, veggies and whole grains.

Tactics to keep the weight off

2008-11-07T14:28:00.005-05:00

While losing weight is certainly a feat, keeping the pounds off seems to be a bigger challenge for most people. Why? As you lose weight your calorie needs decrease because you're carrying around less mass and therefore, to keep losing weight or even to just stay at your present weight, you have to take in less and less calories over time or increase the number of calories you're burning. Here are some proven tactics to keep those lost pounds, lost:

Exercise. A new study found that exercise and not the type of diet you follow is the real key to keeping off the weight. Researchers found that regardless of which diet was followed, low-fat or moderate fat, some weight regain was inevitable; they say increasing exercise is a more effective approach.
Eat breakfast. One study found that women who eat breakfast have lower BMIs, a measure of overweight, than women who skip breakfast. And you should include some milk or yogurt in that breakfast, too.
Drink milk. A new study found that eating three servings of dairy each day helped people maintain weight loss while eating more calories than the people that only had one serving of dairy each day. Both groups successfully kept off the 10 percent of body weight they'd lost (for the 6 months of the study) however the 3-a-day dairy eaters had about 150 more calories each day than the 1-a-day. This suggests drinking milk or eating yogurt may allow someone trying to maintain weight loss to eat a little more and still keep all the weight off.

Are bananas a magic diet food?

2008-11-06T11:10:00.004-05:00

There's a diet craze going on in Japan called the Morning Banana diet that's been all over the TV and web sites. Check out this article on WebMD. Your first thought may be "why is there a diet craze in Japan? Aren't they a pretty lean population?" It was my first reaction but I guess it's a good indication that the issue of overweight has gone global.
Essentially the diet says that in the morning if you eat only bananas and water, have no dairy products, alcohol, or food after 8 PM then you will lose weight. It allows any food for lunch, dinner and snacks. Sound ridiculous? Well, much of it is - there's nothing magical about bananas that make it a diet superfood moreso than any other fruit - but there are some principles in the plan that (when tweaked a bit) can help in losing weight and keeping it off which we talk about in the Baby Fat Diet.
1. They say: Drink only room temperature water. We say: Stick primarily to non caloric drinks; water is an excellent choice, but tea and coffee are okay too and have lots of disease-fighting antioxidants.
2. They say: Don't eat after 8 PM. We say: Stop eating 2-3 hours before bed; late night eating is usually mindless munching of empty calories.
3. They say: Have only bananas and water for breakfast. We say: Eat a fiber-filled, well balanced breakfast. Have as many colorful fruits and vegetables as you can in your day, aiming for at least 5; they are filling for few calories and have tons of nutrients.
4. They say: Exercise only if you want to. We say: Incorporate movement into your day as much as possible by actively playing with your kids and make an effort to work up to 30 minutes a day of deliberate exercise; it's very important to helping take the weight off, keep it off and keep you healthy for life.
As for the Japanese, they traditionally eat lots of fish, brown rice and vegetables, foods that are certainly healthful and relatively low in calories. I'm thinking just go back to that eating plan and overweight won't be a problem.

School lunches - are they healthy?

2008-10-28T13:07:00.006-04:00

Most children love buying lunch at school -- it is a very big step towards Independence once they begin Elementary school. (That is unless you have a very picky eater and send them to school with their lunch every day - as a dietitian, I find that sometimes allowing picky eaters to buy lunch at school once a week can help them break bad habits.) A study was recently conducted that looked at the healthfulness of school lunches. When comparing the nutritional intake of those who bought school lunch to those who brought their lunch, the results were surprising. Those purchasing lunch actually had higher vit A, C, B6, folate, calcium, thiamin, iron and phosphorus intakes. They also drank more milk and ate more vegetables and had fewer sweets, sweetened beverages, and snacks. On the flip side, although the number of calories were similar the amount of fat and saturated (bad) fat as well as sodium were higher for those purchasing lunch. So, the schools still have some work to do in improving their lunches. Bottom line: It is a good idea to balance bringing lunch and buying lunch. Let your children pick two days a week to buy their lunch and prohibit a la carte items (in many schools you can put a block on this). On the other days, pack a healthy lunch and have your child buy milk at school. Here is an example of a healthy sack lunch--
- whole wheat bread with either cheese and all natural lunch meat without preservatives or all natural peanut, almond or sunflower butter with all natural jelly.
- a fruit or two
- trail mix with high fiber cereal, almonds and semisweet choco chips
- milk - buy at school

Dieting causes excess pregnancy weight gain

2008-10-21T09:20:00.003-04:00

A new study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reports that dieters and restrained eaters tend to gain more weight than recommended during pregnancy. Many who diet or have restrained eating habits may feel "free" to eat the foods that they typically stay away from. The deprivation felt before pregnancy can cause overeating during the pregnancy. The result is gaining excess weight. This extra weight can put you at risk for delivering a large baby, a c-section, and a shorter time spent breastfeeding as well as being overweight after having the baby. Interestingly and also alarming is that research shows that excess weight gain during your pregnancy puts your baby at risk of being overweight by age 7. So, what can you do? Look at your pre-pregnancy eating habits, do you jump from diet to diet, do you feel deprived in what you allow yourself to eat, do you tend to feel guilty when you eat something you enjoy? If your answer to these types of questions is yes, then you may be at risk of gaining too much weight during your pregnancy. The good news is once you have identified yourself as at risk, you can deal with it -- try the following to help yourself.
- Visit MyPyramid for pregnancy and breastfeeding and estimate how many calories and servings of foods from each food group you need to have a healthy pregnancy
- Ask your doctor to recommend a dietitian to help you plan your meals and calories needs.
- Get a subscription to a healthy pregnancy magazine to support your healthy living behaviors
- Make sure and stay active to keep the feel good hormones circulating (with your doc's permission)
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep to help curb your cravings
- Eat every 2-3 hours to keep yourself from overeating

Great lunchbox addition

2008-10-17T16:19:00.003-04:00

There's a great product that I've been putting in my kids' lunchboxes - it's called Wateroos. Not only are they healthy - they're really just water with a touch of flavor but no sugar or calories - but the kids love them b/c they look just like juice boxes and have cute characters on the front. Starting kids off early and teaching them to enjoy the pure, natural taste of water is extremely beneficial - developing this good habit avoids the need to drink sweet or flavored beverages and in most cases lots of sugar or artificial sweeteners. It can be really hard to break the habit of overconsuming sugary sweet or diet drinks once you're an adult and realize it's best to stick to water. Drinking too many calories is a very common habit that I see in my patients who need to lose weight. The first thing we cut out are coffee drinks, juices, sodas and smoothies; it's much more satisfying to eat your calories than to drink them. Even diet drinks can be overdone and aren't really good for your teeth. So, the earlier you can develop the water habit, the better.
There's also a good website, www.drinklesssugar.com, which compares different lunchbox drinks so you can see how much sugar is in various beverages.

Eat to lose weight

2008-10-01T09:06:00.005-04:00

I just had a conversation with the nursing staff at my doctor's office yesterday concerning weight loss. They had been trying to lose weight and had successfully lost some weight but were now at a plateau. These women are educated and know what they should be eating, but they were not aware of how much and when they should be eating. This became obvious when I dug a little further and found that both went the whole work day without eating, so from 8-6pm they did not eat a thing. Additionally, one of them had not eaten yet, and it was already noon. This nurse in particular even made the comment that she used Weight Watchers to successfully lose the bulk of her weight and they made her eat all the time. After speaking with them the possible problem became clear -- in response to their baffling question of "why am I not losing weight" I was able to provide a simple answer...YOU MUST EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT! Going all day without eating will only sabotage your efforts at losing weight (and staying energetic and happy and let's not forget, healthy). In fact, the US weight loss registry shows that those who lose weight successfully eat breakfast at the same time every day. So, what does that tell us? We need to eat on a schedule. The body needs to know when to expect food, so that it does not try to conserve energy. We want the body to feel free to burn calories. Another important factor are all of the nutrients that are missing from their diets because of their limited food intake during the week. You also need key nutrients to help your body burn energy efficiently. Additional problems with not eating all day can also include overeating at other meals, feeling as if it is okay to eat higher fat foods since you did not eat all day, etc. (You know all the inner talking we do to rationalize unhealthy eating.) So, here is my advice...
1. Eat breakfast at the same time everyday to break your overnight fast -- make your body confident, so that it will burn energy efficiently.
2. If you do not have time for a sit down lunch during the day, that is okay, just make sure to bring healthy snacks with you and eat every 2-3 hours during the day.
For example,
-- if you eat breakfast at 7 am, by 10 am make sure and have a piece (or two) of fruit.
-- by 12 pm make sure and have an all natural peanut butter (2tbsp) sandwich with no added sugar jelly (1 tbsp) and whole wheat bread
-- by 2 or 3 pm have a homemade trail mix (high fiber cereal, handful of almonds, raisins and a few semisweet chocolate chips) and another piece of fruit
3. Make sure and eat a healthy dinner with at least two vegetables if you did not eat any veggies during the day.
4. If you are hungry before you go to bed, eat a high fiber cereal and skim milk as a snack.

Dinner dilemma solved

2008-09-26T13:26:00.005-04:00

I hear time and time again from my friends and patients with young babies or children at home - most of whom are trying to lose a few pounds - that making a healthy dinner is an insurmountable chore. With all else there is to do, finding time to make a balanced meal gets pushed to the wayside. I feel their pain. When I'm done with work and shuttling the boys to and from activities, grabbing takeout just seems so much easier. But while it's quick and easy, eating takeout certainly won't help with keeping your health or weight in check. Cooking a homemade meal means you know exactly how much salt and fat was added into your food. Enter the slow cooker (or Crock Pot, as your mom used to call it). Toss in some chicken breasts, frozen veggies, a can of crushed tomatoes and a half pound of whole wheat pasta, let it simmer all day and you have a delicious, ready-to-eat meal when it's time to collapse into your chairs. You can use just about any lean protein (seafood, turkey, lean beef, pork tenderloin), vegetables, starch and source of liquid for a well-balanced, all in one meal.
While I'm not a slow cooker queen, like some, every few months I rediscover my slow cooker and love how easy it is to get dinner on the table. The meal is nutritious, low in fat and simple to prepare. I can pretty much use ingredients I have lying around. So go ahead, rediscover your slow cooker, too.

Paltrow exercised away the baby fat

2008-09-19T14:20:00.003-04:00

Did you catch Gwyneth Paltrow on Oprah this week? I missed the episode but I did see an article yesterday with her comments on how she got her body back after baby number 2. It was refreshing to hear that not only did it take her 2 years to lose the baby weight, but it took hard work to take off the pounds. She credits lots of exercise for helping her lose the weight. While she worked with a celebrity trainer, there's nothing she did that regular people can't do themselves. It's really about motivation and sticking with it. I know for myself, taking off the baby weight and then maintaining my weight long term requires that I exercise daily - in addition to eating right most of the time (chocolate daily is a must have). I have some equipment in my basement and when I put the kids to bed at night, I go down there and enjoy an hour of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune while I work out. No nannies, celebrity trainers or state-of-the-art gym needed. You can do it, too. Buy a jumprope or an exercise video and get started. You'll be looking like Gwyneth in no time - or at least the best, fittest version of you (which is even better).

More kudos for the Mediterranean diet

2008-09-12T13:00:00.005-04:00

A new study came out showing the Mediterranean diet prevents numerous diseases, like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and even Parkinson's. While the Mediterranean diet is not new and we've known that it's a healthy eating pattern, this study analyzed the diets of more than 1.5 million people - so it's conclusive.

Eating like our Greek and Italian friends means loading up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish and even olive oil and cutting back on red meat, dairy products and processed foods. The good news is that most of the those foods will also help you to lose weight since they are rich in nutrients and fiber so they fill you up without filling you out. The diet is really about eating whole foods that are either naturally low in all fats or high in only healthy fats, which keep your blood flowing smoothly.

To get yourself started on a Mediterranean style of eating, cut back your red meat intake to only once or twice a week and replace with a nice, healthy piece of fish, like tilapia or salmon, and a side of lentils. Get rid of the butter from your fridge and replace with olive and canola oil. You can order pre-filled olive and canola oil spray bottles that make portion control easy from Gourme Mist. This ensures you're not overdoing it on the added fat because even if it's the healthy kind, too much fat means too many calories.

Eating high protein breakfast sustains your diet

2008-09-05T09:57:00.005-04:00

A new study out of Purdue University finds that eating a high protein breakfast - participants had eggs and Canadian bacon - leads to a sustained feeling of fullness throughout the day. Feeling satiated can lead to eating less at subsequent meals or going for a longer time without getting hungry again, making weight loss easier. Another study found that having two eggs for breakfast helped overweight adults lose more weight than those who ate a bagel with the same number of calories. Again, it's likely due to that feeling of satiety. Fiber and protein, because they take longer to digest, are the two nutrients that promote longer lasting feelings of fullness.
While having an egg or lean meat at breakfast can be a good high protein choice, low fat dairy can serve the same purpose. A high fiber cereal or oatmeal with skim milk or yogurt are also satiating breakfasts.
While I'm on this topic, I came across a new product, called Lightfull, which promotes itself as a satiating snack. It's a yogurt-like drink that has 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein for only 90 calories. The company sent me some samples so I gave it a try and you know what, it was pretty true to its claims. I had one for breakfast with half an English muffin and really didn't feel hungry again until after noon. Normally, I need a mid-morning snack to tide me over til lunch. I'm going to give some samples to my weight loss patients and see how it works for them too. Check it out and see if it works for you.

Holidays and weekends could be sabotaging your weight loss

2008-08-29T14:30:00.004-04:00

Came across a great article that hit home. It's about a new study that found that dieters regularly comsume more calories on the weekends than during the weekdays and those extra calories were making weight loss impossible. The reason it hit home for me is that one of my patients is having that exact issue. The scale won't budge, yet Monday through Friday his diet is pristine. The weekends are sabotaging all of his great eating during the week. Alcohol, eating out and less physical activity are all culprits. Interestingly, according to the study people who are extremely strict about their diet and do not give themselves breaks to cheat - like weekends or holidays - are 1 1/2 times more likely to keep off the pounds.
So, as we go into this Labor Day holiday weekend - keep your diet on track and do not allow those extra calories to sneak in. Here are some tips to help you:

Eat a high-fiber breakfast with some protein (eg. oatmeal w/skim milk, egg whites and whole wheat toast + a piece of fruit) --make sure to eat enough to keep yourself satisfied, skimping on breakfast can backfire; I find about 400 calories at breakfast is right for most women
At BBQs fill up your plate with salad, veggies, whole grains if there are any, and a small piece of lean protein; skip anything with mayonnaise
If you want a drink, have one and make it a glass of wine or light beer; those fruity cocktails are really high in calories
Exercise, at least 30 minutes each and every day - even holidays and weekends
Keep a food journal and write down what you eat each day of the weekend; it holds you accountable
Weigh yourself on Monday mornings; knowing you'll have to face the scale may help you to stay on track

Look for many more great tips to help you lose the baby weight and keep your diet on track in our new book The Baby Fat Diet -- available for preorder and on bookshelves this December.

Back to school healthy lunchbox ideas

2008-08-22T15:22:00.003-04:00

As the lazy days of summer wind down and kids head back to school, you may start thinking about what to pack in the lunchbox. This is something I struggle with every week of the school year: getting my kids to eat a nutritious lunch that can be prepped fast. Here's an article I wrote with 8 easy, healthy lunch options. By the way, these are great lunches for yourself, as well. They are all nutrient packed and have less than 500 calories, so can help you stay (or get back) on track with your diet this fall. Since they are full of fiber and protein, feeling satisfied through the afternoon is a guarantee. So once again, eating like your kids is beneficial to your health and your waistline!
Tip: For me the quickest way to get through the grocery store with healthy food in my cart is to make a list ahead.

New Quick and Easy Recipe

2008-08-20T10:21:00.004-04:00

I have another recipe to share with you that I created with ingredients found in my fridge and pantry -- my family really liked it and so it passed the test for blogging!

1 lb cooked chicken breast -- you can boil or bake it (I boiled the chicken the night before)
1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup no-fat sour cream
1/2 cup low-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion (I used my small chopper)
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions (I used the small chopper again)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup organic, low sodium tomato sauce
Whole wheat tortillas (or use corn for a lower calorie option)
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Chop the cooked chicken breast in a chopper (I cut up the chicken and used my small chopper since it is easy to clean) and place into pan with olive oil
2. Add all ingredients (except tortillas) and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes (you may want to adjust some of the ingredients based on your desired consistency)
3. Using a tablespoon, place mixture in center of tortilla, spread and roll tortilla - repeat until all mixture is used up (or you run out of tortillas).
4. Place tortillas in baking dish and drizzle more tomato sauce over top if desired and cover with foil.
5. Bake at 425 for an additional 10 minutes.
6. Enjoy with brown rice and small red kidney beans
Nutrition info for two tortillas --
340 calories (made with 2 whole wheat tortillas) or 180 calories (made with 2 corn tortillas)
13 grams protein and 5 grams fat (with either the whole wheat or corn)

Amazing Olympians and their diets

2008-08-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

Are you watching the Olympics? I'm addicted to it. In fact, I've been up every night well past my bedtime watching the swimmers, divers, gymnasts and volleyball players. It's so inspiring to see these athletes performing such amazing feats. The other day I was on the treadmill jogging and watching the 100 meter runners racing. I felt like we were running together - of course, I was going about 1/100th the pace they were going.
Watching all of these extremely fit individuals led me to think about the diets they follow to fuel the record breaking performances. I found some articles talking about the diets of amazing gold medal swimmer, Michael Phelps and his teammate, Ryan Lochte. You have to see what they are eating - it's mind boggling! While their calorie needs are really high because they're burning tons of calories, I would think their diets would be pretty pristine. Not so, for some of the athletes - filled with fast food! Gymnasts seem to be a little more conscious since maintaining a sleek physique is part of the deal - and they don't burn quite as many calories.
So, enjoy reading about what the athletes are eating but I wouldn't follow their lead - when it comes to diet, anyway. Let them inspire you to get off the couch and go for a run or a bike ride, instead. Enjoy the games!

New moms are drained

2008-08-07T17:21:00.003-04:00

A new report confirms what all new moms already know -- having a newborn is demanding and stressful. In addition to trouble sleeping (3 AM feedings, anyone?), the report found that 40% of the women had trouble taking off the baby fat and 24% experienced chronic backaches. I'm guessing they're related - it can be challenging to exercise if your back is injured. They also found that a large percentage of the women were back at work by 12 weeks postpartum, which adds another challenge.

So, to all you new moms out there it's important to cut yourself a little slack. Just like you wouldn't expect your newborn to start crawling or walking immediately after entering this new world, you shouldn't expect that you'll immediately be able to spring right back into your old body or prior energy level. Take baby steps. Set small, realistic goals for yourself. For this week, try this goal: each day eat 1 more fruit and 1 more vegetable than you currently do. Go for a walk this weekend with the baby in the stroller.

And know this, there is a light at the end of tunnel - life does get easier. I always say that as a new mom, it's all about finding your groove -- getting used to the new norm. And by making small healthy lifestyle changes along the way, before you know it, you'll be movin and groovin right back into your skinny jeans!

Restaurants posting calorie counts

2008-08-01T16:48:00.004-04:00

If you found out there were way more calories in your favorite soup and sandwich combo than you thought, would you start ordering differently? That's what is happening at my husband's office. He works in New York City and about a year ago the city passed legislation requiring labeling on menu boards for chain restaurants. (Since then a number of other cities have passed similar legislation.) When my husband and his co-workers recently saw that several of their favorite lunch eateries started posting the calorie contents for the items on the menu board and they were significantly higher than they thought, their orders changed. One of his colleague's favorite soups was astoundingly high in calories and quickly dropped off the list for ordering a "light" lunch. This is a good reason why labeling of foods at restaurants is so important - it's extremely hard to guess the number of calories in a dish prepared by someone else and we can be underestimating by hundreds of calories.
So, while it's always a question as to whether people will change their eating habits by just knowing how many calories are in the foods they enjoy, this has clearly been the case in my husband's office. I know that I would have a hard time ordering anything with a huge number of calories staring back at me on the board. Luckily, I live in the suburbs and can blissfully (and ignorantly) enjoy my favorite foods - for now. I'm kidding, of course. My hope is that menu labeling will spread throughout the country and perhaps make a real impact on the public's health and waistline. Because, obviously for my husband, this is making a real difference in the foods he's choosing and I know I have a definite interest in him living a long and healthy life. Do you think it would be helpful to see the calories right on the menu or board at your favorite eating establishments?

Yummy (healthy) salmon patty recipe

2008-07-27T22:09:00.004-04:00

Here is a recipe that I adapted from the Chicken of the Sea Salmon Pouch. The kids loved it – they dipped the patties in ketchup.

Ingredients (makes about 10 patties)
2- 7 ounce Pink Salmon pouches (skinless and boneless) or you can used the canned Salmon (skinless and boneless)
¼ cup omega-3 fortified light mayo
2 eggs
1 ½ cups whole wheat bread crumbs (divided)
½ cup wheat germ (divided)
¼ tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
Optional - finely chopped onions 1 cup and finely chopped red bell pepper 1 cup

-- Combine Mayo, optional ingredients, lemon juice, garlic salt and stir in salmon, egg and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and ¼ cup wheat germ – mix until well blended.
-- Form mixture into balls and roll in remaining bread crumb/wheat germ mix and flatten into cakes about ½ inch thick.
-- Add patties to skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil and cook. Or you can bake at 425, just spray baking sheet with either olive oil or canola or vegetable oil and spray the salmon cakes with the oil as well and cook about 30 minutes.

Let me know what you think.

Smell the coffee to melt away stress

2008-07-22T12:09:00.004-04:00

A brand new study in lab rats shows that coffee may help relieve stress from not sleeping. After inhaling the aroma of coffee, more than a dozen stress-relieving genes turned on in the brains of sleep deprived rats. What is interesting, is that the smell of something can have such an effect on our brains, well in this case, rats. These types of studies are useful to set up human studies, but are not necessarily appropriate for making human recommendations. But, for now, it would not hurt to to inhale deeply while enjoying your cup of Java after a rough-night's sleep. Or, for those of you that do not drink coffee, breath deeply while purchasing your yogurt parfaits at Starbucks.

Are diet drinks making you fat?

2008-07-21T11:51:00.003-04:00

A study out of the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio found a positive relationship between diet drinks and weight gain. After following 1550 residents of San Antonio for 8 years, they found that for every can (12oz) of diet soda consumed a day a person's risk of becoming obese went up by 41%. Now, this does not mean that diet soda causes obesity, but there does seem to be a link. Some believe that the sweetness in diet soda causes a person to crave more sweet foods. Or, it could be that someone switching to diet soda is already gaining weight and is trying to balance the calories by drinking no calorie drinks. Whatever the answer may be, the best drink to quench your thirst is still water (if you must drink diet soda, try to keep it to no more than one a day). Or, as I just posted, try iced green tea, but brew your own and stay away from the green tea drinks that are full of sugar.

Drink Your Tea

2008-07-21T11:18:00.004-04:00

A new study out of Athens Greece shows that drinking 3-4 cups of green tea a day will keep your vascular system healthy. This is extremely important as your vessels impact almost all aspects of your health. Now, I have heard it before -- you do not like green tea. Fortunately, there are flavored green teas that are great for brewing. (Or if you prefer it cold, brew it then add some ice and cool it down). I personally do not like regular green tea, but have found one that I have been able to get used to and now enjoy -- Republic of China Pomegranate Green Tea. I had to try several before I found one that I liked. By the way, there are also studies that show green tea to have a weight loss benefit -- although, the jury is still out on this one. So, schedule in some tea breaks throughout the day, and better yet, add a piece of fruit or some nuts to your tea break.

Junky diet and tv for kids = overweight adults

2008-07-09T12:13:00.010-04:00

Imagine yourself looking in a mirror at age 10 catching a glimpse of your 30 or 40 year old body. Would you be horrified or just slightly freaked out? Dr. Oz used this interesting tactic on yesterday's Oprah to drive home the importance of getting kids to eat healthfully from the get go. He showed a 10 year old boy his 400 pound body at 40 if he continued to eat junk and live a sedentary life for the next 30 years.
As a dietitian, I work with children and parents to help families start implementing healthier lifestyle habits. (Having a video depiction to show them the consequences of not making these changes would help tremendously in compliance, I imagine.) I've found the most important key to success is making changes the whole family follows. So, while you're working on getting your own 30 or 40 year old body (or at any age really) into the shape you would've been proud to see in that mirror at age 10, make sure the rest of the family follows suit. And while the choices available to kids -- check out this article in U.S. News and World Report on unhealthy foods available in schools -- is a critical component (read:buy lots of fruits and vegetables), educating your children, no matter how young, that eating nutritious foods make the body strong and healthy is just as important. Even my two year old knows that fruits are good for him, while donuts are only a once-in-a-while dessert.

Does a junky diet in pregnancy mean permanent damage for baby?

2008-07-03T13:11:00.009-04:00

According to headlines in Forbes, Science Daily and several other publications on Monday and Tuesday, a new study from the UK came out that showed a diet full of junk food while pregnant can lead to irreversible, long-term health consequences to the child, such as obesity or high cholesterol and blood sugar into adolescence and even adulthood. So, if you're a pregnant woman who's been overindulging in chips and donuts lately, the guilt may be piling on. I'm here to tell you to relax and stop panicking -- headlines can be misleading. First of all, the study was done in rats, so the results may or may not hold true in humans. Secondly, you can absolutely start eating a better diet today --don't worry about what you've done up til now. Commit to eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables each day and making your bread/pasta selections whole grain. These filling foods leave little room for junk. Lastly, even the researchers comment that whether a mom ate poorly or not during pregnancy, a person needs to take responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle -- these health conditions are not inevitable and can be altered by making good diet and exercise choices throughout life.
So, as a dietitian I encourage you to eat a well-rounded, nutritious diet most of the time - allow yourself small treats here and there - and keep exercising (with your doctor's okay) during pregnancy, because it's good for you and for your baby. I didn't really need a study in rats to tell me that!

Gain the right amount for your baby's sake

2008-06-26T13:47:00.004-04:00

Not only does gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy lead to better health outcomes (eg. less chance of C-section, reduced risk of gestational diabetes, healthier birth weight of the baby, etc) and a higher likelihood that you'll get back in your skinny jeans, but new research suggests that it's important to your child's future weight, too. A recent study from the University of Pennsylvania on over 10,000 women showed that gaining more than the recommended amounts during pregnancy (25-35 pounds for normal wt, 15-25 pounds if overweight) can increase the child's chances of becoming overweight in the future. They followed the children until the age of 7 and found that for every 2 pounds over the recommended guidelines that the mom gained, the odds of the child becoming overweight increased by 3%. The scientists speculate that excess weight during pregnancy can trigger certain physical processes like high blood sugar levels causing overproduction of insulin in the baby while in the womb. To gain within the guidelines, remember that you don't need to eat for two -- just have about 300-400 calories more than you normally eat during the second and third trimesters. This is equal to a PB&J or a yogurt and a banana. With your doctor's okay, either continue to or start exercising -- walking is a great option for beginners or even those who are already fit. Pregnancy is the perfect time to focus on eating right and exercising -- it will keep you and your baby on the longterm road to good health.

Walking off the baby fat

2008-06-20T13:11:00.005-04:00

Do you know the most popular form of exercise? It's walking and it's no surprise --it can be done anywhere, has no learning curve, needs no special equipment and can be done at any level of fitness. Walking helps take off the fat because it burns a decent number of calories (approx 80-100 per mile, more on hills) and tones the major muscles of the legs.
The best way to start walking more is to measure the number of steps you take with a pedometer and then add on whenever you can. By keeping track it becomes a competition with yourself to increase the number of steps you can take in a day. Several years ago we tried this at the office where I was working. Many were shocked by the small number of steps they were taking. It led to many people going out for a walk after lunch just to up that number.
While I am pretty active during the week - taking aerobics, lifting weights, spinning and doing the elliptical trainer at the gym - walking is my favorite weekend activity because the whole family participates. My husband and I put the kids in strollers and walk about 3 miles to a playground and then back again. The path we take is wooded and serene. While 6 miles of walking may be too much if you're not currently active, keep track of your steps using our new walker tracker page and you'll see the amount of walking you can do jump in no time. (It's about 2000 steps per mile.) Finding a great destination and beautiful surroundings helps, too.

Stress affects eating

2008-06-16T18:04:00.003-04:00

People handle stress in different ways but one fairly universal manifestation of stress is an impact on eating. For some it may mean skipping meals, for others it may be overconsuming junk, but however it's handled, stress inevitably leads to an imbalance in eating behavior. One way I know that I've had a stressful, overscheduled week is to look back at what I ate. For example, last week on Thursday I had a bag of popcorn as my lunch. I was juggling a bunch of projects at once and couldn't stop to take a break so grabbed a bag of popcorn (luckily it was light) and it ended up being my lunch. It was pretty much the caloric equivalent at 500 calories so I didn't do major damage, which could've happened if I'd grabbed chips or cookies instead. Most of my week was similar with grabbing this or that and failing to sit down to enjoy any meal at all. I could probably count the number of vegetables I had the whole week on one hand, which is really unusual for me. Luckily, things got back on track by the weekend and I had more acceptable meals that included some fruits and veggies.
Thinking about my week, it's easy to see how stress and "having too much on your plate" so to speak can lead to a downward spiral of overeating and weight gain. It's important to address stress and time management issues and find ways to "lighten the load, as in stuff to do" as we try to address eating and how to "lighten the load, as in pounds." Becoming aware of what you're putting in your mouth, how that's affected by everything else going on in your life, and a strategy for managing the stress is a good step towards a more healthful lifestyle. I've found just telling others about what's happening and how you're feeling can help in finding a creative solution to time crunches. Someone else may volunteer to watch your kids or run an errand for you, for example.
This week I have a plan so it doesn't happen again. I'm going to take a set 20 minute lunch break each day sometime between 12 and 1 - as a mom, I've learned I've got to be a little flexible with the schedule - and I have the whole wheat bread, turkey breast and baby carrots all ready to go. I'll let you know how it goes.

Update on "finding the middle ground" dieter

2008-06-06T13:20:00.005-04:00

I talked to the patient yesterday who was having trouble finding how to live in the middle ground -- he tends to only live in extremes. I'm very happy to say that we are successfully moving to the middle, even if by baby steps! At our first meeting he was skipping eating all day long, "saving up his calories" just to binge at night and thus make up for every last calorie -- laying down to go to bed on all of that food wreaks havoc on the body as well. Now he's eating something small every few hours and he said he feels so much better. His choices are getting a little bit better too. He's having cereal in the morning with yogurt and a banana instead of his old habit of a bagel or white roll with butter at the deli. And at dinner his portions have been significantly reduced. This week he's working on trying to include more than one food group at each eating occasion. For example, his chosen morning snack has been 3 cheese sticks but it would be better to have one cheese stick and a handful of almonds or an apple. Variety and including all food groups ensures a distribution of healthful nutrients rather than just loading up on certain ones. Next week we're going to the grocery store so I can show him good choices aisle by aisle. I'll let you know the shopping list we come up with!

Not eating for Two

2008-06-04T10:51:00.005-04:00

Pregnancy for many means, "yippee, I can eat what I want." For the sake of our waistlines, we need to change this thinking. Did you know that many women keep as much as 11 pounds from each pregnancy and some even more? I teach a prenatal nutrition class and I love the expressions I get when I tell everyone that in the first trimester you do not need any extra calories, you just need to make sure and eat really, really healthy** and take your prenatal vitamins. I also enjoy the looks of disbelief when I let the women know that in the second trimester they only need about 300-340 more calories. This is equivalent to about a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with 1/2 cup skim milk and an ounce of almonds. In the last trimester, the number jumps to an extra 450 calories total -- so, add a piece of whole wheat toast and jelly to your bowl of cereal and almonds and you are now at 450 calories. By making sure you eat healthy** during your pregnancy, you can set yourself up for easier weight loss after you have your bundle of joy.
**healthy defined -- to learn more about how many servings of foods from each food group you should be eating during your pregnancy, go to mypyramid.com and enter your information.

Oprah going vegan

2008-05-23T13:48:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-23T13:27:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-21T11:03:00.005-04:00

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

2008-05-16T10:55:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-15T13:03:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-09T15:48:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-07T11:01:00.005-04:00

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

2008-05-02T14:07:00.005-04:00

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!

Can how much you eat influence your baby's gender?

2008-04-25T11:22:00.006-04:00

A new study came out this week that's been getting buzz all over the internet, papers, magazines, and tv. The study from the UK found that women who ate breakfast and a higher quality diet with more vitamins and minerals were more likely to conceive boys than those who skipped the most-important-meal-of-the-day. They also ate more calories overall prior to conceiving - 2413 for boy mamas vs 2283 for girl mamas. (The boy moms were more likely to be exercising to use up the excess calories because there were no differences in weight or body size between the groups.) Of the 740 British women in the study, about 56% of the women in the highest third for calorie intake had boys versus about 45% of the women in the lowest third for calorie intake. Some researchers say that this makes sense as boys are more likely to be conceived in times of plenty because it takes more calories and nutrients to support the male embryo.
When I read these articles, I seriously thought it might be April 1st and it was all a big joke -- I mean it's the male sperm that determines the gender so why would the mom's diet make a difference? (After looking it up on the National Institutes of Health, it turns out the study is real and was just published.) But, maybe the mom's diet plays a role in which sperm gets to nab the coveted egg. Thinking about my own experience, I have 2 boys and know that I always eat breakfast and exercise regularly, so could it be true? Does this theory hold up for your experience?
Before you jump on the bandwagon and start eating more or less in the hopes of choosing the gender you want (if you're trying to conceive), there are definitely a few flaws I can see in the theory: 1) In developed countries, like the UK and US, there's always plenty -- in fact most of us eat too much -- so it would make sense that there should be more boys than girls, but that's not the case 2) the researchers site that women on diets are the reason for the trend that girl births outnumber boys in the last 40 years, yet calorie intake has increased for everyone (2283 calories for the moms of girl babies is more than anyone was eating 30 or 40 years ago -- doesn't seem like they were dieting. Calorie intake has been steadily increasing over time - women eat about 350 more calories per day on average than they did in 1970).
The bottomline is that more research is needed to confirm whether a mom's pre-conception diet can influence her baby's gender. The one thing we know for sure is adequate nutrition before and during pregnancy does increase the odds of having a well baby, regardless of the gender. So, eat breakfast and a balanced diet since a happy, healthy bundle of joy is the most important outcome of all.

Easy and Healthy Snack for you (and the kids)

2008-04-22T13:00:00.004-04:00

On August 7th of last year, I shared with you a healthy and fun snack that my daughter and I discovered (see that post for the recipe). Well, we have added onto the original idea and thought I would share the enhanced version with you. What is great about this snack -- is that it's great for moms and dads! (As well as the kids).
1. Slice some fruit, any kind will do -- apples, strawberries, bananas, pineapples, cantaloupes, grapes (no slicing necessary), etc
2. In separate bowls put yogurt and all natural peanut butter -- this could get messy, but it is fun.
3. In a few more bowls add colored sprinkles, semisweet choco chips, granola, chopped nuts (find in baking section or chop yourself), colored sugar, etc.
4. Now, dip, dip and dip away. You may have to use a spoon or finger to smear the peanut butter if it does not stick.
5. Make sure to leave some for the kids.
I usually have everything sitting out and ready to eat and share when the kiddos get home from school. Try it!

Chocolate to help you lose weight

2008-04-18T14:10:00.004-04:00

There's a great, delicious product that I would recommend to anyone who's been trying to eat well balanced, feel satisfied and keep the calories down - and guess what? - it's chocolate, real melt-in-your-mouth chocolate. Surprised to hear a dietitian say so? Nope, studies show that including small amounts of really satisfying treats in a balanced diet helps people stick to those diets and take off weight for the long term. But my suggestion is not just any run-of-the-mill chocolate, however. I am a big fan of Hershey's Extra Dark portion-controlled, packaged squares. At 45 calories each, you can have one or two without any concern for blowing your diet and believe me you will feel satisfied.
I'm sure you've heard that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is rich in antioxidants and can have real health benefits, such as decreasing blood pressure. (In fact, studies show just a small amount everyday can have this effect.) The Extra Dark squares contain a hefty dose of the antioxidant flavanols thanks to being 60% cocoa and even have nice amounts of fiber and iron. And if you're worried about the fat and saturated fat in them, don't. Most of it is a kind called stearic acid, which has been shown to have no effect on cholesterol levels, the main concern with saturated fats. Plus, if you're losing weight, which is easier if you can have calorie-controlled, yet satisfying treats, your cholesterol will come down as the pounds come off.
I can practically feel my blood pressure lowering, as I enjoy two squares every day at 3 o'clock with a cup of antioxidant-rich pomegranate flavored white tea. It's such a flavorful and satisfying afternoon lift, it's all I need to hold me to dinner. If I could describe to you how luscious they are - well, you should really just get a bag and give them a try.

Easy and Healthy Meal

2008-04-15T15:22:00.005-04:00

I made a spaghetti meal the other night that my children loved and was very healthy for them -- I want to share it with you.
Add mashed or pureed sweet potatoes (microwave on high for 10-12 minutes) to ground beef with some crushed garlic. Make whole wheat spaghetti and serve with the cooked sweet potato ground beef mixture.
The sweet potato made the ground beef sweet -- one child ate it with tomato sauce and my other child ate it alone without the sauce. Try it -- it is a great way to add nutrition to a kid's favorite meal. By the way, the sweet potato has been ranked as a highly nutritious food. See the stats for yourself below --
Sweet Potato Nutrition Facts
(for one medium size sweet potato)
Calories 130
Fat 0 g
Protein 2.15 g
Net Carbs 31.56 g
Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
Calcium 28.6 mg
Sodium 16.9 mg
Potassium 265.2 mg
Folate 18.2 mcg
Vitamin C 29.51 mg
Vitamin A 26081.9 IU
Source: US Department of Agriculture

Vitamin D and your health

2008-04-15T14:45:00.004-04:00

I just recently returned from a trip to Boston where I heard a lecture by Dr. Michael Hollick, MD, PhD (means he is both a clinical doctor and a scientist) from the Boston University Medical Center. He is world-renown for his research in vit D. Click here to see his website as well as his latest review in the New England Journal of Medicine. He not only sees patients but he also conducts research on vitamin D status and health. In his studies, he has found that low levels of vit D may be partly responsible for many of the illnesses we suffer from today. Aside from bone problems, other health problems such as arthritis, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, unexplained bone and muscle pain as well as certain cancers may be affected by not getting enough vit D. Given our aversion to the sun because of the risk of cancer and the increase use of sunblock, he argues that most people are probably either vit D deficient or insufficient. Here are some recommendations to make sure you are getting enough vit D --
-- get your and your family's blood levels checked next time you get lab work done, ask for your 25 (OH) D levels to be checked as this is the major circulating form of the vitamin. You want your level to be above 30 ng/ml.
-- next, make sure and allow your legs and arms to receive 10-15 minutes of sunlight a day. Sunblock blocks the vit D producing rays, so do not add the sunblock to your arms and legs until they have been exposed to the sun for 10-15 minutes.
-- take a vit D supplement with 400-1000IU of vit D -- depending on your lab results your doctor may want to increase the amount of your supplement.
-- enough vit D is hard to get from foods alone --

Cod Liver Oil, 1 Tbs: 1,360 IU
Salmon, cooked, 3 1/2 oz: 360 IU
Mackerel, cooked, 3 1/2 oz: 345 IU
Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 3 1/2 oz: 270 IU
Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, 1 c: 98 IU
Margarine, fortified, 1 Tbs: 60 IU
Pudding, 1/2 c prepared from mix and made with vitamin D fortified milk: 50 IU
Dry cereal, Vitamin D fortified w/10% of the recommended daily value, 3/4 c: 40-50 IU (other cereals may be fortified with more or less vitamin D)
Liver, beef, cooked, 3 1/2 oz: 30 IU
Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is present in the yolk): 25 IU

Source: National Institute of Health
For example, one cup of milk supplies half of your daily need (200 IU adults, 400 IU pregnant or lactating). However, we are finding that our daily need may be higher than originally thought. So, although, I do not normally recommend supplements, in this case, a supplement may be necessary -- make sure and talk to your doctor first.

Speed a sluggish metabolism

2008-04-03T16:38:00.004-04:00

The term “metabolism,” especially in terms of weight loss and gain, gets kicked around a lot. For many, this is an ambiguous term that is either blamed for weight gain (as in, “I have a slow metabolism”) or blamed for the ability of skinny people to eat all they want and stay skinny (as in they have a “fast metabolism”)! We all have a metabolism and what we want to do is keep it stoked so that it’s using fuel (food) at a good rate. Here are ways to actually “work out” and strengthen your metabolism to aim for the highly coveted “fast metabolism.”
- Eat every 3-4 hours (doesn't have to be a full meal but something)
- Aerobically exercise 30 minutes on most days (high enough intensity to break a sweat) and strength train 2-3 days a week (hard enough so your muscles feel fatigued)
- Increase the amount of protein and fiber in your diet -- beans and other legumes accomplish both
Other foods that may help boost metabolism:
- Green and oolong teas have been found to increase energy burned by about 3% and decrease body fat by 14%. Recommendation: 5 cups a day is the goal and it can be decaf.
- Spicy foods, like cayenne and hot peppers, have capsaicin thought to raise metabolic rate slightly. Recommendation: Whenever you can handle the heat.
- Caffeine in coffee, colas and energy drinks, is a stimulant and may increase metabolism slightly. Recommendation: Don't start downing a lot of caffeine but a cup of joe, especially before a workout, has been shown to increase endurance and make it feel less strenuous.

A Hint of flavored hydration

2008-03-28T15:31:00.003-04:00

Discovered a new product that can help you stay hydrated, especially important now that the weather is getting warmer and exercising outside is a good option for taking off the baby fat. It's called HINT and it's basically water with just a hint (hence the name) of flavor at the end of your swig. It has no calories, no artificial sweeteners or sugar and it's in the loveliest bottle. You can throw it in the bottom of the jogging stroller and take sips as you go. The only drawback is it's on the expensive side at $1.79 per 16 ouncer. For a similar at home experience slice oranges, lemons, limes or kiwi into a pitcher of water and put in your fridge.

Lose the Baby Fat with Sleep

2008-03-24T16:12:00.002-04:00

There is new research to show that moms do need to sleep, especially if you want to lose your baby fat. A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that women who slept less than 5 hours a night were 3x's as likely to keep at least 11 extra pounds from their pregnancy. This just adds to what we already know -- that not sleeping enough can release hormones that can lead to overeating. So, for the sake of losing weight, take those naps and get at least 8 hours a night

Healthier takeout

2008-03-21T16:35:00.005-04:00

The last two times we've tried to take the kids out to dinner - they're ages 2 and almost 5 - it's been a disaster. My husband and I ended up tag teaming, where one of us shovels the food in while the other keeps the toddler from standing up on his seat and the preschooler from going under the table. Then we switch so the other can eat. Really not an enjoyable experience. So, our answer has been to do takeout as our treat instead. Since I'm a dietitian, I of course have to think about ways to make the meal the best it can be while still enjoying a night off from cooking. Here are some of my tips:
1) Supplement the meal with a bagged salad or frozen veggies. Minimal work but boosts the nutrients.
2) Customize your order. (Bonus: you won't get the dirty looks from the waiter if you call it in.) "Steamed, with sauce on the side" is my regular catchphrase.
3) Tell them you don't want the bread, fried noodles or chips that are usually mindlessly eaten while waiting for your order in the restaurant - they'll be no waiting since the food will be ready to eat as soon as you get it home.
4) Box up leftovers as soon as everyone fills their plate. No need to leave it out, just tempts picking.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my homebound eating situation. A survey from the Food Marketing Institute found that 28% of people with children aged zero to six orders in, takes out or drives through at least once a week compared to only 17% of parents with children aged seven to seventeen. Looks like it may get easier to get out in a few more years.

Two super easy fish recipes

2008-03-13T16:18:00.004-04:00

Now that you know how good fish is for you (omega-3s, lean protein) - here are my two favorite fish recipes:
Honey Mustard Salmon (serves 4)
Mix 1 Tbs of dijon mustard with 2 Tbs of honey. Pour over 1 lb salmon fillet. Bake at 450 for 10-20 minutes until opaque.

Garlicky Tilapia (serves 4)
Stir together 1-2 cloves of miced garlic with 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 Tbs olive oil. Pour over 1 lb tilapia. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and 1 Tbs dried oregano. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

These are so quick and use few ingredients. They are in my regular rotation of dinners for a busy day.

Fish is Fast Food

2008-03-10T21:18:00.007-04:00

Eating fish two-three times a week has tremendous health benefits. What most people do not realize is that fish is actually a fast food. See below for different ways of cooking fish and the cooking times, you will be amazed at how little time it takes fish to cook (5-20 minutes depending on the fish). So, go ahead and plan for fish on your busy nights and you will have an easy, healthy meal in minutes.

There are multiple ways to cook fish.

Boil: Shellfish, such as lobster, lobster tails, crab, crab legs and shrimp, can easily be
cooked in boiling water. Once the shells turn bright orange or red, test the meat to make
sure the temperature has reached 140 degrees F. If so, your food is ready – this only
takes about 3-8 minutes depending on the size of your shell fish, so make sure to keep a
close eye on the color change.

Steam: This cooking method is great for more delicate fish. Just place seafood on a rack or steamer basket over a shallow amount of boiling water (you can even use your rice cooker if it has a steaming basket). Then cover tightly and cook shrimp for 2 to 5 minutes and other fish, including crab and lobster for 10 to 15 minutes (again make sure the internal temperature has reached at least 130 degrees F, see below for FDA recommended temps).

Sauté (Pan Fry): Use this method to cook fish fillets or steaks. Start by heating 3 tablespoons of olive or canola oil in a non-stick skillet over Medium to Medium-High heat. Once the oil is hot, add the fish and cook 6 to 8 minutes until light brown, turning once halfway through cooking. Be careful, since this is a fast cooking method it is very easy to get the oil too hot or to over-cook the fish. A great option is to dip the fish in non-fat milk or beaten egg and dip in a mixture of whole wheat bread crumbs and flaxseed meal before cooking.

Poach: This method uses liquid to gently cook fish. First heat the liquid, such as wine,
water, fish stock or milk (add just enough to cover the fish). Then, cover the pan tightly
and cook fillets just below the boiling point. Cook fillets 8 to 10 minutes and whole fish 15
to 20 minutes. You can then use the leftover poaching liquid as the base for a sauce.

Microwave : You can cook almost any boneless fish fillet or steak in the microwave. First,
place fish in a single layer in a shallow dish with a small amount of liquid (any of the above
recommendations will do). Then cover with plastic wrap with a few vent holes. Lastly, cook
fish 3 minutes per pound on high power, turning fish over once during cooking. If you want to add salt do so after cooking (or try lemon pepper or garlic salt for more flavor).

Additional Fish Tips -

Resist the temptation to over-cook fish until it "flakes." Flaky fish is actually a sign that your fish is becoming dry. The best way to tell if your fish is done is to notice the color change from translucent to opaque (usually white).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests cooking fish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. The optimal temperature to enjoy various types of fish may vary (130-145 degrees F) according to individual preference for texture and taste.
Use fresh seafood the day you purchase or freeze within two days. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse in cold water, drain and pat dry.

Get outside - Spring is almost here

2008-03-07T17:09:00.004-05:00

Spring is almost here in the Northeast. Every March, the weather goes back and forth between nice and yuck. We've had some gorgeous 60 degree sunny days, followed by a few dreadfully gloomy days in the 30s, then it goes back up again. I've been taking advantage of the nice ones by going powerwalking outside with my toddler in the stroller and taking the kids to the playground after preschool. It definitely lifts my spirits. For some of the most durable and reliable strollers designed to get out and get active, check out babyjogger.com. They are versatile, comfy for your little one and even fold up pretty easily. My jogger helped me take off the baby weight from 2 kids. And it's lasted from infancy to age 4 and still going with my younger one.
Here's to spring, springing (for good) anyday now!

The fat you need

2008-02-28T16:39:00.004-05:00

If you're pregnant, nursing or had a baby in the last several years, hopefully your doctor recommended that you eat foods with DHA, and take a DHA supplement or a prenatal vitamin with DHA in it. DHA is one of those healthy omega-3 fats that has been shown to help with developing eye and brain function in babies - in the womb and out. It's passed along from the mom to baby in utero and in breastmilk. Many infant formulas are also fortified with the nutrient.
After sampling many products on the market, we've found a couple of decent-tasting ones that make it easier to choke down all the extra DHA you need during these critical times. Bellybar Chews are chocolate and citrus flavored supplements - similar in texture and taste to Viactiv - that have 50 mg of DHA in each (they also have calcium and vitamin D, which women tend to fall short on as well). While you need 200-300 mg of DHA each day, popping a couple here and there while including other foods with DHA (Eggland's Best fortified eggs have 100 mg each) may be more enjoyable than swallowing a DHA horse pill. Another good choice that gives you all of your DHA in one shot is Coromega liquid supplements. They taste good straight or you can mix one into your OJ.

Salt may be making us fat

2008-02-22T09:13:00.004-05:00

If your family has been packing on the pounds, the culprit could be too much sodium. An interesting new study from London just came out in the journal Hypertension that showed a higher salt intake in kids was linked to a greater likelihood of becoming overweight and obese. The reason? Researchers speculate that all that salt makes the kids thirsty and they end up drinking loads of calories from soda and other drinks. While switching everyone in your family to water instead of all the liquid calories is one solution, reducing the amount of sodium you eat is beneficial for lowering blood pressure and heart disease risk as well.
Bottomline: when you're shopping keep an eye on the sodium too. While sodium is found in many of the obvious places like snack foods and fast food, lunch meats, cheeses and breads are often also full of salt. Look for lower sodium versions of these (Alpine Lace, Boar's Head, Ezekiel bread).
Luckily many food companies are on board with getting the salt down. I've noticed many new varieties of lower sodium soups on the grocery store shelves lately and Campbell's just announced they'd be lowering the sodium level in 12 of their condensed soups marketed to children. There's also good research showing that eating broth-based soups before meals helps to lower the number of calories you eat at that meal; so soup can be a great diet tool.

Are you really hungry?

2008-02-19T15:10:00.004-05:00

If it is not your typical meal time or if it is after dinner and you should not be hungry but find yourself wanting food, then you are probably not truly hungry. For most, we are no longer in tune with our hunger signals. We eat for all kinds of reasons beyond true physiological hunger. So, let's start today to identify if we are truly hungry. Start by asking yourself the following questions --

Am I thirsty? -- If so, have a glass of water
Tired? -- this can lead to craving carbs, instead take a nap or take an energizing walk
Bored? -- find something to do other than eating
When was the last time I ate – was it less than 3 hours ago? -- If not, you should not be hungry
Can I wait 15 minutes before I eat again? Until the next meal? -- If so, leave the kitchen or put down the treat you picked up from the check out line and distract yourself until your next meal.
On a scale from 1 to 10, what is my hunger? One represents not very hungry while 10 represents extremely hungry. If you rate yourself an 8, 9 or 10, it’s time to eat.

You may be surprised at how many "false" hunger signals we experience throughout the day.

The link between clutter and overweight

2008-02-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

Just caught a really interesting episode of Oprah with Peter Walsh, the de-clutter expert and author of "Does this clutter make my butt look fat?" The show was about an overweight family and the link between all of the excess stuff and the excess weight. There were some really good points Peter made:

eating healthfully is impossible in an overcluttered kitchen (many people resort to takeout or eating out when their sink, refrigerator or cabinets are a mess)
children model the behavior of their parents, including all of the excess

It served as a good reminder that environment plays a huge role in a child's healthy development. If we want kids to move freely in their surroundings and learn appropriate amounts of everything, we need to do our best to resist excess. If we want our children to eat right and exercise, we better eat right and exercise. Sometimes it's easy to forget that those little ones are watching all of our healthy or unhealthy habits. Here are some tips from Peter for tackling the excess:

stop buying "stuff" - de-cluttering is first and foremost
choose what's good and not what's easy (in other words, nourish yourself with a homemade meal and give the takeout menus a leave of absence)

With these points in mind, I think I'll go do the dishes and then get dinner started!

Eating for Energy

2008-02-04T16:53:00.001-05:00

We could all use some extra energy - well, maybe not if you are under10 years of age. For those of us that are not bursting at the seams and running and skipping to everywhere we go, there are some healthy ways to feel more energetic. Besides exercising, which actually increases your energy level, there are certain eating habits that can also help. Ask yourself the following questions to see if your lack of energy is diet related --
-- first, have you eaten in the past 3-4 hours?
-- Are you eating healthy foods, that contain carbohydrates, such as fruits, veggies, low-fat yogurt and whole grain carbs?
-- Are you getting enough iron in your diet (you need 18 mg/day)? You can find iron in whole grain foods, beans, lentils, leafy greens, blackstrap molasses, iron-fortified cereals and beef and dark cuts of chicken. Vit C will help you absorb iron, so eat an orange or drink some orange juice with your iron-containing food.
-- How many glasses of liquid have you drank today? Make sure you stay hydrated -- drink your water.

Coffee is good for you?

2008-01-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

You may have heard reports that coffee is the next miracle food. From decreasing the risk of developing diabetes to decreasing the risk of Parkinsons and even preventing cavities -- there is a new-found love of coffee. Starbucks, get ready! Here is a list of what drinking coffee might do for you --
decrease diabetes risk
decrease Parkinson's risk
cure your headache
improve your mood
help your workouts
make you more alert
help you on tests
decrease your cavities
(click here for more on the health benefits of coffee)
Coffee is a plant based food and thus contains antioxidants and other nutrients as well as caffeine that may provide health benefits. But before you go ahead and up your java intake or start the java habit, you need to be aware of the down-sides and how coffee may affect you as an individual. There are studies that show that coffee may increase your cholesterol levels. Also, a new study out of Duke University Medical school found that caffeine increased blood sugar levels in those with type 2 diabetes. Caffeine has also been shown to increase nervousness, anxiety and sleeplessness. So, bottom line -- if you currently drink coffee and do not experience any of the negative effects listed, then you are probably okay. For those of you who do not personally know "Joe"; drink it early in the day and take it slow to make sure you and "Joe" can be friends. Coffee is not necessarily for everyone -- if you have made it this far without coffee -- you are probably okay without it. You can get the health benefits listed above (and more) by eating your fruit (3), vegetables (3) and legumes (1/2 cup) daily.

Race ya!

2008-01-23T15:55:00.000-05:00

Think you need to join an expensive gym or buy lots of pricey equipment to get yourself in shape? Not according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Wearing a pedometer - a basic one usually costs under $10 - may be all you need. In the study, participants increased the amount of physical activity by 27% when they started wearing one and better yet, they experienced significant health gains. They lost body weight and lowered their blood pressure. Setting a goal of 10,000 steps per day was helpful; even if they didn't acheive the goal, they were more likely to increase their activity somewhat.
Try this: Go get a pedometer for everyone in the family. (You can make them your Valentine's Day presents.) Start a contest to see who can get the most steps by the end of each day.
I'm going to try this with my family and I'll keep you posted how we're doing. My four year old is obsessed with races and who can "win" at anything and everything (fastest getting dressed, brushing teeth, etc). He's going to love this challenge!

Seamless "diet" recipe

2008-01-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

Just read an article that reiterates our mantra: diet tips that work are those that fit into your life seamlessly. Here's a recipe makeover that I made for dinner last night that defines what we mean. It's a classic: delicious, easy, fast and you'll never notice how much healthier it is!
Ingredients (for 6 servings):
12 oz whole wheat spaghetti
26 oz jar tomato sauce (low sodium is better but your favorite is fine)
1.3 lb ground turkey (breast is better)
Parmesan cheese

Cook the spaghetti according to directions. Meanwhile brown the ground turkey in a skillet. Drain the excess fat if you use 93% lean ground turkey - if you use breast there won't be any excess fat. Pour the tomato sauce over the cooked meat; heat through. Top the pasta with the meat sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan if desired. Serve with a side salad.

How easy is that. Dinner in about 15 minutes. You can make over any of your favorite dinners by substituting ingredients that are lower in fat, calories and contain more nutrients than the old standbys.

Support for your New Year Resolutions

2008-01-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

Hopefully you are still going strong with your health resolutions. At this point, it may make sense to enlist some help and support. Studies show that snail mail reminders and tips help people reach their health and wellness goals, as well as support from family and friends. So, to help support your goals get a subscription to a good magazine. Some of my favorites are Prevention, Self, Health, and Natural Health. Each month you will get new tips and strategies as well as information that can help support your efforts. Also, tell your family and friends about what you are trying to achieve and ask them to ask you how you are doing. Believe it or not, just knowing that you will be asked about your progress can help. To help spread the word and get additional support -- you can use a new (and free) online program from Wellfolio.com (CarrotMe!). It not only allows you to set goals and track your progress; but you get to share your progress with your supporters while they cheer you on and provide incentives to keep you motivated.

Family meals promote children's healthy eating

2008-01-11T15:42:00.000-05:00

Eating with your kids is very important to their long term health. A new study found that when families ate together 5 or more times a week, children were more likely to establish healthy eating habits and less likely to participate in unhealthy eating and dieting behaviors. The researchers looked at adolescents, ages 13-16. Specifically, they found a strong relationship related to girls; the less a family ate together, the greater the potential for disordered eating and extreme weight loss measures (diet pills, laxatives, bulimia).

While my children are still quite young, I recognize the strong messages and eating behaviors that are established when you sit down together for a meal. Children look to adults for cues about what they should be eating and are certainly more likely to try new foods and eat vegetables if they see you do it. I know this is how my 4 year old started eating salmon; he saw us doing it. Lately, we've had a tough time sitting down to dinner as a family since my husband doesn't get home from work until after the kids' bedtimes. But, it's important for many reasons to eat together; so, we've come up with a few solutions that may work for you, too, if you have the same dilemma:

on the weekend have family meals several times, including lunch or breakfast; make sure to have a variety of healthy foods (even when eating out)
during the week, eat together as much as possible - breakfast may work better on some days; perhaps schedules can be altered to go to the office earlier one or two days to come home earlier for dinner
resist over scheduling children with activities so they are always eating on the run; set a rule for the number of days participating in extra-curricular activities and get all of your kids on the same schedule
if every member of the family can't join for dinner, that's okay; still sit down and eat a balanced meal with those that can

Mealtime is so important to the well being of your children. Besides establishing good eating habits and offering greater nutrition, it's a time to catch up on events of the day or week and unwind together. In the hectic race through life, slowing down and eating together are the times you will cherish and remember, and so will your kids.

2008 New Year Resolutions

2008-01-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick list to add to your 2008 Healthier Eating New Year Resolutions.
-- Eat 1/2 cup serving of beans (eat all kinds including soy beans) and lentils every day - do not add any fat, instead add some garlic or other spices for seasoning.
-- Eat a handful, just a handful (1.5 ounces) of nuts a day. That is about 30 almonds, 21 walnuts, 42 peanuts, 67 pistachios, 27 pecans and 15 macadamias.
-- Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day (or try for 10, which has been shown to decrease the risk for several cancers) -- count at the end of the day to make sure you hit your goal.
-- Drink water instead of calorie-laden drinks or drinks full of artificial sugars and colors. Or, at least swap water for another beverage twice a day.
-- Exercise, do something everyday. Even if it is just jumping in place to your favorite music. You can exercise in spurts - research shows that three 10 minute sessions of exercise a day can provide health benefits (and, not to mention, will help you maintain a healthy weight)!
Cheers to a healthy 2008!

The smell of weight loss?

2008-01-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

I ran across a blurb in the latest edition of Health Magazine about a research study that showed participants experienced reduced cravings for sweets and subsequent weight loss by wearing a vanilla-scented arm patch. I looked up the study and while it was done in 2000, it does seem that perhaps there's some validity to the notion that the scent of vanilla may curb cravings for sweets. Here's another article that reported on the study. Lighting up a vanilla-scented candle or wearing a vanilla-scented spray is a pretty low cost way to potentially help you pass up that basket of leftover holiday treats. And even if it doesn't work you and your house will smell really nice.

Exercise a matter of time?

2007-12-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

A new study from Wake Forest shows that people who have flexibility at work tend to have better health habits including getting more exercise. The researchers surveyed 3200 workers over the course of a year. Interestingly when a person's work situation became more flexible (from the beginning of the study to the end of the study) certain health habits improved but they were not necessarily more apt to workout. In some cases having more time meant more time to exercise, but for others it seemed not to make a difference.
Of the people that I know who exercise there are two types of personalities. One type would exercise no matter what their work or home situation; this person fits it in early in the morning, late in the evening and on weekends. She makes sure that there is a convenient way to get in her workout. Exercise is a regimen and is scheduled the way that meetings or other important appointments are. The other type of personality exercises when it is convenient but working out tends to fall farther on the list of priorities so may fall off the list altogether. I would say this is the more common personality.
As we approach January 1 and the date of New Year's resolutions including many peoples' vows to exercise more, it would be of benefit to try to become more like the first type of exercise personality - the one that makes exercise like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, something that's a necessary part of the day. Start by finding the time of day that works for you, schedule it in and make it a no excuses must-do. I'm not a morning person, so for me the best time is in the evening after I put the kids to bed and before my husband comes home from work. I have equipment for my home and there's a tv show on at that time, which I enjoy. I tell myself in order to watch it, I have to be on the treadmill or elliptical machine. There's no negotiations.
Flexibility at work, at home or not at all, if exercise is part of the routine, it will surely be accomplished. And when we're talking about seeking weight loss and lifelong weight maintenance, exercise is a necessary component. As your resolution this year, find the way to make exercise a must-do part of your life.

Delish dish in just 10 minutes

2007-12-13T11:07:00.001-05:00

It seems like my day has gotten shorter. Although I know that intuitively a day is still 24 hours as it always was, it just feels like I've lost a number of hours somewhere. (And when I say "somewhere" I mean changing diapers, doing infinite loads of laundry, cleaning up spills from under the high chair, fetching milk, water, yogurt, crackers, etc, playing game after game of Candyland, you know what I mean). When it comes time to make dinner I need things that are quicker to make than ever and more importantly, from ingredients that I have in the house. (If I have to run to the grocery store, forget it. I'll just order a pizza.) So, I am thrilled to share my newest recipe creation that takes - get this - 10 minutes! Here's what you'll need to buy in your weekly grocery shopping:
1/2 pound frozen or fresh shrimp
1 bag steam-in-the-bag veggies (Birds Eye SteamFresh Asian mix is what I used - any are fine)
1 bottle of Asian salad dressing (Ken's Sesame Ginger Light is what I used)
Boil-in-bag brown rice (5 or 10 minute)
1 bag frozen edemame or soybeans

Serves 2. (Double ingredients if you want to serve 4.)
First put the water on to boil for the rice. Run 1/2 pound of shrimp under cold water to defrost (or use fresh). Put a saute pan on medium-high heat for the shrimp. Put a bag of rice in the boiling water - when there's five minutes left on cooking the rice throw 2/3 cup edemame into the boiling water with the rice bag. Pop the veggies in the microwave for 5 minutes. Peel the shrimp and throw in the heated pan with 1-2 Tbs of the salad dressing. Cook about 2-3 minutes until shrimp are no longer pink. Everything should be done at the same time. Drain the water from the rice bag and edemame. Divide among two bowls: the rice, the veggies, the edemame, and the shrimp.
Voila - dinner's done in 10 minutes! It's really healthy, too - you've got veggies, whole grains, fish and legumes with just a touch of sodium from the dressing. The portions are a good size - my husband was definitely satisfied with the meal. This one is definitely being added to my rotation.
Gotta run - just heard the cereal bowl being thrown from the high chair!

Fertility Diet follow up

2007-12-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

I got an email yesterday from the authors of the Fertility Diet in response to my last posting about the book. Apparently they had gotten one negative, rather lengthy review on Amazon from a woman that took issue with the book. (They were pleased to see a positive response from a dietitian to counter her opinion.) The critic's main argument is that the book takes too many leaps by making recommendations based off of just a few studies and that women will believe that changing their diet is a cure for infertility and fail to seek help from their doctors. While she presents an interesting case, I don't agree with her analysis. When analyzing whether recommendations are sound I look for several things - these are the questions you can ask yourself when deciding if a "diet" is appropriate:
- Is it based off of research? Is there a body of research and not just one study? Are the studies large, lengthy and reputable?
- Do the recommendations jive with what we know from other research?
- Will following this eating pattern harm the person in any way?
- Is there a lifestyle component to the recommendations?
Since the recommendations passed these criteria and following the eating pattern is more healthful for multiple reasons, I gave it a green light. In addition, I think that people are wise enough to know that while diet and lifestyle are an important part of health, seeing a doctor for a specific condition is a necessary aspect of care.
Nutrition is an interesting field because we learn new information everyday while we have to make recommendations based off of the best knowledge that we have at the time. So, while nutrition is a definite science with hard data there is an element of judgement that comes into play. To make the best diet choices for yourself, you can look to credentialed experts for help and be your own judge by asking and answering the right questions. And most important of all - will eating this way work for you, can you implement these recommendations into your daily life? Only YOU can answer these questions.

Trouble getting pregnant may be related to diet

2007-12-07T12:48:00.001-05:00

A new book called "The Fertility Diet" has some interesting insight into the potential link between what a woman eats and her ease with getting pregnant. I would normally think something with this title could be folklore, however, the diet is based on research from the Harvard School of Public Health and the book is written by the study authors. They're on the Dec 10th cover of Newsweek along with an article summarizing the data. The researchers looked at over 18,000 women that are part of the ongoing Nurse's Health Study, which is a huge, long-term research project assessing the effects of diet on a number of diseases. They found that women who readily got pregnant ate a diet with lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, and plant proteins and ate less trans fats and animal protein. The women who had fertility and ovulation issues were eating nearly the opposite. Interestingly, they also found that consuming whole milk foods - ice cream, cheeses, full fat yogurt -was beneficial for fertility. The book also mentions exercise and maintaining a healthy weight as key lifestyle factors in promoting fertility.

Bottomline: The book gets the green light for overall soundness and balance. The Fertility Diet promotes a healthy diet rich in the foods you should eat the most - whole grains, fruits, vegetables - and those you should eat the least - fatty meats, baked goods, and processed snack foods. While having full fat dairy is more controversial since it is high in saturated fat, dairy overall is rich in calcium and other nutrients your body needs. Just stick to 1-2 appropriate portions per day if the dairy is full fat: 1/2 cup ice cream, 1 oz cheese, 1 cup yogurt. If you've been trying to get pregnant and are having trouble, paying attention to your diet and making healthier choices is certainly a step in the right direction.

High-calorie holiday season underway

2007-11-30T11:14:00.000-05:00

Now that the holiday season is officially underway, like me, you probably have a million family and friend gatherings/parties in the next month. No matter what religion you do or don't practice, this time of year tends to bring people together and that always means lots of food. Thanksgiving weekend we had people over three of the four days and we didn't even have the holiday here! While it's great to get together and being hospitable is important, there are some strategies you can employ so that all the excess eating doesn't carry on throughout the entire month, weekdays and all. Here's what I do:
1) Send everyone home with the leftover dessert they brought. No need to have the calories tempting you all week long.
2) Serve lots of healthy appetizers: hummus and whole wheat pita, crudite with lowfat dip, shrimp cocktail, reduced fat cheese with whole grain crackers, mini turkey meatballs. You and your guests can fill up on the low cal starters and having those leftover all week won't hurt your waistline. Do not serve these hot apps: anything doughy and filled, pigs-in-a-blanket, anything covered in bacon. At 100-200 calories each, they are just not worth it.
3) Start the meal with broth based soup. Studies show it can help reduce total calorie intake. And again, leftovers makes a nice light meal during the week.
4) Swap one of the usual starchy sides - mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls - for an extra vegetable like mashed cauliflower or sauteed spinach. Again, lighter leftovers.
5) Lastly, if someone gives you a nice box of chocolates or another food item as a gift, either serve it to your guests (if you have company over) or take one taste and send the rest into work with your husband for his co-workers. Spread the love and the calories!

Wishing you a relaxing and wonderful start to the holiday season. And remember, it's about being with your loved ones, not the food, gifts or decorations.

Thanksgiving Healthy Tips

2007-11-21T12:11:00.001-05:00

I am looking forward to eating all of my favorite foods at my Mother-in-law's house tomorrow. As is tradition when we eat at her house, I will not be allowed anywhere near the kitchen. It is the one time of the year (we handle all other holidays differently), that no one in my extended family wants to think about healthier versions or portion control or moderation. So, I have to keep my mouth shut. Her cooking methods are very different than mine. She cooks what we in Texas call "down-home" meals. She still uses an iron skillet and Crisco. Although, I do not think she saves the left-over grease anymore - I do need to state that her food is absolutely amazing. Okay, fine, I can work with that, I have a plan (for those of you who are facing the same situation, maybe my plan will work for you).
--wake up and work out before the feasting begins,
-- eat low-fat healthy foods all day, such as fruit and oatmeal in the morning, broth-based soup and salad with lots of veggies at lunch about 3 hours before our Thanksgiving meal (do not make the mistake of starving yourself),
-- and after the meal, I will make sure everyone goes outside and throws the football.
For those of you who have the opportunity to make some healthier substitutions, here are some of my favorite tips for the typical Thanksgiving fare,
- leave the skins on and use skim milk in the mashed potatoes, oh and add pressed garlic,
- eat your sweet potatoes, they are full of nutrition. Make a maple syrup sauce separately and let everyone drizzle on their own potato,
- use spray butter on your rolls,
- eat lots of greens in a salad and add a lot of color with fresh veggies and fruit,
- make your own cranberry relish rather than eating cranberry sauce -- it will have less sugar and whole, fresh cranberries,
- for dessert, just pick two with a portion size equal one serving combined,
- if you drink alcoholic beverages, alternate with water in between.
We hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving

Soup's on!

2007-11-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

As the weather has begun to turn colder in the northeast and I feel like just hibernating, my "winter" instincts have started to kick in. I don't know if you experience the same thing, but it seems like every year when the weather dips my appetite gets stoked. Almost like Mother Nature is trying to pad me up for the winter. (Coincidentally, it coincides with the feast of the holiday season. Go figure.) This year in my attempt to keep myself satisfied and fitting into all my cute sweaters (not hiding in the big bulky ones) I've rediscovered an old friend - soup. Since my "winter instinct" also involves wanting to cook comfort foods, making a big pot of figure-friendly soup goes along quite well. Knowing how nutritious they are, I've been trying to add more beans to my diet so I started by buying a bag of 16 bean mix - it was like $1.19 for a pound and makes a huge amount of soup. After following the directions for a quick rinse and soak (about an hour), I threw them in a pot with 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth, 3 cups of water, sliced carrots and celery to simmer for a couple of hours. While it was cooking I did some work, then played with my kids, got them into bed and even worked out. Voila! My husband and I have had a filling meal of 16 bean soup for dinner every night this week. Making your own soup is so easy and it's much lower in sodium than the canned kind and you can add all kinds of nutritious ingredients. Next week after turkey day I'm going to take the carcass and make a big pot of turkey stock, throw in a bag of split peas and have meals for another week. Just thinking about it makes me feel warm all over! Yum.

Best 100% Juices

2007-11-14T10:15:00.000-05:00

I just ran across an interesting study about 100% fruit juices. The researchers looked at the nutrient density (amount of nutrients or good stuff per calorie) of popular 100% fruit juices. Nutrient density is a good way to make sure your calories count. For example, a prune and a piece of hard candy may have the same number of calories but the prune will be healthier because of the nutrients found in the prune. Out of the seven juices tested, which included apple, grape, pink and white grapefruit, orange, prune and pineapple, two were found to have the most nutrients. Orange juice and pink grapefruit juice were the winners in terms of more good stuff/calorie. Click here to read more about the study.

Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge Menu

2007-11-13T13:14:00.000-05:00

OK, I did it. I really had to focus on the foods that I ate and at times had to stop myself and reach for something "fresh." I definitely had to pay attention and think about what I was eating, beyond what I normally think (given my love of food and health, I think about what I eat all the time in terms of balancing foods and what I and my family may be missing). But, yesterday I had a different focus and I ended up eating very healthy. Here are the foods I ate and the nutrition results for the Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge from yesterday's blog --
Breakfast

oats and skim milk -fresh
orange juice
egg - fresh
grapes - fresh

Snack

raw almonds (fresh) and dark chocolate chips

Lunch

light tuna in water and two pieces whole wheat bread
spinach salad (fresh) with feta, onions (fresh), pressed garlic (fresh), oil and vinegar

Snack

apple (fresh)

Dinner

lentils with stewed tomatoes and pressed garlic (fresh)
chicken breast, all natural (fresh) made with onions (fresh) olive oil and basil (fresh)
steamed brown rice (fresh)
skim milk

Out of 23 foods and beverages (I did not count oils/dressings), I ate 16 fresh, whole foods (based on the definition from yesterday's blog). So, about 70% of my food intake was fresh. Here is the analysis of what I ate --2150 calories, 44% carbs, 20% protein, 35% fat (44% of it was monounsaturated fat - the healthy kind), fiber 34 g (the recommended intake is 25 g). All in all, I did really well. Also, my analysis shows that I met or exceeded most nutrients. There were a few that fell below the recommended value but that is OK, because I will make up for those nutrients throughout the week.

Now, challenge yourself and see how you do -- remember, strive for at least half of your food intake to be fresh.

Eating Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge

2007-11-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

We need to eat fresh, whole foods -- I know, they are not convenient and they go bad if you do not eat them in time. However, it is important to teach our families and ourselves how to eat fresh, whole foods vs. relying heavily on processed foods (which typically have several of the good nutrients stripped out as well as added ingredients that we do not need). For example, new research shows that as produce ripens there is an increase in powerful antioxidants from the break down of chlorophyll, which could be beneficial for health. These are compounds that are found in the whole fruit. By only eating processed foods that are enriched or fortified to make up for the stripped-out nutrients, you can miss out on eating a set of nutrients that need to work together in the whole food to protect your health. There are several nutrients that come in bundles and work together, such as vitamin A and the carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin that take care of our eyesight; or vitamin E and the tocopherols that work together as antioxidants.
Teach yourself and your families to rely on fresh, whole foods and only use processed foods occasionally. This does not mean you should give up your canned fruits and veggies. Although, these are somewhat processed, they are an easy and convenient way to reach the desired 5-10 fruits and veggies a day. Just make sure you are also including fresh, whole foods in your daily diet. And, based on the new study, make sure your produce is ripe. Try this today, count how many processed foods you and your kids eat vs. the number of fresh, whole foods. Try to make sure that at least half of your food intake is fresh and whole. I am going to join you in doing this -- I will write down everything that I eat today and run a nutrient analysis on my foods and will report back tomorrow. I will post what I ate, count the number that were fresh and whole, plus add the nutrition information for my day's menu.
There is no formal definition of "fresh, whole foods," so, for the sake of this challenge, we will include minimally processed whole grains, natural dairy and meats as fresh as well as whole fruits and vegetables. If you are like me, you may be concerned with pesticide contamination or added hormones and antibiotics, if so, make sure to choose the all natural, and organic varieties.

Are energy drinks a tired mom's answer?

2007-11-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

One perusal down the refrigerator case at your convenience store and you'll see an incredible phenomenon taking place in the drink market. A huge array of high priced, highly-caffeinated energy drinks. With the exploding energy drink market - over 300 new energy beverages introduced in 2006 - it's obvious we live in a sleep-deprived, overly-fatigued society, and no one feels it more than the new mom. We're looking for a magic elixir to refresh our energy and recharge our batteries. Are energy drinks the answer? If you're pregnant or nursing the answer is definitely NO. But even for other moms, you need to read the label carefully. There are a lot of ingredients being put into energy drinks that you may not want in your body in the amounts they contain. As an example, guarana, found in many energy drinks, in high doses can cause heart palpitations and raise blood pressure. A recent study presented at the American Heart Association annual meeting indicates the potential dangers. Most energy drinks also contain significant amounts of caffeine, which can cause dependence and highs and lows in energy. You also have to watch for the calories; similar to regular soda at 70-150 calories per 8-ounces in the non sugar-free versions, they can pack on pounds if it becomes a daily habit. Bottom line: Try natural energy boosters first.

Eat regularly
Drink plenty of water
Take power naps (20 minutes does wonders)
Exercise moderately for 30 minutes a day

If you still feel lethargic, visit the doctor for a check up to rule out potential health issues.

For those who still want their energy drinks: An energy drink once in a while likely won't cause much harm but you're better off avoiding them. Save only for special circumstances where high doses of caffeine is crucial - like the morning after being up all night with a sick baby and you have a big presentation to give.

Anti-aging and Dr. Oz on Oprah

2007-11-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Did you happen to catch Oprah today? I happend to hit the gym at 4pm today and caught Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about staying young -- that is a topic of interest as I am starting to look very tired in the mornings, even with a good night's sleep. He just put out a new book and was detailing some of his strategies for staying young -- I loved the recommendations for keeping your house free of toxins. I can't wait to tell my husband that I am not crazy when I ask him to take his drycleaning out of the plastic bags right away and drive with the windows down to air them out. He also had recommendations on diet, he recommended vit D supplements, and high antioxidant foods. The vit D supplements may make sense given that new research finds that there is vit D deficiency in many of the elderly who live in the North -- for those of you in sunnier states, direct sunlight for 15 minutes a day takes care of your vit D needs. Also, eating high antioxidant, fresh foods is a great way to take care of yourself -- luckily, Mother Nature loves antioxidants and if you eat your 5-10 veggies a day, you are probably getting a good amount of antioxidants. Great antioxidant foods include -- berries, citrus fruits, grapes, nuts and seeds, dark green veggies, onions, garlic, whole grains, and yes, cocoa and chocolate. Dr. Oz also talks about calorie restriction as a way to slow aging, although there is some research on this subject, we do not know all the possible effects of essentially starving your body. For most moms not eating enough food can have a detrimental impact on your mood, energy level, and ability to think clearly, as well as modeling good eating behaviors for your kids. Also, most people when cutting down on calories, may cut out several important foods needed for long-term health. If you determine that calorie restriction is something you want to try -- talk to your physician and get a referral to a dietitian so they can help you do it in a healthy way.
My advice on staying young, aside from not smoking, using sunblock and exercising, is to eat a healthy, balanced diet everyday with --
- 10 servings of fruits and veggies,
- only whole grain carbs,
- at least one serving of beans and nuts a day,
- only low fat meats and low fat dairy,
- and very important --- leave lots of room for laughter and play time with your family and friends.
If you want to read more about Dr. Oz's recommendations or take his stay young quiz, click here.

Breastfeeding for cancer prevention

2007-11-02T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yet another reason to breastfeed. A huge report just came out of the American Institute for Cancer Research that focuses on the most important lifestyle changes you can make to prevent cancer. Lots of the recommendations are the same as you've heard before for an overall healthy lifestyle and for weight loss: exercise, eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, limit sugary, processed and fast foods, limit salt intake. The one recommendation that I was surprised to see on the list was to breastfeed and to do so exclusively for at least 6 months. It's interesting to me because the whole focus of the report is on cancer prevention. So, in addition to the weight loss benefits, the bonding aspect and the numerous ways it protects the infant from illness, the mother gains protections against breast cancer and perhaps even ovarian cancer by breastfeeding. For you new moms and moms-to-be, if you needed another nudge to get you to breastfeed or to keep you breastfeeding, here you go.

Tips for eating Halloween candy

2007-10-31T11:40:00.000-04:00

Here are some tips to cut down on eating too much candy --
-- Dump the candy on the floor with the kids and create a pile of your favorites (both you and your children).
-- Throw away (or donate to your child's daycare treasure box or good manners award chest) all candy that does not make it into your favorite piles.
-- Keep 5 pieces of your favorites for yourself -- again, either throw away or donate the rest of your pile.
-- For the kids, give each 5 Ziploc bags and let them put three pieces in each bag (this assumes the candies are snack size - if they are full size, then just one per bag).
-- Each day (for a total of 5 days, they do not have to be consecutive days) they can enjoy a bag -- Make sure they balance the treat with something healthy like nuts or fruit (that also goes for mom).

Don't supersize me follow up...

2007-10-25T11:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, just after we posted on the potential pitfalls of eating too much fast food, a new study came out supporting the very point we were making: the more often you eat out, the greater the likelihood you'll be overweight. The study was done at Temple University and showed that people who ate fast food 3-6 times per week had significantly higher BMIs (body mass index) than those who ate fast food 0-2 times per week. BMI is a measure of your weight relative to height or in simple terms, the higher your BMI, the more overweight you are.
The study also looked at whether people would be willing to pay more for healthier items and the answer was basically no. Luckily, some chains, like Wendy's, have healthier items available on the combo deal without any extra charges. So you can get a salad, baked potato, chili, or yogurt + granola rather than fries with your meal for no extra money. You can even get a bottle of water instead of a fountain soda, no charge. After doing a nutrition analysis with the same grilled chicken meal with yogurt + granola and water, you can save 220 calories, 10 grams of fat and 250 mg of sodium over the small French fry, small Coke version.
Since Americans eat out an average of 5 times per week -- and with our hectic schedules we know that's not going to change -- every fast food chain needs to offer healthier choices without the customer having to pay more for it. Because we all know it's hard enough passing up those greasy, salty fries for a salad, you don't need cost to be a factor also. So, stick to the restaurants that offer healthier choices without having to make a dent in your wallet. It's all about balance, and Wendy's is one place helping make that a little easier. (Hey, that could be their tagline.) Who knows? If every fast food place got on board with offering healthier choices at no extra charge, maybe the next time they do the study, they'll find that people who eat at fast food joints are no heavier than people who avoid them. At least that's this dietitian's/mom's/crazy-busy-person-who-eats-fast food-too's pipedream.

Don't Supersize Me!

2007-10-24T11:12:00.000-04:00

We need to change "value for money" from size and amount of food to nutrition value of food -- this needs to be our new thinking. As restaurants "super size" their food, we "super size" our bodies. Make sure you know what constitutes a serving and stick to it -- portion distortion is real and it affects all of us. Most people to do not realize that their bottle of soda contains 2.5 servings (8 oz is a serving for most beverages, but 4 oz is a serving of 100% juice). Read the nutrition label and look at the serving size, you will start to notice that packages that appear to be a single serving actually contain several servings. Repeat after me, "it is OK to leave food on my plate, in the bag, in the wrapper and not drink the full bottle or glass." Save the leftovers for tomorrow or when you are thirsty later in the day. Also, teach your kids what a serving of food really looks like. Here are some helpful hints from the book, The Portion Teller --
— 3 ounces of meat = 1 deck of cards
— 1 cup of cereal = a baseball
— 2 tablespoons salad dressing = a small shot glass
— ¼ cup nuts = a golf ball
Source: The Portion Teller Plan: The No-Diet Reality Guide to Eating, Cheating, and Losing Weight Permanently -- check out this book for more information. I saw the author speak, she is very visual with her examples and provides compelling information concerning how our food portions have changed. Also, a recent report on MSNBC reveals how many restaurants are serving crazy portions of food, one example are sandwiches from Hardee's, Wendy's and Burger King that include two days worth of meat (click here to read the MSNBC article).

Teach your kids rather than deceive them

2007-10-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

After seeing Jessica Seinfeld's book called "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food," we, as nutrition educators and moms, felt compelled to post on the importance of teaching your kids about nutritious food rather than just hiding it in their treats. While brownies made with pureed spinach and carrots mixed in sounds like an interesting way to work some veggies into your child's diet, teaching your children that vegetables and fruits are delicious and healthy on their own is the best way to foster a love of produce as they get older. My 4 year old talks about how he eats his vegetables so he'll grow big and strong and feel good everyday to do all the things he loves to do. And, no he doesn't always eat every bite, but I'm glad he knows the value of eating his veggies rather than just sneaking it into the dessert he may get as a treat. For my 18 month old, I put vegetables or fruit on his tray every meal and I would encourage you to do the same. Even if they aren't always eaten, fostering the idea that produce is part of every meal will stick with him as he gets older. This is a critical time for developing healthy eating habits, not only for him but the whole family.
Bottomline: If you want to use veggie or fruit purees in recipes to boost your child's intake, go ahead. Just make sure you also give him fruits and vegetables that he can see, smell, taste and appreciate for all they do to make him a strong and healthy individual.

Eating fish in a contaminated world

2007-10-16T19:23:00.000-04:00

Eating fish has health benefits and in the U.S. we do not eat enough of it. But, how can you blame us, it turns out we have to worry about contaminants in our fish? So, what are our options...not eating fish should not be one of them. Fish are a great source of protein, vitamins and minerals as well as the omega-3's or DHA we have all read about (see our last post). Well, help is on its way, organizations are now testing fish and offering safe fish options. With this in mind, I want to share a helpful and informative website to help you find safe fish, http://www.kidsafeseafood.org/home.php. Although the website says, "kid safe," we can all benefit from their testing and information. According the the website, when choosing salmon look for chum, coho or pink and avoid sock-eye, king (chinook) and Atlantic salmon.

Hot topic: DHA

2007-10-12T14:47:00.000-04:00

New moms and moms-to-be, there's great news! Foods with DHA are here and even more are coming. DHA is the omega-3 fatty acid that's crucially important for a developing baby. The most important time for baby to get it is in the womb - 2nd and 3rd trimesters - and in the first few years of life. The reason it's so important is that it promotes visual and brain development for the growing baby. Studies show higher IQs and vision scores in babies that get more DHA - it's the reason so many formulas are now fortified with DHA. The typical U.S. diet is pretty low in DHA since it comes from fish and most Americans just don't eat that much of it. So moms need to either take supplements when expecting and nursing or to eat foods rich in DHA.
As we already talked about in the past several postings, we attended a nutrition conference where we got a sneak preview of the latest up-and-coming foods to hit the marketplace. Well, DHA was everywhere. This is great news for those who don't like to eat fish or limit intake for other reasons (mercury can be a concern, however a new study did show that the benefits from eating fish in terms of baby's development far outweight any risks from excessive mercury, so you're better off eating it than not eating it).
Here are just some of the foods you should see or be seeing soon in your grocery store with DHA added: Horizon organic milk fortified plus DHA; Yoplait kids yogurt; Silk plus omega 3 DHA; Bellybar nutrition bars, shakes and chews; Oh Mama! nutrition bars. They're all made with a DHA called life'sDHA that comes from algae, so it's vegetarian. YoBaby Plus whole milk yogurt with cereal also has a version with DHA. That one is from purified fish oil.
I wish they had all these choices when I was pregnant and nursing. I did take DHA supplements (Expecta) and eat fish as often as I could but so many more choices would've helped. I am glad my toddler and preschooler can benefit from the new yogurts and milks.
Bottomline: If you're pregnant or nursing eat foods rich in DHA: fish, supplements or fortified foods. You need about 300 mg per day. For toddlers on up, make sure they eat or drink foods with DHA as well. There is currently no recommendation for the amount of DHA a child should have (some say 17 mg/100 calories, which is the amount in formula) but about 200-300 mg per day would be the ballpark.

Fiber, fiber everywhere

2007-10-10T16:12:00.000-04:00

Picture this: day one of the nutrition conference is over and two very bloated dietitians are laying down to rest. What happened? Too much fiber, too fast. We were feeling the results of sampling all the new foods from the exhibit floor.
A huge trend we saw (and experienced) was the addition of fiber in everything from yogurts to snack bars and even ice cream. The type of fiber in foods like these is often inulin, a natural fiber found in fruits, vegetables and grains. It's found on the ingredient deck as the words "inulin" or "chicory root" (one source of inulin). Here's a good backgrounder on what inulin is and how it can benefit health. Adding fiber to foods is definitely a positive change that food companies are making since the majority of Americans don't eat even half of the required 25-35 grams each day. Fiber has numerous health benefits and can help greatly with weight control since it is filling, but passes undigested so does not add calories to the diet. Just keep in mind when adding fiber to your diet: drink more water to keep everything "moving along smoothly" AND increase fiber a bit at a time to keep the digestive side effects (ex. gas) to a minimum.
On day two, we learned our lesson and took samples to bring home so we could try them over the next few weeks rather than all at once.

Whole Wheat PopTarts Nutritionals

2007-10-10T10:30:00.001-04:00

I just got the nutrition information on the Whole Wheat PopTarts (see my 1st post on Oct 8th) -- unfortunately, the product does have high fructose corn syrup as well as corn syrup listed twice on the ingredient label. However, I do like that the first ingredient is whole wheat flour and that they have 3 grams of fiber. BottomLine: The new Whole Wheat PopTarts did not achieve healthy food status, but are a better alternative to the current PopTarts.

What should you and your kids drink?

2007-10-08T14:44:00.001-04:00

I get a lot of questions on what and how much juice and milk children should drink as well as what is the best drinks for moms. OK, let's start with the obvious, for daily living, not including high endurance sports, water, water, water to quench thirst without adding unnecessary calories and sugar. Now that we have that out of the way, what about those children and adults who do not like water -- try flavoring the water with lemon, orange or tangerine juice and a little sugar (before adding it, melt the sugar by boiling it in some water in the microwave). Water should make up the majority of your beverage choices, especially in hotter and humid climates where kids and adults are constantly in need of a refreshing beverage. Now, beyond water, what should your choices be --

For Kids (age 4 years and up)

-- in general no more than two 8-ounce 100% fruit juice beverages

-- and at least 2 cups of low fat or fat free milk.

Given the recent beverage guidelines, such as the School Beverage Guidelines and the Guidelines for Adults, food and beverage manufacturers are trying to make healthier beverage options available. I just came across this interesting drink called Bot Flavored Water soon to be available in Whole Foods. It is made for kids as a healthier alternative to juice -- lower sugar (9 g vs over 20 g found in juice), nothing artificial, providing mostly water. I would prefer that kids just drink water and enjoy juice no more than two times a day, but for those who do not like water this may be a good option.

For Adults

--just drink water or flavor it with natural juices (or if you must a low cal powder like Crystal Light).
--Also make sure that you are getting your dairy, two glasses of skim milk, in addition to one cup of yogurt (a bowl of cereal can count as one glass of milk).

By the way, I really liked the opinions shared in the following article (click here) on the New Beverage Guidelines -- read for yourself and tell us what you think.

New product at The American Dietetic Assoc. meeting

2007-10-08T10:24:00.000-04:00

I just came back from the American Dietetic Association Annual Conference in Philli, PA where over 10,000 dietitians from around the U.S. came together to hear the latest science in nutrition and health as well as see the new healthier products that are hitting the grocery store shelves. My favorite pick were the new PopTarts -- they taste great.

Whole wheat PopTarts -- it is about time. Kids and parents love PopTarts and they are so easy in the morning, the only problem is, they are unhealthy. I do not remember the ingredient list entirely as there were so many ingredient and nutrition facts panels that I reviewed while I was there (my head is still buzzing), but I believe they did not have high fructose corn syrup and that the fiber content was pretty good (I am waiting on Kellogg to answer my nutrition and ingredient questions about this new product, but they are slow). We will have to keep an eye out to make sure that the product is, indeed, healthier. According to the reps, the product should start hitting grocery store shelves now.
As soon as I get my notes together, I will share some additional product information and nutrition and health outcomes that were discussed during the scientific sessions.

Eating Like My Kids: I did it!

2007-09-24T10:47:00.000-04:00

I did it! I ate like my kids all week. I recommend all moms try this -- I fed them healthier and I ate healthier. I actually had much more energy than normal -- I was eating about every 3-4 hours and trying to stay away from processed foods. Also, I realized that they eat much more fruit than I do. I make sure every snack includes a fruit - since I do not typically snack often, I was not getting as much fruit as my kids. So, last week I ate about 5 servings of fruits a day -- if everyone did this, based on population studies, we would have a lot less heart disease and other chronic illnesses. There are several good habits from last week that I will continue --
-- Eating breakfast sitting with the kids instead of in the car while driving them to school
-- Snacking on fruits, nuts and seeds in the morning and afternoon
-- Eating my meals at the same time everyday
-- Eating at least 5 fruits a day (I typically do hit 5 fruits and veggies a day but this takes me to a whole new level)
Looking at my list, I realize that these are recommendation that I typically give to my clients -- as much as I try to practice what I preach, as you can see, there is always room for improvement.
So, here is your challenge -- eat like your kids for a week and let us know what stuck. I already know of one mom considering the "Eat Like My Kids" Challenge -- a fellow blogger from mom-for-ma-tion.

The kid-vegetable challenge

2007-09-20T17:27:00.000-04:00

Every night I face the same challenge: getting my kids to eat something green (that grew from the ground). Well, I just found a new product that has made getting my kids to eat veggies easier and the prep time much quicker for me. Birds Eye Steamfresh veggies are ready-to-go, in bite size pieces, frozen vegetables that you pop in the microwave for 5 minutes to steam. Tear open the bag and you're done. Tonight the kids ate the green beans as is and had the mixed vegetables last night. For the broccoli or cauliflower I've thrown a slice of American cheese on top to melt and both my kids gobbled it up. Not only is the prep so much cleaner and easier, since they are steamed right in the bag, they taste just as good as fresh. No worries about freezer burn or ice in a half used bag. What products have you found that make the "kid-vegetable challenge" easier? (Not to mention the "husband-vegetable challenge" I've faced as well. I'll save that for another posting.)

The mental factor

2007-09-14T16:11:00.000-04:00

We all know there's a big psychological component to weight loss, right? I find this field fascinating. New research from a Cornell lab that studies why we eat what we do in the quantities that we do, showed that people ate more calories when they thought of the restaurant as healthy than if they thought of it as a typical fattening fast food joint (ie. Subway vs McDonalds). Surprised? I was, until I realized that it's a version of the Snackwells syndrome all over again. You know where you eat bigger portions because it's "lowfat" and end up taking in more calories than with a normal portion of the regular version. People in the study also rewarded themselves with dessert more when they thought they were being "good" during the meal.
You know as a busy mom, you're going to have to grab food on the go or takeout to feed your family sometimes. So should you just forget trying to eat at the "healthy joints"? No, of course not. Just keep in mind the mental factor of eating is as important as the nutrition you put in your body. And stop thinking of foods as being "good" or "bad." Tune into what your body needs and wants - hey, it may just tell you that some spinach is what it craves - and make the portion reasonable no matter what it is.

Eating like my kids results

2007-09-12T10:06:00.000-04:00

Here is the result of Monday's trying to eat like my kids. First as a reminder, here are the foods we ate --
B-fast - oatmeal, drinking yogurt
Snacks - sunflower seeds, mandarin orange cup, banana
Lunch - sunflower butter and all natural jelly on whole wheat bread, raw almonds, natural fruit leather, skim milk
Snack - baked Cheetos, grapes, skim milk
Dinner - Cooking light recipe, Sept. issue, p. 172 Chicken Pot Pie and Skim milk
Here are the results (I have also included the percentage of hitting my recommended intakes based on my gender, age, and activity level).
-- 2176 calories which is 97% of my recommended amount of 2245 calories
-- my macronutrient breakdown was -- 51% carb, 21% protein, 29% fat (all within the optimal
ranges of 45-65% carb, 10-35% protein, 20-35% fat)
-- my omega 3's intake was very low at only 20% of the recommended 1.1 grams
-- my fiber was 100% at 25 grams
-- cholesterol was 45% of the ok amount of 300 mg at 135 mg
-- my folate and iron were low
This is not bad for one day. We typically do not evaluate a diet on just one day of eating but instead look at the entire week. So, if you have a bad day it is ok, because you can make up for it. To improve my eating this week, I will increase my omega-3 intake by eating salmon, walnuts and flaxseed bread over the next few days. Also, I will add orange juice to breakfast to help increase my folate intake as well as a serving of beans with dinner to help increase my iron (and folate intake).
I said I would do this the whole week, so I am still eating like my kids. So far, I have really enjoyed taking the time to sit down and eat breakfast with them.

Eating like my kids continued

2007-09-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I ended my Eating like my kids day with a mid-afternoon snack of a handful of baked Cheetos, grapes and homemade lemonade (yes, I actually make my own lemonade. It is actually quite easy). Then for dinner, I made a recipe out of the Sept issue of Cooking Light p. 172 -- chicken pot pie. This was pretty labor intensive for me. Especially given my day -- I had to drop the kids at school, get work done, work out quickly, pick them up, have a snack, do homework, do some more work, take my daughter to her 1st soccer practice (I am the assistant coach), then go and introduce myself to a new prenatal group that I am teaching at the Y -- this was not the right recipe for a day like yesterday. I actually had to have my neighbor come over to turn off the oven for me since I was running late to my daughter's practice. However, it was a very good and healthy recipe and the kids ate it and my husband and I loved it. And bonus, I have enough leftovers for tonight. Tomorrow I will share the nutrition analysis results of my first day of eating like my kids.
As for the homemade lemonade --
-- Squeeze about 6-8 lemons using a hand press directly into my 1.8 L pitcher (cut the lemons into thirds, you get more juice also rolling the lemons on the counter top seems to help)
-- Dissolve a cup of sugar in boiling water (I do this while I am squeezing lemons)
-- Finish filling the pitcher with ice, cold water and the boiled sugar water
Sometimes, I will add some tangerine juice or limes for different flavors and nutrients.

Eating like my kids

2007-09-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

This week I am going to eat just like I usually try to feed my kids (I am not perfect). So, today at 6:45am I actually sat with my children and ate oatmeal and a drinkable yogurt for breakfast. I then sent my daughter to school with snacks, sunflower seeds, mandarin orange cup, banana and water, which I also ate throughout the morning before lunch. For breakfast, I normally would have eaten an energy bar and drinkable yogurt (one without high fructose corn syrup) in the car while driving the kids to school and would not have eaten again until 1pm because of my work. For lunch, I ate at the same time as my children did at school, 11:30 am, and had a sunflower seed butter and natural jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, raw almonds, an all natural fruit leather (FruitaBu) and milk (I had skim, they had 1%). At the end of the day, I will run a nutrition analysis on how we ate and will report back.

Almonds are healthy and good for your waistline

2007-08-30T21:57:00.000-04:00

Almonds are a superfood. They are packed with nutrients and eating them regularly can help to lower cholesterol. But what about all those calories? Well, a new study shows you don't need to worry. Women who ate 2 ounces of almonds each day (344 extra calories) didn't gain any weight over 10 weeks. Why? Since almonds are satisfying and filling, the women compensated for most of the calories by reducing their intake of other foods. Also, some of the fat in the almonds was blocked from being absorbed by the fiber content - so their bodies weren't really recognizing all the calories. Bottom line: eat a handful or two of almonds as a great afternoon snack or chop some on top of your morning oatmeal. They're really nutritious and keep you satisfied, making it easier to stick to the rest of your healthy diet.

Most Women Feel Fat

2007-08-27T14:22:00.000-04:00

I have friends and lead weight loss groups of women that are not happy with their bodies. Most are moms that just never lost the baby fat or they lost the fat but are not back to their pre-baby shape. And now, with their hectic lives directed by their children, are finding it hard to fit in a healthier diet, not to mention exercise. Well, they are not alone, in a new survey of 2000 women sponsored by SlimFast, 78% of women said they are larger than they want to be, with more than half wanting to be a size 8 or smaller -- today the average size is 12. Ok moms -- we need to slow down and figure out a way to take care of ourselves. Our negative body image can be passed onto our children. For their sake, let's eat healthier and feel good about ourselves!!! Read my post on August 14th for some quick tips. Click here to read more about the survey.

Back to School Snacks

2007-08-22T11:17:00.000-04:00

Well, it is time to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer and get back into a regular routine. My daughter started her preschool today and as I was packing her snacks she was trying to talk me into providing all treats to help her through her first day. Although, the treats would make her happy, they would not help her get through the day. So, we compromised. I let her pick one treat. Here are the snacks she took to school,
-- A chocolate Z bar by Clif (this was her treat)-- has a great ingredient deck and nutrition and she loves it!
-- Tasty little crackers (TLC) by Kashi with almond butter (peanut butter is not allowed at her school).
-- Baby carrots -- I hope she eats them.
-- Strawberries with powdered sugar -- just a little, otherwise, she will not eat them.
Quick tip for moms -- try and eat the way you want your kids to eat. By doing this, you will not only eat better but will also be a healthy-eating role model.
I also ran across an article that has some interesting recipes and good information for back to school lunches, click here for the article.

Pregnancy diet impacts baby's heart health, too

2007-08-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

On the heels of the study showing that eating too much junk during pregnancy may make a difference in the baby becoming a junk-food junkie too, is a study looking at how diet during pregnancy impacts the baby's heart health into adulthood. The research is just getting underway, but the lead author suspects that it will show that not only does the mom's diet affect the baby's long term heart health, but the heart health of her grandchildren as well. Wow, that's a lot of responsibility! Bottom line: eat your fruits and veggies during pregnancy, future generations are counting on you.

Eating Junk Food During Pregnancy - Bad Idea

2007-08-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

A study just published shows a link between what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding and your child's future eating habits. "Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring," says lead author Dr Stéphanie Bayol. "This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging." Now, this study is interesting but it used rats so the results would need to be verified in humans. Click here for the report.

Fatness is Sweeping the Nation, Save Yourself

2007-08-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

OK, I cannot help but write these tips after seeing the CDC slides again (from my last post). These are some easy to incorporate behaviors to help you lose weight or not gain weight, try these for two weeks -
--eat at least 5 fruits and veggies a day - count at the end of the day, make up for the amount missing at dinner, e.g. I only ate 3 fruits today, so at dinner I need to have two servings of vegetables
--include a 1/2 cup serving of beans or lentils in your meals once a day -- make sure they are not cooked with bacon or with oil, just water (and maybe some garlic)
--snack on one big handful of your favorite nut or seed (1.5 oz or about 15-30 depending on size) once a day
--drink plenty of water, try to drink at least 5 8-ounce glasses of water throughout the day
By adding these foods, you will naturally replace other less "healthy" foods. You will also add important nutrients that can help you feel great and stay in shape. Lastly, add exercise to your day, even if it is only for 15 minutes... get that heart-rate up (Try this -- jump rope outside for 15 minutes while the kids play. Jump for 3 minutes and take a 1 minute rest, do this 5 times for a total jumping time of 15 minutes).
We want to hear from you in two weeks -- tell us your success stories!!! Or share some tips of your own.

Fatness is Sweeping the Nation

2007-08-14T12:41:00.000-04:00

I just came across the frightening CDC (Center for Disease Control) illustrations of how the growing American Girth has spread throughout the US over the past 20 years. As a dietitian, the CDC has shared these images with us several times over the past years. These images are now gaining attention and are visible to the public. All states are estimated to have at least 15% of their population as obese. It is scary to see how obesity really is a growing epidemic. I must warn you now, the following may give you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Click here to see the increase of obese Americans throughout the US since 1985.

Two Angry Moms...making a difference

2007-08-13T12:35:00.000-04:00

Check out Two Angry Moms...these women are on a mission to make school meals healthier. They are asking parents to join their children for lunch at their schools the week of Oct 15-19th and ask questions about the food and ingredients. You can also ask for a copy of their wellness policy.

Saving money while cutting calories

2007-08-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

I've been told countless times that "it's so much more expensive to eat healthfully." This article caught my attention because it has some creative tips on saving money while cutting calories.