Update on "finding the middle ground" dieter

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!

Anti-aging and Dr. Oz on Oprah

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.

Tips for eating Halloween candy

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).

Whole Wheat PopTarts Nutritionals

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?

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

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!

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 Baby Fat Dieter's Guide to Fast Food

In the midst of a pretty stressful week that involved more than usual amounts of takeout, I ran across this press release talking about the dissatisfaction consumers have with the healthy selections at chain restaurants, including fast food joints. It got me thinking about the choices we've had as we ordered, took out or drove through this week. I think the main problem is that the healthy selections aren't always as appealing as the less healthy choices (think carrot sticks vs french fries). Restaurants can definitely stand to offer more equally tasty yet healthier choices and I do believe it can be done. To me, a grilled chicken sandwich is a great example of a healthier choice that I find just as, if not more, tasty than the greasy, deep-fried version. It may take some time for restaurants to heed the call, so in the meanwhile some of the tactics I use to keep my family's selections reasonable:

• Choose the must have item on the menu and have a small portion (cheeseburger or Whopper Jr not a bacon double cheeseburger)
• Balance the choice with something healthy, like nonfat milk or water rather than soda or a milkshake
• Avoid the "value meal" - it isn't such a value if you wouldn't have ordered the side dishes in the first place
• If you must have fries, get one order that everyone can share
• Most often visit restaurants with healthier selections that you enjoy, limiting those with hard to resist fatty foods to once a month
• VERY IMPORTANT: when your kids are done with their food either wrap up the rest or throw it away; eating their leftovers doesn't do anyone any good

After one of those weeks when I'm just glad everyone got fed at all, TGIF!