Weight Loss Tips

With the holiday quickly approaching, I’d like to give you 7 quick tips on getting through the feasting without sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

1) Eat as much vegetables and pumpkin as possible…*before* the turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Pumpkins, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, green beans, and fruits such as cranberries and apples are high in fiber and tend to make you fuller faster. The presence of these foods in your gut will also decrease fat absorption from the other more fatty foods, such as the meats and cheeses, so prioritize consumption of these foods, and get them on your plate before the others.

2) Eat slow. Eating slowly allows you to feel full *before* you’ve eaten more than you actually need. By taking smaller bites, enjoying the conversation around you, and focusing on the meal as just a small spart of the celebration, you’ll be more likely to spend 20 minutes on one plate, rather than starting on thirds inside of 15 minutes (you’ll thank me when you don’t have the post-meal stomach-ache this year!).

3) Choose your pie wisely. You will literally save hundreds of calories by choosing a fiber-rich, lower sugar pumpkin pie over rich, buttery apple, or even worse, pecan pie. The pumpkin pie takes up just as much room in your stomach, which will still satisfy your appetite.

4) Take a walk. The post-meal physical activity will boost your metabolism, and keep those fatty acids circulating in the bloodstream so that they’re less likely to get deposited as fat on the waistline, butt and thighs (note: save the backyard football for *before* the meal - you don’t want to get tackled with a belly full of turkey).

5) Snack beforehand. Don’t fast all day because you know you’ll be eating a big meal later on. The last thing your body needs is to be in starvation, fat-storage mode when the feast arrives. Instead, eat a healthy, complex breakfast (like a bowl of oatmeal with fresh fruit), and snack throughout the day on 100-250 calorie meals, like a piece of raw fruit, a handful of nuts, or a small salad. You’ll be less likely to overeat at any big meal if you practice this habit.

6) Don’t overdo exercise. I know those Thanksgiving day exercise classes and early morning workouts feel great and make you feel less guilty, but just don’t overdo it. A 3 hour marathon of lifting, cycling, and running is only going to increase stress on your body and raise the level of fat storage hormones, just before the food goes in. Follow this rule: don’t exercise any more than you would on a typical day.

7) Have fun! For those of you on a strict diet-exercise regimen, this is one of those times of year to really enjoy yourself. Everybody needs a break once in a while, and one piece of pumpkin pie, or a tablespoon of gravy, is not going to sabotage your routine and make you fat. As a matter of fact, occasionally indulging yourself is a great way to feel mentally and physically excited about getting back into your routine. So try to follow the simple rules in this article, and at the same time, break loose and have fun!

Happy holidays everybody!

Head trainer Ben Greenfield runs the online training website Pacific Elite Fitness, and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sport Science and Exercise Physiology, as well as certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Personal Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach (NSCA-CPT & CSCS). For over 6 years, Ben has coached and trained professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes, and helped hundreds of individuals achieve their personal fitness goals. For more information on online personal training and fitness, contact Ben at elite@pacificfit.net.

www.pacificfit.net

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Is eating at McDonald’s the new path to weight loss? Can fast food burgers, fries and sodas fit into your diet and weight loss program? For years, the answer has been a resounding NO. But lately, Wendy’s, Burger King and many other fast food chains have made changes to help consumers stick to a healthy diet.

Why have fast food companies finally started to pay attention to healthier food choices? Simply stated, because it’s good for business. Americans are trying everything from the newest weight loss pill to Weight Watchers to lose their extra fat, spending “..more than $40 billion in 2004 on weight control pills, gym memberships, diet plans and related foods, estimates Marketdata Enterprises, which studies the weight loss industry” (Source: cnn.com; 1-14-2005). Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 80 percent of overweight individuals and almost 87 percent of obese individuals are trying to lose or maintain their weight.

Any fast foods company that’s paying attention to public sentiment and trends has made changes to make their menu more palatable to the health and fitness enthusiast. McDonald’s, long an industry leader, has made tremendous strides in this area culminating in their recent announcement that all fast food packaging will soon include nutritional information. But have they gone far enough?

-> Fast Food = Fat Food:

No matter how many healthy new products are introduced onto the fast food menu boards, the problem is that their core products are high in fat and calories. Consider these typical meals from McDonald’s:

* Big Mac, Large Fries, Large Coca-Cola, Hot Fudge Sundae = 1,730 calories, 99% of daily fat, 108% of daily saturated fat, 86% of daily carbohydrates

* Chicken Selects Breast Strips (5 pc), Large Fries, Large Coke, McFlurry with M+M’s Candies (12 oz.) = 2,290 calories, 151% of daily fat, 131% of daily saturated fat, 100% of daily carbohydrates

* Bacon Ranch Salad/Crispy Chicken, Newman’s Ranch Dressing, Large Coke, McFlurry Oreo (12 oz.) = 1,390 calories, 73% of daily fat, 81% of daily saturated fat, 69% of daily carbohydrates

(Source: mcdonalds.com)

Some consumers, in an attempt to reduce the number of calories and fat they’re eating, have opted for salads instead of traditional burgers and fries. Unfortunately, some fast food salads are almost as bad for us as a Big Mac. A California Cobb salad with Newman’s Own Cobb Dressing from McDonald’s, for example, boasts 490 calories and 42% of your daily fat. Compare that to a Big Mac, which has 560 calories and 47% of your recommended daily fat.

Although chastised in the movie ‘SuperSize Me’, McDonald’s isn’t alone in offering high calories foods. The Original Whopper with Cheese from Burger King will cost you 800 calories and 49 grams of fat. Make that a Double Whopper with Cheese and you’ll consume an incredible 1,060 calories and 69 grams of fat. The Big Bacon Classic from Wendy’s is better with 580 calories and 29 grams of fat, while the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack In The Box is the highest on the list with 1,094 calories and a tremendous 78 grams of fat.

Clearly, high calorie fast food has become a problem. With approximately 65% of Americans classified as overweight, people are pointing fingers of blame. “In a lawsuit filed in 2002, two Bronx teenagers accused McDonald’s of making them fat by serving them highly processed food that affected their health. A judge tossed out the case a year later, but an appeals court reinstated part of the suit earlier this year, according to published reports.” (Source: cnn.com; 10-20-2005).

McDonald’s isn’t the only chain being accused of making people fat. “A New York City lawyer has filed suit against the four big fast-food corporations, saying their fatty foods are responsible for his client’s obesity and related health problems. Samuel Hirsch filed his lawsuit Wednesday at a New York state court in the Bronx, alleging that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC Corporation are irresponsible and deceptive in the posting of their nutritional information, that they need to offer healthier options on their menus, and that they create a de facto addiction in their consumers” (Source: foxnews.com; 7-24-2002).

The fast food industry initially responded by arguing that customers have a choice of what to order when going to a restaurant. “It’s senseless, baseless and ridiculous,” National Restaurant Association spokeswoman Katharine Kim said. “There are choices in restaurants and people can make these choices, and there’s a little personal responsibility as well.” (Source: foxnews.com; 7-24-2002).

Our elected officials seem to agree with that assessment. “The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would block lawsuits by people who blame fast-food chains for their obesity. The ‘cheeseburger bill,’ as it has been dubbed in Congress, stems from class-action litigation that accused McDonald’s of causing obesity in children” (Source: cnn.com; 10-20-2005). This bill is not yet law, having passed the House but not yet the Senate. In the last Congress a similar bill passed the House, but the Senate never acted on it. About 20 states have laws similar to the ‘cheeseburger bill’.

-> Fast Food Makes A Change:

To their credit, McDonald’s and some others in the fast food industry have made changes to their menu making it easier for us to stick to our diet program or weight loss plan.

McDonald’s allows consumers to substitute Apple Dippers with Caramel Dip for the french fries in their meal, cutting calories from 350 to 100 and reducing fat from 16 grams all the way down to 1 gram (comparison vs. medium fries). McDonald’s also allows a no-cost substitution of 1% milk instead of a Coke, further cutting caloric intake by 50 calories and boosting protein and calcium (comparison vs. small Coke Classic).

Upon request, Burger King now provides Mott’s Strawberry Flavored Applesauce in place of french fries which will save you 270 calories and 18 grams of fat (comparison vs. medium fries).

Wendy’s will honor customer requests to substitute mandarin oranges for french fries, sparing you a belt-busting 360 calories and 21 grams of fat (comparison vs. medium fries).

Not only are the fast food giants allowing healthier substitutions, but they have also added a selection of fairly nutritious menu options. McDonald’s new Fruit & Walnut Salad has only 310 calories and 13 grams of fat, while their Fruit & Yogurt Parfait boasts 160 calories and 2 grams of fat. In some markets Burger King is offering a Veggie Burger that has only 340 calories and 8 grams of fat when you order it without the mayonnaise.

Now McDonald’s has given consumers looking for fast weight loss another tool: easy to read and easy to find nutritional labels. In the past, customers wanting to find nutrition facts on their fast food choices either had to search in the restaurant for a hard-to-find poster or go online. Now, in what is being called a ‘bold move’, McDonald’s is planning to put these nutritional facts right where they’re easiest to find - on the product wrapper itself. “McDonald’s Corp. customers will soon know that the Big Mac they bought contains almost half their recommended daily fat intake just by looking at the wrapper. In its latest measure to fend off critics that blame the world’s largest restaurant company for contributing to rising incidents of obesity and other health problems, McDonald’s said it will start printing nutritional information on the packaging of its food” (Source: cnn.com; 10-26-2005).

McDonald’s is to be commended for their efforts to educate their customers. This new informative label goes a long way towards answering nutritional concerns. Expected to be in most stores by the end of 2006, the new labels will include the amount of the nutrient (calories, fat, protein, etc.) and the percentage of the daily recommended intake, based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

-> Is It Enough?

The fast food industry has heard the public asking for healthier options and more nutritional information, and they have responded. But it is enough?

McDonald’s and others still sell high calorie and high fat products, and we shouldn’t expect those to disappear anytime soon. In our free market, as long as there is a demand there will be someone with a supply. “Data from USDA’s food intake surveys show that the food-away-from-home sector provided 32 percent of total food energy consumption in 1994-96, up from 18 percent in 1977-78. The data also suggest that, when eating out, people either eat more or eat higher calorie foods-or both-and that this tendency appears to be increasing” (Source: usda.gov).

Even with more information at their fingertips, there is some doubt that consumers will actually use that information to make healthier choices. Consider the limited impact from warning labels on cigarettes and alcohol packaging; despite such dire warnings, people still use these products. There is evidence that Americans will continue to eat what they want, no matter how much information they have available to them. “According to a 2000 Roper Reports survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 Americans 18 or older, the percentage of Americans who say they are eating “pretty much whatever they want” was at an all-time high of 70 percent in 2000, up from 58 percent in 1997″ (Source: usda.gov).

The question of ‘is it enough’ seems to be misdirected. Instead of asking the fast food industry to do more to educate the public and offer healthy options, perhaps what we as a country should do is ask ourselves if the information we have right now is enough. If we look for it, is there enough health, fitness and nutritional information out there to help us make the right dietary choices? As uncomfortable as it may be for some, the answer to this question is probably yes.

-> The Overlooked Answer:

All too often, when participating in a discussion of diet and weight control, we fail to mention the most obvious answer: exercise! Consistent exercise can balance out and make up for the occasional high calorie fast food meal, while at the same time providing countless other health benefits.

Exercise is the only path to quick weight loss that virtually every doctor in the world agrees upon. Exercise is safe, effective, and brings many more benefits to our lives than nutrition labels ever will alone. Exercise is fun, invigorating, motivating and the single most powerful way to improve our life and well-being.

Reaching your ideal weight via a healthy and active lifestyle has been found to lower health risks and medical problems in 90 percent of overweight patients. In addition to the exercise benefits listed above, fit people are eight times less likely to die from cancer than the unfit, and 53 percent less likely to die from other diseases. Fit people are also eight times less likely to die from heart disease.

Yes, nutrition labels are important insofar as we actually use them. But without a doubt, regular exercise is the most important piece of the puzzle and the best way to achieve rapid weight loss. Exercise is the safest way to achieve permanent fat loss, and when combined with a sound diet and nutrition program the body is turned into a virtual fat-burning furnace!

Consumers would be wise to use the new tools from the fast food industry. Order the healthier items off the menu, pay attention to the nutritional labels, and above all else remember to participate in regular exercise.

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

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Considering the purchase of a treadmill? If you are thinking about getting the benefits of a little running with the use of a treadmill, think again. There are several reasons why you should not use them. The fact is that you have several other opportunities out there for you. If you plan to exercise, you can purchase whatever exercise equipment you need to do so. But, don’t waste your money. Here are some facts that you should consider.

Why Not To Buy It

1. The pain- If you have used a treadmill in the past, you are probably well aware of the pain they can cause. The surface you are running on is hard and the impact can do some real damage to your body. Not only are you likely to feel it in shin splints but you’ll feel it in your knees as well as in your lower back. The fact is that you are doing well for your body but you are also doing bad for your body. Trading weight loss or muscle gain for back aches and sprained knees in return may not be the best way to go.

2. Outdoors is better- If you are the running type and can’t live without it then do it outside. Not only is the clean air good for you physically, but the fact is that the changes in the incline is better running than any treadmill can provide. When you run around your neighborhood, you’re more likely to have varying slopes, and the running path is likely to change course. This helps to push your heart just that much more. This is especially true when you use a different route each time you head out. You’ll get a better workout and best of all - it’s free!

3. Choose an Elliptical- Okay, so you know why you shouldn’t go with a treadmill but what do you use for indoor training then? If you are going to run, use an elliptical. Sure, it’s not the same as running outdoors but it offers a much healthier way of exercising because of its lower impact on your body.

Leave the treadmill at the store. Get out, or buy an elliptical instead and reap the rewards.

Mike Singh is the publisher of http://www.elliptical-trainers-reviews.com/ On his website he provides a schwinn 418 elliptical trainer review and proform elliptical reviews.

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