With the holidays right around the corner, many of you will be consuming a little more alcohol than what you’re used to consuming.  Instead of just one glass of wine here and there, you’ll be drinking multiple glasses as you gather with friends and family and enjoy each other’s company.  Before you do that, you may want to think about what the excess of alcohol does to your body and how it can prevent you from losing weight. A recent article from Alive magazine helps explain this.

So how is it that alcohol can prevent you from losing weight? In a nutshell, it really messes with your metabolism. Here’s what you need to know:

• Alcohol calories are used as a preferential and easy form of fuel for the body, which stops your own body fat stores from being used.
• Alcohol is eventually metabolized into a compound called acetate. It is the amount of acetate produced that is responsible for preventing fat from being oxidized for energy.
• Alcohol can cause a rise in the muscle-wasting stress hormone cortisol, leading to a reduction in your ability to burn calories.

If you want to keep yourself on track to meet your weight-loss goals, you may want to go back and refer to an article back from before Thanksgiving, “Keeping the Holiday Weight Off.” One of the suggestions is to pick and choose the times that you are going to drink alcohol. If you can do this, you’ll still be able to enjoy the holidays and you’ll have an easier time maintaining your weight.

This week on the Oprah Winfrey show, she invited people who lost dramatic amounts of weight to share their stories. All of the people that were there were able to drop the pounds without surgery, and without diet pills.  One women dropped over 500 pounds! Really, it’s amazing and is a great motivator. If these people can lose that much weight, we can reach our goals too whether it’s 10, 50, or 100 pounds. Here are a few before and after pictures:

Nancy

Current weight: 173 pounds
Total weight loss: 530 pounds

David

Current weight: 173 pounds
Total weight loss: 530 pounds

Bunny

Current weight: 168 pounds
Total weight loss: 267 pounds

Chris

Current weight: 180 pounds
Total weight loss: 187 pounds

Emily

Current weight: 135 pounds
Total weight loss: 160 pounds

When you decide that you want to change your lifestyle so that you’re happier and healthier, it can be daunting to think of all the things that you need to do to get there. If you set out and think you have to do it all at once, chances are, you’ll fail.  Today we’re going to look at just five foods that you should cut back on that will give you the start that you need to get you on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

• Sodium
  Pay attention to the sodium content in the foods that you eat.  Frozen foods, fast food, and foods from restaurants are almost always extremely high in sodium. High sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure among other things. Use fresh ingredients when you cook, and you’ll have no trouble lowering the amount of salt that you consume.
• Caffeine
  You don’t have to eliminate caffeine from your diet, at least not yet. But what you should do is cut back. It really doesn’t do your body much good, and you’ll be better off without it.
• Sugar
  Sugar provides you with no nutrients and can lead to weight gain. Instead of turning to candy, cakes, and pies, try eating a piece of fresh fruit. It’ll help satisfy your sweet tooth and provide you with nutrients, all at the same time.
• Fats and Cholesterol
  Our bodies need fat- it’s a given. But, out bodies don’t need fat in the amount that many of us eat it. Fast food often times is nothing but fat and cholesterol, especially fast food that’s fried. Try to reduce or eliminate foods that are high in fat like butter and gravies, ice cream, fatty meats, and fried foods.
• Alcohol and smoking
  Most alcohol has a high sugar content which we know can promote weight gain. Remember to drink in moderation or eliminate it completely, and avoid tobacco.

Source: Yahoo Health

Yesterday we talked about a few things that you can do to keep the holiday weight off, so today I thought we’d look at ways you can make Thanksgiving dinner just a bit healthier and easier on your figure. Given the average Thanksgiving dinner has over 2,000 calories, eating healthy is key!

• Don’t show up to Thanksgiving dinner starving! You’ll eat a lot more.  Be sure to eat a great breakfast and if time allows, lunch. This will prevent you from overeating once all of that food is before your eyes.
• Fill your plate with veggies! If there are multiple vegetables, take some of each. Once your plate is half filled with veggies, choose a starch and leave room for that turkey.
• Limit high fat items — like gravy! Other items like green bean casserole and mashed potatoes are usually loaded with fat. If you’d like to indulge a little, be sure to do so in moderation.
• Portion-size - Keep an eye out for portion sizes! It’s easy to load up a big mound of potatoes and stuffing, so be conscious of what you’re putting on your plate.
• Choose a skinless piece of turkey - The skin of the turkey just provides you with fat and cholesterol which we all could do without.  Choose an appropriate portion of turkey… but leave the skin.

It’s Thanksgiving week and we all know what that means — food, food, and more food. It’s inevitable that between now and the start of the new year, most of us will be indulging a bit with friends and family. Just because you indulge doesn’t mean you have to gain a bunch of weight. Here are a few suggestions to keeping the weight off and enjoying the holidays a bit more.

1. Send all the leftovers home! If you’re cooking for a bunch of people, be sure to send all of those mashed potatoes and stuffing home with your friends and family. Keep the turkey though, that’ll be great on top of a salad or a sandwich.
2. Set weekly exercise goals. With holiday parties and the hustle and bustle of shopping, it’s easy to ditch the exercise. Keep it a part of your routine, and you’ll be able to indulge here and there without putting the pounds on.
3. If by chance you do skip the exercise and over-indulge (notice I said it’s okay to indulge, just not over-indulge) — don’t beat yourself up.  Keep a positive attitude and do your best to stay on-track.
4. Pick and choose the times that you’re going to drink alcohol.  Alcohol is simply empty calories and you should limit your intake as much as possible. Instead of two glasses of wine, have one. Two or three beers? Not such a good idea nor is multiple martinis or a couple long island’s.
5. Don’t stress! The holidays can be a stressful time, but try not to stress like crazy. Stress can increase the chemicals in the body that cause weight-gain, especially around the mid-section.

Finally…. have fun! It’s a great time of the year and you deserve to enjoy it.

Source

If you have just 30 minutes of spare time during your day, you can use it to better your health. Even if you have to skip your favorite TV show, it’ll be worth it!  A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that incorporating 30 minutes of walking into your day can have unbelievable benefits.  They found it was enough to prevent weight gain (and who doesn’t want to prevent weight gain?) and can help encourage moderate weight loss. I can vouch for this too!

Back in the Fall of 2006, I was finishing my last semester of college student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom. It was definitely one of the most challenging times of my life and a time where I had hardly enough energy to come home and cook dinner, let alone go back out to go to the gym.  My husband and I had already gotten into the habit of taking a daily walk previous to my student teaching, and so we continued to take our walks while I was teaching. Not only did walking help calm my mind and give us a chance to talk about what went on during the day, but my husband was able to maintain his weight and I was able to drop a few pounds over 5 months.

If you really don’t have 30 minutes to give up, don’t worry, a brisk 10 minute walk can be quite effective as well. Helene Glassberg, MD says, “Just the act of going from sedentary to moderately active gives you the greatest reduction in your risks.” Take baby steps! Start incorporating just 10 minutes of activity, and when you have more time, up that time to 20 or 30 minutes. At the same time, remember to take baby steps at the dinner table to eliminate fats or unhealthy foods that your body could do without.

Source: WebMD

Given that November is diabetes awareness month, I thought we’d take a look at the huge roll that weight plays. Here’s the thing about diabetes — it’s actually one of the few diseases that can be controlled and even prevented if you eat right and keep your weight down. Because we all have control over what foods we choose to put into our bodies, we can all decide to be healthy and work on preventing diabetes. The bottom line is simply this- if you want to prevent diabetes or improve your health if you have diabetes, you need to lose weight which you can do by following some of these guidelines:

• Portion control, portion control, portion control - this is huge! No matter which restaurant you go to these days - they give you well over one portion, not to mention the foods are generally high in sodium, fat, and calories. Use smaller plates, or just put less food on your plate to begin with, and try staying away from restaurants and fast food! You deserve to be healthy and fast food isn’t going to get you there.
• Eat at least 3 meals every day - Yes, everyday! Eating one or two large meals each day doesn’t do your body any good. You need at least 3 meals each day, or you can take the route that I usually do and eat 5 small meals each day. DO NOT skip on breakfast– it’s important which means it should be healthy. Try a cereal like Kashi Go Lean Crunch which is high in fiber and other nutrients that your body needs.
• Eat slowly - you’ve heard this before. Your body takes about 20 minutes to signal the brain that you’re full.  If you eat slower and STOP when you feel full, you won’t overeat. There’s absolutely no need to “clear your plate.” When you’re full, stop.
• Share portions when eating out - this is something my husband and I do all the time. Anytime we’re out at a restaurant, we always share unless we’re really wanting something different. If that’s the case — we ALWAYS take at least half of our meals home.
• Don’t drink your calories - Soda pop is loaded with calories. Avoid it. Water is best, followed by milk.
• Pay close attention to cooking method - Stay away from fried foods! Fried foods are much higher in calories and fat. Try grilling, broiling, or baking instead.
• Limit high-calorie condiments - You’d be surprised at how many calories certain condiments have like butter, mayo, creamy sauces like tarter sauce, and salad dressings. These calories can really add up, so try alternatives like mustard instead of mayo.
• Fill up on veggies - Veggies are good for you, it’s as simple as that. They’re the one food group with the lowest amount of calories.

If you already have diabetes, it’s even more important that you follow the guidelines above. Diabetes is a very serious disease, and taking it lightly like regularly eating sweets, eating out, skipping meals, and eating foods high in fat can lead to more medical problems and even death.

Have a family member with diabetes? Let them know that it’s diabetes awareness month and that you care about their health and well-being!

Source: Yahoo Health

There are SO many diet myths out there that simply aren’t proven to be true. AOL Body took the time to go through some of those myths and provide the facts so that no one will have to waist their time trying to lose weight on a grapefruit diet, or eliminating carbohydrates. Today we’ll cover five of those myths, but of course that’s just the beginning of them!

1. Myth: Drinking liquid meal replacements will help shrink your stomach.
   Fact: Liquid diets were meant for babies! The fact of the matter is this - there is nothing that you can do to shrink your stomach. Your stomach is a muscle, and while it may expand while you’re eating, it will return to it’s normal size.  If you feel as though your stomach has shrunk, it’s all in your imagination. They say that over time, you can get used to eating less so it may feel as though your stomach has gotten smaller, but it hasn’t.
2. Myth: Exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat.
   Fact: If you skip a meal before exercising, you won’t have carb stores to burn, but that doesn’t mean that your body will automatically go to your fat stores to burn. What actually happens is that your body could end up burning your muscle which means a lower metabolism.
3. Myth: Eating white foods is bad for you.
   Fact: Never judge a food by its color! Garlic which is white is great for you, as are pears!
4. Myth: Drinking lots of water will help you lose weight.
   Fact: Certainly water is good for you and is needed, but simply drinking extra water is not going to help you lose weight. The important thing to remember is that when you’re hungry, drinking water may help you “feel” full, but those hunger pains are telling you that your body is craving nutrients which water can’t give.
5. Myth:  Calories eaten after 8PM turn to fat.
   Fact: Any time you eat more calories than you burn, they can be stored as fat. According to AOL Body, “whether you consume them during Good Morning America or Letterman doesn’t matter, there is no intrinsic connection between calories and the clock.

Remember Jared, the guy who lost lots of weight eating Subway sandwiches all the time? Well, now there’s someone else who took the same approach and  lost weight by eating burritos everyday from Chipotle , the McDonalds owned “Mexican” Grill. Now here’s the thing, if you select a low-fat 6-inch sub from Subway like Turkey or even Ham, it’s somewhat healthy (lower in calories, low in fat) so I can see why Jared lost weight. The problem with Justin Hall who went on the Chipotle Burrito diet is that the burrito he eats every single day has 1,330 calories. He says it fills him up for a long time and the rest of the day he just eats fruits and salad. It’s working for him, he’s lost 40 pounds so far, but eating one calorie dense meal each day just doesn’t sound like it will be good for his long-term health and weight.

One big component to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and losing weight is exercise.  Justin has not added any type of exercise to his plan — he just sticks to eating the daily burrito. On one hand, his method isn’t ideal, but on the other hand, he is losing weight that could bring him down to a weight where he’d have more energy to exercise. Should he be encouraged to continue it because he is losing weight, or is he better off trying to change his habits all around that will give him sustainable success?

My thought is that he’d be better off trying to change his habits, ditching the burrito, and incorporating exercise into his daily life - but at least he’s trying. Once he decides he’s had enough burritos and stops the fad diet, he’ll likely go back to old habits and gain the weight back. What he’s eating just doesn’t sound like something that would be good in the long run for anybody. If I had to pick between the Subway diet and the Chipotle diet, I’d definitely pick Subway.

Source: Diet Blog

When you’re trying to lose weight, it helps to know what it takes to drop a pound — the specifics. The information I’m going to share with you today is just the simple basics behind weight loss. To start with, we need to know the calorie deficit that it will take to drop one pound. Any guesses? The answer is 3,500. If you have a deficit of 3,500 calories, you will drop one pound. Given that, now we need to talk about how you cut out 3,500 calories in a healthy way over a realistic amount of time — a week.

• Cut 500 calories each day
• Increase your activity to burn an extra 500 calories each day
• Cut 250 calories each day and increase your physical activity to burn an extra 250 calories each day

By choosing one of the methods above, you should be able to drop about one pound per week which is certainly an attainable goal. So now you might need a few ideas to increase your activity or cut calories from your diet. Here are a few suggestions:

Increase activity by:

• Doing an extra 20-30 minutes of cardio exercise per day
• Clean your house - yes, washing windows and vacuuming actually burns calories
• Turn off the TV and go for a brisk walk
• Yard work- mow the grass, weed, water plants, etc.

Cut calories by:

• Start using smaller plates- you’ll likely eat less
• Eat slowly - you’ll enjoy your food and give your brain time to tell you when you’re full
• Snack Smart - cut out the chips, soda and ice cream and replace it with a healthy snack like fresh veggies
• Cut the salad dressing - switch from using a creamy dressing to using a good quality extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, or try squeezing a fresh lemon or lime over it