All About You! Wellness BootCamp

MINDFUL EATING

2012-02-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

Because we are all so busy, we don’t often take time to truly savor & enjoy our meals. Instead, we gobble down our food while multitasking, and sometimes barely even taste what we've eaten.

Not only is this bad for digestion, but it leaves us feeling unsatisfied, which can cause us to overeat later.

A great strategy for decreasing our caloric intake while increasing our satisfaction is “mindful eating.” When you are mindful you are fully present, in-the-moment, without judgment.

Practicing mindful eating can help you break free of some of your eating routines that may be hindering you from developing healthier habits.

This week, we encourage you to experiment with mindful eating. For at least one meal this week, please do the following:

1. Take your time. Choose a time to do this experiment when you do not have to rush to your next task or activity.

2. Choose a quiet, comfortable place to enjoy your meal.

3. Eat by yourself with no disctractions. (That is, no reading, tv, radio, computer, etc…Just you & your food.)

4. Bring all your senses to the experience. Take a deep breath & smell the food. Enjoy the colors of the meal. Listen to the sound as you take a bite. Feel the texture & temperature of the food in your mouth. Savor the flavor.

5. Chew well and enjoy each bite. Put your fork down between bites.

6. Be sure you have swallowed your food completely before taking your next bite or drinking your water. When you drink water with food in your mouth, you don’t get to taste the food fully.

7. Notice your hunger levels. How hungry were you before the meal? How satisfied are you after? Did you eat just enough, or too much?

Mindful eating takes time, but it can be revolutionary. Practicing mindful eating can change your eating habits and change your life.

After your first experiment with mindful eating, we encourage you to incorporate it little by little into your regular eating habits. Start with once a week, then twice a week and build from there.

WHY YOU SHOULD CUT BACK ON SUGAR

2012-01-27T15:31:00.001-08:00

Between 1970 and 2005, our intake of added sugars jumped 20%. The average American now consumes 350-475 empty calories from added sugars each day!

The American Heart Association recommends that we limit our intake of added sugars to 100 calories per day for women and 150 calories per day for men.

Of course, sweets taste good! And, it can be challenging to cut back.

But, once you understand how sugar wreaks havoc inside your body, it's easier to start passing up dessert.

Here's what happens when you eat sugar:

An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep your blood sugar at a constant and safe level.

Increased insulin levels can inhibit the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system. This is definitely something to avoid if you want to prevent disease.

Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Besides promoting obesity & heart disease, high sugar intake can lead to diabetes, gout & high blood pressure.

MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS

2012-01-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a startling statistic: 85% of people who lose weight gain it back within one year. Why? Most people "go on a diet," which is, by its very nature, a temporary solution. You cannot be on a diet for the rest of your life.

That's why at All About You! we do not recommend deprivation diets. Instead, we encourage you to incorporate healthy eating habits into your daily life.

A 2005 study identified the following strategies as the most widely used by people who had lost at least 30 pounds and had maintained that weight loss for at least one year:

1. Exercise 5-6 times a week. (Those who exercised 4 times a week started regaining weight!)

2. Record all food & drink in a journal.

3. Weigh in on a consistent basis.

4. Eat a healthful breakfast.

At All About You! we want you to not only reach, but also maintain, a healthy & comfortable weight for the rest of your life. Be one of the 15% that keeps it off for good!

Long-term weight loss success CAN be a reality, and it CAN be attained with determination, watchfulness, and adherence to the above four strategies.

TOP 15 WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGIES

2012-01-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

By now we all know that losing weight is a matter of burning more calories than you consume. It's a simple formula, but it's not so simple to put into practice.

Losing weight is never an easy process, but with a few simple strategies, you can greatly increase your chances of successfully losing weight & keeping it off for good.

Here are our Top 15 Weight Loss Strategies:

1. Eat 5-6 small meals & snacks throughout the day: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.

2. Each meal & snack should consist of healthy carbohydrate (vegetables, fruit, whole grains) and lean protein (poultry, fish, lean beef, non- or low-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes).

3. Eat a minimum of 4 servings of veggies and 2 servings of fruit daily.

4. Drink at least 8 cups of water per day.

5. Avoid any beverage with calories: alcohol, juice, soft drinks. (Also avoid artificially sweetened soft drinks. Even though they have no calories, they are toxic to your body and they lead to sweet cravings.)

6. Morning snack should be fruit + protein. Afternoon snack should be veggies + protein. Snacks are always healthy and nutritious.

7. TREATS are not snacks! Treats are delicious and fun, but not nutritious. Treats should be limited to 1-2 per week.

8. Get your sleep! If you get less than 7 hours of sleep per night, hormones that make you hungrier are increased and hormones that make you satisfied are decreased.

9. Don’t be in a rush! Trying to lose weight too quickly will make you feel deprived, will make you lose muscle instead of fat, will lower your metabolism and will certainly backfire on you.

10. Set yourself a series of step-by-step targets. You need to lose weight in stages. Slow, steady progress will lead to healthy, permanent weight loss.

11. Give yourself a good incentive. Plan small rewards for yourself each time you hit a target. Simple rewards can be: a massage, a new outfit, a bubble bath. Make sure your rewards are not related to food.

12. Get support! A partner, friend, family member, or All About You! trainers and members can all be a great support. There is no reason to "go it alone." We all need someone to lean on at times.

13. Know that we all have bad days. Don't get discouraged by one bad snack or meal, because the worse you feel about it, the more likely it will lead to a bad day, bad week, bad month, etc. Instead, recognize that we are all human and that it's ok to slip up once in a while. The key is to get back on track, feeling positive and optimistic.

14. Always have lots of healthy, low-calorie snacks in the refrigerator. Remember, you can’t eat what you don’t have. So get organized. Planning ahead makes a big difference.

15. Write it down! Keep yourself accountable by keeping a food journal and calculating your calories.

BOOST YOUR METABOLISM

2012-01-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Many people believe that a slower metabolism is an inevitable consequence of aging. However, there are ways to keep your metabolism strong and healthy throughout your life.

Here are five things you can do to boost your metabolism and the most important thing to avoid:

1. Increase you muscle mass by strength training. Your muscle is your "fat burning machinery". Muscle is active tissue and requires many more calories than fat. The more muscle on your body, the more calories you burn per day. (This is why strength training is so important.)

2. Boost your calorie burn with cardio. You continue to burn a higher number of calories for up to an hour after you've finished your workout!

3. Begin your day with breakfast. Going many hours without food in your system, makes your body go into "starvation mode." Your metabolism slows down to conserve calories. Stoke your furnace each morning by eating a good breakfast!

4. Eat small portions more often. Keep that furnace going throughout the day!

5. Drink at least 8 cups of water. All chemical processes in your body require water. Keep yourself hydrated to keep your metabolism working strong.

And here's what you need to avoid - the most detrimental thing for your metabolism:

Yo-yo dieting!! When you lose weight quickly, you lose muscle along with the fat. When you gain it back, you gain back only fat. With less muscle on your body, you will burn fewer calories every day.

After months, years & decades of yo-yo dieting, many people have severely lowered their metabolism and they find it increasingly difficult to lose any weight at all.

But there is hope! If you feel you have a slow metabolism, follow our 5 metabolism-boosting tips above. And be patient! It took time to lower your metabolism, so it will take time to speed it up.

WEIGHT LOSS FACTS

2011-12-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

To lose weight safely, effectively and permanently, it's important to know these five facts:

1. To lose fat you must burn more calories than you consume.

2. One pound of fat = 3,500 calories

3. To lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 more calories than you consume. To lose 10 pounds of fat, you must burn 35,000 more calories than you consume.

4. The maximum recommended daily calorie deficit is 500. In other words, you should burn 500 more calories than you consume each day.

5. The safest & most permanent rate at which to lose weight is one pound per week.
(500 calories x 7 days a week = 3,500 calories)

With these facts in mind, we recommend the following approach:

Take Your Time
Don't be fooled by pills, drinks or programs that promise huge, fast weight loss. It's all about consistency and commitment. It is very tempting to get caught up in trying to lose weight as fast as possible, but in the long-run rapid weight loss is counter-productive. When you drop large amounts of weight quickly, you lose not only fat, but also water, muscle & other tissue. This tissue loss decreases your metabolism, making it harder to maintain your new weight.

Make It A Lifestyle
Permanent weight loss involves changing your eating and exercise habits for life. Any "quick fix" solution is, at best, a temporary solution.

Don't Go Hungry
The biggest enemy of weight loss is hunger. Letting yourself get too hungry leads to deprivation, temptation and, ultimately, failure. By eating a variety of healthful, low-calorie foods in the right portions and at the right times, you can remain satisfied, alert, energetic and positive while you lose weight.

So, slow down, take your time and enjoy the process of incorporating healthier eating habits and more consistent exercise into your lifestyle while you watch your body slowly transform.

For more weight loss strategies, download our Secrets of Weight Loss E-Book from our website (bottom of the left-hand navigation bar).

PLAN FOR SUCCESS

2011-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

At this time of year, many people are starting to think about New Year's Resolutions. We encourage you to set fitness and nutrition goals for yourself. But, setting a goal is one thing, achieving it is another.

In order to achieve your goals, it is important to have a plan. If you want to improve your eating habits, you need to be organized and plan ahead.

Tips on planning ahead:

• Put aside two hours on the weekends to wash & cut up your vegetables and fruit.

• Prepare your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks the night before.

• Place your food in small portion containers so that they’re easy to grab & go.

• Purchase a cooler for the road.

• Fill up your water bottles the night before. It’s easier to have a few small ones than one large one.

• Most importantly, plan your food intake and calculate the calories for the next day before you go to bed. (Our Online Nutrition Tracking Program is a great tool to use.)

Remember that if you are offered food that is not on your personal menu plan for the day, PASS IT UP!

Your advanced planning will give you the determination, focus and strength to stay within your recommended calorie intake.

REDUCE MUSCLE SORENESS

2011-12-16T21:24:00.001-08:00

Members frequently ask us what they can do to reduce muscle soreness, so we decided to address that issue in this week's nutrition tip.

There are a few things you can do with both nutrition & exercise to help reduce soreness, but first, it's important to understand what causes muscle soreness.

CAUSES OF MUSCLE SORENESS
Exercise physiologists refer to the gradually increasing discomfort that occurs between 24 and 48 hours after strenuous activity as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

DOMS is a common result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to. Soreness is most prevalent in the beginning stages of a program, or when you perform a new type of exercise that your muscles are not used to.

DOMS is usually caused by the eccentric (lengthening) phase of a strength training exercise, such as lowering a dumbbell or the down phase of a squat or lunge.

Small microscopic tears occur in the muscle. It is thought that the inflammation that accompanies these tears causes the pain. Your body then mends the tears, which is eventually what makes you stronger & more toned.

SORENESS DOES NOT INDICATE A BETTER WORKOUT
It is important to note that the degree of your muscle soreness does not necessarily indicate how hard you worked or how effective your workout was.

Muscle soreness is unique to each individual. Some people are never sore no matter how hard they work, and others are sore after every workout, no matter how easy. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.

For most us, the more we exercise & more fit we become, the less soreness we experience. However, when we try a new type of exercise or increase our intensity, we may again experience more soreness.

Muscle soreness is not an indicator of a successful workout. No scientific studies have ever proven that soreness is necessary in order to get stronger, to gain muscle or to become more fit.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE SORENESS
There is no 100% effective method for eliminating muscle soreness, but some of the following methods are known to reduce soreness in some people. It's best to experiment & find what works for you.

1. Warm up at the beginning of each training session
Muscles that have been warmed up & have moved through their range of motion will contract more readily so that they will experience less stress as the exercises become more challenging.

This is why we insist that BootCampers warm up on their own when they arrive late to a session. Many BootCampers have commented that when they miss the full warm up they feel more sore the following day.

2. Cool Down & Stretch
Cooling down & stretching at the end of a training session will help the muscles relax gradually and carry oxygen to the muscles & waste product away from the muscles. This is why we ask BootCampers to stretch on their own if they have to leave a session early.

3. Eat Protein & Carbs immediately after a workout
Immediately after you workout your body is in the best position to utilize any carbohydrates or protein you give it. It needs the proteins to help repair and rebuild the muscle cells and the carbohydrates to provide your body with the energy to do so.

Studies show that when protein & carbs are consumed within 15-30 minutes of a workout, the muscles will recover more quickly.

We encourage you to bring a snack to class so you can eat it in the car on the way home. Half a banana with 5 almonds, or half a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter are good choices.

4. Do Cardio the Day After Strength Training
Cardio increases blood flow to the muscles and is linked with diminished muscle soreness. That's why we encourage BootCampers to come to class to do cardio the day after a strength training session, no matter how sore they are.

5. Drink Water
Staying hydrated can help reduce stress on the muscles and help them recover more quickly.

6. Eat Plenty of Veggies & Fruit, esp. those with Vitamin C
Anti-oxidants in vegetables & fruits can help protect muscles. Some studies have linked vitamin C with decreased muscle soreness.

7. Pamper Yourself
A hot bath, a massage or even using a foam roller can help relieve sore muscles.

Easy Ways to Reduce Calories

2011-12-09T18:37:00.001-08:00

At this time of year, with a variety of gatherings, celebrations & events, you may find yourself being offered lots of tempting treats that are hard to resist.

It's ok to enjoy the holidays and allow yourself some small indulgences. However, in order to prevent holiday weight gain, we recommend that you incorporate the following calorie-saving strategies into your daily eating habits:

• Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water contains zero calories, and staying hydrated will reduce false hunger pangs.

• Fill yourself up with lots of veggies before eating your meal. This will take the edge off your hunger & will help you keep your portion sizes small.

• Walk away from the dinner table before you are "full." Put your fork down when you feel 80% full.

• Eat salads, but be sure to have the dressing on the side. Instead of pouring the dressing on top, dip your fork in the dressing before each bite. You will be amazed by how little dressing you use without compromising the taste at all.

• Watch out for hidden coffee calories! Some of the fancy drinks at coffee shops can contain as many calories as an entire lunch. A cafe mocha, for example, can easily be 400 calories -- more than a grilled chicken sandwich. If you drink coffee, keep it simple. Black coffee is best. Or, add a touch of almond milk.

• Know the difference between a treat and a snack. A "snack" is a healthy mini-meal to tide you over between meals and should always contain a vegetable or a fruit + protein. You should eat two snacks a day. A "treat" is a tasty, but non-nutritious food or drink with lots of empty calories. You should limit yourself to one or two treats per week.

• Remember: your stomach is not a trash can. Treat your body with respect by feeding it nourishing food.

STAY FIT & HEALTHY ON VACATION

2011-12-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Many of our BootCampers have mentioned that they'll be traveling for the holidays and some have expressed concern about the temptation to overindulge while on vacation.

So, this week we're offering you vacation tips.

First and foremost, you must set an intention to stay on track. Many people use vacations as an excuse to live it up by eating rich foods they don't normally eat. Whether you'll be joining festive family celebrations or eating out at restaurants in a foreign country, you can enjoy your food & stay within your calorie range as long as you plan your strategies in advance.

Here are our Top Ten Tips:

1. Bring healthy snack foods with you. Pack your carry-on with healthy goodies so you have something on hand when hunger strikes. Whole grain crackers, light string cheese, unsalted nuts & trail mix, apples, oranges & other raw fruits & veggies are all good choices.

2. Plan meals in advance. If you'll be dining at restaurants, check the menu online beforehand and if possible look up calories. Choose restaurants that provide healthy options & select what you'll order in advance.

3. Skip the in-flight cocktails, coffee, and caffeinated beverages. Plain or sparkling water will help you stay hydrated, keep your appetite in check and prevent water retention. You'll arrive at your destination feeling energized & clear-headed.

4. Keep your alcohol consumption in check. Many people tend to drink more than usual on vacation. Not only does each drink have extra calories, but the alcohol will skew your good judgment and you may wind up eating much more than you'd intended. Limit yourself to one or two alcoholic drinks. Then, switch to sparkling water with a twist of lemon or lime.

5. Keep a food journal. Record everything you eat & drink, and if possible record the calories too. Seeing everything down on paper will help keep your calorie intake moderate.

6. Downsize your portions. You're on vacation and you want to try the delicious foods that you don't normally have access to. That's ok. Just keep your portion sizes in check. Share desserts & other rich foods with a friend.

7. Follow the 80/20 rule. Load up your plate with 80 percent fresh or steamed vegetables and fruits and 20 percent anything else.

8. Walk as much as possible. Wear comfortable shoes so you can walk around the airport terminal instead of sitting down to wait for boarding. Then, when you're at your destination, get to know the area by walking to restaurants, shops or local attractions.

9. Stay active. Exercise will boost your energy and mood while traveling. There is always a way you can find a time & place to exercise. Get up early and go for a run. Use the hotel gym. If you're in a warm climate, go for a swim, or go snorkeling. Find a local park & go hiking. Or organize a soccer, basketball or football game with your friends or family.

10. Get a full night's rest. Make sleep a top priority on vacation. Studies have shown when you lack sleep, your appetite increases and you turn to food for energy.

It is possible to enjoy your vacation without packing extra pounds for the trip home. The secrets: choose foods wisely, make "moderation" your vacation mantra, and stay as active as possible during your trip.

SURVIVE THE HOLIDAYS AT HOME & THE OFFICE

2011-11-22T17:45:00.001-08:00

More so than at any other time of the year, the holiday season seems to be full of obstacles at both home and work that can easily derail our good eating habits & best intentions.

Here are some good strategies to help you stay on track at work & home:

AT WORK:

1. Prepare your lunch & snacks at home the night before and bring them to the office. Be sure to include plenty of fruit, which will reduce your sweet tooth.

2. Also fill up your water bottles the night before, so that you'll have plenty of water with you throughout the day. Staying hydrated will help reduce cravings.

3. The snacks you bring from home should include some healthy "treats" so that when others are passing around cookies & chocolates, you will have your own delicious but healthier alternative.

4. Encourage your colleagues to agree on some "guidelines" for treats in the office. For example, treats are allowed into the office only on Fridays.

5. Move more. Eat your lunch at your desk and then go for a walk or run. Not only will you be burning more calories, but you'll also be taking yourself out of the tempting environment.

6. Control your stress level. Stress increases your cravings.

AT HOME:

1. Don't keep tempting foods in the house. If others give you chocolates, cookies or cakes, give them away to someone else.

2. If the party is at your house, send all the leftovers home with your guests.

3. Be very aware of why you are eating. Is it because you are hungry? Or are you sad, excited, stressed, lonely? Holidays & get-togethers can lead to an unusual amount of emotional eating. Focus on dealing with your emotions in ways other than through food.

4. Forgive yourself! If you do slip up, recognize the slip for what it is. Quickly move on to the lesson learned & allow yourself to get back to your healthy eating habits right away.

PREVENT STRESS EATING

2011-11-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

We all know that hunger is not the only reason we eat. Many of us turn to food at stressful times.

When you're under stress, your body produces higher levels of cortisol, a hormone that tends to make you crave sweet and salty food.

Here are some tips to help you prevent stress eating:

1. Recognize when you're stressed. Clenched teeth, hunched shoulders, headaches & shallow breathing can all be signs of stress.

2. Enjoy your food! Slow down, and savor the tastes, smells and textures of your food. You will feel satisfied and comforted sooner.

3. Be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to who you're with & where you're at so that it's not just about the food.

4. Focus on choice. Notice what is going on for you physically, mentally and emotionally that led to your choice to eat.

5. Learn from the past. If the last time you were stressed, you ate an entire bag of cookies and then felt guilty, eating only added to your stress. This time, take some steps to control portions, like buying only one cookie instead of a dozen.

6. Question. Take a moment to reflect on what you are about to eat. Ask yourself if this is really what you want to put in your body.

7. Rate your hunger. When we tune in to physical hunger signals, we can distinguish physical hunger from emotional hunger. Give your hunger a rating on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not hungry at all and 10 being starved. If your hunger is at a 0 or 1, wait to eat until the rating moves up. If you are at a 9 or 10, you have waited too long; when we are overly hungry, we're much more likely to overeat.

8. Find other ways to handle your stress. If you find that you're overly stressed, look for ways other than food to reduce your stress. Options include: seeking help from a therapist, confiding in a friend, writing in a journal, joining a support group, asking your family to pitch in to help reduce your household responsibilities.

Exercise has also been proven to reduce feelings of stress & anxiety, so if you're not already exercising five days a week, make a commitment to increase your activity level.

HEALTHY HOLIDAY COOKING TIPS

2011-11-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and all that festive food can make healthy eating a challenge. Americans put on half of our annual weight gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Even if it’s only a pound or two, it adds up year after year.

But, you can keep your family on track by starting with healthful cooking in your own home.

Below are a few suggestions to keep your holiday cooking healthy:

1. For the dips, use fat-free sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt for the base.

2. Instead of whole milk, use skim milk, soy milk, rice milk or almond milk.

3. In place of mayonnaise, use an eggless mayonnaise, such as Veganaise, that contains healthy, non-hydrogenated oil.

4. Use vegetable spreads made from non-hydrogenated oils instead of butter.

5. Instead of cream, try plain nonfat Greek yogurt or evaporated skim milk.

6. Make a toast with mineral water or sparkling cider instead of champagne.

7. Include lots of vegetables, both cooked and raw, with the meal.

8. Applesauce can replace oil in a cake recipe.

9. Instead of fat-and-caffeine-laden-chocolate, try making carob brownies, or carob-chip cookies.

10. In baking recipes that call for eggs, use egg whites to reduce cholesterol and fat.

11. Add some wholesomeness to your cookies by using whole-wheat flour in place of bleached white flour.

12. For dessert, try pies without the crust topped with fat-free whipped topping or fat-free sorbet.

13. Include fresh fruit with any dessert offerings.

For some great healthy Thanksgiving recipes, check out this website. Please share your own tips & recipes by adding a comment below.

SURVIVING HOLIDAY PARTIES

2011-11-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, holiday parties are just around the corner! The holidays should be a time to celebrate, not a time to stress out.

Planning your eating strategies in advance can help you avoid the stress of the dreaded holiday weight gain.

Here are seven tips to help you stay on track:

1. Never go to a party hungry! Before heading out the door, have a small, healthful snack that includes both protein and carbohydrate.

2. Drink water. Start the party with a glass of water or sparkling water. Continue to drink water throughout the night in order to cut down or cut out alcohol consumption.

3. Remove yourself from temptations. Don’t stand or sit near the buffet.

4. Eat the right finger foods. Choose healthful, low-calorie foods such as fresh veggies with light dip, deli meat slices (such as turkey roll-ups), reduced-fat cheese, whole wheat crackers, shrimp cocktail, and fruit & yogurt fondue (cut-up fruit pieces dipped in vanilla yogurt). Bring a platter of low-calorie appetizers to ensure that you will have something healthy to eat.

5. Move it! Don't get stuck sitting or standing in one place. Walk around as much as possible to burn a few extra calories. If people are dancing, get out on the dance floor!

6. Be social. Avoid overeating by talking to people at the party. Focus on meeting new people and catching up with old friends and you’ll forget there is so much food around.

7. Save calories for special occasions. If you know you will be attending several parties on the weekend, and you want to be able to indulge a bit, then "bank" some extra calories during the week to "spend" on the weekend. Here's how it works:

Cut back 200 calories each day Monday – Thursday to save 800 calories. Now you have 800 guilt-free calories that you can use on the weekend for treats or drinks. But be sure to keep track of those 800 calories as you spend them! You might be surprised by how fast they get used up. Don't allow yourself to splurge on everything just because you were "good" during the week.

Enjoy a fun, but healthful holiday season so that you can start 2012 feeling healthy, fit, strong and energized.

IMMUNE-BOOSTING NUTRITION TIPS

2011-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Winter is approaching, but that does not mean you will get sick!

There are many ways we can avoid colds & flus, but the most important thing is to keep your immune system in peak working condition.

Your immune system is designed to fight germs and keep you healthy all year long. But, it's your job to keep your immune system strong with regular exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and good nutrition.

Here's a list of which foods to avoid and which to include to keep your immune system in top shape.

WHAT TO AVOID:
Some foods or unhealthy lifestyle behaviors can make you more susceptible to colds and flus. Avoid high-fat, high-sugar junk foods, as they will put a strain on your immune system. It’s also best to avoid too much caffeine & alcohol. And of course, smoking not only undermines your immune system, but can injure your respiratory tract, making you more susceptible to respiratory infections.

WHAT TO INCLUDE:

1. Cruciferous Vegetables
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and mustard are all cruciferous vegetables. They can increase your body's ability to fight infection with their potent source of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, folate, and calcium.

2. Orange Vegetables
Orange-colored vegetables, including carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, yams, butternut squash are all excellent sources of Vitamin C. These vegetables also contain beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that keeps your immune system strong and healthy.

3. Mushrooms
Mushrooms boost the production of white blood cells; this benefits the cells by increasing cellular metabolism, removing toxins, and preventing damage from free radicals.

4. Whole Grains
Whole wheat, oats, quinoa, amaranth, and brown rice improve your immunity, reduce inflammation, and protect you from the risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. ALWAYS opt for whole grains over refined or enriched grains.

5. Winter Fruit
Most fruit is packed with nutrients & fiber. Incorporate some citrus fruit daily for vitamin C, but aim for a wide variety of fruit to increase your vitamin & mineral intake. Winter fruits include: oranges, pomegranates, persimmons, pears, bananas, cranberries, grapefruit, rhubarb, kiwi and kumquats.

6. Herbs & Spices
Onions, garlic, leeks, and chives are rich sources of Vitamin C, potassium, chromium and selenium. Additionally, they contain volatile oils that are antimicrobial and help stimulate immunity. Other potent herbs and spices that support your immune system include ginger, cilantro, rosemary, sage, turmeric, and oregano.

Your diet is the key to your health: A poor diet of sugary, rich, hard-to-digest foods will detract from your immunity while a healthy diet full of fresh, antioxidant-rich foods will enhance your health and immune system.

Two More Factors:
1. Sleep: When you sleep your body is able to recover from the day's stresses & fight off any bugs you may have been exposed to. Make sure you get the rest you need to stay healthy.

2. Wash Your Hands: Most germs are passed on through human touch. After close contact with others, avoid touching your face (esp. eyes, nose, mouth) until you have a chance to wash your hands.

FIND A NUTRITION PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU

2011-10-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know that close to 90% of people who lose weight on a "diet" gain it back within a year?! And, eventually many of those people will "go on another diet" only to lose & regain yet again!

This is not only frustrating, but unhealthy as well. So what can you do to stop the cycle of yo-yo dieting to finally lose weight and keep it off for good?

The key is to think of your diet as a lifestyle, not an event.

Many people "go on a diet" because they want to lose weight for a specific reason or event. But often, when we are "on a diet" we are not practicing eating habits that we can sustain over a long period of time.

On most diets, we eat food that we may not really enjoy, or that we don't find satisfying. At the same time we're often depriving ourselves of whole categories of food (like carbohydrates or fats) that may actually be healthy if eaten in moderation.

If you are really determined, you may be able to stick with your diet until you reach your goal...but can you eat this way for the rest of your life? For almost everyone, the answer is no.

If you want to achieve and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life, it is essential that you find a nutrition plan (not a diet) that works for YOU. You need to incorporate a wide variety of healthful foods in the right portions in order to get the correct number of calories for your body and all the nutrients you need.

If you are having a difficult time doing this on your own, we have tools to help you.

1. Use our AAY! Online Nutrition Program.
The program will calculate not only your correct calorie range, but also ALL your nutrient needs (including vitamins, minerals, fats, carbs, protein, sodium, Omega 3s and more).

We recommend that you work mostly within the "Find A Meal Plan" function. You can browse a variety of meal plans in your proper calorie & nutrient range and then select the ones that are closest to your food preferences.

If you haven't used our Online Nutrition Program yet, click here to watch the demo. Then, if you'd like a one-week trial, just let us know and we'll email you a personal access code. (The cost is only $10 per month if you choose to continue using it after your trial week.)

2. One-on-One Nutrition Consultations
If Online Nutrition Tracking seems like too much time & work for you, allow us to help you establish good eating habits and personalized meal plans based on your needs, your preferences and your lifestyle.

You can purchase a one-on-one Nutrition Consultation with our nutritionist Narina. She will review your current eating habits, discuss any obstacles you may be experiencing and then help you develop a nutrition plan that will work for you.

Call or email Narina to set up an appointment, and then go to the Prices Page of our website to purchase your session.

Are "Detox" Diets Healthy?

2011-10-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

"Detox" and "Cleanse" diets are part of a multi-million dollar industry which includes hundreds of books, pills, supplements and kits.

Many people turn to these types of diets to lose weight, but the weight loss that occurs comes from water & muscle, and very little of it actually comes from fat. What that means is that in the long run, these types of diets will lower your metabolism, and you'll inevitably gain the weight back.

The concept behind "detoxifying" is good - to clean up a junky diet. But is that really what happens when you go on a 3-day or 10-day or 21-day starvation diet, supplemented with pills or maple syrup & cayenne pepper?

And then, if you return to your same bad habits, what have you really accomplished other than messing up your digestive system & metabolism?

Rather than wasting your money, time & health on a "quick fix" cleanse or detox diet, we encourage you to make healthy, realistic changes to your daily eating habits.

Nourish your body with whole, natural foods. Drink plenty of water and eat a well-balanced natural diet full of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and lean protein.

You'll feel less of a need to "detoxify" when you reduce the toxins that you voluntarily put into your body. Limit the toxins that enter your body by:

eating primarily organic produce
avoiding processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, colors & flavors
limiting your alcohol & caffeine consumption
avoiding drugs & tobacco

When you're healthy & well-nourished, your body is perfectly capable of ridding itself of toxins through the liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin.

"The best way to detoxify - stop putting toxic things into the body & depend upon it's own mechanisms." ~ Andrew Weil, MD

LOSE WEIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP!

2011-10-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Most people never consider sleep to be a factor in their fitness or weight loss program. However, recent studies have shown that there is a relationship between sleep loss and increased weight.

Lack of sleep drives up your levels of ghrelin (the hormone that stimulates your appetite and prompts you to eat more).

At the same time, lack of sleep drives down your levels of leptin (the hormone that lets you know when you are satisfied and prompts you to stop eating when you're full).

No wonder we feel ravenous on the days we don't get enough sleep!

Just as we have to make a commitment to include healthy eating and daily exercise in our lifestyle, we also need to make a commitment to get adequate sleep.

Here are some tips for improving your quantity & quality of sleep:

1. Prioritize Your Sleep: Too many of us pack our lives with so many activities and obligations that we seldom get a full eight hours of sleep. Make sleep just as a high a priority in your schedule as all your other healthy habits.

2. Plan for Sleep: Depending upon what time you wake up, count backwards and be aware of what time you need to be in bed in order to get a minimum of 6-8 hours of sleep. (Most people need eight hours.)

3. Get Ready for Sleep: One hour before your bedtime, start getting ready. Turn off computers, televisions and cell phones. Wrap up any tasks you need to complete, brush your teeth & put on pajamas.

4. Start a relaxing bedtime routine. Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This may include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music. Relaxing activities done with lowered lights can help ease the transition between wakefulness and sleepiness.

5. Eat Right. Don't eat or drink large amounts before bedtime. Eat a light dinner at least two hours before sleeping. If you're prone to heartburn, avoid spicy or fatty foods, which can make your heartburn flare and prevent a restful sleep.

6. Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol in the evening. These are stimulants that can keep you awake.

7. Exercise regularly. Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and make your sleep more restful. However, for some people, exercising in the evenings may boost your energy & make falling asleep more difficult. We recommend a morning exercise routine.

8. Make your bedroom cool, dark, quiet and comfortable. Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Adjust the lighting, temperature, humidity and noise level to your preferences. Use blackout curtains, eye covers, earplugs, extra blankets, a fan or white-noise generator, a humidifier or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.

9. Catch up when you can. If it is impossible for you to get a full eight hours of sleep during the week, use the weekends to sleep in and catch up on your shut-eye. Recent research has shown that making up for lost sleep on the weekends can help your body get the rest & recovery it needs.

DON'T STARVE YOURSELF!

2011-09-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

We all know why we shouldn't consume too many calories: obviously overeating will lead to weight gain.

What a lot of people don't realize, however, is that it is also detrimental to your body & to your weight loss efforts to consume TOO FEW calories!

When you decide you want to lose weight, it's very tempting to go on an extremely low calorie diet that promises quick weight loss. But, here are four reasons that strategy will actually PREVENT you from reaching your goal weight:

1. You may feel like the diet is "successful" in the first couple of weeks when you're losing weight quickly, but you are actually not losing much body fat! Instead, you are losing muscle mass & water.

2. Losing muscle decreases your metabolism because muscle is active tissue that consumes calories. With a slower metabolism, it will be much more challenging to lose weight & keep it off.

3. Seventy percent of your body weight is water, and water is essential for all your organs and cells to function properly. It is necessary to have an adequate amount of water in your cells in order for your fat to be metabolized, and for your muscle cells to perform well.

4. A steep reduction in calories triggers your body's starvation-defense mechanisms, so it ultimately slows the weight loss process down. It makes you hungrier and leads to feelings of deprivation which will ultimately cause you to go back to old habits.

Lose weight slowly (1-2 pounds per week) to ensure that it is actually fat that you're losing, and you will have a much better chance of keeping the weight off permanently.

If you need help sticking to healthy eating habits & designing your meal plans to ensure a consistent weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week, make an appointment with our nutritionist, Narina, and/or consider joining the next session of our AAY! Nutrition for WEIGHT LOSS program, which will start in January.

DIETS DON'T WORK

2011-09-24T14:00:00.001-07:00

Diets don't work! They are not realistic and cannot be adhered to on a permanent basis.

In fact, every major study shows that the vast majority of dieters gain the weight back, and sometimes more.

So if diets don't work, how are you supposed to lose weight?

1. Be patient. Diets promise rapid weight loss. But when you lose weight too quickly, you lose not only fat, but also water, muscle & other body tissue. (Yuck!) Losing muscle decreases your metabolism, making it harder to keep the weight off. To ensure safe, permanent fat loss, aim for losing 1-2 pounds per week.

2. Eat the correct number of calories. The first step is to determine your personal calorie range for weight loss. You can easily do this with our AAY! Online Nutrition Program. (If you don't have an account, let us know so we can set up a complimentary one for you.)

If your range is, for example, 1200 - 1500 calories, it's important to stay between those two numbers. Eating too few calories can be just as detrimental as eating too many calories. Eat too few calories and your metabolism starts slowing down. Eat too many calories and you gain fat.

3. Eat a balanced diet of mostly whole foods. Fill up on vegetables & fruit. Eat lean protein and low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Eat whole grains, nuts and seeds. Limit your consumption of processed foods. To ensure that you are getting ALL the nutrients you need (including vitamins, minerals, omega 3s, fiber, etc.) use our AAY! online nutrition program.

4. Listen to your body's internal cues. If you slow down and really listen to your body, you can learn to eat the right amount of food. Don't eat just because it's there or just because other people are eating.

5. Exercise 5 days a week. Studies show that people who lose weight & keep it off exercise 5 days a week. When they start to slack off by even one day a week, they stop making progress, or even start to gain weight back. Exercise is not a temporary weight loss tool. It is a lifestyle that you must maintain throughout your life for optimum health & well-being.

Our 12-week AAY! Nutrition for WEIGHT LOSS program adheres to the above principals to help our members lose weight safely, effectively & permanently. If you'd like additional support with reaching your weight loss goals, consider applying for the next session which will begin in January.

DON'T BE FOOLED BY "FAKE" FIBER!

2011-09-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

In your effort to get the recommended amount of fiber in your diet, do not be fooled by the advertising and labeling on many processed foods. When you are looking for foods that are high in fiber, it is easy to be tempted by food packaging that shouts "high in fiber" or "35% of the Daily Value (DV) of fiber."

You know the saying: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Chocolate Fudge Toaster Pastry with 20% DV of fiber? Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars with 35% DV of fiber? Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Bars with 5 grams (20% DV) of fiber?

Even the most naive among us must know in our hearts that consuming 5 grams of fiber in a fudge ice cream bar is not the same as getting 5 grams of fiber in a large apple. (And the poor apple has no packaging to brag about its high fiber content!)

So what's wrong with the fiber in processed foods? These fibers, referred to as "isolated" fibers do not necessarily give us the health benefits of "intact" fiber, the kind that occurs naturally in whole foods. Many studies have linked high fiber consumption with health benefits such as lowering cholesterol, aiding digestion, and reducing the risk of heart disease. Isolated fibers have not been shown to produce the same benefits.

Isolated fibers are added to foods by manufacturers in order to boost the number of grams of fiber they can claim on the packaging. To find out if the fiber in your food is intact or isolated, you need to check the ingredients.

Isolated fibers include inulin (also called "chicory root"), maltodextrin, oat fiber, and polydextrose.

Beware of the "fiber" in the following fortified foods:

Ice cream
Yogurt
White pasta/bread
Juice
Bars (esp. Fiber One, Atkins, Curves, Kashi, South Beach)

Bottom line: Eat your veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Not only do they have real fiber, they also have tons of other nutrients that your body needs.

DIGEST YOUR FIBER!

2011-09-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Guess what the biggest complaints are when people start increasing the amount of fiber they eat? You guessed it: indigestion, gas and bloating!

The good news is that you can prevent much of that discomfort with these digestion-enhancing tips (and as an added benefit, most of these tips will also aid in weight loss!):

1. Chew, Chew, Chew
Take small bites and focus on chewing each bite thoroughly. Using smaller cutlery will help you take smaller bites. Digestion begins in the mouth and chewing thoroughly allows amylase, the digestive enzyme present in saliva, to begin the digestion process.

2. Slow Down
When you eat too quickly, you swallow air with your food. Take a few deep breaths and relax before taking your first bite. Practice putting your fork down between bites. You might even try eating with chopsticks, which will probably force you to slow down.

3. Drink Plenty of Water
Insufficient water intake is a primary cause of constipation. Constipation then causes an imbalance in bacteria, promotes inflammation of the intestinal lining, and can even lead to the absorption of larger molecules, a condition known as intestinal permeability.

4. Practice Mindful Eating
• Savor every bite, enjoying the flavors, textures, and smells of your meal.
• Create a beautiful atmosphere - dim the lights, play music, light candles, and put a vase of fresh flowers on the table.

5. Increase Good Gut Bacteria
Not all bacteria is bad. There are over 400 different kinds of bacteria and yeasts in the digestive system. Of these, the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophillus and Bifidobacterium bifidum are considered good "probiotic" bacteria because they can help to maintain intestinal health. Yogurt, kefir and some cottage cheese products contain probiotics. Check the ingredients.

6. Get a move on!
Exercise helps gas pass through the digestive tract quicker, so you feel better faster. Be sure to get your daily dose of AAY! BootCamp!

EASY WAYS TO EAT MORE FIBER

2011-09-03T13:25:00.001-07:00

Last week we discussed the many health benefits of fiber. This week, we want you to work on incorporating more fiber into your daily diet.

Most people get only about half of the recommended daily intake for fiber. The average U.S. woman eats about 13 grams of fiber per day and the average man gets about 17. Those numbers should be 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men!

Here are some tips for including more fiber in your diet:

1. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially those with edible skin (apples, corn, zucchini) and those with edible seeds (berries).

2. Choose whole grains: oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat. Brown rice has 5 times more fiber than white rice!

3. Choose products made from whole grains: Ezekiel or other whole grain bread, brown rice or whole wheat pasta, Bite Size Shredded Wheat, Heritage or other whole grain cereals. Be sure to look for 100% whole wheat or whole grain. "Wheat" does not mean "whole wheat." Choose bread that has 2-3 grams of fiber per slice.

4. Remember to eat beans and legumes: black, kidney, pinto, garbanzo & white beans; lentils; split peas. Legumes are considered the best source of fiber.

5. Nuts & seeds: peanuts, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.

6. Eat the skins of potatoes, fruits & vegetables.

7. Replace iceberg lettuce with romaine, spinach or other dark, leafy greens.

8. Instead of drinking juice, eat the orange, grapefruit, apple or carrot.

In general, an excellent source of fiber contains five grams or more per serving.

Not sure how much fiber you're getting? We highly recommend that you track it for one week to see if you fall in the right range. Getting enough fiber can make a huge difference in your health & in your weight loss efforts.

The easiest way to track your fiber intake is with the AAY! Online Nutrition Program. See Nar or Elaine to get set up with one week of complimentary membership to our Online Nutrition Program.

Increase your fiber intake gradually to prevent stomach irritation, and increase your intake of water and other liquids to prevent constipation. Next week we'll give you some tips on enhancing your digestion of fiber.

BENEFITS OF FIBER

2011-08-27T07:39:00.001-07:00

You've probably heard many times that you should be eating a high-fiber diet, but do you know why fiber is so good for your health?

First, what is fiber? It's the indigestible part of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. When you consume dietary fiber, most of it passes through the intestines and is not digested.

Fiber is best known for preventing or relieving constipation, but it has many other health benefits as well.

The health benefits of fiber include:
1. Provides bulk in the diet, increasing satiety
2. Delays emptying of the stomach (keeping you full longer)
3. Aids in weight loss by usually providing very few calories in large volumes of food
4. Prevents constipation & establishes regular bowel movements
5. Prevents bacteria growth in the appendix (appendicitis)
6. May help lower the risk of colon cancer
7. Helps to retain the health and tone of the digestive tract muscles (prevents diverticulosis)
8. Lowers cholesterol
9. Reduces the risks of heart and artery disease
10. Regulates the body's absorption of glucose, helping to control blood sugar & lowering the risk of diabetes
11. Reduces inflammation
12. Strengthens the immune system

So how much fiber do you need in order to reap the health benefits? The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine gives the following daily recommendations for adults:

• Women under 50: 25 grams
• Women over 50: 21 grams
• Men under 50: 38 grams
• Men over 50: 30 grams

If you're like most people, you have no idea how many grams of fiber you consume per day. A great way to find out is by tracking your food using the AAY! Online Nutrition Program. Just record what & how much you eat & it will automatically calculate your fiber intake, as well as your calories and all other nutrients.

Next week we'll give you tips on incorporating more fiber into your diet from a variety of sources.

End Your Day with a Healthful Dinner

2011-08-18T20:09:00.001-07:00

As the last meal of the day, dinner should also be the smallest meal of the day, about 300 - 450 calories for people who consume 1500 - 1800 total calories per day. (Or slightly larger if your recommended daily calorie intake is higher.)

Breakfast and lunch should be your larger meals because you need additional calories for energy during the day.

For dinner, always include protein and vegetables. Fill three-quarters of your plate with vegetables and/or salad. Use the other quarter for lean protein.

Eat grains such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, potatoes, whole grain bread or tortillas in moderation. Don't avoid whole grains, as they contain fiber & important nutrients, but it is preferable to eat most of your grains earlier in the day to give them more time to digest.

Make sure you finish your dinner at least two to three hours before going to bed. Eating too late at night causes your body to work hard digesting food while you sleep instead of healing, resting and recuperating fully.

If you usually eat shortly before bed time, try having a light, healthy dinner earlier in the evening and notice how much more rested & refreshed you feel in the morning.

If you eat out for dinner, check our Healthy Dining post for practical tips to keep your calories within a reasonable range.

HEALTHY LUNCH FOR ENERGY & WEIGHT LOSS

2011-08-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Has this ever happened to you: You start the day off with a nice healthy breakfast, but by lunchtime you're so famished that you rush out to the closest fast food restaurant, order junk, eat too much and feel sluggish the rest of the day?

It's happened to most of us, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Here are some strategies to help you stay on track with healthy eating throughout the day:

1) Eat a healthy breakfast and a mid-morning snack. Be sure both contain healthy carbs and protein. Prepare your snack the night before so that you can bring it to work with you. This will keep your blood sugar stable and prevent cravings.

2) Plan what time you will eat lunch. It's easy to get caught up in your busy day and keep your nose to the grindstone until your stomach starts growling. Instead, plan to eat 2-3 hours after your mid-morning snack. Set an alarm to remind you to take your lunch break. This will help you make wise decisions & keep your lunch portions moderate.

3) Bring your lunch to work. Prepare & pack your lunch the night before so you can just grab it & go in the morning. This puts you in total control of your midday calorie intake. (Plus, it saves you money).

Here are some good choices for a brown bag lunch:

• Left-overs from dinner the night before
• Sandwich (we like turkey on Ezekiel bread with lettuce, tomato & mustard)
• A piece of fruit & light string cheese
• A small bag of raw veggies with hummus or peanut butter
• Yogurt or cottage cheese with a few nuts & berries

If you pack enough, you can divide it up into a small mid-morning snack, satisfying lunch, and small mid-afternoon snack. When you get home in the evening, you'll feel great and ready for a healthy dinner. (Much better than arriving home tired, grumpy & hungry!)

Of course, you may want to eat out with co-workers or friends occasionally. That's fine once in a while, as long as you watch out for the hidden calories in the lunch entrees.

Here's a great strategy suggested by one of our BootCampers: bring your lunch & eat it early. Then go out with the gang to socialize. While they order a full lunch, you can order something light like a cup of soup or side salad.

For dining out tips, check out this posting.

SNACKING FOR WEIGHT LOSS

2011-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

We often hear people say that they are trying their hardest NOT to snack between meals.

Imagine their surprise when we tell them that snacking will actually HELP them lose weight!

Of course, the right type of snacking is key.

One of the main misconceptions is that a "snack" is a small meal consisting of an unhealthy, empty-calorie food such as chips, candy, cookies & pastries.

At AAY!, those types of foods are not snacks, but rather "special treats." You may "treat" yourself to these non-nutritious foods in moderation on an occasional basis (perhaps once or twice a month).

A "SNACK" is a different story altogether.

Eating small, protein- and fiber-rich snacks between meals helps keep your blood-sugar levels balanced. This not only improves your body's ability to burn fat, but also reduces risk factors for heart disease by lowering cholesterol and triglycerides. Frequent eating also prevents afternoon or late-night binges on empty calories.

We recommend that your mid-morning snack consist of fruit + protein and your mid-afternoon snack consist of vegetables + protein.

Here are some of our favorite healthy snacks:

MID-MORNING SNACKS (fruit + protein)

Lowfat cottage cheese & mixed berries
Frozen grapes & almonds
Nonfat yogurt, sunflower seeds & any type of fruit
Orange slices & cashews
Apple & peanut butter
Homemade fruit smoothies with yogurt or whey protein powder (beware of high-sugar, high-calorie smoothies that you don't make yourself)

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS (vegetables + protein)

Broccoli & yogurt
Cherry tomatoes & light string cheese
Carrots, ak-mak crackers & hummus
Lettuce leaf wrapped around a slice of turkey or chicken
Low-sodium chicken broth with any frozen veggies & a few slivered almonds
Egg whites with veggies
Air popped popcorn & a few raw almonds
Protein-rich dip & raw veggies (carrots, snap peas, celery, bell peppers, baby tomatoes). Some of our favorite protein dips are hummus, peanut butter, cottage cheese mixed with a little mustard, or yogurt mixed with a little salsa. See this week's AAY! Newsletter for a delicious cashew dip recipe.

No more feeling guilty for snacking between meals! Just make sure you're making the right choices.

START YOUR DAY WITH A HEALTHY BREAKFAST

2011-07-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard it a million times before, but it really is true: breakfast is the most important meal of your day!

When you wake up, you probably haven't eaten for at least 8 hours, so your body & brain need some carbs & protein to function properly. (This is especially true if you're headed straight to AAY! for your BootCamp workout!)

Breakfast also gets your metabolism kick-started in the morning. Saving calories by skipping breakfast is not a good strategy for losing weight. In fact, studies show that people who eat a healthful breakfast are more likely to lose weight and keep it off.

Take the time each day to eat a healthy breakfast at home, or to pack a breakfast to eat at work, or on the way to work. If your mornings are rushed, get into the habit of preparing your breakfast the night before.

Your breakfast should contain a combination of healthy carbohydrates, protein and at least one serving of fruit or veggies.

Here are some of our favorite breakfasts:

whole grain cereal + milk (almond, soy or dairy) + ground flax seed + 1/2 a banana: We like Heritage, Bite Size Shredded Wheat and Flax Plus from Trader Joe's.

whole grain toast + nut butter + a piece of fruit (whatever is in season): Ezekiel is our favorite bread. If you want to be super healthy, use the low-sodium. If you need more flavor, the sesame seed and the cinnamon raisin are both delicious. For nut butters, you can choose peanut butter, almond butter, soy butter, or others. Make sure it is natural, with no added sugar. Or, if you like your peanut butter sweet, try "Better 'N Peanut Butter" made from defatted peanut flour with about 1/2 the calories of regular peanut butter.

egg white vegetable omelet: It's super easy to saute frozen veggies (we like Soycutash from Trader Joe's) and egg whites for a filling & delicious breakfast. See recipe in this week's AAY! Newsletter.

oatmeal + raw walnuts or sunflower seeds + dried fruit: Steel cut oatmeal is less processed than rolled oats and is more effective at reducing cholesterol. You can get quick-cooking steel cut oats from Trader Joe's. Add dried fruit while it's cooking and there will be no need for extra sweetener.

cottage cheese with strawberries & blackberries: Use low-fat cottage cheese. Or, if you use nonfat, then add a few nuts or seeds because you need some fat to sustain you until your next meal.

Greek yogurt + slivered almonds + blueberries: Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular yogurt. You can use low-fat or nonfat, but as with cottage cheese, be sure to add the almonds (or other seeds or nuts) if you choose nonfat.

A well-balanced, healthy breakfast will get your day started right so that you'll have the energy and brain-power to handle anything that comes your way.

KEEP YOUR SALADS HEALTHY!

2011-07-22T06:51:00.000-07:00

Salads are the perfect summer meal because you don't have to turn on a hot stove or oven to prepare them. But no matter what time of year it is, eating lots of salads is a great way to increase your vegetable consumption and satisfy your hunger with very few calories.

However, choosing the wrong salad fixings or dressing can turn a healthy, low-calorie meal into a 1,000+ calorie disaster. To avoid such disasters, follow these tips:

AT HOME:
1. Instead of pouring oil onto your salad, use an olive oil spray to very lightly coat the lettuce before adding vinegar & spices.

2. Make your own salad dressings because store-bought dressings (even low-calorie versions) usually contain lots of unhealthy ingredients.

3. Use mostly vegetables. Add the "treats" such as cheese, meat or nuts sparingly, just for taste.

DINING OUT:
1. Before heading out, check online for the restaurant's nutrition information. (If the restaurant's website doesn't list calories, check calorieking.com) You may be surprised to find out that some of the menu items that sound healthiest are not always low in calories. For example:

Cheesecake Factory's Weight Management Pear & Endive Salad = 570 calories!
Applebee's Grilled Shrimp & Spinach Salad without dressing = 610 calories!
Quizno's Honey Mustard Chicken Salad = 850 calories!
Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Caesar Salad = 1510 calories!

2. If you don't have a chance to look up calories before heading to the restaurant, ask your server for the calorie information before you order. (Chain restaurants in California now have to provide the calorie information on the menu or in a brochure. If it's not a chain, they may have the information too, but you usually need to ask for it.)

3. For tostadas or other Mexican-type salads: Avoid the fried tostada shells. Also, try using salsa instead of dressing.

4. Be picky! Most restaurants will accommodate your special requests such as: no croutons, no cheese, no bacon bits, etc.

5. Avoid salads topped with tuna salad, chicken salad or egg salad. The mayo adds too many unnecessary calories.

6. Always order your dressing on the side. You can pour 1/4 or 1/2 the usual amount of dressing onto your salad and still be satisfied. Better yet, don't pour any of the dressing! Instead, dip your fork into the dressing container before each bite. You will be amazed that your taste buds will not notice the difference and you will use only a tiny fraction of the dressing.

POWER OF COLORFUL PRODUCE

2011-07-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

This one simple nutrition tip can change your life: Exponentially increase the amount of colorful veggies & fruit you eat on a daily basis.

Here's why:

1. The more vegetables & fruit you eat, the more vitamins, minerals and fiber you'll get, which will improve your overall health.

2. Vegetables & fruit are naturally low in calories, so filling up on these nutritional powerhouses will help you lose weight.

3. Eating plenty of fruit will satisfy your sweet tooth & help reduce sugar cravings.

4. By focusing on what you should be eating more of, you have less time to worry about what you think you should be eating less of. You will lose weight without being deprived and without "going on a diet."

Each day, commit to eating at least one vegetable or fruit from each of these color categories: leafy green, other green, red, yellow, purple.

Each color group contains different nutrients that our bodies need. Below is a quick summary of the benefits of each color group, plus examples of vegetables & fruit from each group.

GREEN vegetables & fruits (esp. dark leafy greens) are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamin K, C, E and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems. Dark green leaves even contain a small amount of Omega-3 fats.

LEAFY GREENS
Spinach
Kale
Collard greens
Turnip greens
Bok choy
Romaine lettuce
Cabbage

OTHER GREEN VEGGIES
Broccoli
Zucchini
Artichoke
Brussel Sprouts
Asparagus
Green bell pepper
Snap Peas
Green Beans
Celery
Cucumbers

GREEN FRUIT
Kiwi
Honeydew Melon
Green Grapes
Lime

RED veggies and fruits are packed with a wide range of phytochemicals. The red pigments anthocyanins and carotenoids are powerful antioxidants. Many also contain vitamin C & potassium as well as a wide range of other nutrients & fiber.

RED VEGETABLES:
Red bell pepper
Radishes
Beets
Red cabbage
Tomatoes
Red potatoes

RED FRUIT:
Strawberries
Raspberries
Pomegranate
Watermelon
Plums
Guava
Papaya
Pink Grapefruit
Cherries

YELLOW/ORANGE veggies & fruit contain a wide variety of phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, nutrients & fiber. Many of them contain beta carotene, which is necessary for good vision, a strong immune system & healthy skin.

YELLOW/ORANGE VEGGIES:
Corn
Squash
Yellow Peppers
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Yams

YELLOW FRUIT:
Banana
Pineapple
Lemon

PURPLE produce contains fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect against cancer, improve memory and keep your heart healthy.

PURPLE VEGGIES:
Eggplant
Beets
Purple cabbage
purple onions
purple lettuce
purple potatoes
purple bell peppers
Purple asparagus
Purple cauliflower
Purple broccoli

PURPLE FRUIT
Blueberries
Blackberries
Plums
Grapes
Pomegranate
Prunes
Figs
Raisins

HEALTHY GRILLING

2011-07-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

It's barbecue season! Grilling can be a healthy way of cooking, as long as you follow a few basic rules. Here are six tips on how to keep your food safe & healthy at your next barbecue:

1. Don't overcook your meat. The higher your heat and longer your cooking time, the more likely your grilling can create cancer-causing compounds.

2. Choose healthy foods to grill: vegetables, veggie burgers, veggie dogs, chicken, fish

3. Use whole grain buns: Instead of your standard hamburger or hot dog bun, try a whole grain version. We recommend Ezekiel buns, which you can find at Whole Foods.

4. Easy on the condiments. Mayonnaise contains 100 calories per tablespoon and ketchup has 20 calories per tablespoon. Mustard is a better choice with almost no calories.

5. Healthy side dishes. Steer clear of heavy salads such as potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw. Instead, opt for a healthy green salad, spinach salad or fruit salad.

6. Eat slowly while you enjoy conversations with friends and family. The more you talk, the less time you have to put food in your mouth!

HEALTHY DINING

2011-07-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

Summer is a great time to get out and enjoy time with friends & family....and that often means going out to eat.

If you're not careful, you can easily eat & drink well over 1,000 calories at one sitting without even realizing it!

However, with these simple strategies, you can eat out, enjoy your meal and have confidence that you are staying within your calorie range:

1. Plan ahead by checking the menu and calories in advance.

2. Be picky! Ask your server for details about how your meal will be prepared. Ask them to omit any high calorie "extras", such as butter, cream, cheese, oil, croutons, etc.

3. Ask for sauces and salad dressings on the side so you can control how much you consume.

4. Split your meal with your dining companion, or ask the server to box half of it BEFORE bringing it to the table.

5. Drink water (ask for lemon slices to make it more refreshing) instead of alcohol, soda or juice.

6. Look for items on the menu that are baked, grilled, dry-sauteed, broiled, poached, or steamed.

7. Eat slowly while you enjoy your meal and your company!

EAT YOUR SOUP

2011-06-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Soup is a great addition to any meal plan. It's satisfying, goes great with salads, kids love it, and you can make large amounts that can be reheated for meals in minutes.

Of course, the type of soup you eat is important. The right kind of soup can pack lots of nutrients and fill you up for very few calories. Vegetable & broth-based soups will be lower in calories than creamy soups.

Homemade soup is better than store-bought because you can control the ingredients. Most store-bought soups are extremely high in sodium. If you don't have time to make your own soup, then look for "low-sodium" soups with lots of veggies. Check the food label for calories and sodium content. When you prepare the soup, add extra frozen veggies for additional fiber & nutrients.

A recent study from Penn State found that eating low-calorie soup before a meal can help cut back on how much food & how many calories you consume.

When participants in the study ate a bowl of soup before a lunch entree, they reduced their total calorie intake at lunch (soup + entree) by 20% compared to when they did not eat soup.

We tend to eat less following a bowl of hot, nutritious soup because we usually need to eat it slowly & it fills us up.

Try eating a bowl of vegetable soup before lunch or dinner and you will notice a difference.

If you get hungry in the evenings, you can snack on vegetable soup. Try this week's Vegetable Dump Soup recipe.

TIPS FOR CUTTING BACK ON CAFFEINE

2011-06-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Drinking one cup of coffee, black tea or green tea in the morning is fine. However, we advise against drinking multiple cups of caffeinated beverages throughout the day.

Here's why:

1. Caffeine raises cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone & can lead to fat storage.

2. Caffeine causes an energy spike and then crash, which can make you crave sugar & other carbs.

3. Caffeine is a stimulant and can disrupt your sleep, causing you to feel more fatigued. This creates a vicious cycle as you reach for more & more caffeine to counteract the fatigue.

Here are some great tips to help you transition away from caffeine:

1. If you drink multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, cut down slowly. Have your morning cup as usual, but then try replacing the rest of your coffee with green tea, herbal tea, or iced water.

2. Try green tea. Green tea has many health benefits and has about a third of the caffeine that coffee has. An 8-oz cup of coffee contains about 100 mg of caffeine, while green tea has 20-30 mg, oolong tea has 25-35 mg and black tea has 40-50 mg.

3. Try some delicious caffeine-free herbal teas. There are so many delicious options to choose from: Vanilla Hazelnut, Mint and Chamomile to name a few. Add a splash of milk or almond milk to make it a treat.

4. Stay away from fancy, high-calorie coffee drinks. If you really want the caffeine, have a plain coffee and add a dash of nonfat or low-fat milk. Avoid added syrups, sugar, whipped cream, caramel, chocolate, etc. If you really want a latte, request nonfat milk.

5. And most importantly, honor your body by making sleep a priority. Get the rest your body needs and deserves and it will be much easier to cut out caffeine.

Limit Sodas & Juice

2011-06-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Most people know that soda is full of chemicals, sugar & calories. There is no reason to ever drink soda!

Sports drinks and Vitamin Water are also full of unnecessary ingredients. (The only exception is that sports drinks may be appropriate for people training for a long distance endurance event such as a marathon.)

Although juice is a much healthier choice than soda, we don't recommend drinking it on a regular basis either. Here's why:

All juice, even 100% fruit juice, is high in sugar & calories because it takes many, many pieces of fruit to make just one glass of juice. Plus, juice doesn't contain the fruit's fiber. It's much healthier to eat an orange than to drink a glass of orange juice.

Smoothies are usually not a better choice either. Many people drink Jamba Juice or other fruit smoothies without realizing that some smoothies may contain more than 500 calories! If you are craving a smoothie, it is much better to make your own with nonfat yogurt and frozen fruit. See this week's recipe for a healthy low-calorie smoothie.

In an attempt to cut calories, many people turn to DIET SODA. They assume it is a good beverage choice because it fills you up with no calories. However, many studies have actually linked diet soda to weight GAIN!

A recent 8-year study by the University of Texas Health Science Center found that "There was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day." Because artificial sweeteners are so much sweeter than sugar, they increase sugar cravings.

So, what's the best beverage choice? Water! If you like carbonation, drink mineral water. If you want flavor, add your own mint, lemon, lime, cucumber, etc.

ALCOHOL & WEIGHT LOSS

2011-06-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

Warning:

Alcohol consumption may adversely affect your weight loss efforts!

If you are trying to lose weight, we highly recommend that you avoid alcohol. Once you're at your goal weight, you may add it back in if you wish, but only in moderation.

Here's why alcohol is so detrimental to your weight loss efforts:

1. Extra calories. One beer per night = 1,000 calories per week = 15 pounds per year!

2. Liquid calories. Studies show that when people consume calories in liquid form, they do not make up for it by eating fewer calories.

3. Alcohol is a depressant. It slows everything down in your body, including your metabolism.

4. Alcohol raises your levels of cortisol, a hormone that steers fat toward the belly.

5. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions & impairs your judgment. This can cause you to make poor nutritional choices.

To help you cut back, here are some tips on limiting your alcohol consumption. We've also listed the lightest choices to keep in mind when you do decide to imbibe.

Tips On Cutting Back

1. Drink mineral water with lemon or lime out of a cocktail glass. Sometimes just having a drink to hold makes you feel like you're participating in the festivities.

2. Bring your own non-alcoholic beverage, such as sparkling apple juice or non-alcoholic beer or wine.

3. Focus on socializing and participating in activities (like dancing). The more actively involved you are, the less you'll think about drinking (or eating).

4. Drink one glass of water for each glass of alcoholic beverage you consume.

If you choose to drink anyway....
choose the drinks with the fewest calories

1. A 5-ounce glass of red or white wine or champagne has about 100 calories.

2. A 12 oz. bottle or can of beer has 150 calories. The same amount of light beer has 100 calories and non-alcoholic beer has 65 calories.

3. A 5-ounce margarita or screwdriver has about 200 calories.

4. A shot of vodka, rum, tequila, brandy or scotch has less than 100 calories. (That's ONE shot!) Mixing it with water, mineral water or club soda will help keep the calories down.

What do you drink when you go out with your friends and how do you keep your calorie count down? Comment below to share your ideas and tips or to ask a question.

DRINK UP!

2011-05-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Water is an essential component of life & health. The human body is made up of almost 75% water and nearly every cell in the body needs water to function properly.

The best beverage choice is always water! When you exercise you need to drink more to replenish the fluids you lose through sweat. Listen to your body to know how much water you need, but we recommend at least 64 ounces per day.

Many times we mistake thirst for hunger, and we end up eating when our bodies are actually craving fluid. Staying hydrated will help you better regulate your appetite.

There is nothing as refreshing as cold, fresh water. However, we understand that some people would like more flavor in their drinks. Instead of turning to juice, soda, coffee or alcohol, just spice up your water and keep it calorie-free with these ideas:

1. Add fresh lemon, lime, orange, mint, cucumbers, fresh or frozen berries, etc.

2. Buy flavored mineral water. There are different flavors such as lemon, lime, orange and wild berry. (It needs to be the clear mineral water with no juice added.) And make sure you don't get one of the brands that adds artificial sweetener.

3. Herbal teas also have no calories and come in a wide variety of delicious flavors. You can drink it hot, or make iced tea. Check the ingredients to make sure no artificial flavors have been added.

You may want to prepare a large amount of flavored water in the morning, and then turn to this water throughout the day, especially when you are craving food. Always remember to drink water before you turn to food.

REDUCE SODIUM

2011-05-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

Excess salt is a major cause of high blood pressure, and high blood pressure puts you at greater risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke than smoking, high cholesterol or obesity does!

Besides causing high blood pressure, salt can also damage your heart, kidneys and other organs.

The average American woman consumes 3,000 mg of sodium a day. The average man consumes more than 4,000 mg. Recommended levels are less than 2300 mg a day for most people! However, even modest reductions in sodium results in a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart disease & death.

80% of the sodium we consume comes from packaged foods and restaurant food, so cooking your own fresh foods will make the biggest impact on salt reduction.

Here are more tips:

1. Limit the number of meals you eat out.

2. Use mostly fresh foods in your cooking.

3. Use frozen vegetables and fruit, as long they are not packaged with salt or sauces.

4. If you buy food in cans, always look for "No salt added" or "Low sodium" versions.

5. When preparing a packaged or canned food, add plenty of fresh vegetables to lower the sodium concentration per serving.

6. Read food labels and check the sodium content.

7. Track your sodium intake for a few days to see how close you are to the recommended levels. The best way to do this is with our Online Nutrition Tracking system. See Nar or Elaine for access.

8. Stock up on spice blends that do not contain salt: many curry, fajita seasoning and poultry seasoning blends do not contain salt.

9. Experiment with different herbs & spices to flavor your food in place of salt.

What do you to to reduce the salt consumption in your family?

SHOULD I TAKE SUPPLEMENTS?

2011-05-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

When considering whether or not to start taking dietary supplements, it's important to remember that many of the people & companies peddling pills may not have your best interests in mind. So, be skeptical!

Just because it comes in a nice package and sits on the shelf of a "health food" store, does not necessarily mean it's good for your body.

Our philosophy is that most people can get all the nutrients they need as long as they are very conscientious about eating a wide variety of whole foods, including vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds and lean protein.

Rather than wasting money on expensive supplements, we'd prefer that you spend your precious time, money and effort on buying and preparing healthy, well-balanced meals.

Of course, there may be some circumstances when a specific supplement is warranted. If you're considering taking a supplement, the first question you should ask yourself is: "Why do I need them?" Be sure that you can answer this question fully & thoughtfully before ingesting something new.

Here are some interesting facts:

• Federal law does not require dietary supplements to be proven safe to FDA's satisfaction before they are marketed.

• For most claims made in the labeling of dietary supplements, the law does not require the manufacturer or seller to prove to FDA's satisfaction that the claim is accurate or truthful before it appears on the product.

In other words, there is NO guarantee that any dietary supplement on the market is either safe or effective, no matter how compelling the advertisements seem! So how do you know whether you should be taking a specific supplement?

Check as many resources as possible for information before putting an unknown substance into your body!

The FDA receives reports of adverse side effects in supplements, including muscle enhancement supplements, hormonal supplements, herbal supplements and weight loss supplements. To see the substances that the FDA has warned people from using, click here.

Finally, remember that a supplement is supposed to make up for a deficiency to put your body in proper nutritional balance. Using an unnecessary supplement or using an excessive amount of a supplement may throw your body out of balance, which can lead to severe body dysfunction.

Before taking any supplement, check with your healthcare provider to find out if your body really needs it and if so in what dosage. If you don’t need it, don’t waste your money.

There is a place for some supplements, but to make sure your body really needs them, do your research and consult with your health care provider.

Vitamins & Minerals: Food or Pills?

2011-05-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

Vitamins & minerals are found in natural foods. They are essential to the normal functioning of our bodies and with a few exceptions, cannot be made by our bodies. See below for more details on the functions & sources of vitamins & minerals.

Many people ask us about taking a vitamin & mineral supplement. Here's our recommendation:

Almost everyone can get all the vitamins & minerals they need from food and it is not necessary to spend money on vitamin pills & other supplements. The key is to eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, seeds, dairy & lean protein. Your body is designed to process the nutrients in real food, not in manufactured pills.

Pills are not replacements for food. They cannot replace the protein, fats & carbohydrates that your body needs. You cannot stop eating food, take vitamin & mineral pills instead and expect to be healthy.

Some people say they take supplements "just in case," as a type of nutritional insurance. However, with that mindset, it's easy to slip into unhealthy eating habits because you think you'll get what you need from the pills. We would much rather have you be diligent about your food choices.

However, if your doctor tells you that you have a deficiency in a specific vitamin, you may need to take a supplement. Because vitamin B-12 is found mostly in animal products, vegans and some vegetarians may choose to take B-12 supplements. If you think you may have a vitamin deficiency, it's best to consult with your doctor.

You can also try out the AAY Online Nutrition Tracking Program to determine if you're getting all your nutrients. You input everything you eat, and the program will let you know which vitamins you're lacking & which you're getting too much of. It will also give you suggestions to help you improve nutrient intake.

More About Vitamins:

Vitamins have hundreds of different functions. Some examples of what they do are:

energize and regulate our metabolism
help form blood clots when we bleed
promote cell growth

There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins.

A water-soluble vitamin is a vitamin that dissolves in water and cannot be stored in the body for a long period of time. Water-soluble vitamins travel through your body and the excess is excreted in your urine. These kinds of vitamins need to be replaced daily. Vitamins B and C are water-soluble vitamins.

A fat-soluble vitamin is a vitamin that can be stored in the liver and fat tissues of your body until your body needs them. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in your body for up to six months.

For lots of great information on all the vitamins, including which foods to find them in, their properties, functions & the daily requirements, check out the vitamin chart on this link.

More About Minerals:

There are two types of minerals, major minerals and micro minerals.

The major minerals are those elements that have a daily requirement of more than 100 mg. They include calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and magnesium.

The micro minerals are also known as trace minerals and have a daily requirement of less than 100 mg. They include iron, iodine, fluorine, zinc, copper cobalt, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, nick, tin, silicon and vanadium.

Click here for details on functions & sources for a variety of minerals.

Balance Your Macro-Nutrients

2011-04-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked us if they should eliminate or drastically reduce carbs, or fats, in order to lose weight. The answer is definitely NO!

All three macro-nutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates) are essential for health as well as for weight loss.

The key is to get the right proportion of each macro-nutrient while choosing the healthiest options from each group.

Here are our recommendations:

Carbohydrates provide our bodies with energy and our brains with fuel. Carbs should make up 45-65% of your daily calorie intake.

It is important to choose carbohydrates wisely. Carbs such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and milk are important sources of many nutrients. Choosing plenty of these foods, within the context of a calorie-controlled diet, can promote health and reduce chronic disease risk.

Good choices for carbohydrates are: brown rice, whole wheat, oatmeal, vegetables, fruits, and whole-grain breads, pastas & cereals

Protein is essential for muscle growth, tissue repair, immune function and hormone & enzyme production. Protein should make up 15-35% of your daily calorie intake.

You should eat a small amount of protein with every meal & snack throughout the day. The protein will keep your blood sugar stable and will reduce cravings.

Good sources of protein include: egg whites, fish and seafood, skinless chicken or turkey breast, other lean meat, legumes, nuts, soy, low-fat and non-fat dairy products.

Fat supplies essential fatty acids for growth, healthy skin, vitamin absorption and regulation of bodily functions. Fats should make up 20 - 35% of your daily calorie intake.

Unsaturated fats are the ones that are healthy for your heart. Good sources of unsaturated fats are: nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, fish, olive oil, safflower oil.

Saturated fats generally come from animal foods, and these should be limited because they can clog your arteries and contribute to heart disease. Saturated fats include meats, cheese, milk, ice cream, butter.

Trans fats start out as a liquid and are then heated (hydrogenated) to create a solid or semi-solid. These fats are toxic and should be avoided. Examples of trans fats include margarine and shortening. Trans fats are used in most commercially baked goods and fast foods. If you ever see the words "partially hydrogenated" on a food label, that means it contains trans fats.

It is best to add healthy fats to your diet, cut down on saturated fats, and eliminate trans fats.

As you can see, all three macro-nutrients contribute to keeping our bodies healthy.

AAY! ONLINE MEAL PLANNING PROGRAM

2011-04-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

The AAY! Online Meal Planning Program is a very inexpensive and effective tool to help you achieve your nutrition goals. This program is for everyone: whether you want to lose weight, increase your energy & stamina, or just stay healthy.

The program will calculate the number of calories you need to consume per day to achieve or maintain your goal weight. It will also calculate & track all of the nutrients in your food so that you'll know if you're eating a balanced diet.

Here are some of the main reasons we love this program:

1. Instant feedback: As soon as you type in an ingredient, you can see how it affects your calories, macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins & minerals).

2. Suggestions: If you are low in a specific nutrient, it will suggest foods (based on your food preferences) that will provide that nutrient.

3. Education: If you have questions about any nutrient, you have access to a "learning center" that tells you everything you would want to know about it.

4. Planning: You can either create your own meal plan OR you can choose from thousands of meal plans that are in your calorie range and that provide all your nutrients. You can modify any meal plan based on your preferences.

5. Custom foods: If you eat something that is not in the database, you can create your own custom food and food label.

6. Saves money: You won't need to spend money on dietary supplements because you can be sure you're getting the nutrients you need from your food.

7. Saves time: Plan your meals ahead of time and you can print out a "shopping list" of everything that's on your menu for the week! You can also create "recipes" of the foods you eat together (for example, cereal + milk). Just enter the recipe into your meal plan and you won't need to enter each item individually.

8. Expert help: Elaine & Narina use this program too, so if you have questions about how to use it, we can help.

Watch the DEMO and then contact us to receive your access code for a complimentary 7-day account. Then, if you'd like to use the program on an ongoing basis, it is just $10 per month.

GROCERY STORE SECRETS REVEALED

2011-04-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

We often hear from new BootCamp members that eating healthfully is either 1) too time-consuming 2) too boring or 3) too confusing.

That's why we lead a special "Grocery Store Nutrition Seminar" every month. Our goal is to help you find healthy, delicious food that is quick & easy to prepare.

Because of all the conflicting nutrition information in the media, it's easy to be confused about what really are the healthiest food choices. Our Nutritionist, Narina Minassian, will dispel some of the most popular nutrition myths while giving you simple, clear guidelines to follow.

She'll take you up & down the aisles, look at food labels, and point out wholesome, natural, tasty products that are easy to prepare.

Here are some of the things you'll learn at the seminar:

which two flavors of hummus have half the calories of all the others
when it's better to choose low-fat over non-fat products
which has the least calories: soy milk, almond milk or nonfat dairy milk
which are most healthful: canned, frozen or fresh vegetables
which has the most protein: regular yogurt, Greek-style yogurt or cottage cheese
how to cut your peanut butter calories in half

We'd love to have you join us for our next seminar. See the details in this week's newsletter.

You must reserve your space & pre-pay the $30 fee. To register, go to the Prices Page of our website and then scroll down to Nutrition Pricing & select Grocery Store Education Tour.

AAY! Nutrition For Weight Loss

2011-04-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to lose at least 10 pounds, you might want to apply for our next session of the AAY! Nutrition for Weight Loss Program.

The next 12-week session begins on Saturday April 23. All current & past participants have seen great results, with an average weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week (for a total of 12-24 pounds for the 12-week session).

Here's what it involves:

Detailed, individualized meal plans based on the number of calories you need to consume for weight loss. All menus are nutritionally balanced & are designed by Nutritionist Narina Minassian. The recipes are tasty, varied & simple to prepare.

Grocery Shopping Made Easy: You will receive weekly grocery shopping lists and we will accompany you to the store to help you select all the food you'll need for your first week.

Close Supervision & Accountability: You will check in with us each week to weigh in & discuss your progress.

Extra Support & Guidance: Every other week we will meet with all participants to preview upcoming menus, discuss obstacles and strategize solutions.

Skills for Long-term Success: We will teach you to design your own meal plans & help you develop the skills and confidence to maintain healthy eating habits throughout your life.

We accept only a few, extremely committed individuals into this program. If you believe you have the commitment and dedication to adhere to this 12-week program, then please see Narina or Elaine for an application. We will be making our selections soon, so don't delay!

DON'T POISON YOURSELF!

2011-03-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

We all know that it's important to eat lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains & lean protein. At the same time, it's just as important to avoid or limit foods that contain unhealthful ingredients.

When you purchase foods with toxic ingredients, you are literally poisoning yourself & your family!

We need to read food labels and ingredient lists carefully. But, it's also important to know what to look for. One great rule of thumb: if you can't pronounce it, it's probably bad for you!

Here's a partial list of some of the ingredients you should avoid or limit:

• Artificial colors
• Artificial flavorings
• Artificial sweeteners
• Fat replacements
• MSG
• Hydrogenated oil
• Sodium nitrite
• Brominated oil (added to some carbonated drinks)
• white refined flour (this may also be listed as "wheat flour" or "enriched wheat flour")
• refined sugar
• salt/sodium

For details about all these ingredients and their health effects, go to this website.

Click "comment" below and let us know what other ingredients that you watch our for.

Incorporate Healthful Ingredients

2011-03-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

This week, we'd like you to focus on incorporating healthful, high quality foods into your daily eating habits.

Here are some great ways to add more healthful foods into your diet:

Choose fresh instead of processed foods. Limit the foods that come in a box or package. Shop mostly along the perimeter of the store where fresh & refrigerated foods are found. Fill your shopping cart with plenty of fresh produce.

To increase your vegetable & fruit consumption, purchase a variety of frozen produce. Check the ingredient list to ensure that nothing has been added to the produce. As long as nothing has been added, frozen veggies & fruits are just as healthful as fresh - sometimes even more so since they are frozen at their peak.

Purchase raw, unsalted nuts & seeds.

When you buy processed foods, choose products that have whole, natural, nutrient-dense ingredients. The shorter the ingredient list, the better. When purchasing bread, look for the ingredient "whole wheat," not "wheat" or "enriched wheat".

Avoid products with artificial flavorings, artificial colorings and hydrogenated oils.

Limit products that contain sugar & salt. If your product does contain sugar or salt, make sure it is listed toward the end of the ingredients list.

Check the expiration date of all foods, especially beef, poultry & fish.

Misleading Marketing Claims

2011-03-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

Boost Your Immunity! Protect Healthy Joints! Improve Brain Development! Reduce Cholesterol! Regulate Digestion!

Can food products really do all that?

Don't believe everything you read or hear about a food product, even if it's printed right on the front of the package. Many food packages contain a variety of statements that can be confusing or misleading.

Attempts to sell large quantities of products sometimes causes food manufacturers to make claims that are not entirely factual. For example, an advertisement for a particular brand of bread claimed the bread had fewer calories per slice than its competitors. What the advertiser did not say was that the bread was sliced much thinner than other brands. So, by volume, the calories were actually equivalent.

Claims like "low fat" and "high in fiber" didn't begin to show up much on the fronts of food packages until around 1994, when the Nutrition Facts panel was required for every food package, under the provisions of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act.

Until then, the FDA said that health claims were drug claims and food companies had to do what drug companies have to: prove safety and effectiveness. But manufacturers argued that since they were required to put potentially negative nutrition information on their foods (for example, the number of calories or grams of fat), they should also be allowed to point out their products' positives. Congress agreed and told the FDA to allow health claims that were backed up by a reasonable amount of science. After that, front-of-package claims exploded.

To get an idea of why we consumers are so confused, check out the complexity of this Food Labeling Guide from the FDA.

For definitions, on what is allowed in claims about calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium & sugars, check out this chart.

Here are six potentially misleading claims on food labels: lightly sweetened, a good source of fiber, strengthens your immune system, made with real fruit, made with whole grains, all natural. Here's a great article in the NY Times explaining why those six claims are meaningless.

Our advice is to be skeptical about everything you read on the front of a food package. Look at the ingredient list and food labels on the back of the package for more accurate information.

HOW TO CONTROL OUR PORTIONS

2011-03-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

As you know, portions in our society have gotten out of control!

Most meals at restaurants are 2-3 times larger than a proper serving size. Our eyes (and stomachs) have become so familiar with super-sized portions that a normal serving now seems skimpy. We need to re-educate ourselves about how big a proper portion is....and then we need to re-learn how to be satisfied with normal portions.

To see how portions have grown over the years, check out this slide show.

Here's a quick chart to help you visualize what a proper serving size should look like:

Now that you have a good idea of what portion sizes should look like, here are some strategies to help you keep your portions under control.

1. Avoid super-sized packages. Either purchase small, single-serving packages or take out a specific serving from larger packages and put the package away.

2. Eat from smaller dishes. Serve from smaller serving platters or bowls, and then dish the food onto small plates or bowls.

3. When eating out:

Request smaller, appetizer-sized servings or half portion entrees.

If you get a full serving, share it with a friend or request a to-go box with the meal. When the meal arrives, immediately put half in the box and set it aside.

Choose non-buffet style dining when you can. If you have to eat at a buffet, scan everything first & then choose just your favorite two or three dishes to enjoy.

Quench your thirst with non-caloric beverages, preferably water.

4. If you've very hungry, fill up with raw veggies before indulging in higher-calorie treats.

5. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day to prevent false hunger pangs.

6. BE AWARE! We often eat too much because we eat mindlessly. Be aware of everything you put in your mouth: every mint, every spoonful that you taste while cooking, every thing you eat while watching tv or when out with a group of friends. As long as you stay aware, you can stay in control and limit your portions.

FOOD LABEL TIPS

2011-02-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

For optimum health, as well as for weight loss, it's important to know what you're putting in your body.

The best way to get an accurate picture of what you're consuming is to read your food labels.

Here are the most important things to look for when reading a food label:

Serving Size & Calories: Look for the serving size on the label and then figure out how many servings you are consuming. Remember that many packaged items may appear to be one serving, but will actually be 2 or 2.5 servings. So, if you eat the entire package, you'll need to multiply the calories per serving by 2 or 2.5.

Nutrients to Limit: Below the calories, you'll find the nutrients that most of us already get too much of. You want to look for very low numbers for Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, Cholesterol & Sodium.

Nutrients to Get Enough of: Use the Nutrition Facts label not only to limit the nutrients you want to cut back on, but also to increase the nutrients you need to consume in greater amounts. These include: fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron.

Ingredients List: Food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients on the label. The ingredients are listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts. You should always check the ingredient list to see what is in your food. Here are a couple points to keep in mind:

The fewer the items the better. If the list of ingredients is short, it is less likely that the product is full of additives, preservatives or artificial ingredients.

Look for the names of food you recognize. You know what "onion" means, you know what "carrot" means, you know what "lentil" means. Do you know what, "sorbitan monostearate" is? If you can't pronounce it, it's probably not good for you.

Avoid artificial ingredients & colors: If you see the word "artificial," steer clear. If you see any numbers on the ingredient list, it is probably contains artificial colors such as "FD&C Green No. 3."

Limit sweeteners & avoid artificial sweeteners: Sucrose (sugar), glucose, fructose, sorbitol, mannitol, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K), neotame

Look for whole grains. Look for the word "whole". "Wheat" and "Enriched Wheat" are processed. If you want the whole grain, the ingredient label needs to say "whole wheat."

Avoid "fake" fibers. Many food products add isolated fibers to their products, simply so that they can claim that their products contains many grams of fiber. However, isolated fiber does not have the same benefits in the body as the "intact" fiber that you would get from eating a whole food (fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains). If you see that a product contains a lot of fiber, check the ingredient list to see where the fiber comes from. It is "fake" fiber if it contains: inulin, maltodextrin, oat fiber, polydextrose.

SWEETENERS

2011-02-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

We all need a little sweetness in our lives.

The best way to get your sweets is with fresh fruit. It's delicious, naturally low in calories, and high in vitamins, minerals & fiber. If you combine fruit with a little protein (yogurt, almonds, cottage cheese, light string cheese, etc.), then it will satisfy you, keep your blood sugar balanced, and sustain you until your next meal.

At times when fruit just won't do it for you, you may eat a little bit of sugar in moderation (no more than 100 calories/day for women and 150 calories/day for men). You can also try some natural sweeteners. Because they are lower on the glycemic index than refined sugar, they are slightly better for you when used in moderation. (Used in excess, they will cause the same problems as sugar.)

Natural sweeteners include: agave nectar, barley malt, coconut sugar, date sugar, fructose, honey, maltose, maple syrup, molasses, rice syrup, sorghum syrup, stevia, turbinado sugar, xylitol. For more details on all these sweeteners, click here.

In an effort to save calories, many people turn to artificial sweeteners, thinking this is a better choice. This is absolutely not the case! First of all, studies have shown that artificial sweeteners actually do NOT help you lose weight! They increase your appetite, stimulate your sweet tooth & lead to overindulging in other foods.

More importantly, they are not healthy substances to put in your body! Here's a brief description of the most popular artificial sweeteners:

ASPARTAME (NutraSweet & Equal): contains methyl alcohol, which turns into formaldehyde (a deadly neurotoxin) when it enters your body. It also causes a decrease in seratonin, which can lead to depression. Aspartame has been linked to arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimers, lupus, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. The FDA has received more complaints about apartame than any other ingredient to date! (It was also denied 8 times when seeking approval from the FDA, and was finally approved under very dubious circumstances.)

SUCRALOSE (Splenda): The manufacturers are trying to make us believe that it is "natural" because it comes from real sugar. However, it is made by chlorinating sugar, which changes its molecular structure. It also contains small amounts of heavy metals, methanol and arsenic. Adverse effects reported include: shrunken thymus glands, enlarged liver & kidneys, decreased red blood cell count, diarrhea and immune and reproductive damage.

THE BOTTOM LINE: It's not worth it! Don't pour toxins into your body just to save a few calories. If you want something sweet, your first choice should be fruit. If that won't do it for you, have a SMALL portion of REAL sugar or NATURAL sweetener in your favorite dessert, snack or beverage.

OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS!

2011-02-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Is your willpower strong enough to overcome your appetite for tempting foods?

For most people, the answer is no. With over $30 billion spent in food advertising each year, it takes more than mere willpower to say no to tempting foods.

What you need is a strategy that puts you in control. Here are our top tips to incorporate into an effective strategy:

1. Eat frequent small meals & snacks throughout the day. The more satisfied you are, the less likely you'll be to turn to unhealthy foods.

2. Drink at least 8 cups of water per day. Staying properly hydrated keeps your energy up and relieves false hunger pangs.

3. Eat an abundance of natural, unprocessed food. Your tastebuds will soon adapt to the natural flavors of food, rather than craving the salty, sweet or chemical tastes in processed foods.

4. Keep tempting foods out of sight & out of reach.

5. Remind yourself that your goal is good health for yourself and your family. Everything you eat & drink should contribute to that goal.

6. Understand your emotional eating triggers and find ways to avoid the situations or people that are causing them.

What other strategies do you use to overcome temptation?

MINDFUL EATING

2011-02-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Because we are all so busy, we don’t often make enjoying our meals a priority. Instead, we gobble down our food while multi-tasking without even truly tasting our food!

Not only is this bad for digestion, but it leaves us feeling unsatisfied, which can lead to overeating.

A great strategy for decreasing our calorie intake while increasing our satisfaction is “mindful eating.” When you are mindful you are fully present, in-the-moment without judgment.

Practicing mindful eating can help you break free of some of your eating routines that may be hindering you from developing healthier habits.

This week, we encourage you to experiment with mindful eating. For at least one meal this week, please do the following:

1. Take your time. Choose a time to do this experiment when you do not have to rush to your next task or activity.

2. Choose a quiet, comfortable place to enjoy your meal.

3. Eat by yourself with no disctractions. (That is, no reading, tv, radio, computer, etc…Just you & your food.)

4. Bring all your senses to the experience. Take a deep breath & smell the food. Enjoy the colors of the meal. Listen to the sound as you take a bite. Feel the texture & temperature of the food in your mouth. Savor the flavor.

5. Chew well and enjoy each bite. Put your fork down between bites.

6. Be sure you have swallowed your food completely before taking your next bite or drinking your water. When you drink water with food in your mouth, you don’t get to taste the food fully.

7. Notice your hunger levels. How hungry were you before the meal? How satisfied are you after? Did you eat just enough, or too much?

Mindful eating takes time, but it can be revolutionary. Practicing mindful eating can change your eating habits and change your life.

After your first experiment with mindful eating, we encourage you to incorporate it little by little into your regular eating habits. Start with once a week, then twice a week and build from there.

After trying it this week, please click on “comment” to share your experience.

REASONS TO CUT BACK ON SUGAR

2011-01-29T14:19:00.000-08:00

Between 1970 and 2005, our intake of added sugars jumped 20%. The average American now consumes 350-475 empty calories from added sugars each day!

The American Heart Association recommends that we limit our intake of added sugars to 100 calories per day for women and 150 calories per day for men.

Understanding how sugar influences your body can be the added incentive you need to cut back.

An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep your blood sugar at a constant and safe level.

Increased insulin levels can inhibit the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system. This is definitely something to avoid if you want to prevent disease.

Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Besides promoting obesity & heart disease, high sugar intake can lead to diabetes, gout & high blood pressure.

How challenging or easy is it for YOU to limit your sugar intake? What obstacles are you dealing with? What strategies do you use to limit your sugar intake? Click "comment" below to share your thoughts.

MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS

2011-01-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

1. Exercise 5-6 times a week. (Those who exercised 4 times a week started regaining weight!)

2. Record all food & drink in a journal.

3. Weigh in on a consistent basis.

4. Eat a healthful breakfast.

At All About You! we want you to not only reach, but also maintain, a healthy & comfortable weight for the rest of your life. Be one of the 15% that keeps it off for good!

Long-term weight loss success CAN be a reality, and it CAN be attained with determination, watchfulness, and adherence to the above four strategies.

15 WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGIES

2011-01-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

BOOST YOUR METABOLISM!

2011-01-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

Many people believe that a slower metabolism is an inevitable consequence of aging.

However, there are ways to prevent much of that slowing down. Here are five things you can do to keep your metabolism strong & healthy throughout your life:

1. Increase you muscle mass by strength training. Your muscle is your "fat burning machinery". Muscle is active tissue and requires many more calories than fat. The more muscle on your body, the more calories you burn per day. (This is why strength training is so important.)

2. Boost your calorie burn with cardio. You continue to burn a higher number of calories for up to an hour after you've finished your workout!

3. Begin your day with breakfast. Going many hours without food in your system, makes your body go into "starvation mode." Your metabolism slows down to conserve calories. Stoke your furnace each morning by eating a good breakfast!

4. Eat small portions more often. Keep that furnace going throughout the day!

5. Drink at least 8 cups of water. All chemical processes in your body require water. Keep yourself hydrated to keep your metabolism working strong.

And now what is the most detrimental thing you can do for your metabolism?

Yo-yo dieting!! When you lose weight quickly, you lose muscle along with the fat. When you gain it back, you gain back only fat. With less muscle on your body, you will burn fewer calories every day.

After months, years & decades of yo-yo dieting, many people have severely lowered their metabolism and they find it increasingly difficult to lose any weight at all.

But there is hope! If you feel you have a slow metabolism, follow our 5 metabolism-boosting tips above. And be patient! It took time to lower your metabolism, so it will take time to speed it up.

WEIGHT LOSS FACTS

2011-01-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

To lose weight safely, effectively and permanently, it's important to know the facts:

1. To lose fat you must burn more calories than you consume.

2. One pound of fat = 3,500 calories

3. To lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 more calories than you consume. To lose 10 pounds of fat, you must burn 35,000 more calories than you consume.

4. The maximum recommended daily calorie deficit is 500. In other words, you should burn 500 more calories than you consume each day.

5. The safest & most permanent rate at which to lose weight is one pound per week.
(500 calories x 7 days a week = 3,500 calories)

With these facts in mind, we recommend the following approach:

Take Your Time
Don't be fooled by pills, drinks or programs that promise huge, fast weight loss. It's all about consistency and commitment. It is very tempting to get caught up in trying to lose weight as fast as possible, but in the long-run rapid weight loss is counter-productive. When you drop large amounts of weight quickly, you lose not only fat, but also water, muscle & other tissue. This tissue loss decreases your metabolism, making it harder to maintain your new weight.

Make It A Lifestyle
Permanent weight loss involves changing your eating and exercise habits for life. Any "quick fix" solution is, at best, a temporary solution.

Don't Go Hungry
The biggest enemy of weight loss is hunger. Letting yourself get too hungry leads to deprivation, temptation and, ultimately, failure. By eating a variety of healthful, low-calorie foods in the right portions and at the right times, you can remain satisfied, alert, energetic and positive while you lose weight.

So, slow down, take your time and enjoy the process of incorporating healthier eating habits and more consistent exercise into your lifestyle while you watch your body slowly transform.

For more weight loss strategies, download our Secrets of Weight Loss E-Book from our website (bottom of the left-hand navigation bar).

PLAN FOR SUCCCESS

2010-12-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

REDUCE MUSCLE SORENESS

2010-12-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Members frequently ask us what they can do to reduce muscle soreness, so we decided to address that issue in this week's nutrition tip.

There are a few things you can do with both nutrition & exercise to help reduce soreness, but first, it's important to understand what causes muscle soreness.

CAUSES OF MUSCLE SORENESS
Exercise physiologists refer to the gradually increasing discomfort that occurs between 24 and 48 hours after strenuous activity as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

DOMS is a common result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to. Soreness is most prevalent in the beginning stages of a program, or when you perform a new type of exercise that your muscles are not used to.

DOMS is usually caused by the eccentric (lengthening) phase of a strength training exercise, such as lowering a dumbbell or the down phase of a squat or lunge.

Small microscopic tears occur in the muscle. It is thought that the inflammation that accompanies these tears causes the pain. Your body then mends the tears, which is eventually what makes you stronger & more toned.

SORENESS DOES NOT INDICATE A BETTER WORKOUT
It is important to note that the degree of your muscle soreness does not necessarily indicate how hard you worked or how effective your workout was.

Muscle soreness is unique to each individual. Some people are never sore no matter how hard they work, and others are sore after every workout, no matter how easy. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.

For most us, the more we exercise & more fit we become, the less soreness we experience. However, when we try a new type of exercise or increase our intensity, we may again experience more soreness.

Muscle soreness is not an indicator of a successful workout. No scientific studies have ever proven that soreness is necessary in order to get stronger, to gain muscle or to become more fit.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE SORENESS
There is no 100% effective method for eliminating muscle soreness, but some of the following methods are known to reduce soreness in some people. It's best to experiment & find what works for you.

1. Warm up at the beginning of each training session
Muscles that have been warmed up & have moved through their range of motion will contract more readily so that they will experience less stress as the exercises become more challenging.

This is why we insist that BootCampers warm up on their own when they arrive late to a session. Many BootCampers have commented that when they miss the full warm up they feel more sore the following day.

2. Cool Down & Stretch
Cooling down & stretching at the end of a training session will help the muscles relax gradually and carry oxygen to the muscles & waste product away from the muscles. This is why we ask BootCampers to stretch on their own if they have to leave a session early.

3. Eat Protein & Carbs immediately after a workout
Immediately after you workout your body is in the best position to utilize any carbohydrates or protein you give it. It needs the proteins to help repair and rebuild the muscle cells and the carbohydrates to provide your body with the energy to do so.

Studies show that when protein & carbs are consumed within 15-30 minutes of a workout, the muscles will recover more quickly.

We encourage you to bring a snack to class so you can eat it in the car on the way home. Half a banana with 5 almonds, or half a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter are good choices.

4. Do Cardio the Day After Strength Training
Cardio increases blood flow to the muscles and is linked with diminished muscle soreness. That's why we encourage BootCampers to come to class to do cardio the day after a strength training session, no matter how sore they are.

5. Drink Water
Staying hydrated can help reduce stress on the muscles and help them recover more quickly.

6. Eat Plenty of Veggies & Fruit, esp. those with Vitamin C
Anti-oxidants in vegetables & fruits can help protect muscles. Some studies have linked vitamin C with decreased muscle soreness.

7. Eat Ginger
A recent study from the University of Georgia found that daily ginger consumption reduces muscle pain and soreness caused by exercise. Both raw & cooked ginger were found to have similar benefits.

8. Pamper Yourself
A hot bath, a massage or even using a foam roller can help relieve sore muscles.

Easy Ways to Reduce Calories

2010-12-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

STAY FIT & HEALTHY ON VACATION

2010-12-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

SURVIVE THE HOLIDAYS AT HOME & THE OFFICE

2010-11-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

GET A HANDLE ON STRESS EATING

2010-11-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hunger is not the only reason that people eat. Many people turn to food at stressful times. If you are a stress-eater, you may find yourself eating to deal with uncomfortable situations, or crave sweets or unhealthy snacks when stressed.

When you are under stress, your body is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that tends to make people crave sweet and salty food. Here are some tips to help you to cut down on your stress eating and develop healthier eating habits.

1. Recognize when you're stressed. Clenched teeth, hunched shoulders, headaches & shallow breathing can all be signs of stress.

2. Enjoy your food! Slow down, and savor the tastes, smells and textures of your food. You will feel satisfied and comforted sooner.

3. Be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to who you're with & where you're at so that it's not just about the food.

4. Focus on choice. Notice what is going on for you physically, mentally and emotionally that led to your choice to eat.

5. Learn from the past. If the last time you were stressed, you ate an entire bag of cookies and then felt guilty, eating only added to your stress. This time, take some steps to control portions, like buying only one cookie instead of a dozen.

6. Question. Take a moment to reflect on what you are about to eat. Ask yourself if this is really what you want to put in your body.

7. Rate your hunger. When we tune in to physical hunger signals, we can distinguish physical hunger from emotional hunger. Give your hunger a rating on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not hungry at all and 10 being starved. If your hunger is at a 0 or 1, wait to eat until the rating moves up. If you are at a 9 or 10, you have waited too long; when we are overly hungry, we're much more likely to overeat.

8. Find other ways to handle your stress. If you find that you're overly stressed, look for ways other than food to reduce your stress. Options include: seeking help from a therapist, confiding in a friend, writing in a journal, joining a support group, asking your family to pitch in to help reduce your household responsibilities.

Exercise has also been proven to reduce feelings of stress & anxiety, so if you're not already exercising five days a week, make a commitment to increase your activity level.

HEALTHY HOLIDAY COOKING

2010-11-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and all that festive food can make healthy eating a challenge. Americans put on half of our annual weight gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Even if it’s only a pound or two, it adds up year after year.

But, you can keep your family on track by starting with healthful cooking in your own home.

Below are a few suggestions to keep your holiday cooking healthy:

1. Applesauce can replace oil in a cake recipe.

2. Instead of cream, try plain yogurt or evaporated skim milk.

3. Instead of whole milk, use skim milk, soy milk, rice milk or almond milk.

4. In place of mayonnaise, use an eggless mayonnaise, such as Veganaise, that contains healthy, non-hydrogenated oil.

5. Use vegetable spreads made from non-hydrogenated oils instead of butter.

6. Instead of fat-and-caffeine-laden-chocolate, try making carob brownies, or carob-chip cookies.

7. In baking recipes that call for eggs, use egg whites to reduce cholesterol and fat.

8. Add some wholesomeness to your cookies by using whole-wheat flour in place of bleached white flour.

9. Make a toast with sparkling cider or mineral water instead of champagne.

10. Include lots of vegetables, both cooked and raw & fresh fruit or cranberry relish.

11. For the dips use fat-free sour cream or yogurt for the base.

12. For dessert, try pies without the crust topped with fat-free whipped topping or fat-free sorbet.

For some great healthy Thanksgiving recipes, check out this website. Please share your own tips & recipes by adding a comment below.

SURVIVE THE HOLIDAY PARTY SEASON!

2010-11-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Holiday parties are just around the corner! The holidays should be a time to celebrate, not a time to stress.

Planning your eating strategies in advance can help you avoid the stress of the dreaded holiday weight gain.

Here are seven tips to help you stay on track:

1. Never go to a party hungry! Before heading out the door, have a small, healthful snack that includes both protein and carbohydrate.

2. Drink water. Start the party with a glass of water or sparkling water. Continue to drink water throughout the night in order to cut down or cut out alcohol consumption.

3. Remove yourself from temptations. Don’t stand or sit near the buffet.

4. Eat the right finger foods. Choose healthful, low-calorie foods such as fresh veggies with light dip, deli meat slices (such as turkey roll-ups), reduced-fat cheese, whole wheat crackers, shrimp cocktail, and fruit and yogurt fondue (cut-up fruit pieces dipped in vanilla yogurt). Bring a platter of low-calorie appetizers to ensure that you will have something healthy to eat.

5. Move it! Don't get stuck sitting or standing in one place. Walk around as much as possible to burn a few extra calories. If people are dancing, get out on the dance floor!

6. Be social. Avoid overeating by talking to people at the party. Focus on meeting new people and catching up with old friends and you’ll forget there is so much food around.

7. Save calories for special occasions. If you know you will be attending several parties on the weekend, and you want to be able to indulge a bit, then "bank" some extra calories during the week to "spend" on the weekend. Here's how it works:

Cut back 200 calories each day Monday – Thursday to save 800 calories. Now you have 800 guilt-free calories that you can use on the weekend for treats or drinks. But be sure to keep track of those 800 calories as you spend them! You might be surprised by how fast they get used up. Don't allow yourself to spurge on everything just because you were "good" during the week.

Enjoy a fun, but healthful holiday season so that you can start 2011 feeling healthy, fit, strong and energized.

BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

2010-10-30T14:03:00.001-07:00

FIND A NUTRITION PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU

2010-10-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 90% of people who lose weight on a diet gain it back within a year?! And, eventually many of those people will "go on a diet" only to lose & regain yet again!

This is not only frustrating, but unhealthy as well. So what can you do to stop the cycle of yo-yo dieting?

The key is to think of your diet as a lifestyle, not an event!

Many people "go on a diet" because they want to lose weight for a specific reason or event. But often, when we are "on a diet" we are not practicing eating habits that we can sustain over a long period of time.

On most diets, we eat food that we may not really enjoy, or that we don't find satisfying. At the same time we're often depriving ourselves of whole categories of food (like carbohydrates or fats) that may actually be healthy if eaten in moderation.

If you are really determined, you may be able to stick with your diet until you reach your goal...but can you eat this way for the rest of your life? For almost everyone, the answer is no.

If you want to achieve and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life, it is essential that you find a nutrition plan (not a diet) that works for YOU. You need to incorporate a wide variety of healthful foods in the right portions in order to get the correct number of calories for your body and all the nutrients you need.

If you are having a difficult time doing this on your own, we have tools to help you.

1. Use our AAY! Online Nutrition Program.
The program will calculate not only your correct calorie range, but also ALL your nutrient needs (including vitamins, minerals, fats, carbs, protein, sodium, Omega 3s and more).

We recommend that you work mostly within the "Find A Meal Plan" function. You can browse a variety of meal plans in your proper calorie & nutrient range and then select the ones that are closest to your food preferences.

If you haven't used our Online Nutrition Program yet, click here to watch the demo. Then, if you'd like a one-week trial, just let us know and we'll email you a personal access code. (The cost is only $10 per month if you choose to continue using it after your trial week.)

2. One-on-One Nutrition Consultations
If Online Nutrition Tracking seems like too much time & work for you, allow us to help you established good eating habits and personalized meal plans based on your needs, your preferences and your lifestyle.

You can purchase a one-on-one Nutrition Consultation with our nutritionist Narina. She will review your current eating habits, discuss any obstacles you may be experiencing and then help you develop a nutrition plan that will work for you.

Call or email Narina to set up an appointment, and then go to the Prices Page of our website to purchase your session.

SAY NO TO DETOX

2010-10-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

"Detox" and "Cleanse" diets are a multi-million dollar industry which includes hundreds of books, pills, supplements and kits.

Many people turn to these types of diets to lose weight, but the weight loss that occurs comes from water & muscle, and very little of it actually comes from fat. What that means is that in the long run, these types of diets will lower your metabolism, and you'll inevitably gain the weight back.

The concept behind "detoxifying" is good - to clean up a junky diet. But is that really what happens when you go on a 3-day or 10-day or 21-day starvation diet, supplemented with pills or maple syrup & cayenne pepper?

And then, if you return to your same bad habits, what have you really accomplished other than messing up your digestive system & metabolism?

Rather than wasting your money, time & health on a "quick fix" cleanse or detox diet, we encourage you to make healthy, realistic changes to your daily eating habits.

Nourish your body with whole, natural foods. Drink plenty of water and eat a well-balanced natural diet full of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and lean protein.

You'll feel less of a need to "detoxify" when you reduce the toxins that you voluntarily put into your body. Limit the toxins that enter your body by:

eating primarily organic produce
avoiding processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, colors & flavors
limiting your alcohol & caffeine consumption
avoiding drugs & tobacco

LOSE WEIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP!

2010-10-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

Don't Starve Yourself!

2010-10-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

DIETS DON'T WORK!

2010-09-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Diets don't work! They are not realistic and cannot be adhered to on a permanent basis.

In fact, every major study shows that the vast majority of dieters gain the weight back, and sometimes more.

So if diets don't work, how are you supposed to lose weight?

1. Be patient. Diets promise rapid weight loss. But when you lose weight too quickly, you lose not only fat, but also water, muscle & other body tissue. (Yuck!) Losing muscle decreases your metabolism, making it harder to keep the weight off. To ensure safe, permanent fat loss, aim for losing 1-2 pounds per week.

2. Eat the correct number of calories. The first step is to determine your personal calorie range for weight loss. You can easily do this with our AAY! Online Nutrition Program. (If you don't have an account, let us know so we can set one up a complimentary one for you.)

If your range is, for example, 1200 - 1500 calories, it's important to stay between those two numbers. Eating too few calories can be just as detrimental as eating too many calories. Too few calories and your metabolism starts slowing down. Too many calories and you gain fat.

3. Eat a balanced diet of mostly whole foods. Fill up on vegetables & fruit. Eat lean protein and low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Eat whole grains, nuts and seeds. Limit your consumption of processed foods. To ensure that you are getting ALL the nutrients you need (including vitamins, minerals, omega 3s, fiber, etc.) use our AAY! online nutrition program.

4. Listen to your body's internal cues. If you slow down and really listen to your body, you can learn to eat the right amount of food. Don't eat just because it's there or just because other people are eating.

5. Exercise 5 days a week. Studies show that people who lose weight & keep it off exercise 5 days a week. When they start to slack off by even one day a week, they stop making progress, or even start to gain weight back. Exercise is not a temporary weight loss tool. It is a lifestyle that you must maintain throughout your life for optimum health & well-being.

Beware of "Fake" Fiber

2010-09-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

We've been talking about fiber all month, and by now you all know how to incorporate fiber into your diet with a variety of whole foods.

In your effort to increase your fiber intake, however, do not be fooled by the advertising and labeling on many processed foods. When you are looking for foods that are high in fiber, it is easy to be tempted by food packaging that shouts "high in fiber" or "35% of the Daily Value (DV) of fiber."

You know the saying: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Chocolate Fudge Toaster Pastry with 20% DV of fiber? Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars with 35% DV of fiber? Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Bars with 5 grams (20% DV) of fiber?

Even the most naive among us must know in our hearts that consuming 5 grams of fiber in a fudge ice cream bar is not the same as getting 5 grams of fiber in a large apple. (And the poor apple has no packaging to brag about its high fiber content!)

So what's wrong with fiber in processed foods? These fibers, referred to as "isolated" fibers do not necessarily give us the health benefits of "intact" fiber, the kind that occurs naturally in whole foods. Many studies have linked high fiber consumption with health benefits such as lowering cholesterol, aiding digestion, and reducing the risk of heart disease. Isolated fibers have not been shown to produce the same benefits.

Isolated fibers are added to foods by manufacturers in order to boost the number of grams of fiber they can claim on the packaging. To find out if the fiber in your food is intact or isolated, you need to check the ingredients.

Isolated fibers include inulin (also called "chicory root"), maltodextrin, oat fiber, and polydextrose.

Beware of the "fiber" in the following fortified foods:

Ice cream
Yogurt
White pasta/bread
Juice
Bars (esp. Fiber One, Atkins, Curves, Kashi, South Beach)

Bottom line: Eat your veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Not only do they have real fiber, they also have tons of other nutrients that your body needs.

All About You! Wellness BootCamp

2010-09-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

DIGEST THAT FIBER!

2010-09-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Guess what the biggest complaints are when people start increasing the amount of fiber they eat? You guessed it: indigestion, gas and bloating!

The good news is that you can prevent much of that discomfort with these digestion-enhancing tips (and as an added benefit, most of these tips will also aid in weight loss!):

1. Chew, Chew, Chew
Take small bites and focus on chewing each bite thoroughly. Using smaller cutlery will help you take smaller bites. Digestion begins in the mouth and chewing thoroughly allows amylase, the digestive enzyme present in saliva, to begin the digestion process.

2. Slow Down
When you eat too quickly, you swallow air with your food. Take a few deep breaths and relax before taking your first bite. Practice putting your fork down between bites. You might even try eating with chopsticks, which will probably force you to slow down.

3. Drink Plenty of Water
Insufficient water intake is a primary cause of constipation. Constipation then causes an imbalance in bacteria, promotes inflammation of the intestinal lining, and can even lead to the absorption of larger molecules, a condition known as intestinal permeability.

4. Practice Mindful Eating
• Savor every bite, enjoying the flavors, textures, and smells of your meal.
• Create a beautiful atmosphere - dim the lights, play music, light candles, and put a vase of fresh flowers on the table.

5. Increase Good Gut Bacteria
Not all bacteria is bad. There are over 400 different kinds of bacteria and yeasts in the digestive system. Of these, the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophillus and Bifidobacterium bifidum are considered good "probiotic" bacteria because they can help to maintain intestinal health. Yogurt and some cottage cheese products contain probiotics. Check the ingredients.

6. Get a move on!
Exercise helps gas pass through the digestive tract quicker, so you feel better faster. Be sure to get your daily dose of AAY! BootCamp!

EASY WAYS TO EAT MORE FIBER

2010-09-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

BENEFITS OF FIBER

2010-08-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard many times that you should be eating a high-fiber diet, but do you know why fiber is so good for your health?

First, what is fiber? It's the indigestible part of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. When you consume dietary fiber, most of it passes through the intestines and is not digested.

Fiber is best knows for preventing or relieving constipation, but it has many other health benefits as well.

The health benefits of fiber include:
1. Provides bulk in the diet, increasing satiety
2. Delays emptying of the stomach (keeping you full longer)
3. Aids in weight loss by usually providing very few calories in large volumes of food
4. Prevents constipation & establishes regular bowel movements
5. Prevents bacteria growth in the appendix (appendicitis)
6. May help lower the risk of colon cancer
7. Helps to retain the health and tone of the digestive tract muscles (prevents diverticulosis)
8. Lowers cholesterol
9. Reduces the risks of heart and artery disease
10. Regulates the body's absorption of glucose, helping to control blood sugar & lowering the risk of diabetes
11. Reduces inflammation
12. Strengthens the immune system

So how much fiber do you need in order to reap the health benefits? The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine gives the following daily recommendations for adults:

• Women under 50: 25 grams
• Women over 50: 21 grams
• Men under 50: 38 grams
• Men over 50: 30 grams

If you're like most people, you have no idea how many grams of fiber you consume per day. A great way to find out is by tracking your food using the AAY! Online Nutrition Program. Just record what & how much you eat & it will automatically calculate your fiber intake, as well as your calories and all other nutrients.

Next week we'll give you tips on incorporating more fiber into your diet from a variety of sources.

LEAN & HEALTHFUL DINNERS

2010-08-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

LET'S DO LUNCH!

2010-08-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Many people start the day off with a nice healthy breakfast, but they forget to snack mid-morning and are famished by lunchtime. Then, they go out for fast food, eat too much & feel sluggish the rest of the day. Don't let that happen to you!

If you're lucky enough to be home at lunchtime, you have the luxury of making your lunch: sandwiches, salads & soups are all great choices.

If you are at work during the day, the best option is to make your lunch the night before and bring it with you. This puts you in total control of your midday calorie counts (and saves you money).

Here are some good choices for a brown bag lunch:

• Left-overs from dinner the night before
• Sandwich (we like turkey on Ezekiel bread with lettuce, tomato & mustard)
• A piece of fruit & light string cheese
• A small bag of raw veggies with hummus or peanut butter
• Yogurt or cottage cheese with a few nuts & berries

If you pack enough, you can divide it up into a small mid-morning snack, satisfying lunch, and small mid-afternoon snack. When you get home in the evening, you'll feel great and ready for a healthy dinner. (Much better than arriving home tired, grumpy & hungry!)

Of course, you may want to eat out with co-workers or friends occasionally. That's fine once in a while, as long as you watch out for the hidden calories in the lunch entrees.

Here's a great strategy suggested by one of our BootCampers: bring your lunch & eat it early. Then go out with the gang to socialize. While they order a full lunch, you can order something light like a cup of soup or side salad.

What are your lunchtime strategies?

SNACKING FOR WEIGHT LOSS

2010-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

We often hear people say that they are trying their hardest NOT to snack between meals.

Imagine their surprise when we tell them that snacking will actually HELP them lose weight!

Of course, the right type of snacking is key.

One of the main misconceptions is that a "snack" is an unhealthy, empty calorie meal such as chips, candy, cookies & pastries.

In our book, those types of foods are not snacks, they are "special treats." You may "treat" yourself to these non-nutritious foods in moderation on an occasional basis (perhaps once or twice a month).

A "SNACK" is a different story altogether.

Eating small, protein- and fiber-rich snacks between meals helps keep your blood-sugar levels balanced. This not only improves your body's ability to burn fat, but also reduces risk factors for heart disease by lowering cholesterol and triglycerides. Frequent eating also prevents afternoon or late-night binges on empty calories.

We recommend that your mid-morning snack consist of fruit + protein and your mid-afternoon snack consist of vegetables + protein.

Here are some of our favorite healthy snacks:

MID-MORNING SNACKS (fruit + protein)

Lowfat cottage cheese & mixed berries
Frozen grapes & almonds
Nonfat yogurt, sunflower seeds & any type of fruit
Orange slices & cashews
Apple & peanut butter
Homemade fruit smoothies with yogurt or whey protein powder (beware of high-sugar, high-calorie smoothies that you don't make yourself)

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS (vegetables + protein)

Broccoli & yogurt
Cherry tomatoes & light string cheese
Carrots, akmak crackers & hummus
Lettuce leaf wrapped around a slice of turkey or chicken
Low-sodium chicken broth with any frozen veggies & a few slivered almonds
Egg whites with veggies
Air popped popcorn & a few raw almonds
Protein-rich dip & raw veggies (carrots, snap peas, celery, bell peppers, baby tomatoes). Some of our favorite protein dips are hummus, peanut butter, cottage cheese mixed with a little mustard, or yogurt mixed with a little salsa. See this week's AAY! Newsletter for a delicious cashew dip recipe.

No more feeling guilty for snacking between meals! Just make sure you're making the right choices.

BEST WAY TO KICKSTART YOUR METABOLISM

2010-07-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that breakfast is the most important meal of your day. When you wake up in the morning, you probably have not eaten for at least eight hours. Your body & brain need some healthy carbs & protein to function properly, especially if you're doing a BootCamp workout in the morning!

A well-balanced, healthy breakfast will get your day started right so that you'll have the energy and brain-power to handle anything that comes your way.

Breakfast also gets your metabolism kick-started in the morning. Sometimes people who are trying to lose weight skip breakfast, thinking they are saving up their calories for later in the day. However, studies show that people who eat a healthful breakfast are more likely to lose weight and keep it off.

Take the time each day to eat a healthy breakfast at home, or to pack a breakfast to eat at work, or on the way to work. If your mornings are rushed, get into the habit of packing your breakfast (and maybe even your lunch & your snacks) the night before.

Your breakfast should contain a combination of healthy carbohydrates, protein and at least one serving of fruit or veggies.

Here are some of our favorite breakfasts:

whole grain cereal +milk (soy or dairy) + sliced banana: We like Heritage, Bite Size Shredded Wheat and Flax Plus from Trader Joe's.

whole grain toast + nut butter + a piece of fruit (whatever is in season): Ezekiel is our favorite bread. If you want to be super healthy, use the low-sodium. If you need more flavor, the sesame seed and the cinnamon raisin are both delicious. For nut butters, you can choose peanut butter, almond butter, soy butter, or others. Make sure it is natural, with no added sugar. Or, if you like your peanut butter sweet, try "Better 'N Peanut Butter" made from defatted peanut flour with about 1/2 the calories of regular peanut butter.

egg white vegetable omelet: It's super easy to saute frozen veggies (we like Soycutash from Trader Joe's) and egg whites for a filling & delicious breakfast. See recipe in this week's AAY! Newsletter.

oatmeal + raw walnuts or sunflower seeds + dried fruit: Steel cut oatmeal is less processed than rolled oats and is more effective at reducing cholesterol. You can get quick-cooking steel cut oats from Trader Joe's. Add dried fruit while it's cooking and there will be no need for extra sweetener.

cottage cheese with strawberries & blackberries: Use low-fat cottage cheese. Or, if you use nonfat, then add a few nuts or seeds because you need some fat to sustain you until your next meal.

Greek yogurt + slivered almonds + blueberries: Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular yogurt. You can use low-fat or nonfat, but as with cottage cheese, be sure to add the almonds (or other seeds or nuts) if you choose nonfat.

All About You! Wellness BootCamp

2010-07-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

KEEP YOUR SALADS HEALTHY!

2010-07-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Salads are the perfect summer meal because you don't have to turn on a hot stove or oven to prepare them. But at any time of year we encourage you to eat lots of salads as a way to increase your vegetable consumption and to satisfy your hunger with very few calories.

But choosing the wrong salad fixings or dressing can turn a healthy, low-calorie meal into a 1,000+ calorie disaster. To avoid such disasters, follow these tips:

AT HOME:
1. Instead of pouring oil onto your salad, use an olive oil spray to very lightly coat the lettuce before adding vinegar & spices.

2. Make your own salad dressings because store-bought dressings (even low-calorie versions) usually contain lots of unhealthy ingredients.

3. Use mostly vegetables. Add the "treats" such as cheese, meat or nuts sparingly, just for taste.

DINING OUT:
1. Before heading out, check online for the restaurant's nutrition information. (If the restaurant's website doesn't list calories, check calorieking.com) You may be extremely surprised to find out that some of the menu items that sound healthiest are not always low in calories. For example:

Cheesecake Factory's Weight Management Asian Chicken Salad = 574 calories!
Applebee's Grilled Shrimp & Spinach Salad without dressing = 720 calories!
Quizno's Honey Mustard Chicken Salad = 920 calories!

RAINBOWS OF VEGETABLES & FRUIT

2010-07-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here are two easy tips to keep in mind when you are attempting to increase your vegetable & fruit intake.

1. Commit to eating at least one serving of vegetables and/or fruit with every meal and with every snack. No matter what you are eating, always add a vegetable or fruit to it.

2. Each day commit to eating at least one fruit or vegetable from each of these color categories: Leafy green, other green, red, yellow, purple. Each color contains different nutrients that our bodies need.

Below is a quick summary of the benefits of each color group, plus examples of vegetables & fruit from each group.

GREEN vegetables & fruits (esp. dark leafy greens) are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamin K, C, E and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems. Dark green leaves even contain a small amount of Omega-3 fats.

LEAFY GREENS
Spinach
Kale
Collard greens
Turnip greens
Bok choy
Romaine lettuce
Cabbage

OTHER GREEN VEGGIES
Broccoli
Zucchini
Artichoke
Brussel Sprouts
Asparagus
Green bell pepper
Snap Peas
Green Beans
Celery
Cucumbers

GREEN FRUIT
Kiwi
Honeydew Melon
Green Grapes
Lime

RED veggies and fruits are packed with a wide range of phytochemicals. The red pigments anthocyanins and carotenoids are powerful antioxidants. Many also contain vitamin C & potassium as well as a wide range of other nutrients & fiber.

RED VEGETABLES:
Red bell pepper
Radishes
Beets
Red cabbage
Tomatoes
Red potatoes

RED FRUIT:
Strawberries
Raspberries
Pomegranate
Watermelon
Plums
Guava
Papaya
Pink Grapefruit
Cherries

YELLOW/ORANGE veggies & fruit contain a wide variety of phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, nutrients & fiber. Many of them contain beta carotene, which is necessary for good vision, a strong immune system & healthy skin.

YELLOW/ORANGE VEGGIES:
Corn
Squash
Yellow Peppers
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Yams

YELLOW FRUIT:
Banana
Pineapple
Lemon

PURPLE produce contains fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect against cancer, improve memory and keep your heart healthy.

PURPLE VEGGIES:
Eggplant
Beets
Purple cabbage
purple onions
purple lettuce
purple potatoes
purple bell peppers
Purple asparagus
Purple cauliflower
Purple broccoli

PURPLE FRUIT
Blueberries
Blackberries
Plums
Grapes
Pomegranate
Prunes
Figs
Raisins

Click on "comment" below to let us know what you're doing to increase your veggie & fruit consumption.

HEALTHY DINING

2010-07-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

The other day a BootCamp member told us that she'd been doing very well with her nutrition and felt she was on the right track. However, she'd recently been invited to dine out with friends and she was afraid to accept the invitation because she didn't trust herself.

It's true that restaurants are full of temptations, but we don't want our BootCamp members to stop living! Bonding with others over a good meal is one of the joys in life that we do not want you to give up. However, we do want you to put into practice the following strategies so that you can enjoy your meal without feeling guilty afterwards.

1. Plan ahead by checking the menu and calories in advance.

2. Be picky! Ask your server for details about how your meal will be prepared. Ask them to omit any high calorie "extras", such as butter, cream, cheese, oil, croutons, etc.

3. Ask for sauces and salad dressings on the side so you can control how much you consume.

4. Split your meal with your dining companion, or ask the server to box half of it BEFORE bringing it to the table.

5. Drink water (ask for lemon slices to make it more refreshing) instead of alcohol, soda or juice.

6. Look for items on the menu that are baked, grilled, dry-sauteed, broiled, poached, or steamed.

7. Eat slowly while you enjoy your meal and your company!

What helps you stay on track when you eat out?

SET A GOAL!

2010-06-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, we're already half way through 2010! This is a good time to reflect back upon our New Year's Resolutions. Have you been able to keep yours?

If you have, you're one of the few people who chose a realistic & achievable resolution. Congratulations!

If you haven't, then it's not too late! We recommend that rather than setting a "resolution" you set a SMART goal, which stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Action-based
Realistic
Time-Anchored

For example, saying "I will eat healthier" is too vague. There's no way to measure whether or not you've achieved your goal.

Compare that to, "I will eat five servings of vegetables, five days a week, for the next four weeks." At the end of the four weeks, it will be easy to tell whether or not you achieved your goal.

Taking the time to write down your goals can make a huge impact in your life. Sharing your goals with others helps you commit to your goals. Be brave and post your goal under the comments section here.

Make your dreams become reality!

Cutting Back on Caffeine!

2010-06-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

In this week's AAY! Newsletter, we listed several reasons to cut back on caffeine for overall health, as well as for weight loss.

Of course, we know this is very rough for many people, so we've compiled some tips here to help you transition away from caffeine.

1. If you drink multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, cut down slowly. Have your morning cup as usual, but then try replacing the rest of your coffee with green tea, herbal tea, or iced water.

2. Try green tea. Green tea has many health benefits and has about a third of the caffeine that coffee has. An 8-oz cup of coffee contains about 100 mg of caffeine, while green tea has 20-30 mg, oolong tea has 25-35 mg and black tea has 40-50 mg.

3. Try some delicious caffeine-free herbal teas. We like Vanilla Hazelnut, Mint, Chamomile and Good Earth's Sweet & Spicy herbal tea. Add a splash of milk or almond milk to make it a treat.

4. Stay away from fancy, high-calorie coffee drinks. If you really want the caffeine, have a plain coffee and add a dash of nonfat or low-fat milk. Avoid added syrups, sugar, whipped cream, caramel, chocolate, etc. If you really want a latte, request nonfat milk.

How much caffeine do you drink? Do you have any tips for others who are looking to cut back?

TIPS FOR LIMITING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

2010-06-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

This week's AAY! Newsletter explains how drinking alcohol, even in moderation, can hinder you from reaching your weight loss goals. To help you cut back, here are some tips on limiting your alcohol consumption. We've also listed the lightest choices to keep in mind when you do decide to imbibe.

Tips On Cutting Back

1. Drink mineral water with lemon or lime out of a cocktail glass. Sometimes, just having a drink to hold makes you feel like you're participating in the festivities.

2. Drink one glass of water for each glass of alcoholic beverage you consume.

3. Bring your own non-alcoholic beverage, such as sparkling apple juice or non-alcoholic beer or wine.

4. Focus on socializing and participating in activities (like dancing). The more actively involved you are, the less you'll think about drinking (or eating).

If you choose to drink anyway....choose the drinks with the fewest calories

1. A 5-ounce glass of red or white wine or champagne has about 100 calories.

2. A 5-ounce margarita or screwdriver has about 200 calories.

3. A shot of vodka, rum, tequila, brandy or scotch has less than 100 calories. (That's ONE shot!) Mixing it with water, mineral water or club soda will help keep the calories down.

What do you drink when you go out with your friends and how do you keep your calorie count down? Comment below to share your ideas and tips or to ask a question.

Fun Ways to Increase Your Water Consumption

2010-05-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, the very best beverage choice, is always water!

1. Add fresh lemon, lime, orange, mint, cucumbers, fresh berries, etc.

2. Buy flavored mineral water from Trader Joes. They have different flavors such as lemon, orange and wild berry. (It needs to be the clear mineral water with no juice added.) And make sure you don't get one of the brands that add artificial sweetener.

3. Herbal teas also have no calories and come in a wide variety of delicious flavors. You can drink it hot, or make iced tea.

TO SUPPLEMENT OR NOT TO SUPPLEMENT?

2010-05-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

A lot of people ask us if they should be taking supplements.

Our first question is always, "Why do you feel you need them?" Be sure that you can answer this question fully & thoughtfully before ingesting something new.

Here are some interesting facts:

• Federal law does not require dietary supplements to be proven safe to FDA's satisfaction before they are marketed.

• For most claims made in the labeling of dietary supplements, the law does not require the manufacturer or seller to prove to FDA's satisfaction that the claim is accurate or truthful before it appears on the product.

In other words, there is NO guarantee that any dietary supplement on the market is either safe or effective, no matter how compelling the advertisements seem! So how do you know whether you should be taking a specific supplement?

Check as many resources as possible for information before putting an unknown substance into your body!

The FDA receives reports of adverse side effects in supplements, including muscle enhancement supplements, hormonal supplements, herbal supplements and weight loss supplements. To see the substances that the FDA has warned people from using, click here.

Finally, remember that a supplement is supposed to make up for a deficiency to put your body in proper nutritional balance. Using an unnecessary supplement or using an excessive amount of a supplement may throw your body out of balance, which can lead to severe body dysfunction.

Before taking any supplement, check with your healthcare provider to find out if your body really needs it and if so in what dosage. If you don’t need it, don’t waste your money.

There is a place for some supplements, but to make sure your body really needs them, do your research and consult with your health care provider.