Make Your Resolutions Become Reality

colette_heimowitz's Blog Nutritionist

60 posts View profile

Nutritionist's Blog

Monounsaturated fats

January 3

If you’re like most of us, you optimistically welcome the New Year with an ambitious set of goals. But within a few short weeks, those resolutions all too often fall by the wayside and it’s back to business as usual. Worse, you may feel disappointed or even guilty. When those New Year’s resolutions include slimming down and getting fit, your health and quality of life are also at risk. Yes, life intervenes and you may find yourself coming up short on more than one occasion, but that’s no reason to call it quits. Here are my eight tips for creating results as well as resolutions in 2011.

 1.      Set yourself up for success. When you try to change too many things at once or are overly ambitious, you may be sabotaging yourself. For example, instead of resolving to lose 50 pounds, set a far more realizable goal of 10 pounds. This simple change sets you up for success instead of likely failure. Once you banish those extra pounds, you can pat yourself on the back and feel good about yourself. Then reset your goal for another 10 or 15 pounds. Likewise, it’s unrealistic to think that you can go from being a bona fide couch potato to a ripped athlete in a matter of months. Start out, perhaps, with a resolution to walk a couple of miles five days a week. Once this has become your pattern and you’re feeling better about your physical self, add another activity or increase your distance or speed. With each incremental improvement, you’ll have an opportunity to take pride in your results. And that’s a powerful motivator to keep going. 2.      Come up with a battle plan. Envisioning an objective is crucial, whether it’s to eat better or be more active—or to watch less television, or whatever—but you also need the tactics to achieve the desired effect. If your objective is to lose weight on the Atkins Diet, do your homework http://www.atkins.com/Program/ProgramOverview.aspx and make sure you have the proper foods in the house http://www.atkins.com/Program/ProgramOverview/HowtoMaximizeYourChancesofSuccess/TheAtkinsPantry.aspx. Becoming a member of the Atkins Community  will provide you with the tools and support you need to succeed. The point is that achieving your resolution takes a lot more than simply declaring it. 3.      Resolve with a buddy. There is something about saying something out loud that makes us more apt to stick to our guns. I’m not suggesting that you yell it from the housetop or take out an ad in the local paper, but resolving with a friend, spouse or relative to join forces to achieve a similar resolution can be a powerful motivator. Some of you brave souls may even want to post your intentions on Facebook and report on your progress—complete with photos! 4.      Eliminate guilt from your vocabulary. There’s nothing more corrosive to good intentions than blaming yourself when you fall short of your goals. But be realistic. No one can be 100 percent “good” 100 percent of the time. This means accepting less than perfection without surrendering to guilt feelings. If you blame yourself for your perceived weakness and lack of commitment, you simply set the stage for failure. This is especially important if you use food to try to cope with negative emotions. Instead, accept that like all human beings, you occasionally don’t do what you know you should do. Choose to see the glass as half full by learning from your experience, rather than choosing to see it as half empty and embarking on a destructive guilt trip. 5.      Write it down. Whether you use a paper calendar or an electronic one, enter daily or weekly reminders to yourself to help achieve your goals. They may be as simple as scheduling time for a workout or reminding yourself to ignore those doughnuts in the break room. Or you may want to use some inspirational cues about being as beautiful on the outside as you already are on the inside—or whatever works for you. Then at the end of the day, record your progress toward your goals. If you fell back, don’t beat yourself up; instead, write down what got in the way and how your can avoid that trap in the future. If you stayed on track, praise yourself for your good work. 6.      Don’t deprive yourself. After the orgy of eating that often accompanies the winter holidays it can almost be a relief to contemplate eating differently. But don’t let moderation feel like deprivation, which could soon turn to discontent. Head off such emotions at the pass by treating yourself well. After all, one key to doing Atkins properly is enjoying two satisfying snacks a day. And it’s not just snacks. Eating adequate protein foods and butter on your vegetables, olive oil on your salads and cream in your coffee, as well as such foods as avocadoes and olives, keeps you satiated. Any misguided efforts to do a low-fat version of Atkins will leave you hungry and unsatisfied. 7.      Plan ahead. We all tend to think we can easily turn a new page, but old habits die hard http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase4/TroubleShootinginPhase4/SayGoodbyeToOldHabits.aspx. It’s relatively easy to stick with your new way of eating when you’re in your routine of say, breakfast and dinner at home and lunch in the company cafeteria. But what happens when you’re meeting friends for dinner at that new Thai restaurant or taking the kids to Disney World for spring recess? As long as you plan in advance, dining out http://www.atkins.com/Program/ProgramOverview/DailyLifeonAtkins/DiningOutonDifferentCuisines.aspx or travel http://www.atkins.com/Program/ProgramOverview/DailyLifeonAtkins/TheLow-CarbTraveler.aspx needn’t interfere with your self-improvement resolutions, but you do want to come up with a plan before you arrive at the restaurant or the airport. 8.      Get back on track fast. If and when you engage in behavior that doesn’t further your resolution, see it as a single act, not a repudiation of your objective. So if you slip and eat the French fries that came with your burger at lunch, that doesn’t mean that you might as well have pizza for dinner. Don’t let a single misstep turn into a cascade of eating high-carb foods. Instead, have a satisfying low-carb meal to remind yourself of how many tasty foods you can eat on Atkins. Likewise, if cold weather keeps you from exercising as you have been doing for a while, don’t let that interfere with finding an indoor activity to keep you engaged until the weather improves. Take such challenges as opportunities to learn that you can keep your word to yourself. After all, the longer you delay before getting back to your resolutions, the more difficult it will be to achieve them. I wish you the best of luck in making 2011 the year you get slim, trim and healthy. Please feel free to share with the Atkins Community your resolutions and your progress and challenges in keeping them.  Tagged: resolutions Permalink Comments (33) (33) Comments Post Comment 1 2 Next »

Good Nutrition: It’s Not That Complicated

colette_heimowitz's Blog Nutritionist

60 posts View profile

Nutritionist's Blog

Monounsaturated fats

January 10

A recent telephone survey of 1,234 adults about their eating habits conducted by the Consumer Reports National Resource Center showed a mismatch between people’s thoughts and their actions. For example, 90 percent of respondents claimed that their diet was “somewhat,” “very,” or “extremely” healthy. But their responses to questions about what they actually ate were not in sync with these descriptions. For example, of the respondents:

·        Only 53 percent avoid or limit sweets and sugary beverages.·        Only 58 percent have five or more serving of vegetables and fruits a day.·        Only 60 percent regularly choose whole grains over refined grain products.·        Only 78 percent had had breakfast the morning they were called for the survey.It’s worth mentioning that the percentage given above for fruit and vegetable intake is significantly higher than those cited in a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, which found, for example, that only a quarter of American adults actually consume three or more servings of veggies a day. Either the Consumer Reports respondents were an atypical bunch or they overstated the prevalence of vegetables in their meals.Moreover, the Consumer Reports researchers found that the variety of vegetables the respondents ate was quite limited. Although 78 percent claimed to have salad greens at least once a week (!), followed by tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, corn and peppers, they rarely or never ate such vegetables as Swiss chard, bok choy and eggplant.The proof that the participants’ diets were not as healthy as they thought they were was in their weight. Only about 35 percent of the respondents were of a healthy weight; 36 percent were overweight and 21 percent were obese. However, a discrepancy between reality and self-image turned up here as well. Only 50 percent perceived themselves to be overweight or obese, but based on data they provided on height, weight, gender and age, closer to 60 percent actually fell into this category, which correlates roughly with national statistics.Confusion ReignsCall it optimism or delusion, there’s no doubt that people tend to embellish the truth when responding to a questionnaire. But I think when it comes to nutrition, another factor is also at work. Despite the glut of information in books, online and in advertisements for food products, people are confused. In fact, the sheer volume of information, much of it contradictory, has backfired. In their growing disenchantment with conflicting authoritative sources, people tend to become unresponsive to any nutritional advice whatsoever. Who can blame them? And when people are confused, it’s not surprising that their actions don’t necessarily match their words.  Why has the process of eating gotten so complicated? In part, I think it is because people have lost the ability to listen to their body’s signals about hunger and satiety. We eat for all sorts of reasons in addition to hunger. Boredom, depression, habit and lack of knowledge are certainly factors. And the quality of the food that is readily available and marketed to us is often questionable. Broccoli has a hard time competing with the seductive odor of a hot cinnamon bun. Food Supplies EnergyFortunately, there are some areas in which the science of nutrition is clear. We get our energy mainly from three macronutrients: fat, protein and carbohydrate. And foods are their sources. Fish, poultry, meat, tofu and eggs are all sources of protein. Strawberries and green beans are sources of carbohydrate. Olive oil and avocado are sources of fat. But eggs also contain fat and a little bit of carbohydrate. Meat, poultry, and fish contain fat, along with protein. Vegetables contain small amounts of protein. An avocado also contains carbohydrate. We call a food a protein source when it is made up primarily of protein. Likewise we call a food a carb source when it’s primarily composed of carbohydrate. Ditto with a fat source. Very few foods are the source of only one macronutrient, with table sugar being one example—all carbs—and olive oil being all fat. Just as your car burns gasoline, our bodies burn fat and carbohydrate (in the form of glucose, or blood sugar) for energy. These macronutrients fuel activities like running after your kids or walking the dog, as well as the normal processes of digestion, respiration and the like. Instead of gallons, we measure our energy intake and output as calories. Without sufficient glucose to burn the body turns to both dietary fat and body fat. Fat is just as good a fuel, but as long as adequate glucose is available, fat becomes our backup fuel. In the very simplest terms, you want to choose your source of energy and expenditure of energy to maintain weight or to exceed your output. And if your goal is to lose weight, burning fat makes the most sense. The Role of ProteinIt’s important to consume an adequate amount of protein at every meal for several reasons. Protein is satiating so it helps to keep you from overeating. It also helps repair all the cells in your body. Eating enough protein keeps your body from poaching on muscle and also keeps your blood sugar on an even plane, which helps moderate your appetite. But protein is not your body’s first or even it second choice as a source of energy. If neither glucose nor fat is readily available, the body will resort to metabolizing muscle for the protein necessary to survive. Timing of MealsEating at frequent intervals—that means three meals and two snacks—and right sizing your portions are also key to good nutrition. When you moderate swings of blood sugar by eating this way, you’re less likely to stimulate insulin production, which plays an important role in storing body fat. Also important are eating foods that are metabolized slowly. They include protein sources and carbohydrate foods high in fiber. But you can slow down the effects of any carbohydrate source by eating it with a protein or fat source. Up to this point, there is general agreement by nutritionists and food scientists. The Fat Vs. Carbs DebateThere’s a limit in terms of how much protein we can eat. If we eat too much, we’ll feel ill. Consequently, the majority of our calories must come from fat and carbohydrates. Which raises the issue of how much of each constitutes a healthy diet. The approach of the Atkins Diet, which is validated by more than 60 peer-review studies, can be summed up as follows:·        Eliminate all high-glycemic carbs during the initial phase, Induction. This gets blood sugar and insulin levels under control and almost inevitably results in a loss of bloat (retained fluid) and fat, usually fairly dramatically.·        Add back precise amounts of selected carbohydrates while continuing to monitor your weight, your energy and your well-being.·        Level off at the carb intake that allows you to continue losing one to two pounds a week.·        Continue at that level of carb intake until you reach your goal weight. Then stay at that new level of carb intake—which will be different for every individual—for the rest of your life.·        Don’t fear fat. A balance of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated natural (especially omega-3s) fats are essential to health and appetite control. As long as carb intake is controlled, your body will continue to burn fat and it poses no health risk.·        Always choose unprocessed, whole natural foods. The majority of your carbohydrate should come from the low-glycemic vegetables known as foundation vegetables.·        Supplement with a multivitamin/mineral and omega-3 fatty acids.·        Use low-carb products from reputable companies and enjoy Atkins bars and shakes as supplements to your basic eating plan, not as a substitute for it.  Then, if you get a phone call from an organization conducting a survey on eating habits, you can in all truthfulness, respond that you:·        Eat at least five servings of vegetables a day, and often more.·        Consume no added sugar.·        Eat no refined grains.·        Have breakfast every day.And hopefully, before long, you could also say that your weight is where it should be for your height, age and gender. Tagged: nutrition Permalink Comments (8) (8) Comments Post Comment

Why Do Men Get a Break, Weight-Wise?

colette_heimowitz's Blog Nutritionist

60 posts View profile

Nutritionist's Blog

Monounsaturated fats

January 24  Have you ever decided to lose weight with your mate? Sometimes that approach can be a wonderful, mutually supportive experience. But it doesn’t always work that way. All too often, the guy loses faster while eating more than the woman. That’s not a problem if both understand that different bodies respond to diet and exercise differently. But when one party feels inadequate or discouraged because she—and yes, it’s almost always the woman—isn’t keeping up with the other, it can be discouraging. Losing weight isn’t a competitive sport. Given their choice, most women wouldn’t opt to have been born male, but there’s one area in which the guys have it all over us gals. Men don’t gain weight as easily as women do, tend to carry a few extra pounds better and can slim down more quickly and easily than their wives and sisters. What ever happened to equal rights? Let’s look first at the reasons for these differences and then what women can do to level the playing field. Muscle Men vs. Potential Moms The first key difference is that men’s and women’s bodies are different from the get-go, regardless of whether either one is carrying some extra weight, thanks to our sex hormones.(Just to be clear, both men and women have the same sex hormones, but the amount of each differs significantly from men to women.) From puberty on, men’s high levels of testosterone mean that they have a greater percentage of muscle to fat than women do. As a result, whether they’re working out or at rest, men burn more calories than a woman of the same weight. And their muscles also make guys less insulin resistant—the less fat, the less of that fat-storage hormone in the system. That heavy dose of testosterone also makes it easier for guys to lose weight. What about those of us with two X chromosomes? Thanks to estrogen and progesterone, women are genetically predisposed to retain and store fat, particularly in their breasts, hips, thighs and buttocks. Body fat plays in important role in childbearing—women athletes with minimal body fat often stop menstruating and can’t conceive. What is still not fully understood is whether estrogen stimulates fat production itself or whether it stimulates insulin production, which in turn stimulates the appetite for high-carb foods that pile on the pounds. And why do most women put on weight after menopause, when estrogen levels decline? There is much research still to be done in this area. The Role of ExerciseWe now know that exercise plays little role in weight loss—although it does appear to help some people maintain weight—but even so there are differences among individuals and in particular, gender differences. Men tend to be more active, but that’s not just the result of greater muscle mass; lung capacity also plays a role. Women’s smaller lungs mean less oxygen is delivered to the muscles, which means less endurance. Men generally seem to respond faster to sustained physical activity in terms of weight management. Women, on the other hand, tend to experience a metabolic slow-down when working out at the same level, which causes their bodies to retain fat. They also tend to be less active.  All this means that on average, a man’s metabolism is higher than a woman of the same height and weight. How much higher? Research shows that on average, a guy’s metabolism is 5 to 10 percent higher than a woman’s. As a result, on average, women burn about 15 percentfewer calories each day than men do. The Female AdvantageWomen do have several advantages over men in other critical areas of weight management. Men tend to store fat in the middle of their body, while women tend to store it below the waist (unless they have already developed insulin resistance). This distribution of weight puts men more at risk for metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Women also tend to be more aware of what’s going on with their weight. They notice a gain of a few pounds more quickly and get to work on dealing with it faster. Women are also more likely to be aware of the link between their emotions and overeating or eating the wrong foods. And as the person who is more apt to be responsible for purchasing and preparing food, they’re often in a better position to change how the family eats.Make It a Win-Win SituationOf course, being a man isn’t a free pass to eat all you want, gorge on junk foods and sodas and lounge around all day. If you’re a guy, thank your testosterone for giving you a leg up; then follow the Atkins lifestyle to stay in control of your weight and enhance your health. If you’re a woman, understand that your results on Atkins may take a bit longer to achieve, but are nonetheless perfectly doable. Eating a low-carb whole-foods diet is the best way to reduce blood sugar levels, which in turn reduces insulin levels. And that, in turn will help you mobilize fat in your fat tissues for energy needs, meaning you burn fat rather than store it. In effect, doing Atkins can allow a woman to compensate for lower levels of testosterone, particularly when combined with a regular fitness program that includes muscle-building exercise. And if you’re looking for an Atkins buddy, you may want to find a person whose age, gender and weight-loss goals are more like your own—meaning another gal! Although there are undeniably differences in how easy it is for men and women to control their weight, following a low-carb lifestyle with plenty of low-glycemic vegetables will do the trick for both of you. And remember, it’s not who loses more or loses faster that counts; instead, the goal is to achieve a healthy weight for your frame and age and then remain there. That way, you’ll both have the energy and motivation to get out there and do things together. Whether you’re a guy or a gal, please share your experiences on Atkins relative to your significant other. I think we could all benefit from hearing from as many of you as possible. Speaking about staying in touch, if you want to subscribe to my blog, please go tohttp://ow.ly/3GK2g.            Tagged: men vs women Permalink Comments (9) (9) Comments Post Comment

Let’s Keep It Simple. The Atkins Edge

, uses a number of metaphors to help make Atkins easily understandable and easy to follow. You’re probably already familiar with one: the blood sugar roller coaster. The interplay between glucose and insulin that occurs in your blood stream after you eat a lot of carbohydrates is complex, but if you think of it as a roller coaster of energy highs followed by energy lows that make you ravenous and stimulate your cravings, it’s pretty easy to understand the basic message: Don’t feed your body this way and you’ll find it easier to moderate your appetite and therefore lose weight. Another metaphor—this one named by Dr. Stephen D. Phinney, one of the three authors of the book, who also dubbed the metabolic bully—is the Atkins Edge. If the metabolic bully is the bad guy in this scenario, the Atkins Edge is the hero, charging in to save the day. Edge has many meanings, but one of them refers to the advantage of an improved position, which is how we use it. When you eat the Atkins way, reducing your intake of carbs—particularly, those bad carbs I mentioned above, you can vanquish the metabolic bully. Why? Because your new way of eating forces your body to burn its own fat for energy. And it doesn’t stop there, once you’re burning primarily fat, other wonderful things happen, including natural appetite control. Most people find that their cravings for sugary, starchy foods vanish—or at least moderate—enabling them to exercise the self control that eluded them. Once you know your tolerance for carbs, you should be able to keep the Atkins Edge and kick the metabolic bully out of your life. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to make every effort to write in simple English. And if I occasionally forget, I know you’ll let me hear about it! Tagged: atkins edge Permalink Comments (100) (100) Comments Post Comment 1 2 3 Next »

Eating vegetables

Hi guys,

I've just decided to do the Atkins diet again, I did it a few years ago and successfully lost around a stone. I'm 22 and all past dieting attempts have been successful if slow, i.e. I've not put the weight back on without an obvious increase in seriously unhealthy food.

I only plan to do the two week induction to lose around 10-15lb's which will take me down to 68-70Kg, so nothing extreme. Once the diet is over I plan to go back to a regular, healthy maintenance diet including reasonable carbs and fibre but I will cut out added sugars and unhealthy foods (I basically just need an initial boost). I do exercise but recently my low calorie dieting attempts (2 weeks) have come to nothing, having stayed relatively stable at 75.5Kg.

My problem is at 22 I still have my immature inability to eat vegetables, it's been a lifelong issue that I've never been able to overcome. Even knowing they're healthy and good I always 'gag' when I try and eat them and can't ever get past a very small quantity (same applies to cheese)...I do actually like the taste of some, but eating the raw/cooked vegetable solid is just not possible.

I'm taking vitamin tablets but obviously I need to be if I