All entries filed under “Healthy Eating”
Healthy Eating During the Holidays
The holidays are a time for parties, family, travel, and gift-giving. Unfortunately, they are also a time for frenzied shopping, stress, and over-indulgence in food and drink. In her last blog, Revolution Training Center’s Lead Psychologist, Dr. Kristina Pecora makes the argument that the holidays are the BEST time for sticking to healthy goals, and I agree! Treating your body to great nutrition is a gift in itself, so focus on making one small nutrition change per week. Here are some tips to get you started:
If you need more help with lightening up on calories, our Registered Dietitians can help you to navigate the holiday season. Keep in mind: great nutrition is a gift in itself. 
The Real Secret to Nutrition Success
In any situation, as soon as people find out that I'm a registered dietitian, the questions start rolling in: "What's the best diet for weight loss?" "What do you think about the Paleo (or South Beach or Blood Type etc) diet?" "What foods are good and bad for you?" These questions perfectly reflect the phenomenon of "information overload" discussed in a recent article by Christian Finn, "The Real Secret to Success" and as referenced by Joel, our Exercise Physiologist's last blog post. There are so many new diets and weight loss plans that promise to be THE diet that will solve all of your weight problems forever. For people actively trying to lose weight, trying to decipher all of the information about nutrition is a job in and of itself. But I'll let you in on a not-so-little secret: the best diet of all isn't a diet. The whole point of nutrition is to provide our body with the energy we need to live. Cutting out food groups (unless it is due to allergies or medical reasons) doesn't make sense, as this will only lead to a feeling of deprivation. The best nutrition plan to lose weight is to establish a nutrition pattern that you can maintain for the rest of your life. It isn't practical to give up a food group for the purpose of weight loss if your intention is just to add it back in as soon as you reach your goal weight. Moderation is the key here. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are not the enemy. These are the macronutrients that provide essential nutrients to our bodies. The dosage of these foods is what gets us in trouble, not the foods themselves. If you struggle with portion control, reach out to a dietitian to help you determine the correct serving size, and how you can still enjoy your favorite foods in moderation. At Revolution Training Centers, we work closely with each client to determine a nutrition plan that incorporates all essential nutrients into a healthy meal plan, without feeling deprived. The simple truth is that diets fail. They are too restrictive, un-enjoyable, and generally unrealistic. The real key to success is learning to enjoy healthy, nutritious foods in moderation, because the most effective diet of all isn't a diet.
Nutrition Budgeting
In my nutrition sessions with clients, I often find that people think that eating nutritiously means that they can never enjoy their favorite restaurant, snack or even foods ever again. I am always happy to inform them that this is not the case, and they always seem surprised. That being said, meals at restaurants are notorious for being high in calories, fat and sodium, which can quickly derail any nutrition plan intended for weight loss. The best way to fit in your favorite meal is to budget your calories. The easiest way to explain this is to put it in terms of budgeting money on a vacation. For example, if you have a budget of $750 spending money set aside for a five day vacation and you end up spending $250 of it the first day, you wouldn't just keep going at that pace, would you? You would end up either out of money on day 3 or you would end up going way over budget. Most people find it easy to just scale back the spending the following days without ruining the vacation. This is exactly the same with calories. If you are trying to follow a 1500 calorie meal plan, and you eat 1000 calories during the day but then overindulge on an 800 calorie slice of deep dish pizza, you have now consumed 1800 calories; 300 calories over-budget. Its really no big deal if you scale it back over the next couple of days with several very small changes. If you don't, going over-budget by 300 calories even just once per week could lead to a weight gain of 4.5 pounds in one year. So how do we still enjoy our favorite foods while trying to lose weight? We budget. Let's say you are going out to your favorite pizzeria for dinner. The first step to take is to look up nutrition information for the restaurant online. Often, I use a nutrition tracking application such as GoMeals or SparkPeople to search for the restaurant, or something comparable (i.e. small, locally owned Italian restaurants may not have nutrition information available, so I look up information on dishes from Olive Garden). Once you determine the calorie information, you can appropriately budget in order to minimize the amount of calories you go over-budget. For example: you would like to indulge in a slice of Chicago-style deep dish pizza while on a 1500 calorie meal plan. The first step is to look up nutrition information online so that you are well aware that one slice of a regular sized, four cheese deep dish pizza is 650 calories (and 44 grams of fat). Now determine how many calories this leaves you for the day: 860 calories. This can easily fit into your budget, as long as you choose wisely (read: low calorie, nutrient dense foods such as vegetables and fruit). Here is what a sample day could look like: Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs + 1 slice whole wheat toast 270 calories Snack: 1 apple + 1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese 105 calories Lunch: 2 cups spinach + 1 cup chopped veggies (peppers, broccoli, etc) + 1/4 cup garbanzo beans + 1 Tbsp vinaigrette, 10 pita chips, 1 greek yogurt 465 calories Snack: 1 cup baby carrots + 2 Tbsp hummus 95 calories Following this plan allows you to eat the slice of deep dish pizza for dinner, while only putting you ~100 calories over budget for the day. And, as I mentioned before, going over-budget once is no big deal, as long as you make up for it in other ways during the week. You can easily decrease calories in your nutrition plan without sacrificing volume of food by adding low calorie, nutrient dense vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. The goal here is never deprivation: it's about budgeting and striking a balance so that you can still enjoy your favorite foods while still maintaining a healthy nutrition plan for weight loss.
Fat, Carbs, Sugar, & Salt: Friend or Foe?In recent years, there is always that one food group that is targeted as the scapegoat for weight gain and the obesity epidemic; namely, carbohydrates, fat, salt, and sugar. We're then bombarded through... More »
Nutrition for ExerciseOver the past few months, I have noticed an interesting pattern. Many people believe that in order to lose weight, eating before or after exercise will "undo" all of their efforts during a work out. They... More »
Healthy Habits of Weight Loss MaintainersFrom our Lead Dietician Krista Shawron, MS, RD, LDN: In this busy world, it's often easy to dash out of the house in the morning without stopping to think about breakfast. By the time lunch rolls around,... More »
Make Better ResolutionsIt's that time of year again. We're faced with a fresh new year and we feel obliged to make promises to improve ouselves. However, how many times have you made a New Year's resolution and completely forgotten... More »
Seasonal SweetsWe all have our favorite holiday treats, from eggnog to sugar cookies – and there are some that we should avoid more than others. In my opinion, it’s about selecting moderate portions of what... More »
CaloriesResearch has told us that a pound of fat is represented as 3,500 calories. Therefore, to lose a pound of fat per week, we need to create a deficit of 3,500 per week or 500 calories each day. ... More »
|
CategoriesArchives
TagsStay Connected
|
