Posts filed under 'Making Choices'
This morning as I stood half-asleep in the Starbucks line (frosted pastries and goodies teasing me through the glass) promising myself that tomorrow I will wake up with enough time to sit down with my breakfast of Fiber One cereal and fruit, I debated which grande burst of caffeine I would order today. Even though I enjoy a tall cup of the house blend with non-fat milk and Splenda (which is a lowly 5 calories), I always run into the mind games of “well, I only come to Starbucks once a week, so maybe I should splurge”. This may seem like a valid reason, however, if you are like myself, this one treat of whipped cream topped chocolate mocha bliss usually turns into an excuse to blow eating healthy the rest of the day (and a reason to return the next morning). After my mocha-choco latte, I will have a soda for lunch, fruit smoothie for an afternoon snack, sweet tea during dinner and possibly a cocktail with friends after. All of these drinks from my day can add to over 1500 calories!! This is just short of my daily calorie intake - and I haven’t even accounted for my meals!
Needless to say, had I known that I didn’t even have to eat anything to reach my caloric intake for the day, I would have made a few smarter beverage choices. Best bet - water. Not only is water calorie free, it also aids in weight loss keeping you hydrated and satiated. So next time, instead of heading to the vending machine for a cherry soda, I will turn to the water fountain for a refreshing treat.
See how my drinks add up:
Breakfast - White Chocolate Mocha, 470 Calories
Lunch - Coca Cola, 140 Calories
Afternoon Snack - Smoothie King MangoFest fruit smoothie, 285 Calories
Dinner - Sweet Tea, 100 Calories
After Dinner Cocktail - Margarita, 740 Calories
February 21st, 2008
February is American Heart Month, so it’s a great time to remember how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle. Heart disease is a major killer — each year approximately one million people in the US have a heart attack and nearly half are fatal. If you survive, a heart attack can shave 15 years off your life. Heart disease is sneaky as well. The majority of men and women who die suddenly of heart disease have no previous symptoms.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) heart disease is strongly influenced by lifestyle. In 2003, two large studies confirmed that modifiable risk factors such as cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, abdominal obesity, inactivity, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and excessive alcohol account for 90% of heart attack risk.
Follow the American Heart Association’s Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations to significantly lower your risk of having a heart attack:
- Balance caloric intake and physical activity to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.
- Consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruits
- Choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods
- Limit your intake of saturated fat to <7%, trans fat to <1%, and cholesterol to <300mg per day by: Choosing lean meats and vegetable alternatives; Selecting fat free, 1% fat and low-fat dairy products; minimizing intake of partially hydrogenated fats
- Minimize your intake of beverages and foods with added sugars
- Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt
- If you consume alcohol, do so in moderation.
Bob Wright, MAT
Director of Lifestyle Education
February 13th, 2008
Even if you aren’t interested in the football, I am sure you watch the commercials or at least attend a Super Bowl Party! While you mingle with friends, make bets over who will win and linger by the snack table, keep this fact in mind - Americans consume more calories as a nation on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year, even Thanksgiving! By the time the clock runs out in the fourth quarter, Americans will have taken in 156 billion calories - mostly from pizza, wings and beer. So instead of ingesting all of those extra calories (which would take running the length of the football field 109 times to burn off!), try these tips from Men’s Health and co-author of bestselling Eat This, Not That! and cut your caloric intake in half.
Pre-Game Snack
Eat This: Bowl of Chili with cheddar and onions; 300 calories; 18 g fat
Not That!: 6 Chicken wings with blue cheese; 650 calories; 40 g fat
Dips
Eat This: Tostitos Salsa Con Queso; 80 calories; 5 g fat
Not That!: Kraft Guacamole Dip (4 T); 100 calories; 9 g fat
Halftime Snack
Eat This: 3 Chicken Fingers; 310 calories; 17 g fat
Not That!: Cheese Fries with ranch (1 cup); 750 calories; 50 g fat
Dessert
Eat This: Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla w/Nestle Crunch Bar; 150 calories; 8 g fat
Not That!: Haagen-Daaz Vanilla and Almonds Bar; 310 calories; 22 g fat
February 1st, 2008
Would you spend a week in jail or even trade 10 years of your life just to be an ideal weight? Surprisingly, out of 1000 women, 23% and 21% respectively answered yes to the former questions. 23% would shave their head, 22% would wear a bikini on TV and a whopping 85% would rather have an extra toe than 50 extra pounds.
Are you guilty of looking for a quick fix? Instead of going through crazy measures such as fad diets, weight loss pills or even spending a week in the slammer - why not try what works, eating healthy and exercise.
A few other interesting findings from the survey:
- 53% of the women say they have eaten an entire box of cookies, a bag of chips, a pizza, a cake or pie in one sitting
- When comparing actresses as role models, 51% would prefer Keira Knightly’s body over Queen Latifah’s
- 76% say they’d rather be known as a ‘friendly chubby girl’ than a ’skinny witch’
- 52% feel the most energetic at their thinnest, 32% feel more social
- Most of the women would like to lose 30 pounds, with a goal of weighing 131 to 145 pounds.
Source: Fitness magazine & USA Today
January 31st, 2008
“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” ~Author Unknown
Now that the Holiday’s have come and gone, most of us are struggling to get back on track. You may have made a New Year’s Resolution that involves more exercise or eating healthier foods. Or you may have a goal to get back to your ’skinny’ jeans. Either way, we become so caught up on what we eat during those few weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year that we don’t keep focus throughout the year. What if we placed the same importance and priority that these three to four weeks hold all year long? We might just stay on our routines to make our Resolutions last the whole New Year!
January 22nd, 2008
We all know what to do, now it has been shown to work. To get an extra 14 years of life - 14 more years to enjoy your family, friends, vacations, grandkids, birthdays and more; it’s simple. Don’t smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in moderation. Seems easy enough, right?
After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45 - 79 years in the UK from about 1993 to 2006, the University of Cambridge and colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than those who didn’t. This study was published Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal.
We have all been told many times the benefits of making healthy changes to our daily lifestyle, but this study should help convince people that improving their health is easy. Kay-Tee Khaw, a researcher in the study says, “We didn’t ask these people to do anything exceptional. We measured normal behaviors that were entirely feasible within people’s normal, everyday lives.”
Because the study observed people rather than testing specific changes, it is important to understand it would be impossible to think that one who suddenly adopts these changes would automatically gain 14 years. Keep in mind, even by making just one or two of these lifestyle changes creates an added benefit. This is always better than nothing!
So lets try to toss those cigarettes and beer bottles and actually use our gym memberships we have been paying for each month to create new healthy habits for many years to come!
Source: Time Magazine
January 8th, 2008
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