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May 2008

Eating on the Run Getting in your daily exercise is crucial for optimal health and fitness.  But, if you are not fueling your body correctly, you will not get the best results.  It is the exact same principle as putting fuel in your car.  You cannot run a diesel truck on unleaded gas for very long.  The wrong kind of gas will end up ruining your engine and its components.   

Good eating habits is much harder to be consistent with when you are on the go or away from home.  But it can be done with a little preparation, planning and packaging.  Lets start with a scenario; have you ever not eaten for about four to six hours and found yourself so hungry that you either gorged on anything you could get your hands on or stopped for fast food because it was the closest thing you could find?   

The reason this happens is because your body needs the energy and it will crave whatever is in sight and usually more then you really need.  For optimum brain and body performance, you need to fuel your body every two to four hours.  That means you will eat about five to six MINI meals each day.  You will notice that you will no longer be starving and you should never feel overly full again.  But how do you do this when you don’t have your kitchen easily accessible? 

This is where the preparation, planning and packaging come into play.  The very first thing to do is go out and buy yourself some packaging materials – zip locks, a travel tote for keeping your food in, Tupperware, and a good water bottle.  I would highly suggest buying the “blue” re-usable ice blocks for your cooler to keep the cold stuff cool & safe.  Next plan out your week and/or your day and then decide how many and what meals you will need. You will need at least three to four meals packed if you eat at home at 6am, head out the door and return at 6pm.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to either cook and package everything the night before or do a weeks worth of cooking and packaging on Sunday. 

So what are easy on the go food?  First, remember your ideal meal consists of a protein, carbohydrate and sometimes a healthy fat.  Some suggestions are an apple and string cheese; banana and peanut butter; ranch dip and sliced bell peppers; granola bar and a piece of fruit; a small low sodium V8, a handful of almonds and six to eight pieces of dried fruit; a small baked potato with a cup of cottage cheese; pretzel and almonds; a protein drink and a piece of toast; a salad with chicken, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, and vinaigrette dressing; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; a turkey or ham sandwich with a piece of fruit or veggies; or tuna fish and whole wheat crackers.  The options are endless, but in the beginning you really need to think about combining the protein, carbohydrate and fat and eating the right portion sizes.  If you want more information a great website and book to check out is www.goodmooddiet.com by Dr. Susan Kleiner.  A local nutritionist who not only backs her stuff with science, but uses it on professional athletes, top corporate exec’s and everyone else who needs and wants her help. 

Eat Smart, Eat Often, Live Well!

MARCH 2008 

Nutrition is the Key

Hopefully you are working out and burning calories.  To continue burning calories & torching fat, you need to make sure that you are eating properly.  If you don’t enough of the right foods, your body will actually store fat.  Or worse, it will use your muscle as a source of energy (because you store extra carbohydrates in your muscle) and then your metabolism will slow down because muscle “stokes” your metabolism. 

Here are your nutrition guidelines:

1)      Eat every 2-4 hours.  Not big meals, just mini meals that consist of a protein & a carbohydrate (the size of your fist, unless it’s vegetables)

2)      Eat at least 1 to 1 ½ hours before a workout and within an hour after working out.  Granola bars or peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are fast & easy.

3)      Try to eat as fresh as possible.  Boxed & frozen foods are full of extra sugar, calories & stuff you don’t need.

4)      Drink water – give up your sodas, juices & energy drinks and opt for some free H2O.  A minimum of 8-10 glasses.

February 2008

Eating enough of the right calories is the easiest way to ensure weight loss (or healthy weight maintenance).  Here are 4 quick & simple tips to remember when planning your meals! 

1)    How:  a.     Portion size is your key.  You should have a serving size of your fist for each item (i.e. protein & carbohydrate).                                                                i.     Most restaurants meals are 2-3+ servings so ask for a doggie bag in advance! b.     For those on the run – carry a cooler with your food pre-packed the night before! 2)   What: a.     Eat a protein & carbohydrate every meal. b.     Add in some healthy fats (olives, olive oil, nuts, peanut or almond butter, avocados, etc.)

c.     Water, water & more water!

d.     And like Dr. Kleiner says (www.goodmooddiet.com – great book to own & read) have a warm glass of hot chocolate every night before bed (made with non-fat/low fat milk & dark chocolate or non-dutch cocoa).

e.     Stay away from energy drinks, too much alcohol, soft drinks, and pick the fruit over the sugared fruit drink.

3)   When:

a.     Eat every 2-4 hours.

b.     Never skip breakfast & never go more then 4 hours without eating!

4)   Where:

a.     You can find even healthy foods in a restaurant.  Just look for grilled or broiled, ask for sauces on the side, start with veggies or a side salad, skip the drinks & opt for water, ask for no butter, and remember to watch your portion sizes.  If you have to eat fast food, try to find grilled chicken, get a salad with the dressing on the side (watch all the extra cheese) or have a baked potato!

Body Weight & Caloric Calculations:

November 5th, 2007 This is not 100% accurate, but it will give you a good idea of what your bodies DAILY caloric needs are based on your body weight & activity level. Adjustments are made from there based on your goals, other activity factors, stress, etc. to help you gain, lose or maintain weight.

A. Your Baseline
To start, let’s go back to Nutrition 101. Take the number of inches you are over 5 feet and multiply that number by five. Add this to 100 for a rough initial estimate of what someone of your height should weigh. So if you’re 5′7″, multiply seven by five and add 100. Your target weight is 135. But wait! You’re not done yet. You still need to assess — and factor in — the other elements that contribute to your perfect weight.

B. Your Bone Structure
Remember that phrase “you’re just big-boned”? It seems like a euphemism for “fat” (see also “husky,” “chunky,” “pleasantly plump”), but the truth is that your frame — in effect, your bone structure — can run large or small, no matter how tall you are. Researchers now -recognize that having a large frame can add up to 10 pounds of healthy, unavoidable weight to your body.Okay, now take that baseline figure you arrived at in Step A and adjust accordingly — 5 to 10 pounds more for a bigger frame, 5 to 10 pounds less for a smaller frame (see the chart below). Now you’ve got one number, but there are still two other important considerations, both having to do with your current body composition.

C. Your Overall Body Fat
One of the best indicators of whether you’re at a healthy weight is how much of your bulk is fat. While between 20 and 31 percent is considered a “normal” range for women, an ideal level for fitness (and looking fit) is around 21 percent. The best way to measure body fat is with calibration tools — either old-fashioned skin-pinching calipers or more sensitive bioelectric impedance analysis machines, which use electrical currents to measure body mass.

D. Your Belly Fat
Now you want to figure out whether you’re packing too much belly fat — dangerous because the same fat that gathers around your abdomen, called adipose fat, is also likely to be collecting around vital organs and preventing healthy blood flow. And researchers at theNew York