Archive for July, 2008

New Diet Books of 2008 for weight loss

Today, 2008 is 7/12ths complete, and summer weight loss has only a month to go. It’s time to get back to basics and review those 2008 new years resolutions, goals, and weight loss articles that proliferated in January.

Time Magazine wrote a piece titled: Weighing the New Diet Books which does a good review of the 2008 diet books.

I’m amazed at all the diet books out there, and they keep coming. Of course, I am tempted to write my own diet book. In fact, I have two working titles and I’ve been brainstorming outlines for a while. Besides that, What are the New Notable Diet Books of 2008 for weight loss

1. Eat This, Not That!, By David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding, 304 pages.
2. How to Eat Like a Hot Chick, By Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent, 168 pages. (Such a short book, What! Do Hot Chicks not eat much ?)
3. Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, By Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, 192 pages.
4. Slim for Live, By Dr. Gillian, 223 pages.
5. The GenoType Diet, By Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo with Catherin Whitney, 317 pages.
6. The All-New Atkins Advantage, By Dr. Stuart L. Trager with Colette Heimowitz, 362 pages.
7. The No-Crave Diet, By Dr. Penny Kendall-Reed and Dr. Stephen Reed, 224 pages.
8. The Spectrum, By Dr. Dean Ornish, 386 pages.
9. The Ultimate TEA Diet, By Mark “Dr. Tea” Ukra, 306 pages.
10. Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet, By Cassandra Forsthe 356 pages.

A couple of notables missing from Time Magazine’s list:

1. The Flat Belly Diet, by Liz Vaccariello
2. The 12 Second Sequence: Shrink Your Waist in 2 Weeks by Jorge Cruise, 256 pages.
3. The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer, 304 pages.

Let me give you a hint (since my book is not yet published). I think you are what you read, and you are what you eat. So, if you read books about science, you’ll become a scientist. If you read books about diet and nutrition, you’ll soon adapt those habits as well. So, you can never read too many books. You’ll always learn something. However, It does not matter how many diet books you read, you still need to DO! Action needs to conincide with your reading Exercise, Fitness, Weight Loss, Diet, or even Cooking Books. If you don’t do, you’ll never reap the benefits.

What are some of my books in my Library that I re-read every so often?

I still recommend the free Hack Diet Book as a great starting place. For other great books, I recommend the following:

• 8 Minutes in the Morning: A Simple Way to Shed up to 2 Pounds a Week Guaranteed by Jorge Cruise and Anthony Robbins
• The 3-Hour Diet: Lose up to 10 Pounds in Just 2 Weeks by Eating Every 3 Hours! by Jorge Cruise
• The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life by David Zinczenko and Ted Spiker
• Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink
• The Cardio-Free Diet by Jim Karas
• You: On A Diet: The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management by Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen
• The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories by Barbara J. Rolls

What about you? What is your favorite Diet or Fitness Book?

Categories : Diet Tags : books, Diet, fitness, weight loss

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Chinese Diet gives us 10 tips to help with our Western Diet

A great article in The Independent titled:

Use your noodle: The real Chinese diet is so healthy it could solve the West’s obesity crisis - Healthy Living, Health & Wellbeing - The Independent.

I encourage you to read the article.  It provides a great list of Diet tips.  Some I agree with some I don’t, but still great food for thought.  I file this in the category of everyone is different, and each person needs to find the diet that works for them.  Here are the tips with my summary and comments.

1. Stop Counting Calories:  The secret of the Chinese people is avoiding the empty calories of nutrient-free (sugary) foods. I think being in a western diet, we’re bombarded with sugary food.  So, its much more difficult for us to gauge portion sizes. I also have learned first hand that counting my calories helps me lose weight.
2. Think of vegetables as dishes:  This goes well with our thought that Eat Plants and Protein.
3. Fill up on Staple foods: If your staple foods are carb rich nutrient-free foods.  I disagree, but if they are complex carbs.  Then, well, it’s acceptable.
4. Eat until you are full: Forget the eating to finish the plate or eating for social reasons. you eat when you are hungry, and you stop when you are not.  This takes a long time for us Americans to re-calibrate our stomachs, but over time, you will learn to listen to your stomach after you force it for 45 days or longer.
5. Take Liquid Food: We’re not talking Starbucks.  We’re talking watery nutrient-rich soups.
6. Bring yin and yang into your kitchen: Balance wet and moist foods (yin) with dry and crisp foods (yang).  In other words, a well balanced diet of Vegetables, with Protein, and Complex Carbs.
7. Raw power?  Not necessarily: People overcook too many vegetables.  All you have to do is slightly steam broccoli or carrots.  Or just sautee them briefly to warm them.  This makes it easier for us to digest.  At the same time, RAW foods have more nutrients.
8. Use Food to keep fit: Different foods help keep the body in balance and help the body fight different bugs.  I’ve always said that pizza helps sore muscles, and ice cream helps with headaches, but I think that’s just wishful thinking.  Remember, food is nourishment for every organ of the body.
9. Drink Green Tea: Drink any tea, but green is the best.
10. Practice Restorative exercise: Think Yoga, Think Tai Chi, Think Kung Fu, Think Balanced Aerobic Exercise with Rhythmic breathing.  While I agree, I also think High Intensity, 5 second methodical interval strength training can provide some of the same rhythmic benefits.

What a great list.  Every Culture has positive benefits.  Yes, certain diets are healthier than others, but there are food fundamentals that everyone can use regardless of diet.

Take a look at the book:

Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories

Weight Loss - Back to the Basics

I recently read a ChangeThis manifesto, The New Time Management: Simply Focus on the Fundamentals, and Toss Away the Tips, By Francis Wade.

Francis describes 7 fundamentals he believes are critical for any professional to master Time Management. He makes the comparison to athletes who have to refocus on the fundamentals. For example:

• Tiger Woods going to practice and making 1000’s of putts a day.
• Or a Professional basketball player, such as Michael Jordan, taking 1000’s of free throws or jump shots a day.
• Or Maria Sharapova, a tennis player who takes thousands of tennis swings a day.

All of these all stars, or professional athletes, practice fundamentals deliberately every day.

Can we stop there? As a hobby trombonist taking lessons with Professional Trombone Performers, They all stress fundamental practices such as learning scales, breathing exercises, note flexibility studies, and so on and so forth.

Image: 'THE TENNIS SESSIONS' www.flickr.com/photos/42369167@N00/711672576

Let’s rephrase Francis Wade’s Title:

Weight Loss Manifesto: The New Weight Loss System: Simply Focus on the Fundamentals and Throw Away the Tips.

Every day, we hear tips in the form of fad diets. Flat Belly MUFA Diet, South Beach Diet, Atkins Protein Diet, Mediterranean Diet, French Diet, Don’t Eat Anything Diet, See Food Diet, Peanut Butter and Jelly Diet, I could go on and on. As my brother says, in You don’t diet? you have a diet - now make it a good one.

What’s the deal? What should I do with all these fad diets? Francis Wade Suggest when it comes to Time Management Systems:

…The result is that the users of different systems are either raving fans, or failed adopters.
The fans are the lucky ones whose habits easily fit into the new system they are learning. The failures are those who get fired up for a few days, and after a week are forced to go back to their old habits.

My observation is that the vast majority of professionals take a bit from here and a bit from there to craft their own unique set of habits. Unfortunately, they do so without understanding the fundamentals, and the results in some cases are disastrous.

Their system of habits doesn’t work, but they don’t know why. It allows stress, missed appointments and forgotten commitments to occur too frequently, but they don’t know where to start to fix their systems.
…
Luckily for them, the 7 fundamental practices are perfect for the job or fixing, upgrading or adapting personal time management systems.

When a professional athlete’s game deteriorates, which happens to all of them at some point in time, they go back to the fundamentals. So must a working professional.

I would add so must an everyday healthy person. Everyday, we must be cognizant of our diet and exercise choices and focus on the fundamentals.

Often times, people start a new diet, see results at first, but then fall off the wagon. Why? Because that system doesn’t fit YOU. Everyone is different. Just as a professional must pick and choose what items fit in their own time management habits, we as healthy eaters must pick and choose habits that fit our own bodies and minds.

Okay, we understand.  Focus on the Fundamentals: What are the fundamentals of a becoming physically fit the abridged version?

Monitor your Biometrics at regular intervals

Possible examples:

• weigh yourself everyday,
• measure your waist line every week
• Record your BMI every month
• take a picture of yourself every month

Exercise, and be mindful about the exercise

Find an exercise you like and do it effortlessly.

• Some people are Artists, I say then paint building sized murals that require dexterity.
• Some people are outdoors people, I say hike in the forest, or garden.
• Some people are shoppers, then I say go to the biggest mall you can find and walk and walk, and walk as much as you can as often as you can.
• Do it everyday.

Eat Standard Portions

Healthy Eating has its own set of Fundamentals which we’ll talk about sometime in the future. Generally, I’d say:

• Eat Protein and MUFA at every meal
• Eat Plants as much as possible.
• Learn what the correct portion is, and stick to it!

Retrain your Emotional and Social Eating

How do we do this?

• Keep a Food Diary.  By keeping a food diary and writing down what you eat before you eat it, You’ll be mindful of what you are doing.  This will you stop binges.
• Making your Weight Management Public and Social.  By sharing your goals with your friends, you are putting peer pressure on yourself.  It’s amazing how many people will not want to let someone else down, but they’ll let themselves down all the time.  In other words, if you tell your friend you are not going to eat ice cream today.  You don’t want to let that friend down.  If you tell yourself and only yourself, you are more likely to break that self promise since it is not out in the public.
• Become a Positive person.

Some diets say exercise 8 minutes a day. Some diets say eat 60% protein, 30% fat, 10% carbs. Some Diets say eat fish and oil.  Some diets suggest walking 10,00 steps a day. Whatever it is, Focus on the Fundamentals.

Since Weight Loss is personal and everyone is different,  What are your fundamentals?

8 tips to make a food diary work for weight loss rather than just plain more work.

I was looking around the internet today at people’s reactions to the recent food diary news.  Umm asked a great question about food logs:

Do you have any tips for making the journal work instead of having it just create more work?

I responded on her blog, but I thought it might be helpful for everyone to hear.

8 tips for a more effective food journal

1. Decide on what tool to use for your diary.  My suggestion is to use an online tool to make it simple for you to journal your food.
   (shameless plug, I recommend our Simple Weight Loss Tools )
   Using an online tool takes some of the hassle out of calorie counting and nutrient searching.  As Umm asks, it makes a food diary work for you rather than just more work.
2. After you decide on your tool, Build the habit of journaling.  I definitely agree with you.  Have a piece of paper and pen, and write down before you eat, what you are going to eat.  If you can, enter it into an online system to get a feel the quantity of calories.
3. After you build the habit of logging your daily intake of food, start to move into more advanced habits.  For example, I like to use a scale to measure my food. Why? I realized that my two tablespoons of peanut butter on my PB&J is actually more like four tablespoons.  So, by being more precise with my journal, I was able to learn that I’m actually eating more than I thought which of course was the cause of my stagnant weight loss.
4. Try to write emotions or thoughts down when you eat.  It will help you assess your emotional eating habits.
5. After you have a month or two of historical data, start to look at reports. Identify if you have been losing or gaining weight.  See if you can correlate your trends with your eating habits.  Then, start to make conscious small changes regarding your eating habits.  For example, if you normally have 1 glass of OJ every day, maybe you cut it to 1/2 a glass of OJ every day.  If you normally eat out for lunch 2 or 3 times a week, maybe you create a rule for yourself that says no fries.
6. Again after you have the first habits started: Concentrate on Calories.  it doesn’t matter if you want to follow the atkins diet, the low-fat diet, the Mediterranean diet, the PBJ diet, whatever.  Calories is the first thing one should start to worry about.  Although, some people say you’ll be more satiated with Protein or Fat rather than simple sugars, it really does not matter physically.  Food In - Food Out = Weight Loss or Weight Gain.
7. After you have been concentrating on calories and feel you have a good handle on it, then start to watch and manipulate your macro-nutrient combination.  In other words, your Fat to Protein to Carb Ratio.  Every person is different, you need to experiment with your diet to find your best weight loss ratio of Fat to Protein to Carbs.
8. Finally, after you have all of the above under control, then you can delve into specific nutrients, vitamins, and mineral combinations.  Are you getting too much sodium, not enough Vitamin D.  etc.

You might ask Why do I go through this slow pattern of process?

here’s an example:  if you were to go to a financial planner and ask that person to help you get out of debt and become rich.  The First thing a good financial planner wants to know is how are you spending your money now.  So, they ask you to track every penny spent.  They don’t ask you to pick an investment strategy of derivatives, stocks, bonds, shorts, options, reits, commodities, etc.  You have to walk before you can run.    So, with food journaling, most people give up after they start step one instead taking it slow and working their way up the food log ladder.

It is a long slow process to lose fat.  Think about it,  It probably took you 5, 10 , 15, 30 years to build up all that excess fat and weight.  Do you really think you can lose it all in 3 months?

So, what do you do to achieve long-term life-sustaining healthy weight loss?

Follow the best practices: There have been numerous studies that state:
Weigh yourself every day, Track what you eat, Get some Exercise, and Make your weight management goals public and social.  By following these axioms, you’ll see positive long-term results.

I encourage you to try out simpleweight to help make your food journal easier and simple.

What about you?  Do you have any suggestions for making your food diary work for your weight loss rather than just plain more work?

Lose Weight and Mosquito Bites

Mosquitoes Attracted to Obese

Big is definitely beautiful in the eyes of a mosquito. Research shows that obese people or even those who are overweight may be more likely to attract mosquitoes and, therefore, be subjected to more mosquito bites than those who are not obese. This does not bode well for people in the waterlogged Midwest or other areas of the US hit by recent flooding, where mosquitoes are out in greater numbers than usual.

According to Jerry Butler, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Florida, one in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes. Although genetics and the odors people exude play large roles in attracting mosquitoes, recent findings suggest that being overweight may make you more attractive to mosquitos for several reasons. In a June 2007 WebMD article, entomologist John Edman, PhD, and spokesman for the Entomological Society of America, explained that mosquitoes target people who produce excess amounts of uric acid. According to Mayo Clinic hematologists, one of causes of high uric acid levels in the blood is obesity.

Furthermore, Edman explains that mosquitoes can smell their targets from more than 150 feet away, a skill that can be troublesome for people who emit large quantities of carbon dioxide.

“Even over long distances, carbon dioxide is attractive to mosquitoes,” says Joe Conlon, PhD, technical advisor to the American Mosquito Control Association.

Research shows that larger people give off more carbon dioxide than smaller people. So, when given a choice, mosquitos will choose an adult to bite over a child or an obese person over a nonobese person. Pregnant women are also at increased risk, as they produce a greater-than-normal amount of exhaled carbon dioxide.

In addition to being overweight, Mayo Clinic lists additional factors that may attract mosquitoes, including:

• Movement
• Heat
• Having type O blood
• Being a Man

Want to lose some weight this summer and fend off mosquitoes in the process?

Check out these simple summer weight-loss strategies.

Visit WebMD for more suggestions on how to avoid mosquito bites.

Dear Food Diary: Please Help Me Lose Weight

Using a food diary to track what you eat may be the secret to weight loss. New research published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, shows that keeping a food diary can double a person’s weight loss.

“The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost,” said lead author Jack Hollis Ph.D., a researcher at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland, OR. “Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records.”

In addition to keeping food diaries and turning them in at weekly support group meetings, the 1,700 participants were asked to follow a heart-healthy DASH (a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low-fat or non-fat dairy, attend weekly group sessions, and exercise at moderate intensity levels for at least 30 minutes a day. After six months, the average weight loss was approximately 13 pounds and more than two-thirds of the participants (69 percent) lost at least nine pounds.

Researchers note that keeping a food journal does not have to be formal or time-intensive. It can be as simple as using a pen and paper to write down what you’ve eaten for the day, or typing your meals into an online food journaling program.

“It’s the process of reflecting on what you eat that helps us become aware of our habits, and hopefully change our behavior,” says Keith Bachman, MD, a Weight Management Initiative member. He adds that food journaling in conjunction with a weight management program is the ideal combination of tools and support.

The SimpleWeight Food Diary

Many weight management Web sites can help you start a food journal, but select sites, such as SimpleWeight.com, offer more advanced options to help with weight loss.

“Writing down what you eat makes you accountable for the calories you are consuming,” said SimpleWeight.com co-creator Scott Stawarz. “Seeing what we eat day after day, and sharing that information with others influences us to make better decisions about what we eat.”

Stawarz adds that SimpleWeight.com offers a comprehensive approach to food journaling and weight management. This comprehensive approach, known as The SimpleWeight Solution, provides:

• A Food Journaling Program to track what you eat and drink on a daily basis
• A Food Database that breaks down the calories, fat, and nutrients in foods and beverages, allowing you to see your total intake of calories, etc. for the day
• An Exercise Database that estimates how many calories you’ve burned based on your weight and length of activity
• A Weight Tracking System that allows you to input your weight each day and monitors your weight loss/gain trend over time
• A Social Network to share your weight-loss triumphs and challenges with others

Make weight loss simple – Join Simpleweight to start your own food diary today!

5 Summer Weight Loss Strategies

Summer is the easiest time of year to lose weight, especially for those of us who endure long, cold winters. With summer’s abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, not to mention, warmer weather, there’s no excuse for us not to be eating healthy and exercising. Adopting these simple weight-loss strategies into your summer plans may leave you more than a few pounds lighter come October.

Here are 5 Summer Weight-Loss Strategies to try this summer:

1) Get moving - self explanatory, but for those of you who see exercise as a big scary monster and run screaming when faced with it, think of exercise as a time to reenergize yourself. Exercise does not have to result in a pool of sweat (you know who you are). It can be as simple as a brisk walk with your spouse, playing tag with your kids, or biking to/from work a few times a week. Anything that gets you moving for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day is worthwhile.

2) Eat au natural - I’m not suggesting you eat naked, although some people may like to try this, but rather try to eat foods with the fewest ingredients and limit the amount of processed foods you eat. Processed foods can pack on the pounds, because they tend to offer less fiber and won’t fill you up as much as natural foods. One rule is to eat food with ingredients you actually know and can pronounce.

3) MUFA Me, MUFA You – Monounsaturated fat, or MUFA, is known as the “healthy” fat. MUFA keeps you feeling fuller for longer and studies show that MUFA may also help us stave off chronic diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and depression. There are five main MUFA food groups:

* Oils that include canola, flaxseed, and olive oil
* Nuts and seeds that include walnuts, macadamia nuts, and sunflower seeds
* Avocados
* Olives, particularly the green variety
* Dark chocolate

Check out these great ideas to add a little MUFA to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Also, make it a habit to eat MUFA snacks whenever possible. Keep in mind, MUFA is still high in calories, but a little goes a long way.

4) Divide and Conquer - Think of your plate as a clock - fill the space between 12 and 6 with fresh or steamed veggies; the space between 6 and 9 with whole grains and 9 and 12 with protein/fish. Throw in a little low-fat dairy and you’ll be good to go. By adopting this strategy, it should be easy to eat meals that are low-calorie, high nutrient foods, and to keep portions in control – just make sure you are using normal size plates!

5) Limit simple sugars – Simple sugars or simple carbohydrates refer to foods made with refined sugars or table sugar. Most foods made with simple sugars are essentially “empty calories”, providing very few vitamins, minerals, or fiber but remaining high in calories. They tend to leave us feeling unsatisfied and/or less full, prompting us to eat more. Simple sugars can also lead to a spike in blood sugar levels, giving us a short boost of energy, but leaving us sluggish and energy-zapped for hours on end. Simple sugars can be seen in foods under the names of corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, and glucose, among others. Foods high in simple sugars include sweets like cookies, cakes, and candy. Simple sugars also are found naturally in fruit and milk, but, unlike other simple sugar foods, these provide essential nutrients.

Have another great summer weight loss tip? Let’s hear it….