Everyday Health for Everyday People
1/2/2009 (2:57:01pm)Tags: weight loss healthy choices holiday eatingComments: (0)
Healthy Choices during the Holidays
As the office kitchen at the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine begins to pile up with tasty holiday treats, we are reminded of the irresistible, not-so-healthy choices that present themselves on a more frequent basis during the holidays. While it would foolish and unrealistic of us to recommend that all holiday season food indulgences should be avoided, we offer up some strategies for avoiding unhealthy weight gains during the season:
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Holiday Candy Binges
Problem: New research from the Journal of Consumer Research found that just 1 truffle could trigger self-indulgent tendencies, which led to greater consumption of other unhealthy high-sugar, high-fat foods. Remember, foods high in sugar and fat trigger powerful pleasure responses in the brain. Researchers at Princeton found that sugar can be an addictive substance…just like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.
Solution: On the bright side, Research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that dark chocolate makes people feel fuller for longer than milk chocolate. So, when you indulge in sweets this holiday season, choosing dark chocolate is a great option…in moderation.
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Decreases in Physical Activity
Problem: The first storm of the season in New England this past weekend made for a lazy, stay-inside weekend. For those of us, who hate running on the treadmill and miss the joys of exercising outdoors, the winter weather can be a big hindrance on physical activity.
Solution: Try a new indoor exercise routine. Plyometrics, resistance training, yoga, and spinning classes can be entertaining ways to burn extra calories. Otherwise, put on your gloves, hats, snow pants, and boots and join the kids in the snow.
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Holiday Blues: Stress & Depression
Problem: Holiday stress and depression are often the result of three main trigger points. Understanding these trigger points can help you plan ahead on how to accommodate them. The three main trigger points of holiday stress or depression:
- Relationships. Relationships can cause turmoil, conflict or stress at any time. But tensions are often heightened during the holidays.
- Finances. Overspending during the holidays on gifts, travel, food and entertainment can increase stress as you try to make ends meet while ensuring that everyone on your gift list is happy.
- Physical demands. The strain of shopping, attending social gatherings and preparing holiday meals can wipe you out. Feeling exhausted increases your stress, creating a vicious cycle.
Solution: Check out Check out this link for the 12 tips for dealing with holiday stress brought to you by the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030
And if you do put on a couple pounds this holiday season, no worries! Make sure to join us in January, as Dr. George L. Blackburn, Director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine (CSNM) here at Beth Israel conducts a live chat event to answer your questions about the healthiest and most effective ways to shed your extra pounds.
Happy Holidays from all of us at the CSNM!
11/25/2008 (9:00:44pm)Tags: eating well nutrition costComments: (0)
During these tough economic times you may be looking to cut the costs in the cart. In doing so, you might be under the impression that you will have to compromise the overall health of your diet. The table below shows you how that is just not so.
While keeping food costs down will take some extra time and planning up front, you and your family can feel good about sticking to your budget without compromising your health.
Here are a few pointers:
- Search the weekly circular and plan meals around sale items.
- By only fruits and vegetables that are in season and always look for sales.
- Go to the store with a budget in mind and list for the week to avoid spontaneous purchases.
- Look at unit prices, not just tag price. Sometimes it is better to buy a larger package because you will see you will get more for your money.
- Consider canned products, such as salmon, tuna, chicken and clams and beans instead of higher priced meats from the deli or butcher area.
Healthy Day
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Less Healthy Day
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Breakfast:
- Stop and Shop Oatmeal-Maple Brown Sugar (box $1.88, 0.18cents per packet)
- Plum 1 @ 0.69 cents
- 2 hardboiled eggs ($2.49/12 eggs, 0.41 total for 2 eggs)
Total: $1.28
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Breakfast:
- Orange Juice ($3.99 for container, 8 oz = 0.56cents)
- Aunt Jemima Great Starts Breakfast (frozen) @ $2.00
Total: $2.56
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Snack:
- Almonds (1, 6 oz container @ 3.50, 1 oz serving @ 0.58centes)
- Banana 0.39 cents each
Total: 0.97 cents
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Snack:
- Frappucino Coffee 2.99
- Scone 1.99
Total: 4.98
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Lunch:
- Tuna 3 oz can (0.44/oz) $1.32
- Whole Wheat bread (2 slices, 0.22 cents)
- Mayo light 0.15 cents
- Apple sauce (0.40 cents)
- Baby carrots 0.9 cents per oz
Total: $2.18
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Lunch:
- Ham $1.20
- Grinder Roll 0.50 cents
- American cheese 0.25 cents
- Diet coke $1.50
Total: $3.45
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Dinner:
- Pre-marinated chicken breasts 1.25$ (per breast)
- Wild rice ½ cup $1.80
- Zucchini and yellow squash, steamed with lemon (0.80 cents) 1 cup
- Skim milk 8 oz (.32 cents)
Total: $4.17
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Dinner:
- Chicken Parm Sub $5.45
- Small bag of chips $1.00
- Lemonade $1.10
Total: $7.55
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| Snack: 1 pudding snack (0.64 cents per snack) |
Snack: ice cream and whipped topping (1 cup, 0.90 cents) |
| Total: $9.24 |
Total: $19.44 |
11/19/2008 (9:41:50am)Tags: public polls eating healthcareComments: (0)
Tell me please, I am a curious nurse. Now that November 4th has come and gone, I'd like to ask you a question.
How many times have you felt like you were at the Public Polls and had someone vote on your life? Someone vote on your plate?
Whether it is criticisim or compliments have you ever given too much credence to someone's opinion regarding your life?
If you have given in to the personal public polls; it is high time you become your very own Commander and Chief.
Health care is self care. My vote is with you......
Care to share your agenda as Commander and Chief for caring for your health and wellness.
Nurse Linda
11/13/2008 (11:15:34am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
40 % of Americans now say they “actively seek information about nutrition and healthy eating”.
This is a huge jump from 2000 when only 19% of Americans claimed to be interested in nutrition! According to the 2008 public opinion survey of the American Dietetic Association, “Nutrition and You: Trends 2008”, Americans are showing a greater interest in healthy eating. In addition to seeking out the help of a registered dietitian, respondents specifically targeted television, magazines and the internet as their primary resources. This highlights the fact that now is a great time for health professionals to reach out and provide credible information in unique, creative ways.
If you find yourself resorting to the internet for much of your nutrition information, here are some credible resources:
Healthy Eating Should Be Fun
Another key trend highlighted in the report was that 73% of individuals do not want to give up the foods that they like. If you fall into this category, try to remember that the focus of your healthy eating plan should not be on eliminating foods or food groups, but instead on learning how to eat less of those foods that you know contribute more calories, fat, sugar and sodium.
Eating less can be as simple as:
- Cutting out one-eight of your meals behind throughout the day.
- Dividing your plate in quarters and then divide one of those quarters again.
- Leaving some of serving behind
That doesn’t sound too hard, right? Soon, leaving a little behind will become a new habit for you.
Resource: ADA 2008 Public Opinion Survey, “Nutrition and You: Trends 2008”
11/6/2008 (11:31:39am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
The connection between bigger portions and bigger waistlines is hard to dispute. As our previous post discussed, portion sizes have ballooned over the years. The extra-large servings common in many popular eat-in and take-out restaurants have conditioned us to serve ourselves hefty helpings, even when we eat at home!
Eager for some good news about portions?
It’s really all in YOUR hands! Many of us try to determine our portions by a method we call “eyeballing:” you simply look at your food and try to determine how much you have on your plate. Eyeballing can come in handy when you do not have measuring cups or a food scale to give you an accurate measure. But it’s s widely known that this method leads to people to underestimate of their total calorie intake. The Hand-Y Portion Sizes guide, as seen in Break Through Your Set Point in the “Eat Less and Shed Pounds” chapter, is a better way to guide you towards healthier portion sizes.
Your Handy Guide to Portion Size!
- 1 thumb tip = 1 teaspoon of peanut butter, butter, or sugar
- 1 fist = 1 cup cereal, pasta, vegetables
- 1 handful = 1 oz. of nuts
- 1 finger = 1 oz. of cheese
- 1 palm = 3 oz. of meat, fish, or poultry
- 2 handfuls = 2 oz. of chips or pretzels
Another innovative strategy for taking in smaller portions is to eat off smaller plates. This method works because smaller portions appear larger than they are to your naked eye.
An interesting study that illustrates this point involved 85 nutrition experts at ice cream social illustrates this point nicely. Each person was given a small or large empty bowl and a small or large serving spoon. They were told to serve themselves and then asked to complete a brief survey while the researchers sneakily weighed the ice their ice cream. People given the larger bowls served and ate 31 percent more ice cream than those who got a smaller bowl. Even more interesting is that those who had larger scoops served themselves 14 percent more ice cream than those with smaller scoops. The survey results revealed another story however, everyone thought they had served themselves the same amount (about a cup) — and were equally satisfied with their treat.
What can we learn from this?
Using smaller plates and serving spoons can help you take in less calories, without taking away from your enjoyment.
-Kristina Day, LD, RD
Kristina has worked in the field of nutrition in a variety of capacities, which include clinical nutrition, outpatient medical nutrition therapy, bariatric nutrition therapy and now research. During the development of Break Through Your Set Point, Kristina served as a resource for the food and nutrition related content.
10/30/2008 (10:15:54am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Obama talks about change. McCain talks about change. Most folks I know are looking for spare change to fill their market baskets with healthy foods. How do you shop on a dime?
What does your cart look like as you cash out? Healthy? Unhealthy?
And, as an FYI, our very own Dr. George Blackburn in his newly published book Break Through Your Set Point-How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off offers great suggestions to keep your grocery cart healthy without breaking the bank.
Please share how you care for yourself and your family during these difficult econominc times.
Nurse Linda
10/28/2008 (11:02:13am)Tags: low-carb diet low-fat mediterranean dietComments: (0)
What’s the best diet?
If you read the headlines about the latest diet study, you might think that a low-carb diet or a Mediterranean-style diet is the way to go. According to a recent report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, people who followed a low-carbohydrate diet for two years lost an average of 10 pounds, as did those who stuck to a Mediterranean-style diet. That’s in contrast to people who ate a low-fat diet, who shed just 6 pounds, on average.
But let’s take a closer look at some of the factors at play in these results. First, the low-carb diet wasn’t quite what most Americans think of as low-carb, or an Atkins-style diet, which typically includes a lot of animal-based protein and fat, from meat, cheese, and eggs. Instead, the low-carb group emphasized vegetable-based protein and fats, and although they were told to limit their carbs to just 20 grams (about the amount in one slice of bread) for the first two months, they could then eat 120 grams a day – far more than an Atkins-based plan. The Mediterranean group focused on eating fish and chicken, rather than beef or lamb, along with a handful of nuts and five tablespoons of olive oil a day. They got about 35% of their calories from fat, compared to 30% of those in the low-fat group (which, by the way, isn’t technically considered “low” by most nutritionists).
Here’s my take on these findings:
- Calories matter. People lost weight on each of the three diet plans because they ate fewer calories. But it’s not clear many calories the people in the low-carb group were actually eating. When you cut your carbs, you drive the total calories down as well, which may have in fact dropped below the standard 1,500-1,800 calories being taken in by the other two groups.
- Be flexible, not rigid. A diet that is more rigid – that is, one that cuts or drastically reduces the amount of one particular type of food, like carbs or fat, may be more difficult to adhere to over time. At the 1-year mark, 20 patients had withdrawn from the low-carb diet intervention arm, versus 13 in the Mediterranean arm and 8 in the low-fat arm. Data from the National Weight Control Registry, as well as data from other studies focused on diet comparisons, show us that the key to success is less about finding the “best diet,” but more about finding the individual strategies that helps a person adhere to their calorie- reduced diet plan over time.
- Support is vital. All the study participants got support to stick with their diets, which was likely a key factor. The program was run through the workplace, so they received peer support, as well as advice from a registered dietitian (RD). Even spouses of the dieters got educational information about the diets. Studies show that the more support and contact a patient receives, the more successful he or she will be.
The bottom line:
Don’t fixate on following a diet that puts an emphasis on any particular type of food. Start with an overall healthy balance of fats, calories, and protein by emphasizing a meal plan that includes plenty of veggies, fruits, lean protein, and whole grains.
From that base, different groups of people may benefit from different tweaks. For example, a postmenopausal breast cancer survivor may benefit from a slightly different breakdown of calories from fat more so than a middle-aged diabetic male. If you have particular health issues, work with your doctor and a dietitian to formulate an eating style that’s best for you. Creating such a diet requires looking at more than just calories, fat, protein and carbs, but also your current food and lifestyle patterns, your current and past strategies and barriers to healthy eating/weight loss, as well as any specific diagnoses that may require additional dietary restrictions.
In their simplest form, all diets are effective because they encourage eating less, which creates an energy imbalance that drives the scale down. But you need to find one that you can stick with for the long haul.
Be mindful of what works and doesn’t work for YOU!
Dr. George Blackburn serves as the S. Daniel Abraham Associate Professor of Nutrition and Associate Director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Chief of the Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, and Director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine, which are affiliated with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of Break Through Your Set Point, Harper Collins 2008.
10/4/2008 (9:53:24am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
If your answer is a resounding YES to this question, don't worry, you're not alone. Your joined by most Americans whose get up and go has got up and gone in the twilight hours.
Here's a common scenario for me- I hope many can relate:
Nurse U.R. Wonderful awakens at 5 am. She eats a healthy breakfast.
She gets herself ready, leaves her home and heads off to work for the day.
All day long she works as a compassionate and knowledgeable patient advocate as well as an unwavering multi-tasking hippocratical handmaiden, at the Dr. I.M. Good-Looking Clinic.
She has developed strong bladder control, for she does not even stop to go to the ladies room during her hectic day. She does however; manage to set aside a few moments to eat a healthy lunch.
As her busy day winds down, all the while being mindful of her diet, she even manages a light salad before embarking on the hour plus ride home.
In the car, she becomes an activist by responding to a political talk show host via her cell phone to voice her opinion. She listens to the news, gathers the latest update on her favorite Boston sports team, and even sings a few songs before pulling in the driveway and opening her front door. It feels later than 8p.m., as Nurse U.R. Wonderful steps over the threshold into her own little Idaho. And yes, food takes on an imaginary voice beckoning her to look in the cupboards and refrigerator for something to eat.
What does Nurse wonderful do? Does she:
A. run water for a pleasant hot bath
B. go to bed
C. read while listening to soft music
D. hit the tread mill in the basement with her MP3 player
E. head straight for the computer to check unread emails from work
F. pick up the remote and pick up a snack for some pick-me-up TV time
If you answered:
A. Your everyday health habits are "conscious cleanliness"
B. Your everyday health habits are "untiring"
C. Your everyday health habits are "relaxing"
D. Your everyday health habits are "energizing"
E. Your everyday health habits are "relentless"
F. Your everyday health habits are the norm for many everyday people!
So, if you practice healthy habits all day long like Nurse Wonderful but those healthful intentions hit the fan at sun goes down, let's talk......
What do you do to stay healthy when the sun goes down and your appetite goes up?
My hope is that everyday people will care to share...
9/6/2008 (10:00:48am)Tags: everyday health well being linda trainorComments: (2)
What would you do if you were approached to work after hours on a blog and you don't even KNOW what a blog is because you're over the age of 25?
Sure, you've heard about a blog. You can even spell it.
However, you surely don't even know where to find a blog, let alone initiate a blog of your own!
Well as you can tell, I agreed to try something new, even before I knew what I was doing.
Before I get too far into this blogging, with "Everyday Health for Everyday People," I would like to thank Jamie and Jessica in the BIDMC marketing department who thought there might be some folks out there ready to blog along with me.
My inspiration for blogging comes from: Dear Abbey, The Muses and My Dog Bradley.
You will hear more about these inspirations in the upcoming year.
That's all folks for now but stay Blogged.
"Every Day Health for Every Day People"
Nurse Trainor
BIDMC Nurse who Cares to Share.
