The best way to eat your veggies...

We've heard it since we were kids. You have to eat your vegetables. Why? Vegetables are loaded with nutrients and vitamins that you can't even find fruit! But often people like to broil, boil, fry, stew, steam, roast and grill vegetables. This may improve their flavor but it often decreases their vitamin and mineral content.

Vitamins are very sensitive to the stress of heat. It doesn't take much heat for the vitamin levels in, say broccoli, to drop by as much as 50% when they are steamed. Think about how crunchy most vegetables are when they are raw. Then think about how soft and squishy they are when they are cooked. Also, look at how much color may be lost when they are overcooked. Vegetables can look pale and dingy when over cooked. Not only do they look non-appetizing, but they've also had much of the vitamins cooked right out of them.

The best way to eat vegetables is to have them raw. Think about when you have a salad. Raw lettuce or spinach, some carrots, onion, tomato, broccoli, raddish, cucumber and celery. These foods are BURSTING with vitamins and minerals and wth a little consistency, will drastically improve your health in a hurry!

If you really aren't too keen on eating vegetables as a snack, you can also sneak them into a smoothie by combining them with a food that has a very strong flavor. For example, you can add kale, spinach or carrots to a smoothie that has peanut butter, banana and a little chocolate and get all of the vitamins that way. Talk about mixing business with pleasure!!

In summary, vegetables will be better than the alternative no matter which way you have them (aside from deep fried) but eating them raw is the best way to make sure you get the full benefit from eating them. Your body will thank you!

Ins and Outs

Understanding what to eat and when to eat it is a very complex thing. But here is a basic premise to run with: eat enough of the RIGHT stuff to fuel exercise and support muscle. But don't eat so much that you are feeding your fat stores.

How you do this is basically by limiting your intake of carbohydrates in the form of grains/breads/pasta to the days and times near your workouts. So on days that you do not workout, there should only be 1 meal that contains grains. On these days your carbohydrates should come from fruits and vegetables.

You see most grain products are very easy to eat: pasta, bread, chips, not to mention all the sweet stuff like cakes and cookies. By minimizing or eliminating grains you can really, REALLY cut back on your calories.
But here is the catch:
YOU MUST EAT A LOT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES to replace some of the calories you are taking out of your diet. Remember that fruits and veggies are usually lower in calories than most grain products.

So here is the quick and simple point of this post: Eat 4 pieces of fruit per day, and 4 servings of vegetables per day. At this rate you will be getting 8 servings of fruit and vegetables AND by eating so much fruit and vegetables, you won't have the stomach room or the time to eat most of the foods that are higher in calories.

PS/ Don't forget to calculate your caloric intake at www.caloriecount.com. Sign up, start a free account and start tracking your food intake!!

Secret fat loss foods

There are certain types of vegetables that have hormone altering properties. When I say hormone, I don't necessarily mean they increase hormone or testosterone levels. Instead they have an effect on other chemical messengers that tell your body to store energy or release energy.

These vegetables are called cruciferous veggies. Examples of these are broccoli, sprouts, spinach, kale, cauliflower, and bok choy are a few examples. However, eating these foods on a regular basis can be A) inconvenient to prepare and B) not always tasty.

However, there are ways to get the weight loss (and cancer fighting) properties of these foods without actually sitting down to a plateful of sprouts. Here are a few options -

1. Include them in fruit smoothies. Cruciferous veggies do not have a very dominant flavor when raw. As a  result, the awful taste of brussel sprouts can be masked by a few strawberries, banana and some chocolate chips. This would be an amazing smoothie!! My wife and I do this with our daughter and it is amazing how much she loves her strawberry, blueberry and spinach smoothies. She calls it her "Special Juice."
2. Chop them up and mix them with tuna salad. I did this yesterday. I chopped broccoli and carrots and mixed them up with mayo and tuna and it was delicious!! 
3. Juicing. Juicing doesn't quite have the same effect as putting them into smoothies because you leave so much behind with juicing. But if you really must, juicing would be an option.

The final option is to simply find creative ways to prepare these foods. If you've never made Kale Chips, they are delicious. Tiffany made some and the were surprisingly good. Simply place the kale on a baking sheet, spray with some olive oil, season a touch and bake.  They are pretty good and kale is a terrific source of anti-cancer compounds as well as fat-loss inducing properties.

In addition to these foods, most fruits and veggies are beneficial for weight loss. The recommended daily intake is 5-10 servings of fruit. If you aren't at 5, you might want to start thinking about why you aren't losing weight.

Have a great day and enjoy your new found foods!!

Fire up the engines!!

People are creatures of habit. We like routine (at least most of us do), we thrive when our daily routine is predictable. Throw that routine off and we can easily turn into a chicken with our head cut off, running around looking for what we were supposed to do.

But when it comes to nutrition, there needs to be a balance between variety and predictability. Most people like variety- when it is planned out. We need lots of different foods for optimal nutrition. Unfortunately many of us get in the same rut of no breakfast, massive "salad" at the local eatery for lunch, and then a dinner consisting of half a cow, a plate of noodles and...oh yeah, some veggies on the side that aren't touched until they are tossed into the garbage.

But there are foods that can help stimulate your metabolism to use more fat at rest. Remember, that every time you eat, your metabolism is elevated for a period of time due to the increased energy required to break down and absorb food. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Well certain foods take much longer to break down. These foods are often in their natural, unprocessed state. So foods like fruits, vegetables, beans and sprouted grains are examples of foods that take a while to break down. But foods high in protein have the highest TEF.these are the foods that will fire up your fat burning engine. This is why it is so important to eat 4-6 times per day.

So between eating frequently throughout the day and eating protein frequently we keep your energy levels high, we keep your muscles fueled with good, slow digesting carbohydrates. You muscles are able to function because of all the vitamins and minerals in you're getting in your fruits and veggies and your drinking lots of water.

See, great health isn't that tough.

1. 5-8 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. 4-6 meals per day
3. Protein with every meal (i.e. meat, jerky, beans, nuts, dairy)
4. Sprouted whole grains (Ezekiel 4:9 bread)
5. Exercise at least 3 times per week including weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise for 15-20 min/day

Follow these rules and you'll be set. You just have to plan. And plan for diversity of food!!

The worst part of the year...

Right now we are smack in the middle, and coming up to the peak, of the worst part of the year for nutrition. Chocolate, cookies, chocolate cookies, cakes, and other sugary snacks are everywhere. Because they are there we tend to eat them. And I do mean WE. The other day I polished off about 10 Hershey's kisses in about 4 minutes. I really couldn't stop. But I digress.

With so many treats around it truly becomes a test of will power and your desire to see change. But we can't just say "oh, its only for the holiday's." Why?

Because if we always took that approach, we would find a reason. If that approach was taken at the beginning of the year our reasoning would be "well I have the rest of the year to change my eating habits." Do you see how things can really snowball?

So what can you do this season? Here are 4 things to do to make sure you don't leave the Christmas party feeling bloated and guilty.

1. Drink lots...of water before going to the party. Although the food will be tempting, but a full stomach will help to deter you from eating all the sugary snacks.
2. Pillage the vegetable tray. Sure you can have a little bit of dip, just don't go overboard.
3. Survey the dessert section before putting anything on your plate, then pick one thing that you think you just HAVE to try. If you work down the "buffet" putting everything on your plate that looks good, at the end you'll have a mountain of sweets that will fill you up and you'll end up going home bloated and depressed!
4. Set an alarm on your phone that will go off in the middle of the party and have it read "YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!" This will be your gentle reminder from yourself and ME.

So take these 4 tips with you and arm your self with these tactics to prevent poor eating and remorse the next day!!

NOTE: In January we will be having a nutrition seminar presented by Diane Campbell, RD. So for all of you who keep saying, "I want to make an appointment with Diane" but keep putting it off, this is the time to really GAIN A TON of knowledge about your eating habits and how to make 2010 the year your goals are met!!

It will be either January 9th or January 23rd. You will get emails letting you know exactly when. I know I will be there! I hope you can make it to.

Snack Time

So last week we talked about the need to eat more frequently. Remember the car analogy, too much fuel will slow you down, too little will not get you where you need to go.

Today let's talk about scheduling between 5-6 meals per day.

Here is the key. If you remember nothing else, remember this: Plan ahead.

You have to know that nothing you buy on a whim at the gas station is going to be that healthy for you. Plus you don't want to leave your health to the choices they offer. Instead plan ahead.

Make a list of 5 snack time meals that you enjoy. These can be Peanut butter and apples, celery and low fat cream cheese, dried fruit and almonds, cottage cheese and pineapple, yogurt yogurt and granola, or veggies and hummus.

At this point, I usually hear a cumulative, "yeah but..." followed by "I don't have time in the morning to get that ready for my day."

And I will respond with, "Me neither." But you probably have time the night before, on the weekend or at some point during your week. So here are the steps to planning for your eating.

Step 1: Take that time and write down 5 snacks that include fruits or veggies and a protein (dairy, nuts, beans).

Step 2: Take that list and go shopping.

Step 3: Do all your chopping and separating of foods on the weekend or in that spare time. Chop your apples and put PB in a small travel container (I like glass because food can sometimes leach from the plastic, thus you end up eating cancer causing plastic).

Step 4: Don't forget your snacks on the way out in the morning before work!!

And there you have it. Heck if you'd like, take all of your snacks on Monday morning and keep them in the fridge at work!!

Follow these 4 steps and watch how your body responds.