Counting Calories: Most people assume that all calories are equal. This is the first myth.

 

 To start out on a calorie counting program is very easy. By searching the internet, you can find many calorie counting programs. But here is the hard part. YOU NEED TO EAT HEALTHY. Let’s say you are allowed to eat 1200 calories. This should be broken up in 5 small meals a day. Most people will eat only 2-3 times per day and get all the calories that way. So you will probably be more hungry and need to consume a large amount of food. Spagetti and meatballs will fill you up and go towards your calories. However, these are not nutritious foods. You need to learn how to eat the proper nutritious foods. By eating more nutritious foods, you get hungry less often.  Fruits and vegetables are very low in calories. Plan on eating fruits for your snacks. Have a large salad everyday for dinner. Add turkey, chicken, or fish to get your protein in.  Make your salads interesting. Use a lot of quality vegetables and strive for color. The more color there is in your salad, the more nutritious it will be. However, watch your salad dressing. That is where you will consume the most of your calories. Try making your own dressing.

Salad dressing #1

Mix equal parts flax seed oil, olive oil, apple cidar vinegar, and basalmic vinegar. Add spices and enjoy.

Salad dressing #2

            Lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and fresh dill

Salad dressing #3

            Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and fresh parsley

There are many combinations that you can try.

 

If you are on an exercise program, you will need to eat more calories to feed your muscles. This should consist of high protein foods. If you do not add the extra calories, you body could go into starvation mode. This will cause your body to respond and take that hard earned muscle and start breaking it down for fuel. You need to eat to lose weight and grow.

 

Limit the amount of empty calories that you consume. Soda’s, diet or regular, fruit juices, and lemonade, are all examples of drinking empty calories. Also, coffee and alcohol can be high in calories. These drinks will take away the nutritious food that you could be eating. Watch out for snacks. There are many 100 calorie snack packs on the market today. They do not have much nutritional value. They will waste away your needed calories. This is one of the reasons why calorie counting gets a bad review.

 

Calorie counting is great when you go out for dinner. Most restaurants list the calories, carbohydrates, and proteins either on the menu or on a separate card. You can also find this information on different websites. It is amazing how many calories are in a Caesar salad or chicken fajita salad. There can be over 1200 calories in that one salad. That is a whole days worth of calories in one meal. No wonder why America is overweight. It takes 3600 calories to gain a pound. Eat 3 of these “salads” a day and gain a pound. We are thinking that we are eating healthy and we are far from it.

 

Counting calories should not be an excuse to eat what you want as long as you stay in the range. You will lose weight initially, but eventually it will catch up to you. Remember watch your calories but really learn how to eat healthy and get rid of those empty calories.

 

Here are several great ways to swap out the unhealthy high calorie food for lower calorie healthy food.

·         Fresh Steamed Spinach Leaves, Zucchini or Spaghetti Squash instead of Pasta

·         Canned Crushed Tomatoes with Basil instead of the sugar-loaded Marinara Sauce found in a jar

·         Flavored Vinegars mixed with Dijon Mustard and Lemon instead of High-Fat Salad Dressings

·         Rice Cakes instead of Bread

·         Baked Tilapia instead of Salmon

·         Stevia, Cinnamon and Vanilla extract instead of Sugar

·         No sugar added Almond Milk instead of Soy or Rice Milk

·         Olive Oil spray in place of heaping tablespoons of Olive Oil dumped in pans

·         Baked Butternut Squash instead of Potatoes

·         Zero Fat, No-Sugar added Greek Yogurt in place of Sour Cream, Cheese, Heavy Cream or Buttermilk

·         All Natural Salsa instead of Guacamole

·         Gluten Free Soy Sauce or Chicken Broth instead of Olive Oil

·         Low Carb, sugar-free Protein Powder Recipes instead of High Calorie Desserts

                                                                                              (food list bulleted is from Muscles and Fitness Hers)

When choosing foods in order to successfully lower your overall caloric intake, always remember these simple stats:

• 1 gram of protein= 4 calories
• 1 gram of carbohydrates= 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat=9 calories

 

Why Do We Gain Weight and What To Do About IT? Part 1

#1 Lack of Exercise

FOR LONG TERM WEIGHT LOSS, EXERCISE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO

A reduction in food intake jump started the initial loss of body weight, however, only an increase in energy expenditure (exercise) was necessary to maintain the reduced weight, even after food consumption returned to normal. The findings suggest that a continuation of reduced food consumption is not critical to maintain a reduced body weight as long as there is a sustained increase in energy expenditure.  Endocrinology August 2002 143: 3183

 

Exercise provides two major benefits that will result in weight loss:

First, exercise increases your metabolism. This mean that as your metabolic rate increases, you will burn more calories.  Your basal metabolic rate is your energy expenditure while at rest. When this increases from exercise, you will lose weight while you sleep.

Exercise also improves your insulin receptor sensitivity. As you consume more and more sugar (glucose rich foods), your insulin receptors become overloaded. Muscle and fat require insulin to be able to absorb glucose. If you are not moving and exercising, your body automatically starts making the adjustment to the insulin receptors. There will not be enough places on the cell for the insulin to attach, so the glucose remains in your blood stream causing many health conditions. As you exercise and decrease your sugar intake, your insulin resistance will decrease and you’ll have lower insulin levels, which makes it much easier to burn fat.  This will lower the amount of glucose floating in your blood helping also with chronic health conditions.

 

Below are some guidelines to consider when starting an exercise program that will help you be more successful with your journey:

1. Listen to your body. Exercise should not be painful. There is a difference between your muscles being sore and pain from an injury. If exercise makes you feel worse from over doing it, you need to stop or modify your program. Start out slow. As your energy and health improve, you’ll likely be able to tolerate larger amounts of the aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

2. Hire a personal trainer. It is always good to get the advice of a professional. A personnel trainer can give you the right program and instructions to follow to make you more successful. They will give you an exercise program that will work for you. Everyone is different. Depending on what your goals are, weight loss, body building, getting healthy, a trainer can modify any program to make your goals be attainable.

3. Stick with it. Starting a new program is exhilarating and hard. But change is good. The body needs constant change in exercise to continue to grow. This is called muscle confusion. If you stay on a stagnant routine, not only will you get bored, but your body will also. You can hit a plateau. If this happens, change it up a bit. Change it, don’t quit. The results will amaze you..

4. Do the right amount of exercise. Typically, you should exercise at least 30 minutes of a day to experience any weight loss benefits. Large studies have shown that 60 minutes a day would be better. Ideally the exercise should be continuous, but it could be split up into two 30-minute sections.  Anaerobic exercise consists of weight training. In order to keep your metabolism higher for a longer period of time, you need to have more muscle mass. This does not mean you need to be bulky, just tone. Aerobic exercise is jogging or biking. This will increase your metabolism but only for shorter periods of time. Aerobic exercise has many heart healthy benefits. A combination of weight training and cardio are the best to keep your body healthy and lose that unwanted weight.

5. Be sure to take one day off per week.  This allows the muscles to recuperate properly. The muscle fibers break down during exercise and grow during rest. It is be beneficial to take a nice walk and do some stretching on this day. Don’t stop moving but modify it on rest day.

6. Exercise at the right intensity. The first step of exercise is to start walking. There is little risk of injury with walking. Walking will make your heart stronger, strengthen your legs and back, and give you more energy. However, don’t let walking become stagnant. Mix it up a bit. Add a jog to the next telephone pole. Then walk again. Add hills to your walk. Add more mileage. Depending on if your goal is to continue to walk or wanting to finish a 5K, keep moving and increasing the intensity. Remember muscle confusion is important to grow.

7. Try running. Once you’ve achieved a baseline, you might try jogging to get added benefits. This does not require any special equipment except a good pair of shoes.  But be careful and don’t overdo it. Running can be hard on your knees, so alternate everyday.

8. Be smart. Exercise has many great benefits if done correctly. However, injury can occur if you are not careful.

9. If you are having certain muscles that are weaker than others [i.e. quads vs. hamstrings], you may need to be adjusted by a Chiropractor. This allows proper nerve flow to the muscles so they can function properly.

We are now up on Facebook. Click on the link at the bottom of the home page to get redirected to Facebook. We will have video links, research, etc. coming soon to Facebook and the tab video on the website. Feel free to comment on this blog with any questions you might have about your health care. Dr. Scott, Dr. Amy or Dr. Jody will be answering these questions. Thank you and enjoy your healthful day.

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