More Good News for Eating Dark Chocolate

Most of us already know that eating small amounts of dark chocolate contain nutrients that help reduce the risk of heart disease, not to mention that it just tastes so darn good!

But now another study from the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology indicates it can also protect our skin from sun damage and wrinkling. Researchers say you need the least processed and the darkest chocolate for the best protection. Once again it has to do with the rich flavonoids and antioxidants that protect us, just like what we also find in our fruits and vegetables, so don't forget those! ( maybe not as tasty as chocolate but they have a lot less calories. (It's all about balance and moderation.)

Firm up in Ten Minutes?

Yes you can firm up in ten short minutes a day, a fitness trainer friend of mine says. I'm talking about weight training here. Apparently all you have to do is work a  little mini workout sometime throughout your day targeting just a few muscle groups at a time. (It would probably work best if you had a professional trainer first to show you proper form and how to combine the muscle groups.)

The idea here is intensity, not duration so you have to really work hard in those few ten minutes. So go for the biggest weights (but work up to them of course), and get to the point where you can choose a weight you can do only about six to eight times. Perform at least two sets of ten.  And do them s-l-o-w-l-y for real strength benefits.

You can also check out some videos of this nature at 10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts. There are many others  too. Check the reviews and see which ones appeal to you. Now all you have to do is get your cardio in!

(FYI, no one has won the free $25 give away for coming up with the most fun way to exercise. I know some of you must exercise so give us some good ideas and win this!)

Tired of Drinking Plain Water?

I have to say even I get tired of drinking plain water all the time so I have some alternatives.  But you still have to drink the original eight too. Nothing replaces pure water which detoxifies like this elixir.

Sparkling and flavored waters are a bit different and a nice treat now and then, but do check the calorie count and watch for artificial sweeteners (they can actually make you crave sweets more). I know "Vitamin' waters are popular, but honestly they are just hyped up drinks. They just don't have enough vitamins to do you much good and they frequently have added sugar. "Smart Water" is truly a clean water with added minerals which everyone needs more of anyway and gives it a nice fresh taste. Diet sodas....no. There is absolutely nothing good about them although in moderation its fine. There is just nothing in them that gives you any health benefit at all.

Personally I love all the flavored green teas out there, hot or cold. And no calories! There are so many great flavors and they offer nutrients that actually benefit your health, keep your sweet tooth at bay and make you feel like you are getting a treat. Green teas have a bit of a thermogenic (fat burning) effect so they actually help you burn up a few extra calories too, great for us waist watchers!

Are you Stuck in your Comfort Zone?

Some people can not lose weight because they are stuck in a comfort zone of doing things their old familiar ways.  Some just resist change which would be perfectly normal considering how challenging weight loss is. Here's a verse that sums it up well but will hopefully get you to accept change in order to succeed at losing weight.


"Comfort Zone"


I use to have a Comfort Zone
Where I knew I couldn't fail
The same four walls of busy work
Were really more like jail.

I longed so much to do the things
I'd never done before,
But I stayed inside my Comfort Zone
And paced the same old floor

I claimed to be so busy
With the things inside my zone,
But deep inside I longed for
Something special of my own.

I couldn't let my life go by,
Just watching others win.
I held my breath and stepped outside
And let the change begin.

I took a step and with new strength
I'd never felt before,
I kissed my Comfort Zone 'goodbye'
And closed and locked the door.

If you are in a Comfort Zone,
Afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were
At one time filled with doubt.

A step or two and words of praise,
Can make your dreams come true.
Greet your future with a smile,
Success is there for you!
Author Unknown

A Multi for Weight Loss

 In a small study with women in China, those who took a multi while on a normal diet actually lost about four pounds after six months. Another study found similar results. Apparently women taking the supplements felt less hungry. Weight loss has already already been linked with calcium intake, increasing weight loss by 60%.  Although, this seems to work best by women who weren't getting enough of the mineral in the first place.  

Angelo Trembly, an obesity researcher from Laval University of Quebec City suggests you need a vitamin because when the body is low on specific nutrients it turns up the appetite, making you want to eat more to get the nutrients you may be missing. We ideally want to get our nutrients from real whole fresh food as much as possible but when you are dieting you may get short chained, so it’s especially important to take a multi-vitamin then. I also suggest purchasing a high quality one from a reputable health food store, not your grocery store or pharmacy. Generic vitamins frequently contain supplements with a lot of binders, fillers, food colorings and other additives that make it harder for your body to assimilate. 

  

Can Thin People become Diabetics?

Lately we have been hearing a lot more about how sugar is dangerous to our health. Let me clarify though, it’s the excessive sugar (and processed carbs) in our day to day consumption which leads to being unhealthy. One issue of course is that too many sweets lead to being overweight. While this is certainly true, some people can get away with eating a lot of sugary items and still not be overweight. While they may appear healthy this does not mean they will remain that way forever (unless of course they just have great genes).

New research from JAMA suggests too much sugar can still cause diabetes even if a person does not have excess weight. Sugar is playing havoc with the pancreatic cells that secrete insulin. Our pancreas is not made to handle large amounts of concentrated amounts of refined sugar on an ongoing basis. Eventually the body rebels and we develop diabetes, overweight or not!

New Thoughts on Fiber

A few weeks ago I wrote some thoughts on psyllium seed husks and their benefits as a fiber supplement.  It's still a better fiber as far as a fiber supplement goes. But there’s still more to come on the topic. Ideally we should be getting our fiber from whole food sources for our digestive tract to run smoothly.

The problem is many manufacturers are adding in extra fiber to entice the public to buy their products. While this may offer some benefits, these are what we call “functional foods.”

The problem is they may not always offer you the benefits you really need. Sources of fiber are ground very fine to be put in a food, reducing some of their ability to act like real fiber found in fresh foods. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, this fiber doesn’t exactly slow digestion, lower cholesterol or even improve regularity compared to actual high fiber whole foods. Best sources of course are fruits (especially berries and anything with seeds), vegetables, and whole grain foods that you actually cook (not instant forms) and leafy greens. Most Americans are only getting about 12-15 grams of fiber when we should be getting closer to 25-30 grams a day. Some health authorities suggest colon cancer may be reduced by obtaining 35 grams of fiber daily.

Motivation for Dieting Success!

One of the biggest challenges any dieter has is keeping motivation going, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. So how do you keep it going, week after week and probably month after month?

What you don’t want to say simply  is, “I want to be healthy” or “look better.” Why? First of all, as great as these reasons are, they may be simply too vague. The second reason is that aren’t based on a driving force to succeed. You can’t really visualize them and you can't honestly feel them. Motivation has to contain those basic elements. So, when you state your motivation you need to really evoke those components or it's just word speak and nothing more..

But there is one more extremely important element missing here. It’s from Examining the Role of Mindset during Goal Pursuit," Journal of Consumer Research: December 2001. In this particular article the author states “…a person needs to constantly remind themselves of WHY they want to achieve a goal.” And what happens is dieters just don't do that often enough especially after dieting a long period of time.

The successful clients are those who somehow simply keep their focus first and foremost in their mind. I have some who write it out and revisit it daily and some who keep old “fat” or “thin” pictures in their wallets or food diaries. There are those who post their reasons or new skinny jeans in a place in their homes to remind them of their goals. Some have support partners or life coaches. Some use weight loss books and magazines. The point is you and only you are the mojo, not an outside force of motivation, you are the magic that has to find the most effective way of keeping your motivation alive and alive, no matter what it takes.

So readers, please, please, share all your wonderful ways of keeping that magic mojo of motivation going!

Raw Foods Diet

There is a small percentage of people who are on a raw food diet. I’m not saying this diet is bad here but I do want to make some comments on it. Raw food advocates suggest nuts, seeds, beans, fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, legumes and juicing for their nutritional needs. They are saying that we kill our natural digestive enzymes once something has been heated over 118 degrees, so much of what is eaten is void of nutrition. 


I have to agree that cooking destroys some nutrients and enzymes in our foods. That’s a given for anything  that is processed.  But we get do get enzymes and nutrients both from our bodies and the fresh whole foods we eat. I always suggest both uncooked and cooked for a balance. and cooking foods doesn't kill all the nutrients.

But note if you are on acid blockers, many of your vitamins and nutrients are lost.  Older people also are at risk for not digesting food well. Or if you are habitually stressed you don’t digest your food well.  Even how you chew your foods depends on how well you absorb nutrients. 

Few people have the time to do all the preparation it takes and it makes eating out rather limiting. You also have to be careful about obtaining enough calcium, protein, B12, Vitamin D and losing weight if that is a concern.There are factors that inhibit digestion for sure, but a raw food diet isn’t the entire answer either.


Readers what are your thoughts on this subject?

A Vegetable for Dessert?

Many times people yearn for that sweet dessert after a meal. But why not make it something healthier instead (especially if you are trying to lose weight)?

How about using a unique vegetable, yes a vegetable for dessert? I'm talking about rhubarb, which is actually a vegetable but when sweetened it can taste like a yummy dessert.

Recently I read in an old Prevention article that it “contains some cancer fighting polyphenols and when cooked it actually releases up to 1.5 times as many anti-oxidants than when it is cooked!” You do see that in some other cooked foods too (tomatoes and carrots for example) although usually raw foods are more beneficial in general. (I go for a balance).

Here’s a simple recipe I modified from the article:

Cut two rhubarb sticks in one inch pieces. Place in a baking dish with ¾ cup of water and stevia to taste (the original recipe suggests 2 tablespoons of sugar). Cover and bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until tender. Serve chilled with some non-fat sweetened Greek yogurt, or if you must, a small dollop of vanilla ice cream.  At least you are getting some nutrients instead of all sugar!

Do you Overeat at Dinner?

There are lots of reasons why a person overeats a dinner but recently the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that when a person consumes a healthy serving of fish at lunch, the amount consumed at dinner is 11% less. They attributed this to consuming a healthier protein intake. While this certainly could be true, as a professional nutritionist I believe it might be more than just that.

 It has to do with eating enough good quality protein to begin with and keeping the carbohydrate level on the lighter side. It’s the carbs that produce insulin and insulin drives blood sugar up and then plummets down rather quickly, if too many carbs are consumed. Protein also takes more energy (pumping up metabolism) and taking more time to digest resulting in feeling satisfied longer.

So eat fish, especially the omega-3 wild salmon for those healthy fats  but consuming lean protein (less than 3 grams of fat per ounce) in particular would probably work almost as well.  A moderate amount of carbs isn't bad. (Check out my earlier blogs for what single servings really consist of.)  And don’t forget a healthy serving or two of those veggies!

Readers what keeps you from over eating at dinner?

Exercise Made Fun

Some people just have a tough time working exercise into their daily routine so today you get a  FUN  blog/video on exercise, and  I'm also offering a free $25 gift certificate sponsored by CNS Stores, no strings attached. (Details are below the video.) They has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from  Dining Room Sets, cookware and yes, even exercise equipment. 

I could give you dozens of  ideas for exercise but the best tip for working exercise into your daily life is to make it pleasurable and fun. It works better than doing something you hate because you just won't continue to do it very long.


And you know the old saying to take the stairs instead of the elevator? Well here's an example of making that even fun! Just view it below:

For the reader who gives the best idea on how he/she makes exercise fun, CNS will give that person a free $25 giveaway from their stores, absolutely no strings attached. So readers give me your best ideas here and I'll annouce the winner next week. (Note:Winners are not allowed to announce anything on Facebook.)

Watch for the Holiday Mentality

I thought I should bring this up as we are approaching one more long holiday weekend. Many dieters get off track on weekends, vacations and special occassions because they adopt what I call a "vacation" mentality of dieting. This means they give themselves permission to eat whatever they want. This can potentially make you gain a lot of weight back and may even ruin your holiday.


What I suggest is to learn to taste something (and enjoy it) as long as it doesn't set you up for overeating. Total deprivation does not work for a lot of people. This can be a debatable issue for sure, but do what works for you. Just remember though how you want to feel stepping on the scale the day after your holiday. Will if be worth it if you gain or maintain, or how important is to to you to still lose? The choice is always yours and sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it's just not. Note too, if you have really been eating "clean" your body may rebel and you just won't feel real good eating too much rich food.

Readers what's your take on this issue?

Calcium, Good Bones and Weight Loss

Many women think just because they take any kind of calcium they are protecting their bones and maybe helping themselves loss weight more effectively. But think twice ladies!  The kinds of calcium you take (depending on your body’s ability to digest it properly ) and what you take with it is important too.

First check your label for the amount of elemental calcium a serving contains. That’s really the amount you are getting from that given supplement.  Capsules are preferred if you can find them. And don’t depend on the “Percent of Daily Values" because each person requires different amounts depending on age and gender.  You will absorb more calcium if it's calcium citrate or hydroxyappetite combined with magnesium and by taking at least 1,000 mg. of vitamin D with it (or being in the sun daily for about 15 minute daily).  Make sure your multi has vitamin K, it's as imortant as calcium and magnesioum for building bones, among 300 other functions for the body. 

Each vitamin acts like an orchestra so a good multi-mineral should always be your base.  Obtain calcium with food sources such as low-fat dairy items and leafy greens. These all contain generous amounts of calcium contributing to good bone density, health and weight loss.