Load up on greens to lose weight

Excerpts from an article by Karen Collins, R.D. for MSNBC.

You arrive at a restaurant, ravenously hungry, you first eat a good-sized salad. When the main course arrives, all you can do is nibble and pick at it. If this has happened to you, you’ve stumbled across a good weight management strategy.

Studies by Pennsylvania State University have shown that women who eat large (3 cups), low-calorie salads before being served the rest of their lunch ended up eating 100 less total calories.

It's a weight losing strategy to lose more than 10 pounds a year:

• Salads must be large (3 cups). Salads half that size (typical size for most Americans) were shown to reduce the calorie count by only half as much. The salads included lettuce, grated carrots, tomato, celery and cucumber with limited amounts of reduced-fat dressing.
• Keep it low fat. When salads slightly higher in fat and calories were served in the Penn State study, overall calorie consumption at the meal stayed the same. But large portions of higher-calorie salads with cheese and regular dressings actually increased overall calorie consumption at meals by 17%.
• Wait a bit before eating the rest of the meal. In the Penn State study, the remaining food was served 20 minutes after the salad. That's gives your body enough time to recognize how much you've already eaten. If you eat quickly, you might still eat the same amount after a large salad. Your body needs the time to sense how full it is.
• Admit it, if you're a clean plater. Don't serve yourself (so you won't eat) regular portions of the dishes following the salad. To reduce the total number of calories you eat at a meal, you need to eat smaller portions of the remaining dishes. Let your hunger should be satisfied with smaller portions.
• Along with your low-calorie foods, include protein, whether it is meat, poultry, fish, dairy or vegetarian. Otherwise, within a few hours, you’ll be ready to eat again, and your calorie savings may be wiped out.

While weight loss alone can lessen your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and a host of other ailments, all the extra fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins and nutrients you are getting in the process will do double-duty in terms of protecting you from disease. Filling up on fruits and vegetables lets you cut calories without feeling hungry, while increasing anti-aging antioxidant activity in your blood.

The success to a salad strategy for weight control depends upon proper food portions. By filling up primarily on low-calorie foods, like salads, vegetables or light soups, you can cut back on high-calorie, high-fat foods like meats and desserts.

By switching to a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, you're eating for weight control and better health says the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Where are you on the health-and-wellness consumer scale?

Today’s health-and-wellness consumers can't be defined by demographics; all incomes, genders, educational backgrounds and ethnicities are represented according to a new study released by the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Global Market Development Center’s (GMDC) Educational Foundation.

Three key segments of health-and-wellness consumers emerge: Core (13 percent), Mid-level (62 percent) and Periphery (25 percent). Almost the entire U.S. population fits into one of these segments.

• Core consumers are most lifestyle-involved in health and wellness, and serve as trendsetters for other consumers. It’s a major life focus for them.
• Mid-level consumers are moderately involved in the lifestyle, and tend to follow some of the trends set by the Core group and purchase large amounts of both conventional and health-and-wellness-specific products.
• Periphery consumers are the ‘entry-level’ health-and-wellness consumers, and are more reactive than proactive when it comes to health and wellness.

There’s a constant evolution toward the Core group over time, driven by triggers such as life stages and illness.

Within health-and-wellness product categories, the study found that there is a “Predictable Product Adoption Path,” showing the order by which consumers typically introduce product categories into their wellness regimens as they evolve from Periphery toward the Core.

For example, new parents may buy organic baby food and then try some organic foods themselves, followed by organic and natural products in other categories such as personal care.

Tops idea for down'sizing'

Two finds for your consideration.

This is a fabulous find for a down'sizing' gal. A wrap knit top that goes over a favorite tee. Super for downplay the tummy area which for most of us is great. I have something just like this in purple stripes with a purple tee underneath. Wrapping makes the top fit just right, regardless of a smaller size.

The second find updates the empire waist look. There are so many empire waist tops out there, it's time for an update. As you well know, empire waists are great at hiding that area between chest and hips. But a loose cropped sweater to top it adds interest while it forgives a little larger size than needed in the empire blouse. Make that great empire blouse last longer.

Beware of holiday dips and doubling dips

Based on information taken from a 12/8/09 Miami Herald article by Jodi Mailander.

The holiday season has begun and you can assume every party will have its fair share of dips and chips. If you're like me, every time you submerge a chip into a dip you think about the 1993 Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza is confronted after dipping twice with the same chip.
The scene introduced us to the social taboo of ``double-dipping."

Health-conscious fun-lovers should be wary -- and not just of gaining weight from all those extra calories -- of double-dipping. Turns out that science backs the popular fear that party goers are sharing more than good cheer when they go back to the communal bowl of dip for seconds with the same chip.

A Clemson University study found that three to six double dips in one bowl transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eaters' mouths to the remaining dip. So double dipping could make you ill.

As a party-goer, dip in the thick. In general, thicker sauces -- cheese dip, chocolate syrup, hummus -- may be safer. They have less bacteria and the number of bacteria in them gets smaller over time, the Clemson study found. Salsa picked up the most bacteria, probably because it was runny, making it easier for bacteria to slip off the chip back into the bowl.

As a party-giver, serve small, one-dip chips or only munch with people you really like.

Double-dipping is like kissing everybody at the party.

Exer-gaming not replacing playing sports

Excerpts from a 12/08/09 Detroit Free Press article by Krista Jahnke

Wii Fit has a growing set of followers who bypass traditional workout methods and use interactive exer-gaming to get in shape.

It started 3 years ago with Dance Dance Revolution. Now there's Wii Fit, The Biggest Loser and more. Wii Fit has sold more than 21 million units since its launch in 2007. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) named technology-based fitness one the top trends of 2009.

The games help make fitness fun and get people who are not exercising to start. But do the games a worthwhile workout?

An Ace study conducted with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, showed less than six-pack-producing results.

``Doing the real thing is always better in terms of return on that investment,'' said Dr. Cedric Bryant, the ACE chief of science. ``You can't perfectly simulate the activity that the game mimics.''

These studies found that Dance Dance Revolution offers the best video game workout; Wii Sports was second-best. They called the popular Wii Fit the most ineffective.

"Of course, much depends on how much the user puts into it," Bryant said. And he points out, something is better than nothing. ``What you can do is look at it as part of an overall workout program,'' he said. ``For a person who traditionally works out pretty hard already, the Wii could be a great exercise for a recovery day.''

Michaels, the celebrated trainer from The Biggest Loser, said getting into the exer-gaming arena was rewarding because she once was an overweight gamer herself. Her new game line, Fitness Ultimatum 2010, allows users to customize their workout and get simulated one-on-one training from Michaels. On the Wii version, which uses a balance board, it can track how closely users mimic Michaels' movements. ``The game offers immediate and accurate feedback following each rep completed, so the player can correct their movements, thus attaining a successful workout,'' Michaels wrote in an e-mail.

Exercising at home has meant following repetitive DVDs or bulky exercise equipment. Technology based exercising (Wii Fit and others) or exer-gaming gives the exerciser a lot of options to vary their work-out at convenient times and place. It shouldn't be your only source of exercise, however. Most fitness experts suggest using it on 'recovery' days from your normal fitness routine.

Smart Choices Program

The Smart Choices Program is a new front-of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers can voluntarily adopt to promote informed food choices.

A Smart Choices label can be put on food if it meets nutritional criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The qualifying criteria works to:
- limit total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sugars and sodium
- encourage nutrients such as calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium and vitamins A,C, and E
- encourage food groups such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat or fat-free milk products.

The program covers food and beverages in 19 distinct product categories, including meats, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and snacks.

'Just eat it,' says Michelle Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama says it best. When it comes to veggies, the First Lady told kids at a White House health fair to not complain about eating fresh produce. "Don't whine, just eat your veggies," she told them.

I hope the kids' parents were within hearing distance. We grownups need to buckle down and "just eat" our vegetables too.

Eating lots of vegetables is crucial while losing weight. With calories not worth mentioning and packed with essential nutrients, you can eat lots and fill up easier with veggies.

A weight loss lifesaver has been grilled vegetables. At the beginning of the week, I chopped up onions, green peppers, mushrooms, squash. I throw all those veggies into a big zip-lock bag with baby carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. I add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons each of cumin and fresh rosemary and literally toss the zip-lock bag up in the air a couple of times.

These last me a week, I grab hands full to toss in a salad or to add to stir fry or to oven roast.

Oven roasting is my favorite. It takes 45 minutes but so worth it.

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Spray non-stick vegetable spray in a baking dish.
3. Toss the fresh veggie zip-lock a couple of times
4. Spread one cup (for each serving) of fresh veggies in the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Bake for 30 minutes then add one cup of broth (I use the powered king that I mix in a bowl).
6. Bake an additional 15 minutes and you've got great tasting veggies for any meal.

The beauty of this recipe is that it works with almost any vegetables. Pick and choose what you want to add.