Why you Can't Eat "Just One"

I heard NPR's Ira Flatow interview Dr. Kessler, former Federal Food and Drug Administrator last Friday and want to share the link with you all.  Kessler's understanding of how our brains react to sugar, fat and salt combinations gave me some great insight on why is it so hard for many of us to stay away from the foods we know are making us fat and unhealthy.  I've beaten myself up many times for eating that extra brownie or cookie, when I know I didn't really want it.  Kessler explains the science behind why we are drawn to these foods, how large corporations are capitalizing on our weaknesses and what we can do to re-teach our brains not to go back to the sundae bar again and again.

The link sends you to NPR's website, click the "listen now" button to hear the interview in it's entirety.  You won't be disappointed!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106470909

Get the Most From Your Meals

The above meal is eight ounces of broccoli and six ounces of cod.  It has 239 calories, 45 grams of protein and only 12 grams of carbs.  Now, that's almost one pound of food, so you won't have to worry about being hungry.  It's also low in fat (about 2 grams) and will most defiantly keep you full for at least two hours.  If you add lemon juice and salt for flavoring, the meal only has four ingredients.  

Many people who come into Baseline are worried about getting enough protein in their diets while trying not eat too many calories.  The trick is figuring out where the majority of your calories are coming from.  For example, if you eat lots of "junk" foods like crackers, cereal bars, chips, cookies, sauces, etc.,  you are consuming a very high amount of carbohydrates but almost no protein.  There isn't any reason you can consume over 150 grams of protein a day while still losing weight, if your calories are coming from the right sources.

The meal above has 239 calories, as I mentioned before.  What does that look like?

Foods with comparative calories:

3 Oreo cookies

1 small McDonald's french fry

2 1/2 tablespoons of butter

1 cup tomato soup

2 1/2 ounces of cream cheese

1/3 cup almonds

1 Hershey Bar

1 Grilled Snack Wrap from Wendys

1 and 1/2 Nutri-Grain Bars

1 cup frosted shredded wheat with 1/2 cup milk

1 Three Cheese and Broccoli Lean Pocket

Some of the foods above are not "bad" for you, but you can see that for the same amount of calories in the pictured meal, you will not even come close to getting the amount of protein in these comparative meals.  1/3 cup of almonds contains high amounts of heart-healthy fats, but only 11 grams of protein and 19 grams of carbs.

Something else to consider when fixing your plate for dinner is the "staying power" of the foods you are about to eat. Tomato soup may sound like a healthy option, but is it going to sustain your hunger until your next meal?  The same thing goes for the lean pocket and Wendy's Snack Wrap.

Getting the most out your meals can be easier than you think.  Load up on veggies like broccoli, asparagus, green beans and salad greens.  These foods take more work for you to digest and help keep you full longer, not to mention they have lots of antioxidants and vitamins for good health.  Lean protein in 4 to 6 ounce portions is an excellent way to consume your protein without consuming all the extra calories you'll get from ground beef, fried chicken, or any processed meats.  Chicken, white fish, tuna, salmon and buffalo meat are all very lean and offer upwards of 45 grams of protein per serving, and contain 200 calories or less.

Protein Pudding Recipe

I use this whenever I desperately need something chocolaty but can't bring myself to buy an entire chocolate bar.  I usually eat this as a snack or small meal replacement.

Protein Pudding

2 servings

You will need:

1 and 1/3 cup skim milk (107 calories, 16 carbs, 11 grams protein)

1 small box of sugar free, fat free instant chocolate pudding mix (140 calories, 32 carbs, 4 grams protein)

2 scoops Designer Whey protein powder, natural flavor (200 calories, 4 carbs, 40 grams protein)

Add pudding mix to cold milk.  Whisk for a minute, then add the two scoops of protein powder. Whisk until blended, about 2 more minutes.  Divide into two servings and chill until set ( you can usually eat this within 5 minutes, but waiting 20 minutes will yield thicker pudding)

Enjoy!

Variations:

I have tried other brands of protein powders but the natural flavored Designer Whey mixes and tastes the best.  I have also used other flavors of pudding mixes, with generally delicious results.  Sometimes I will use the "cheesecake" flavored sugar-free, fat-free instant mix and use 1/2 scoop strawberry flavored Designer Whey protein powder, along with 1 and 1/2 scoops of the natural.  Yum!

Nutrition Facts per Serving:

223.5 calories

26 grams of carbohydrates

27.5 grams of protein

Ohio ties for 10th Fattest State

Some of you may remember last year's newletter where I was happy to report that Ohio had dropped in the United State's obesity percentage ranking. Unfortunatly, this year we regressed back to tie for 10th fattest state in the nation, according to the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Tied at 28.6%, Ohio and Arkansas aren't as fat as Mississippi, the fattest state in the nation with 32.5% of it's population being obese. None of the states saw a decresease in their obesity percentages, and almost half saw an increase. Colorado stands alone as being the fittest state in the nation with between 15-20% of it's population categorized as obese.

The economy seems to be taking most of the blame for the country's increasing obesity problem. With unemployment at a record 26-year high and health care costs soaring, more and more Americans are spending less on their own health care, while at the same time seeking out cheaper foods that don't offer the same type of quality nutrition that fresh foods have.

The most upsetting part of the study was the prevalency of obesity amoung young people. 28.6% of Ohio's population is obese, but of people aged 10 to 17, 33.3% were obese. The future looks even more grim when I consider the cost of health care as these young ones get older. The Ohio Department of Health is taking a closer look at the state's youth and the quality of food being offered in schools, and there is talk of developing an Office of Healthy Schools. This new office would be involved in developing guidelines for foods that are offered at state schools.

We can't leave everything up to local and federal government! You can take small steps toward improving you health, even if you decide to improve your eating only one day a week. Invest in a pedometer to help you count your steps for the day (a great goal is 10,000 steps/day) and if you always eat out for lunch, begin by starting a "pack your lunch Tuesday" rule for yourself. Weight loss can be slow, but making changes over time will help ensure you develop new patterns and start living a healthier lifestyle.

You can read more about Ohio's plan to combat obesity at www.healthyohioprogram.org

Box Squat Demo

Scott Buxton's training client Jon Weiss demonstrates proper form while doing box squats.

Decoding Food Labels

Today I saw a commerical that was so decieving, I felt the need to blog about nutrition labels. So many foods are starting to target markets that are concerned with health and weight management, so it's no surprise that advertiser are twisting the way things are worded or presented in order to make their product appear less bad for you.

For example, the current Country Crock Buttery Spread commercial features active kids and warns that active children often don't get enough calcium. But, fortunatly for you, Country Crock now has added calcium so you can rest easy. One serving contains a whooping 100mg of calcium!

Wait a second. 100mg is only 10% of my daily calcium requirement. I can get more than twice that amount in a glass of skim milk, minus the all the fat calories. The advertisers at Country Crock are evil geniouses. They're warning viewers that their children are not in fact as healthy as they appear, but thank goodness for Country Crock Buttery Spread, because when you eat it you'll get the calcium you need. It fails to mention that this "buttery spread" is mostly fat calories. Advertising has becoming so misleading, I think manufacurers could add some protein to a Snickers bar and call it an energy bar.

Wait, that's already happened.

Seriously though, we Americans are busy with so many other things, the last thing we want to do is scrutinize every food advertisement or decode every food label at the grocery store. Here's a little cheat sheet to help you decide if what you're looking at is really good for you, or if it's junk food marketing itself as healthy.

The word REDUCED is very misleading. Reduced fat peanut butter does not mean that it is low fat. "Reduced" or "Lower" is only allowed to be used on food labels if that food contains at least 25 percent less than the given reference food. So reduced sodium pretzels may have less sodium that the regular full-salt variety, but can still contain more salt than may be good for you and your diet.

Fat-Free doesn't actually mean free of fat. The FDA guidelines say that in order for a food to be marketed at a fat-free food, it must contain less than .5 grams of fat per serving. Eating three serving of fat free yogurt may yield you up to three grams of fat!

The Sugar-Free guidelines are much the same. FDA guidelines for this label are less than .5 grams of sugar per serving. A food additive for baking may say it's "sugar-free", but given enough serving, the small stuff can add up!

Be wary of the number ZERO.  Any food will contain calories, given enough of it.  The FDA guideline for a labeling something as a"calorie-free" food is less than 5 calories per serving.

Let's look at cooking sprays, for example.  The nutrition label on the back of Pam Cooking Spray tells the reader that there are NO CALORIES in one serving.  Looking at the ingredient list, however, reveals that the first ingredient is canola oil (ingredients are listed in order of amount, from largest to smallest).  The reason that Pam can market itself as a zero calorie food  is because of their suggested serving size.  A serving of Pam is a 1/3 second spray.  I know that I can't cook my veggies without at least a one second spray, so I'm probably getting at least 4 serving each time I cook with Pam.  Spray butter is another way to tack on undercover calories to your diet, so be wary of the label's suggested serving size, and always look at the first ingredient listed.  If it's any kind of oil, make sure you are only using one serving at a time.

A good rule of thumb when looking at the ingredient list of any food, is to only purchase and consume edibles with five ingredients or less.  The more ingredients a food contains, the more likely you are consuming extra calories, extra chemicals, additives and non nutritive fillers.

Deadlift Demonstrations

Scott demonstrates and explains proper form for standing, straightleg and dumbbell deadlifts.

These are great for toning and shaping your hamstrings and butt!