Diet Supplement Blog

The trick with any diet when you have a significant amount of weight to lose is to make the diet so much a part of your life that it becomes a habit. For this reason, the kinds of diet plans that have worked best for me have been diets that involve most of the same foods I eat regularly– just less of it and in balance nutritionally. Some of these ideas were also offered on Dr. Oz’s show this past week to help a woman who needed to lose over 100 lbs.

You may substitute some things in your diet– for example,
>a few water crackers in place of a roll or piece of bread,
>a small piece of 70% or higher dark chocolate instead of that bowl of ice cream,
>a protein shake or a bowl of oatmeal sweetened with stevia for breakfast rather than a sweet roll or sugary dry cereal,
>a smaller baked potato with plain yogurt as a topping, or two green veggies rather than having any high carb veggie or grain for dinner,
>a small piece of lean meat that is broiled or baked rather than fried.

For most people these are small enough changes that after two or three weeks they will just become habit.

Write these healthy ingredients down each week on your shopping list and stick with the list. Don’t be tempted by impulse buying to get a lot of pre-packaged junk foods and snacks. They almost always contain too much fat, sugar and/or salt.

Another idea for staying the course is to eat slowly and mindfully. A psychologist friend of mine calls this “mindful eating.” Savor all the flavors. Eat without other distractions from TV or Internet. When you eat slowly and mindfully you allow time for your stomach to register the fact that it is receiving nutrition and is getting full. If you eat fast and in a distracted way, you tend to eat more because it takes 20 minutes or so for your stomach to register that it is full. To me, this is actually a much harder new habit to acquire than substituting and fixing smaller portions. It involves a real commitment to break the cycle multi-tasking in our busy lives and to pay attention to what we are putting in our mouths as a “main event” rather than just a distraction in our lives. Who knows, making the food the “main event” could just bring your family back together for meals!

Next, eat several small meals per day, not just one or two big ones. If you eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours throughout the day you keep the brain from telling you that it is deprived. Eat the right kinds of small meals and you will never feel hungry and your body will metabolize your food better. Of course, the same kinds of substitutions as given in the list above should be made, adding things like a handful of almonds, a low fat protein bar or protein shake, celery and other green veggies or a small salad with an olive oil and vinegar dressing.

The diet plans I’ve been most successful with also allow moderate amounts of fruit such as berries and apples and veggies like carrots and tomatoes, and low fat yogurt. There are good plans that disallow fruits, certain veggies and dairy because they tend to spike blood sugar. I would tend to avoid these higher sugar fruits, veggies and dairy for a two or three week reset period for my diet, but then reintroduce them thereafter in moderate levels to use as snacks. Personally, my body is less likely to feel deprived if I have a full range of the food groups available to me as long as I limit my intake of those products that can spike blood sugar.

Exercise is a critical factor in a long term diet plan. This is another one that I personally find hard to work into a habit. When I do, it invariably helps to keep my diet on track with faster and more consistent weight loss and a greater feeling of well-being. Make sure that you have checked with your doctor before starting a physical exercise plan and don’t overdo. Still, you can’t let obesity be your excuse for never getting off the couch! Even if it starts with just a few stretches done while sitting in a chair, you must get more active in order to stimulate the metabolism! As you lose weight and feel more energetic, then get out of the house and take a walk or go to the gym for a light workout at least 3 or 4 days a weeks.

It will take maybe three weeks for any of these changes to become new habits. Once they are set in place, they should all be maintainable long term because they involve only small changes in lifestyle and no sense of being deprived.

Liz Nichols

I was looking for a ratatouille recipe for a current health coaching client and couldn’t find the one I invented several years ago.  That’s ok.  I think this recipe from Good Housekeeping is probably better.  It has only 180 calories, and I think it could actually be made even more diet-friendly by eliminating the sugar, or substituting Splenda for the real stuff.

Good Housekeeping Eggplant Ratatouille:

½ cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 garlic clove, cut in half

1 medium eggplant, cut in 1 inch chunks

1 green or red pepper

3 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch slices

½ cup water

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tsp oregano leaves

2 large tomatoes, in wedges (or stewed tomato)

In 6 quart pan over medium heat cook onion and garlic in the heated olive oil. Cook until tender (10 min.) then discard the garlic.

Add eggplant, green pepper and cook 5 min., stirring frequently. Stir in zucchini, water, salt, oregano, and sugar and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 30 minutes stirring occasionally until veggies are tender.

Stir in tomato wedges (or stewed tomatoes) and heat through.

Serve hot, or cover and refrigerate and serve chilled later.

Enjoy!

Liz Nichols

What a great way to start out the New Year with a plan to lose weight!

Yes, I know, you’ve probably been there and done that before, with less than satisfactory results.

This year, let my friends at the Healthy Life Institute show you how to “Think Yourself Thin.”  Follow this link and sign up for a special teleconference set for 9 p.m. EST on January 1:

http://www.howtothinkyourselfthin.com/HLI

Liz Nichols

Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst is a marked woman.  She is up against the drug industry and many physicians who make their living by seeing that we stay sick. She’s revealed the secret in a downloadable book she’s called the world’s “Top Secret Fat Loss Secret.”

In the past 6 years she has worked largely in secret developing what may be the “cure” for obesity — and testing this first on herself, and then on a select group of volunteer patients who anxiously awaited salvation from the harmful effects of suffering “the battle of bulge.”

So valuable her SHOCKING findings and PROVEN results are, that she’s now just released her simple and easy-to-do system under the aptly titled: “Top Secret Fat Loss Secret!”

And her timing is right on target…

- Since recent studies reveal obesity has now reached epidemic  proportions, affecting the health and lives of more than 40% ofAmericans alone who are labeled   “obese!”

– Children are “fatter than ever” according to most experts,
  and Dr Suzanne’s remedy may prove a preventative in the fight
  against diabetes when these same children grow into adults!

And what may be the BIGGEST “Shock” of all is this horrifying fact:

   => Dr Suzanne has received death threats for simply making
        her secret fat loss solution available to the general public.

One federal law enforcement official (who insists on remaining nameless) said in confidence:

    ”It’s no shock to us at the [agency name withheld for security
     purposes] that this lady doc has received so many threats on
     her life as food and drug companies stand to lose potentially
     billions of dollars by the release of her new breakthrough
     secret for  losing weight.”

But now with the release of this breakthrough weight and fat loss revelation, people who previously struggled so very hard with little or any success in the fight against the “extra pounds” now have a weapon on their side.

And the Doc has a few very BIG heavy-hitters on her side!

Joined in unison by some of the biggest names in modern medicine from the likes of Johns Hopkins, Harvard Medical, and a good number of the other leading world-recognized hospitals and higher-learning institutions, Dr Suzanne moves rapidly forward in her personal “war” on ugly, unwanted fat and for the pursuit of better and eventually optimal health for all!

Additionally, you should know that nothing about her secret fat loss cure is difficult or hard to do.

What you may even find strangely surprising about her secret is the fact that it can by done by anyone effortlessly! (You’ll have to see it for yourself to understand how this is actually possible!)

So if you are someone who has been losing the fight against ugly fat and unwanted extra inches (that eventually without a doubt will shorten your life and lower the quality of it), then this is exactly what the good lady-doctor ordered!

Just grab the good doctor’s secret for yourself at: http://viralurl.com/emailfree111/FatLossSecret

Fair warning …It’s my understanding that she knocks off nearly HALF the price just for people getting over there within 24-48 hours.

Also keep this in mind…
———————————–
How many times have you seen sudden “breakthroughs” of such great controversy potentially come along and cause a woman doctor to actually get death threats for her secret ‘know-how?’ — You’re right … very, very few.

So don’t overlook this post as it may very well prove to be one of the most influential and important ones you’ve ever received…

http://viralurl.com/emailfree111/FatLossSecret

Liz Nichols

One of the threads started at WeightLossSupportGroup at Yahoo Groups today was about how we go about “denying” ourselves things we should not have when we’re on a diet.

Part of my response was motivational.  If you have a visualization board up for the way you want to look when you are at your ideal weight you may be albe to stop yourself from sneaking that midnight snack or eating that dessert.  Affirmations can work the same way. So can writing in a journal, or going through the posts at a group like WeightLossSupportGroup.  These can be extremely inspirational.

Today I watched the video on healthy life affirmations that is one of the freebies at mindmovies.com.  Make your own movie about achieving your weight and health goals. Those who believe in the law of attraction will understand that when you create the image of your dream and then spend a few minutes each day thinking about it, then you are much more likely to attract those things into your life.  Again, it becomes easier to go without something that you might otherwise crave, if you have that picture of what you want to look like implanted firmly in your mind.

Then there are less caloric substitutes that you can use to soften the denial of the high calorie foods.  I find that a handful of baby carrots along with a big glass of iced tea or water does quite well at satisfying.  Ditto with eating a cup of low fat yogurt in place of the fattening ice cream I might otherwise be tempted to eat.

So I prefer to think of the process of cutting back on fats and calories not so much as an act of denial, but rather as an affirmation that there is a higher and better goal that needs my attention. I can attract the good things in life by staying true to my goals.  It’s all positive; deny the negative!

Liz Nichols

I responded to a group member at planforabalancedlife@yahoogroups.com.  She asked:

    This is Sasha. I`m 17. I started diet 2 years ago but it seemed that I suffer lack of iron and vitamin A. If any body can help me with this problem please go ahead.
    Thanks in advance
    Sasha

My response:

Try to balance the nutrients in what you eat. Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and while you probably have cut down on red meat, this list from Medline gives you other alternatives that are high in iron:

    * Dried beans
    * Dried fruits
    * Eggs (especially egg yolks)
    * Iron-fortified cereals
    * Liver
    * Lean red meat (especially beef)
    * Oysters
    * Poultry, dark red meat
    * Salmon
    * Tuna
    * Whole grains

Also, a multi-vitimin will help with this problem.

Liz Nichols

Perusing articles at WebMD on “Women’s Health” I ran

into an article by Paige Greenfield about losing weight

without laborious calorie counting and measuring food.

(Titled “Lose Weight Without the Math!”)

Greenfield struck a chord with me because all the time

and angst involved with keeping a calorie chart handy

and writing everything down takes me out of the mood to

diet real fast every time.

Greenfield offers a simple tip: scan the labels of

products you get out to eat to get a feel for how

balanced and nutritious your meal will be, and how many

calories it will have. Mix and match from your frig

and cupboard to make sure you are eating healthy and

balanced.

Instead of measuring each bite, Greenfield suggests,

“enjoying each bite.” Amen to that. When you slow down

to enjoy your food you give your stomach and brain time

to communicate when you are full.

The most successful diet I even went on wasn’t even a

diet. It was effortless and painless. I just cut my

portions in half and spent more time chewing and

enjoying what was on the plate. Over the course of a

year I’d lost 30 pounds without even trying.

That’s my kind of diet!

Liz Nichols

If you’ve been at your diet for a couple weeks it is probably starting to get a little old, and yet you’ve only begun to see some results.  The easy pounds are off (mostly water weight probably) and now you’re at a plateau that  you just can’t seem to get off.

What to do?  Well, don’t give up!

Here are a few suggestions to kickstart your diet back into gear:

–Change up or step up your exercise program. If you’ve thus far taken the lazy route and haven’t quite gotten out there with a regular exercise program, now is the time to do it to drive your metabolism into the next level.  Start taking a 2 or 3 mile walk each day, or join a fitness club and start doing cardio workouts that burn calories and improve heart fitness.  If you’re already exercising regularly change it up a bit by changing your routine or going just a little further each day.  Challenge yourself!

–Start journaling.  If you actually write down what you are eating and chart the number of calorie intake, carbs, fat and fiber you’ll get a real picture of what is going on.  You’ll be surprised how many calories are really going in your mouth.  Armed with the truth you can make reasonable changes, like substituting lower calorie ingredients, or doing without that glass of wine or that dessert. You can find a good calorie counter at: http://www.caloriescount.org/calculator.html.

–Join a support group.  There are dozens of weight loss groups at Yahoo Groups.  Join one today. You’ll get lots of recipe and motivational tips and people to boost you up when you’re low.

–Set a series of rewards for yourself each week, or at weight loss goal intervals.  For example, at 10 pounds loss, perhaps you’ll reward yourself by going to get your nails done.  At 25 pounds a spa treatment may be in order.  When you reach your final goal treat yourself to new clothes in your new size.  Whatever is your ultimate goal, take a picture of what you’d like to get (the perfect size 8 dress from your favorite catalog, for example) and post it up where you can see it frequently.

You can do this! It just takes a little creativity and constant reenergizing to stay at it.

Liz Nichols

I was talking with one of my health and wellness mastermind group last week, George Shears, who is a psychologist and an expert on the subject of “mindful eating.”  George has done research and led group sessions in a hospital setting on this topic.

George has used the process of mindful living to help people work through many types of issues– stress management and weight control being just a couple of the problem areas that can be analyzed based on this concept.

I hope shortly to interview George on a teleconference to go into greater detail on his tips.  Keep checking this blog for details.

Thoughtful, or mindful eating is the process of taking the time to savor and enjoy what we eat.  It’s also important to examine what is in our foods and supplements so that we know exactly what is going into our bodies.

We are dominated today by the fast food mentality.  Whether we’re physically kind of mindlessly going to the local Burgie fast food joint every day or we’re making quick microwaved meals that come out of the processed food sections of the grocery store, we eat according to a fast food mentality.  Very few people look at the nutrition charts in the fast food restaurant and make intentional choices based on nutritional value and calorie intake.  Likewise, few people look at the nutrition box on the cartons of the frozen and processed foods we buy at the grocery store.

Our food is prepared fast with little thought to nutrition, and it is eaten fast while we ‘re distracted with TV or conversation with friends, or the IPod or a good book or magazine.  We never think about what we are doing whether we’re buying, preparing or eating our food.

No wonder we’re fat! No wonder something like 60% of our adult population is overweight!

George Spears points out that it takes several minutes for the brain to register what we have eaten and to signal fullness to the stomach.  If we gulp everything down fast, we’ll almost automatically eat more than we need to satisfy our need for food.  Slow down!  Enjoy and savor every flavor. Understand how each element of the food we eat fits into our nutritional balance.

If we are mindful about what we eat each day, and our goal is to lose weight, we will lose weight simply by the act of being more mindful.

Liz Nichols

http://www.dietsupplementblog.com

http://dietingwithliz.blogspot.com