by Kate Haisch
We continue our five part series where we talk about the five biggest conclusions of the National Weight Control Registry’s research.
5 Proven Behaviors for Long Term Weight Management:
- Follow a low-fat diet
- Record keep
- Monitor weight frequently
- Eat breakfast daily
- Exercise
Exercise
One of the most important factors in weight maintenance is exercise. 90% of the National Weight Control Registry members participate in 60-75 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week (on average). Over half of these people walk. For weight loss, we recommend doing at least 30 minutes of some kind of cardio activity 4-5 times per week (brisk walking is great!) and doing strength training for 20 minutes 2-3 times per week (to maintain muscle mass). Exercise is a very important component of weight loss and maintenance. If you can work your way up to 60 minutes per day then that is excellent. If not, just do the best you can. Plus it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Even exercising in 10-minute increments 3 or more times per day does the trick. Be realistic about how much exercise you can do in a day. Don’t make unattainable goals since you will only end up feeling bad about it. If you don’t currently exercise, start off walking 15 minutes 5 times a week and slowly work your way up. Exercise is not only a vital part of healthy weight loss and maintenance but it helps maintain bone density, enhances immunity, lowers risk of some cancers and type 2 diabetes, increases lung and circulation function, lowers incidence of anxiety and depression, enhances self-image and quality of life. So, just do it! We know you can.
References
Gorman, Kim. “Strategies to Consider in the Maintenance of Intentional Weight Loss.” Weight Management Newsletter 5.4 (2008): 1-5
National Weight Control Registry: http://www.nwcr.ws/
February 1, 2010
Manuel Villacorta’s #1 San Francisco Weight Loss Clinic MV Nutrition and DIAKADI Body Personal Training and Wellness Center are looking for obese residents of the San Francisco Bay Area who have a desire to lose weight and embrace a healthier lifestyle in 2010. As part of the Commit-to-Fit Contest, one winner will be chosen to receive a year’s worth of one-on-one personal training and nutrition coaching. To apply, applicants must send in a three-minute video of themselves explaining how a total body transformation would change their life. For complete guidelines and deadlines, please visit this link and click on “Commit to Fit”.
“With over 30 percent of Americans suffering from obesity, DIAKADI and MV Nutrition are setting out to teach people that making the proper lifestyle and nutritional choices in coordination with an appropriate exercise program can lead individuals from an unhealthy state into a leaner, stronger and energized body,” says Billy Polson, founder of DIAKADI Body and recently named one of America’s top personal trainers by Men’s Journal magazine. “One very lucky Bay Area resident is about to transform their life for the better. All we ask is that they are ready to Commit-to-Fit!”
DIAKADI Body and MV Nutrition have seen success in their premiere 2009 Commit-to-Fit program with San Francisco resident, Kevin Johnson. Since starting his program one year ago, Kevin has lost over 120 pounds, changed his lifestyle and has truly found himself!
As part of this year’s Commit-to-Fit program, the winning applicant will receive three personal training sessions per week ($15,000 value) from Polson and Mike Clausen, co-owners of DIAKADI Body, as well as nutritional coaching every other week ($10,000 value) from renowned Bay Area registered dietitian Manuel Villacorta. “Health is not a diet plan, but a lifestyle,” says Villacorta. “I empower you to understand your body, your strengths, and your limits and to use this knowledge to make a change. Stop dieting, start living!”
Entries for the Commit-To-Fit Contest must be received by Friday, January 29, 2010. Winner will be selected and notified on Monday, February 15, 2010. For complete guidelines and deadlines, please visit this link.
Nutrition for You is the online weight management program developed by acclaimed Registered Dietitian and weight-loss specialist, Manuel Villacorta, that provides all the independent expertise of a Registered Dietitian, all the power of regular coaching, and all the interactive capacity of the finest nutrition tools on the web.
January 27, 2010
by Kate Haisch
Sumo wrestling is an ancient Japanese sport; where the heavier you are the better! They stare each other in the eyes and slap their feet and enormous thighs, trying to break their opponent’s courage. One of the heaviest sumo wrestlers, or rikishi in Japanese, was Hawaiian born Konisiki. He weighed 630 at his peak. So, how do sumo wrestlers get so big?
Sumo Wrestlers’ Tricks for Getting Big
- Don’t eat breakfast. Sumo wrestlers never eat breakfast. This is a great way to slow your metabolism way down and will definitely ensure over eating later in the day.
- Exercise on an empty stomach. When you exercise without proper fueling, your metabolism will conserve every ounce of energy you have left to get you through the activity. So you end up burning far less calories then you would have had you eaten prior to exercising.
- Eat only 1 to 2 meals each day. Sumo wrestlers get up early, work out and then don’t eat until late in the day. This way they will be starving and will eat anything they can grab and in enormous amounts. This ensures a great calorie surplus and maximum weight gain. When you eat a large amount of calories in one sitting, the body will use up what it can and then fill your extra energy reserves for later. When your storage gets full, everything left over is stored directly as fat.
- Drink alcohol. Sumo wrestlers drink large amounts of alcohol with their meals (their favorite is beer). For a sumo wrestler, the bigger the belly the better!
- Eat out. Many studies have found that people eating in a restaurant will eat 40% more food and 30% more fat then they would if they were at home. Sumo wrestlers like to distract each other while eating to make sure they don’t notice those “getting full” signals. They also always have someone else cook for them so they don’t pay attention to fat or ingredients.
- Sleep after eating. When they finish their large meals, the wrestlers will get up and take a long nap. Going to sleep on a full stomach forces the body to store most of the calories as fat because it doesn’t have the ability to metabolize large amounts of food while sleeping.
Yikes, I bet a lot of these behaviors sound really familiar! I know they do to me. Getting up early, skipping breakfast, running to the gym, eating a late (large) lunch and an even later (larger) dinner and then heading to bed. This is the busy American life that many people live. When working as many hours as most do, it is easy to eat like a sumo wrestler!
What if you don’t want to look like a sumo wrestler?
- Eat breakfast like a King (or Queen!). Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day! Breakfast gives your metabolism a daily kick-start plus it helps control your appetite throughout the rest of the day. We recommend a high fiber breakfast that has at least 15g of fiber. This can be attained by eating a high fiber cereal (at east 5g of fiber per serving), topped with 2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal and blueberries. Fiber helps keep you satiated and also regulates blood glucose – so no energy crashes!
- Fuel prior to exercising and post exercising. For a pre-workout snack eat 1/2 a banana, a few whole-wheat crackers and 1/2 c of fruit juice (focus on carbohydrates). This will ensure you have a stronger workout and you will actually burn more calories! Then make sure to have a protein and carbohydrate based snack post-workout to refill your energy stores and maintain muscle mass.
- Eat throughout the day. Take time to eat a healthy lunch and don’t forget those late morning and afternoon snacks! We recommend eating every 3 hours (plus or minus 30 minutes). This will keep the hunger-inducing hormone, Ghrelin, at bay, ensuring you will not over eat and will make good choices.
- Limit alcohol. For weight loss, we recommend drinking no more than about 4 servings of alcohol per week. (Reminder: 1 serving of wine is 4 oz or 1/2 c, 1 serving of beer is 12 oz or a pint, and hard alcohol is 1.5 oz.) Alcohol is metabolized like a fat in the body, so think of each drink as eating 2 Fats (plus a Grain and Starch for beers!)
- Limit eating in restaurants. When eating at a restaurant it is much easier to make bad choices and eat too much, plus you cannot control the ingredients. Restaurants use a shocking amount of fatty products to ensure a yummy tasting meal. Don’t trust anything labeled “low fat” or “healthy choice” without doing a little investigating!
- Don’t eat a huge dinner and then head to bed. About 70% of your calories should be consumed during the day and only 30% should be eaten in the evening. For example, if you are following 1700 calories per day, then before your dinner you should consume about 1190 calories evenly spread out throughout the day, and then have about 510 calories for dinner and dessert.
It is easy to fall into bad sumo habits that stay with us for years. If you have difficulty with the above listed tips, then chose 1 or 2 and work on them. When you feel confident, then chose another 1 to 2, and work on those. You don’t have to be perfect all at once, or perfect every moment. It takes time to break habits, but you can definitely do it! Be nice to yourself and take baby steps. Many bad habits that people have were acquired over many years and they will not disappear over night. Just make small attainable adjustments and before you know it, those bad habits (and the weight) will be in the past!
Resources:
http://www.ada.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11138566
January 25, 2010
Eating small, frequent meals is a good way to help you control weight and keep food cravings in line. The key to healthy snacking is found in the foods you choose, the size of your portions and how frequently you snack.
A great snack idea is a cup of baby carrots enjoyed with 2 Tbsp of hummus.
Cup of carrots is 1 allowance of non-starchy vegetable. Hummus is 1/2 allowance of very lean meat, 1/2 allowance of fat and 1/4 allowance of grains and starches.
January 21, 2010
1/2 cup diced apple
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
2 tablespoons apple cider
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine apple and Brussels sprouts in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Add apple cider, olive oil, minced fresh thyme, salt, and freshly ground black pepper; toss well. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes or until sprouts are tender.
Yield: 2 servings (serving size is 3/4 cup)
Allowances: 1/2 allowance of fruit, 1 allowance of non-starchy vegetable, 1 allowance of fat
January 20, 2010
by Manuel Villacorta
What is the new trend in nutrition? Is it organic, local, low-carb, high carb, or low-fat? Is it wine and chocolate or some other fabulous quick fix for health?
When it comes to food, we are all too familiar and confused by the various trends that have popped up over the years. Do we choose to eat local or pick that organic and exotic fruit picked from a thousand miles away? And what is the real story on carbohydrates? How does wine, chocolate, and fat really affect us? It seems that past trends often leave us without much choice at all! In addition, the last few decades have seen a movement towards “quick fixes” in weight, health, and food. Research shows that eating out of convenience (rather than nourishment) has led to higher intakes of fast or processed foods, furthermore leading to increases in chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer along with heart disease and inflammation.
Based on this data, nutrition has now taken a turn for the better through clean eating. Clean eating is the idea of consuming local foods in their most natural, fresh, and whole food state. Ingredients are unadulterated and minimal. Clean eating also avoids preservatives, additives, artificial sweeteners and colors, and trans-fatty or hydrogenated fats. But the spectrum of “clean food” only starts with the fruit or vegetable picked directly from the garden. Whole grains, fresh meats, canned or frozen vegetables, breads, and cereals, minimally processed and with little to no added salt or sugar, can also be considered a clean food. Highly processed foods are those farthest away from their natural state; poked, prodded, and mixed with various other non-foods.
Nutritious and tasty whole foods are good for our bodies, our wallets, and the environment. Clean eaters will find themselves eating fresher and thus more nutritious foods along with eating less processed, salty, sweet, and fatty foods. Cooking at home increases and whole foods, such as uncut vegetables or whole chickens, are preferred over prepackaged foods, lowering food costs. Eating fresh whole foods also calls for less of an environmental impact as there is less to process, less waste in packaging, and less miles traveled.
Trends have come and gone but the traditions of yesterday have held strong. Clean and simple whole foods, processed minimally and prepared with love in our own kitchens, return to the forefront of nutrition and bring us back to the basics.
January 19, 2010
Quinoa is a protein rich seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. Quinoa is available in your local health food stores throughout the year.
Making quinoa
1 cup quinoa
2 cups boiling water
In a saucepan, boil water and add quinoa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Cook until all of the water is absorbed. Fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork and serve.
Note that for every 1 cup dry quinoa use 2 cups boiling water. One cup dry quinoa is equivalent to 3 cups cooked.
Yield: 3 servings (serving size is 1 cup)
Calories 159 (14.2% from fat); Fat 2.5g (sat 0.3g, mono 0.7g); Protein 5.6g; Carb 29.3g; Fiber 2.5g; Chol 0.0mg; Sodium 8.9mg; Potassium 314.5mg.
Allowances: 2 allowances of grains and starches and 1 allowance of very lean meat
January 18, 2010
People who successfully keep the weight-off long-term follow a low-fat diet. About 25% of their calories come from fat and most of these fats are heart-healthy: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats including omega 3 and omega 6, which have been proven to give a lot of health benefits: from reduced total cholesterol to healthier brain, nervous system, and eyes.
Walnuts are a great source of heart-healthy fats. They are packed with omega 3 fatty acids and are a delicious way to add great nutrition, flavor and crunch to any meal. Four walnut halves is one allowance of fat. Here are some ideas on how you can enjoy walnuts.
- Enjoy walnuts with some light cheese and fresh fruit as a snack.
- Top plain yogurt with crushed walnuts and some fruit.
- Add walnuts to healthy sautéed vegetables.
- Add walnuts in baked treats like zucchini walnut bread and carrot walnut muffins.
- Add walnuts to salads.
- Add walnuts to poultry stuffing.
January 18, 2010
I learned a bunch of great nutritional practices from the Challenge and continue getting great reinforcement about these. Honestly, there’s really nothing easy about nutrition for (most) people like me who really love food. I’ve learned to adopt a lot of helpful nutritional habits such as bringing my own snacks and lunch to work, buying most of my food at grocery stores as opposed to eating out, always eating breakfast and eating small frequent meals, all of which I continue to do.
My current weight is actually the same weight as my weight when the WLC ended. I was successful in losing five more pounds. I’m currently on a ‘maintenance’ phase. A key aspect of the guided WLC is to record everything you eat. I would say that it’s a success that for a month now, I haven’t done any record keeping and I’ve been able to maintain my weight. To have learned a nutritional lifestyle I can just follow by myself is really truly amazing.
Read other success stories.
Ed Chaltry
Ken Mattsson
Christopher Ollendorf
The next success story can be yours! Join the New Year’s Weight Loss Challenge today!
January 15, 2010
by Manuel Villacorta
During these tough economic times, do not be lured to eating at fast foods and eating junk, which may initially seem cheap! Such foods waste money on empty calories and come with a heavy price on our health. Good, clean food, prepared with just a little time and a lot of love has always and will continue to see us through both the good and bad times.
Be careful where you invest your money. It may be safer to invest in your health!
Here are some tips to keep your health and spirits up and costs low.
- Eat out less. Prepare your meals at home and as our clients always tell us when following our program, “I am saving so much money because I’m eating at home!”
- Make things from scratch. Bring lunch to work and save your lunch money or save time by cooking large meals and freezing portions for the week.
- Eat plenty of local fruits and vegetables and shop at farmer’s markets. Local produce is often cheaper than produce traveling long distances and you are helping to build the local economy.
- Buy seasonal. It is cheaper and more nutritious to buy produce that is in season. It is also very good for the environment as well.
- Eat whole grains. Whole grains such as brown rice and quinoa along with starchy vegetables like beans and legumes can go a very long way.
- Buy whole animals such as a whole chicken with skin and bones. Be sure to remove the skin to reduce saturated fat; throw the bones in a pot with water and make your own high-mineral chicken broth. Lastly, partition the chicken yourself because there’s no need to pay for butcher costs!
Read more useful tips in our previous post on Eating Healthy Will Save You Money.
January 14, 2010
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