Archive for » April 19th, 2012«

Dana Atkins’ story of weight loss garners national attention

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For years she underwent chemotherapy and took massive amounts of drugs to treat it. She says that was to blame for much of her weight gain. Now, she is cancer-free and has been for 16 years. Her new battle began just this February with a trip to Walt Disney World.

“Last February my company took me to the annual meeting in Disney World to celebrate 10 years with the company,” Atkins said. “I was so overweight I couldn’t walk. I was miserable the whole time. And I had just gotten married so my husband was excited (to go). But I couldn’t function, and I would go back to my hotel room and just cry, I was in so much pain. I was having knee issues.”

Atkins says her doctors told her she needed to lose weight for her knees. She says she heard about a health club near her home in Youngsville, Cajun Fitness, and convinced her husband to check it out with her.

“We went that afternoon and I signed up and started working out the very next day,” Atkins said. “I haven’t stopped since. Once I hit my goal, I want to go back to Disney World and enjoy myself. So my miserable trip to Disney World is what did it.”

To date, Atkins has lost 130 pounds and plans to lose another 90. She has gone from a whopping 380 pounds to her current weight and plans to reach 160. She credits her amazing success to a lot of hard work but a very simple philosophy.

“A lot of dedication, motivation and drive,” she said. “It’s 90 percent nutrition and 10 percent exercise.”

Atkins says there were also things she gave up, like soda. She says she no longer drinks any soda, diet or regular, and drinks about a gallon of water a day. She also gave up fast food and started eating breakfast daily. Her diet includes two eggs in the morning and a salad or sandwich for lunch. She also sticks to grilled chicken or fish for dinner and limits her pork and beef intake to just two days a week.

Those things are familiar to most people, but for Atkins, there was the added incentive. She began following fitness celebrity Chris Powell on Facebook and sharing her story with him and on the “Extreme Makeover” website.

“I emailed the Facebook page and they posted my story back in October,” recalled Atkins. “I had lost 82 pounds and I thought, I’m going to email them my new pictures “» They called me the next day.”

ABC producers told Atkins they loved her story and planned to do a feature on her. She said until they showed up at her door, she still didn’t believe it.

In the ABC segment, Powell not only showed up at her gym while she was working out, he also surprised her with a pair of size 10 jeans he told her she would one day wear when she reached her goal.

“I want you to keep these and I want you to take a picture of you in them and send it to me,” said Powell.

Today, Atkins said she feels fantastic. She says she now enjoys doing so many things she never felt good about before.

“I feel like a million bucks,” Atkins said. “Things I once didn’t like to do like clothes shop, I love to do now. It’s because I’m not in pain and I’m comfortable with myself.”


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Feeding tube diet raises eyebrows

Brides often feel the pressure of looking their best on their wedding day, purchasing a dress with sometimes significantly lower wedding weight in mind. While some try to lose weight the healthy way focusing on long-term weight management, eating right and exercise, others attempt crash diets sometimes going to extreme measures to shed those extra pounds.

One such bride, Jessica Schnaider told ABC and The New York Times that she wanted to lose 10 pounds before her big day.  She went to Dr. Oliver Di Pietro in Miami Beach, Florida.  In a release to CNN, Di Pietro says he’s brought the K-E diet to the United States from Italy.  The diet involves inserting a feeding tube into a patient’s nose that runs to the stomach for a period of 10 days.

Patients do not eat any food, receiving their 800-calorie-a-day food supplements through a portable pump that they carry around.  Di Pietro says in his statement that he began to offer this “diet” to some of his obese patients. According to his statement, the “goal was to help them ‘jump start’ a longer weight loss program, and all who participated enjoyed a safe and significant weight loss of between 10-25 pounds depending on sex, initial weight and whether or not they chose to stay on the plan the entire 10 days.” Schnaider told ABC she only did the diet for 8 days, stopping only once she reached her goal of losing 10 pounds.

Di Pietro says patients are monitored with urine and blood tests during the 10-day cycle.  He says before beginning the diet, patients are screened in order to participate.

Di Pietro says in the release that he ”modified the plan for the U.S. by adding medium chain triglycerides and requiring stricter monitoring by a doctor.”

His statement also says the that “the science is based on providing your body with only proteins and fats without carbohydrates or sugars, which force your body into what is called ketosis; this means your body burns up your stores of fat but not muscle because the program is only 10 days long.  Because it is delivered to the body in a unique way through the K-E Tube, it works effectively and quickly.”

Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, describes this diet as “stupid” and “outrageous.”  He tells CNN that this is not the way feeding tubes were intended to be used. According to Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Morgan Liscensky, “the FDA does not have any feeding tubes that are approved for weight loss.”

Emory Bariatric Surgeon Dr. Edward Lin says there are risks associated with having a nasogastric tube or feeding tube.  He lists insertion trauma, septum damage, perforated throat, lung damage, and GI bleeding, as potential short-term risks. When it comes to leaving a tube down your esophagus for 10 days, he says, “you can cause esophagus stricture which is tight narrowing from scarring,” as well as put yourself at risk for pneumonia.

Lin says losing weight too fast can be dangerous and suggests eating right and exercising for the healthiest results. Patients who lose weight rapidly are more prone to getting gall stones, electrolyte abnormalities, such as low potassium resulting in muscle fatigue. “There are plenty of commercially available diets that serve as meal replacement diets through the mouth,” he says.  “You really don’t need a foreign device to do that.” For most people who do this type diet, they’ll end up gaining more weight in the end.


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The Get Lean Diet: Baby Steps To Healthy Weight Loss

Eight Easy Steps To Lose Weight Fastsee photos

Click for full photo gallery: Eight Easy Steps To Lose Weight Fast

The countdown to Memorial Day has begun. With just a month to get their beach bodies back, many resort to strict calorie-cutting, cleanses or bizarre fad diets. But usually participants are hungry, miserable and unsuccessful.

Wellness expert Kathy Freston, bestselling author of Veganist and Quantum Wellness, offers an easier way to tackle weight loss and keep the pounds off for good. New book The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight-Loss helps readers lean into weight loss with one small step a day for 30 days. If followed, she promises a permanent weight loss of 1 to 3 pounds a week, plus increased energy and improved digestion.

“When we dive head first into a really disciplined diet, we’re miserable and we’re not going to stick with it,” says Freston. “But when we lean into really good, healthy eating habits, we’ll be successful with our weight loss because we’re going to feel fulfilled and happy and enjoy the foods we grew up loving.”

Unlike other diet plans, Freston does not focus on prohibited foods. She suggests that you “crowd out” instead of “cut out” by adding things into your daily routine. Little by little, you’ve added in so many healthy food habits there’s no room for the bad stuff because you’re so full. Here are some of Freston’s easiest and most effective tips to lose weight quickly and sustainably.

Drink Water Before Meals

Drinking lots of water, at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day, is one of the simplest and best things you can do for your body, says Freston. Staying hydrated boosts your metabolism, and drinking water before meals helps you eat less. “It’s called preloading, and it literally fills up your stomach so you can’t put as much in,” she says. In one study, participants who drank two cups of water before eating lost an average five pounds more fat than those who did not.

Eat An Apple Every Day

Keep the doctor away, and get into your skinny jeans. Freston says eating an apple every day will make you healthier and leaner. Apples have a fiber called pectin that slows down the process of digesting food by twice as much. “You’ll feel fuller that much longer, and it releases blood sugar into your system slowly and stably.” Next time you reach for a snack or dessert, make it an apple.

Add Flaxseed

Freston says one of the easiest things you can do to speed weight loss is to add two tablespoons of flaxseed into your daily regimen by sprinkling it into your morning oatmeal, adding it into a smoothie or mixing it into a salad. Flaxseed are low in carbohydrates and high in B vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, which fills you up faster and keeps you sated longer. You can buy flaxseed in the health food section of the grocery store or a specialty store like GNC, and it should last for six weeks in the refrigerator.


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Dr. Oz explores weight-loss drug Qnexa: Is it safe? What are the risks?

Today’s Dr. Oz Show focused on the controversial diet drug Qnexa, which has been delayed in the FDA approval pipeline.

Dr. Oz had on as a guest Dr. Craig Primack, an Arizona physician who specializes in weight loss. Primack has been prescribing phentermine and topiramate to some of his patients for weight loss. That combo is what makes up the drug Qnexa.

“We’ve been very successful prescribing it over about the last three years,” Primack said on Thursday’s show.

Another guest on today’s show is trainer Chris Powell, who specializes in losing weight through diet and exercise.

“There’s no better substitute for weight loss than good old-fashioned diet and exercise.” Powell said.

Powell suggested a warm water and coconut oil combo taken before meals to curb appetite, which sounds fairly disgusting but the combination turns on a hormone — CCK — which dampens appetite. Powell explained that two teaspoons of the oil mixed with warm water and taken 20 minutes before meals triggers the mind into thinking that it is fuller quicker.

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Qnexa was initially rejected by the FDA in 2010, for concerns over it increasing heart rate and blood pressure and for birth defects. It made its way back before the FDA because its maker, drug company Vivus, plans to put in place a risk-reduction plan to keep women from getting pregnant while taking the drug.

The drug’s effectiveness is not an issue — clinical trials showed that — it’s the heart and birth defect issues that have the FDA concerned.

The FDA was supposed to rule on the drug’s approval this past Tuesday, according to WebMD, but the FDA is now saying that approval may come a few months from now.

The weight-loss drug is a combination of phentermine, an appetite-suppressing stimulant once found in the old diet drug combo fen-phen, and topiramate, an anti-seizure drug used to control epilepsy.

Why an epilepsy drug? One of the side effects of topiramate, also known as Topimax, is appetite suppression. Topimax is also used to control migraines and has been used to help people stop smoking.  As for phentermine, it is an appetite suppression drug, too.

The fenfluramine-phentermine “fen-phen” combo weight-loss drug was pulled from shelves in the late 1990s because of the risk of a rare and often fatal lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, as well as heart damage.

Dr. Oz had one of his trademark goofy supersized displays to show how Qnexa works — a giant brain hovering over a giant red slip-n-slide of a tongue — by explaining how the tongue sends signals back to the brain and vice versa. He also explained how Qnexa short-circuits those signals, dulling your response to the food.

The bottom line from Dr. Oz: He’s not a fan of weight-loss medications but thinks Qnexa could be good to jump start weight loss for a short period of time.


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Green Coffee Bean and Raspberry Ketone Fat Burning Duo Now Available at http://www.PureHealth100.com

Pure Health expands all-natural weight loss and metabolism boosting food supplements with the addition of 400 milligram green coffee bean vegetarian capsules.

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) April 19, 2012

Pure Health, a leading online provider of pure, authentic superfood supplements, has expanded its fat-burning supplement line to include both pure Green Coffee Bean and Raspberry Ketone capsules. Each 400mg vegetarian capsule contains only 100% fresh, pure Green Coffee Bean or 100% pure Red Raspberry Ketone just as nature intended with absolutely nothing else added. Nutritionists recommend combining the metabolism-boosting power of both Green Coffee Bean extract and Raspberry Ketones at least 30-minutes before meals for the ultimate all-natural weight loss support.

Green Coffee Bean, which contains high levels of the natural compound Chlorogenic Acid, has become a new weight-loss phenomenon. In fact, a recent study on Green Coffee Bean extract published in the Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity journal, test subjects who supplemented their diet with pure Green Coffee Bean lost an average of 17 pounds in only 12 weeks without any changes to diet or exercise – and no side effects were reported. In fact, the subjects ate an average of 2,400 calories per day and only burned 400 calories per day, which would theoretically cause a person to gain weight – yet they were able to lose an average of 16 percent of their body fat without diet and without exercise. They experienced fast, easy weight loss.

Another recent discovery in the field of weight loss and as seen recently on a major national TV show, Red Raspberry Ketones are highly recommended by leading doctors and nutrition experts to support healthy weight loss. The Ketones are an all-natural phenolic compound, or enzyme, that helps to prevent elevations in body weight from high fat diets and works to naturally stimulate the body’s digestive process by supporting the breakdown of fats and foods. In addition to weight loss and control, Ketones are also thought to help the body cleanse and detoxify by ridding the body of excess toxins.

“This is a fat-fighting power duo for anyone trying to lose weight,” said Erick Recinos, CN, nutritional consultant to Pure Health. “I have seen men and women lose weight fast without diet and without exercise when combining both the Red Raspberry Ketone and the Green Coffee Bean extract. When this supplementation is combined with a healthy diet and a little exercise, this is the best weight loss program out there, you will see mind-blowing results!”

There are only a handful of Green Coffee Bean and Raspberry Ketone supplements on the market, and only Pure Health offers 100 percent pure Green Coffee Bean vegetarian capsules with nothing added. In addition to Green Coffee Bean, Pure Health also offers Cupuacu and Black Raspberry capsules, and 100 percent pure liquid wild harvested superfood supplements including Pure Acai Berry, Pure Goji Berry, Pure Mangosteen, Pure Noni, Pure Sea Buckthorn and Pure Resveratrol.

Pure Health touts itself as a brand that offers only 100% pure food supplements and does not add any of the “other ingredients” found in most other brands’ supplements.

Jessica Mantonya
Pure Health
1-888-323-9355
Email Information


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Dana Atkins’ story of weight loss garners national attention

One look at Dana Atkins’ before-and-after pictures and you will see how hard she has been working to get healthy and fit. The pictures are truly inspiring, and so is she. So much so that ABC”s “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” sent one of its star trainers all the way to Cajun Fitness Health Club in Youngsville to pay her a visit.

She is even enjoying her own bit of celebrity these days having just appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The show did a segment Wednesday morning about Atkins and her weight loss story. In it, “Extreme Makeover” star Chris Powell paid her a surprise visit.

“I was so shocked,” Atkins said. “I was not expecting any of that. I had no clue Chris was coming.”

Atkins’ story is more than just about losing weight, however. In fact, not only has she been winning her weight-loss battle, she has also beaten cancer — more than six times. When she was a sophomore in high school, she found out she had a very rare tumor called a desmoids tumor.

For years she underwent chemotherapy and took massive amounts of drugs to treat it. She says that was to blame for much of her weight gain. Now, she is cancer-free and has been for 16 years. Her new battle began just this February with a trip to Walt Disney World.

“Last February my company took me to the annual meeting in Disney World to celebrate 10 years with the company,” Atkins said. “I was so overweight I couldn’t walk. I was miserable the whole time. And I had just gotten married so my husband was excited (to go). But I couldn’t function, and I would go back to my hotel room and just cry, I was in so much pain. I was having knee issues.”

Atkins says her doctors told her she needed to lose weight for her knees. She says she heard about a health club near her home in Youngsville, Cajun Fitness, and convinced her husband to check it out with her.

“We went that afternoon and I signed up and started working out the very next day,” Atkins said. “I haven’t stopped since. Once I hit my goal, I want to go back to Disney World and enjoy myself. So my miserable trip to Disney World is what did it.”

To date, Atkins has lost 130 pounds and plans to lose another 90. She has gone from a whopping 380 pounds to her current weight and plans to reach 160. She credits her amazing success to a lot of hard work but a very simple philosophy.

“A lot of dedication, motivation and drive,” she said. “It’s 90 percent nutrition and 10 percent exercise.”

Atkins says there were also things she gave up, like soda. She says she no longer drinks any soda, diet or regular, and drinks about a gallon of water a day. She also gave up fast food and started eating breakfast daily. Her diet includes two eggs in the morning and a salad or sandwich for lunch. She also sticks to grilled chicken or fish for dinner and limits her pork and beef intake to just two days a week.

Those things are familiar to most people, but for Atkins, there was the added incentive. She began following fitness celebrity Chris Powell on Facebook and sharing her story with him and on the “Extreme Makeover” website.

“I emailed the Facebook page and they posted my story back in October,” recalled Atkins. “I had lost 82 pounds and I thought, I’m going to email them my new pictures “» They called me the next day.”

ABC producers told Atkins they loved her story and planned to do a feature on her. She said until they showed up at her door, she still didn’t believe it.

In the ABC segment, Powell not only showed up at her gym while she was working out, he also surprised her with a pair of size 10 jeans he told her she would one day wear when she reached her goal.

“I want you to keep these and I want you to take a picture of you in them and send it to me,” said Powell.

Today, Atkins said she feels fantastic. She says she now enjoys doing so many things she never felt good about before.

“I feel like a million bucks,” Atkins said. “Things I once didn’t like to do like clothes shop, I love to do now. It’s because I’m not in pain and I’m comfortable with myself.”


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USDA Makes Grants Available for Farm to School Programs

Farm to school food programs are set to receive a boost this
October in the form of $3.5 million in federal grant money.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan announced
Tuesday that the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is now accepting applications
for a series of grants – each one to be no more than  $100,000 – to fund programs that bring
locally produced foods to school cafeterias.

kids-vegetables-350.jpg

The money was earmarked by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act
(HHFKA) of 2010 championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. The act aims to improve
child nutrition nationwide in order to combat the dual problems of overweight
and obesity and food insecurity. In the United States, approximately 17 percent
of children ages 2-19 are obese and, according to Merrigan, 18 million are
food insecure, meaning they do not always know where their next meal will
come from.

“We know for some many children school meals are the only
real meal they get in the day so it’s very important that these meals be top
notch and farm to school can play a very important role there,” said Merrigan
at Tuesday’s press conference.

One way HHFKA hopes to promote child nutrition is by teaching
kids to appreciate healthy foods early on, says Merrigan.  Farm to school helps achieve this goal by
giving children a connection to the food they eat and sometimes even a chance
to meet the farmer who produced it.  

“The connection to health is…really trying to get kids
excited about food coming direct into the cafeteria, rejoicing in the taste and
the quality of that food,” said Merrigan. “As we struggle with obesity and
associated diet-related diseases, farm to school programs give us one important
tool to help our kids make lifelong healthy eating choices.”

The Deputy Secretary emphasized that although fruits and
vegetables are the foods most commonly associated with farm to school programs,
the scope of agricultural products that can be served in schools extends far
beyond this catergory.

“There are great opportunities of for local cheese, local
dairy and all sorts of locally grown grains, locally produced meat and poultry…”
she said.

Merrigan noted that food safety will be an important
component of farm to school programs. “Farmers that are vending in schools have
to be GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices) certified,” she explained.

But while GAPs certification is standard for larger growers
with a national market, smaller producers do not always have such systems in
place, as they can be costly and time-consuming to implement.

That is why USDA is supporting programs that help small and
mid-sized farms develop GAPs plans, says Merrigan.

Among these are the Produce Safety University – a training
course run by Cornell University Extension that educates farmers and state
health agents about sanitary growing practices and preps them to teach this
information in their communities – and FamilyFarmed.org – an organization that generates a
full food safety plan for farmers after they enter information about their
operation.

With the help of programs like this, Merrigan says, small- and mid-sized farmers will be able to “get into the GAPs game,”  and as a result get into the farm to school
game.

“One of the things you’ll see in the request for applications
is a direct call-out using food safety as an example of the kinds of activities
that we would expect grantees to [request funds] for because we do know it’s an
issue that comes up with food service directors as they’re thinking about farm
to school programs,” said Deborah Kane, the new National Director of the USDA Farm
to School Program, at the press conference.

USDA is accepting farm to school grant applications through
June 15, 2012 with a suggested due date of May 18 for letters of intent.

“The idea is that people are going to get their applications
in before the school year ends,” Merrigan explained. This way, although the
money does not become available until October, school communities have a chance
to come together to apply before summer vacation.  

Recipients of the newly allocated funds will receive one of
two types of grants. Planning grants will go to schools just starting to
develop farm to school programs and will account for 25 percent of the allotted
money. The other 75 percent will go to implementation grants for schools or
other organizations involved in farm-to-school programs.

In total, HHFKA allows for $5 million to be spent in support
of farm to school programs. The remaining $1.5 million is being reserved by
USDA for technical assistance to the programs.

USDA is anticipating a large number of applicants for the
grants.

“My expectation is that I think we’ll be oversubscribed,” said
Merrigan. “I think this is very popular.”

Kane expressed enthusiasm about upcoming grant submissions.

“I expect to be surprised by the innovative [procurement]
strategies,” she said at the press conference. “We’re really looking forward to
learning along with the grantees and expect we’ll see quite a lot of
interesting work out there.”   

For more information on how to apply, view the request for applications

 

More Headlines from Government Agencies »


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Driscoll Children's Hospital has no plans to evict McDonald's after advocacy group calls for its ouster


Driscoll Children’s Hospital has no plans to evict McDonald’s after an advocacy group called on it and 21 others to remove the fast food restaurant.

The hospital said in a prepared statement that it has a contract with McDonald’s and business ethics require it remain true to the terms of the contract. The hospital would not disclose the terms.

Corporate Accountability International sent a letter to 22 hospitals urging them to end their contracts with McDonald’s in an effort to foster a healthier environment and curb the childhood obesity epidemic.

“In your role as a local health leader, you have allowed McDonald’s — a corporation that has disregarded public health in the name of profits — to operate within an environment devoted to helping our children get well,” the letter stated.

The group, which is leading a larger campaign against the restaurant’s marketing to children, argued that hospitals with McDonald’s send mixed messages to patients by giving the perception that the food is healthy. There are 14,000 McDonald’s nationwide, including 26 in hospitals.

“Kids are being treated for diet related conditions like diabetes and on another floor, there’s the world’s most recognized junk food brand on the planet,” said Sriram Madhusoodanan, national campaign organizer at Corporate Accountability International.

Madhusoodanan said the organization is willing to work with Driscoll Children’s Hospital and others to figure out how best to end or shorten their contracts with McDonald’s.

Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas decided not to renew its contract with the fast food chain in December 2009, hospital spokeswoman Candace White said. It was replaced with a UFood Grill, which advertises healthy comfort food such as veggie burgers and steamed broccoli.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital officials in a prepared statement said the hospital has been committed to the health and well-being of children for 60 years. That commitment is reflected in the hospital programs that promote healthy eating and lifestyles, the statement said.

The hospital operates an adolescent weight management program where nutritionists, physical therapists, psychologists and endocrinologists help patients with weight loss and healthy eating. The program also offers bariatric surgery as an option. The hospital in 2009 became the first children’s hospital in Texas to perform bariatric lap band surgery.

Christus Spohn Health System and Corpus Christi Medical Center hospitals do not house fast food restaurants.

McDonald’s said in a prepared statement that it is proud of its menu and its steps to offer more choices.

“McDonald’s promotes the idea that it’s not about where you eat; rather, it’s about what and how much a person chooses to consume during every eating occasion,” the company said.


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Seven ways you may be sabotaging your diet

Whether you’re counting calories, tallying points, cutting carbohydrates or sweating it out at the gym, dieting is a tough road to navigate. What’s even worse is when you sabatoge your own efforts by making some classic diet-busting mistakes you might not even be aware of.

Here are seven behaviors that may cause you to fall off that I-wanna-lose-weight wagon — and advice from experts on how to stay on it.

The diet-buster: Drinking too many calories

A glass of orange juice for breakfast, a midday nonfat latte, a sports drink with your workout and a glass of wine at dinner: That’s close to 600 calories in liquids — and you haven’t even had a bite to eat.

Sara Bleich, a professor of health policy at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, says dieters are generally bad at compensating for calories they consume in liquid form. Dieters might remember to opt out of an appetizer in anticipation of dessert, but it’s unlikely they will remember to skip the fries in substitution for the beer or soda.

The solution: Bleich recommends reaching for a diet soda when the craving to drink anything but water kicks in — it won’t add any nutrients to your day, but it won’t add any calories, either. Diana Sugiuchi, owner of Nourish Family Nutrition and a registered dietitian, agrees, adding that dieters regularly ignore the calories in fruit juices and sports drinks because they’re advertised to be healthy alternatives to soda. They may add more nutrients, but they are far from calorie-free.

The diet-buster: The restaurant salad

Eating out is always dangerous when it comes to losing weight, so it’s common for dieters to order a salad for an entree. But often, the salads are packing as many or more calories than the pastas, steaks or sandwiches.

The solution: Bleich said when looking at a salad, note the dressing, the starch and the amount of added fat. You’re certain to find creamy dressings, croutons, cheese, nuts and avocado. “If it’s not strictly a vegetable, ask them to take it off or put it on the side,” she says. Also, substitute vinaigrette for the creamy ranch, blue cheese or caesar dressing. Sugiuchi agrees, adding that there’s a reason salads at restaurants taste so good. “Salads can be high calories when you take into account the shredded cheese, the dressing, bacon and egg,” she says. “Substitute dressings, and remove the extras.”

The diet-buster: Stress eating

“We naturally crave fat, sugar and salt when we’re stressed,” Bleich says. “We live in a stressful society, so be conscious of that.”

The solution: Look for weeks on your calendar when there’s a lot to do, and recognize that you’ll need to find ways to handle the stress. Book a massage or a pedicure, or plan extra morning walks with your children or animals.

The diet-buster: Skipping the weights at the gym

Maybe you’re thinking that you’re doing OK because you like to take the dog on an evening jog, sweat it out at Zumba class, and practice yoga or swim laps. Of course, exercise is an important facet of health. But don’t spend all your time doing cardio and skip the weight training, which will help you rev up your metabolism.

The solution: Nick Sekscenski, a certified personal trainer at the Merritt Athletic Club on Fort Avenue in Locust Point, says supplementing your workout with strength training is a necessary addition to any fitness plan. “The more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you’re going to burn while resting,” he says. Lifting weights might not burn as many calories as jogging a few miles, but it will increase your metabolism for a longer stretch of time, he says. Sekscenski points out that building muscle does not require bulking up — simply lifting light weights and adding lean muscle mass will do the trick.

The diet-buster: Big plates

With over-the-top portion sizes the norm in most restaurants, it has become difficult to decipher how much food is enough. “We have learned to look for quantity over quality,” Bleich says. A full meal doesn’t necessarily mean a full plate.

The solution: Bleich recommends using your hand as a guide — a serving size should fit in your palm. “If you get a burger the size of your face, only eat half,” she says. Sugiuchi suggests that dieters cook at home and use precise measurements for everything, from the oil they cook with to the amount of cereal they put in a bowl and the amount of dressing they pour on a salad. “They’re still calories, and they add up,” she says. At restaurants, she recommends asking the waiter to box up half the meal immediately. If it’s not on your plate, you won’t be tempted.

The diet-buster: Grazing

When focused on food, as dieters tend to be, it can be easy to mistake thirst or boredom for hunger. It’s easy to grab a bag of chips — or even a bag of grapes — and bust a day’s worth of mindful eating without even realizing it.

The solution: Bleich suggests that dieters reach for water first. “There are so many cues around us, billboards and advertisements, [that] when people think they’re hungry, they may not be,” she says. “First drink water and see if the hunger persists.” Sugiuchi suggests planning snacks for the day and, again, measuring an acceptable amount rather than grazing.

The diet-buster: Too many restrictions

Dieting is all about restrictions, but if you limit yourself too much, you’re more likely to get off the wagon altogether, Sugiuchi says. Bleich agrees. “If you want an Oreo, eat an Oreo,” she says.

The solution: Allowing yourself a cookie when the craving strikes should help prevent you from eating an entire sleeve of cookies when you’re having a weak moment. “And if you don’t have a lot of self control, don’t keep tempting food in the house,” Bleich says.


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