Weight Loss

There is no cheating the system. In order to lose weight, one must follow the basic laws of physiology that you must consume fewer calories than you burn each day.

Or alternatively, you must burn more calories from exercise than you consume. Addressing the underlying causes behind poor eating and lifestyle habits is the ONLY way to ensure a healthy and long-term approach to weight loss.

The best approach to weight loss emphasizes lifestyle changes that incorporate whole foods and activity. It is our belief that sustainable changes in dietary and activity patterns can lead to maintainable, long-term weight loss success.

Physical activity guidelines are recommended to complement the nutrition counseling and make this process easier and more productive.

While each person has different needs and will require a custom tailored dietary program, there are some basic concepts that are helpful for most people. A health promoting, weight control diet will be:

• HIGH in fiber-dense carbohydrates found in whole grains, beans, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Also, it is important to drink plenty of water (approximately 2 quarts per day).

• MODERATE in fish and chemical-free lean meats (chicken, and turkey).

• LOW in red meat, animal fats, hydrogenated oils, full-fat dairy products, pre-packaged, processed, and refined foods, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine.

General Tips
• Set a realistic weight loss goal, usually 1 to 2 pounds per week is recommended.
• Balance food intake with activity. The most successful weight loss programs combine increased activity with decreased caloric intake.

Tips to Increase the Amount of Physical Activity in a Day:
• Try some group activity classes at the local gym, fitness center, or swimming pool.
• Work out with family, friends, or neighbors. Motivation is increased with partners.
• Take a walk at lunchtime.
• Use a bike to run local errands and go for pleasure rides.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk to the bus stop or work
• Park the car a few blocks away and walk.
• Dance to some favorite music at home or sign-up for a series of classes.

Tips to Reduce the Quantity of Food Eaten:
• Plan and prepare meals ahead of time.
• Identify foods that are often over consumed and set limits, or avoid.
• Identify and limit problem foods.
• Eat small, frequent meals and healthful snacks.
• Eat slowly and savor each mouthful. Allow 20-30 minutes for each meal, rest, set the fork down, and/or converse between bites. Chew the food well.
• Wait 10-15 minutes before taking a second helping.
• Serve food on a smaller plate.
• Drink two glasses of water or a cup of hot tea 30 minutes before meals to reduce appetite.
• Postpone a desired snack for at least 10 minutes. It may be helpful to take a walk, get some fresh air, drink a cup of water or tea, or take a short nap during this time.
• At restaurants eat half of the portion and take the rest home. Prepackage the food to go before starting the meal.
• Nurture with nonfood related activities, such as a hot bubble bath or a massage, developing a hobby, relaxing with a good book, or listening to some music.

Tips to Eliminate Eating Cues that Promote Overeating:
• Designate a specific place in the home to eat, preferably the kitchen or dining room. Eat snacks and meals only when sitting down at this place.
• Avoid watching TV, talking on the phone, reading, or driving while eating. This will help increase the awareness of fullness.
• Do the grocery shopping on a full stomach to decrease impulse buys.
• Create a schedule for eating. Plan meals and snacks at regular intervals, including the types of food to be eaten.
• Carry food to work or when going out, to eliminate long periods without eating.
• To prevent visual food distractions, keep all food stored in the kitchen cupboards or refrigerator, rather than out on the counter.
• Read or listen to motivational books, join a support group, or consider seeing a therapist to help with any emotional issues involving food, eating, and/or weight loss.

Diet, activity, and emotional work can provide feelings of health and wellness, which establish new patterns that support and nurture the body.

Think well! Eat well! Be well!

Related reading:

Why You Should Invest in Fitness

Are You on the Sumo Wrestler Diet?

Rock it – Pilgrim Style

How to Eat Healthy While Traveling

6 Steps to Calorie Counting in Your Kitchen

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Anti-Aging Diet

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

“If I could turn back time….”  name that tune!

The fountain of youth is not that difficult to find. Really it is inside of all of us. It simply starts with making the better decisions when at all possible.

Let’s face it, nobody wants to BE old, nobody wants to LOOK old, and most importantly nobody wants to FEEL old. he bad news is that aging is just a reality of living.

The good news is that to some degree we can reverse the aging process, if not drastically slow it down through better diet and lifestyle decisions. After working eight years in patient care, two of which were spent with a dermatologist I have concluded that the best “preserved” older people are those that exercise, eat right, and have positive mental attitudes.

Botox and collagen will only take you so far, and in my opinion there is no substance that will give you that healthy youthful glow that only proper nutrition and exercise provide. Read more

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Tough Economic Times Diet

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Jay Leno joked last night that “the economy was so bad that women in LA had to resort to diet and exercise to look good.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that one.  Because the REAL dark irony is that a whole food diet and lifestyle will help you look a million times better than anyone botoxed or pumped full of collagen. Trust me, I assisted the dermatologist back in the day.

During these Tough Economic Times (TET) times we can at least laugh because laughter is still free AND it burns calories.

Despite the “Obesity Tax,” politicians have yet to tax us for laughter.  Perhaps I shouldn’t give them any ideas!

Feel free to leave your frugal “TET Diet” tip in the comments section.

As with everything, going with the flow seems to be the most logical cure for this economic crisis.

As we learn to move away from “Unfulfilled Consumerism” and make choices that are healthier for the environment as well as our pocketbooks, we can certainly remind ourselves of some great dieting tips brought on by these “tough economic times.”

Weight Loss Tips We can Learn from these Tough Economic Times:

1.  Drink a cozy warm mug of water in lieu of your expensive latte.  Warm water gives your intestines a bath, aids elimination, while still making you feel like you have a warm drink to comfort you during the traumatic morning time (well for me).  For more detox on the cheap just add a squeeze of fresh lemon.

2.  Eat less. Yes! I am guessing that since 1/3 of America is obese and many of us are overweight that we can just eat less. I love the Swedish Proverb, ““Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours.”

Maybe it is just because I am Swedish, or maybe it’s because it’s great advice.  But longevity studies indicate that the less we eat (within reason) the longer we live.  Never starve yourself as that slows your metabolism down.  Instead try eating five small meals a day.  Focus on whole foods and simply stop  bit before you actually feel full (more on this later).

3.  Chew chew chew your food! If we are eating less we need to be chewing more so that we can spend our time eating and not feeling like we are deprived because we are eating less. Spend the same amount of time eating less food. It works.

4.  Take a break. Everyone needs a break, especially your poor stomach. At the beginning of your meal, visually or physically divide your plate in half.  When you reach that half way point, take a little break.  Let your body digest for a few minutes, it takes about twenty minutes to register that we are even full so give yourself some time to ENJOY your food, and you may as a result spend less time eating.  That is more leftovers for later, remember “The Doggie Bag” is the hot new trend of 2009.

5.  Share your food. Not only will you look cool while you feel generous, but you’ll be reminded of how much you actually have, while secretly saddling those around you with those unnecessary calories.  We all know that the easiest way to look thinner is to fatten up those around us *wink*

6.  Split your food. If you aren’t the sharing type then visually split your food in half and eat the next portion of it the next day. Restaurants have trained us to think that a normal portion size is over 2-3 times of what it truly is.

I try to make three meals out of every restaurant meal.  A habit I got in after waiting tables and throwing pounds and pounds of food away after clearing tables all day. It was such a waste!

It may not have been cool before to ask for that “to go” box, but it sure is now.  Set the example.  Take the doggie bag, and remember that you can also save money on kibble by feeding your dogs leftover meat, veggies, cottage cheese, yogurt (non-sweetened), potatoes, and rice.  Just don’t give them too many grains, bread, wheat, sweets, etc.

7.  Focus on disease prevention. Staying healthy and eating the basic boring whole foods diet is exactly what prevents disease, and it is cheap!

8.  Walk everywhere. I know gas prices are down but still, it is really fun to challenge yourself with basic exercise errands around your urban area.

9.  Find a walking buddy. If you live in suburbia and can’t challenge yourself with walking to your errands, find a walking buddy (aka free counseling.) Since no one can afford real counseling during these tough economic times, remember that nothing makes people vent their stress like a nice long walk. Walking means burning calories, and spending time that we could be wasting eating.

10. Make it a Gym Date, as Fitness Trainer Bonnie Pfiester reminds us. You will be a cool role model, and for just a ten dollar guest pass, you can keep your date busy for several hours.

11. Drink water and only water. If your only beverage of choice is filtered tap water you will save oodles on both your pocket book and waistline. We never want to drink our calories. Read “One Soda per Day Can Change Your Waistline.”

12. Stressed? That is great, try eating less instead of eating more. It is not normal for us to be “running from the proverbial bear” while we are trying to digest a double bacon cheeseburger, curly fries, and a chocolate shake.

Under stress, our digestive systems essentially shut down while blood and oxygen are shunted to our muscles and cardiovascular system. The more stressed you are, the more you will benefit from a nourishing diet eaten while you are calm and sitting down.  Try a few minutes of breathing exercises before your meal. Over-indulgence is not your friend during TET times.

13. Plant your own food. Spring is the time to start thinking about cheap food you can plant and grow to enjoy later.  I love planting zuchini, squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, and so forth because they are so simple to grow as I mentioned in my article “The Top Eleven Laziest Foods to Grow.” If you don’t want to grow your own, make your kids do it by “Planting an Organic Kids Garden,” and that teaching activity should help kids eat more veggies. Don’t forget to let some “Berries Run Wild” on your property.

14. Grow your own herbs. Do you need to take stock in the tons and tons of supplements you are paying top dollar for in your cupboards, when the herb growing season is about to start? Many healing plants chock full of the antioxidants you are paying top dollar for, literally grow like weeds in your back yard! If you don’t spray your yard with pesticides you can use rosemary, dandelion, stinging nettles, garlic…and if you aren’t sure what to do with an herb growing in your yard…just ask me! If you are stressed you can easily grow lemon balm and lavender as I mentioned in, “The Fifteen Most Fabulous Herbal Sedatives.”

15. Eat at the Kitchen Table! If you can afford to eat out, then by all means please go out and stimulate the economy.  But for everyone on the TET Diet, eating out is bad for our wallets and our waistlines.  When we eat out at poor quality cheap fast food, fried, fatty places we are likely causing disease and not preventing it.

You should at least be eating one meal a day at the kitchen table if not two.  Kitchen Table time is important family bonding time, improves posture, digestion, and saves us in both the long and short run.  If you can make three meals at the kitchen table a day then you get  gold star!

What is your TET Diet tip?

Dr. Nicole

Related Reading:
Best Weight Loss Diet 2008
The Best Long Term Weight Loss Plan

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

What Diet Is Best For You?

Dr. Nicole, what is the best diet?

The best diet is the diet that works for YOU.

The best diet is something that you can healthfully follow for the rest of your life.

The best diet for you is the diet that gives you energy, keeps your health in balance, helps you to be emotionally stable, maintains your religious or spiritual ethics and is sustainable for the environment.

With that being said, I am happy to announce that we have a variety of great diet plans to choose from and follow. If you are new to a particular diet and want some help simply leave your question or request for support in the comments section so that we may assist you with your goals.

Diets for health, wellness and weight loss:

The Whole Foods Diet

The Weight Loss Diet

The Low Glycemic Index Diet: stay feeling full longer, by eating a diet with a high “satiety index”.

Therapuetic Diets:

Allergy Elimination Diet

Anti-inflammatory Diet

Blood Pressure Lowering Diet and Helpful Tips for Reducing Sodium

Candida Diet

Cholesterol Lowering Diet

Diabetes Diet

Detox Diet

The Diet for Depression

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Raw Foods Diet

Ever wonder what is going on with this new “Raw Food’s Diet” everyone is talking about?

Well actually the diet isn’t all that “new” it is simply a snapshot of the way our ancestors ate before the advent of factory refined foods.

Don’t worry you don’t have to be a vegetarian to benefit from raw foods eating, raw foods can and SHOULD be enjoyed by EVERYONE! And…no this is not about gnawing on a nasty raw piece of chicken or steak. I do NOT recommend the consumption of raw meats. Instead enjoy more raw fruits and vegetables fresh picked and full of nature’s abundant energy. A raw foods diet can also be done as a quick detox if you are feeling sluggish and need an easy “pick me up”.

You don’t have to go 100% raw either, you can benefit from this diet simply by eating less cooked “dead” foods and more fresh foods that are full of life.

To help you get the basics down I interviewed the mother of raw foods eating herself…Earth Mother, the author of “In the Raw”.

What is “Raw Food” eating?

Ask 10 different people that question, Doc, and you’ll likely get 10 different responses. So, I’ll tell you what “raw food eating” is for me: eating food in its natural state, not refined, not processed. That means, I consume a primarily plant-based diet, consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts.

Do you realize that we are the only animal on the planet that cooks its food? Strange, huh? We are living beings, yet we consume food that is dead, or cooked. Nutrients and enzymes are heat sensitive and destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees. So, 85-90% of my plant-based diet is uncooked, or raw. By choosing to eat this way, I am infusing my body with live enzymes.

What made you decide to go raw?

The short answer? I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, all the time.

While at the local library, a book on the “New Arrivals” shelf jumped out at me: Crazy, Sexy Cancer by Kris Carr. What possessed me to check that book out, I’ll never know, but I am so glad I did. Kris’ story of being diagnosed with an extremely rare, incurable cancer and her journey toward health and healing is so inspirational. A big part of her healing journey has been adopting a raw foods lifestyle. The back of the book is loaded with resources and I started checking out websites and other books. The more I learned about eating raw, living food, the more sold on the idea I became. It was when I read The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose that I thought, “I can do this!”

What were the biggest challenges of adopting the raw foods diet?

It was a big change for me. BIG. I grew up in a Hungarian household, where I was weaned on chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage. Vegetables were potatoes and corn. Not too many salads, because Dad thought “they taste green.” As I grew into an adult and began living on my own, I couldn’t be bothered with cooking. Convenience was key — get more, faster. So, I ate food in packages and racked up frequent flyer miles at the drive-thru windows. I thought the four food groups were Starbucks, cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes.

There was the whole emotional component around food too. I’ve had to change my relationship to food. I used to live to eat. Now, I’m learning to eat to live.

What changes have you noticed in your health since switching to a raw foods lifestyle?

I’m really glad you said “lifestyle.” Diet implies something you start and then stop when you reach your goal (or fizzle out). Lifestyle, on the other hand, is the way in which someone chooses to live and reflects their beliefs and values.

The changes to my health have been amazing. Gone are the debilitating headaches, the fire-breathing dragon heartburn, the constant fatigue, the edema, the chronic depression, the joint pain…oh, and 62 pounds! My energy level is through the roof. I sleep like a baby at night. My skin is smooth, clear and radiant.

I have a mental clarity today that I have never experienced in my life. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it feels like I have broken a long-term drug addiction. It feels almost like I was walking around before under the constant influence of alcohol, and then suddenly becoming alcohol-free. The thing is, I had already been sober for 18 years!

Who should NOT be on a raw foods diet?

Can’t think of a single person who would not benefit from incorporating more raw, living foods into their diet. But, if you do not want to feel better, strengthen your immune system, reverse the effects of aging, stop counting calories, fat grams and carbs forever, then by all means, do not eat a diet high in raw plant foods.

***Dr. Nicole pops in and says: Pregnant women and rapidly growing children should work with their doctor before continuing a strictly raw foods diet to ensure that the required amounts of iron, B12, protein, zinc, and omega -3 oils are attained. Also people with a history of disordered eating should be cautious before implementing any restrictive diet plan.

Who should benefit from a raw foods diet?

Everyone!

People have reversed heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, cancer, fibromyalgia, autism, depression, arthritis, and a host of other illnesses by consuming a raw, vegan diet. And the thing is, you will begin to feel the benefits almost instantly.

Really. Look, we live in a society that craves the quick fix and wants instant gratification. When you start to feel and look so much more healthy and vibrant, it’s a great motivating factor. Start where you are. Begin now.

Intimidated? Natalia Rose lays out a simple, safe program that anyone can follow in “The Raw Food Detox Diet”. It doesn’t have to be traumatic. You don’t have to change your lifelong eating habits overnight and go 100% raw or vegan tomorrow.

Can you give us a snapshot of your diet for the past 24 hours?

Sure. Let’s look at yesterday.

• 1 quart fresh juice (kale, cucumber, sweet pea sprouts, apple, ginger)
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cantaloupe
• large salad w/raw ranch dressing (mixed greens, yellow bell pepper, cherry tomato, red onion, cucumber, avocado, dried cranberries, spicy sprouts)
• raw harvest butternut soup
• 1 quart fresh juice (purple cabbage, carrot, apple)
• Asian salad w/carrot-ginger dressing (baby romaine, baby bok choy, sugar snap peas,mung bean sprouts, fresh basil and cilantro)
• Pad Thai (purple cabbage, carrot, zucchini, young coconut, raw cashews) w/raw “peanut” sauce, served over seaweed noodles
• 2 dates

Please share your favorite recipe.

Oh gosh, only one? Keep it simple is my motto, so here’s a super easy and super delicious “pasta” dish.

Zucchini Fettuccine with Sesame Mango Sauce

• 2 zucchini
• 4 mango diced
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 Tbsp raw tahini
• 1/4 C water
• chopped mint leaves for garnish
• black sesame seeds for garnish

Spiralize the zucchini into fettuccine noodles, using a spiral slicer or a regular vegetable peeler. To make the sauce: blend mangoes, tahini, water, and lemon juice in blender until smooth. Top the zucchini noodles with sauce and garnish with chopped mint leaves and sesame seeds.

How can people learn more about The Raw Foods Diet?

Enroll in the University of Google and go wild! Just doing a search on “raw food diet” ought to keep you busy for a while. Visit your local library and start reading. Besides Kris and Natalia’s books, I’d recommend “Rawsome: Maximizing Health, Energy and Culinary Delight With The Raw Food Diet” by Brigitte Mars. “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko is another great place to start.

I think besides educating themselves, one of the most important things a person who is transitioning to a raw foods diet can do is to connect with other individuals who are living this lifestyle. A wonderful cyber community of raw foodies that I belong to is Raw Fu. You’ll find loads of support from folks who have been eating this way for years and years, as well as newbies. There’s an upcoming Holliday Mini Challenge you can get involved in or sign up for the 100 Day RawFu Challenge that kicks off on January 1st!

To participate visit Raw Fu: http://www.rawfu.com/

What a great idea for detoxing after the holidays! Thanks for being a guest at my kitchen table Earth Mother! For more great tips and recipes ideas for eating raw please visit Earth Mother at: http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/.

More Raw Food Resources:“5 Simple Steps to Transition to a Raw Food Diet”, “Raw Food FAQ”, FREE Raw Food Weight Loss Report, Delicious, Simple Raw Food Recipes and Pictures

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

How Many Calories Do I Need a Day?

By Bonnie Pfiester, Fitness Trainer.

The million dollar question: “How many calories should I eat?”

Someone’s caloric allowance varies depending upon a person’s activity, weight and metabolism. One of the best places to start is by looking at the most popular brand name diets. Why do many brand named diets work? Brand name diets work because most of them are based on 1200 to 1500 calories no matter what food combinations they tell you to eat. Just look at these examples:

• South Beach Diet – 1200-1500 calories
• Atkins Diet – 1500 calories
• Sugar Busters – 1300 calories
• Low-Carb Diet – 1400 calories
• Jenny Craig – 1200-1500 calories
• Weight Watchers – 1500 calories
• Cabbage Soup Diet – 1000-1500 calories
• The Zone – 1000 – 1500 calories

You basically need to take in fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. The greater the deficit – the greater the weight loss. The question is how fast do you want to lose the weight? A caloric allowance or a brand name diet may seem low, but they give you plenty of room for error. Take into consideration most people miss calories and/or under estimate calories recorded during the journaling process.

If your caloric allowance is too close to your approximate calories burned, you may not be leaving enough room for error and not getting the results you want. It takes a 3500 calorie defecit to lose one pound. That means, if you reduce your calories by 500 calories a day you would lose 1 pound a week…or reduce your caloric intake by 1000 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week.

The average American eats nearly 3790 calories a day. Now, that doesn’t mean the person actually eats 4,000 calories a day – it could mean they eat 2,000 calories a day during the week, and on the weekends they consume enough restaurant meals and drinks to increase the overall average. This is also why American feels like they are living on a diet – most Americans diet during the week and screw it all up on the weekend….creating what I call “the never-ending diet plan”.

I bet you are saying “I know I don’t eat that many calories” and of course you probably don’t. That’s just a national average and you are probably already more aware of what you eat, putting you on the lower end of the average.

The only way to know exactly what you are eating is to journal your food by writing everything you eat down and documenting the number of calories in each item.

Most people’s mistake is they are not consistent. They key to success is dieting 7 days a week so your daily caloric intake for the week averages to be 1200-1500 calories. Just think of it like checks in balances with your bank account. You can save everyday, but all it takes is one bad shopping day to wipe out all your hard work.

~Bonnie

Bonnie Pfiester is a Personal Trainer and owner of the health club Longevity Fitness. You can enjoy more of Bonnie’s fitness and beauty articles at www.BonniePfiester.com .

You are invited to leave your fitness and sports nutrition questions in the comments below for Bonnie to briefly answer or write about in future articles.

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Adam & Eve Diet Plan

When I consider all the diets on the market, I can’t help but wonder how Adam and Eve ate.

I mean, there was no paparazzi to capture them eating at the trendy “Garden of Eden Café” nor were there tabloids exploiting Eve’s hot body and her latest “In the Garden Workout”.

Diet and exercise as we know it didn’t even exist.

Deep fryers weren’t even invented and the closest thing to fast food was picking an apple off a tree. High calorie foods simply were not as easy to come by and exercise was a just way of life.

No one had to tell Adam and Eve to workout, they got plenty of exercise with their standard daily duties. I bet we’d burn a lot more calories and eat a lot less if we had to live like they did.

With that in mind, I really doubt obesity was much of an issue. Eve couldn’t have just gone to Publix to pick up a few groceries. Collecting food took time and energy. Since there was no refrigeration, it was essential the food was fresh for each meal so the chores were never-ending.

I don’t know about you, but I think God is pretty smart. We humans are the ones who goof everything up. He created a lifestyle complete with everything we need to eat and live healthy.

We are the ones who not only have turned eating into entertainment but we’ve become greedy and impatient. We want to get the most food for the money and there better not be a long wait.

If that was not bad enough, we’ve created a ton of shortcuts in life to actually avoid burning extra calories. We circle parking lots to avoid extended walks and wouldn’t dare get up from the couch to change the channel.

If we were to go on “Adam & Eve’s Diet and Exercise Program”, we’d eat more fresh whole foods, take fewer shortcuts and increase our activity. It all makes since. Like I said, I think God’s smart and His original design was a pretty good one.

~Bonnie

Bonnie Pfiester is a Personal Trainer and owner of the health club Longevity Fitness. You can enjoy more of Bonnie’s fitness and beauty articles at www.BonniePfiester.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™