You can’t Out-Train a Bad Diet

Bruce Gilbert, a trainer I share clients with uses the above statement with his clients.

“I’m working out, so I can eat what I want, right?”

NOT.

I often hear:  “I’ve been exercising much more than before so why am I not losing weight?”

Let’s crunch the numbers.

You work out 4-5 days per week at a pretty rigorous clip – maybe burning 300-500 calories per session.  Let’s say the average amount of calories per day utilized is equal to 450 or about 2000 additional calories per week which is a credit in your health account.  Sounds pretty good so far, right?

Your metabolism calls for about 1800 calories per day.  You eat fairly reasonably – after all – you consulted with an R.D.- with 500 calories per meal and a reasonable snack.  However, a few times a week you spurge on the cookies lying around the office and usually have 2 glasses of wine a few times per week.

Although these splurges sound reasonable they can add up to equaling the extra calories you utilized from working out.  In other words, a debit to your health account.

2 medium cookies 3x per week equals 1200 calories and 2 glasses of wine 3x per week equals 720 calories or close to 2000 calories per week.

If you add in anything extra you are now officially over the amount of extra calories you so diligently burned during your exercise sessions.  And, now you’ve overdrawn your account.

What drives weight loss?

Research shows diet drives the weight loss and exercise maintains it.  Exercise keeps your metabolism strong while you cut back on food so your weight will not rebound.  It maintains muscle integrity besides contributing to improved sleep, mood and sense of well-being.

But….it can’t make up for eating more than your metabolism calls for.  Although working out is critical to good health it cannot blanket additional calories or a plethora of food.

So enjoy your holidays and the best gift you can give yourself is to eat mindfully…and maintain credit in your nutritional health account.

Giving Thanks After Thanksgiving

Many of you have heard me talk about the Hunger Scale and avoiding a “10” or Thanksgiving Full when eating.  Most laugh when we discuss it but feeling the fullness after the meal is no laughing matter and can start the season of over eating.

What are 4 helps for getting through the holiday season and feeling thankful you made it comfortable for your health and your body?

1.  Be active or get some exercise in during the day.  Even if you are cooking the turkey try to move for 20-30 minutes on Thanksgiving Day.  It makes your insulin 35-50% more effective at utilizing the food you take in and can help with not feeling the “bloat.”

2.  Be mindful of how much you are consuming.  Grazing throughout the day can really add up.  One study showed an average intake on Thanksgiving day could equal as much as 8000 calories.  Ask yourself if you really need that second bit of an appetizer or helping.

3.  Be reasonable with your meals beforehand.  Have breakfast and a small lunch with protein before the meal.  Don’t skip your meals to save for the feast.  You’ll be over hungry when it starts which is a set up for bingeing.

4.  Be discriminating:  select the most important dishes that you want to eat.  Turkey and veggies are the protein and healthy carbohydrates you need.  Stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, yams and pies all contain lots of starches and sugars.  Even though it is one day of the year it may be a set up for lowering your resiliency during the rest of the holiday season.  Pick 2 starches you can’t go without– like stuffing and a slice of pie.  Perhaps have some mashed potatoes and skip the roll.  Or substitute my Apple Blueberry Compote for the cranberry sauce and the Pumpkin Custard for dessert from A Recipe for Life.

You always have an option.  Being active, mindful, reasonable and discriminating can multiply your health on Monday and the rest of the season.  Your body will be happy and comfortable…and that’s something to be thankful for.

Does Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now Apply To Mindful Eating?

Several years ago I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and typed up my notes for clients to help with mindful eating.  Since mindful eating is in the limelight I thought it might be timely to share my notes with all of you.

Tolle states “disease is what happens when life gets out of balance.”  His principles for life can be applied to any lifestyle change you may want to make.  He states maintaining presence is a good way to help the feelings of wanting to eat when you are not physically hungry.

You’ve just finished dinner but the leftovers in the refrigerator or the dessert hidden in the freezer is calling your name.  You are not physically hungry but don’t know what to do.  Here’s some tips from Tolle:

1. Focus your attention on the feeling inside of you
2. Accept it for what it is
3. Don’t think about it
4. Don’t judge or make an identity of yourself out of it
5. Stay present and continue to be the observer of what is happening inside you
6. Become aware of the silent watcher  - that is the power of now – the power of your own unconscious presence

If you stay present and not react to the pain body it allows for a powerful transformation inside.  If you can sit long enough and apply the above principles the voice telling you to eat something can die down, allowing you to go on with your evening and go to bed satisfied versus full and guilty.

Many people use outside solutions – food, alcohol, drugs, etc. to help their unease – which can become addictive or abusive and all that is achieved is short –term symptom relief.  Using the challenges in life to awaken you rather than go into the “pain-body” or numb place and stay present in that moment can be life-changing.

If you are identified with a strong pain body – that is your identity - you may experience a strong resistance to change and you would rather stay in the pain body than take a leap into a different existence.  Observe the attachment to your pain, the pleasure you receive from staying attached to it.  The resistance will cease if you bring presence to it.  Acceptance is the key to working through resistance and creating change.

The root of suffering is constant wanting.  Living in the present moment and mindful eating can be the key to liberation.

Mindful Eating for Our Kids?

Does texting, emails, faxes and needing information at light speed affect our eating?  Drive-throughs, eating in the car, and 5 minute meals does affect our eating and health, and not in a positive way.

I had dinner with some European friends last week who were amazed at how little time Americans take for eating.  Long lunches and dinners with interesting conversation and enjoyment of food are the theme.  Is mindful eating partially responsible for lower obesity rates in Europe?

Mindful eating can be an unfamiliar concept.  Since many adults do not know how to eat mindfully we are bringing up a generation who are completely unaware of the notion of savoring and enjoying their food.

Indeed, snacks on demand around the clock was a recent article in the NY Times discussing how every sporting and child event is stocked with snacks, many of them processed and refined.  A study in the Journal of Health Affairs examining the eating habits of 31,000 children showed that snacks now account for about 27% of calories consumed by children.

Barry Popkin and Carmen Piernas of the University of North Carolina state:

“Our findings suggest that children ages 2-18 are experiencing increases in snacking behavior that are moving towards higher consumption patterns.  This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming dysregulated, as our children are moving towards constant eating.”

What are some tips for mindful eating for ourselves and our children?

• Chewing and tasting your food to obtain as much flavor in your mouth as possible can actually increase serotonin levels which decreases your desire to continue eating
• Pausing to savor and enjoy each bite can increase satisfaction and fullness
• Taking time to eat at the table, away from distractions such as televisions and computers, and not in the car helps focus on eating from true hunger

Try “the raisin exercise” as I call it in my office.  Take one solitary raisin, smell it, and then put in your mouth.  Chew it for about 30 seconds before swallowing, something not all that easy to do. 

You might be surprised at how much taste one little raisin can have.  The burst of flavor can be quite satisfying.  Applying this exercise to the rest of your food takes work, but the results can surprisingly healthful.

Besides being satisfied with less food, you’ll actually be able to taste and enjoy your food and possibly lose weight and improve your health in the process.  Mindful eating offers a plethora of benefits…and that is information that deserves light speed.

Paring Without the Knife

This week’s LA Times article by Michael Hiltzik regarding the man who had gastric band surgery and died 3 days later was jarring.   A 6 foot 6 inch man who weighed 300 pounds sought out surgery thinking he could get a better job weighing less.  He was only 36 years old, a schoolteacher with 6 children who had his whole life to live.

I remember back to the initial days of being a clinical dietitian at UCLA and taking care of those who had had gastric bypass surgery.  More than a few had severe health problems and some died of complications related to the surgery.  These experiences in themselves biased me towards not being an advocate for weight loss surgeries.

Personally I feel the surgery is treating the symptom, not the cause.  Research shows many who lose weight regain the weight within a 5-10 year period of time.  Why?  They have not dealt with the underlying root cause of their weight issues.

Many individuals are genetically preprogrammed to be overweight or have a weight issues.  However, a healthy lifestyle of exercise/activity and an individualized eating plan can do wonders for weight management.  It may be hard work but no surgery is required.

The conferences I attend on how weight loss surgeries change appetite, hormones, and result in high amounts of weight in a short period of time do sound appealing.  However, both the short and long-term complications scare me.

A client of mine had bypass surgery and lost half her weight 6 years ago.  She bought a new wardrobe, and was thrilled with her new self.  However, since she had not dealt with the emotional issues that brought on the weight in the first place, she regained most of the weight within 5 years.  She found herself in my office distraught and needing lifestyle skills to manage her weight.

Another one of my clients who had lifelong issues with weight was considering bypass surgery and after speaking with someone who had it decided against it.  He realized if he set his mind to it he could lose weight.  He sought out my services and is losing weight at a good clip due to his efforts of mindful lifestyle eating and exercise.

There are several types of weight loss surgeries which all require eating a very small amount of food.  If one tries to overeat, there are physical consequences.  Why give the control of your body over to a “forced” control of food? 

If the emotional issues of eating are not dealt with, no amount of surgery will keep it off forever.  Most people find a way to eat around it.  Healing your relationship with food is hard work but instead of physical it requires emotional surgery but no knives are not required.

Seek out help from a qualified professional who can bring you on a safe journey of lifestyle intervention.  You’ll save yourself more than the physical scars and financial burdens – you might even safe yourself from death – fast or slow….

Remember, it’s prevention not prescription.