I just talked with a client who was recently married. She mentioned that when she was growing up they had three things on the dinner plate – protein, starch, and a vegetable. Her husband grew up with a lot of things on his dinner plate – 5 to 6 different things. She is feeling the pressure to put a bunch of different items on their dinner plates at night.  They’ve both gained weight since their wedding in January.

Research has shown that the more flavors that are available, the more calories we will eat. How many times have you finished dinner and felt “stuffed” only to be hungry again when the dessert tray shows up? It is the new and different flavors that you want to try that makes you “hungry” again.

I talked with my client about going back to the way she ate growing up. This means less flavors on the plate, and, hopefully, some weight loss. Portion size and paying attention to hunger cues also play roles, but not having all the different flavors should help reduce how much they are eating.

Next time you are eating at home and eating out, think about how many different flavors are going on on your plate and around the table. Ask if all those different flavors make you want to eat more. If so, focus on eating a couple of them, then putting the rest away or in a “to go” bag for later when you really are hungry.

I have a client who is on a weight loss journey. She realizes that it is just that – a journey. When I met with her this week, she said something I found profound – “I’ve tried everything to lose weight except time.” WOW! That is so true. How many times have you tried to lose weight, and it hasn’t worked. The more I work with people who are trying to lose weight, the more I find that they want it to happen NOW! Unfortunately, “now” isn’t an option.

Some people can get weight loss “now” but “now” isn’t realistic for most people. The “reality” shows like Biggest Loser make it even harder for people to gauge realistic weight loss. What you don’t see in the 60 to 90 minutes of the show is that the contestants (yes, they are contestants) are working out 6+ hours per day in addition to watching their food. I don’t know anyone who has a full time job who can work out 6 hours per day.

For those that weight loss isn’t a “now” option, patience has to be developed to be successful. For some people, it can take two to three weeks of consistent eating and exercise for the scale to start to move. For these people, if they try a “diet” for two weeks and give up they can say “it didn’t work!” instead of realizing that it takes time.

Abraham Lincoln said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” If you have a weight loss goal in mind and a different body in your future, you can reach that goal by taking it one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time. Wow! There’s a lot of time in that last sentence.

As Mick Jagger said, “Time is on my side, yes it is.” Time is on your side, too, if you’re trying to change your body. Give yourself and your body some time – time to be successful.

I just read a study that evaluated the calorie content in foods in small and local restaurants that are exempt from listing calories on their menus under the new laws. I wasn’t surprised to find that, just like in large restaurant chains, there are a lot of calories in these restaurant foods.

The researchers took the most frequently ordered foods from 9 most common restaurant categories (including Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Thai, and American).  Although we know that restaurant meals contain more calories than what we cook at home, I was surprised by how many calories they contained – an average or 1327 calories! YIKES! That is almost an entire day of calories for me in ONE average restaurant meal!

Remember, these were considered “the most ordered meals” which means the most popular ones. If these are the meals most people are ordering, it’s no surprise that Americans keep expanding. Examples include: beef tacos, chicken fajitas, cheeseburger, 1/2 rack ribs, Kung pao chicken, Lasagna, and Chicken pad Thai. This didn’t include “healthier” options because they aren’t ordered as often.

Once again, it looks like the food industry is making us fat and unhealthy. What can you do to fight this trend? Here are some ideas:

• Become an informed consumer. Research calorie information before you go to a restaurant. You can use online tools like MyFitnessPal.com or SparkPeople.com  to find estimates of calorie information. An estimate is just that – a good guess. You don’t have to be perfect, but you can estimate – and always take the higher end of the estimate.
• Talk to the waiter about how the food is prepared and the size of the portion. Often, they can make suggestions on healthier options and things that may not even be on the menu.
• Split a meal. Restaurant portions are normally anywhere from 2 to 5 or more portions of what you should be eating. Splitting a meal with one or two people can help bring the portions down to size.
• Take extra home. Plan on having leftovers and taking at least half or 2/3 of the meal home to eat later.
• Order an appetizer and a salad as your meal. Appetizers can be the right size for a meal. An appetizer and a side salad or vegetable can make for a satisfying meal.

I got quite a few comments on my last post about athletes cutting calories and weight loss. When I re-posted the blog post, I included the one on calculating calories for weight maintenance. Below is the prior blog post that talks about how to calculate calories for weight loss. Enjoy!

Putting It All Together for Weight Loss (with slight revisions)

In order to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories than you burn – you need to create a calorie deficit. In order to lose a pound, you need to have a total deficit of 3,500 calories or about 500 calories per day for a pound per week loss. This deficit can be achieved by eating less, exercising more, or a combination of the two.

To calculate the calorie deficit, the first thing you need to know is how many calories you need a day to maintain your weight. This post has all the information to determine your maintenance calories on rest days. To get the calorie deficit, you can subtract 500 from your maintenance calories. We will call this your weight loss calorie goal. Now, you need to determine the best number of calories to use for your body.

• If your weight loss calorie goal is less than 1200 calories, your minimum should be 1200 calories. Research has shown that you cannot get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs by eating less than 1200 calories per day.
• If your weight loss calorie goal is below your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), you should use your RMR. If you eat less than your RMR over a period of time, your RMR will decrease making it harder to lose weight.
• If your weight loss calorie goal is greater than 1200 and greater than your RMR, use that number.

As an example, lets go back to Sandy, our marathon runner from the prior set of posts. Sandy’s maintenance calories on rest days are 1805. If we subtract 500 calories, this means Sandy would need to eat 1305 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week. However, Sandy’s RMR is 1377 calories. If Sandy was my client, and based on the guidance above, I would set her minimum calorie intake to 1377 calories (her RMR).

Now that we have your weight loss calorie goal, you need to determine how many calories you will burn working out and what you are going to do with those calories. You have three choices:

• Eat enough to makeup the difference between your workouts and weight loss calorie goal
• Put those calories towards your weight loss effort
• Eat some of them and put the rest towards your weight loss efforts

Part of your decision will be based on your overall goals. However, the most I recommend for a daily calorie deficit is 1000 calories. This would be a two pound per week weight loss.

Back to Sandy. If Sandy ran five days a week for a total of 18 miles, she would burn approximately 1800 additional calories over the course of a week (the general estimate is 100 calories per mile of running or walking). When I help people lose weight, I look at their calories over a week compared to a single day when the goal is weight loss. Our bodies do not have a reset button that gets pressed at midnight and weight gained or lost based on that total. Your body uses more of a 7 day average of calories in vs. calories out. Based on her weight loss calorie goal, Sandy’s daily deficit would be 428 calories (1805 – 1377)  which would be 2996 calories per week (428 * 7). Add to this number 1800 calories for her runs and her total weekly deficit would be 4796 calories. This would equal a loss of about 1.4 pounds per week (4796/3500). Based on this information, Sandy could eat an extra 185 calories per day ((4796 – 3500))/7) or base her intake on her daily workouts and eat more on her longer run days and less on her rest and short run days.

The next thing is to determine her protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs. To determine this information, I would suggest you read through the last post that explained how to do this in detail. I’ll go over a summary here. Based on the recommendations for protein, I’d recommend Sandy’s eating be based on 1.2 g/kg from protein, 0.8 g/kg from fat, and 2.4 g/kg from carbohydrates. The percentages below are based on her eating 1377 calories per day. On the days that she chooses to eat more, those calories should come from carbohydrates. Based on these recommendations, Sandy’s eating would be based on the following guidelines:

As you calculate your own eating guidelines, you will realize that it takes some tinkering to get the numbers right. I could play with Sandy’s more to reduce the calories from fat, but I know she likes nuts. In general, I do not go under 1.2 g/kg for protein, 25% total calories for fat, and 2 g/kg for carbohydrates.

I hope this helps you determine your own eating plan to lose weight. If you have questions, please let me know.

Recently, several clients have asked about how to tell if a food is high sugar. They always seem to ask about fruit – “isn’t fruit high in sugar?”

In my practice, I draw the line between two kinds of sugar – naturally occurring in the food, and added. I’m OK with naturally occurring sugar. If you eat a lot of fruit and log your food in an online program or app, it is going to look like your sugar intake is high. There are also naturally occurring sugars in some vegetables, dairy, and whole grains. However, since those sugars are naturally occurring in the food, I’m OK with it.

I get concerned is with sugar that is added to food – usually processed foods. When looking at a food label to tell if a food is “high sugar” there are two places to look. The first is the nutrition facts panel. Under “Carbohydrates” is a listing for “Sugars.” How do you know if the number of grams listed is “high”?  Divide the number of grams of sugar by 4 and that tells you how many teaspoons of sugar are in the product. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (24 grams) per day for women and 9 teaspoons for men (36 grams).

You also have to consider the food – is it a trail mix with dried fruit? If so, the sugar may be naturally occurring in the dried fruit. However, you also need to look at the ingredient list (I’m constantly surprised at how much sugar is added to food – even dried fruits!). If you see sugar, or one of the “hidden” names of sugar, in the first three ingredients it is considered a “high sugar food.” Not sure all the “hidden” names of sugar? Here’s a list from the Harvard School of Public Health with a some of them.

When trying to determine if a food is “high sugar,” we have to do some detective work. I’d encourage you to start reading those nutrition facts panels and ingredient lists. When I was shopping a couple of weeks ago, I found some tomato sauce (just tomato sauce, not pasta sauce) that was filled with sugar! Being an informed consumer makes you an empowered consumer!

When working with an athlete to plan his/her nutrition, one of the first things I look at are the products being used. In general, there is a limit to the number of carbohydrates our body can absorb and use. And, the type of carbohydrate relates to how much we can absorb and use. The main types of carbohydrates in sports foods are glucose and fructose. The longer chain, complex carbohydrates are, ultimately, broken down to glucose and/or fructose before they can be absorbed in the intestines and used as fuel by the muscles.

Absorption of glucose and fructose happens through transporters. Think of these transporters like doors. Glucose has two doors it can go through (GLUT-1

and GLUT-4) while fructose can use another two (GLUT-2 and GLUT-5). The more doors you use, the more fuel you can get into your body and your muscles. Imagine a crowd leaving a football game having to squeeze through two doors. Then, imagine opening up two more. The crowd is able to get out quicker through four doors than two. This has direct implications for choosing which products you are going to use when training and racing. Something similar as to the crowd going out the doors happens with your gut and muscles. The more doors you use, the more fuel that can  reach the working muscles and provide them with more energy to keep working.

Choosing products that have a mix of glucose and fructose allows your body to use four doors rather than two to absorb the fuel. Research has shown that a ratio of 2 grams of glucose for every gram of fructose is optimal for absorption. What does this mean for you?

When you are looking at sport nutrition products, look at the ingredient list, not just the number of carbohydrates. You may have to Google some of the ingredients to determine if they are glucose or fructose. It can be worth the time to find out. Then, start experimenting and see if you can increase the amount of fuel you can take in my mixing glucose and fructose sources.

Have fun training and racing!

Lately, many of my clients are asking about making better choices. When I talk with them I find that most of my clients are eating pretty well. There is always things that could be changed, but we can’t be perfect all the time. I focus on making the best choice you can 80 to 90% of the time. Focusing on the 80 to 90% rule gives us some wiggle room to have that chocolate cake, pie, or occasional trip to Chuy’s (my favorite local TexMex restaurant).

We also often find ourselves without great choices available. We are out running errands, at a ball game, etc. and get hungry. We didn’t pack snacks with us. Occasionally I end up asking myself, “What am I going to order from the snack bar at the ballpark?” Personally, I look through all the choices and consciously choose what I’ll have. Then, I have to own that decision. If I’m unhappy about being in that situation, I also think through what I’d do differently next time – maybe put a KIND bar or two in my purse or eat before I head to the ballpark. Then, next time I’m going to the ballpark, I think remember what happened last time and take action.

The key is that when you find yourself without “good” choices available, to make the best choice you can rather than just giving up. If you look around and take a couple of minutes to think, you usually can come up with something that is better than the rest of the things that are available.

The Paleo Diet has been gaining in popularity the last couple of years. There are a lot of things I like about the Paelo Diet – the focus on lean meats and non-starchy veggies and elimination of processed foods to name three. I’m not a fan of eliminating  groups of foods like grains, dairy and legumes. That said, a lot of people find they feel better not eating the eliminated foods. If you want to try it, I’m all for it. However, if you’re an endurance athlete with workouts that are 2 hours or more, you may need to strategically add in some starches.

If you want to follow Paleo, but also have quality endurance workouts, you need to add in some starches around your workouts. What are starches? Starches include anything that is grain-based (breads, pastas, rice, etc.) as well as starchy vegetables including potatoes, sweet potatoes/yams, corn, and peas. As an endurance athlete, you can add starchy foods in to your eating up to 2 hours before, during and up to 2 hours after your workout. Starchy foods give your body a good, quick source of energy for your workouts when eaten before and during. Having them after gives your body the sugar it needs to refill the glycogen stores in your muscles so you’re ready to go at your next workout.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes! If you’re used or are using Paleo I’d love to hear about your experience!

Have a great week!

A while back, I talked about putting together a When Life Works List (WLWL). I’ve been putting mine together and finding the things I need to do to help my life run smoothly. I face a lot of the same problems other busy people face – including being sure I have good food to eat rather than eating out all the time.

Two things I’ve put on my WLWL are: 1) planning my meals, and 2) preparing for success.

When I say “preparing for success” it really means preparing my food (since I’ve already planned it) and having it ready to go. I put all my food for the next day together the night before – breakfast (either put it together or know exactly what I’m having), lunch and snacks. If I’m having a sandwich or salad, I don’t like all the pieces together (soggy bread is one of my least favorite things). I put each thing in a separate container so I don’t have to worry about the items not being fresh when I get to them.  Everything is all together in one place in the refrigerator. I’m sure my cold packs for my lunch box are in the freezer.  This makes putting everything together in the morning quick and easy. It takes away the excuses for not taking lunch and snacks.  If you think you’re going to forget your food, put your keys with it – you’re not leaving the house without your keys so you won’t forget your food.

Have you put your WLWL together yet? What’s on your list? Let me know! I like it when we can learn from each other.

One of my interns, Jessica Lim, wrote this post when she was with me last month. Enjoy!

You probably know…it’s almost Valentine’s Day. And all those aisles of red and pink edible goodies in the supermarket are so enticing. However, if you or your loved one are trying to stick with the New Year’s resolution of being healthy or losing weight, you may want to consider some alternative Valentine’s Day gifts that support your hard work. Gifts probably most appreciated are those that are well thought-out and meaningful. Hope this will help! Here are some mostly non-food gift ideas:

Experiential gifts can help you create new memories together.

• Dance lessons
• Cooking classes (Sur La Table, Central Market, etc)
• Kayaking/Sailing/Windsurfing/Paddle boarding
• Art/Painting classes (Houston Art Lessons, Art Class & Wine Glass, Pinots Palette, etc)
• Dinner cruise and dancing

Gifts with sentimental value

• Build-A-Bear together
• Adopt-a-pet
• Donate in your loved one’s name/Support a social cause together (World Vision, Compassion International, etc)

Feeling generous

• Massage or spa treatment
• Clothes shopping for a new outfit
• Maid service to clean the house once, or more than once

Based on hobbies

• Seed kits/gardening tools
• Potted plants
• E-book reader, e-book/print book
• Music

Traditional Gifts

• Flowers
• Jewelry
• Fragrance (try personalizing the bottle)

Other gift options

• Your time – spend some quality time together or do something for your loved one – a chore around the house
• Accessories for electronic devices
• Edible Arrangements
• Harry and David fruit