Go Play Outside! So says Granparents.com who is challenging grandparents to spend time outside with their grandchildren this summer. Be sure to log in play hours at www.grandparents.com/play because for each hour a donation will be made to KaBOOM!, which is a non-profit organization that empowers communities to build playgrounds.

Not only will you bond with your grandkids and laugh a lot, but you will burn lots of calories when you engage in regular physical activities outside. And the children, who live a much more sedentary lifestyle then you did when you were a child, will also benefit from the physical play activity. This topic reminds of comedian Jay Mohr’s story about how his son was complaining that he didn’t have the latest video gaming system. Jay’s response was, “Do you know what we had growing up? We had OUTSIDE”! I love that line, it cracks me up!

Kids who are more physically active then kids who spend many hours in front of the T.V., playing video and computer games, are healthier in body and in mind. The CDC states that childhood obesity has quadrupled in the past decade, and Time Magazine wrote in its June 12^th 2008 issue that, “overweight children are more likely than healthy weight kids to be depressed and anxious”.  And physical activity benefits grandparents not only to help weight loss, but it is excellent for promoting for heart health, for lowering cholesterol, for increasing energy levels, and for stress reduction.

[Read more →]

When I discovered BeFitMom.com, I was 15 months post-partum and after reading the website I wished I’d found it sooner to aid my post-partum weight loss. But, even nearly one and half years post-partum, I was still having a hard time losing my mummy-tummy because my pregnancy caused a severe abdominal separation called, diastasis recti, so I lost the abdominal muscle tone to keep my belly tight and firm; instead I had a poochy belly.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I read that BeFitMom.com sells a DVD called “Bounce Back Fast! Post Natal Core Conditioning” which features a complete, alternate, modified workout for mothers who have abdominal separation. The DVD also instructs on how to check for and measure abdominal separation. Mine started at a whooping 3 fingers width separation. And now, thankfully, after working out with this DVD, following instructions I found on the BeFit-Mom website, as well as doing daily exercises prescribed by my physical therapist, Isa Herrera, the separation is down to one fingers width, which is considered within the normal range. I am so excited because my belly is looking flatter, and the back pain that I was still experiencing 15 months post-partum is reducing because I am strengthening my abdominal wall as well as retraining the pelvic floor.

The DVD, comprised of three segments, comes with a free fitness band.  The first segment is appropriate for women to begin soon after birth with, “Gentle First Moves”. This segment is 30 minutes long, featuring safe, restorative exercises, speeds recovery from labor and delivery and relieves aches and pains.

The second workout, “Bounce Back Fast” which builds off the first segment while providing a more challenging, total body workout is 35 minutes long. New moms can easily sneak in this work out time while baby is taking a nap. This second segment will help you, flatten and tone all four layers of the abdominal wall, strengthen deep core muscles, repair abdominal separation, build upper body strength for lifting and carrying and more.

The bonus materials include postpartum exercise, pelvic floor reconditioning, abdominal separation and self-test, post-natal abdominal training.

The Bounce Back Fast DVD is a must have for post-partum moms wanting to lose weight and to recover from child birth or c-section quickly.

Befitmom.com also has a special information page with other tips for healthy post-partum weight loss.

The New York Times reported on a study that shows that women who exercise moderately, like brisk walking, have lower LDL (unhealthy) cholesterol then women who exercised less. So keeping up a regular routine is very important not only for weight loss, but also for heart health.

The Times reports: Each hour of moderate exercise or half-hour of vigorous activity was associated with a decrease of almost 4 milligrams per deciliter of LDL cholesterol in white women, and more than 10 milligrams for black women. And for women past menopause, the benefits were even greater: 5.9 milligrams for whites and 14.68 for blacks.

In my practice, I often recommend that patients who are trying to lose weight, and who have high cholesterol, and/or heart disease supplement their healthy diet with Fish Oils, B-Complex and Digestive Enzymes. EPA and DHA from fish oil promote cardiovascular health by supporting healthy triglyceride and lipid metabolism, maintaining healthy blood flow, and supporting healthy platelet function. B-Complex aids in the metabolism of fats, and digestive enzymes aid in the breakdown of plant fats, animal fats and dairy fats.

A combination of regular moderate exercise, a healthy diet and vitamin supplementation, should help many women to lose weight, maintain weight loss, and reduce the incidence of heart disease.

You may actually be craving the high levels of Magnesium found in chocolate. Does that mean you should eat chocolate with wild abandon to make up for a Magnesium deficiency? No! In fact, there are stimulants in chocolate that you’d best avoid ingesting on a regular basis such as caffeine and caffeine’s cousin, theobromine (a toxin which can actually kill a dog). And as someone who is trying to lose weight, you can also do without all the calories most chocolate treats packs.

Instead of overloading your body with stimulants and promoting sugary tooth decay get your Magnesium from such food sources as green vegetables, beans and whole grains. Those foods are healthier for a weight loss diet.

If you really have the need to eat chocolate every so often, then treat yourself to a high quality brand of dark chocolate to really satisfy your craving instead of gorging on cheap chocolate.

One Godiva is worth a dozen Snickers.

Green tea is an important part of your weight loss plan because it stimulates the body to burn calories more effectively and reduces body fat. The chemical components of green tea thought to be responsible for these benefits are Epigallocatechins (EGCG). Drinking green tea 2-3 times daily along with eating a healthy, balanced diet can enhance rapid weight loss.

Green Tea Connoisseur

I love tasting different green teas; much like a wine connoisseur enjoys tasting different wine varietals. I too enjoy tasting wine but that is another story! Green tea comes in many varieties and flavors. The most widely regarded varieties of green tea for weight loss are Oolong and Pu-erh. My personal favorites are Oolong and Sencha. Comment to this post and tell me what your favorite is.

More Weight Loss Benefits of Drinking Green Tea

Less Calories. When you drink 3 cups of green tea per day, you are less likely to drink calorie rich beverages containing sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), because the tea acts as a substitute. The less sugar and HFCS in your diet, the less calories you consume.

More Filling. The caffeine in green tea acts as a mild appetite suppressant, and drinking fluids fills the stomach helping to curb over-eating.

Flavor Variety. If you are bored with flat tasting water, you can get the benefits of drinking water for weight loss and drinking green tea for weight loss. Green teas come in flavors such as jasmine, mint, peach, papaya, orange blossom, strawberry and much more. Vote for your favorite blend!

Drink Hot or Iced. Hot tea is great to clear the head, enhance focus, and can decongest your chest and sinuses. Iced tea is a summer classic. You can make a sweet and healthy version without using calorie rich white sugar. Instead, just pick a sweet flavor of green tea, like peach, then add stevia or agave sweetener. Both stevia and agave are low on the glycemic index. Raspberry tea is naturally sweet. Try steeping Oolong and raspberry tea leaves together.

Green Tea Offers Great Health Benefits:

Lowers LDL cholesterol

Improves, clarifies and beautifies skin

Slows growth of, or prevents some cancers found in the bladder, breasts and skin

Relieves fatigue and increase focus

Speeds weight loss

Reduces bowel inflammation; ulcerative colitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease,   Crohn’s Disease

                                 Learn more

Avoid drinking green tea if you are:

Pregnant or nursing

Sensitive to caffeine

Allergic to tannins

Have kidney or bladder problems

Have iron deficiency anemia

Infants and young children should not drink green tea

People with liver disease should avoid taking the extract of green tea.

Green tea is safe for most people who drink it in moderation. Drink no more then three cups per day. Drinking green tea should never be used as meal replacement.

Muffins, light and fluffy are so delicious for breakfast. Some contain fruit, like blueberries. And blueberries are good for us since they are packed with healthy anti-oxidants.

But are muffins healthy?

Twenty years ago the average blueberry muffin was 1.5 ounces and 210 calories. But today, a blueberry muffin weighs in at 5 ounces and contains 500 calories, says the National Institute for Health. That is nearly 1/3 of your calories for the whole day if you are on a 1,600 calorie diet. And, that muffin does not represent a balanced breakfast.

A balanced meal must contain a significant amount of whole grains, healthy fats and protein. So if you want to lose weight, forget about the bakery muffins.  But I like muffins and want to eat them yet, I don’t bake much making it hard to create my own healthy muffins.  Recently though, I found a tasty and healthier alternative to bakery muffins. They are Vitalicious Muffins. I love these healthy additions to my weight loss diet and don’t feel deprived of yummy muffins. Plus, they are high in fiber, are made from whole grains, and are low in calories. To make eating a muffin a complete breakfast, spread on some nut butter such as peanut, cashew, or my favorite, almond butter. Nut butters contain protein and healthy fats, so when  in combination with the whole grain muffin you have made yourself a complete power breakfast! Simple, isn’t it? When you try them, let me know what you think by commenting to this post.

What Are Bad Fats?
Saturated Fats: Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Trans Fats aka Hydrogenated Oils: Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Where Are Bad Fats Found?
Fatty Red Meat, Poultry, Pork (focus on eating lean cuts of meat) Skin of poultry and pork High-Fat Dairy products (20% or more fat per serving) such as cheese. Vegetable oil Palm oil Palm kernel oil Margarine Butter Lard Shortening Ghee Cakes & cookies baked in the above Fried foods (including fish and vegetables).

REDUCE “BAD” FAT INTAKE WITH THESE TIPS

1. Before cooking, always remove visible fat from meat including the skins and avoid deep-frying.
2. Try out un-fried recipes or steam, stir-fry, broil or grill meat and poultry instead. I highly recommend the George Forman indoor grill.
3. Avoid soups and stews and gravy cooked with high fat meats or poultry and/or skins on.
4. High fat red meats look marbled because the white marbling is the fat distribution through the meat. The less white marbling through the meat means the fat content is lower. Trim fat from the edges of the cut.
5. Buy low fat dairy products like reduced fat milk and yogurt products or replace with soy, rice, almond, or hemp milk products.
6. To fry choose safflower oil, sunflower oil, soy oil or canola oil as these oils have higher smoke point. It is best not to fry with olive oil as its smoke point is only about 190C/375F.
7. Confused about the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol levels? Try to remember HDL=HEALTHY and we want to keep LDL LOW

Regular cardiovascular exercise is key to burning fat. Cardio exercise creates heat to melt fat. Think of what happens when you cook a fatty piece of meat, all that congealed fat within the muscle, melts off. 

The American Heart Association recommends cardiovascular exercise 4 times a week for 40 minutes (non-stop).  Make sure to meet your target heart rate. Check out this link to find yours.

Some people have chronic pain syndromes which preclude them from the usual cardio exercises such as elliptical machines or aerobic classes. Start by walking five minutes a day, even if you walk inside your home. Slowly build your energy and strength. Consult with an exercise expert such as your doctor, physical therapist or fitness trainer to help design an exercise routine to fit your needs. Be careful not to overdo it and cause more pain which can lead to a set back. Take it one step at a time.

Over-eating fatty, greasy, fried and oily foods can lead to indigestion.

If this happens to you then avoid ingesting alcohol, greasy, fried, oily and hard to digest foods. In general, avoid overeating because consistent over-eating leads to becoming overweight. If you have indigestion, only eat easy to digest plain food, such as sweet potato or chicken noodle soups or slow-cooked oats until the food stagnation passes. Eat papaya, or pineapple to aid digestion and/or take digestive enzymes with meals. Drink ginger and lemon tea or orange peel tea to settle nausea. If there you have constipation, eat an apple or drink aloe vera juice. After eating, take a 20 minute leisurely walk which will move stagnation and aid digestion. Always wait at least 30 minutes to lie down after eating.

Chinese Medicine Has A Say About Fats:

Dairy and fatty meats or foods containing high levels of saturated fats (all the fats in the AVOID column if the chart) could be classified according to Chinese medicine as foods which are damp, cold, or that which create damp heat. These foods can stagnate the free flow of qi movement throughout the body. There is a saying in Chinese Medicine: Where there is pain there is no free flow. Where there is free flow there is no pain. Stagnation could cause pain. The dampness may block the channels along which the qi and blood are supposed to move freely. If you are having pain in your body- headaches, menstrual or back pain etc., try eliminating or reducing fatty.  Foods which produce damp heat such as greasy, oily and fried foods tend to stagnate the Liver qi. This could lead to acid reflux, stomach ulcers, constipation, irritability, and even make one easy to anger.  

Find a Chinese Medical Practitioner Near You at  http://www.tcmdirectory.com

Modern nutritional research shows that overeating foods containing saturated fats, like those found in high fat meats and high fat dairy, contributes to high cholesterol and that many patients with high cholesterol also have high blood pressure. Both high cholesterol and high blood pressure are comorbidity factors of over weight and obesity. The single Chinese herbs Shan Zha (Fructus Crataegi) and Ji Nei Jin (Gigeriae galli Endothelium Corneum) treat food stagnation due to overeating rich foods, meat, fats and dairy. Both of these herbs have been found to lower cholesterol levels, and Shan Zha has been shown to lower blood pressure. We also use Ji Nei Jin to treat kidney and gall stones. Modern research confirms that gall stones are often related to overeating saturated fats and/or a history of obesity and that kidney stones are often related to gout. According to Chinese medicine, high blood pressure, stone conditions and gout are often classified as liver gallbladder damp heat conditions. We also find that eating rich foods can cause or aggravate liver gallbladder damp heat conditions. Therefore, it is wise for patients with this pattern to avoid foods high in saturated fats to heal the liver gallbladder imbalance, clear heat and consequentially lower LDL cholesterol.

In conclusion, there are many compelling reasons to change your sources of dietary fats such as healthier cardio-vascular health and weight lose.

For more information about food, diet, healthy weight loss and acupuncture weight loss read:

Chinese Medicine & Healthy Weight Management An Integrated Evidence-Based Approach
by Juliette Aiyana, L.Ac.

Article written by: Juliette Aiyana, L.Ac., Author of Chinese Medicine & Healthy Weight Management

Fats are high in calories, 9 calories per gram, which increase weight gain. Saturated and trans-fats increase blood lipid levels so reducing cholesterol intake is necessary for good health, especially good cardiac health. So it would seem that by eliminating fats from our diet we would lose weight and reduce cholesterol. But are all fats bad?

  Myth: All fats are bad. Avoid all foods containing fats.

Misinformed Americans went on decidedly low fat diets, mainly to induce fast weight loss, yet we have gained weight of epidemic proportions and heart disease remains our number one cause of death and causes disability. Eating good fats can actually lower your unhealthy cholesterol (LDL) and raise healthy cholesterol (HDL). Also, eating healthy fats with carbohydrates slows the glucose load (blood sugars) in your blood stream thus helping to reduce weight gain. In fact the FDA tells us “Fat is a major source of energy for the body and aids in the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids. Both animal and plant-derived food products contain fat, and when eaten in moderation, fat is important for proper growth, development, and maintenance of good health. As a food ingredient, fat provides taste, consistency, and stability and helps us feel full. In addition, parents should be aware that fats are an especially important source of calories and nutrients for infants and toddlers (up to 2 years of age), who have the highest energy needs per unit of body weight of any age group”. Besides, who wants to go on a bland fat free diet when fat tastes so good?

Newsflash! There are good fats and bad fats. You can brighten up that bland fat free diet with beneficial fats.

Get fat into your diet;  just make sure you chose the right kinds of fat.

The Good Fats

Monounsaturated Fats: Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Polyunsaturated Fats: Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.

The Bad Fats

Saturated Fats: Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).

Trans Fats: Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Eat These Fats:

Monounsaturated fats and Polyunsaturated fats such as;

Olives Nuts Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, hemp) Avocados

Olive Oil Flax seed oil Safflower oil Canola oil Sunflower oil Corn oil Grapeseed oil

Herring Mackerel Salmon Trout Sardines Albacore tuna

Avoid or Reduce These Fats:

Saturated fats and Trans fats AKA Transfatty acids AKA Hydrogenated fats

[Read more →]