Tag Archives: MyFitnessPal

Know What’s in Your Food

Posted on September 3, 2011 by TheHealthyHappyTeacher

Let’s be honest and I know it’s safe to say most of us eat too much. You eat tons of calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without thinking about what is in the food or what it is doing to your body. If you work in an office setting you are more than likely eating way more than someone who does not. If you are truly serious about losing weight and getting back in shape it’s time to get a smaller plate. In EVERY post I talk about food I’m also going to continue to push and be an advocate for  MyFitnessPal. Like I stated before adding that app on my phone and registering for the site online changed my life. I even got mad when I thought about the days I didn’t cook and all the crap I ate on those days. I was literally killing myself. Hopefully, the information I give will help you like it has helped me. NO, I’m NOT a doctor. NO, I am NOT a nurse practitioner. NO, I an NOT a nutritionist. NO, I am NOT a certified personal trainer. As I stated in my bio I asked my primary physician to refer me to someone for weight loss and I started seeing a nurse practitioner. She gave me tons of information so I am sharing it with you FOR FREE. 🙂

One of the many things the nurse practitioner gave me was a magazine called Power of Prevention.  It has a great article written in it called “How Much Should I Be Eating?” by Dr. Elise Brett. The topic of the article is Counting Calories for Weight Management. I’m going to sum up the article for you then tell you how to read and understand food labels. Let me be the first to say counting calories is NOT easy. With soooooo many people using smart phones you can download diet and exercise apps for FREE to your phone!!! It’s way better than writing your food and exercise down. The KEY sentence in the first paragraph of the article is, “If you truly want to lose weight, it boils down to calories in vs. calories out, not matter where the calories come from.” Basically she is saying it doesn’t take a diet to lose weight you just need to manage what you eat. Next paragraph she defined what a calorie is. “A calorie is a unit of energy.” Throughout the rest of the article she explained what your calorie intake should be to maintain or lose weight. She also broke this down by gender. As I stated last week men and women lose weight different due to our bodies. According to Dr. Brett most adult women need 1600-1800 calories per day to maintain their current weight; men need 2000-2200 calories. She also talked about the REE or resting energy expenditure. The REE is the amount of calories you burn per day if you did nothing. You can also use Self Nutrition Data or Health Status which are free websites to get your BMI calculations and other information.  BUT, first you need to determine what YOU want your goal weight to be AND it needs to be a healthy weight recommended by your primary physician. According to the BMI my weight should be between 121-155. I am NOT trying to get as small as 121; I would look like a crackhead. My current calorie goal is 1500 per day but I average between 1200-1400. I know you are like WHOA NELLY you starving. Actually I’m not and since my body is well adjusted to my current eating lifestyle I cannot eat like I use too. BUT, back to the article. Most diets don’t work because people get bored with eating the same foods all day everyday. According to Dr. Brett if your goal is to LOSE weight you need to be eating 1000-1200 calories per day for women and 1500-1800 per day for men. WELL, if I go under 1200 calories MyFitnessPal will say it’s too low when I close my food an exercise diary for the day. Dr. Brett ended the article by saying, “The bottom line is: if you want to lose weight, eat fewer calories.”

SO, now that you know you need to lighten up your plate the MOST IMPORTANT thing to know is what is really on your plate. Not only do you need to watch your calorie intake you also need to pay more attention to what’s in your food. The key things you need to look at on food labels are the following: serving size, calories per serving, fat, sodium, sugar, and cholesterol. For example frozen dinners and canned foods are VERY high in sodium. They are loaded with sodium to preserve the food. According to the Mayo Clinic you should reduce your sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day. If you are 51 yrs or older it needs to be less than 1500 mg per day. You should be eating as less fat and sugar as possible. BUT BEWARE of foods that claim to be fat free. Some of them are still loaded with sugar. ALSO, if you buy juice make sure it says “NO ADDED SUGAR” on the front. Even though some fruit juices are 100% juice they are STILL loaded with sugar per serving. I am going to show you a sample food label and it breaks down the things to pay attention too:

Notice this sample food label shows you what to look for and why! Here is another sample food label:

One thing I didn’t do was deprive myself of certain snacks I like to eat. HOWEVER, if I decide to treat myself and eat one of those snacks I actually ate the serving size. For example I LOVE me some Chewy Chips Ahoy. WELL, 2 cookies is 1 serving and that is 120 calories. NOW, what it I ate more than those two cookies? You see how fast those calories shoot up. YES, it takes a LOT of discipline to eat ONLY the serving size BUT when you get close to your goal weight like me it will be a breeze for you. Here is a link to a great article the Mayo Clinic did on reading food labels: Nutrition and Healthy Eating. I HIGHLY recommend you read it and start paying more attention to what you are putting in your body. Eat fewer calories is pointless if the food is loaded with fat, sodium, and sugar. You ALSO MUST exercise. YES, you can lose a little weight by eating less BUT exercise is a MUST to reach your goal the healthy way. You know your body better than I do. If you are serious about getting healthy and getting in shape PLEASE seek advice from you primary physician FIRST!!! I truly appreciate all the feedback and comments about my blog BUT I am NOT a doctor. I just have a head full of knowledge that was given to me and information I researched on my own. I will also provide FACTS and professional information with anything I post so you can check it out for yourself. BUT the best place to get information is from you OWN doctor.

TRUST ME, you know if you are overweight or obese even IF you don’t want to label yourself as such. You doctor will be more than happy and excited to help once they see you are serious about your health.  NOT ONLY KNOW what you are eating BUT LEARN how to eat better. It will be hard and YOU will fall off the wagon a few times BUT get back on and keep the train rolling. I’m hear to inspire, encourage, and help the best way I can. Show me some love and leave a friendly hello to let me know you stopped by. And please feel free to share my blog. Thanks again for all the love and support.

#HealthyMakesYouSexy

NO, I’m NOT a doctor. NO, I am NOT a nurse practitioner. NO, I an NOT a nutritionist. NO, I am NOT a certified personal trainer.

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Just Say NO to Diets

Posted on August 22, 2011 by TheHealthyHappyTeacher

 

 

    The most irritating thing I get asked by people since I started my healthy lifestyle is “What diet are you on or are you doing Weight Watchers?” Don’t get me wrong YES I have tired “fad diets” before and NO I did not like them. Has this process been easy for me? NO! Do I always eat 100% healthy all the time? NO!! The one thing I have learned since I’ve been on this roller coaster ride to getting healthy is how to make better eating choices. There are days where I say “I’m going to eat what I want and not worry about what I’m eating.” BUT, those days have turned into maybe once or twice a month versus damn near everyday. Let’s be honest here. The Special K plan sounds like a good idea BUT do you really want to eat Special K products all day everyday and rabbit food for dinner? Also, certain Special K products are not as healthy as they are advertised. I’ll touch on learning how to read labels on food next week.  Another fad diet is the “Master Cleanse.” They have even thrown out names like “Beyonce did the Master Cleanse and lost 20lbs.” It really doesn’t matter if she did the cleanse or not. The truth is the Master Cleanse is not wise or healthy to do; I actually have the book. You can look up the Master Cleanse I’ve talked about it enough and I refuse to advocate diets especially “fad diets.” What I have learned about some fad diets they do provide healthy facts about some things and mislead you on others. So through all the research I’ve done over the years about food, diets, and detoxing I’ve taking the good and disregarded the bad. I will touch on the important things that have been  major part of my current success with losing weight. Knowing what to eat and what is a healthy portion is essential to getting healthy and staying healthy.

    When I REALLY decided to get serious about getting healthy and losing weight I asked my doctor to refer me to a nutritionist. She never told me I was overweight or obese so she was kind of surprised when I asked. She also took a second look at my chart since by appearance alone I didn’t look overweight. The nutritionist provided me with all the same information she gives to her patients with diabetes. So I incorporated that information with the same things I’ve read in Jorge Cruise and Lee Labrada’s book. Jorge Cruise has the three rules of the plate: Eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking up, Eat every 3 hours, and stop eating 3 hours before bed.  The eating every three hours was one of the tips that not only stuck out the most for me but is also worked. Jeanette Jenkins “The Hollywood Trainer,” states not to eat 2 to 2 1/2 hours before bed. I’ll will talk about Jeanette Jenkins more next week. The purpose of eating more than 3 meals per day is to increase your metabolism.  As you get older you know it starts to slow down. Spreading out your food throughout the day also helps you burn more calories.   Finally when you stop eating 2 to 3 hours before bedtime you are giving your body the proper amount of time to digest your food properly. According to Jorge when you eat late your body spends its energy on digestion instead of repairing and firming your muscles. I will HIGHLY suggest you take these tips VERY serious if you are serious about getting in shape and healthy. Eating small meals does not equal eating big meals each time. For example you may eat fruit and oatmeal for breakfast, apple or cup of nuts (snack/meal), lean turkey sandwich for lunch, 100 cal bag of popcorn (snack/meal), lean meat and veggies for dinner, and cup of grapes as your final meal or snack. Planning and preparing your meals and snacks each night is a VERY important step to a healthier lifestyle.

    It’s VERY crucial to know how to prepare a balance HEALTHY meal. I swear by my measuring cups and spoons. YES, it was extremely hard at first to get adjusted to eating portion sized meals BUT the outcome has been very rewarding for me. Since I am use to eating less food on my plate it’s hard and painful for me to overeat now. AND when I say painful I mean painful in a I am really in pain way. Felling like I have a pound of bricks in my stomach after over indulging is NOT a good feeling.  SO, I have given you the 3 plate rule now I need to give you what should be on your plate. Everyone who knows me know I am a HUGE advocate for MyFitnessPal. The app is not only FREE to use it has been a HUGE key to my current success as well. HOWEVER, you must understand how to use the app properly in order to properly document what you eat during the day. Everything you enter in MyFitnessPal is based on portions or serving size. For example, if you buy the salad mix to make  a salad with the bag will state 1 cup as 1 serving. This means you will have to use a measuring cup to make sure you have one cup. This is why I suggest you prepare your meals at night. MyFitnessPal also has a great catalog  of popular grocery stores, food brands, and restaurant chains. So here is the rule of thirds by Lee Labrada: 1/3 of protein, 1/3 of carb, and 1/3 of veggies, salad, or fruit should be on your plate. This means your main meals should follow the rule of thirds. Next week I will provide a list of foods that are healthy I swear by and pretty much all the fitness experts and nutritionist I love require you to eat. Not everything is bad for you and will cause cancer. You DO need carbs because they provide the fuel you need and help you burn fat. Protein is important for building muscle. AND ladies chill with the “I don’t want to look like a man” crap. The ONLY way you will have manly athletic muscles is IF you are doing weight lifting with heavy weights everyday and eating a certain meal plan.  You can NEVER eat too many fruits and veggies. HOWEVER, be careful eating certain types of fruit because they have high calories and natural sugar. An example is a banana. They have 110 calories or more depending on the size. I’m not saying don’t eat bananas because they are great to eat before or after a workout. BUT, don’t eat more than two a day if you just love bananas that much.

     In conclusion I truly hope this information is helpful to you. BUT do know I an NOT a doctor, nutritionist, nurse, or certified personal trainer. All, information I have provided is based on my own personal research and reinforced with facts based on the information provided by the nutritionist I was seeing. Fad diets may work for that moment BUT they are not healthy and people usually gain what they lose plus more after getting off the diet. We are living in a society where people want instant gratification for everything. BUT, when it comes to getting healthy and getting in shape it MUST be done the proper way. Think about the people you know who lost a large amount of weight in a short period of time. Are they still in shape? Did they keep the weight off? What about their physical appearance? Like I’ve mentioned before I STRONGLY suggest starting your journey by doing a HEALTHY detox. Eat nothing BUT fruits, veggies, and drink half you current body weight in water for TWO weeks. After you complete the detox start gradually cutting unhealthy foods, especially junk food, out of your life. Start following the 3 plate and 3 thirds rule the next two weeks while still drinking half your body weight in water. I also suggest you join MyFitnessPal, download the app to your phone, and start documenting what you eat. Once you register online and download the app to your phone you log in via your phone. This way you can document what you eat throughout the day without logging onto your computer to do so. I feel like a lost child if I forget my phone and not have access to MyFitnessPal. It will truly change the way you eat and make you think twice about eating certain foods. MOST IMPORTANT you need to set a daily calorie goal. The app will give you a goal based on your weight and height info but you can change it. My current goal is 1500 and I usually eat between 1200-1400 per day. BUT also know it will give you calories back after you log your workouts. DO NOT count those calories it gives you back ONLY count what’s left based on what you’ve already entered under your food journal.

    PLAY PLAY time is OVER and it’s time to put all the lame excuses to rest. Either you want to get in shape or you don’t. If I can do it I know you can too. I STRONGLY encourage you to get with a circle of people who are SERIOUS about getting healthy, will stay on your butt worse than an army drill sergeant, and make you accountable for your slacking. If you are tired of what you are seeing in the mirror ONLY YOU can change that. GET IT TOGETHER AND LET’S GET HEALTHY TOGETHER!!! Just Say NO to Diets and YES to better eating choices and a healthier lifestyle!!

#HealthyMakesYouSexy

p.s. If you stopped by let me know you were here. I welcome all feed back good or bad and I want the critique. IMy goal is to share my journey and inspire others. Whatever I can do to improve my writing or post I welcome the feedback. Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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