Calories Are a Good Thing!

My last post that encourages people to Get Off The 'Sick Cycle Diet Carousel' in 2012 has identified with a lot of people on Facebook and Twitter judging by the retweets and shares.  I wanted to dedicate some of the next handful of posts on expanding upon aspects of the diet carousel.

Let’s discuss the pink elephant in the room when it comes to weight control.  When was the last time that calories were discussed in a positive light?  Everywhere you look – you see articles written about how to minimize, decrease, eliminate and avoid extra calories.  We were saturated with it over the holidays.  I completely understand the general premise behind these suggestions.  Adults and children are more obese than ever due to calorie imbalance, so the logical recommendation is to find ways to decrease extra calories for weight management.  But what does the constant bombardment of painting a negative light on calories do for our society?  I will tell you what it does – it makes most people fearful of calories and too much fear has never helped anyone.  I see it every day in my private practice.  We need to put calories in perspective, and we need to see the potential of what we can do with quality calories.

Calories, or kilocalories in the biochemistry world, is a measure of energy needed to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.  It is literally the way your body maintains energy to survive.  Without calories, our bodies would die.  It is an obvious statement, but it’s important to remember that calories are actually a good thing.  Too many calories taken into the body without sufficient calories expended will yield weight gain.  On the other hand, not enough calories taken in as compared to energy expended will yield weight loss.  In dietetics, I work with many children and adults that are not taken in enough calories – and their health is negatively impacted as well.  With children, inadequate calorie intake will stunt their growth so it is essential to get them back on track.

Now here is the fundamental problem that I have with many people these days.  Many health-minded adults have been groomed to be afraid of calories.  If you do not take in sufficient amount of calories, these things may occur:

·         Inability to build lean muscle, which is what drives the rate at which you burn calories

·         Lack of motivation to be very active

·         The body may not have enough energy to support basic functions such as fighting off illness or infection

·         Fatigue, irritability, insomnia that can confused for depression (seen frequently)

·         Inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals (resulting in other negative symptoms and issues)

For those of you that know me, you know I am a huge promoter of a very active lifestyle.  I encourage regular vigorous activities most days of the week, and believe in fighting to maintain muscle by breaking it down through strength training 3-5 days per week.  Muscle requires calories to build and/or maintain. It’s the wellness cycle that I discussed in my earlier post.

The next time you go to the grocery store, don’t just look at total calories of a food.  Look at the quality of those calories – i.e., how much nutrients your body will receive for the calories in that food.  A good example of this is comparing a piece of white bread with a piece of whole grain bread.  In general, whole grain bread will be higher in calories.  Why?  It is because there are many more wonderful nutrients in whole grain bread.  You literally have the whole grain.  White bread has been stripped from many of those nutrients and that removes calories.  There are many higher calorie foods that contribute excellent nutrients and health benefits including nuts, avocado, fatty fish and heart healthy oils like canola and olive oils.  Take in the quality calories and use those calories to lead an active lifestyle. 

If you need to figure out how many calories your body needs, go to the Daily Food Plans on the ChooseMyPlate.gov website.  Keep in mind that these are only general recommendations and that each person may differ slightly.  Your local Registered Dietitian can help you tailor a very specific number customized for you.  The key is to get the right amount throughout your active day and choosing quality calories specifice to your lifestyle.  Bottom line: do not fear calories, but instead balance them appropriately with an active, adventurous lifestyle.  We need to get this right in order to be on the right cycle of wellness.

What One Meal Tells You About a Person

I had lunch with two other dietitians today and we got to talking about what many of my dietitian friends talk about.  It never fails, you go to a dinner party or somewhere that involves food and someone discovers your a dietitian.  Dun dun dunnnnn!  The rooms tenses up.  Eyes widen.  Pause.  To break the silence, they proceed to spill the beans (pun intended) about what they eat or not eat, their weight problems or their various food issues and phobias.  I especially love it when they start apologizing for the food that they are eating right in front of them in hopes that they have just went ahead and "outed" the dietitian's thoughts.  In actuality, this whole scenario makes the dietitian self-conscious about how the food she's eating is going to be analyzed.  It's an awkward situation all around, so many dietitians choose not to "spill the beans" about their profession in those situations.  I went to speak at a doctor's office recently and they told the front office person, "Great. You ordered pizza for us on the day the dietitian was coming to visit.  What's up with that?!"  Oh man.  I could go on and on with all the funny things that we come across in our line of work.  One of the dietitians I ate with today even shared that a person told her, "I can't believe you are eating that.  You should know better!"

The truth is that you can tell virtually nothing about what a person by one meal. (I hope that is comforting as we have recently move on from our annual Thanksgiving dinner!)  Sure, you can tell little nuances about someone like the way they hold the fork, mix their food together or even push something off their plate.  But when it comes to assessing the quality of a person's diet, it's really the patterns of eating that give you that true insight.  This is generally how dietitians see things, so don't worry the next time you share a meal with one.  I made Paula Deen's green bean casserole for my family Thanksgiving - full fat version, no modifications.  True story,  Contrary to popular belief, we are not the food police.  Nope.  We just love what healthy, nourishing food does for people and our families - so we eat it.  And promote it.  Well, most of the time.  :-)

Vision: Do You Have It?

Talk about vision, check me out with The Laughing Cow
at ADA FNCE 2011.  The exhibits were fun!

I am feeling pumped up after attending the 2011 American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in sunny San Diego, California!  I was able to meet some of my fellow nutrition bloggers for the very first time and it was wonderful.  Be sure to check out some of them that I posted on the Mommy Dietitian Facebook page.   The main things that I took back to my home base in Plano, Texas are more vision, education and tools for my passion in nutrition care and education.  Today, I want to discuss vision because it is so vital in achieving our life's goals.  As moms, dads, aunts, uncles and grandparents, we are the visionaries for our family.  Things don’t just happen – we must start with a vision for what we want out of life.

Dr. David Katz delivered a very powerful message on the impact of healthy lifestyle that was communicated partly in poetic dialogue.  It was a very unique to say the least!  He gave some amazing statistics that surely resonated with me:  If everyone adopted a healthy lifestyle, we could reduce heart disease by 80%, diabetes by 90% and cancer by 60%.  As health professionals, we must have a mutual vision to dedicate ourselves in reducing these killer diseases.



Nancy Brinker is an excellent example of a person with vision.



You have got to hear Nancy Brinker share her vision behind her organization  – you may have heard of it? J – The Susan G. Komen For a Cure.  She is bringing her dying sister’s wish to reality when she said to here, “Please do all you can so no more women die from this disease.”  Look at the organization today - a global leader in the war on breast cancer that has investing more than $1.9 billion since its inception in 1982.  As dietitians, we all are striving to optimize health through proper nutrition.  What if we all had vision like her? My professional vision is to provide families with very practical tools to feed their families well and lead a healthy life.  As a mother, I understand the struggles and downward pulls of life, so my vision is driven by that identification with the average family out there.  My personal vision for my family is to model a healthy, balanced lifestyle for my children with the hopes that they follow in my footsteps.  I purposely and actively make decisions everyday in order to achieve that vision for my family.

What is your motivation for the goals you have in life?  For your family?  It must be something deep inside – like Nancy Brinker’s story - that gets to the core of who you are from an emotional past experience or a personal story that drives your passion.  Ask yourself – what is it?  When it comes to feeding your family well and living an active, healthy lifestyle, I always encourage people to envision the next 20 years forward to see where you want to be.   Imagine that vision over and over, believe that it is indeed possible - and move forward with actions that will make your vision a reality in your life.   

Healthy Resolutions: A Healthy Parent = A Healthy Family

Well, it’s the end of the first month of the new year. Have you set any healthy resolutions?  Have you thought about how you plan to make 2011 healthy/healthier for your family?  What message does your personal lifestyle communicte to your children?  I think these are all questions we should contemplate for the sake of our family's future wellness.

I was contacted by Everyday Health to provide answers to very important questions regarding New Year’s Resolutions and wellness goals. As a big advocate for being a healthy role model for children, I felt it was important to answer these questions for all moms and dads trying to make 2011 the healthiest year yet. Many of these questions discuss weight loss and getting fit, however, they can be used for other nutrition and wellness goals as well.  So here we go!

Make 2011 your family's heathiest year yet!

1) We all make New Year's resolutions, and often these resolutions involve weight loss or fitness goals. But many of us quickly lose traction and don't achieve our goals. What are the psychological and emotional reasons behind these failures?

A person truly needs to be ready to make changes.  Any purposeful, positive change in life is rarely an easy thing, so you must be dedicate time and effort.  In those that come to see me for nutrition guidance, I usually can tell in the first session if they are truly ready to make the changes needed to achieve their goal.  Confidence and optimism at the start of any effort are both critical. Confidence certainly feeds into optimism and vice versa. Believe that you can achieve the goals that you set before you. Check your confidence level – and make sure you go into your resolutions with the right attitude. 

2) What is the biggest mistake people make when making a resolution?

They don’t get specific enough with that their resolution(s). They cannot just say, “I want to be healthier in 2011.” Well, what does that mean? And how do you plan to go about doing that? Goals need to be written down along with a game plan on how to get there and posted with a completion date. Lastly, choose an accountability partner that knows about the goals you have set and have them follow-up with you on your progress.

Are you setting yourself up for failure when you make a New Year's resolution to lose weight or get fit?

I don’t believe so. I believe every single day brings with it a new beginning – a renewed opportunity to head down the optimal path in any area of your life. Your past mistakes should be seen as learning curves, and not as a gauge to how you will do going forward. So, whether it's a new year, a new month or even a new day - they all bring with it a chance to start fresh.

3) How do you set reasonable, healthy expectations when you resolve to lose weight or shape up at this time of year or any other time of year?

One must resolve not to fall prey of fad diets or quick fixes. Many out there are desperate to get the result and this is the cause of that temptation. Instead, set very specific, realistic and measurable goals that include just a couple impactful nutrition goals and a couple exercise goals. Again, write them down and have someone else sign the document with you for accountability. Re-evaluate those goals and objectives every six weeks or so to work through any stumbling blocks or just to adjust goals to fit your progress. This helps to keep the challenge going as you get closer and closer to your goal.

4) What kind of support should you seek to help you achieve your goals?

I truly believe the guidance of a Registered Dietitian (RD) in the area of nutrition expertise is extremely helpful. RDs are nutrition scientists that practice evidence-based nutrition that are also equipped to assist in goal setting, accountability and practical tools that will help you get there. Dietitians that work specifically in weight management and wellness have experience working with many types of people and can tailor a plan that fits your specific needs. You can find an RD in your area by going to the American Dietetic Association website at http://www.eatright.org/.

5) What are three things you can do to improve your chances of success before you make a healthy lifestyle change?

1. Be motivated to live a healthy lifestyle for more than body weight only. In my experience in working with hundreds of weight loss clients, I find that most of those only motivated by weight loss or attaining a number on the scale are the least successful. But those wanting to have more energy, optimize their health, feel better – are the ones that do better. The cool thing is that the weight takes care of itself! I believe that this is true because the desperation leaves the scene and it allows a person to fully grasp healthy lifestyle concepts. Come to the realization that everything flows from a healthy body and you want to be healthy for more than a jean or dress size. Do you want to be a better parent? Do you want to climb the ladder in your profession? Do you want to positively influence others? It is all more achievable from a healthy and well body.

2. Clear the clutter out of your life. What are you involved in that is keeping you from living a healthy lifestyle? Many times we are involved in too many activities and they are not really nourishing to our lives. You may need to make a life goal list and then tailor all that you are involved in to that life goal list. Bow out of things that do not align to that list.

3. Know what a healthy lifestyle is and what it isn’t. Healthy lifestyles ebb and flow with the changes and adaptations of life. It should not be a militaristic approach that doesn’t allow for flexing. It is the simple changes made over time that have their biggest and long lasting impact.

6) Why is it so hard to keep the weight off after a diet, and what can you do to maintain weight loss?

Many people go on fad diets and they are very impractical – some 500 calories a day or less. Crash diets do nothing to train you for the real world. Again, seek the advice of a Registered Dietitian so they can put together a reasonable plan that will allow for a modest weight loss per week. Modest, but consistent weight loss preserves lean tissue – which is what drives the rate at which you burn calories. We lose lean tissue just by aging. We don’t need a fad diet’s help to do that for us!

But also, much research has shown that people that have previously been overweight need to be even more active to maintain a lower body weight as compared to others that have never been overweight. High levels of physical activity (one hour most days of the week) must be a regular part of a successful weight loser’s life. Other great things have been learned by the National Weight Control Registry out of Brown Medical School. Check it out!

7) Can you rearrange your life in any way to make it easier to avoid diet temptations?

If there is any food in your home or office that sends you into poor eating patterns then I would suggest keeping those foods away to avoid the trigger. Instead, enjoy them in moderation away from your everyday location. Also, your taste buds change as you start eating more nutrient-rich foods. After having lowered sugar and fat in your diet for a period of time, many people find when they go back to eating those foods they seem much richer and more sugary than before.

We also must dismiss all those reasons why a person may eat when not hungry. Be sure to address any emotional reasons why you might be turning to food when making changes to your lifestyle. If needed, seek the help from a counselor or psychologist and they can help you identify your deeper issues here.

8) What advice do you have for people who just don’t like to exercise or who avoid it for other reasons?

I say that a weak heart wants to stay weak. What I mean by that is that your heart is a muscle. When you are sedentary, the heart muscle gets easily fatigued. I don’t know about you, but it’s a scary concept to think about having a weak heart! It’s the organ that pumps blood to everything else. So I say, challenge yourself. Start off slow and observe the feelings after exercise. The body is made to move and must do so in order to be healthy. Don’t’ decide to work out or not to workout based on emotions. Do find something that interests you, but don’t decide to work out because you “don’t feel like it.” I absolutely love running, but there are still times that my mind tries to talk me out of it - and I teach this stuff! Set your exercise goals by detailing what days and times you plan to do them and follow through. I never regret going for a run. On the contrary - I say, “whew. I am so glad I did that!!”

9) When you’re making a resolution to improve your health, who should you recruit to be on your wellness team?

Annual medical checks by your physician are vital. In addition to being followed by a dietitian, encourage your loved ones to join you. Surround yourself with like-minded people and you will be more successful. As your lifestyle changes, you may surely find that the things you used to like to do will change as well. And that may involve a shift in the people you hang out with on a regular basis.

10) It’s easy to make excuses when you’re juggling work and family responsibilities. How can you make time for your resolutions in a hectic schedule?

Prioritize. If you truly feel something is important in your life, you will find the time. Bottom line: If you think you don’t have time for something, it’s truly not that important to you yet.  Ouch!  Yep, I said it.  It's just the truth.

If you have set any healthy New Year’s Resolutions, I would love to hear from you by commenting below. Or, if you have had past success by setting New Year’s Resolutions, let me know what component(s) of your plan helped to make you successful. Let’s all learn from each other!

Wellness Lock-In: A 'Must Do' For All Families

I had an epiphany this past weekend. What if families scheduled random "wellness lock-ins" every 3 months or so where they purposely worked on healthy family lifestyle components? You know, things such as:

- Emphasized family time
- Family-wide random activities such as going to the park, riding bikes, painting, cooking (at least one physical activity)
- Meals together the entire weekend, emphasis on nutrient-rich/healthy cuisine
- Read stories together
- Plenty of sleep with naps an option any or all of the days
- Reflect on old pictures, tell family stories, things that remind your children of their preciousness & uniqueness
- Minimize computer and television time to 2 hours daily (or none at all)

These types of weekends should be sacred, so that would mean no other obligations other than family time. Day after day, I meet families that say they are too busy to do many of the things that I suggest in my private nutrition consulting practice. But if you scheduled an entire weekend devoted to doing just these things, I believe that it would set the pace for a new emphasis and outlook. We all have Blackberry’s, iPhones and/or other devices that dictate where we will be at any given moment, so why not schedule sacred family time and decline other things that may come up during that time? Let our calendars work in our favor for once!

I have to admit, my last minute trip to the northeast was cancelled. Since nothing else was planned, I was able to have uninterrupted time with my precious family. There was nothing on our social calendar, so we did all these things mentioned above. It was such a gloriously enriching weekend that made me think about all the other families out there that need to do the same thing. This just happened for us this weekend, but I can assure you that we will have these planned out in the future.  You see, we should never be too busy to make time for the most important people in our lives but sadly, so often we are. If we don’t have our priorities straight, we cannot live out and model the healthy lifestyle we so badly want for our own children.

I want to issue a challenge to your family. Take the Wellness Lock-In Challenge at least one time between now and the end of the year by blacking out an entire weekend just to hang out with your family. If you decide to do this, do not make a bunch of set plans (i.e., (9-10am bike ride, 10-10:30 reading, etc. No!). Instead, just keep it open and allow the love you share take the lead. I promise you that it will be the most nourishing thing you and your family can do on so many levels.  Set aside the weekend, and take the challenge!

Our "Wellness Lock-In" consisted of empowering the kids
to have fun with food and assist with meal preparation!
What will yours entail?

"Do This, Not That" When Raising Healthy Families

My mother is a huge fan of the Eat This, Not That book written by David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding. I have not read nor reviewed the book, so please do not misunderstand by mentioning it as a recommendation. [For the record, I don't believe any one food is strictly forbidden, although I certainly think there are foods we should concentrate on eating more than others.] What I like about the title is that there is an alternative provided instead of just stating the problem! Such is true with child feeding and healthy family lifestyles. I came up with my own "Do This, Not That" when raising healthy families. Let's start with the don'ts:

DON'T:
• Put your child on a restricted diet. Special diet prescriptions must be done under the care of a Registered Dietitian only and even then, we try to keep things as liberal as possible to avoid nutrition deficiencies.
• Deny your children food when they request to eat. This leads to food insecurity and can exacerbate a weight problem.
• Try to control your children’s eating habits like you wish you could control your own.
• Nag your children about food they did or did not eat.
• Force your child to eat vegetables or any other kind of healthy foods. It will backfire in the long run!
• Provide separate meals for your children, i.e., no short order cooking.
• Skip meals. Skipping meals often leads to overeating later.
• Force children to take part in exercises they do not enjoy.

OK, good. We got the don'ts out of the way. There are many more do's than don'ts and I believe in positive, empowering guidance:

DO:
• Focus on a family-wide healthy lifestyle that includes low-fat high nutritional foods along with regular exercise.

• Provide plenty of healthy food options in your home such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables reduced fat and sugar foods. Exclude any foods that may be overeaten.
• Be patient when your child denies certain foods. Research shows that it sometimes takes 15-20 exposures before they will accept. Continue to put those foods on their plate instead of deleting it from their menu.
• Plan meals at least one week in advance. Grocery shop at off hour times on the weekends so you have all the food you need during the week when schedules are busiest.
• Have regular family meals. Regular family meals are an essential part of a healthy family lifestyle. This is not only where families can have quality time together to talk about their days, but it is also a time where parents can model good eating behaviors.
• Limit calorie-containing beverages except skim milk, especially at meal times. Even 100% natural juices have a lot of calories.
• Limit “screen time” (television and computer/computer games) to a maximum of 2 hours/day.
• Exercise/Be active as a family. What a great way to do 2 things at once - spend time together and also getting healthy as a unit.
• Listen to what your children say they are interested in and help them get involved. If they enjoy an activity, they are likely to do it more consistently.
• Consider joining a team or a group for whatever activity you choose to take part in. The teams and groups help with consistency and accountability.
• Make changes slowly. Slow changes have a tendency to be more permanent.
• Involve your children in all aspects of food and eating: growing or shopping, planning and preparing.
• Make food experiences fun and creative. Fun and creativity is your child's world, so go there and experience things together.
• Model, model, model the behaviors you want to see in your children. Remember parents, you are your child’s biggest role models! How humbling, but oh so true.

Take advantage of the summer months. This is such a great time of year to make positive family changes that can become more habitual when school starts back up in the fall. My challenge to you is to decide to make just one change - big or small - this week that will make your family healthier. What will that be? I'd love to hear from you!

Calling ALL With a Pulse...Please Get Involved!

Regardless of your political view or affiliation, you have got to be happy that First Lady Michelle Obama has gotten actively involved in the childhood obesity epdiemic. Obesity statistics are staggering, and it frightens me to think of our healthcare system 20 years from now if things do not change. What type of society will my children's children be living in? The passion to do what I do is rooted in the individuals and their families, but for others to become motivated to action they must realize the economics of this crisis. When I worked at a pediatric facility here in Dallas, I saw children as young as 6 years old with Type 2 Diabetes due to obesity. I saw children the same age coming down with fatty liver because of their abdominal fat. These children will have serious health issues going into their early adulthood and the healthcare system will become overwhelmed. Can you imagine the individual healthcare cost of these people as adutls? Even if you are not a parent, you must get involved and do something because you will be affected in some way.

Let's Move! is a new initiative headed up by First Lady Michelle Obama that was unveiled during last month's National Nutrition Month. The program's 4 goals are to: 1) provide valuable resources for parents to encourage healthier food choices in the home; 2) improve the food quality in schools; 3) improve access to healthier food; and finally, 4) to increase physical activity.

Let's Move! PSA entitled, "It's Breakfast Time!"

How do I get involved, you ask? Start by joining their Call To Action. You will start receiving more information on what you can do in your area. Start thinking about how you can provide a healthier environment for you and the children around you by reading more information about the 4 goals on the Let's Move! website. Get involved for the sake of you and your loved ones of future generations. I love some of the PSA's the Let's Move! Campaign has out, including the It's Breakfast Time! piece that airs on Nickelodeon. The research shows that people that eat breakfast daily have a lower body weight and children do better academically in school. Make sure you are modeling healthy behaviors for our future generations to follow.

Have Your Girl Scout Cookies, and Eat Them, Too!

It's Girl Scout cookie time here in North Texas. And yes, I am a Cookie Mom! By media's standards, you would think that this is an oxymoron. How can Angela be a dietitian, with pediatric expertise nonetheless, also promote Girl Scout cookies? This is a really good example of what I believe is the problem with society's obsession with weight. More on that in a moment....

Girl Scouts in an amazing organization that teaches young girls core values, self- confidence to withstand peer pressure and solid work ethic, all which have a lifelong impact. Girl Scout cookie sales is one tool they use to assist in their teaching. Cookie sales builds confidence, responsibility and develops great social skills. I am seeing this firsthand with my daughter! It saddens me that I am seeing a lot of Facebook posts of people commenting about how "bad" they have been with their Girl Scout cookies. It is not the intention of Girl Scouts to make people feel bad. On the contrary, we want to make people feel proud that they have donated to a great cause! Our troop is donating part of our cookie profits to Haitian relief, although all troops are raising money for a good cause. If you really feel out of control around Girl Scout cookies or other similar sweets, consider donating your cookies to a local food pantry or even sending it overseas to our military troops.

But this brings me back to my bigger point than Girl Scout cookies. Many people see things as black and white, and food habits are no exception. Being a healthy eater is defined differently on an individual basis. I have found that many people define it as an unrealistic standard that is difficult to attain by anyone. This has caused people to become very uneasy around high calorie foods, including Girl Scout cookies. We need to stop this belief! Food has been put on this earth to enjoy and nourish. In order for any person to get in command of their eating habits, they must make friends with all types of food. Stop thinking that eating certain foods makes you unhealthy or even worse, a bad person. What are we teaching our children with this mentality? Now, on the other hand, you must also teach your children healthy eating habits by eating high nutrient, lower calorie foods most of the time. I firmly believe that it is our attitude around food that has caused much of our problems. Let's get back to enjoying traditional, homecooked meals with lots of vegetables and appropriate portions. Let's enjoy tasty treats like Girl Scout cookies every once in awhile and let's get off the couch and play with our children more. Eating high nutrient foods make us "strong and smart" whereas too many high calorie, low nutrient foods do not give our bodies what it needs to excel in all areas of life. It's not about weight, it's about quality of life. If you believe that in your heart, your children will as well. Invest in them here and you will not regret it! Model any behavior you want to see in your children and they will follow suit.

All food fits into a healthy diet. And Girl Scouts does publicize the cookie nutritional information in order for you to plan them into your healthy lifestyle. Instead of being uneasy to view this information, look at it as information that provides power and confidence.

Have your Girl Scouts cookies, and eat them, too. :)