Splurge Scourge

Everybody knows it's healthier to spread out your caloric intake over the entire day with frequent small meals, but many people still prefer to save up most of their calories for a big indulgence once a day or week.

Here's why that makes you gain weight:

An average body can handle at the very most 800 calories at once and every calorie above that gets turned to fat (it's less if you are small and inactive.) So no matter how much you starve yourself before that big dinner, you'll still store fat if you eat (or drink!) more than 800 calories.

Unfortunately it's extremely easy to reach 800 calories at a restaurant or any time you consume alcohol or dessert with a meal. The good news is that if you are eating frequent, small meals throughout the day you won't want to overindulge so much at dinner.

Happy light eating!

Salsa Solution

Are you feeling like your salads, fish, poultry, veggies & whole grains have become more boring than the last hour of traffic school? (Yes, I did traffic school this weekend, so it's salient!) Well then it's time to rediscover salsa!

Salsa has tons of flavor for only about 5 calories per tablespoon because of the zesty (and nutritious) spices. In addition to mild or spicy, there are exotic salsas, like mango, ginger or grapefruit. Find a few you like and use them to flavor just about everything. We have recipes at the office, or just use Google. And please share your favorite recipes with us!

When in Rome

Ever wonder how Italians remain slim? Well I don't know how they do it, but they must not be eating in our Italian restaurants!

The average plate of pasta in an American Italian restaurant is up to 3.5 cups--that's 7 servings and 700 calories before they even add any sauce--Yikes! Here are some tips for eating out Italian:

1. Don't let the bread basket sit near you (don't even let it on the table if your tablemates are willing.)

2. Get salad or minestrone soup for an appetizer.

3. Look for seafood, chicken or salad dishes on the menu. Ask for dressings and sauces on the side.

4. Avoid cheese and alfredo sauce (the original "heart attack on a plate.")

5. Ask for the "to go" box right away and put half of your meal in there before you even start eating.

6. Need pasta? Ask for a child-size portion in addition to your soup or salad.

7. Need pizza or calzone? Ask for a cheeseless version with lots of veggies and chicken. Restaurants will always be able to accomodate you (they get plenty of demands for cheeseless pizza from people who are lactose intolerant.)

8. Instead of wine, how about that fancy Italian bottled water?

Making Mexican

Now for tips on another most fattening ethnic meal out: Mexican.

Tip 1: Order your meal without the cheese! When you eat full-fat cheese you might as well just paste it to your rear and block off some arteries.

Tip 2: Lose the sour cream, guacamole and chips.

Tip 3: If you must eat tortilla chips, slow yourself down by breaking each one into a dozen or so mini-pieces. Make yourself eat one mini-piece at a time.

Very Best Choices:
-tostada salad with chicken (but skip the 800-calorie fried tortilla shell)
-chicken fajitas
-any taco or burrito that has mostly lean meat, veggies, lettuce, tomato and salsa (but keep in mind that a single burrito-size tortilla has about 450 calories, so try not to eat the whole thing!)

Good luck and remember the two most important words in the Mexican restaurant language: "sin quesa."

Rack the Thai

The next few entries are going to contain tips on what to order at your favorite ethnic food restaurants. We're starting with tastey, but often not-so-healthy Thai food!

Tip 1: Try to go to a more upscale Thai restaurant, where healthier dishes are easier to come by. In general, Thai food contains loads of hidden calories from oils, coconut milk and sauces.

Tip 2: Order the simpler meals on the menu so that you know exactly what ingredients are in your food. Avoid anything fried or swimming in coconut milk, peanut sauce or curry.

Tip 3: Get an order of steamed veggies on the side.

Tip 4: The healthiest Thai food I know of in our area is at Saladang Song in Pasadena.

Best choices:
-Broth-based soups containing veggies, chicken or seafood
-Stir-fries containing lots of veggies, chicken or shrimp
-salads with the dressing on the side
-simpler fish, chicken or seafood dishes

Stress Busting

I hope this finds you without too much stress in your life, but if it does, here are some things you can do:

1. Eat fish, nuts and seeds daily. Salmon, tuna, walnuts and flax seeds are especially good. The healthy fats in these foods help boost mood and prevent anxiety.

2. Don't skip meals or snacks. When things get stressful you mustn't forget to eat. Low blood sugar will worsen your mood and your ability to cope.

3. Exercise the stress hormones away. If you let adrenaline and cortisol build up in your body, they age you and damage your health. When you exercise, you use them up and they actually help you burn fat!

4. Don't turn to comfort food for relief. Yes, it calms you, but you'll be sorry later! Be strong and try relaxing with laughter, massage or a bubble bath instead.

Timing is everything

Did you know that timing is everything when it comes to eating for best energy, metabolism, muscle-building and fat burning?

It is best to eat proportionally to how much energy you are burning at the time. That means if you are burning the most energy in the morning and being sedentary all evening, you should eat the most calories in the morning and eat light in the evening. This is the biggest mistake I see people make--they don't eat too much, they just time it wrong and consume all their calories at night when they burn most of their calories earlier in the day.

You may need to wake up earlier to make time for a bigger breakfast and to pack some snacks for the day. You'll also need to resist the urge to reward yourself at the end of the day with a big meal (unless you plan to be very active in the evening.) These changes are tough at first, but will make all the difference in the end.

Remember that the key is timing your calorie intake to mirror your calorie output. Try it and see what great results it gives you in terms of energy, mood and weight loss.

Sleep & Eating: Mystery Solved!

You already know that sleep deprivation contributes to hunger, cravings and weight gain, but new research shows why. It has to do with 2 hormones that regulate appetite: Grehlin, which stimulates hunger and Leptin, which suppresses appetite. I bet you can guess what researchers found. People who slept fewer than 5 hours per night had more ghrelin and less leptin than people who had 8 hours sleep or more.

This makes sleep one of the most important (and painless!) parts of your weight loss efforts.

Sweet dreams!

Salad savvy

Here's a research tidbit you can use: Researchers had 42 women eat as much pasta as they wanted for lunch, with or without a salad first. If the women ate a salad with only veggies and low-cal dressing, they ate 12% fewer calories overall than eating the pasta alone. No big surprise.

Here's the surprise: If they first ate a calorie-dense salad (with regular dressing and cheese), then they ended up eating many more calories than if they ate only pasta!

Moral of the story: Either stick with low-cal salad ingredients or don't bother eating salads at all!

Try flavoring your salads with salsa, fresh fruit, a variety of veggies and vinegars and you'll have plenty of flavor.

Summer Snacks

Summer is officially here, so eat these super-foods while they are in season:

--Gazpacho soup (keep it handy as an anytime snack)
--mango slices (with cinnamon, perhaps)
--Corn on the cob (if you consider it a grain instead of a veggie, it's super nutritious!)
--berries & cherries (the fountain of youth)
--grape tomatoes
--button mushrooms (you can buy them pre-washed and ready-to-eat)
--red peppers (they travel well as snacks. Slice them ahead of time, or just bring the entire pepper plus a paring knife)
--papaya with lime
--portobello mushrooms (grill them like hamburgers)
--watermelon (sprinkle cocoa powder on top and it tastes like fudge cake. No foolin')
--anything else you find at the farmer's market

...well...almost anything you find at the farmers market. When it comes to Kettle Korn and candied nuts, enjoy your free sample and don't even think of buying any!

Beating Overeating (Part 2)

If you love to eat and sometimes struggle with stopping, here are some interesting research tidbits that help.

Strategies to help prevent overeating:

1. Minimize side dishes.
The more food choices you have, the more you eat. Studies show that when you have only 1 or 2 dishes in front of you, you eat less food overall than if you have 3 or 4 choices. This means you need to be extra careful at buffets and potlucks.

2. Use music to your advantage.
Listen to mellow music at mealtime. A study at Johns Hopkins University found that diners chew faster and eat more when listening to lively music and eat less with relaxing music.

3. Dim the lights.
Another study at Johns Hopkins found that diners ate less food under low lighting.

4. Use smaller utensils.
This forces you to take smaller bites and eat more slowly.

5. Get enough sleep.
Well-rested people overeat less, probably because they have fewer cravings and don’t need to rely so much on food to keep up their energy level.

6. Be the slowest eater in a group.
The larger the group, the more each person tends to eat—without realizing it. Be aware that group meals lead to overeating and try to be the slowest eater at the table.

Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, but overeating ruins the experience by making you feel regret, guilt and physical discomfort. Use a few of these strategies for a week and see if you can get in the habit of eating only until you are satisfied. I’m sure you can find new things to feel guilty about!