Winner and Please Read the Blog Post

Od biggest loser #11

The Basics of Healthier Eating

If you don’t want to make some big changes in what you’re eating, you can still get healthier and lose weight by making small changes. Here are some ideas:

1. Switch your dairy products from full fat to low-fat. The fat free stuff has no flavor and the cheeses don’t melt right, but the 2% fat cheese, milk, sour cream, etc., cuts your calories and fat sometimes in half without any change in the flavor (especially the cheeses as reported by America’s Test Kitchen).

2. Switch your ground beef to ground turkey; turkey is much lower in fat than beef. In everything except burgers, you cannot tell the difference, for example: in tacos, chili, pasta sauce, lasagna, etc.

3. Remove one meat meal a week. This is healthier for you and the environment. If every American at one less meal with meat a week, for a year, it would be like removing 5 million cars off the road (Eating Animals Jonathan S. Foar).

4. Switch your breads and pastas to whole grain. Increasing the fiber in your diet has many different health benefits, but the bonus is weight loss.

5. Watch your portion sizes, really! The portion sizes have gone crazy in this country. The statistics from the CDC show that obesity is an epidemic in our country and beginning to be a problem in other countries, not because of heredity, not because of slow metabolisms, but because WE EAT TOO MUCH. Here are healthy portion sizes to keep in mind, especially when dining in a restaurant:

-steak should be the size of a deck of cards
-cheese—three dominoes
-butter—a die (single dice)
-pasta or potato the size of a computer mouse
-a burrito—a bar of soap

6. Drink one less soda a day until you’ve given up soda. The calories that you take in from one sugar soda a day can add up to 23 extra pounds at the end of the year. (Amen MD) And don’t think diet soda is any better, the artificial sweeteners in diet soda mess with your hormones to make losing weight harder. Drink water!

Health Facts from a Variety of Sources:

Here is a bit more information about portion sizes, just to give you an impression on how it has changed. In 1900 a Hershey bar was 2 oz and 297 calories; now it is 7 oz and 1,000 calories. In 1916 a Coke was 6.5 oz and 79 calories; now it is 16 oz. and 194 calories. In the 1950’s a movie popcorn was 3 cups and 174 calories; now it is 21 cups and 1,700 calories. (National Geographic August 2004)

Pay attention to waist size. A big waist signals trouble even if your BMI is normal. Belly fat is more metabolically active than butt and thigh fat, and increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. In women, a waist of 35 inches or greater is cause for concern, and in men, it’s 40 inches. To measure your waist, wrap a measuring tape around your bare belly at the height of your belly button. If you are near or above the aforementioned measurements, be very concerned and do something about it. (Consumer Reports on Health April 2010)

-People with high cholesterol throughout their 40’s are likely to develop Alzheimer’s in their 60’s. (Amen MD)

-Scary Statistics about Fat and Cancer:
~Only 10 % of breast cancer cases are related to family history, while 90% are caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, like weight. (Irwin, Yale School of Medicine)
~Packing on the pounds is one of the biggest risks for many types of cancer. Women who weigh the most die of cancer at a 62% higher rate than slimmer women. Even though the research shows a link between weight and cancer, women are becoming heavier and less active. (New England Journal of Medicine)
~Only 8% of people in the U.S. know that being heavy increases their cancer risk, while 92% have no idea. Only 11% of overweight people get diet counseling from their MDs. 78% of doctors feel that obese people lack the discipline to lose weight and 52% feel they aren’t motivated enough to discuss it. (Robert Wood Johnson Medical School)
~Fat isn’t just a lump of pounds, it is biologically active substance that produces hormones like estrogen, which promotes tumor growth. The more fat that you have around your abdomen, the more estrogen you will produce. (Smith, MD)
~Women who gain 55 pounds or more after the age of 18 have 1.5 times a greater likelihood of developing the disease (breast cancer) postmenopause. (Harvard study)

Good News About Fat and Cancer:
~Lowering your cancer odds is as simple as a brisk walk at least three times a week, and women who get 60 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly significantly reduce their risk after age 30, even if they weren’t active before that time. (University of Rochester NY)

Not so Good Odds for our kids-
~ Unless something changes, 1 in 3 children born after the year 2000 will develop diet induced diabetes because of the high sugar and highly processed diet that is prevailing in the U.S. today. (Barnard MD- Taking Control of Diabetes)

~The current generation of kids is the first that is projected not to outlive their parents because of unhealthy diets and lifestyles. (Amen MD)

Here’s another seminar on PBS to watch on the weekends or in the evenings during their fundraising drives: Change Your Brain, Change Your Body with Daniel G. Amen M.D. It is really good stuff, and if you watched Master Your Metabolism, his facts and recommendations go right along with it. It’s running this week—check your guides.

1. Midge and Mike 98%
2. Annette 98.2%
3. John 99%
4. Mary 100%
5. Megan no change

Okay, I think we're about done here.

winner #9

Winner: Go Midgie, Go Midgie!
1. Midge 97%
2. Mike 97.6%
3. Annette 97.85%
4. Aileen 98.23%
5. Dan 98.7%
6. Bill 99%
7. Mary 99.22%
8. John 100%
9. Megan 101%

Soda- Yes, I'm going to go there.

Soda; Yes, I’m going to go there.

Soda holds a special place in the hearts of quite a few O'Donnells, but it may be leading to unhealthy weights and possible other health problems in the future. I have attached a blurb from a book called, Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnounin. It’s a no-nonsense guide to eating, written in a “girlfriend to girlfriend” manner. I have almost quoted the section on soda, except that I have removed some of the swear words for Midgie’s sake. It includes many, but not all of the reasons, that you and your kids should not drink soda. There are many more reasons not to drink soda—it is BAD stuff.
In addition, the link below the blurb is a video of a TED winner, Jamie Oliver, who goes around the country teaching people about the importance of teaching kids about food. Obesity and related health problems have become epidemic (literally), because people are not educated about food. In order for children to avoid diet induced health problems (which many health problems are), they need to be educated about healthy eating. Watch the link—it’s helpful for adults, too.

Soda, p.13, Skinny Bitch
Soda is liquid Satan. It is the devil. It is garbage. There is nothing in soda that should be put into your body. For starter’s, soda’s high levels of phosphorus can increase calcium loss from the body, as can sodium and caffeine. You know what that means- bone loss, which may lead to osteoporosis. And the last time we checked, sugar, found in soda by the boatload, does not make you skinny! Now don’t go patting yourself on the back if you drink diet soda. That stuff is even worse. Aspartame (found in Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, headaches, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, lupus, MS, and diabetes. When methyl alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and cancer causing. Laboratory scientists use formaldehyde as a disinfectant or preservative. They don’t drink it. Perhaps you’re preserving your fat cells with diet soda? The FDA has received more complaints about aspartame than any other ingredient to date. Want more bad news? When aspartame pairs with carbs, it causes your brain to slow down the production of serotonin. A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced. So drinking diet soda can make you fat, sick and unhappy. Drinking soda may also cause you to not drink the necessary 64 ounces of water a day, which flushes out all the toxins and helps with elimination.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

Winner: Go Midgie, Go Midgie!
1. Midge 97%
2. Mike 97.6%
3. Dan 97.85%
4. Aileen 98.23%
5. Annette 98.4%
6. Mary 99.22%
7. Megan 100%
8. Bill 102%

John ??????

Winner and Olympics!

Od biggest loser #7

Exercise- The Winter Olympics!

Watch the Winter Olympics and let the amazing athletes inspire you to get physical. The athletes’ dedication to their training is astounding. Their fitness levels and skills together are a testament to the power of the human spirit and body. They are not super-human. Rather, they are people just like us who have made commitments to being the best that they can be. We should all learn from their examples. Get moving, and do your best!

1. Dan 97.4%
2. Mike 98%
3. Annette 98.4%
4. John 99.06%
5. Mary 99.12%
6. Megan 101%
7. Aileen, Midge, Bill ??????????????

Winner and Green Up Your Home

Well, all right. Now these numbers are looking better....

1. Midge 97%
2. Aileen 97.61%
3. Annette 97.62%
4. Mike 98%
5. Dan 98.28%
6. John 98.72%
7. Mary 99%
8. Megan 101%
9. Bill ?????

Green Up Your Home

There are synthetic chemicals in our environment which communicate with our hormones in an unhealthy way. We are all exposed to them on a daily basis. If we can eliminate some of these from our homes, we can hopefully have healthier families, and on a more superficial level, we can lose weight.

Things to replace with healthier products:
-cling wrap (the sticky kind) replace with regular saran
-plastic food storage containers replace with pyrex or corningware
-tap water or plastic bottled water replace with filtered tap water
-chemical household cleaners or laundry detergents replace with all natural brands like: method, seventh generation, orange cleaners, or good old fashioned vinegar and water, or hydrogen peroxide and water or baking soda
-flame retardant jammies or stain resistant fabrics replace with untreated fabrics
- any shampoos, soap, shaving cream, cologne, lotion, and make-up which has chemicals in the ingredient list.

Our skin is our largest organ. Why would we slather it or cloth it with potentially dangerous substances?

Chemicals to avoid for various reasons: sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate, parabens, petroleum by-products (mineral oils and PEGS), or artificial colors.

When we “greened up” our products, we weren’t wasteful; we simply used up what we had and replaced with all natural and organic products. Again, it is very easy to find these products. Wal-mart, Target, and Trader Joe’s all carry natural and organic body care products: deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and don’t forget toothpaste. Why brush your teeth 2 or 3 times a day with chemicals that are proven to cause cancer? They also carry very affordable all natural laundry detergent.

Winner and Eat Breakfast

1. Annette 97.5%
2. Bill, Midge, and Mike 98%
3. Dan 98.7%
4. Mary 99%
5. John 99.302%
6. Megan 99.714%
7. Aileen M.I.A

All I have to say is, "Oh, boo!" and maybe this will help....

Diet

Eat Breakfast!

Do not skip breakfast! It is really important to eat breakfast. There was a study done on people who ate breakfast vs. those who didn’t. The people who ate breakfast actually consumed more calories throughout the day, but still lost more weight than those who hadn’t. When you eat in the morning, you get your metabolism going, you balance your blood sugar, and you prevent yourself from making poor snack and lunch choices later. When you eat early and eat often, you’re less hungry later.

Don’t drink coffee instead of eating breakfast! The milk or cream in your coffee doesn’t count as a nutritious breakfast. When you drink coffee in place of food, your belly feels all warm and cozy and full for a short time and then all of a sudden you are starving and you want to scarf anything that’s near you. Your blood sugar crashes and you’re desperate to feel full again, so you are more likely to make a poor choice for lunch. And then you tell yourself, I can eat this lunch because I haven’t had anything to eat all day, right? Wrong!
Wrong, because you are messing with your metabolism. Your body is going to store that not-so-smart lunch, because it’s not sure when it is going to get fed again. If you eat small, healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, you burn your calories as you go along.

Here’s a picture of what really healthy eating looks like:

Wake up: eat a piece of fruit and drink green tea or water (or juice some fruits and veggies )
½ an hour later eat a healthy breakfast item ( One of these: a bowl of oatmeal, a bowl of non-sugary cereal, a granola bar, a piece of whole grain toast with nut butter or fruit spread, etc.)

Couple hours later if you’re hungry, have more fruit. If you say your stomach would hurt with all that fruit, you probably drink too much coffee—it’s very acidic.

Lunch- your pick, but follow these guidelines:
½ to 1 cup whole grains
1 to 2 cups vegetables
4 oz lean protein

Snack: one serving of something like this: whole wheat pretzels, nuts, fruit, vegetables, fruit juice sweetened yogurt, etc.

Dinner- Your pick, same guidelines as lunch.
When you eat like this, dieting is easy. You don’t feel hungry or deprived—you’re eating all day.

*A note about eating out: When your meal is served, you have to eyeball it and decide before you start eating, how much of it is healthy to eat. Portion sizes at restaurants are usually way over 1 serving size—another reason America is overweight. Some people ask for a box immediately and store away that extra food to bring home. If you think you’re going to keep shoveling it in, this may be a good idea. Then, eat the doggy bag as another meal, not as a snack when you get home in the evening.

*When you eat you should be sitting down and relaxed. Don’t eat on the run. After you finish eating, give yourself some time to feel if you are comfortably full. This doesn’t happen immediately—it takes about 5 to 20 minutes depending on your digestion.

Too much Information Section of post:

You may notice that I recommend eating fruit separate from a meal. This is because fruit is very high in natural sugar, and it is rapidly digested when eaten alone. If you combine it with a protein, the sugar from the fruit will rot and ferment the protein in your belly—ewww! If you eat it separately, it will get your bowels-a-moving and, whether you like it or not, elimination is part of weight loss. (Sorry—it’s true)

Winner and Green Living!

Hi-
Here's the results. You need to have your numbers to me by 12 noon Monday in order to place.

1. Mike and Midge 98%
2. Annette 99.2%
3. John 99.534%
4. Megan and Bill 100%
5. Dan 100.8%
6. Mary 101%
7. Aileen ?????

All right people, we have to ramp it up! Our numbers should be WAY lower than these. We all need to lose weight--not gaining is not enough. Here's the challenge so you can plan for it. Stock up on your healthy foods, plan your workout schedules, so that by next Monday we are all at 97%. We can do it-- make it happen.

Here's some food for thought:


Green Living

Go Organic!

Everyone has heard about the pesticides that are on fruits and vegetables, and why we should avoid them, but how about in your dairy and meat? What do you think the animals are eating before they’re milked or they reach their untimely deaths? Not organic grains, unless you buy certified organic dairy or meat. Pesticides are especially concentrated in meats. Here are some numbers from meats that were tested in a lab for pesticide residues: bacon 48 pesticide residues (PR), lunch meat 102 (PR), hamburger meat 113 (PR), hot dogs 123 (PR). The only way to protect you and your kids from ingesting pesticides is to buy organically grown products.

“Organically grown products are so expensive!” You say. Well, they aren’t like they used to be, and the prices keep coming down. The more people who buy them, the lower the prices will get. There is no excuse not to buy organic these days. Every store you go to sells organically grown products, even Wal-mart for goodness sakes. It is also important to support organic farmers, so that they can continue to practice sustainability to keep the Earth a healthier place for our kids and their kids, too.

My local fruit market has great prices on organically grown produce and meats. You can buy bagged apples, pears and oranges for cheaper than conventionally grown at the regular grocery store. The Marketplace on Oakton near Skokie Blvd. also has a very nice section of organically grown produce at good prices.

Don’t forget packaged products, like juices, juice boxes, milk, cheeses, wines, beers, etc. All of these products can be bought organic from you local grocer. You don’t have to rely on Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). Jewel sells their own organic label, Wild Harvest. Dominick’s has O Organics, and Target sells Archer Farms which has great organic coffee, fruit strips, and frozen pizza. But, don’t forget Trader Joe’s. If you’ve never been to Trader Joe’s—you have to check it out. It is a treat to shop there. They have tons of organically grown products at affordable prices. There is one in Park Ridge, which is really quick to get to, and there is another in Glenview. I’m not sure about what Happy Foods has—haven’t checked it out…..
Here’s a list of foods you should absolutely buy organic because of pesticide residues:
1. meat, dairy and eggs
2. coffee
3. peaches and nectarines
4. apples
5. bell peppers
6. celery
7. berries
8. lettuce
9. grapes
10. any foods you eat very frequently

Winner and Exercise

I wish we had all put money in, so that I could give some to Mike Bell. He is my diet hero, coming in at #1 with 97%--wow!!!!

Here's the list:
1. Mike Bell 97%
2. Annette O'Donnell 98.41%
3. Dan O'Donnell 98.71%
4. Midge O'Donnell 99.00%
5. Aileen O'D 99.18%
6. Bill Jeske 99.42%
7. John O'D 99.534%
8. Mary Jeske 101.00%
9. Megan O'D 102.00%

Here some very brief diet tips... you do have to move it to loose it, you really do.

Exercise

It’s unavoidable-- you have to do it, and a little is better than none. The recommendation is 30-60 minutes every day, if your schedule allows. I know that most schedules don’t, but shoot for as many days as you can, with a minimum of 3X a week. Also, consider what it is that you are doing that makes you think that you don’t have time. We are all busy, but if you have time to watch TV, you have time to work out. If you have time to go out to eat, you have time to work out, etc.
Your workouts should include cardio and strength training, not just one or the other.
It’s helpful to pick a workout schedule and stick to it. If you say, “Oh, I’ll fit it in when I can,” you’re less likely to fit it in. You have to view its importance like anything else in your day: work, school, hair appt, doctor appt—don’t miss it unless you’re sick.
People who combine dieting and exercise have 9X better results than if they just did one or the other.

The Biggest Loser’s exercise based weight loss program is truly inspired. It is the first of its kind to say, “You don’t have to lose weight before you exercise, even if you are obese.” Before the show began the medical field recommended dieting for obese people before exercise, and in extreme cases, recommended surgery before exercise. What the biggest loser proved is that obese people can safely exercise and achieve better results through exercise than diet or surgery.

There are so many forms of exercise out there-- there is one for every person's taste. You have to find what you like to do and do it. Household chores are not enough, walking around your office building is not enough, walking to the train is not enough-- all these things are great, but you need to do more if you want to lose weight.

Master Your Metabolism

Hello!
I mentioned to John that perhaps I could write a little blurb each week about diet, exercise and green living, and he thought it was a good idea. When I began writing, I became very overwhelmed, because there is just so much to say. My little blurbs were turning into pages and pages, so I decided to break it up with one topic a week. This week I’ll address diet. I hope that you find these tips helpful.

Diet
My new favorite diet plan is the Jillian Michaels’ Master Your Metabolism. It is a book which she wrote with an endocrinologist (hormone specialist) named Mariska Van Aalst. Jillian Michaels is the female trainer on The Biggest Loser (which I failed to mention, airs on Tusday nights on Ch 5 at 7PM). She is really tough and mean, but she really knows her stuff. I first learned about the program from a PBS seminar which airs on the Lakeshore channel on the weekends, also entitled, “Master Your Metabolism.” If you can catch it, it’s worth the watch, but the book is even better. It explains so many of the mysteries of diet and lifestyle from a hormone perspective. You may be thinking, this sounds like a female diet—not so. Our bodily processes, both mens’ and womens’ are ordered by hormones. This book explains how synthetic chemicals in foods talk to your cells on a DNA level. They can switch on fat-storage genes that may otherwise lay dormant. Of our 6,000 genes, about 25% or our genome helps determine weight. We can change the expression of our genes through diet and lifestyle.
She recommends a three step process of removing, restoring, and rebalancing.
Remove Anti-nutrients
1. hydrogenated fats
2. refined grains
3. high fructose corn syrup
4. artificial sweeteners (it’s true)
5. artificial colors and preservatives
6. MSG and other glutamates
Restore Power Nutrients
1. legumes (beans)
2. alliums (garlic and onions)
3. berries
4. organic meat and eggs
5. colorful fruits and veggies
6. cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)
7. dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, collard, arugula)
8. nuts and seeds (raw is best)
9. organic dairy
10. whole grains
Rebalance
Eat every 4 hours, and eat till you’re just full, not stuffed. Do not eat after 9PM—especially no carbs before bed.

These are the basics of any good diet, and if this has peaked your interest, I recommend that you try to catch the PBS seminar or read the book.

Hello and Welcome Back!

Well, it was a truly pathetic week for weight loss in the O'Donnell family, but I know that it will get better. Perhaps like me, you totally forgot to diet last week, and in fact, had a panini and fries over the weekend?
Come on, we can do this! Let's get focused, so we will all place next week.

Here were the numbers for this week ending 1/11/10:
1. John O'Donnell 98.372% (way to go)
2. Mike Bell 99.00% (all right)
3. Everyone else 100.00% (boo)

Okay, here's what I am proposing. Let's all work really hard and have a Valentine's party to show each other how great we look after 4 weeks of dieting ( and hopefully, lifestyle change).
It will be at our house around 4PM on Sunday 2/14/2010. Everyone should bring their favorite low-fat appetizer, salad, entree, or dessert.
You have four weeks to try new low-fat recipes and share your favorite with everyone on the 14th.

I am also recommending that everyone watch the new season of The Biggest Loser. It is a very inspirational show-- not the usual trash that is reality TV. (Midge, it is even worth switching away from PBS for one night ;0.) The contestants are brave, brave people, who step outside their comfort zones to make BIG changes in their lives. And, this season there is a native Chicagoan competing. It is amazing to watch the transformation over the months, and you may learn some things about diet and exercise while watching, too.