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%