Lose Weight by Slowing Down
Eating slowly will help you feel fuller and decrease the calories you eat each meal, all of which leads to shedding the unwanted pounds! It takes ~20 minutes for your head to tell your stomach it’s full, so aim for at least 20 minutes to eat each meal.
Those who eat quickly until they are full are three times more likely to be overweight (research published in the British Medical Journal).
If you’re use to eating at a frenzied pace, slowing down won’t feel natural. Small steps, such as setting down your utensil between bites, will help you slow down. You may find you now have a chance to actually taste and enjoy your meals!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
Lose Weight the Healthy Way
Willpower and weight loss
When you are trying to shed extra pounds I do not recommend you rely on willpower alone. Clear out the unhealthy foods that weaken your resolve to be heart healthy and lose weight out of your cupboards. Once you have established good habits and can “trust yourself” to enjoy the occasional goodie in moderation, bring a few treats back into your home. Until then, removing temptation is the better route to success!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
Lose Weight the Healthy Way
Make Your Halloween Healthier
Halloween is just around the corner, which means trick-or-treating, and I stress the “treating”. Eliminating candy completely at Halloween is not a feasible option and why spoil a fun holiday the whole family should enjoy? However, by taking a few simple steps you can limit the amount of candy in your home and maintain a balance between holiday treats and your health goals.
- Are you throwing or attending a Halloween party? Limit the cookies/candy and aim for some traditional fall goodies, such as caramel covered apples, pumpkin dip and pumpkin bars, which are tasty treats that offer some good nutrition too. If you are the party host, plan some party activities that get guests up and moving – Monster Mash dance contest or a scarecrow building contest – to work off some of the holiday goodies while having a ghoulish good time.
- Limit the number of homes you take your children to for trick-or-treating. The fewer homes you visit, the less candy you take home.
- “Donate” excess candy to the office or your child’s teacher. You and/or your spouse can place a candy dish at your office to share with co-workers and your children can load up a bag to give to teachers for school treats throughout the year.
- Purchase only what you think you’ll need to hand out to trick-or-treaters. Estimate how many little devils and goblins came knocking on your door previous years and purchase just enough candy to cover your expected trick-or-treaters. This will limit the leftover candy you will be tempted to consume after the big night.
- Portion control is key. Watch how much you eat at a time. If you have a sweet tooth, keep the candy out of sight and limit yourself to one or two pieces each day.
Halloween comes around once a year and for those dealing with health issues, such as heart disease or excess weight; this may be a stressful time trying to balance a healthy diet with the influx of candy. By following the above tips and making good decisions you can enjoy this time of year and some sweets, too.
Happy Halloween!
Lisa Nelson RD
Lower Blood Pressure – Chicken Soup for The Heart
I read some interesting research lately that I want to share related to chicken and blood pressure.
We know that blood pressure is a significant risk fact for heart disease and stroke. It’s estimated that around 1 billion people worldwide live with high blood pressure. Being able to control high blood pressure through food selection is very important.
The collagen in chicken is being researched for use as a blood pressure medication, with actions similar to ACE inhibitors (i.e. lisinopril). Japanese studies have found 4 proteins in the chicken that contain collagen with actions similar to the blood pressure medication when tested in rats.
Chicken legs and feet contain more collagen that chicken breast meat. FYI – The legs and feet are the yellow part of a chicken with a nail on the end. A “chicken collagen hydrolysate” was prepared in the study and fed to rats and the effects on blood pressure where examined. The rates showed a drop in blood pressure 4 hours after receive the mixture orally, with the lowest blood pressure reading after 8 hours. Long term studies showed improved blood pressure after one week of treatment, with a significant reduction after 2 weeks.
The study states that the “chicken collagen hydrolysate” mixture used in the study is composed of foods that can be easily added to a typical daily diet. For individuals with high blood pressure, increasing intake of these foods will promote a normal blood pressure. What I want to know – who is going to eat a chicken leg/foot? How do the researchers think that will become a normal part of the diet? My question wasn’t answered in the study results! I’m thinking it’ll be made into a food additive that will allow certain foods to be marketed as “functional” for blood pressure reduction, but we’ll have to wait and see.
The title of this post was just to catch your attention, I’m not recommending you eat more chicken soup to lower your blood pressure. Way too much sodium added to soup for it to be beneficial!
I’d love to have you as a reader for The Heart of Health ezine where I share regular heart health and weight loss tips.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson
Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
Body fat – Nature versus Nurture
I find it interesting that identical twins raised apart have similar weight gain patterns and fat deposits. If one is overweight, the other is usually overweight. This suggests that 80% of obesity is related to genetics and not eating habits.
My gut reaction is to argue this and say it provides too easy of a cop out for overweight individuals to say “it’s just my genes”. I argue that the remaining 20%, which is determined by how a child is raised, has a signficant impact on overall overweight status.
What do you think?
Additional interesting statistics:
A child with no obese parent has a 10% chance of being an obese adult.
A child with one obese parent has a 40% chance of being an obese adult.
A child with two obese parents has an 80% chance of being an obese adult.
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
eNutritionServices
Cholesterol Screening – Has your child been tested?
It’s a sad reality that with increased childhood obesity we now have to worry about high cholesterol and heart disease risk of our children. I recently read an article that discussed screening and treatment recommendations for children with high cholesterol. If you are interested, here’s a link – Cholesterol Screening in Children: The Current Debate.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
The Heart of Health
