MyNetDiary Blog

Don’t Make a ‘Bee-Line’ for a Slim...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:37:42 -0500

Don’t Make a ‘Bee-Line’ for a Slim Waistline

In a presentation by Dr. Kevin Hall, a researcher with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, Canada, it was posited that losing weight could be twice as hard as previously thought. Dr. Hall suggests that there is no direct line between calorie-reduction and weight loss and a body’s metabolism factors greatly into how fast weight comes off when dieting.

At the base of his report is that a body’s metabolism rate slows when one is dieting, so a better image for picturing weight loss is a downward curve that plateaus as one nears one’s goal; this is in place of a straight line toward a weight goal.

Dr. Hall continues by stating that simply cutting 500 calories from one’s diet every day will not lead to losing a pound a week for everyone, as it doesn’t fully factor in different people’s varying metabolism rates.

Dr. Hall, along with his colleagues, developed a mathematical model that takes into account a person’s age, height, weight and physical activity level to better predict how much weight that person might lose on a diet and exercise plan. Currently, according to Dr. Hall, the model is intended only for use by physicians and researchers scientists.

His new “rule” suggests a person would need to cut 10 calories per day from their diet for every pound they want to lose over a three-year period, so cutting 100 calories per day would lead to a 10-pound weight loss over three years. Half of this weight loss would occur over the first year. To lose more weight after the three-year period, you’d have to cut more calories, according to Dr. Hall.

The key to this study, however, is that there is no clinical trial backing up these stats. Currently, it is just a mathematical model that has been validated by comparing it to some actual changes in people, so we’ll have to follow this as it progresses. The NIH, however, is currently recruiting participants for a clinical trial comparing the effects of reducing fats and carbohydrates in obese adults.

So what image best helps you when visualizing your weight loss goal? Tell us on the MyNetDiary Facebook page or in our Community Forum.

Veggies for the Great Recession. Part 1: Cabbage & Carrots...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:33:06 -0500

Veggies for the Great Recession. Part 1: Cabbage & Carrots

While I was checking out at the grocery store last night, I couldn’t help but marvel at how inexpensive my veggies were –they were by far the least expensive items in my basket. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be very expensive depending upon what, where, and when you buy them, but they can also be one of the best buys in the market. There are a number of extremely nutritious inexpensive choices that are typically available all year round in most grocery stores. Let’s explore two of my favorites – cabbage and carrots.

Cabbage

Cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals. One cup of shredded cabbage contains about 20 calories and if you eat green, you’ll get 47% Daily Value (DV) for Vitamin C and 66% DV for Vitamin K. If you go for red, then the same amount of cabbage will give you 67% DV for Vitamin C and 34% DV for Vitamin K. Savoy cabbage is very similar in nutrients to green cabbage.

Green and red cabbage purchased whole is the least expensive way to go, even when you lose up to 20% of the weight by coring and trimming off the outer leaves. Green cabbage is often less expensive than red, and where I live, it goes for about $0.59/lb (3.7 cents/oz) whereas the edible trimmed cost is $0.74/lb (4.6 cents/oz). Red cabbage costs about 6 cents/oz trimmed. So that cup of shredded cabbage (2.5 oz) will cost somewhere between 12.5 cents – 15 cents.

Want to try a recipe that got user reviews? Try Cooking Light’s Sweet & Sour Baked Cabbage.

Carrots

I can’t give carrots enough kudos. This common root vegetable is a Vitamin A superstar! One small peeled carrot contains a whopping 142% DV for Vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), 17 calories, and only 4 grams of carbs. Despite their sweet flavor, carrots are not high in sugar and they have a low glycemic load. And that beautiful orange color is also a mighty source of antioxidant power.

The least expensive way to purchase raw carrots at the grocery store is to buy a bulk bag of raw, unwashed carrots. A 5 lb bag at my market costs $2.99/5 lb. An average weight loss with peeling is 15%, so the edible cost is $0.70/lb or 4.4 cents/oz. So that small carrot only cost me 7 cents since I washed and peeled it myself.

The most expensive form of carrot will typically be brand name organic washed/trimmed styles (e.g. Bunny Luv organic shredded carrot) – my store charges $1.69/10 oz bag (or about 17 cents/edible oz). Small bags of washed and trimmed organic baby carrots are also a bit pricey at 12 cents/oz - nearly triple the price per edible ounce compared to unwashed, unpeeled bulk carrots. Still, you have to decide what your time is worth.

For tasty recipes using carrots, check out Eating Well’s “Easy Carrot Recipes.” If you live in an area where parsnips are available and affordable, then try Cooking Light’s “Carrot-Parsnip Soup with Parsnip Chips.”

In addition to cabbage and carrots, there are other nutritious, low cost veggies to include your recession-proof budget. Stay tuned for more ideas using dark greens, herbs, and other root vegetables!

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources

Agriculture Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Food Yields: Summarized by Different Stages of Preparation. Agriculture Handbook No. 102. 1975.

Local Harvest. Community Supported Agriculture. Support your local farmers and get super local fresh produce! Many CSAs will deliver directly to your doorstep.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Fatty Food Cravings - Is It in Our Genes? In a new study...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:01:31 -0500

Fatty Food Cravings - Is It in Our Genes?

In a new study published by the journal Obesity, researchers are considering the complex reasons why some people crave fatty foods more than others. Scientists from the study say they found the reason why it can be hard to adhere to a low-fat diet for some and not for others, and it has to do with our genes.

Scientists from Columbia University, Rutgers University, Penn State, and Cornell University studied the reaction of 317 participants to Italian salad dressings to uncover their preferences for fat. The scientists asked people to sample salad dressings with varying levels of canola oil and rate their preferences. The subjects were then given a survey on which they rated their general preferences for fatty foods, including fried chicken, ice cream, bacon, sour cream and hot dogs, among others.

When scientists found that participants carried the AA variant of the CD36 gene, those individuals showed a greater preference for fatty foods and rated the salad dressing to be creamier than those individuals without the AA variant.

So what are the AA variant and CD36 gene, anyway? The CD36 gene is involved in fatty acid and glucose metabolism, taste, and processing dietary fat in the intestine. The AA variant of this gene is present in about 21 percent of the general population.

Now that scientists are aware of a correlation between the AA variant and fatty food preferences, they say they would like to test children for this gene variant in hopes of better educating ones who have it in order to reduce the risk of developing obesity.

This raises an important point. With studies such as these, it is one thing to have the information, but it is another to do something about it.

Tell us, if you knew you had the AA variant of the CD36 gene, would it help or hinder your weight loss goal? Would you understand your cravings better and thus be better equipped to address them?

Let us know on our MyNetDiary Facebook page or on our Community Forum. We’d love to hear from you!

Romance Me with Chocolate! Move over wine and flowers, there is...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:01:52 -0500

Romance Me with Chocolate!

Move over wine and flowers, there is another aphrodisiac to compete for winning my heart this Valentine’s Day – chocolate! What is it about chocolate that makes us so darn happy and perhaps, “in the mood?” It’s probably a combination of factors - naturally occurring psychoactive molecules (how’s that for a money word?) combined with a delightful texture and flavor. If you are looking for chocolate with the highest concentration of healthful and psychoactive molecules, then go for the darkest chocolate you can find. The cocoa mass or liquor is the source of the psychoactive, antioxidant, and nutrient content in chocolate – so chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa will have more of these beneficial molecules. 100% unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder will have the highest content of all.

Texture & Taste

Don’t discount the sheer gustatory pleasure of consuming chocolate. It has as much to do with the enjoyment of chocolate as anything else. That luscious silky texture is partly due to its melting temperature of 95°F (35°C) – this is just under our average body temperature of 98.6°F (37°C). To get the best flavor, place chocolate in your mouth and hold it there for a few seconds. Once it starts to melt, your tongue in concert with a working nose, will allow you to perceive a range of flavors as well as experience the silky texture as you roll the chocolate around in your mouth before swallowing. Yes, heaven on earth.

Energizing

Stimulants increase alertness, excitement, locomotion, and heart rate. Whereas coffee has enough caffeine to knock your socks off, dark chocolate has just enough to gently peel them off. Dark chocolate (70-85% cocoa) has about 23 mg caffeine per 1 oz serving compared to about 100 mg per cup of drip coffee. Cocoa also has another stimulant, theobromine, which is also responsible for making dogs very sick when they eat our not-well-enough-hidden stash of chocolate.

PEA, a.k.a. “the love chemical”
For those of you who swear by chocolate’s aphrodisiac properties, it could be the PEA (Phenylethylalanine) content that is revving your engine. PEA is a stimulant that can produce euphoria and satisfaction. It is chemically related to amphetamine.

Antioxidants

In addition to pleasure, chocolate is good for your heart health. Consuming cocoa flavonoids (polyphenols) helps reduce blood pressure, improve blood flow, lower LDLs, raise HDLs, and overall, lower risk of heart disease. But how much do we have to eat to see these health effects? Dr. Eric Ding posted (see MyNetDiary’s blog) that we would have to eat about 400-500 mg of dark chocolate every day to get enough flavonoids to see these health effects. However, there could still be some benefit to consuming small amounts of chocolate daily, as Taubert et al. reported in “Effects of Low Habitual Cocoa Intake on Blood Pressure and Bioactive Nitric Oxide” (JAMA, 7/4/07). In their small study, they saw reduced blood pressure in folks with hypertension with only 6.3 grams (1/4 oz) of dark chocolate consumed daily for 18 weeks.

Nutrients

Surprise! Per ounce, dark chocolate is a good source of iron (3.4 mg or 19% DV), copper (0.5 mg or 25% DV), and dietary fiber (3 g). Although dark chocolate is high in saturated fat, studies have shown that it does not promote heart disease or raise LDL levels. This is in part related to the type of saturated fat in cocoa - stearic acid.

Milk vs. White vs. Dark

Milk chocolate has less cocoa and more added sugars and fats (e.g. milk fat) than dark chocolate – which is going in the wrong direction for heart health. White chocolate has no cocoa at all, only cocoa butter and added ingredients. So, for a sweet that is packed with the most healthful molecules, go with dark chocolate with the highest cocoa content you can find.

Try pairing a dark chocolate (e.g. 85% cocoa) with fruit and champagne to start your Valentine’s Day evening off right – with or without your true love! Your brain and your heart will thank you for it.

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources

Jim Spadaccini. Exploratorium, Exploring Online. The Sweet Lure of Chocolate.

Freemantle, M. What’s That Stuff? CENEAR. 2000;78(49):82.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Six Scientifically Validated Nutritional Tips for Heart Health:...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:20:30 -0500

Six Scientifically Validated Nutritional Tips for Heart Health: with Dr. Eric Ding

Guest post for MyNetDiary by Dr. Eric Ding

February is National Heart Month

I believe in the importance of evidence-based translational medicine. There is so much fluff and false claims in the nutrition world that I want to make sure all claims are justified with strong body of consistently supported scientific evidence. I’m an epidemiologist and nutritionist - so I like to focus on evidence-based medicine in the realm of disease prevention, because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Long-running research from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition have established that over 82% of total heart disease in American woman are likely due to lifestyle factors, most notably poor nutrition. Indeed, nutrition is one of the major clusters of risk factors that cause heart disease. However, what 10 nutritional factors could we highlight for people to improve their health? Let’s list a few and discuss.

1) I rank sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) as one of the worst causes of heart disease. But it’s not the sugar per se, but rather liquid sugar intake such as in soda and sweetened juices, because liquid sugar is partially “invisible” to our hunger control system. Indeed, the difference between liquid sugar and solid sugar is best seen in an experiment between sugary beverages vs. jelly beans (with same number of calories). While jelly bean eaters become full and ate less food later in the day, liquid sugar drinkers were not fully satiated and become hungrier sooner and consumed more calories at the end of the day (compared to solid sugar eaters). This is why sugary beverages (but not sugar) are inherently dangerous (Read my recent piece for more info). For the same reason, parents should not give too much SSB to their children.

2) Additionally, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables is another major cause of heart disease in America. Only a small segment of the population gets 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day — and this actually includes French fries, which nutritionists don’t really consider a vegetable (But how did the starch French fries get classified as vegetable by the USDA? It’s not hard to imagine what industry group had successfully lobbied USDA for the ‘French fry’ vegetable classification).

3) Additionally, beyond SSBs and French fries, generally, high glycemic load refined starches are a cause of heart disease. Therefore look for whole grains instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, and steel cut oats instead of instant oatmeal. And avoid mashed and baked potatoes - they have incredibly high glycemic index and glycemic load - they are equivalent to almost pure table sugar in spiking one’s blood sugar (and elevating heart disease risk).

4) Avoid trans-fats at all cost. Many years ago, before the nutrition and medical community realized the dangers, the emphasis had been on avoiding butter — and instead people were recommended to consume margarine instead back in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health discovered that trans-fats, high in margarine sticks, were even worse than the saturated fat in butter for increasing heart disease risk. This eventually led to trans-fat bans from restaurants in NYC, and then the rest of the country. Trans-fats are inherently bad for both their ability to increase bad LDL cholesterol, lower good HDL cholesterol, and increase inflammation - all of which increase heart disease substantially. Therefore, avoid it at all cost!

5) Avoid red and processed meats - which have been consistently shown to increase the risk of both Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. Processed meats also often have nitrites which exacerbate diabetes, which in itself is a strong causal factor for heart disease as well. Also keep in mind, that pork is a red meat, regardless of what advertising may try to persuade people otherwise.

6) Cocoa flavonoids are good against heart disease. In multiple systematic reviews of dozens of randomized trials, cocoa flavonoids are shown to lower BP, lower bad LDL, raise good HDL, improve insulin sensitivity, and improve blood flow. Recent reviews of multiple long term studies have also shown benefits for lowering heart disease. However, interestingly, the benefits in the trials were observed with doses of around 400-500 mg/day, equivalent of 33 bars of milk chocolate or 8 bars of dark chocolate. Thus, because it is unreasonable to consume so much calories and sugar and fat to achieve these levels of cocoa flavonoids through just chocolate bars alone… supplements of cocoa flavonoids are needed to achieve the benefits discovered (supplements available commercially, e.g. Cocoawell). The key is getting the benefits of cocoa flavonoids for heart disease while avoiding the calories, and for that, chocolate bars are not the solution - supplements may be the best option.

About Eric Ding, MD:

ERIC DING, a nutritionist and epidemiologist, is member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is also founder and Director of the Campaign for Cancer Prevention, and Director of Epidemiology for Microclinics International. His research primarily focuses on obesity and nutritional risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, as well as translation of research for population-wide prevention. His specific research expertise include: fatty acids, sex steroid hormones, and vitamin D. His broader research also encompasses social network effects on health, and population nutrition and global health disease burdens. After completing his undergraduate degree at The Johns Hopkins University with Honors in Public Health and election to Phi Beta Kappa, he earned his dual doctorate in epidemiology and doctorate in nutrition at age 23 from Harvard University. At Harvard, Eric has taught and lectured in more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, for which he received the Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Award from Harvard College.

Trying to Build Muscle? Don’t forget about calories! Building...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:49:21 -0500

Trying to Build Muscle? Don’t forget about calories!

Building muscle requires some additional protein but not as much as you would think. There are three keys to building muscle:
1.       Additional calories to support an increase in muscle mass.
2.       Additional protein to support an increase in muscle mass.
3.       Adequate resistance training to stimulate an increase in muscle mass.

I will leave the strategies for effective resistance training to our guest athletic trainers and exercise physiologists - this post will address calories and protein intake.

Protein & Calories

Excess protein beyond the maximum that a body can utilize will not get stored as muscle. Rats! One’s body appears to max out in terms of how much protein it can use “anabolically” – that is, how much protein can be incorporated into other protein tissues over the course of a day.

The RDA for protein for adults is only 0.8 grams of protein/kg body weight (or 0.36 grams/lb body weight). Maximal anabolic use ranges between 1.2 – 1.7 grams/kg body weight (0.55 – 0.77 grams/lb) depending upon sport, with power/strength training in the upper end of the range. For instance, a 68 kg (150 lb) person’s estimated maximal use of protein is going to be somewhere between 82 – 116 grams per day. If that person consumes 200 grams of protein, then up to 84 grams might get used for purposes other than protein synthesis. Nitrogen gets stripped off the protein building blocks (amino acids), and then those carbon backbones get oxidized for energy or they get shunted into other pathways such as carbohydrate production and fat storage. If you are in a calories deficit to lose weight, then those molecules are likely to be used for energy. If you are in a calories surplus, then they are likely to be stored as fat.

If you eat a lot of protein, then you better have good kidneys! The stripped off nitrogen gets converted to ammonia and then to urea, which is then excreted in the urine.

Spread It Out!

The information in this post come mostly from “Advanced Sports Nutrition, Second Edition” by Dan Benardot, PhD, RD, LD, FACSM. Benardot recommends avoiding “peaks and valleys” of intake throughout the day if maintenance or growth of muscle mass is desired. Consuming calories and protein throughout the day in meals and snacks readies the body for muscle growth when an appropriate stimulus presents itself. Consuming carbs and some protein after training appears to be particularly helpful in maximizing muscle growth. As well, good quality protein is important. Whey seems to be particularly helpful – a natural source is milk.

Vegans need to be especially careful to get enough calories and protein for muscle growth. Please see the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics position paper on Vegetarian Diets. If you click on the PDF link, you will see the entire report, which was written by vegetarian dietitians.

What If I Want to Lose Weight?

A calories deficit will allow you to lose weight but weight loss will always include both body fat and some amount of lean body mass (e.g. muscle). You can minimize loss of muscle during weight loss by continuing to exercise, including regular resistance training, and not going too low in your calories intake. When you don’t meet your calories required for basal metabolism, your body accelerates loss of both lean body mass and fat so that your total energy expenditure can drop quickly. You can view your BMR calories in MyNetDiary Details tab on the web, or in My Plan in apps.

Are You Choosing the Right Goal?
If you are a competitive athlete, then consider visiting a sports medicine facility so that your body composition (i.e. percentage of body fat and lean body mass) can be tested accurately. You would benefit from having a weight goal based upon a range of body fat percentage in line with your sport. Contrary to what many athletes assume, sometimes a better goal for performance is not weight loss or gain per se, but a change in body composition. And that may or may not involve a net change in weight.

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources
Benardot, D. Advanced Sports Nutrition, Second Edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 411 p.

Clark, N. Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Fourth Edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 461 p.

Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Nutrition. Nutrition & Athletic Performance. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 2009;109:509-527. Access online here. Be sure to click on the PDF link below the abstract for the full report.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Keep Your Diet Out of the ‘Red Zone’ During Super...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:43:14 -0500

Keep Your Diet Out of the ‘Red Zone’ During Super Bowl XLVI

Super Bowl XLVI is this Sunday, and while it serves as one of the largest televised events of the year (sports-related or otherwise), it’s also an unspoken excuse to sit on a couch for four hours while downing high-calorie snacks and drinks. But you don’t have to send your diet into the “red zone” this weekend in the name of team support. You just have to have the right game plan!

Starting today, you can up your exercise regimen for the next three days in anticipation of ingesting more calories on Sunday. Keep track of those “extra calories” you burn these next three days so you can cash them in on snacks and drinks during the big game.

If you’re heading to a friend’s house for a potluck, make sure you at least bring a healthy dish to eat. Don’t expect everyone else to cater to your diet restrictions or limitations. Just be realistic that the Super Bowl is about party foods, not health foods. It’s likely others at the party will appreciate having something available on the lighter side too.

Think about your field position in relation to the snack table. Don’t sit down next to the nachos or strap a bucket of wings to your knees. Put some distance between you and the food so you’ll have to get up to get a refill.

Don’t grab the football-sized plates if possible. If your host only has dinner plates, fill it with veggies first, leaving yourself only a small amount of room for the fattening stuff. Small appetizer plates are best.

Fill up before you watch. You don’t have to start the game on an empty stomach! You can fill up at home or with healthy foods before you start watching. This will help you avoid mindless snacking while you’re hungry and paying attention to the game.

Hire a water boy. Okay, this one is meant to be funny, but in reality, you want to be drinking as much water before, during and after the game as you can. Alcoholic drinks and sodas have a lot calories in them, so quench your thirst with the good stuff as often as you can.

In the end, remember that your goal for that day is to watch the game and enjoy your time with friends and family - not to see how much food you can fit in your stomach. And your goal for this year is to be healthy and lose weight - not derail yourself during the last football game of the season.

Keep an eye on the prize - your health! Have fun and go Giants/Patriots!

Dietary Control of Blood Pressure – It’s Not Just About Sodium...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:35:17 -0500

Dietary Control of Blood Pressure – It’s Not Just About Sodium

Controlling blood pressure can be accomplished by exercise, losing weight if overweight, diet, and/or medication. Although most messages we hear about dietary control of hypertension focus on salt or sodium reduction, it is only one of four important minerals that affect blood pressure control. Ideally, our eating plan will limit sodium but it will, just as importantly, contain a good supply of three minerals important in controlling blood pressure: magnesium, potassium, and calcium. This recommendation is based upon extensive research behind the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” or DASH Eating Plan.

DASH Eating Plan

You might recall seeing the DASH Eating Plan as U.S. News & World Report’s winner of both the “Best Diets Overall” and “Best Diets for Healthy Eating” categories in their annual survey. This survey uses health experts to rank eating plans by various categories, including the two listed above as well as “Best Weight-Loss Diet,” “Best Diabetes Diet,” “Best Heart Healthy Diets,” “Best Commercial Diet Plans,” and “Easiest Diets to Follow.” In all categories except for the one that was not applicable (“Best Commercial Diet Plan”), DASH placed in the top ten for all rankings.

So, what is the DASH Eating Plan? The food groups that get star billing are nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean proteins. Foods high in added sugars are the most severely restricted of all. Following this plan results in a nutrient intake that is high in magnesium, calcium, potassium, and fiber, generous in protein, and very low in added sugars, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

Food Sources of Magnesium and Potassium

The large number of servings of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes might seem like a lot, but to ensure an adequate intake of fiber, potassium, and magnesium, it is necessary. If you find that your MyNetDiary reports reveal a low intake of these minerals, check to see if there is missing data for those nutrients in the foods that you have logged. Food labels are required to list calcium, but not magnesium or potassium. I find that the USDA generic food items for basic unprocessed foods (e.g. nuts, seeds, legumes, veggies, dairy, and fruit) typically contain more nutrients than brand items. If you find that the brand you use has complete information but is not displayed, then you can edit the food item to include those nutrients if the item is “user contributed.” If it is a system-entered item, then you can take a photo of the food label and request an update if you have the iPhone app. Or, you can simply copy and edit a system-entered food to include the full nutrient content.

You can check nutrient levels in your daily log, but here is a sample list of foods particularly high in potassium and magnesium (values from MyNetDiary).

Magnesium: 1 oz pumpkin seeds (173 mg), 1 oz sesame seeds (102 mg), ¼ cup wheat bran (90 mg), 1 oz almonds (80 mg), ½ cup cooked Swiss chard or spinach (77 mg), 1 oz dark chocolate (65 mg), ½ cup cooked black beans (61 mg).

Potassium: medium baked white potato (940 mg), medium baked sweet potato (564 mg), 1 cup yogurt (470 mg), ½ cup cooked spinach (423 mg), medium banana (423 mg), ¼ cup dried apricots (376 mg), 1 cup milk (376 mg).

Consider upgrading your subscription if you are unable to track magnesium or potassium (calcium is included in all subscriptions). You can customize your nutrient goals for those three nutrients using the DASH guidelines (magnesium 500 mg, potassium 4700 mg, and calcium 1250 mg).

Sodium: 2300 mg vs. 1500 mg

The researchers who developed the DASH Eating Plan found that an intake of 2300 mg sodium along with a diet rich in magnesium, potassium, and calcium was effective at lowering blood pressure. This is very helpful information for those of us still struggling to lower our sodium intake. Once you reach an average intake of 2300 mg sodium, consider reducing your goal to 1500 mg if you belong to a higher risk group: have high blood pressure and/or are middle-aged (or older) or African American.

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources:

Harvard Health Publications. Beating High Blood Pressure with Food.

Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. Magnesium. Calcium. Contains useful information about food sources of these nutrients, not just supplement information.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Four Keys to Losing Weight While Injured Let’s face it,...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:13:14 -0500

Four Keys to Losing Weight While Injured

Let’s face it, sometimes injuries happen, especially if we’re new to regular exercise or stepping up our training routine. And though they can be a setback to our exercise regimen, they don’t have to be a setback to our weight loss goal. Here are four keys for keeping our waistline down while an injury lays us up.

1. Assess your injury. Talk with your doctor about the severity of your injury. Is it a mild sprain, a pulled muscle, or something worse? Your doctor can go over your restrictions on movement and help you find out what you can do, instead of leaving you to imagine all the things you can’t do. Perhaps talk with a rehabilitation specialist about a few exercises you can do to help the healing process.

2. Place extra attention on your diet. As we well know, to lose a pound of fat we need to lose 3,500 calories. We lose these calories through consuming fewer calories than our RDI (Reference Daily Intake) and burning them with exercise.

If your exercise routine is limited or stopped while you’re injured, then it follows that your diet will take over a larger share of the workload. We recommend you track your calorie intake diligently while you’re exercising less. With that, make sure your daily activity level is set to your new lifestyle (i.e. Sedentary or Low Active), as an injury can make you less active than your previous everyday life. This will help MyNetDiary calculate an accurate calorie goal for you.

Also, you will likely have to scale back your weight loss goal during an injury. If you were on course to lose two pounds a week, you’ll likely do better to only aim to lose one pound (or less) a week. The important part is that you either lose weight or maintain, and not give up and start gaining back what you’ve already lost.

3. Stay connected. Perhaps you were part of a weekly running group, or you had an exercise buddy at the gym. Don’t shy away from those with whom you’ve been active because suddenly you’re not. If your injuries require a lengthy recovery periods (i.e. months), perhaps you could volunteer at race days to support your friends or take the time to write notes of encouragement to those on the same journey as you are. Consider your role temporarily changed from “player” to “mascot”. Helping others will help you.

4. Worry about today, not tomorrow. Don’t set arbitrary deadlines to be back to full health. You can set goals for yourself, like increasing your endurance and strength, but deadlines can set you back, mentally, if you don’t hit them when you thought you should. Worry about what you can do today to continue losing weight. Even if your injury is similar to one you had in the past, the recovery period can be different, so don’t make a timetable based on the past. If you come back too quickly from an injury you only risk injuring yourself again. Take it day by day.

Important Tips for Calories Tracking Using MyNetDiary If you are...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:46:40 -0500

Important Tips for Calories Tracking Using MyNetDiary

If you are new to MyNetDiary or to calories tracking in general, then please read these tips for ensuring a safe and effective tracking experience.

MyNetDiary Articles

MyNetDiary has a library of articles on nutrition, weight, and exercise on the main website in the Diet Articles section under the Weight Loss tab. If I had to pick one article to read then it would be “The Dreaded Weight Plateau” since it addresses why we don’t lose weight at the rate we expect, as well as why we plateau. But if you can, please read all of the articles – they are very helpful.

MyNetDiary Blog

MyNetDiary is fortunate to have two writers on staff, a dietitian (me) and a professional health writer. We also occasionally have guest writers who are experts in their field. Take advantage of our twice-weekly posts to learn more about nutrition, weight, exercise, health, and disease prevention. If I had to pick one post that you should definitely read to use MyNetDiary more effectively, then it would be “Setting a Healthy Target Weight”. If you are curious, our top blog posts for 2011 are listed here.

Target & BMR Calories

MyNetDiary is designed to give you flexibility for goal setting so we allow Target Calories for weight loss to dip below your estimated BMR calories. This is helpful in the case where a health professional estimates your caloric needs to be lower than MyNetDiary’s calculations (which uses the Institute of Medicine’s DRI equations). However, if you do not have a recommended calories level from a health care professional, then I strongly urge you to adjust your goals so that your Target Calories rise to at least meet your estimated BMR calories. You can check your BMR calories in the Details tab on the web or in My Plan in apps. To increase your Target Calories, simply decrease your weekly rate of weight loss. You can also do that by increasing your Target Weight or by entering a Target Date that is further out. Meeting BMR calories is important to lower nutritional risk, minimize loss of lean body mass, and to promote a healthy eating pattern that is permanent and sustainable while you lose weight.

Important: to avoid overestimation of your Target Calories, set your overall activity level to “sedentary” if you plan to enter daily exercise. Do not log activities of daily living since they are already included in all activity levels. If you don’t log exercise, then choose the lowest activity level that truly captures your daily experience. See your Account tab on the web for more descriptions of activity levels.

Community Forum

We all need inspiration, feedback, and sometimes, just a good listener so take advantage of our Community Forum. You can post on public forum threads, join existing groups or teams, or even create your own group and invite others to join you. The easiest place to browse these options is on the web version.

If you want specific help from me, the consulting dietitian, then please be sure to post your questions on “Ask a Dietitian” thread. Also, if you want me to view your data, then change your “Information Sharing” setting in your Community Profile on the web so that I can see your basic data. Identifying information is not revealed.

FAQs Page

There is a lot of information about how MyNetDiary works on our FAQs page. As well, if you are curious as to what subscription levels offer, then view our feature comparison chart. Both pages are found on the main website before you login.

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

Extra Resources

Harvard School of Public Health. The Nutrition Source: How to Get to Your Healthy Weight.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Living the Organized Life The New Year always brings with it new...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:55:01 -0500

Living the Organized Life

The New Year always brings with it new aspirations, and for many, a renewed commitment to improving their lives. So what better time than the present to consider how living the simple, organized life can not only improve your state of mind; it can also improve your health. All it takes is a little organization and a lot of fortitude.

According to many professional organizational experts, the benefits of getting rid of clutter in one’s life are numerous. They include, but are not limited to:

More Time - When everything has its place, you create more time in your day because you no longer have to go look for something every time you need it.
Feeling of Accomplishment – De-cluttering your home gives you a sense of pride, replacing the sense of being overwhelmed and out of control.
Your Home is Larger – Simply, an organized home is a larger home, giving you the space to roll out your yoga mat or pop in that new exercise DVD and get your heart rate pumping.

With these same principles in mind, taking the time to organize your life and your eating habits can also lead to weight loss, according to Peter Walsh, organizational design expert. A few years ago, Walsh spoke on Oprah Radio about how good organization and good health go hand in hand. From that interview, here are a few of his tips.

“If you focus on the food, you will never lose weight,” says Walsh. Instead, focus on getting organized and making small lifestyle changes that will have the greatest impact.

Just like scheduling a trip to the grocery store, schedule your time to get to the gym. Both should be equally important.

Stop eating takeout. Not only is most fast food loaded with calories, fat, salt and unhealthy preservatives, it’s a sign that time wasn’t planned for a meal.

Make your kitchen an inviting place to work and create. If you don’t have the space to prepare a healthy meal in your kitchen, chances are you won’t. Instead, you’re likely to slap something together that fits in your limited space instead of your calories plan.

Eat slowly. By chewing your food at least 20 times, it forces you to slow down and enjoy your food.

Make mealtimes a dining experience. You don’t have to go out to restaurant to experience an inviting ambiance. Why not put down a nice tablecloth or light a couple candles when sitting at your own dinner table. “Dining is about enjoying good company and good food that is lovingly prepared, not just about eating,” says Walsh.

We hope these tips are helpful. If you have your own organizational tips, please share them with other MyNetDiary members on the MyNetDiary Facebook page or in our Community Forum.

How to Exercise While in a Hotel without a Gym or Pool Getting...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:06:00 -0500

How to Exercise While in a Hotel without a Gym or Pool

Getting exercise while traveling for business can be a real challenge - we are often limited to exercising in our hotel room. If you have a choice, then choose a hotel that has a gym or a pool, even if it means spending a little bit more money. But if you don’t have that option, then it is helpful to have a program you can do safely in your room or on the hotel premises when exercise outside is not possible.

Cardio Exercises

Aerobic activity, or cardio, is one that raises your heart rate and keeps it raised for the duration of the activity. Moderate intensity activity will increase your heart rate to 50% - 70% of your maximum, whereas vigorous intensity will raise it to 70% - 85% of your maximum heart rate. A rough estimation of one’s maximum HR is 220 – age in years. In the case of a 50 year old, their estimated maximum heart rate is 170 beats per minute (BPM) and they would aim for a heart rate of 85 – 120 BPM for moderate intensity or 121 – 145 BPM for vigorous intensity exercise. Here are some ideas on how to get aerobic activity when stuck in your room or limited to the hallways and stairwells.

Cardio in the building:
- Walk the hallways of each floor of the hotel, including walking up the flight of stairs between each floor.
- For a higher intensity workout, simply walk up and down all flights of stairs (don’t take a break by walking the hallways).
- If you are very fit then you might consider going up the stairs by two steps or even running up the stairs.

Cardio in the hotel room:
-Dancing - move both your legs and arms. For inspiration or motivation, use dance or Zumba DVDs.
-Marching - lift the knees, move your arms above your heart, and move across the room.
-For higher intensity exercise (and if you are in a street-level room with no guests below you), then consider jogging or running in place, dancing with more jumping, skipping rope, or run a calisthenics routine without rest stops.
-Quickly roll back and forth on a king-sized bed.
-Although jumping on the bed would be a fun way to get cardio, I would not recommend it if you want to avoid extra room charges!

Weight Resistance Exercises

Strength training in a hotel room is especially challenging if you are very strong since you have to rely on using your own body weight to provide the resistance. This can increase the risk of injuring your hands or wrists. However, for most of us, the task is a bit easier since less resistance needs to be applied to get a challenge (because we are not that strong). To get the most out of your workout, especially if time is short, choose exercises that use multiple muscle groups simultaneously (compound exercises) over those that only work one muscle (isolated exercises). Here are some of my favorites:

Push-ups. If you have limited strength, then try knee push-ups or wall push-ups instead of traditional push-ups. If you are very strong, then try increasing the resistance by placing your feet on the bed and your hands on the floor.

Bent over rows with Aquabells (travel dumbbells). If you don’t have travel dumbbells, then you can make some! Ask the hotel restaurant for two empty milk or juice containers (with caps) so that you can fill with water to use as dumbbells (gallon = 8 lbs, quart = 2 lbs). If you are fairly strong, then you might consider investing in a portable chin up bar so you can do pull-ups instead.

Squats & lunges. These are great for all-over lower body conditioning but be smart – make sure you use good form to avoid knee and back injury. Check out safety videos on squats and lunges.

Abdominal exercises. These can be performed easily in your hotel room. For core exercises beyond the simple crunch, take a look at the Mayo Clinic’s “Slide Show: Exercises to Improve Your Core Strength.” Also, see MyNetDiary’s post on core strength.

You might want to practice your routine at home before you “take it on the road.” Ideally, have a trainer watch your form while executing new exercises.

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or the MyNetDiary Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources

Cameron McGarr, C.S.C.S. Men’s Health. Who Needs a Gym?

CDC. Target Heart Rate and Estimated Maximum Heart Rate.

Katherine Isacks, MPS, RD. MyNetDiary. Physical Activity.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

Strong to the Core: It’s about more than Sit-Ups It seems that a...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:23:28 -0500

Strong to the Core: It’s about more than Sit-Ups

It seems that a perennial topic of discussion when it comes to working out is why do ab exercises and how much should we be doing. Not everyone is out to build a chiseled six-pack, but core exercises are extremely important because they can do a lot to help prevent injuries and give us better balance and stability.

Core strength is about getting the muscles around our trunk and pelvis in shape. Through core exercises, you train the muscles around your pelvis, abdomen, lower back and hips to work together. This is what gives you better balance and agility.

In fact, a strong core can make doing nearly any activity easier, from swinging a golf club to household chores. Without good core strength, we tend to have poorer posture, more low back pain and more muscle injuries.

What’s nice about core exercises is that you can do them without needing fancy gym equipment. In fact, you can do them in the morning before work, while on your lunch break, or before bed. Here are three different core exercises you can do to improve your strength, balance and posture.

Bridge Pose - Lie on your back with your knees bent while keeping your back in a neutral position - not arching and not pressed into the floor. Do not tilt your hips. Now tighten your abdominal muscles and raise your hips off the floor until your hips are aligned with your knees and shoulders. Hold the position for as long as you can without breaking form.

Plank - Lie face down on a mat while resting on your forearms, with palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, raising up on your toes and resting on the elbows. Keep your back flat. Now tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominal muscles to prevent your trunk from sticking up or sagging in the middle. Hold this pose for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat three to five times.

Bicycle Exercises - Lie face up on a mat, placing your hands behind your head and lightly supporting it with your fingers. Bring your knees in toward your chest while lifting your shoulder blades off the floor - all without pulling on your neck. Now rotate to the left, bringing the right elbow toward the left knee as you straighten the other leg. Now switch sides, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee. Continue alternating sides in a pedaling motion for one to three sets of about 15 reps.

Keep these core exercises as part of your regular workout routine and you will notice a difference with your overall strength and balance.

Do you have any other fun core exercises? Share them with us on our MyNetDiary Facebook page or in our Community Forum.

Size Matters: A Quick & Dirty Guide to Controlling Portion...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:18:31 -0500

Size Matters: A Quick & Dirty Guide to Controlling Portion Size

Although most of us think we are good guessers when it comes to portion size, we aren’t! We are easily tricked into overestimating or underestimating portion size, and therefore, calories. Small differences in portion size might not seem like a big deal, but those differences add up over time and can help you make or break your weight goals. So learn tips on how to err on the side on minimizing, not maximizing calories. Most of the tips listed here are adapted from Brian Wansink’s “Mindless Eating.”

1.       Container Size

We think portions are smaller when their containers are large and conversely, we think portions are larger when their containers are small. These tips are especially important for those of you who do not measure or who just measured a food or beverage once and then shifted to “guestimating” thereafter.

Use tall, skinny glasses instead of short, wide glasses. The same amount of liquid (e.g. 1 cup) will look like more in a tall, skinny glass than when it is contained in a short, wide glass. We tend to drink more calories from short, wide glasses. Practical tip: don’t throw out your short, wide glasses – instead, use them for water. This will encourage you to drink more water.

Use smaller plates (8-9 inches) instead standard dinner plates (10-12 inches). Don’t guess – take out a ruler or measuring tape and measure the total diameter of your plate. Are your plates really large? Consider using salad plates instead of dinner plates, or simply buy smaller dinner plates.

Use custard cups instead of bowls. Pyrex custard cups will hold about ½ cup or 4 fl oz without spilling over the sides. Regular-sized bowls can easily hold up to 12 fl oz (up to about 1½ cups). Custard cups are perfect for ice cream, puddings, fresh fruit salad, and other foods that you wish to limit to a ½ cup serving.

2.       Color & Contrast

If the food and dish have a similar color, then we are more likely “over serve” ourselves compared to a target amount (and therefore, eat more calories). Example: attempting to serve oneself one cup of cooked white pasta on a white plate. When the food and plate have a high color contrast, we tend to guess lower – that is, we tend to “under serve” ourselves (e.g. white pasta on a black plate). And interestingly, the reverse is true if the plate and tablecloth have a high contrast – we tend to over-serve food (e.g. white plate on a black tablecloth). The key is contrast rather than plate color per se. Van Ittersum and Wansink published a great article on this subject: “Plate Size and Color Suggestibility: The Delboeuf Illusion’s Bias on Serving and Eating behavior.” The article will be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, but it is accessible online ahead of print here. If you prefer a brief summary of that study, then check out Ann Lukits’ article, “Tricking the Eye To Keep From Heaping Plates” in The Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2011.

3.       See All You Eat

Assemble all meal components (prepared, that is) so that you see everything you are about to eat for that meal. Once you finish your meal, do not go back for seconds. When we eat multiple courses, we lose track of how much we have eaten and tend to eat more calories. Keeping visual reminders on the table of how much food or drink we have consumed (e.g. empty beer or soda bottles, empty plates, bowls, or glasses, bones, etc.) helps us eat fewer calories than if there are no visual reminders. Practical tip: avoid “all you can eat” restaurant specials and buffets.

Good luck experimenting with portion size! Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Community Forum or MyNetDiary Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources

Katherine Isacks, MPS, RD. MyNetDiary. Hidden Cues to Eating.

Katherine Isacks, MPS, RD. MyNetDiary. Measuring & Estimating Portion Size.

Wichita State University. Visual Estimates of Serving Sizes.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

10% Off: The Best ‘Deal’ in Weight Loss No,...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:32:20 -0500

10% Off: The Best ‘Deal’ in Weight Loss

No, we’re not trying to sale you something at a discount. We’re trying to help you set a realistic and helpful weight loss goal to start the new year off right. And what is that goal? It’s losing 10% of your starting body weight. Now before you think we’re giving you too simple of a target to hit, we’ll share with you some important facts and figures.

According to a study released last November, more than one in three Americans believe overweight people need to lose 30% of their body weight to improve their health. And more than 70% believe that overweight individuals need to lose at least 20% of their body weight to improve their health. However, only one in five people thinks that losing 10% of one’s body weight will improve one’s health.

But according to the experts, losing just 10% of one’s body weight can have big payoffs for health. And these experts aren’t talking about losing 10% of your body weight in a “Biggest Loser” fashion, dropping it in two days while a chiseled and tan personal trainer screams in your ear and inspirational theme music plays in the background. Experts say the “gold standard” of weight loss is losing 10% of your body weight over a period of six months. If you hit your goal in six months and you still need to lose weight, set another six-month goal for another 10%.

At this rate, losing weight becomes more about making the lifestyle changes that will keep the weight off over the long term. The studies that have backed these claims have shown that losing 5-10% of one’s body weight improved blood pressure, reduced LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, improved glucose tolerance, and lowered risk for cardiovascular disease. And the results of losing this low percentage of weight even outweighed the benefits of taking medications for some of these health issues.

Weight loss is much more than getting to the size jeans you want to wear. It’s also about getting healthy on the inside so you can live longer, do more and be happier. We want everyone to reach their goals this year. And speaking of goals, tell us what your goal for 2012 is at our Community Forum. We’d love to hear from you!

If you have questions about using MyNetDiary or calculating a proper weight loss goal, you can also post a question in the “Ask a Dietitian” thread.

Is Your Weight Goal SMART? Happy New Year, Everyone! A New Year...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:20:19 -0500

Is Your Weight Goal SMART?

Happy New Year, Everyone! A New Year means a New Year’s Resolution for many of us. If you struggle with meeting the same weight goal year after year, then it is time to rethink how you set your goal. Start the New Year off on the right foot by setting a SMART weight goal. That is, set a weight goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time-Bound.

Specific, Measurable, and Time-Bound

Since MyNetDiary is a calories tracker that requires a specific target weight and target date to work, the “Specific” and “Time-Bound” parts of a SMART goal are addressed. The “Measurable” part is also covered since body weight is easily measured by a scale. Where people get into trouble is the “Attainable” and “Relevant/Realistic” parts of their goal.

Attainable Goals

First of all, your weight loss goal has to be possible to achieve. Losing 10 lbs in 10 days is not an attainable goal for most people. It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of body weight yet the body still requires an amount of fuel to sustain basic metabolic functions (BMR). That is, you can’t create too large of a calories deficit without compromising your body’s ability to sustain basal metabolic functions.

An average weekly rate of weight loss that is safe for most people is 1-2 lbs/week. However, if you are very close to your goal weight, and/or are not burning calories from exercise, then a lower rate of weight loss might be more appropriate for you. Perhaps a 1-2 lbs weight loss per month is a better goal. I typically recommend that a target weight and date be adjusted so that the target calories do not dip below one’s BMR. You can see your estimated BMR in the Details tab of MyNetDiary web or in My Plan in MyNetDiary mobile apps.

Relevant/Realistic

Even if it is technically possible to lose the weight you have set for yourself, the target weight still needs to be realistic and relevant given your life. For instance, if you work long hours in a sedentary occupation and have a long sedentary commute, then you are going to find it very difficult to make time to burn a lot of calories through exercise. In that case, it is not smart to create a goal that requires you to burn 1000 calories every day from exercise to meet the needed calories deficit to reach your stated target weight by your target date. Instead, choose a goal that requires a lower calories deficit. For instance, a 125-250 calories deficit per day results in a 1-2 lb weight loss per month. This calories deficit is possible with a simple 30 minute walk per day (even if the 30 minutes is accrued in 10 minute chunks of time).

Another example of an unrealistic goal is the complete switch from dining out to consuming foods made from scratch. If you are a busy person who currently relies on dining out, then you are going to have to set multiple goals to make the time to shop, cook, and organize your new eating life. A more realistic short term goal is to reduce the frequency of dining out for specific meals. For instance, instead of dining out for lunch 5 days a week, plan to dine out only 1-2 days a week and bring lunch from home on the other days.

Short Term vs. Long Term Goals

Have a short-term weight goal as well as a long term goal, but enter your short term goal in MyNetDiary. I recommend that you use a step-by-step approach to goal setting. If you have a lot of weight to lose, then start by setting a goal to lose 10% of your body weight (0.10 x body weight). Once you reach that goal, CONGRATULATE yourself since that weight loss is a critical milestone. Even if you never lose a single pound thereafter, you will reap permanent health benefits from losing that amount of weight if you can keep it off.

For longer term goals, the time frame could be years. Be patient. The goal is to lose weight and keep it off, not just to lose it. For instance, if I needed to lose 150 lbs, I would expect that this goal would take me about 1½ - 3 years if I lose an average of 1-2 lbs/week. I would set a series of shorter-term SMART goals in order to achieve that ultimate long term weight goal.

Good luck with your new SMART weight goals for 2012! Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

More Resources

Paul Meyer. What Would You Do If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail? Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Excerpt from “Attitude is Everything” 1/2/12.

Katherine Isacks, MPS, RD. MyNetDiary Blog. Setting a Healthy Target Weight. 12/14/10.

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

MyNetDiary’s Top 11 Blog Posts in 2011It’s the day before we all...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:38:23 -0500

MyNetDiary’s Top 11 Blog Posts in 2011

It’s the day before we all make our next year’s resolutions and the perfect time to sit back and reflect on a few highlights from 2011. The team at MyNetDiary pondered over our blog and pulled out the top 11 posts from 2011. We liked them; you liked them; so they must have been helpful and entertaining. Now you have them all in one place, making it easy to share with your friends and family for New Year’s Eve.

6 Staff Favorites

Setting a Healthy Target Weight - Our always helpful and very informative consulting dietitian, Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD, breaks down how to determine a healthy weight goal using your BMI calculations.

Losing Weight - Step by Step - Sometimes all we need is a simple reminder that the journey we are on is possible. This article offers up seven simple steps to keep us all on track.

How to Love Your Food - Whether we realize it or not, we have a relationship with our food. Here’s a post about how we can nurture this relationship.

Diabetes - Get Tested! - For National Diabetes Awareness month in November, Kathy Isacks covers all the important reasons to get tested for Diabetes.

“Exergaming” Away Those Extra Pounds - Many people probably got a gaming console this Christmas, so why not use it to help us hit our target weight!

Bacon - A Love Story - Who doesn’t love bacon? In this post, Kathy sorts out for us how we can keep bacon on our plate and still lose weight, and we thank her for that!

5 Most Popular

What Really Contributes to Weight Gain - Some Surprising Stats - Reporting on a couple different recent studies, we take a closer look at what really contributes to weight gain.

Meal Replacements at Lunch Can Help You Lose Weight - You’ve thought about meal replacements, but maybe you wondered if they can really work. Kathy Isacks helps you understand more about them.

The ‘Skinny’ on Protein Powders - Whey, soy or CHO? With protein powders, we have choices. But which one works the best? This article covers it all.

Popcorn - We all love popcorn, but if we are not careful, we can snack on too many “kerneled calories.”

Why Did I Stop Losing Weight? - Many people who have worked hard to lose weight experienced a plateau or two along the way. In this piece, Kathy Isacks covers what may contribute to the stall and how to get past it.

Did we miss your favorite blog post from 2011? If so, share with us which one was your favorite on our Facebook page or in our Community Forum.

Happy Holidays from MyNetDiary! The MyNetDiary team would like...

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:41:17 -0500

Happy Holidays from MyNetDiary!

The MyNetDiary team would like to extend a warm and thankful “Happy Holidays” to all our members out there. We know you worked hard this year on your goal, and we’re proud to have helped in the ways we do. But we know the real “labor of love” were the hours you exercised and the times you made healthful food choices.

We are excited that we released some important updates this year to some of our apps, most notably the “Photo Foods” feature for the MyNetDiary iPhone app, which allows members to contribute new foods by snapping a picture of the food package and nutrition label and letting us do the legwork of entering the information.

We also continued to support and improve the MyNetDiary iPad app, taking full advantage of the iPad’s large screen and responsive features.

These improvements and your supportive feedback in the App Store and Android Market have helped us tremendously. If haven’t yet left us a review, please consider taking a moment to do that now. We really do rely on your positive feedback to make MyNetDiary the best it can be!

We have many more great improvements and offerings in store, one of which will be officially announced next week! So stay tuned. We hope you have been enjoying MyNetDiary’s services and we look forward to continue supporting your weight loss goals in 2012!

-The MyNetDiary Team

Airplane Snack Packs & Other Myths My last flight involved a...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:33:05 -0500

Airplane Snack Packs & Other Myths

My last flight involved a ridiculous sprint from one end of a terminal to another in order to make my final connection. Although I arrived at the gate just in time before closing, I was starving by the time I plopped into my seat. The carefully planned healthy meal and snacks I had brought with me earlier that day had already been devoured from a lengthy delay during the first leg of my trip. Now it was time to experience “plane food” – something I rarely do.

What I discovered was something altogether different than a meal. Despite the fact that my flight was several hours long and occurred over dinner, ordering a meal was not an option. Instead, I had a choice of snack box options. I ordered Delta’s “Travel Treats” – the flight attendant referred to them as snack packs. By my calculations (I kept my wrappers), this snack pack contained about 935 calories, 50 g total fat, 106 g carbs, 24 g protein, and about 1070 mg of sodium. Enclosed were seven items: Lance’s Whole Grain Cheddar Cheese Crackers (180 calories), Mini Pretzels (45 calories), Fruit & Nut Mix (290 calories), Bumble Bee Chicken Salad (140 calories), Party Crackers (estimated 80 calories), Twix Fun Size Bar (website reports 80 calories), and Milano Cookies (120 calories). It is curious that when I add up the caloric equivalent of the macronutrients, I arrive at 975 calories instead of the 935 calories from the food labels. Hmmm.

Wow. That “snack meal” was a study in processed food, with the exception of the Fruit & Nut Mix. Calories were mostly split between fat and carbs. The chicken salad contained the most amount of sodium (430 mg) whereas Twix and the Fruit & Nut Mix contained the least amount (30 mg of sodium each). Although high in saturated fat (about 16 grams), the snack box did not contain any Trans fats – amazing considering that each item could have been purchased from a vending machine. And good thing I don’t have diabetes!   Consuming the entire snack box cost me 106 g of carbs – about double the intake a woman with diabetes might budget for a main meal. What I learned from this experience is that snack packs are only snacks if you share the box with about three other people.

If you travel a lot, then be sure to read the DietDetective’s “Annual Airline Snacking and Onboard Food Survey with Health Ratings for 2011.” This survey includes a list their best bets by calories and includes both meals and snacks. Apparently, snacks from most airlines appear to be a caloric landmine. The authors offer some great tips for minimizing caloric damage while still achieving some satisfaction from the selections. The two that I think are especially helpful are:
1.       Choose higher protein foods like nuts (but watch the portion size), tuna, hummus, real cheese, and lean meats.
2.       Bring our own snacks before boarding – whether from home or from gate merchants.
3.       Ideas for calories-controlled, healthful choices include water (purchase after passing security), high fiber breakfast cereal in portable containers, fruit (e.g. apples or oranges that travel well), energy bars (to eat instead of a candy bar), sandwiches made with lean meats and/or veggies, 1 oz of nuts in pre-portioned baggies, whole wheat crackers, jerky (if you can afford the sodium), and nonfat yogurt (purchase after passing security).

Safe travels, everyone!

Have questions or comments about this post? Please feel free to comment on MyNetDiary’s Forum or Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RD
Consulting Dietitian for MyNetDiary

Additional Resources
CheapFlights.com. “Healthy Eating at the Airport.”

The Healthy Road Warrior.

WebMD. “Keeping Healthy While Flying.”

Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot provide personalized advice and that the information provided does not constitute medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, please visit a medical professional.

The ‘Skinny’ on Protein PowdersOn Tuesday we posted an article...

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:05:31 -0500

The ‘Skinny’ on Protein Powders

On Tuesday we posted an article on meal replacements and how they can be used to lose weight. Another recent study we found looked specifically at protein powders, so we thought we would share some of the highlights of this study since many people have questions about them. We are not suggesting that protein powders should be used on a regular basis, but this information is interesting if you are considering either a supplemental whey protein, soy protein or an isoenergetic amount of carbohydrate (CHO).

In a study published by the Journal of Nutrition, a team of researchers asked 90 overweight and obese subjects to consume either a whey protein, soy protein or CHO twice a day for 23 weeks. No other dieting restrictions or advice were given to the participants, yet they all did 24-hour food recalls every 10 days during the study.

After 23 weeks, researchers found that between the whey protein and soy protein groups, and between the soy protein and CHO groups, there were no differences in body weight or composition. However, between the whey protein group and the CHO group, those taking whey protein had five fewer pounds of fat than the CHO group. And none of the groups saw a loss in lean body mass. Additionally, those on the whey protein had a smaller waist circumference than both other groups at the end of the study. And all drinks contained the same amount calories: 200.

Is was not clear to the researchers or through the study why whey protein affected the participants differently, but it was clear that the whey protein group lost more body fat and shrunk their waist size. What the researchers did say was, “Through yet-unknown mechanisms, different sources of dietary protein may differentially facilitate weight loss and affect body composition.”

What are your thoughts? Do you use a whey protein, soy protein or CHO? Some people have allergies to contend with, but why did you choose the one you did. Share with us on the MyNetDiary Facebook page or in our Community Forum.

For more information about protein supplements, check out Kathy Isacks’s article, “Supplements: Protein”