Fit Tips!

1 Beware of ingredient overload.
If there are more than five ingredients and it reads like a chemistry book, the food is not a good choice. Are the ingredients familiar? Can you pronounce them? Ingredients are listed from most to least, according to weight. For example, sugar may not be the first ingredient by weight, but add up the sugar sources and it may be. The dreaded high-fructose corn syrup, and words that end in “ose” are all sources of sugar. 2 Do not confuse portion size with serving size.
A portion size is what you choose to eat. A serving size is the amount that has the “total calories per serving” (which could be 1/2 cookie). Keep in mind how many servings you’re eating when you calculate your calories.

3 Picture the fat.
Total fat is the total amount of fat in one serving. Picture one teaspoon of fat — or one pat of butter — for every 5 g of fat. Avoid anything with saturated fat and trans fats, which increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. If the ingredient lists includes the word “hydrogenated,’’ the food has trans fats, so avoid it.

4 High fiber is good.
Look for foods high in fiber, with 3–5 g of fiber per 100 calories. A healthy diet includes 25 g of fiber per day. Fiber is important for good health because it helps to maintain intestinal health and motility.

5 Know your carbs.
Avoid carbohydrates from sugar sources. To determine how much of the carbohydrate comes from sugar, compare the carbohydrate number with the grams of sugar listed. Four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon of sugar, or about one sugar packet. Does all the carbohydrate come from sugar? Read closely.

Kathy Thames, MS, RD, LD, is a dietitian, author and public speaker.

what’s in a name?

:: Be wary of unsupportable health claims such as “fat-free,” “cholesterol-free,” “low-calorie,” etc. The claim is probably meant to make something that is not so good for you sound healthy. For example, the peanut butter label that says “no cholesterol” may imply that the cholesterol has been removed. But cholesterol is found only in animal products, so unless the peanut butter is made with lard, it will never contain cholesterol. Buyer beware — and be aware. Don’t fall for sweet talk.
 

 There’s One Thing You Should Never Tell Overweight Teens
By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star TribuneIf you want your overweight teenagers to slim down, whatever you do, don’t tell them to go on a diet. That most likely will make matters worse, according to a new study published today.University of Minnesota researchers who study adolescent health found that parents who correctly perceived their kids as overweight tended to use only one strategy — advising them to diet. But five years later, those kids were far more likely to still be too heavy than were overweight kids whose parents had no idea they were fat and did nothing.In short, it’s a technique that seems certain to backfire, said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor of epidemiology at the university and the lead author of the study published in the journal Pediatrics.“My concern is that if parents know their kids are overweight, they are going to do things that lead to further weight gain over time,” she said.Neumark-Sztainer said she decided to research the issue because of the growing practice of schools evaluating kids’ weight and sending the results home to parents. In some places it’s called an obesity report card. It began because parents often don’t know whether their kids are at a healthy weight, and some experts believe telling them is one way to fight skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity.Some places, it’s the lawThe practice was recommended for schools by the federal government’s health advisory agency, the Institute of Medicine. It’s a law in some states, and this year was proposed in Minnesota, though the legislation did not pass.
But it’s highly controversial because it can be embarrassing and stigmatizing to adolescents and teenagers.“When my son became overweight in middle school, they used to measure body fat and send [the result] home with him,” said Anne Fletcher, a Mankato, Minn., mother and the author of “Weight Loss Confidential,” a book that examines how teenagers, including her own son, successfully lost weight. “It was devastating. He said, ‘Don’t they know I already know I’m fat?’”
Neumark-Sztainer said she wanted to find out whether parents would use that information wisely.She and her co-researchers looked at survey results for 300 adolescents and some of their parents taken in 1998 as part of an ongoing adolescent health study at the university called Project EAT. The kids, all from Minnesota middle and high schools, reported heights and weights that put them in the overweight category.They found that 46 percent of girls’ parents and 60 percent of boys’ parents incorrectly thought their kids’ weights were about right. Of the parents who knew their kids were too heavy, about 60 percent encouraged them to diet.
Five years later, about 200 of the kids were surveyed again. Those who had been encouraged to diet were much more likely to still be overweight — about 74 percent of boys compared with 52 percent of those boys not encouraged to diet. For girls, the difference was 66 and 44 percent, respectively. Both groups reported about the same eating patterns, including the frequency of fast food meals, and the quantity of fruits and vegetables at home.Parents need better adviceNeumark-Sztainer said public health experts have known for years that adolescents and teenagers who say they diet are the ones who are most likely to have weight and eating disorder problems that can last for years. Now this study also shows that just informing parents that their kids are overweight is counterproductive, she said.“If you are going to talk with parents about their children’s weight, you need to specifically help them make positive changes at home,” said Neumark-Sztainer, who has written a book for parents on the subject called “I’m Like So Fat.”
Fletcher said that when she talked to teenagers for her book, they said the worst thing their parents could do was pressure them.
“Nagging, preaching, coercion does not work,” she said. “Let the kid be in charge. It’s up to the teen to decide if and how he or she wants to lose weight.”
That, of course, can be very difficult for parents. “There seems to be a fine line between helpful and harmful parenting,” the researchers said in their study.
Fletcher said she found out when she talked to her son for her book that she made mistakes, too. He would often take a whole box of crackers to his room to eat after school, and she would always say, “Why don’t you have some fruit with that?” Later he said, “Mom, I got it the first time. But you said it over and over again.”The best thing parents can do to be role models, said Neumark-Sztainer, is to provide and eat healthful food, have regular family meals, and do physically active things with their kids.“Do more. Talk less,” she said.

 Why Cancer Prevention is a Weighty Health Issue
It may not surprise you to learn that healthy eating, exercise and maintaining your optimum weight can prevent around a third of cancers.And yet a recent survey has shown that a massive 50 per cent of people are still not aware that being overweight is a cause of cancer.RESEARCH has shown that fat cells release hormones which can increase the risk of cancer.And yet, despite this shocking fact, it seems most of us don’t want to face up to the reality.

Who needs drugs when exercise will do?
 By DR. GIFFORD JONES

Years ago a speaker abruptly broke off his speech. He said, “I know you’re bored with this topic, and I’m bored, so let’s quit and have a beer.”

I felt the same way and nearly tossed this column out. Why bother to waste paper on something you already know? But on the other hand, a report from the Harvard Medical School shows it is absolute madness that so many people are taking pills when two simple changes in lifestyle could prevent and treat some health problems.

We can also learn from what happens to a person who loses an arm.

Today, there’s good reason to be concerned about the depressing economic news. But if you’re worried about investments, researchers at Harvard say strenuous exercise results in a 50% decrease in depressive symptoms.

This is the exact same amount of relief patients achieve by taking antidepressant medicine or seeking psychotherapy.

Researchers believe that physical activity may boost the growth of brain cells or improve the connections between them. The benefits also include camaraderie while exercising with others and having your brain focused on something other than your problems.

So isn’t it worthwhile giving such measures a try before reaching for potentially dangerous drugs?

PUMPED-UP LIMB

There’s no greater proof that exercise works than the sight of what happens to someone who loses an arm. X-rays several years later show that the bones of the other arm have undergone a major increase in size without any medication! What better proof of exercise do we need?

So there you have it: the choice is a change in lifestyle or the troublesome side effects of drugs. But enough said. Now I wish it were possible to go out and share a beer with all my readers.
 

Felicia’s Healthy Meatloaf Recipe

One of my favorite recipes is my healthy version of meatloaf.
* 2 pounds lean ground turkey.
(don’t use ground turkey breast – TOO DRY)
* Skip the bread crumbs and use one cup of oatmeal instead
* 1/2 cup of ketchup
* ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese
* tablespoon dried parsley, tablespoon dried oregano,
2 teaspoons dried basil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of low sodium
ginger flavored soy sauce (yum)
* Mix in frozen chopped spinach!
Yes spinach – it is the only way I get my son to eat it.
* mix all of the ingredients above

* coat bread pan with cooking spray or for perfect portion sizes –
use a muffin tray. Squirt a little ketchup on top
( I like to spell out my son’s name etc)
* cook at 400 degrees if using bread pan for 1 hour and 15 minutes or
350 degrees for 30-35 minutes if using a muffin tray.

I like serving with Paul Newman’s mango salsa (medium) - it has lots of chunks of tomatoes

The Mathematics of Interval Training
By Penny Hoff

Why does interval training shock your metabolism?

Why does this type of roller coaster training make you burn more calories even later on in the day? Even when you are reclining on your sofa?I wish I could figure out how to put a graph on display in your brain. Until then, try to imagine this.

If you took off running and ran as fast as you could for as long as your could, your heart rate might get up and maintain a heart rate of 140 beats per minute(BPM). Let’s say you could do that for 20 minutes, but you could not keep up that pace longer than 20 minutes.

In the split screen of your mind try to next imagine running harder for 2 minutes, to get your heart rate up to 160 BPM, then walking and letting it come down to 130 then repeating this sequence several more times.

At the end of your workout, if you then added up the number of minutes with your heart rate at 160 BPM, you will end up with more minutes spent at a higher overall rate. If you took off running, you would never be able to maintain this faster pace for the same number of minutes. So interval training teaches your heart muscle, the actual muscle of the heart, to work harder than it currently likes to work, so the muscle strengthens and you end up living longer. Not bad.

And the side benefit is that your engine is now more efficient and is burning those couch calories at a higher rate as well. Fancy that.

It’s Never too Late to Get Active
By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For life-long couch potatoes in their 60s, 70s and beyond, the prospect of starting an exercise program can be daunting — but it doesn’t have to be, a researcher told the American College of Sports Medicine’s 12th annual Health and Fitness Summit in Long Beach, California.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Melissa Miller, who spoke at the meeting, noted that 4 out of 10 older adults suffer from a chronic condition, like heart disease, high cholesterol, or arthritis. “A lot of these older adults avoid exercise because they think they are going to hurt themselves or make their condition worse, when, in fact, almost all conditions can be helped by exercise,” Miller said.

Almost anyone can do some form of exercise and reap the benefits, which in the immediate-term include relaxation, stress and anxiety reduction, and enhanced mood. Long-term benefits of exercise, in addition to weight loss, are increased strength and balance, and improvement in chronic ailments, including improved mental health, a sense of belonging, increased life span and overall quality of life.

“There is really only 1 or 2 percent of the population that cannot exercise in some capacity to improve well being,” Miller said. “Most just need guidance on what type of exercise is best for them.”

Miller, a PhD candidate at Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, suggests that older adults talk to their doctor first and work with a qualified trainer, at least initially. Having someone to exercise with is also a good idea.

“For older adults, once they start exercising and understand the benefits of exercise, they are more likely to stick with it than any other age demographic. It’s just getting them started,” Miller noted.

Because a person’s confidence that he or she can do a specific task decreases with age, Miller suggests building on what they’ve done in the past. For example, a former dancer could practice leg lifts; a former basketball player could start by shooting some hoops; a former runner could take up walking.

“Doing what you’ve done in the past at a younger age is a great way to build confidence and motivation,” said Miller. “Realizing that “my body can do still do this, I can be active, is a big motivating factor for many.”

It’s critically important, Miller added, for older adults to know that it is never too late to improve their health and fitness level.

British study found it shaved 10 to 12 years
off biological age

WEDNESDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — A person who maintains aerobic fitness may delay biological aging by up to 12 years, a new analysis shows.

Jogging and other types of aerobic exercise improve the body’s oxygen consumption and its use in generating energy (metabolism). However, a steady decline in maximal aerobic power begins in middle age, decreasing about 5 ml/ (kg. min) every decade, according to the information in the analysis.

When maximal aerobic power falls below about 18 ml in men and 15 ml in women, it becomes difficult to do any activity without experiencing major fatigue. A typical 60-year-old sedentary man has a maximal aerobic power of about 25 ml, nearly half of what it was at age 20.

But research shows that a long period of relatively high-intensity aerobic exercise can increase maximal aerobic power by 25 percent (about 6 ml), which equals 10 to 12 biological years.

The analysis was published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“There seems good evidence that the conservation of maximal oxygen intake increases the likelihood that the healthy elderly person will retain functional independence,” said study author Dr. Roy Shephard, of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health and Department of Public Health Sciences, at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Aerobic exercise also reduces the risk of serious disease and promotes faster recovery after injury or illness. Additionally, it helps maintain muscle power, balance and coordination, which reduces the risk of falls.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about
healthy aging for older adults.

– Robert Preidt