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5 Reasons to Love (Good) Fat

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

5 Reasons to Love (Good) Fat

Nutrition

Healthy Fats

If you skimp on healthy fats — omega-3s in fish, supplements, and some plant and dairy products — you're missing out on a great way to help prevent a host of common problems. Here's a quick look at how good these fats really are, and the best ways to work them into your life.

1. Fight those aches

How omega-3s help: Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that nearly two-thirds of patients suffering from chronic neck and back pain stopped needing anti-inflammatory pain pills after taking fish-oil pills for 20 to 30 days. The key may be omega-3s' ability to fight inflammation.

How to get them: You don't necessarily have to take the pills. Cold-water ocean fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) and lake trout are the best sources of anti-inflammatory omega-3s.

Health.com: 5 Quick Ways to Stop Back Pain

2. Stay slim

How omega-3s help: Mood swings can lead to bring-on-the-brownies moments that sabotage your efforts to lose weight. Omega-3s may help by stabilizing your moods, researchers say.

How to get them: Try a high-quality omega-3 supplement for 30 days. If you don't notice a difference, increase your dosage.

3. Have more "up" days

How omega-3s help: Another form of omega-3s known as DHA makes up 25% of your body's brain fat and manages the production and flow of the feel-good chemical serotonin. People who battle depression seem to be DHA-deficient.

How to get them: Researchers believe a DHA supplement may be a gentler (and ultimately more effective) alternative to antidepressants. But don't count on just any supplement available at a drugstore or on the Web. Here's a list of omega-3 supplements judged in independent tests to be fresh and free of contaminants, and to have the amount of good fats listed on the label.

4. Breathe easier

How omega-3s help: Omega-3s may help reduce the inflammation associated with asthma. In a recent Indiana University study, patients taking fish-oil supplements were better at controlling exercise-triggered symptoms than people taking a placebo or just eating a normal diet were.

How to get them: A supplement is your best bet.

5. Keep your heart healthy

How omega-3s help: In addition to fighting inflammation, omega-3s may lower blood pressure and reduce clotting. And they may help fight diabetes too, because diabetes has a strong inflammatory component. Omega-3s also help cells lower blood sugar, a key to avoiding diabetes, researchers say.

How to get them: Eat plant foods like flax, walnuts, spinach, arugula, avocados, and canola oil, and soy products like full-fat tofu and edamame. They have a form of omega-3s called ALA that may help prevent heart disease, according to Harvard Medical School scientists. Also eat cold-water fish twice a week. And if you like eggs, shop for brands like Eggland's Best that contain high levels of omega-3s. Bon appétit.

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Gold’s Gym Declares June National Cheat Food Awareness Month

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Why Cheating on Your Diet Is Good for You

Why Cheating on Your Diet is Good for You

In honor of National Cheat Food Awareness Month, we're here to show you how cheating responsibly on your diet can be the thing that saves it.

Let's face it: Restrictive diets, the ones that rule out a good portion of the nutritional pyramid — leaving you with a food rectangle? — are rarely successful. You're hungry, cranky and far more likely to wind up on the couch with a bag of potato chip dust than you would be if you simply allowed yourself a "cheat" food every now and then.

Why? "The feeling of deprivation is so intense that the diet is impossible to keep up," says Belisa Vranich, a sports psychologist at the Gold's Gym Fitness Institute. "You feel punished, because the notion of being on a diet is so punitive that you wind up frustrated and wanting it to end, rather than encouraged to keep it as a lifestyle."

Strict diets also tend to list the "don'ts" more, so it feels like there's nothing you can eat, Vranich says. Cheating responsibly, on the other hand, allows you to be more in control of dieting, instead of feeling like it's been imposed on you. And despite what you may have heard, occasionally caving in to a craving won't exactly open the floodgates to more diet indiscretions.

"Lifting the typical dieting restrictions on certain foods actually makes you desire them less," says Marissa Lippert, a registered dietitian and author of The Cheater's Diet. "By allowing yourself the occasional cheat, you'll have a more confident relationship with all types of food — the healthy and the not-so-healthy."

While this isn't a free pass to go berserk on the dessert buffet, we're here to tell you — in honor of National Cheat Food Awareness Month — that it's okay to cheat, but do it responsibly. Here's how.

  1. Don't let the urge decide the cheat time. "The decision to cheat should be premeditated," Vranich says. "If in the middle of the second pitcher of beer, you decide, 'Maybe this will be my cheat this week,' you are less apt to keep control of it."
  2. Think of your cheat as a one-time thing as opposed to a license to binge. Consider designating one day a week — Friday, for example — to the splurge. That way you can be sure to make smart decisions leading up to your cheat.
  3. On second thought, make it a one-day thing. "If you're prone to losing control, say, at midnight, when everyone else is asleep, schedule your cheats during daylight hours, when you're out in public and will feel more accountable for your actions," Vranich suggests.
  4. Eat sloooowly. Let yourself enjoy the cheat. That's the point, right?
  5. Remember: A little goes a long way. "Cheating responsibly means not going to an extreme where 'recuperating' will take a huge amount of effort," says Vranich. That means if you're craving chocolate, pick a piece of chocolate rather than a box of chocolate doughnuts — the damage will be less, the guilt will be less, and the temptation to binge will be less. "This is how you reap the psychological benefits of cheating," she adds. "You get to learn moderation and how to make modifications in your lifestyle to accommodate the occasional cheat." Plus you'll have a healthier, happier relationship with food, since there's nothing that's off the (literal) table when it comes to your eating options.

Gold's Gym Middletown is one of the 650 locations of the World famous Gold's Gym International. The Middletown location has become synonymous with great group exercise, personal training and small group training. Golds Gym gets results for everyone from the newbie exerciser to the elite athlete. Classes include Bodypump, Zumba, Spin, Yoga, Pilates, Boot Camp and many others. Gold's Gym has the area's largest functional training area including kettlebells, Olympic rings, climbing ropes, climbing wall, sandbags and much more. Golds has become the favorite training center for Orange County's law enforcement personnel, fire departments and high school sports teams.

Golds Gym

15 Industrial Drive

Middletown NY 10941

845-344-4653

www.goldsgym.com/middletownny

www.facebook.com/goldsgymmiddletown

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7 Strategies to Curb Hunger While You Lose Weight

May 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

7 Strategies to Curb Hunger While You Lose Weight

Nutrition

It's 9 p.m. and you know just where that bag of peanut M&Ms is — it's stashed in the pantry behind the ultravirtuous oatmeal and seriously fortified cereal. Out of sight, but not out of mind. How can you be hungry, you wonder, when you ate a mere hour-and-a-half ago? The answer isn't so simple. Everything from stress to hormones to people, places, and situations can kick your appetite into overdrive. The good news: Whatever the cause, you can beat your hunger pangs. Here, the latest stay-full strategies from the experts.

Whip up a side of potato salad

Surprise! White potatoes aren't the dietary demons Atkins devotees led us to believe. Potatoes contain a type of starch known as natural resistant starch that acts a lot like fiber once it's in your digestive system. That means they make you feel full longer, keep your blood sugar level after a meal, and may even reduce body fat.

But there's a trick to maximizing this benefit: Chilling cooked potatoes nearly doubles the amount of natural resistant starch in a serving. Try an Italian-style potato salad. Boil peeled, sliced potatoes until they're fork-tender; drain, and toss them with salt, pepper, and your favorite red wine vinaigrette. Cool the salad in the fridge and garnish it with chopped parsley before you dig in. Not a spud fan? Try black beans (or any other bean) or split peas, warm or cold, for the same benefit.

Front-load your day's calories

We all know that breakfast helps keep your waistline trim, but here's more solid proof: In a recent study, University of Texas at El Paso researchers found that people who ate breakfast took in 5% fewer calories over the course of the day. That's only about 100 calories (if you typically eat the 2,000 calories per day recommended for adult women), but, over time, it adds up.

Saving 100 calories a day for one year equals a loss of more than 10 pounds. Experts estimate most of us eat 20% of our daily calories at breakfast, 30 percent at lunch, and 50 percent at dinner.

But you would probably be better off shifting more of your total daily calories to the morning, researchers say. If you can't stomach a bigger breakfast (keep it healthy with a combo of low-fat protein, whole grains, and fruit or veggies), add a midmorning snack (a container of yogurt, some fruit with a few whole-grain crackers, or half a sandwich).

Hunger Photo Blender

Pull out the blender

Froth beats fat. Researchers have found that study subjects who drank smoothies and other drinks blended for at least twice as long as necessary ate 12% less — and felt fuller — than those who drank beverages blended for a shorter period.

Why? Blending is a no-calorie way to increase serving size by adding air. Adding low- or no-cal ingredients to entreés (such as lettuce and tomato on top of turkey burgers or alongside broiled fish) has a similar effect: They work by increasing the amount of water instead of air.

Fool your sweet tooth with scent

A whiff of vanilla may be the antidote for your craving for a double dip of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. Here's the theory, according to experts: The inherent sweetness of vanilla sends neuropeptides (gut-to-brain messengers) into a kind of sensory overload that fools you into feeling like you've satisfied your sweet tooth. Any vanilla scent? — extract, body lotion, or a candle — has a similar effect.

Stock up on lentil soup

According to a new study from The Cochrane Collaboration, an independent health research organization, people on diets that call for fiber-rich, complex-carb-loaded foods such as lentils, sweet potatoes, and apples lost a little over two pounds more in five weeks, compared with people on low-fat or other types of diets. These foods rank low on the glycemic index (GI), which means they're less likely to cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry.

Snack smart

By now you know that snacking doesn't have to be a bad thing for your waistline. But did you know that the right snacks can actually suppress ghrelin, the hunger hormone? Low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods like strawberries (49 calories a cup), broccoli (20 calories a cup), and sweet potatoes (103 calories — and ready in a microwave minute) are your best defense. They make you feel satiated on a lot fewer calories than potato chips will.

Breathe hunger away

Stress causes your body to pump out cortisol. And this, ultimately, creates a resistance to leptin, a hormone that helps you feel full. As a result, the more stressed out you are (and the more often you feel that way), the less able you are to tell when you're full.

Short-circuit the problem with this stress-reducing breathing exercise: Exhale fully, counting to five as you release tension from your body; let your shoulders slump as if you're a deflated balloon. Then count to five as you inhale gently, fully, down through the lungs into your belly; hold for a four-count. Exhale again, repeating the first step. Continue for five minutes; practice a few times each day — or whenever you feel inclined to make tracks to the snack stash.

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Diet Myth: Brown equals whole-grain

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

 

There are lots of whole-grain poseurs out there. Look for labels where "whole-wheat" or "whole-grain" top the list. It's worth the extra effort: More and more research is finding that whole grains reduce your risk of many chronic ailments, from obesity and diabetes to cardiovascular disease. The extra fiber in whole grains is key: It makes you feel full, which means you eat less. It also helps level out the peaks and valleys of insulin that a meal produces. An added boost: Whole-grain foods tend to be higher in vitamins B and E than refined grains.

http://www.goldsgym.com/middletownny

Golds Gym

15 Industrial Drive

Middletown NY 10941

845-344-4653

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Diet Myth: Dairy makes you fat

April 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

 

Cutting dairy just shoots you in the foot (and fat cells). Combined with calorie control, a dairy-rich diet can nearly double body-fat reduction and weight loss and help prevent weight gain. Part of the reason is the hormone calcitriol, which helps conserve calcium for stronger bones while telling fat cells to convert less sugar to fat and burn more body fat. The result is leaner fat cells and a leaner you. Stick to the government's latest dietary guidelines, which recommend three servings of low- or nonfat dairy a day.

Health.com: 15 Easy Chicken Recipes

Golds Gym

15 Industrial Drive

Middletown NY 10941

845-344-4653

http://www.goldsgym.com/middletownny

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Diet Myth: The more you cut calories, the more weight you'll lose

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

 

That can actually hurt you. Cut your calories too far — below 1,200 a day — and you'll end up with a double whammy that quickly decreases your metabolism and muscle mass. To get the most out of the calories you do eat, choose whole foods such as produce, fresh meat and fish, and whole grains that are as close to their natural state as possible. They have a higher "nutrient density" than refined foods, because they pack more vitamins and minerals into fewer calories.

http://www.goldsgym.com/middletownny

Golds Gym

15 Industrial Drive

Middletown NY 10941

845-344-4653

Filed Under: Nutrition, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Learn how to enjoy your favorite foods in healthy new ways

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Getting fit, and staying fit, is about living a healthy lifestyle and making healthy choices — like politely refusing a slice of whipped-cream-topped pecan pie. But when you completely deprive yourself of the things you love, you're more likely to give in to a craving later on.

So indulge in a smart way. Before diving in, think about how hungry you are, what food it is you actually crave and how much of it will make you feel satisfied. If you do that, nothing is off limits: You can eat all your favorite foods, but only when you're hungry for them and only just enough to satisfy the craving. Here are eight irresistible comfort foods and strategies for enjoying them in moderation.

Pizza

Order pizza by the slice, not by the pie, and ask them to go light on the cheese. Plus, you'll feel fuller if you load your pizza with veggie toppings like broccoli, mushrooms or peppers. "Pepperoni, sausage and meatballs can more than double the calories on a slice," says Lauren Antonucci, a clinical nutritionist and certified sports dietician.

Mashed potatoes

It's not the potatoes that are inherently bad in this classic side dish, it's the high-fat, high-calorie butter and cream that often get added. Flavor your own recipe with salt, pepper and low-fat buttermilk, Antonucci recommends. "The buttermilk adds a lot of calcium and creaminess and you get to skip the butter." For an even healthier version, substitute mashed cauliflower for potatoes, or go half cauliflower, half potato.
Apple pie

Try this easy low-cal treat instead, no rolling pin required: Preheat oven to 350°. Wash and core a sweet apple, like Red Delicious. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and some chopped walnuts in a small bowl. Place the apple on an ovenproof baking dish and fill the core with the sugar mixture. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Add enough water to cover bottom of the baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the apple is soft.


Ice cream

"Find a really high-quality, tasty brand," says Ellen Glovsky, a registered dietician and nutrition professor at Northeastern University in Boston, then skip the sugary toppings. The idea is to re-create the texture of ice cream, since tactile experience is all part of craving. If a milkshake is on your mind, make a quick fruit smoothie: throw nonfat vanilla yogurt, a splash of skim milk, a teaspoon of honey and the frozen fruit of your choice in a blender, then combine till smooth.

Cupcake

Don't fret ogling the perfect pastel confections lining your local boutique bakery's window. Cupcakes have built-in portion control and one should be enough to cancel out a craving. "The cupcake should look like the ones your mom made when you were a kid," Antonucci says. "If its size is equivalent to two or three of those, you may want to pass." And be wary of mountains of frosting; scrape some off to save on calories.
Chocolate

Sure, super-dark chocolate has health benefits, but the recommended four-ounce daily serving won't necessarily scratch a double-fudge-brownie itch. Pinpoint the item you're craving and eat that instead of a cheap stand-in. "You'll need less to be satisfied if it's the perfect kind of chocolate," Glovsky says.

Potato chips

Reach for a single-serving bag of the baked varieties. Or take a handful out of a larger bag and put it in a bowl — and stop there. "Soy crisps are a great substitute because you get to eat a whole bag and you get the same crunch." Apple chips also pack a sweet and satisfying crunch.

Mac and cheese

This homemade recipe beats anything out of the box — and it lets you control the calories: In a medium saucepan, melt a 1/4 cup of shredded low-fat extra-sharp cheddar into 1/4 cup cottage cheese and stir. Add a few dashes of hot sauce and then fold in the cooked whole-wheat pasta of your choice. Enjoy with a salad to fill up faster.

Filed Under: Nutrition
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