5 Fat Loss Snacks to Keep You Full

NutritionData.com (now owned by Self) has a cool fullness factor rating for certain foods.

Here are five snacks that rank high on the list

Turkey slices with bread-and-butter pickles  Fullness Factor 3.0
Buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes  Fullness Factor 2.9 
Edamame   Fullness Factor 2.7 
Subway Turkey Breast Wrap  Fullness Factor 2.4 
Hummus and carrot sticks   Fullnses Factor 2.3

Edamame and Buffalo Mozzarella with tomatoes are perfect for any fat loss diet and fill me up everytime.

Top 10 Snacks (not just for kids)

The folks at Fooducate put together a great list of top 10 snacks for kids

Ants on a Log – a classic. Celery sticks filled with peanut butter or cream cheese, dotted with raisins, or dark chocolate chips.

(I loved that one as a kid). The list is great but remember they aren't just for kids - these would be great snacks for you as well!

Don't give them this:

Here's one of my favorite fat loss diet snacks

Grilling meat without increasing risk of cancer

Grilling is one of my favorite ways to cook foods. However, charred meats (and even vegetables) may increase your risk of certain cancers. Here's one way to fight cancer and oxidative stress without putting your grill away before the winter.

Marinate your foods in antioxidant-containing ingredients-such as rosemary, citrus fruits, and green tea-which may reduce HA levels. Additionally, if you are going to brush the foods with oil, use one that has a high-smoke point, such as avocado oil or high-oleic safflower oil, to help lower the extent of oxidative damage to the oil itself.

Remember that food safety is key. Check out 5 more tips for safe cooking on my blog.

What is the Healthiest Way of Grilling? [WHFoods.org]

Read it before you eat it

Nutrition got you confused? Here is some solid advice extracted from an interview with Bonnie Taub Dix

1. Don’t be fooled by the flashy front of the package — flip the bag or box over to get the real “facts” about what’s in the food you’re spending your money on and putting into your body.

2. Beware of buzz words like “free”, “natural” and “organic”, just to name a few. These terms are not always what they seem. In my book I have a whole chapter on misleading terms because they bug me the most! Bottom line: words like “free” could cost you unnecessary dollars and calories!

3. And of course, most importantly, Read It Before You Eat It (couldn’t help using that line!)

Have you read Read It Before You Eat It: How to Decode Food Labels and Make the Healthiest Choice Every Time

It is now top on my list!

Don't forget to checkout my warnings regarding organic masking

Fat Loss Goal Setting

Here is some great goal setting advice from Mike Robertson

Whether you have achieved your goals for this year or not is irrelevant.  That’s in the past.  The only thing you have control over is the present, and by extension, the future.

Always remember The #12 Rule of Fat Loss as well.

Childhood Obesity Facts - just scary

If you read my blog on insulin resistance and prediabetes then you know it is a huge problem. The scariest part is that it isn't just a big problem among adults

6. Type 2 diabetes: Whereas in 1990 only 4% of newly diagnosed childhood diabetes was type 2, by 2001 the proportion was 45% in adolescents  in areas with a large population of African-American, Mexican-American, or Native-American children. Also noteworthy, type 2 diabetes in youth is more common in girls than in boys, with one study showing that up to 80 percent of children who develop type 2 diabetes are female.

You can check out 9 more scary facts about childhood obesity at Diet-Blog.com

Healthy Eating While Traveling

Eating right on the road can be an utter disaster if you don't plan ahead. This single best thing you can do is to bring healthy food with you as you're not going to find it on the road:

1. Stock up on the healthy stuff. One reason we eat crap on the road is because we're bored. After a long drive of a whole lotta nothing, what's more exciting than injecting a little fat and sugar into old bloodstream? Perhaps what's not so exciting is the size of your rear after several days of that type of behavior. One way to avoid the crap is to have plenty of healthy items available. Stock a cooler with plenty of water, fruit, yogurt and cut veggies to munch on to help you avoid temptation.

Don't forget to read my top 5 tips for healthy eating while traveling either.

Road Trip - Avoid Weight Gain on the Road [About.com]

Insulin Resistance Dangers - Start Fighting Now!

I recently blogged about insulin resistance and how it is become a huge problem.

Here's some cool info from WebMD about how you can crush your risk of getting diabetes by just some simple diet and exercise hacks

Studies have shown that people with prediabetes can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes by up to 58 percent through changes to their lifestyle, including modest weight loss (as little as 5 to 7 percent of your current weight) and increasing physical exercise.

If you have prediabetes, do something about it now [WebMD]

Healthy Eating in 3 Easy Steps

Marion Nestle's tips on healthy eat are right in line with the 6 Pillars of Nutrition.

Tell patients that healthy eating simply means three things: variety, minimal processing and moderation.

Variety means choosing many different kinds of foods from the various food groups: meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains. It counts because foods vary in nutrient content. Varying foods within and among food groups takes care of needs for nutrients without having to think about them. People who consume adequate amounts of varied diets rarely exhibit nutrient deficiencies. It’s the most restrictive diets that are likely to be deficient in one or another nutrient.

Minimal processing means that the foods should be as close as possible to how they came from the animal or plant. The greater the level of processing, the less the foods resemble their origins, the less nutritious they may be, and the more salt, sugar and calories get added to disguise the changes.

Minimal processing excludes foods high in salt and sugars and low in fiber, as well as sugary sodas and juice drinks, those popularly known as junk foods.

My definition of minimal processing is only slightly facetious: Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients or an ingredient you can’t pronounce.

Moderation is about balancing calorie intake with expenditure and maintaining a healthy weight through food choices and physical activity.

 

San Francisco Chronicle column: nutrition advice to doctors [Food Politics]

Vegetarian Protein and Fake Meat

Do you eat meat substitutes? According to some new data most people are not big fans of them

According to a survey conducted by Mintel, over half of consumers are disappointed with the variety of meat-free products, with a strong perception of poor taste of these products.

Meat substitute manufacturers need to focus on more exotic and ethnic flavours, as well as more premium products to increase appeal to many consumers, particularly women, says Mintel.

I'm personally not a fan of meat substitutes because they are traditional made with allergenic foods. Check out my video on vegetarian proteins for more on that.

You can read more about the meat substitute decline here.

Calorie Sneak ups

I've written on my blog before about hidden factors that make you eat more. One way to combat calorie snack attacks is by having your snacks already planned out so you know exactly what you are eating. Another approach (below) from Yahoo Health Tips also works well. My recommendation would be to create a list of 10 'approved snacks' and their sizes so when you head to the kitchen for a snack you have choices laid out for you and know that they will all fit in your plan.

Sneaky Snack Approach
When you know how many calories are in your snack of choice, you're in a better position to adjust your calorie intake of other foods later, so your total caloric intake for the day stays on target. That's right -- you can't snack away without cutting back somewhere else. But knowing how many calories your chosen noshes contain -- be they fruit, veggies, and yogurt or higher-calorie snacks like cereal and savory crackers -- will help you modulate at mealtime.

Diets that dieted (thank goodness)

You can go on one of two types of diets: a healthy diet or a crazy fad diet. I just came across a great list of the "Top 25 Fat diets from the last 25 Years". Here's a gem known as the Sleeping Beauty Diet (I can't make this up).

The general idea behind this warped sedative-fueled fad diet is, “Take two of these and call me in seven days.” You are supposed to drug yourself to sleep for up to seven days at a time.

You may lose some weight because you didn't eat for a week, but we've got snooze for you: This diet, which was reportedly used by Elvis during those times his trademark jumpsuits became a tad too tight, just won't work. You'll awaken hungrier than a hibernatin' bear and lumber your way to the nearest buffet for a binge to end all binges. Just say no to drugs... and yes to a healthier diet and weight loss plan.

How To Prevent Eating When You're Not Hungry

I have written before on how it is very easy to sabotage your diet though unknowing snacking (see last week's post as well)

Melaine at Dietterric also posted her top 3 tips on how you can make sure that your aren't eating just because you are bored. Here's my favorite of her list:

#3 Take a short walk
This may seem like a strange way to avoid eating when not hungry, but sometimes just getting the blood flowing through the body, helps you realize you aren’t as hungry as first thought.

Also, exercise itself tends to suppress the appetite, so you’ll probably find that walking around cures any hunger cravings you were having anyway.

Plus, you’ll also burn off some additional calories — great if you’re trying to lose weight.

This is also known as 'delaying the craving' and it a very good strategy for emotional type eating as in these situations your desire for food isn't

Kettlebell Snatches and Fat Loss (Video)

Download now or preview on posterous

kettlebells012010.pdf (1474 KB)

Here is a good 'how to kettlebell snatch' video. Chris shows you how to make sure you don't beat up your wrists (a problem I had for a while).

You may remember back a couple months there was a lot of buzz about kettlebells and fat loss due to a study published in ACE Fitness Matters. The study showed how kettlebell snatches burned more calories than anyone could have imagined. I'm not sure if this is because of the kettlebells or because of the metabolic acceleration nature of the workouts. Either way I find training with kettlebells fun and they burn a ton of calories.

Stress out? Do some push ups

I remember as a kid that my wrestling coach always insisted that we practice during final exam periods while most of the other teams were given time off to 'study'. Most of my fellow teammates were stress about missing the time to study but Hutch (my coach) was adamant that it would help us blow off steam and study better (side note: it is hard to blow off steam when you are working out in a room that is steaming!!)

A study from PLoS ONE shows that Hutch was right and exercise does help deal with stress.

...the women who engaged in brief vigorous physical activity -- at least 40 minutes over the three-day study period -- and were stressed had longer telomeres than their inactive, stressed-out counterparts. The authors conclude that 13 minutes or more of vigorous exercise daily appears to be the critical amount correlated with longer telomeres.

“Physical activity is so good for you and stress is bad for you, but the new study shows the stress-buffering effects of physical activity in those who are chronically stressed,” says study author Eli Puterman, PhD, a health psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco.

When life gets stressful often times your fat loss training will take a back seat to vegging on the couch at the end of a long day. Don't get sucked into the couch. Take the extra effort and get in your workouts. Your body will thank you.

Exercise May Buffer Effects of Stress [WebMD]

More Good News About Caffeine

A new study published in the Journal of the International Society of Nutrition found that:

a moderate dose of caffeine may be sufficient for enhancing strength performance in resistance-trained women.

The women is the study were given 6 mg/kg of caffeine. Which for a 150lbs women is about 400mg of caffeine or 2 cups of coffee. When the women took the caffeine prior to working out they boosted their 1 rep max bench press by just under 2lbs. Not ground breaking strength gains but every little bit helps right? This fits in perfectly with my nutrient stacking concept and one more (small) reason to include some caffeine in your fat loss training program when you energy levels may be a little low.

Caffeine enhances upper body strength in resistance-trained women [JISSN.org]

Do What You Do Better with Caffeine

I've written before about the benefits of moderate caffeine and coffee consumption. A new review of studies looking at the effect of caffeine intake on shift workers (14% of Americans) show that it will cut down on work related errors and increase productivity.

Depending on the study design, the workers received caffeine through coffee, energy drinks, food, or pills. In most studies, the workers completed neuropsychological tests to gauge their memory, attention, reasoning, and perception skills. Several studies compared the results of neuropsychological testing in participants given caffeine versus a placebo.

The study authors say that, compared to doing nothing at all, the caffeine helped shift workers improve their cognitive performance and reduced job-related errors. None of the studies reviewed assessed the effects of caffeine on work-related injuries.

Caffeine Reduces on-the-Job Mistakes [WebMD]

Drink this to Sabotage Your Weight Loss Plan

The 4th Pillar of Nutrition is to "Drink more water and cut out calorie-containing beverages (beer, soda, etc.)." One of the fastest ways that I see people sabotage their fat loss diet is by drinking to many calories. So you can image that I was horrified (but not shocked) to see that Cold Stone has a shake that is just over 2,000 calories. While that is utterly ridiculous, I don't understand why companies have to make such calorically dense products? Who in their right mind would volunteer to drink 2,000 calories in one setting? Food scientists are pretty amazing now-a-days, you're telling me they could make the drink taste pretty much the same if it contained 1,000 calories?

I'll stick to drinking water and tea.

A milkshake containing 2,010 calories - equivalent to eating 68 strips of bacon or 30 chocolate chip cookies — has topped a list of the 20 worst drinks in America compiled by Men's Health magazine.

The Cold Stone PB&C milkshake, made with peanut butter, chocolate ice cream and milk, contains 68 grams of saturated fat and 153 grams of sugar, according to nutritional details on the company's website.

"In terms of saturated fat, drinking this Cold Stone catastrophe is like slurping up 68 strips of bacon," the magazine said.

Here's a recap of the 6 Pillar of Nutrition for you

2,000-calorie shake tops list of worst drinks [MSN Health]

Rice Krispies Boost Immune Function?

Several months ago when buying some cereal for the kids I came across the a box of Rice Krispies promising to boost Peter and Grace's immune system. I thought it was funny and snapped a picture with my phone. Apparently Kellogg's got in trouble for this.

The Kellogg Company will change immunity claims for Rice Krispies after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled the claims misleading – but ruled out a financial penalty.

Instead the agency hit the $13bn food giant with an expanded settlement order that applies to all Kellogg’s products and associated health claims, along with a stern and somewhat unusual “dissenting statement” from FTC commissioner Julie Brill, and chairman Jon Leibowitz.

The letter accused Kellogg’s of irresponsibly conceiving and engaging in the multi-million dollar immunity campaign conceived last year at the very same time it was settling another misleading mental health claims conviction with the FTC.

But not enough trouble according to some people.

“What is utterly befuddling about this action is that Kellogg’s have hit the Daily Double with this – immunity and misleading claims aimed at children – and still the FTC won’t fine them just because they are Kellogg’s.”

“Here is a company that has breached a prior order [in relation to the mental health claim action] and still the FTC won’t take money from them. Even if that prior order didn’t exist the FTC has the power to disgorge a company of all of its ill-gotten gains. Kellogg’s has shown itself to be a repeat offender and it should have been punished accordingly.”

Dan Fabricant, PhD, the Natural Products Association’s vice president of scientific and global government affairs, agreed, "it was bizarre the FTC didn't hit Kellogg's with a fine".

 

I've written before about using caution when believing health claims on foods. What do you think?

Kellogg’s escapes FTC fine over false immunity claims [Food Navigator]

Foods that make you feel better fast

I'm convinced that food is one of the most powerful drugs out there. Aside from it making or breaking your fat loss goals what you eat can greatly effect your mood and wellbeing. the Real Age folks posted a list of their top 3 mood boosting foods (my favorite below) over at Yahoo Health Tips.

Tea: A spot of tea may give you just the mood and performance boost you crave, thanks to the caffeine. Plus, research links tea drinking to lower rates of depression. And studies show that the very act of preparing tea may soothe nerves.