VP Health & Fitness

Happy December everyone!  There are 20 more days left in 2007.  What are you going to do these last days which will help you avoid the holiday binging and weight gain?? 

Well, SparkPeople has posted their December calendar which can help you focus on one healthy habit each month. .  There are 31 daily tips that will each help you eat right, exercise more, and combat stress during the holiday season.

Click here to download and print your December calendar. (You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download this PDF.)

Happy Holidays & Merry CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

~ Vilma

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At this time of year, we can use every last tip to help avoid holiday weight gain.

So here are 5 more fat loss tips for beginner & advanced readers.

==============

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

1) No liquid calories (with the exception of a post-workout drink).

Get rid of all the juices, the sodas, and the sports drinks. Liquid sugar is the last thing you need when you are trying to lose fat.

You must also limit your alcohol intake - especially if you are adding mix to drinks…that is a double calorie bomb! A single “Jackand Coke” is over 200 calories (100 calories from booze and 100 calories from mix).

2) No fast food.

Do not eat at fast food restaurants. Even if you choose what you think is healthy, remember this:

Fast food restaurants are all about profit.

And in order to profit while giving you cheap, quick, and easy to prepare foods, the quality of the food ingredients will be poor - especially the protein.

Now you might have read that you can still make healthy choices at fast food restaurants. But you know what, that’s just politically-correct opinion. If it’s fast food, it’s poor food.

Walking into a burger joint and grabbing a chicken breast on a white bread bun with a piece of old lettuce and a half-green, half-pink tomato is “barely” healthy eating.

The politically-incorrect truth is that it’s going to take time and effort to eat properly. You will have to plan, shop, and prepare healthy meals. You will have to spend time cleaning, cutting, and cooking your food. That’s the truth.

But believe me, it will taste so much better than fast food, and healthy eating will make you more alert. Eating fast food will make you feel terrible, and will make you want to have an afternoon nap at your desk.

Make one small improvement to your nutrition everyday for the rest of your life.

3) Eat more fruits and vegetables.

If you are eating 2 servings per day, then go up to 4 servings per day by the end of the week. And even if you think you are doing great by having 5 servings per day, you still need to double that (take 2-3 weeks to work your way up to 10 servings per day).

Stick with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables - organic if possible.

4) Eat 1oz of almonds or walnuts per day (1/2 oz in the AM, and the other half in the afternoon).

Most nuts are roasted in oils (possible source of trans fats), so stick to natural or dry-roasted nuts.

Don’t panic…this small amount of nuts won’t make you fat, but will fill you up and help you lose weight.

5) Be consistent with your workouts.

And make sure the workouts are efficient and effective. To make it easy for you to follow, stick with the Turbulence Training fat burning workout system.

It doesn’t matter if you train in the morning before or after breakfast, or at night before or after dinner, or at 1pm on days when the moon is in line with Saturn…don’t worry about the details, just train consistently.

Click here to get Turbulence Training
==> www.TurbulenceTraining.com  

6) BONUS TIP: Go for a walk after lunch or dinner (or anytime you eat a big meal). Research shows this will help you control your cholesterol and triglycerides, plus any movement is better than sitting around watching the TV and snacking.

Improve your lifestyle everyday,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

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via Diet Blog

Ahhh… finally.

I wrote about this a couple of months ago:

http://vphealthandfitness.com/day-37

http://vphealthandfitness.com/quiznos-update

Well… fast food outlet Quiznos has finally listed their nutrition information.

So, I went back to Quizno’s site and had a very difficult time in finding it.  Food Fact Info has detailed instructions to find the data & has also gone through great lengths by posting the nutritional information on one chart.

Back to what I ate on May 01, 2007 - The raspberry chipotle chicken salad:

Raspberry Chipotle Chicken
Chicken breast, bacon, cheddar, tomatoes, red onion, Raspberry Chipotle Dressing

The salad alone is not bad coming in at 290 calories.  It has 14 g of fat, 850 mg of sodium, 9 g of carbs, 4 g of fiber, & 33 g of protein.  Take out some of the bacon & cheese (it will eliminate most fat & sodium) and it makes for a pretty decent last minute emergency meal.

According to my journal that day:

Good thing that I only barely tasted the dressing, took out most of the bacon & only ate 1/2 of the flat bread!

The fatbread alone is 330 calories including 12 g of fat, 610 mg of sodium, 47 g of carbs, 2 g of fiber & 9 g of protein.

The dressing alone is 210 calories including 6 g of fat, 510 mg of sodium, 40 g of carbs & 0g of protein.

If eaten all together this would of come out to: 830 calories, 32 g of fat, 1970 mg of sodium, 96 g of carbs (9 g of fiber) & 42 g of protein.

Yikes! 

But then again, this is the situation with salads in almost all restaurants & fast food joints.  I’m just glad that Quiznos is finally keeping the consumer informed.

Moral of this experience: You can make healthy choices no matter where you go, including Quiznos if you order a smaller portion and be selective about what goes on it.

Happy eating!

~ Vilma

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This is an update to the post, How much should we be eating?

I have been doing some research on the Harris-Benedict formula to calculate how much I should really be eating and if it was the most accurate formula currently in use.

I found it that this formulas is very old (1919) and from personal experience & what I have read, actually calculates my calories to be consumed a lot higher that what I should really be eating. Not, good!

There is a more updated formula called the The Mifflin formula or sometimes also known as the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation which can be calculated manually.

The Medical Branch of the University of Texas states that the Mifflin–St. Jeor equation (3) for men and women are as follows:

• Men
  • Energy expenditure = 5 + 10 x weight in kg + 6.25 x height in cm – 5 x age in years
• Women
  • Energy expenditure = -161 + 10 x weight in kg + 6.25 x height in cm – 5 x age in years

You then need to multiply this by a figure determined by your activity level to get your required energy intake.  Not sure how reputable the following site is, but you can see more information on the mifflin formula on this page.

Hope this helps,

~ Vilma

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Now, ya’ll remember what your mama told you….

Mijita, you need to eat your fruits & veggies because they are good for you!

Of course, I, being the obedient child that I was listened quite well & I LOVE fruits and most veggies.  But many people I know struggle to get the recommended 5 servings of fruits & veggies a day. 

Now, I realize that we are almost 3 weeks into the month but I still have to share this… Sparkpeople just released their September Calendar titled “30 Days to More Fruit & Veggies” which gives daily tips and tricks to increase your intake of these nutritious and delicious foods — while enjoying every single bite! 

Drop by and check it out!!!  30 Ways to Eat More Fruits & Veggies

And… if you’re anything like me and don’t have time to prepare and cut up delicious fruits & veggies, I highly recommend some kind of good quality greens or super/whole foods supplement.  They are very convinient & with 1 or 2 servings you can you get your daily allowance plus added nutrients.

Here are some good ones to check out:

THE FEAST

THE FEAST Super Charged

Beyond Berries

Greens +

Greens + berries

Fruta Vida

Also Check out http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

for more tips, trick, recipes & FREE resources.

~ Vilma  

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Every wondered what 200 Calorie portions look like? Wisegeek lists over 70 food items (in order of weight) along with an appropriate photo of each. Topping the list is celery - where it takes a massive 1.4 kilograms to provide 200 calories of food energy.

Another good place to check is the Calorie King Portion Watch tool.

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