Diet

What To Eat When On The Run

on April 26th, 2012 by Rob

O.K.- Well, I have been posting a lot about running lately- but I have not been doing a lot of it.

See, I hurt my back a couple of weeks ago- been a little out of action since then. But!!!! I am planning on getting back in the saddle soon!!

So, what to eat.  Well, it depends… for me anyway.

If I am just running… then I ALWAYS have coffee and a banana. That is just the go to breakfast pre-run. If I am running in a race, well, then I make sure that I get a little more protein. Maybe something with peanut butter. Here is my advice for all of your run-eating!

1. Pre-run- Like I said, get SOMETHING so you won’t “hit the wall”. I like coffee and bananas, but it can be anything. I would just try to stay away from the sugar.

2. During the run- 4 to 6 oz. of water every 20 minutes or so. On a run longer than an hour, then I am going to eat some sport jelly beans or a pack of gu every 45 minutes or so. That will be pure carbs—- once again, avoiding the wall.

3. Post race/run- I always try to eat something with in an hour of finishing my run. Protein is important because my body is trying to recover, but so are carbs. Peanut butter on whole wheat is a favorite. They also have some excellent jelly with Splenda. Whatever works for you— once again, just try to avoid the sugar.

Remember, Run to Get Up!!!! Get Moving! And Get a Better Life!!!!

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Not Exactly What You Think It Is…

on February 29th, 2012 by Rob

Herman Cain, Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzeneggar—These guys have billions of dollars, half a dozen PGA titles, a governorship, and one near Republican Party Nomination. And it’s exactly their level of success that made their failings so shocking. (Well, that and the interns and the love children.)

Our shock is due to what’s known as the “halo effect,” a psychological phenomenon where our perception of one trait (Cain’s practicality, Tiger’s mental strength, Arnold’s Terminator toughness and strenth) influences our assessment of that individual’s other qualities—like that these men are immune to the effects of poor decisions- or they are great fathers and family men. It looks like they have it all together- but that is just the image that they have when they are in the spotlight.

A recent Cornell University study shows that people tend to perceive some not-so-wholesome meals as healthy if they are labeled with buzzwords like “organic.” The so-called health halo also makes us more likely to overeat.

My point is that these so-called “Healthy” choices can be land mines when it comes to calories and fat. Make sure that you don’t fall into the trap. Here are some examples:

1. T.G.I. Friday’s Captain Morgan Caribbean Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries- now this is TOTALLY something that I would order thinking that “Grilled”= Good/Healthy—- As Lee Corso would say—– NOT SO FAST!!! This sandwich has a problem- the sauce. This meal alone will push you over the saturated fat that you need for a whole day (18g) and has more than 1200 calories.

2. Ruby Tuesday Avocado Turkey Burger with Fries- at over 1300 calories, this is going to be a problem if you are trying to lose weight. Just skip it— see, it is the turkey part that would fool me— Turkey HAS to be better than beef right???

3. Ruby Tuesday Chicken and Broccoli Pasta- Again, it is the name that fools you here— I would think broccoli and I would think healthy. What the title of the dish does not tell you is that the whole thing is swimming in parmesan cheese sauce. This one comes in at 1500 calories. Not a good idea.

Remember, don’t get fooled!!! Get Up!! Get Moving!!! Get a Better Life!!!!!

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Go Ahead… Eat That Beef!!

on January 28th, 2012 by Rob

When I was doing the People Magazine interview… the first one, the reporter asked me what I ate. She wanted to know if fast food was a problem for me. I could not deny that I did eat some fast food, but I told her that this was not the real problem.

For me the real problem is Steak. Yep… I try to eat it as often as I can. The problem for me before I lost any weight was that I was eating it three times a week… and I was not exactly eating a lean cut. I like rib-eyes- the most marbled part of the cow I think.

Well, as it turns out, I really just have to modify my steaks a little. You see…Harvard researchers recently discovered that while eating processed meats like hotdogs and bacon can contribute to heart disease, there is no such risk for people who consume only unprocessed meat. And many studies have linked protein consumption with weight loss.

Also, meat is one of the only dietary sources of vitamin B12, which helps your body make blood cells and maintain a healthy nervous system. But here is the tricky part– Eating too much saturated fat has been linked to heart disease, so go ahead and eat that steak, but make it a NY strip or something even more lean. And eat it only once a week.

Remember to Get Up!! Get Moving!! And Get a Better Life!!!

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Eat Your Whole Wheat Bread!!

on January 23rd, 2012 by Rob

I know… It’s not as good. It really isn’t. But, it IS good enough.

A couple of days ago, I had to use some white bread for something. My wife had bought a loaf for some recipe she was working on (don’t ask me why she didn’t substitute whole wheat) and I was out of bread. I REALLY wanted a ham sandwich. So, I did the substituting. It was REALLY good.

When people ask me how I did it. How did I lose the weight. Part of that answer is WHOLE GRAIN.

So, don’t let anyone tell you that bread will make you fat. A recent American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that overweight people who obtained all of their grain servings from whole grains lost more belly fat than those who skipped the whole grains altogether.

The thing is- or one thing is that eating whole grain has a lot more fiber… and fiber fills you up and keeps you filled up.

Oh, and make sure to NOT buy the “fake” wheat bread. Check the label and make sure that the word ENRICHED is nowhere to be found in the ingredients list.

Remember to Get up!!! Get moving!! and Get a better life!!!— and eat that whole grain.

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How Kids Learn to Hate Food-

on December 28th, 2011 by Rob

Well, the good folks in Congress have done it again.

A couple of weeks ago, Congress killed the Department of Agriculture’s new food guidelines that would have increased the amount of fruit and vegetables in school lunches. This was after Schwan and ConAgra spend millions “convincing” our Congressmen and Women that it was a bad idea. Oh, and they also lobbied to continue to count french fries as a vegtable… and the sauce on pizza as a vegtable. Pretty hard to believe.

Now some said that it was “not up to the nanny state to tell us what to eat”. And by the way, I think that the nanny state is a problem in this country. There are too many instances where the government is getting into our business where it does not belong. However, in this case—- do we really need ConAgra telling us what to eat??

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good french fry as much as anyone. But I just think that it is too much to ask for these corporations to “do the right thing”.

Remember kids!!! Get up!! Get Moving!! And Get a Better Life!!!

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Why Diets Fail

on December 23rd, 2011 by Rob

I know you have heard me say it before… but this is a lifestyle change- not a diet. To me, this is the most importaint, basic part of my weight loss experience.

If I was to try to go on a diet, then inevitably, I would go off of that diet- and then, well, you know what happens!!!!

Besides, it looks like, according to some really smart guys, that when we diet, we are putting our bodies in a situation that they will resist.

Over the course of my life, I have noticed that my body kind of “settles into a weight”. Now, what I mean by that is that I can eat and eat and eat, and I will not gain any weight. Then all of a sudden, I will gain 15-20lbs- only to kind of level out, stay at that weight for quite some time- until it is time to gain some more. Very strange. It is almost like my body is searching for a sweet spot that it likes. Almost like this is set by God.

Well, as it turns out, this may not be too far from the truth. It seems that Australian researchers got together a group of 50 overweight folks. The researchers put them on a strict diet designed to help them lose weight, which they did. Then, a year later, the researchers went back and tested them again. WOW!!! The hormone levels, like ghrelin (a hunger stimulant) and leptin (which keeps appetite in check) had changed DRAMATICALLY— to slow their metabolism and intensify feelings of hunger. These hormones were working to get the weight back on!! A year later!!!!

All I can say is that dieting is NOT going to work. We all need to watch what we eat— but the main thing we need to do is to EXERCISE!!!

Get up!!! Get moving!!! Get a better life!!!!! Despite the hormones!!

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Turkey Day!! 4 Ways to Get Through It!!

on November 21st, 2011 by Rob

I just read on my handy day by day trivia calendar that there is a day in the U.S. that surpasses Super Bowl Sunday for food consumption. Thanksgiving. Well, that does figure. The whole thing was built on the assumption that the way to celebrate and give thanks is to eat yourself into a diabetic coma. Fair enough… I like to do that on Thanksgiving and then watch some football as I fall asleep. It makes for a good time.

Well, if we can, we need to watch it. I am not saying that we shouldn’t have a good time and eat as much as we want on Thanksgiving. But the fact of the matter is that we seem to just keep on going right through the new year.

See- it’s the leftovers… all the Turkey sandwiches and turkey and dressing and all the other ‘’stuff” that we eat for the rest of the next two weeks.

Then you know what happens, you start in on the holiday parties. Yep, it can get pretty out of hand. Then Christmas comes along and we do it all again…. just 3-4 weeks later. Oh, and don’t forget new year. Have another cocktail.

Well, what we need is a little help getting through these situations. Here are some strategies.

1. Don’t go hungry! Eat a little bit BEFORE you go to the holiday party. That way you won’t over do it when you get there because you are so hungry.

2. Shop smart- When you go to the store to get some of the stuff for turkey day, get WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS, LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE, SKIM MILK. Shaving a few calories here and there can really make a difference.

3. Enjoy the meal. I always try to pick the things that I like the best… and skip the things that don’t really do it for me. For example, I can live without green bean casarole in the sea of mushroom soup- but live without the pecan pie??? Forget it. I will skip the beans and have a small piece of pie- because that is the second part of this- watch your portion sizes. If you don’t have the pie (or whatever it is that really does it for YOU) then you’ll just end up pissed off—- then you might go on a pie bender. (That is what I would do).

4. I say this time and again during the year- and it goes double for the holidays. Don’t beat yourself up. It is normal to want to eat some of those special things durring the holidays. If you do slip up and do something you shouldn’t, give yourself a break and start over immediately. Don’t wait till after the new year.

Finally- remember to work-out during this time of year. It is so easy to say “To heck with it, I will start again in January.” Don’t do it!!! Keep going. Start again immediately.

Get up!! Get moving!!! Get a better life!!! Even during the holidays!

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Denmark institutes the “Fat Tax”

on October 19th, 2011 by Rob

O.K.- This headline was difficult to ignore. And, it is not a tax on fat PEOPLE, it is literally a tax on FAT.

As it turns out, the Danes already have a tax that is higher on sugar, chocolate and soft drinks – and this is not that unusual. There are several European Union countries that have these taxes. However, it appears that Denmark is the first to tax the fat. Now, the information that I have does not explicitly say that the end user will be taxed directly (I am talking about the guy that goes in to eat a burger)… but you can bet it will be passed along.

It is not very much. The tax translates to about $2.90 per kilo (2.2 lbs) of fat… primarily saturated fat. The health minister in Denmark says that this is an important step towards increasing the life expectancy of Danes. Right now they are a little below the European Union at 79 years. (Just as a side note, they also have a tax on tobacco).

I don’t know if these work. I mean, it seems like it might in theory. However, the research that I have done suggests that the price of a hamburger will go up about 0.15. I am not sure that that would discourage me. However, to the entrepreneur  that is purchasing his hamburger meat for his restaurant— and the fatty meat just got a little more expensive per pound— don’t know, might work.

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Why Are We a Fast Food Nation!

on October 10th, 2011 by Rob

These days we all walk into fast food joints (I know I pick on McDonald’s a lot- but they are easy to pick on)… and we see a lot of choices. In fact, we see some healthy choices.

Remarkably, we see more and more healthy choices every day from these guys…. including McDonald’s. We see salads and we see fat free and low fat dressing. We see grilled chicken as a choice, instead of the fried variety.

But here’s the thing. Even though we have all this to choose from, still, most people opt for the burger and fries. Why is that?

I think there are a couple of reasons.

1. Food addiction. I think that this is more prevalent that we think it is. It is a tough one because we HAVE to eat. It is impossible to stop. It is easy to stop doing Cocaine… well, not easy to stop but you know what I mean. You don’t HAVE to have Cocaine to live.

2. Lack of self-esteem. Now, obviously this is not an across the board truth… but it is for me. When I was at my heaviest, I was not liking myself very much. I was struggling with depression and eating was a way to self medicate.In order to lose weight, in order to take better care of myself, I had to change the way I was thinking. I had to RE-FRAME my thoughts. I never would have thought that losing weight would help me that much, but I did. I am more confident as a Father, as a Husband and as a Professional person… now that I have lost weight.

This lack of self-esteem was very elusive to me. Very hard for me to see it until it was in the past.

These two go hand in hand. Once again, not necessarily the case for everyone that is overweight, but it was for me.

Remember, Get up!! Get moving! Get a better life!! Even if you are not sure that you need it!

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It’s getting worse!

on September 20th, 2011 by Rob

I have a stunning statistic for you today…. by the year 2030, we are looking at an obesity rate of 45% to 52%! That is astounding. Right now in the U.S. we have an average rate of about 30%-33%- on a good day. This speaks volumes about the rate at which we are becoming a super-sized nation. The trend is not good. Obesity is defined as someone that is roughly 30lbs overweight. Right now in the U.S. we have about 99 million people that are overweight. This trend would increase that to about 164 million. Nice.I

You think we have health care problems now. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. This will be an epidemic that no one can fix. We have to stop this ride NOW if we want to avoid the all the heart disease, cancer and type two diabetes that is to come. The check is in the mail.

I think that this is due to a couple of factors. I think most important of these is the sedentary life-style that most of us live and the high-calorie junk food that surrounds us. LITERALLY SURROUNDS US! It is everywhere. And we are starting to get our kids involved too.

Now, I am not going to be hypocritical… I will tell you that I occasionally take my kids to McDonald’s. They like it and they like the toys. But this is very limited. I think that we can make so much progress as a society and individually if we would just eat at home more. Whole grains, fruit and vegetables are going to be the key ingredients of this battle.

On top of that, it is critical that we Get up!! Get moving!! And have a better life!!!

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