Manage Your Weight

Control Calories

January 13, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Americans eat out, on average, six times a week. I’ve read that statistic in many places and can’t argue with it. I often eat out a lot (more than six times a week if the truth be told) — for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and in all kinds of restaurants – diners, cafeterias, and places with tablecloths on the tables.

That’s my lifestyle, and having to be constantly vigilant about managing my weight, I had to learn how to control my caloric intake while eating out.

It’s certainly easier to control the portion size and fat and calorie content of your food if you cook it at home. In your own kitchen you know what you’re putting in your food. And you don’t have to put bread on the table if you don’t want to or do things like rinse your vegetables in oil to make them look fresh and pretty.

Restaurants love to use butter, oil, full-fat dairy, and higher fat meats. Their business is to make food that tastes good and to entice you to come back again. What goes into your food is, for the most part, in the hands of the preparer in the restaurant kitchen whose primary objective is not to keep the calories down (unless that’s the promise or the response to your request) but to get your food on the table.

But, you can learn ways to control your caloric intake when you eat out. You can easily make requests and small changes that put you in charge of the calorie count while still enjoying your dining experience.

I’ll be talking about additional strategies to use in future posts, but for now, here are some things you can do to cut the calories:

Learn the code words on the menu that signal the fattier and more caloric dishes
Be pleasantly assertive when asking to go “off menu” or to have food prepared in a specific manner – like grilled rather than pan fried
Be aware of mindless eating: olives on the table, peanuts at the bar, tastes of everyone else’s food
Learn how to eyeball portion sizes and commit to eating that size rather than cleaning your plate. Premeasure at home so you have a guide about how much, for example, 5 oz of meat looks like – or 4oz. of wine. Commit it to memory so you can eyeball portion sizes
Stay out of the breadbasket – and, if you do indulge, lay off of the butter, olive oil, and other dips
Practice trade-offs: if you’re going to have dessert eliminate the appetizer and vice versa
Check out the menu ahead of time and decide what to order so you are not tempted by the possible calorie laden “special of the day”
Rehearse these words so they become your habitual request:
- dry toast/pancakes/English muffin (no butter)
- dressing on the side (for salad)
- do you have skim/low fat milk?
- no whipped cream
- sauce on the side for entrees/vegetables
- may I have salad instead of French fries/onion rings?
- hold the mayo (try mustard instead)
- is the sauce tomato or cream based?

I’ll be posting frequently about additional strategies to use when eating out.

What are some strategies that you use to control your caloric intake in restaurants?

New Year Resolution Status

January 6, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN

Resolutions lead to frustration when you set too many or they’re unrealistic. Sure everyone would like to lose 20 pounds in one week (ever wonder how they do it on the Biggest Loser?) or go from sedentary to marathon runner in a month. It just doesn’t happen – or if, by some miracle it happens like it does on the Biggest Loser, how sustainable is the achievement?

The American Psychiatric Association (www.HealthyMinds.org) offers some tips to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions:

Try again. Everyone has both made and broken resolutions. We’ve all tried to lose weight or go to the gym more frequently or eat more fruit and veggies. Not totally succeeding before doesn’t mean that you won’t succeed this time. Have a positive approach. Create new positive habits to replace the old negative ones.

Don’t make too many resolutions. Our brains don’t like too much disruption at a time. They’re used to doing something one way. Pick one thing at a time and create a habit around it.

Be realistic. Pick a realistic, attainable goal with a clear time frame. A personal goal isn’t a “deal” which can never be broken. Don’t paint yourself into a corner by swearing you’ll do something that might be impossible to achieve –like swearing you’ll never eat ice cream again.

Choose your own resolution. Make sure what you are doing is what you want to do for yourself and not for your friends or relatives. Do you really want to lose weight or are you doing it because your partner wants you to?

Make a plan and write it down. Plan what you’d like to accomplish in three and six months. Set mini goals for each week that lead to accomplishing the big goal. Achieving the mini-goals gives you motivation to keep going and allows you to keep track of your progress. For example: your big goal is to eat fast food only once a month rather than your current five times a week. How about a mini goal of 4 times a week for the first two weeks, then 3 times a week, etc.

Write it down. Writing your goals down reinforces and solidifies your commitment. It also makes it harder to lie to yourself.

Create a support network. Family and friends can support your efforts, be a source of accountability, and motivate you to keep going. Unfortunately, they can also be saboteurs (both intentionally and unintentionally) so know what you’re going to do or say if that happens. Have you heard this: “Gee, I know you’re on a diet but why don’t you have a little piece of this chocolate cake I made just for you because I know it’s your favorite.” Figure out how to deal with comments like that.

Forgive yourself and have a plan for setbacks. Having a plan for when you slip or get off track helps you get back in the swing rather than throwing in the towel in frustration. So you polished off the breadbasket last night at dinner and then followed it up with half a container of ice cream. It happened. It’s over. Don’t let it derail you. What’s your strategy for getting back on plan?

Give yourself visible cues to remind you of your new behavior. Send yourself emails, ask co-workers to keep you on your toes, leave post-it note reminders on your kitchen cabinets. Old habits die hard. A note on the cabinet where you keep the crackers and chips might prevent you from mindlessly reaching in and munching.

Be committed and willing to work on your goal. Decide if you’re really willing to make the change in your life. Just making a resolution because it is the New Year won’t keep you motivated to attain your goal. Give yourself visual references – pictures, clothes you want to wear, etc.

Congratulate yourself. Reward yourself when your intermediate goals or resolutions are met. Maybe it’s time to buy a new pair of jeans to fit your new slimmed down or toned up body.

Why Do You Eat Out?

January 4, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Americans eat out nearly one of every four meals and snacks. We also spend almost half of our food budgets on dining out. http://www.allbusiness.com/medicine-health/diet-nutrition-fitness-dieting/5411015-1.html

Eating out takes many forms –the fancy white tablecloth restaurant, the fish shack with brown paper on the tables, the local greasy spoon, the sandwich from the deli eaten on the steps to your office, and every variety in between.

Why do we want to eat out – even during tough economic times? Why are we sometimes willing to spend money we know we really shouldn’t spend on a nice meal in a good to great restaurant?

Food is defined as any nutritious substance we eat or drink to maintain life and growth. Food nourishes. But what we eat and with whom we share our meals can also help define roles, traditions, and rules. Food is an important, even essential, part of religious observances for many faiths and cultures.

Food also inspires and romanticizes. Today’s generation has grown up on The Food Network – which is seen in ninety million households and internationally. Food reality shows crowd our TV screens and food is center stage on the silver screen. Food books are perpetually on the best seller lists.

Here are some of the reasons people give for eating out:

eating out with friends or family is a source of comfort and entertainment
it’s a nice change of pace
it’s a good way to impress someone
it’s a great way to have dinner with friends
it’s a good way to feed a large visiting family
it’s ideal for a first date
to eat what you wouldn’t normally cook for yourself
to get out and eat in an entirely different atmosphere
there’s no clean up
to have someone else cook a nice meal for you, something you may not be able to make or make as well
to relax and enjoy yourself and not do any dishes
to try something new
because I’m too busy/lazy
because I don’t want to cook
it’s convenient
the food is amazing

What are your reasons for eating out?

Diet Diary

January 2, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

I will lose 20 pounds. If only saying it could make it happen.

Recent research shows that keeping a food diary can help. According to a study, people who write down everything they eat each day lose twice as much as those who don’t.

Nearly 1,700 people participated in a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/podcasts.cfm?id=60-second-science , (July 11, 2008). They followed a heart-healthy diet full of fruit, vegetables, and low-fat or nonfat dairy; attended weekly group sessions; and exercised moderately for 30 minutes a day. After six months nearly two-thirds had lost at least nine pounds. The biggest surprise came from the food logs — people who kept track of what they ate lost twice as much as those who didn’t.

Why should you write down what you eat?

It helps you remember what you’ve consumed. Your short-term memory (your active memory) stores info for about 18 seconds. That’s why it’s important to write down what you ate right away. You forget – or overlook – if you wait until the end of the day. You mean you forgot about the candy bar you bought when you stopped for gas?

It creates a record of what you consumed. It’s way too easy to forget the candy you snagged from the bowl on someone’s desk or the rest of the grilled cheese sandwich you ate off of your son’s plate.

It shows you’re serious. Putting your goals on paper takes them from thought to commitment.

A written record keeps you accountable. At the end of the day you have to account for your actions to yourself. Seeing what you’ve eaten in writing makes it a lot harder to lie to yourself.

It can help you to spot patterns. You may not even realize that you routinely hit the vending machine every day at 11AM and 3PM – or that your car always navigates its way past the donut shop for your glazed chocolate fix on the way home.

Seeing what, how much, and when you’re eating can be a real eye opener and the key to a strategic eating plan to fit your lifestyle.

New Years Resolution

January 1, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

For lots of us New Year’s Day means football. For lots of us it also means New Year’s resolutions.

A resolution is a firm decision, a commitment, to do or not do something – often having to do with habits or lifestyle changes. Forty-four percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions.

One main category of resolutions falls under “I’m going to improve my health” usually by losing weight, exercising more, eating better, and drinking less. I’m wholeheartedly in support of any resolution about any of these things and almost always find myself squarely in the eye of this storm.

Recent research showed that 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of succeeding with their goals, however, only 12% actually achieved

them. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they set small measurable goals (lose a pound a week, instead of just saying “lose weight”). Women were 10% more successful when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

Gretchen Rubin author of The Happiness Project, offers several tips to help plan for your resolutions. For more tips click on this link, http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/12/five-tips-for-planning-effective-new-years-resolutions.html

What will make you happier? This might mean having more of something – or less. It also might mean fixing something that’s not right. Think hard about what you really want or don’t want – not what you think you should want or not want. For instance, do you really want to lose weight or do you think you should because most of your friends wear a smaller size than you do?
What is a specific thing you can do that will bring about the change that you really want? We all frequently make abstract resolutions — which are hard to keep. Resolving to put mustard rather than mayo on your sandwich every day is more specific and directed than resolving to eat less fat – and something you are far more likely to accomplish.
Are you starting small enough? So many of us are guilty of all-or-nothing thinking and overly ambitious goals. Guess what happens? We shoot ourselves in our collective feet and call ourselves failures. Do it often enough and we solidly embed a “no can do” attitude and habit in our brains. The key is to start with very small and accomplishable goals – like putting mustard on your sandwich instead of mayo. Commit to doing it twice a week, then three, then everyday. Start small and with things that are fairly easy to do and that don’t disrupt your lifestyle. Get some success under your belt. Then move on to bigger challenges.

By the way, one tablespoon of mayonnaise has 100 calories. One tablespoon of yellow mustard has about nine calories. That’s a difference of 91 calories a day. If you replaced mayo with mustard five days a week you would save about 455 calories – enough to lose six and ¾ pounds in a year. Small changes do bring results.